The Lake Charles echo., 1893-02-10
SOUTHERN FORESTS.
wAaIE - - EoosoaE unaED.

Within the past quarter af 3 century
The magnificent pine ioreaas oI Miehi-
gan, Wisconsin. and parts 81 aisnnaa0ss
have almost entirely disappeared. no
attempts having ever baan made b.
husband TIE vast resources Of this
character. Wantnn waste uas lheoraar
of the day and the time has now come
when the people OF that region are
brought face to face with the iaot that
their prodigslity in this direction has
not only brought impOvsrishuent hut
climatic changes have followed in the
wake and are more and more felt,
especially ii the unequal distribution
Of tie watar fail, alternate floods and
araughts taking the place Of the ''early
and the lttisr rain, necessary for sue
oessfuI hushandry.
again that largest of aIl bodies Of
hardwood timber, oak. hickory, beech
maple and black walnut that extended
from the Allegheny mountains to the
eastern boundry Of Illinois. known as
The thick woods Of Ohio ana Indiana,
has fallen before the woodman's AK.
with like result in regard to rainfall,
Now, after the destruction Of the grand
forests is almost complete, the people
are beginning to wake up to the i'm
portance Of preserving the remnant Of
timber and encouraging the growth Of
yonng timber.
The supply Of the vast and increasing
demands for lumber and timber of all
kinds now devolves upon the south
Those who have been in the habit of
looking upon our supply Of timber as
practically inexhaustible, would do
well to read an article from the pen Of
Mr. Charles Mohr, Of the limited States
forestry bureau, published in recent
number Of the Engineering Magazine
in which he says: "Stupendous as the
timber resources Of the south appear,
it can but be evident TO anyone con-
yersant with the facts that We have
entered already upon an era inyolv-
ing their complete extinction" And
he windy points ont the threaten
ing calRmities that will follow the dis
appearance of our forests, not only in
the extinction Of one of the south's
important industries, but in the climatic
changes that are already, perhaps, be-
ginning to make themselves felt,
In the matter of the wanton and un-
necessary destruction of timber, we
need mot travelfar for an object lesson.
The slab pits Of all our mills burn up
millions Of feet annually that could
easily be worked up into manufactured
articles, These millions of feet are
actually burned mp to get the stuff out
of the way. In addition to this waste,
millions Of feet Of frst-class lumber are
burned for fuel right here every year,
being the pieces cnt from dimension
lumber. All this could be used for the
manufacture of boxes and of furniture
OF course this stuff will not bear ship
ment, but why not have the furniture
factories and box factories here where
the raw material can be had for abso-
lutely nothing?
We have all water transportation and
the box lumber could be here cut in
proper lengths to be easily packed and
shipped to New Orleans or New York,
Baltimore, San francisco, or any of
the large cities where there is a great de-
mand for packing boxes. We have not
the slightest doubt that a box factory
here would pay one hundred per cent
annually on the capital invested.
There are one hundred million of
small boxes used annually for the pack
ing Of canned fruit and vegetables
alone. Surely a box factory where the
lumber can be had for practically moth
ing would pay at place where cheap
water transportation can be had for
shipping the product