Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1867-05-02
BIG TREES UF ca ALIFoRNIA.

BIG TREES1UF CALIFORNIA. N
So far as, known at present California con-
tains the largest trees IN any part Of the world.
Thirty miles from the Yosemite valley are the
Mariposa Big Trees-one of twenty groves
already .discoYeredin California: Theg resem-
blethe; species of cedar known as red wood !;
but iboanists name them seqleIas They are
the oldest and most stupendous vegetable
products s existing upon The globe. OF the
more thanstweIve feet in diameter, fifty more
than sixteen feet aud six, more than thirty
feet The Prostrate Monarch, Alying upon, the
ground, leafess,i branchless, and partially con9
sumed by fire, is believed to have fallen fully
one hundred and fifty years ago. With the
bark on, it must have been forty feet in dame
ter. One tree has a branch six feet in thick
ness, parting from the stem eighty feet above.
the ground. Into a cavity, burned In the side;
OF another standing iree,l says a recent writer
fifteen of us rode together, all sittiog upon our
horsesin that black, novel chamber, (which
occupies less than half the thickness Of. the
trunk. Through b another stem lying upon the
ground, fire has bored like an augur, and onr
entire cayalcade rode through III from end to
end, as aitrailway trsinse eoesgt trough tunnel
The largest standing tree; is the Grizzly
Giant It's bark Is nearly two feet thick, its
more than three hundred, H cut off smooth
ly, fifteen horses could stand, or sixteen couples
dance upon the slump If the trunk were
followed to "a shell, it, would contain more.
cubic feet than an ocean steamer or man-of war
TWO hundred and fly feet long T. These mon
ster trees are the. patrlarchs, of the globe,
Some hotanists fdatea1heirs birth far back ssof
earliest human history None estimate their
age at less than eighteen hundred years It
is impressive TO see groWths which began in
the morning twilight Of the world; to look,
npon trees living to-day which were living at
the beginning OF the Christian era. Well,
says Holmes: ta.t95 ,z9alli2 a,Eal3 " 3@D&g5G
a..In fact, there il nothing that keeps its
So far as know but tree and truth 30 : o.5. 5a..
I have seen cut, from the Big Trees. pieces
OF bark twenty two9inches in thickness OF a
rich mahogany tingee when dressed with,,the
plane, it looks like delicate velvet or plush.-
It's very soft, and ladies' of the Pacific coast
often#use fragments for pin cushions. Who
says we have no respect for antiquity? lie
Imperial Cesar, dead and turned to clay, may.
serve for stopping -creyice in the wall, why
should we not. cut into pin:cushions' these
venerable relics of the ealth''s childhood
The reader should not confound the pine Of
Yosemite Valley 5willrs:thes Big Trees for
seuuoias of which the Grizzly Giant is ONE
The pines, like those OF Washington Territory,
are simply height, slenderness, symn1etry -
The delicate tracery Of the branch is beautiful
beyond description but the trunk is compare,
lively small The sequoias, Though little
taller, are age, thickness, massiveness. One,
in the Calayeras Grove, was cut down by
boring with augprs and saving the spaces
between. The work employed five men tor
G.. yIr u S@o4r
tree, perhaps from long habit. stubbornly con.
tinued TO stand, and only yielded to the per-
suasiye logic of wedge aud battering ram. The
pine! cones. : are cylindrical, and sometimes
nearly two feet in length. Those of the Big
Trees are round and sometimes not larger than
apples. z@a ~ 80 . t .. 2,.i ~, =, - =. :
The age of giants fingers on the Pacific
coast. High on the Sierras, a mile above sea
level, I have frequently observed sugar pines
ten or.twelye ieets In diameter. OF the ponder
GUS red wood in California IaDd Oregon, much
might be said But those monster sequias, are
the crowning marvel Of the world, :Perehance
their youth saw the awkward, laundering
,aaslodan eanter over the hills, andihe reptiles,
ahundred Feet long, With multitudiDous7 legs,
and mouth like a volcano, crawl sluggishiy
through torrid swamps. They were living
when the father Of poets, old, blind, and iXaga:
bond, sung bis Immortal song; when the sage
of Athens, that most Christian heather" !,
calmly drank the hemlock when the carpenter
Of Judea, from whom the world now computes
its time, was man Of sorrows, and acquainted
With grief, despised and rejected of men. =.
An ACT OF Congress has segregated Yose-
mite Valley apd the Mariposa Grove of Big
them apart aspleasura grounds for the people
ofthe United States, and the strangers within
their gates, for them and their heirs and
assigns forever sssgor,, - o.,s..tssT i .sL.
TIE HEAD OF A DEAD Mana poor fel-
low was guiIlotiDed here "a few days after our
arrival. According to the custom, his head
and body were given: to the surgeons for the
advancement Of science. ~ An experiment
was tried with the head With a very interesting
result II They injected into Its arteries fresh ar
terial blood takens3trom a-dog, and shortly at
terHarl the head gave unmistakable' signs iof
ILL.,: The color. returned to the cheeks and
hps, the eyes opened brightly and gazed upon
those around, the lips moved as il attempting
yainly to speak, and the, entire face bore the
sembance to active life. Sosoou as the oper-
ator ceased to inject the life blood of gtheldog,
the appearances Of death rapidly sueceeded.2-
Itwas earnestly Beld 5y the eminent surgical
gentlemen 5in attendance that, during the oper-
alton, the, brain was in full and tural ctioD,
and that The lips tried 10 utter the last thought
which found resting: placein the mind OF the
condemned. Paris Corr Ptts6atrg, Gazette
5sf-A SINGULAR DuEI.7-A singular duel has
recently taken place at Berlin between; 4 Jour
neyman silversmith and another ,artizan.s .'lRhe
arms selected were a bottle of sulphuric acid.
The arrangement was that whichever Of the
iWo adyersaries threw the lowest with dice
should swallow the contents Of the fatal ,giaL
Chancesf favored theo silqersmith who n IN ne ne
diateIyspoured out glass of liquor and handed
tito his adversary. who. q,nhesitating drank
of the liquid, but 10 the Iastonish shlnentof; his
antagonist, instead Of falling ns eless snack-
,ed and ask ed for another i ne
stituting arrack forssthe corrosive fluid. The
affair tsrsainated in reconciliation, 5res