The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-25
CHECKED AT SANTA CRUZ
A DeSolate Waste Marks the
Path of the Destroying
Torrent.
BIG TREE GROVE NOT BURNED.
The Report of Its Destruction Was
Erroneous-Some Of the
Losers.

SANTA CRUZ, CAL, Sept. 24.-The i'm
mense forest fire which has been raging in
this county since Saturday morning is now
under control, although it is still burning
in some of the gulches and canyons, ard
men are still at work fighting the flames.
The greatest damage is now being done in
SCOTS Valley, vineyard and fruit region,
where a large area is ablaze. The fire
fighters have thus far been unable to check
the flames in this canyon.
The fire has proved a most disastrous
one. 1t started at Gold Gulch, near Eel
ton, and soon reached Rincon, three miles
below, and burned everything in its path.
1t then went through the canyons with
fearful rapidity, leaving in its track a
desolate waste. The virgin forest, with
its beautiful redwood, fir, madrone, laurel
and other native trees with its thick I'M
dergrowth and lovely vines, was stripped,
and all that remains for miles around are
the blackened trunks of the redwood The
large fir trees were burned to the ground
not even the stumps remaining. The view
from the tops of the mountains, which on
last Friday was as beautiful as one could
wish to see, is now one OF awful desoation
and waste.
The heaviest loser by the fire is Henry
Cowell. Thousands of acres of timber on
his land have been swept away and he has
lost thousands of cords of wood. A report
that the loss in his case falls upon the
woodchoppers and not upon CoweIl is
erroneous. The woodchoppers take con-
tracts for cutting a certain amount of wood
-. IL,
they draw portion of their pay on ac-
count and are not required to run the
risks for whole season. as reported. The
fact that some of the choppers have been
cutting continuously for thirty years is of
itself refutation of the report that they
are Disseminated against in this manner.
Not many ranchers have lost by the fire,
although a man named Curtis had his
home burned.
The fire surrounded the ranch of Emil
Moves, near Cave Gulch and he fought
fire for thirty-six hours steadily, and by
persistent effort saved his house and barn.
The bridge leading across the canyon to
his home was also burned, and the fruit in
his fine orchard is complete loss. All the
orchardists on the Ben Lomond road west
of the intense heat iniuring the fruit on
the trees.
Although the fire is not burning along
the Big Tree road at present the Southern
Pacific is keeping a good watch over its
tracks, as the large powders and burning
logs roll down the mountain sides and are
apt to destroy property.
The clouds OF smoke which have been
lowering over this city for the past four
days have now cleared away. Regular
travel is again resumed on the FELTON, and
Big Tree road, and the stages are making
their regular trips. 1t is not the beautiful
drive that it once was, but a large portion
of it shows the work of the fire, and it will
be number of years before there will be a
new growth of timber, and then it will not
be the grand trees that have stood for
ages.
The report that the Big Tree grove, which
is one of the most beautiful groves in the
State, and has been visited by people of
prominence from all over the world, had
been swept out of existence is unfounded,
as the grove was at least two miles from
the fire, and separated from it by large
strip OF cleared land and the San Lorenzo
River.
SANTA MONICA, CAL, Sept. 24-For-
est and stubble fires have been raging in
every direction in the immediate neigh
borhood for the past forty-eight hours.
The only damage done up to date is the
loss of some young trees and few stacks
of straw of little value. Fears are enter
tanned that the fire may get into some of
the inhabited canyons and there destroy
the homes of residents.