The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1883-11-08
Monster Trees of California.

As regards the wonderful size of the
Scauoia, that is matter which does
not at first fully come to one. The
fact is that all the-tfees are so large
that one fails 10 realize the magnitude
of the giants. All have increased in
proportion. 1t requires mental cal
culation to convince ones self that the
Transformation is something quite out
of the common. 1t is only when you
come to walk in and out of the hollow
trees, and to circle round them and
take a constitutional by walking along
inside of fallen giant, OF, perhaps Gf
it had done duty as a chimney before 1t
came to grief, by riding up inside the
hollow for a considerable distance, that
YOU begin to understand their size.
You do so best, when standing on the
ground beside a PROSTATE tree lying
buried in ditch of its own making,
you look up ut red wall rising, per-
haps, fifteen or twenty feet above your
head, bulging outward considerably
and extending in a straight line for
three hundred feet along the ground,
and tell yourself it is only tree! The
owners of the beautiful grove near the
hotel have erected tall ladders, to ena-
BILE people to climb on to some of these
heights and walk along the fallen trees
as if on garden terraces. 1t sounds
cockney, but it is decidedly pleasant to
gain view of the forest from an eleva-
tion of thirty feet, and it is not every
one that can scale the red rampant
without the aid of the ladders. If you
choose to Chamber along the upturned
roots you may find an airy seat some
forty feet above the ground. This
sounds high, but on further considera-
ton you begin to marvel how such eX-
traordinary small roots can ever have
formed fit pedestal for SO ponderous
weight. They have literally no depth
and comparatively small spread, so
that they have merely superficial hold
on the earth's surface, Yet this slight
support has enabled these huge bodies
to resist the wild storms of many centu-
ries. All the big trees of the district
are concentrated in two groves, name
ly, the little forest gem of Calaveras,
and a much larger belt known as the
South Park Grove, on the StanislauS
River, about six miles further. In the
Calaveras grove all the Sequoias lie
within an area of fifty acres, over which
space altogether about one hundred lie
scattered singly or in groups. OF these,
twenty attain circumference of about
eighty feet near the base; and one,
which is distinguished as the Father of
the Forest, is found to measure one
hundred and ten feet round; it now lays
PROSTATE, and has apparently done so
! for many century, for the well-nigh
imperishable wood is in part decayed,
and long use as chimney had burnt
out its inside and destroyed its summit
ere it fell. The portion that still re-
mains is like a long mountain, and two
large archways have been cut into the
side of the said mountain, in order that
those whose taste lies in that line may
ride into the hollow trunk and come
out by the further opening. 1t is esti-
mated that the tree when perfect, must
| have been about four hundred and fifty
feet in height. OF the trees now stand
ing, four exceed three hundred feet in
| height, and one measures three hundred
and twenty-five. About twenty-five
are said to exceed two hundred and tif
ty feet. One can, perhaps, better real
ize what these sizes mean by finding
the amount of houseroom to be obtain
ed within a followed tree. Several
such as Miners Camp" and ''Pion
eer's Camp" have been used as tenn
porary homes. In the latter, fifty
persons can find sitting room; other
are used for stablirg horses.