The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-16
THE GIANT FIR TREE.
a Forest Sentinel just Cut Was asa
T Years Old.
st. Paul Pioneer Press.

y. duI 1lOllc6F 1ICSS.
A tree that rivals in height and age the
monarchs of the redwood forests in Cali
fornia has Just been cut into sections out
in the State of Washington. All the terms
which have been invented to describe big
trees could be applied to this mammoth
without fattery or exaggeration. An idea
of its size may be gained from the fact
that if sawed into inch strips, the lumber
made from the tree would fill ten of the
largest sized freight cars, and the strips of
wood, If placed end to end, would reach
from the town where the tree now iS-New
Whatcom, Wash.--across the waters of the
Pacific ocean to the land of Ii Hung
Chang; The total height of the tree, as it
stood before being felled. was 465 feet, or
about one-eleventh of a mile. To the point
where the first limb branched out was 300
feet. At the base the circumference was
found to be 80 feet IL inches. There was
not throughout the tree the slightest indi-
cation of u~nsoundness. In all the forests
OF WaShlngton there is not a tree, young or
this.
There is a way to tell the age of every
tree, just as there is to learn how many
years a horse has lived. With the tree the
problem is solved by studying the number
or rings that are clearly discernible when
the saw has severed the great mass of wood
into sections. This test. when applied to
the Washington tree. showed that it was at
least 44 years since the day when it be-
came a sapling in the heart of the Cascade
mountains. There are fierce storms in the
Cascades every winter. The wind blows
tremendously, and the snow falls a good
dCoA TX TIC LII ldSIilOl lila IL UOSS IN
the Rocky mountains. But the big tree has
gone all through this weather for almost
five centuries, and ii man had only let it
alone it would have been none the worse
for wear.
The men who own the tree in it's present
form have submitted TO scientists the queS-
ton regarding the changes which undoubt-
eddy took place around 1t during the CEN
turtles that nave interviewed since it began
to grow. OF course it is impossible to ex-
anime in detail the forests Of the Cascade
mountains. but so far as Investigation has
demonstrated the big tree was the Oldest in
the State of Washington.
Scientists hold that the facts stated prove
that there has been no material change in
the earth's surface in the State of Wash
ington and probably in the entire territory
of the United States for at least five hum
dred years. 1t has been held by some that
the surface of the earth in the far Western
sections of our country differed materially
from what it is even within so recent a
period, from the scientific point. of view. as
five centuries ago. Hence the big tree COM
pletely d~isproves the cherished theory. 1t
is quite likely the wooded giant was a tiny
sapling in the days when Columbus first
discovered the West Indies. 1t has grown
steadily and without opposition since that
date.
The tree was as straight as an arrow from
its base to the first limb, 300 feet, and, curl
ously enough. the trunk maintained an
equally stern position to the topmost point.
Had the limbs been shorn away then the
bare trunk would have lowered from the
ground to tip 49, feet without the slightest
bend or crook. The tree was not, as might
be supposed, Of that variety which, in the
the redwood. 1t was of the species known
as the Washington fir. taking its name from
that of the State. Its splendid regularity
can be best understood by those who visited
the worlds fair at Chicago and remember
in front of the Washington State building
the gigantic pole which extended so far
from the earth toward the sky that at first
glance it was difficult to discern where
fhp mole ended and the SKY began.