The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-07-22

encounters Of political warfare. ASH Is
they seem disposed to give him away be
fore he has begun TO run.
DuRIEG recent visit to the best timber
sections soithe State, our attention was called
to the wasteiul destruction Of valuable
woods that Is going on In many localities
Thenecessary consumption oftimberwould
seem sufficient TO prevent wastage, point
ing as It does directly to time when eve.
~ stick in our forests will have largely
enhanced market value. II Is said that
twenty millions OF people are living in
dwellings, chiefly constructed Of wood ;
and all these are periShable with time.
Moreover, our sixty thousand miles Of
railroad consume, annually, immense
quantities OF timber. Twenty.one
thousand six hundred cords Of
wood are consumed In running
trains three hundred thousand miles, each
twenty tSur hours. Sixty thousand miles
Of road require twenty-five hundred ties
to the mile; and as they must be placed
every five years, IN annual consumption
Of thirty million ties is required. We
shall soon construct each year ten thou
sand miles Of new road, requiring twenty
fve million more ties; and when we add
to all these sources Of forest destruction
the wood required in the fencing OF these
railroads, the half million telegraph poles
which each year will be required, and tho
vast amount Of the destruction Of the for
est by flood and fire, We must be absolute
ly startled with the conviction that the
whole provinces Of woods, which have re-
quired hundred years to grow, are each
year being swept away, while nothing is
being done by either public authority or
private zeal to supply the place Of that
which is destroyed, or protect in meas
ure that which exists.
Nor is this all. The authority from
which these figures are taken, not on,
points out the danger Of timber famine,
but points to other serious aspects Of The
case. The influence Of forests upon health;
upon climate; upon rain and dew for our
growing crops, has hardly begun to
be thought of as it deserves. Iu respect
to the last, for example, how general and
urgent the complaint Of drouths Of late.
Streams are dry; mills are stopped; city
water works on short supply; farms
scorched and crops perishing-such
has been the staple of summer
reports for a few years past. And
there can hardly be a doubt that
much OF the difference in this respect be.
tween the present state OF things and that
which existed few years ago is traceable
to the destruction Of the forests. II any
one question this, let him read the evi.
dence on the subject brought forward by
Mr.. Marsh in his very able discussion Of it
In "Man and Nature" where he adduces
many instances Of springs and streams
dried, and lakes falling, when forests have
been cleared away, but which returned
again when the forests grew a second
time. Indeed, there can be but little
doubt that the present barreuness Of all
Northern Africa and Of Palestine is largely
due to this cause. The present and the last
rulers Of Egypt, 1t is said, have planted
more than twenty millions Of trees, and
since these have begun to grow rain has
become quite common where before it was
almost unknown. A similar difference
has been found in St. Helena, where,
within few years, forests have begun to
be extensively cultivated. And SO of
other places. A distinguished French
meteorologist has said that ito produce
rain, forest was as good as mountain"
and it is easy to believe 1t true. The peo-
pie in all directions who complain Of
drouth may well favor every effort to-
preserve the forests. 1t might not
be unwise to adopt here even the
Japanese law, that whoever destroys a
tree shall plant one. At any rate, hardly
any wiser law exists on the statute book Of
some at the western states than that
which exempts forest land from taxation;
or that in ore OF them, (Kansas), which
gives bounty Of two dollars per acre
each year for term Of t,uentyJdre years, to
any one who will plant forest trees, pro-
vided the trees shall be cultivated and
growing three years before the bounty
begins.