The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1901-08-09
BLAMES THE
WOODCHOPPER.
DR.. JOHN s. FULToN's VIEW OF CAUSE
OF THE HOT WAVE.

DR.. JOHN s. FULToN's VIEW OF CAUSE
OF THE HOT WAVE.
DR.. John S. Fulton, secretary of the
State Board of Health, in discussing
the causes of the unprecedented heat
of the present summer had this to say:
"If any prophet should promise US
|, a l7-day sizzle next year he ought to
be drowned in Bessemer pot, but the
quality of the prophecy is good
enough. Such forecast, if made for
every one of the next 10 years, would
work out so per cent. correct, and
that is q good score for a weather
prophet. The steam-?acketing which
We had this year surpasses all previous
experience, but in another decade or
two We shall have adjusted ourselves,
at least as many of US as survive.
"The tax which we have paid to the
summer of 1901 seems extraordinary
but as matter of fact 'Old Sol has
not played single new trick. There
is no new item in the bill, tough each
item is little heavier. Several Amer
lean cities have broken all past NOR
tality records. Epidemic disease has
never claimed so many victims as the
recent heat has taken away. This
does not matter much, nor do we count
the narrow margin by which the sur
vlvors have escaped. The haggard
morning faces and the evening car
loads of sodden creatures-these things
only settle the shirtwaist question.
The things that hurt are the withering
crops and disordered markets. The
stockyards won't hold the hogs driven
to the abattoirs lest they die of chol-
era. The shambles are crowded with
cattle seeking to escape death from
thirst. Corn will BE- millions short,
and Kansas has taken to prayer. Peo-
pie can live, that is some Of them can,
the puddle of humidity being well
stirred by electric whirligigs. But the
cattle, crops and securities have to be
prayed for.
ga great Prime Minister was once
petitioned by religious Englishmen to
appoint day of fasting and prayer
that pestilence may be stayed. The
wise man replied that the pestilence
was not attributable to the will of Pro.
violence, but to the ignorance and will
fulness Of men that the causes of pes
thence were known and could be re-
moved. And it was so.
"Suppose the American public
should become convinced that the tor
lures Of the past few weeks may be
laid at the door of single class of citi-
zens, what would happen to our tor
mentors in the present hash-browned
state of the American temper?
"Well, our hot waves, cloudbursts,
floods, drouths and violent electric
storms are for the most part due to
the men who cut down trees. The
American woodchopper is the worst
that ever was. He cuts everything
that is worth cutting, and he never
cleans up his path. He made will
derness wherever he goes, and he goes
wherever there is timber. In some
parts of the West he has laid the land
so bare that there is no longer water
for irrigation, and the desert he has
made is far wider than the swath of
his ak. Count up the whole cost of
our frightful summer, and charge it to
the American woodchopper. He owes
it.
"Foreign cities have been cabling US
the stories of their distress-London,
Paris, Copenhagen, st. Petersburg,
sweltering at $40 and go. On this
side we would forswear ice for go.
We are parboiled at 1000 and 1889.
The European forests are very exten-
sive and 80 fine that they resemble
parks. The woodman cuts only such
trees as are marked for cutting by the
Government forester, and he cleans up
the rubbish. By this means the gen.
erous warmth of the sun both winter
and summer is distributed, stored,
made always useful. In America the
summer heat blisters the bare soil, and
the winds of winter are not tempered
to it's nakedness. A few States have
departments OF forestry, bu: the Amer
ican idea seems to be merely the reser-
vation of certain areas of forest land,
80 that to the error of cutting trees
that should stand we probably add the
mistake Of allowing to stand trees that
should be cut. Besides, we have
small boys scheme called Arbor Day,
when patriotic sons are sung and good
little trees are moved from the right
place to the wrong one.
"The question is national one, and
should be dealt with in broad, liberal
and decided fashion. old Sol is do
ing the best he can."-Baltimore Sun.
Judge jerks, of the New York Su-
preme Court, told the Law School Of
New York University the other day
that "the man with burrows in brow
wins against the man with creases in
his trousers every time"
William X. Vanderbilt will race in