The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1879-11-16

John Muir. the traveller and natural
ist, writes os follows Of the trees Of
Alaska:
YELLOW CEDAR
The mos. important Of these as to
timber is tho yellow cedar. or cypress.
truly noble tree. attaining q hight Of
80 feet. and diameter Of from 3 TO 5
feet. The branches are pinnate, droop>
ing. feathery. dividing into beautiful
light green sprays, like those Of the
California libocedrus, but with finer
foliage and more dark plumes. TIE
wood Of tins tree 10 undoubtedly the
best the country affords. and one Of the
most valuable to be found on the whole
Pacific Coast. 1t is pale yellow. close
grained. tough, durable. and takes .
good polish; and TO these qualities is
added Q pleasant fragrance. like that
Of sandal wood.
The only California wood that re-
sembles this is tue torregs. which has
the same delicate yellow color and close
texture. but the pleasant scent is want
ing, while the trees are small and scat
tered in and out OF the canyons Some
three or four ships have been built Of
yellow cedar. and small quantities, q
few thousand feet at a time, have been
sent TO Portland aud San Francisco
from Sitka, Fort Wrangel. Checan and
Port Simpson, probably less than nil
lion feet in all. Some little goes to
China. aud is made into fancy boxes. to
be returned to us for canphor wood. 1t
deserves to be far better known. not
only to shipbuilders. bu. to carpenters
aud furniture makers. The Indians
here make their paddles of it. aud
weave mating and coarse cloth from
the inner bark o! the tree, which is
quite durable. and Of . fine brown color.
1t 10 also the favorite firewood of the
coast region. burning very freely.
though it does not last long Ayellow
cedar fire. to any one witnessing it for
. time. is quite q notable phenomenon.
The flames Quivsr and rush up in
multitude of ragged edged lances, while
the burning surfaces snap. snd crsckle
and explode. aud throw gut shower Of
glowing Goals, with such u noise that
conversation in On ordinary pitch of
voice is ut times impossible Every
open hearth il which this wood is
burned has to be closely screened with
a framework OF wire netting, else tho
floor, would be sown with cipders. The
durability Of this timber is forcibly il
lu.trated by tho fallen trunks lying in
the damp woods Many Of the largest
Of them last centuries. retaining even
the delicate color and fragrance unim-
paired. Soon after they fall they are
Overgrown with moss. in which seeds
lodge and germinate aud grow up into
vigorous saplirgs. standing all in row
on the backs of their dead ancestors
As they grow larger they stand astride.
sending their roots down and out on
both sides like the straddling legs Of q
spider. And after they have reached
an age Of several hundred years. the
downtrodden trunk when cut into will
almost always be found as fresh in the
heart as it was when it fell. Decay
goes slowly on from the outside, never
commencing in tho heart wood. as far
ss have noticed. though coed many
of the living trees are Injured by fun.
gus which produces . dry-rot similar to
that found in thuja and librocedrus.
The species is found as far south as
Vancouver leland. and is pretty gsner-
ally distributed along the coast and
through the islsnds. as far north ss
Sitka. How much further in either
direction l am unable to say. But
though its range il thus extensive it
does not seem TO be abundant at any
one place. or to occupy any considera-
bic area to the exclusion Of other spe
cies.