Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-07-03

| Part III.
| The printer made me say the Gibbon
river is one of the widest in the world.
l am afraid there are those who VIII
question my geography. What l did
say is that the Gibbon is one Of the
widest and most picturesque rivers IN
the world. All the afternoon we fol-
low the Gibbon. 1t is a delightful and
charming ride The one who takes it
in any other part of the world, is inn
possible. The river fed by the eternal
SHOWS in the mountains that tower
above us, rushes on. on. Dashing.
lchurning, foaming, leaping the rocks
in it's course, impeding but never
checking it's precipitous flight as 1t goes
rushing and roaring to the plains be-
low. and thence to the sea. About the
middle of the afternoon we pass the
falls where the river, In it's reckless
| haste to reach the sea, leaps from an
1 S0-foot precipice and then gathering 1t
self again, goes rushing on. No boat
could live in that stream a moment,
but many a red man has crossed it
dry shod by leaping from rock to rock,
and what a glorious spot for the sports
man, with his trout line.
The Mass Of Forest.
| Toward the close of the afternoon
we reach the Fountain Hotel, the place
made famous by Thompson-Se Seton and
his bears, and as we enter the large
office, we find most welcome fire In
the great open fire place. Large enough
to receive five logs 8 feet long. And
here let me speak of the timber. For
unknown centuries the pine trees have
been falling on these mountains. How
Hong they will resist decay do not
know, but there they lie, Just as they
fell. years and years ago, crossed and
criss- crossed. A perfect net work OF
timber The soil is no where more
than 12 inches in depth. Underneath
this light mold is solid rock. The seed
of the pine tree quickly shoots up, and
after reaching height of 100 to $50
feet, its roots can no longer sustain
the swaying of the tree. and as the
soil is softened by the rains. the winds
topple the trees over and they lie just
as they fall, uprooted. each root re-
sembling huge disc, 6 to 10 feet in
diameter. 1t is the policy of the gov
eminent not to disturb this timber.
! This it is, that holds the snow and
checks its dissolution. This policy to
preserve the park in a perfect state of
nature, is carried to an extreme, and
believe that a more intelligent poll
| icy will prevail in the near future. 1t
seems to me that the wonderful water
power of these mountain rivers ought
| to be utilized, and can see no harm
in permitting the transportation COM
pany to cultivate the open areas near
the hotels, for garden purposes. The
Capabilities of the soil are marvellous.
will speak of this later. The innova-
ton of roads and hotels, already hav-
ling been made, can see no harm In
carrying the innovation a step further.
This policy is, am told. becoming
more liberal and plans have already
been approved to utilize the water pow
er of the Firehook at the Upper Geyser
BASIN to light with electricity and heat
the new hotel now under way. to take
the place OF the hotel burned In 1900.
This hotel site is on the banks of the
Iirehook and is the only place on the
route where the tourist now has to
spend the night in tents. 1t is to have,
in addition to the above, fifty hot sui
phur baths. At each hotel one sees
great piles Of the naked pine logs cut In
lengths of twenty to forty feet. These
make our firewood and are gathered
only from the lower places at the foot
of the mountain, where this network OF
timber is not useful as snow barrier.
But saw mill would utilize many
millions of feet that l can now see no
~ tut
fering with the natural features. This
lumber could be used to build hotels in
stead of transporting it hundreds of
miles.
Danger Of Fires.
Forest fires are greatly dreaded and
while every precaution is taken and
every foot of the route is patrolled by a
mounted guard twice a day during the
cpen season, fires will sometimes get
started in spite of watchfulness. The
waste of these fires is simply frightful,
and they are very dangerous 1t seems
to me that perfect protection can not
be had until the camper is prohibited.
Only two weeks before our trip soil
tary camper, frightened by the APP
proach of lot of bears, set a fire In
the open place where he had his camp.
This fire got away and burned over a
territory about ten miles wide and
twenty long The authorities were per-
fectly helpless until a blessed rain put
out the fire.
The spectacle of this burned area was
pitiful to look at. The season was very
dry, and 1t burned clean, every living
and dead tree. Picture lumber yard
ten miles wide and twenty miles long.
devastated by dreadful fire, and you
will have some idea of the devastation
fire works in the park. The next sea-
son after fire, the little pines spring
up again, and all over the park you will
see spaces, covering thousands of acres,
where the pine trees one, two, three
eight and ten year old. You know
from this that this area has been fire
swept, and If the forester can tell the
age of the little pines, he can tell you
when the fire occurred. The camper is
dreaded by the guards and he is a con-
slant menace to the park and to hui
man life. Camping is tolerated In order
that those people who can not afford
the tourist trip can see and enjoy the
park, but 1t seems to me that the man
outfit and can afford to leave his busi-
ness or his work, three or four weeks.
for it is no small task to get an outfit
and reach the park by team, can also
afford the tourist trip. The guards
have selected spots where the campers
,,,,,St locate cp1 mono of them are per-