The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-09-16

DTT,-TfgU BIUEGB GUUuITY q
climax for the naturalist and climax for him
who wapders to SEQ what is greatest and
strangest in nature.
Standing for twenty centuries and moro, thoy
havo not escaped scars from go prodigious q
conflict with the clements and the savage.
After reaching the height Of between three and
| four hundred feet, tho storms invariably tear
OIL their tops, so that the trunks Of oil tcrni-
nate with ragged abruptness. The camp. fires
oil 1fty generations OF Iudiaps have mutiated
and blackened about three-fourths Of the
Siants, many OF which have been hollow for
ages, aud open to imminent danger from the
burning fnggots left go often inside their spa
ciOus shelter.
Tho big tree, where it cmerges from tho
ground, has an immense gnirly bulge. or CIR
dlo of knots, that add many feet to its crcunl-
fcrcnce at the root. About four feet above the
ground the trunk energies from it's huge,
rough pedestal, and shoots straight upward,
shrinking in diameter shout one-fftb, and ia
pering very gradually to it's splintcred cnpital.
sperscd in groups OF two or three, o, intervals
OF thirty, forty and fifty yards, throughout a
space OF about fifty acres. Outside OF this
small tact NO specimens OF it are found, cx-
copt III three counties in California, distant
from Calavcras. Why they should thus be con-
grcgateo in four little groups in tue interior of
California, and unknown elsewhere, is sngu-
lar, considering their age and hardness. Thoy
are only found OH the western slope OF the
Sierra Nevada nj elevations or from 1000 to
COCO feet above tho Pacific, and in soil Of pc
eu'lar r;chness-not rank, black mold, but a
toose, unctious, brown mold, that, tickled with
dry, yellow atom no larger or thicker than
the tiniest finger nail OF the tuiest baby hur,los
up INTO !he or q wooden tower thirty-thieo
feet thick and tour hundred feet high.
We rambled through tho grove several times
during our stay, aud fearing that tho measure
ments given by printed dsscri riptione were ex-
segerat. d, applied for ourselves the most care
full tcste. We paced around the trees md
measured them with line and rule. Wo found
mr. in q n In rrolA lao
do not look to be over 800 feet tall, but by anea-
suring those that have fallen, the miscnlcula-
ton OF the eye in this respect also ia correct
ed. "Thc Father OF tho Forest" which lies
trunk, as it now rem aims exceeds 800 feet in
longth, aud at lis broken top it le sixteen feet
in diameter. stairway containing twenty
ono steps conducts to the top Of the PROSTATE
giant. A lofty hole i'll its side admits man on
horseback, and for ono hundred and twenty
eight feet ono can 1ide Greet through it's hollow
trunk. i tried il OH q ueIiun- sized horse. eat
straight i'll the saddle aud determined not to
duck my head. My hat barely sraZed the
black roof OF the strange causeway in one place.
Elsewhere there was plenty OF play for perpcp-
dicullr cqucstriaRlsm. Four tcamsters, mount.
cd on large horses, came to DO the RIDING
exploits whlle wo were near at hand. They
were SO delighted with their complete success
that they went OIL whooping and Oh the gallop.
The best test object III the grove is What Is
known as '.thc stump OF Tue big tree" and al
sstCllOu VI tuc tuGt llcj
near at hand. This tree WAS solid to the core.
In 1858 five men, employing large augurs,
worked industrious;y for twcnty-ive days to
fell il. The s!an, In It yielded TO this vnndal-
ism was thirla one icct through, and over
three hundred fee: high. The stump wae
plancd OF OH top and enclosed in q neat sum-
mCT-house with rounded dome and numerous
Windows. Around The interior OF the Summer.
house runs banch fer ioun.crs. lGe stump
affords ample room Tor thirty-two da,icers.
Dramatic performances have been given OH II
and in 1858 seventy copies of the Big Tree Bu.-
| lcln were published there. The section of the
| trunk ont eide Is twenty feet long, and lis
smooth summit is attained by q sta rway TWEEN.
tS-tivc feet long. 1, is covered witt, the carved
names OF visitors. AS space has given oul
| man" little slabs of wo.d lave been insciibc d
| by ambitious tourists and nailed ovor the ca,-
| licr autographs. The rest of the t,unii OF tins
tree hes close by. 1t wac formerly used For 9
bowling alley and bar-rcom. bu. has been
| stripped ct an such improvements"
lhc murder of the speLdd tree named tLl
Mother of tho Forest" Is another example o,
hateful vandalism That would not now be
tolerated. This tree was cncirced by scafloll.
ing, and stripped OF bark Tor one hundred and
sixteen icet above the ground. It fingered a
year or two, but now stands stark and icafloss,
with the creakiug scailo.ding cliDglng 10 it
dead giant hung in chains The bark wos
carefully cut into scctionS and taken to England
where it was put together in its original
aprlght shape glNISSC glNScr n,s ri;n ,iS aea Of Cali
ham Cryetal Palace burned, recently, .his pon
drous tower Of bark was entirely destroyed
SavaGery with nature prospers as meaGrcly rs
cheating.