The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-01-05
Yosemite!

Interests, as we'll as those of all lovers OF
nature, it should be given over TO the Gen
eral Government"
Major Stidger leaned back In his chair
and thrust his hands deep in his trousers
pockets. Clearly he was fully persuaded oil
the correctness of his statement. for he set
his mouth firmly and looked through his
glasses hard at the reporter with the air OF
aman who Jumps at no conclusions and eX-
presses no opinions until he is entirely sat
isfied OF their truth.
In addition TO that Major Stidger was
now talking on one of his favori;e subjects
and one upon which. by virtue Of his
Official capacity and profound study, he Is
entitled to recognition as an authority.
he is a special agent of the General Land
Office and was appointed by no less a per-
sOnage than Secretary Noble himself to
make examination into the serious conf
plants constantly reaching HIN OF mis-
management of the Yosemite Valley.
After emphasizing his opening statement
with a moments silence, the Major con-
tinued:
when the United States Senate by a
special resolution directed Secretary Noble
20 investigate the charges of gross miscon-
duet of Yosemite, | fancy no one was more
delighted than the Secretary himself. He
had heard rum0rs of mismanagement from
great many sources and was very glad to
have al opportunity to look into them.
Had the House at this juneture placed
Its shoulder to the wheel the success of the
movement would have been assured. This.
however, it did not do but refused the small
appropriation asked and threw the Secretary
on his own resources.
Determined to push investigations as far
possible. he detailed Major Weigel to come
out to California and Cooperate with me,
and together We made our examinations.
I'VE got into the valley as soon as pos
sible. and there we stayed for weeks. We
rambled over every part Of it, saw its beauty
with delight and studied It's grandeur with
reverence.
400 much can scarcely be said Of the
sublimity of Yosemite, and, in consequence,
every pecauton must be taken not only to
preserve these wonders, but to prevent any
action that might some day result in their
injury.
1.-The State OF California has been In con-
troll of the valley since 1864, when 1t &C.
eepted the grant. If it has not yet arrived
at some wise policy as to the conduct Of the
valley. It is hard to believe it ever will. Ger
tainly it cannot complain of lack of op-
pOrtunity.
What did we think of the condition Of
Yosemite? Well. the first staggerer that
met US were the exorbitant rates charged.
The price of q ticket is $50, and everything
else comes extra.
There are hotel rates OF 81 per day,
which perhaps are not so bad in the cases
Of the Stoneman and the Wswona. but
which are simply outrageous when charged
by the Raymond. It's location does not
justify It
"Then the charges for guides and pack
mules are purely extortiODate and swell
the expense items of a trip through the
valley to such proportions that the economi-
eaIly iimid are disposed to forego one of the
greatest pleasures they could possibly enjoy.
There are three tollroads into Yosemite
Big Oak Flat, CoulterVille and Wawona.
These regulate their charges not by the
nature of the conveyance, but by the num-
Der Of passengers. At the end of the season
the representatives of these roads meet
with a representative Of Washburn & Co.'S
stage line, and the latter people receive an
amount averaging 81 80 a head for each
passenger who has entered the Yosemite
that season.
OOnpdAt lAdt lOI q WIFI the
conduct Of Yellowstone Park. There you
pay SO for your ticket also, but you see a
double portion Of the park by being con-
Quoted out by different route than the one
you came over in entering. All of the
many points Of interest are visited without
an additional cent Of expense and your ac-
eommodstlons are frst-class throughout.
in that case the Government controls
everything and the visitor can pass along
without fear Of an imposition at every
point.
'-If we had felt no particular interest In
the preservation of the valley before our
visit we should certainly have changed our
lukewarmness into activity when once We
had seen it, 1t is enc Of the wonders Of
creation. Already, however. the hand of
man, the invader, is being felt, and unless
stayed, or at least directed with intelligence.
may ultimately seriously affect the beauty
Of the valley.
at is hard to improve upon nature. Arti-
fetal embellishments are scarcely to be de-
sired.
MARX this point which ] wish to make;
II Is not art that We are after, but nature.
ut seems to me It would he best under
the present management to take no steps in
Board Of Commissioners until an expert
had considered such steps carefully.
cit would be well for them to know
whether such an expert was vegetable
gardener. a landscape artist, or whether he
had the breadth of comprehension, the soul
within him TO prize the works of nature as
manifested in the Sierra Nevadas, and
could let alone and not attempt to improve
.fr.kF -.
or plow.
"He should build roads, bridges and
trails to points of interest, keeping the
works OF man as much as possible out of
sight. that nature might be left as il is
and Its future growth be undisturbed.
II am OF opinion that no ak should be
laid to the root of single tree or shrub.
not furrow turned, not a meadow fall
lowed. nor a flower touched unless per-
mitted by an expert
There is now an avowed disposition on
the part Of the Commissioners to cut away
trees and underbrush without any apparent
intention of beautifying the valley thereby.
''For example. large number of trees
were felled some time since for the sole OBJ
Jet Of securing finer view Of Yosemite
Falls 20 the Barnard Hotel. This is obyi-
eusly wrong.
''Then the fact that the early Indians
burned underbrush TO ensure a larger acorn
crop and wider pasturage In the valley is
q poor criterion for us.
do you know that the only way of secur-
Ing fine growth Of pine and fr trees Is 10
let them grow untrimmed and thick; then
the fttest will survive and become straight
and tall In Its search for the light at the top
Plant tree by itself and 1t will grow out
and not up alone. The violation Of this
simple observation would soon be noted In
Yosemite IL the young trees and brush were
cut out.
1.-THE grazing OF herds Of horses and cat
tie and the steady clearing OF the ground
about the Stoneman House and the stage
an. laa will snnr M n "a That nat 81 N....i.