The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-04-21
cuBAN TTMBER THREATENED-
Il m Thought That Grcedy LumbeFs
men MIay DespOiI the Islands
valuable EorRata.


Cen. Rivera, secretary Of agriculture
Ii Cuba, has made an appeal o the
preservation of the forests OF the is-
land. Under the Ameri,a ian rule they
stand a chance Of being treat
"a with the same injurious in
difference that has robbed this
country of a great source OF
wealth and left larges tracts denuded
Of vegetation, and, most important Of
all, the waterways without the pro-
lection that kept them from running
! dry at one season of the year and
flooding to the danger point at an
other. The valuable mahogany groves
Of Cuba can be continued forever as
a steady source Of incIimle for the
island or they can be allowed to be
wiped out at one fell swoop of the
lumber dealer. He is reported to be
already in Cuba, preparing to make
to the owners of the forests tempt
ing offers Of a little money so much
needed that the natives will be apt to
overlook the value Of what they own
and forget what is to their future ad.
vantage. Al few sawmills erected, rail
ways built and the means Of getting
the lumber to the sea provided and it
will be all over with the Cuban forests.
while an ounce of protection for them
now will save the young trees and
cause the intelligent care Of new plan.
tations and preserve to the islands one
of its best means of revenue.
1t is marvellous how rapidly 3 wood
can disappear and be lost to even
memory. An English traveller in this
country not many years since, in
writing Of a part of Connecticut where
the forest is now practically unknown,
spoke Of "the everlasting forest, from
which an America we cannot fly.
cannot remember that, except in some
part Of the prairies, I was ever out Of
sight Of the forests in the United
States, and I am sure I v wished
to be so. 1t was like the 'verdurOus
wall of paradise" combining the
mighty southern and western rivers
to their channels, We were, as it ap,
peared, imprisoned in it for many days
as we traversed the southeastern
states. We threaded it in Michigan;
of
we skirted it in New York and Penn.
sylvania, and throughout New Eng
land it bounded every landscape. Il
looked down upon us from the hill
tops; it advanced into notice from
every gap and notch in the chain. Tt
the native it must appear as indispen
sable in the picture gallery of nature
as the sky, To the English traveller
it is a special boon, an added charm,
newly created grace, like an infan'
planet that wanders across the tele
scope of the astronomer. = y = Mex
to the solemn and various beauty o
the sea and the sky comes that of thu
w~ilderness!"
Looking at it in a wholly utilita
rian spirit, the. mind reverts to tn
property loss to the country in lettin,
these magnificent woods be the pre-,
of the greed OF the lumberman, VIII
has cut without knowledge or pity
stamping out behind him all the fores
wealth as he goes on in his devastat
ing career, cutting right and left
without a care for the coming years
If forestry had not for so long beel
made a science in Europe we coul
have an excuse, but there is only heed
lessness and greed that can accoun
for what has been done.-Newpor
News.