The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-31
THE END OF THE REDWOOD,
The Famous Cedar of California Is
becoming Scarce.
From The Phlladelphla Times.

From the Philadelphia Times.
Unless something is done to decrease
the present rate of cutting redwood tim
Der from the California forests the supply
will be exhausted within the next genera
ton. The redwood is of slow growth, the
tree not reaching a marketable age in less
than fifty years, and then the timber is
only valuable for telegraph poles and
lesser uses of commerce, whereas if the
tree is permitted to attain its fun growth
its timber may be employed for any num-
Der of Ornamental purposes.
The tree itself is particularly beautiful
and is found only in california. where in
maturity it is from twenty to twenty-five
feet in diameter, and reaches a hight Of
from 100 to 400 feet. 1t is perfectly
straight and for nearly half its hight
there Is not a limb. 1t lives to the age
of 1000 years, some writer's say 1900
years, estimating from the number OF
rings around the trunk. The timber Is
largely used for WainscOtings panels and
ceilings, and being of a smooth grain
readily takes a fine finish. The lumber
is shipped to the Eastern states in large
cargOes also 10 Australia, New Zealand,
India and to other parts of the world.
The timber is at present being cut from
the forests al the rate of $50 100000 feet
year, and new companies have recently en-
tered the field. This viii increase the rate
of destruction perceptibly. Nearly all OF
the timber land be longs 10 the government,
and is located on in nearly every instance
for the sake of the trees a one. After the
tract has been cleared of all the mer-
chantable trees it is abandoned the "set-
tiers often leaving the premises without
making the final payment to the govern
ment The land thus lies idle, and is pIac-
ticaly Valueless for fifty years, or until
il is again covered with timber. Frequent
arrests have been made, but the depreda-
lions continue.
1t is understood, however, that more
forCeful steps to prevent the continued
annihilat.on of these monarchs of the for
est are soon to be taken. If this is not done
they VIII, like the bufaloes of the western
PLAINS, Compie tely disappear The redwood
tree is the hugest member of the vegeta-
BILE kingdom tiourishing in the United
States, and It's destruction VIII mean a
commercial as well as scientific and decor
alive loss 10 the United States. For years
it mas been an object of marked interest to
travellers from all over the word, some
of the trees being large that coaches
drawn by four horses have been driven
through arches cut in them.
Another cause of the growing scarcity is
the numerous forest fires which destroy
not only the young trees, but deaden the
huge monarchs and render them worthless
for commerce. 1t is charged that the men
in the lumber camps are crimnally care
less in regard to this and even fire the
woods from wantonness when they aban-
don a lumber camp. Government officials
patrol the woods, but they state that it is
difficult to discover the perpetrators Of
these outrages.
In many instances the timber lands are
located en- by dummies" or persons en-
ployed by lumber syndicates, and stripped
of the timber from which the syndicates
derive most of the profit There are now
about 100 cases before the federal court in
which charges are made that the accused
persons have taken from the lands from
1000 600 to 100000 feet of lumber each.
The timber belt is limited to a strip along
the coast, for this peculiar tree will not
grow very far beyond the fosgy region, nor
in high, cold attitudes. This section of the
state fairly abounds with tree hunters"
VINO are even more voracious and wasteful
in their atiack upon the redwoods than
were the hunters of old in hunting the now
practically extinct buffalo. The buffalo
hunters made a great deal of money but
the country suffered. Whether or not his
tory will, in the instance of the redwood
tree, repeat itself rests with the govern
ment officials having the matter in charge