The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-03-06

Hero Worthy tho Pen Of . Cooper
The secrets of the Woods.
Julius Chambers in the Century.
On the frontier Of advancing civilization
there is a species of livelihood called
.'cruising for timber" The smile is an
apt one, for the woodsman who seeks new
timber regions among the trackless will
derness, in which the sun is hidden by day
and the stars by night, Is as bold q naviga-
tor ~ his brother who tolls on the path
less waste of the sea The timber cruiser
is even more o child of the forest than the
native he succeeds. He is the precursor Of
the lumberman and the sawmill. two i'm
portant factors in our progressive civiliza-
ton. He Is untaught. Generally, he
knows nothing Of astronomy but the suns
course and the polar star, because the
heavens are so often wholly out of sight in
the tangled forest that he relies on other
guides. The mysterious secrets of terres-
trial nature, handed down to him by gen.
erntions Of pathtinders gone before. keep
him informed. On the prairie he knows
that the tips Of the grass always incline
toward the south, and that they are less
green on the northward side. In the forest
the slender twigs on the boughs bend
southwark so slightly, 1t may be. that only
the trained eye can detect the detection:
yet 1t is there. The moss on the tree
trunks Is always on the north side, the
bark is smoother and more supple on the
east than toward the west, and southwark
the mildew never comes. Thus does this
unlettered savant box the compass in the
wilderness.
The timber cruiser is hero. He is
forest king. The wealth of the woods is
his. He always travels alone. His acts
Of courage, endurance and skill are never
witnessed by others and are never boosted
of by himself. Indeed, his successes or
failures are never talked about, save to
the directors of the lumber companies
who employ him. and to whom he makes
infinitely detailed report. He has prob
ably the best memory known to man. for
he will return from q two months' "cruise"
and be able to locate accurately every
tract of valuable hemiock timber in hum
dred square miles of worthless woods and
tamarack. He undertakes the most ardu-
Gus journeys without providing more than
blanket and few DAYS provisions. He
confronts all kinds of dangers. mindful of
their Inconvenience. but fearing them not,
because he studies nature on commercial
basis. In brief, he is true philosopher;
always prepared for the unexpected;
happy, because ignorant Of the relative
values of comfort and discomfort. and
brave. because he is an egotist who believes
thoroughly in his own abilities.
His is the task of locating the land scrip
that capitalists and large corporations
have purchased from the government.
He precedes the woodsman, the AK and
tho saw, just as the post trader precedes
the teacher and the preacher. He is to
the advancing iumberman what the Don
Cossaek IS to the Russian host.
The location of q choice tract Of timber
is secret to be guarded with his life.
Weeks. even months, may intervene before
the lands can be taken up" and entered
upon the records at Washington City.
The painless forest is his home, solitude
his companion, and, like his brother on
the ''multitudinous seas" he often dies
alone, and his unburisd body becomes
part of the elements of nature he so in
timately courts. He is new to literature,
unknown 10 song and story.