The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1898-06-09

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modations for the night were found at
1 what had been called the Mountain
Home. the roof of which had been
broken IN by the winter SHOWS, bat
shelter of any kind was sufficient with
our ample supply Of blankets.
But mountaineers cannot expect all
the Injuries and we we're not difficult
to be satisfied. This was place of
resort for summer campers, but &c this
time six or eight inches Of snow had
fallen during a recent storm, though
now the last days of May.
Now commenced our exploration of
these monarchs OF the forest. Leaving
our buggy and mounting the horses,
the snow was little hindrance to US,
while we assembled 500 to 1000 feet
higher. These giants are mostly found
in clusters in near proximity, ten or a
dozen being found on space Of an
acre or two That they astOnish one
who has been accustomed TO trees Of
large size is not strange. Most of them
swell near the ground by the spreading
Of the roots, and to give their proper
dimensions should be measured eight
to ten feet from the ground. To fell
them a scaffod is erected at that
height, from which they are cut off by
lorg saws made expressly for that
purpose 20 to 30 feet in length. Two
70 four days are often consumed in fell
ing a single tree, the fall causing the
ground to tremble like an earthquake.
Many of the trees have been given
special names. The Admiral Dewey
is fifty feet in circumference near the
ground-others are equally as large
and excite little comment among lum
bermen. Methusaleh was forty feet in
diameter at the ground. The Centen-
NAL stump was thirty feet in diameter
six or eight feet from the ground and
contained more than 1000 concentric
rings by actual count. This tree was
felled in 1878. The Lady Alice pre-
sented slender waist of 81 feet girth
near the ground. Other trees, which
had laid on the ground for many years
and were destitute of bark, usually two
feet in thickness, were high as a mans
head on horseback. One hollow tree,
called the Summer Home, which had
been sawed off at 80 feet from the
stump, was used for storage and q sta
BILE, the horses standing crosswise, and
inside the she'll was TWO feet higher
than our heads on horseback. Two of
us rode ourshOTses into the hollow of
another standing tree, while there was
ample room for another horseman.
And still another tree, followed out by
decay and fire, presented an opening
for the roadway, and was sufficiently
wide for lumber wagon and hay rack
to pass through-two carriages had
been drivin in side by side. This tree
W as called the Wishbone.
These may seem like large stories,
but the trees are large enough to
match, and these statements only con
firm what has been written by other
tourists many times.
These immense logs usually contain
a very straight grain and are blasted
open by dynamite, reducing them 10 a
size to be handled and then wrought
into shingles, posts or lumber, which is
brought down the mountains by teams
These trees extend along the noun
tains for many miles and bid fair to
remain at least another thousand
years, and seldom is one found less
than three or four feet in diameter.
Game is not so plentiful as formerly;
d few deer are frequently seen and ali
occasional cinnamon bear. These
haunts were once the home of the
grizzly, but he has long since disap
peared.
The people inhabiting the valleys
are almost, without exception, Ameri-
can, and formerly from the eastern
states and possessed of much intelli
,ence, as the books and periodicals IN
their homes abundantly testify. After
Il few years residence here they natur-
ally lapse into a rustic simplicity in
both dress and manners, but their
school houses would be creditable to
any of the country districts of New
York or New England, and exacting
qualifications are required of their
teachers. Their winter literary clubs
are well attended.
Very few of these rustic cabins seem
destitute Of some musical instrument.
Call in that faxen- haired, sun Drowned
girl of dozen summer, wearing a boys
palm leaf bat, and faded calico dress,
out at the elbows, and seat her at the
organ, and the nelghbor's daughter,
with ties out of her shoes, oy her side,
and that little urchin, ten years old,
with the rim of his hat half gone, bare
footed, with patched blue oTeralls, held
up by a string over his shoulder as a
substitute for suspender-the three
to blend their childish voices with the
orp2u and the DOnDlar airs which thew