Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1899-08-26
Our W ood Supply.

| Custer, as well as all the towns OF the
Hills, how are we going TO get our win
ter's wood. We have been permitted to
peruse letter from the acting land
commissioner at Washington to Hon.
X. j. Gamble, in reply to a question,
How are the people living in the cities
and towns of the Hills to procure fuel
for the ordinary needs Of life." For the
benefit of our readers We quote from
said letter such portion as bears upon
the question>as follows:
"The Forest Superintendent have
been Instructed In regard to cord wood
| from down and dead timber, as follows:
Permit its removal free of CT arge, un.
der rules and regulations governing the
| use of timber on forest reserves by per-
sons who, you are satisfied. take 1t strict
| ly for their individual use on their own
claims or lands occupied by them within
the State or Territory where such reser-
va,ion is located, but not for sale or
disposal or use by others or on other
| lands"
SIN the case of residents in town or
community where fuel cannot be OBJ
tained by purchase at private sale from
those who legitimately obtain wood for
sale, the Forest Superintendent is in
structed that there is no ruling under
the law to prevent a resident Of such a
community from obtaining the wood he
asks for; the same to be cut by him by
any trustworthy, reliable person he may
employ to do the cutting under the sup
ervision of proper forestry officer des
ignated for that purpose, and from such
locality as the Forest Superintendent
may approve. The person so employ
ed can however charge only for the
time and labor, but not for the wood"
Residents of towns and villages with.
in or near forest reservation, having
railroad facilities and other convenient
access to saw mills, lumber and wood
yards where lumber and fuel can be pro-
cured by purchase, are not entitled to the
free use Of timber"
"In order to procure timber for pur.
pose Of sale, whether it be dead down
timber, it must be first purchased from
the government at public sale. The
law requires sixty days notice Of sale by
newspaper publication. Hence, the
"long channel" and which can only be
shortened by legislative action so
amending the law as to dispense with
the requirements of advertising. This
Office has fruitlessly urged such legisla
ton. Instructions are about being
issued to the Forest uperintendents to
report upon all areas of dead timber
within the forest reservations under
their respective jurisdictions, with a
view to offering it at public sale; there
by enabling purchase in greater or less
quantities as the applicants to purchase
may desire"
| From all Of which we are still left in
the dark as to how we are going about
it TO get load of wood to keep the pot
boiling, and to keep the babies warm.
They tell us how to procure a tract of
timber for lumber. and they explain
how a man can go into the wood busi-
ness on grand scale, by making appli-
cation in time to allow for 90 days
publication, when at a stated time a
government sale will take place, and
| then he may have chance to bid on a
thousand or two cords, which it seems
he will be compelled to purchase when
he only wants a load, and has to rustic
hard to get money to pay for it. Now
we do not presume that the authorities
at Washington deliberately intend that
| the people in the towns shall actually
pass through the coming long winter
without fuel, and yet that seems
to be the way they have planned it..
We are forced to this conclusion or else
that the commissioner has become so
accustomed to running circumlocutory
office, and has studied so long the sci.
euce of how to talk without saying any.
thing, that he has forgot how to state a
proposition which can be understood by
an American citizen.
| Mr.. Hamaker, our forest supervisor,
Is very much perplexed and annoyed by
the serious aspect of the situation, and
has explained it to the department in the
following language, which we quote:
"The truth is, the matter begins to look
serious, and in my own case, at this
time, l can not see where my winters
| fuel is to come from. There are in
close proximity to the towns through
out the Reserve, millions of cords of
iallentimber. lying on the ground rot
ting and ii looks to me, an order ought
to be promulgated to permit these peo-
pie to obtain a supply. They are ready
and willing to pay to the proper author
tiles the few dollars that will secure
enough Of this timber for their indivi.
dual needs. A large majority OF the
residents of these towns have not the
money to pay high price for their
wood, much less higher price for coal
which at this time there is none on the
market; many of them, however, have
access to horses and wagons and can
procure the fuel supply very cheaply.
do not now recall single town or
village where wood is kept for SALE"
| What effect this will have we are un-
able to say, but it exonerates Mr.. Ham.
aker from all blame in the matter, and
those who have been heaping adverse
criticism upon his devoted head should
let I'D little and wait We think he
is doing the best he can, but he dare moi
go beyond his instructions, or exceed
his authority.
In conclusion we would say, thai
while we believe that every individual
and every community should abide py