Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-06-29

turtles and the millenniums to come,
then I soy the Yosemite rocks "teach
Va nothing" Then we have eyes to see
and we will not see, ana we have ears
to hear and we will not hear. Every
step you take, every move you make,
presses homo the one truth--that the
Creator Of this region IL eternal in his
own life and eternal In his purposes.
Mariposa grove. which grows Just
outside Of this valley and practically
under the shndow Of El Captain, as
living orators teach the eternal pur.
poses and workings OF the Divine Ta.
ther. My. what big preachers they are!
About 600 Of them grow near together,
as though they were ashamed of their
big girths and ashamed because, like
Saul, they raise their huge bodies not
only head and shoulders above all 9TH
er trees. but because they make other
trees look like pyginies beside them.
"Crixsly Bear" Columbia" "Haver.
ford" "Mariposa," "Wawona," Cali.
fornia," Telescope" The Three
Graces," are some Of the modern names
given to these famous trees. Some Of
them are over 300 feet tall. One ia 1Oi
feet In circumference and 80 feet from
side to side. One Is cut in the middle
at the base and has square cut out Of
II so large that great, three seated
stagecoacli with top covering, drawn
by four horses, can be driven through
1t. This tree was on the right of us, it
was to the left Of us, 1t was above us,
II was underneath u.s. One Of this same
kind Of trees in neighboring grove
was cut down few years ago that its
stump might be used as dancing
floor by visiting tourists. So huge. so
gigantic is "Old Grizzly" that 1t has
one branch, one right arm alone, TWEEN
ty feet in circumference. When
stood under this huge monster 1t lifted
itself so high and SO wide that felt
Its size almost passed human concep-
ton. Why, wart on one Of "Old
Grizzly's" cheeks would be large
enough to be used for an Indian wig
wan. A goitcr on his neck would be
big enough to house whole family Of
white folks and give to them a cellar.
parlor and bedroom floors, attic and
cupola besides. And its myriads Of
roots are almost enough to fence in tho
fields Of an ordinary farm.
Mariposa Grove.
The trees of Mariposa grove. grand
old veterans are they! No other liv-
ing warriors have fought so many bat
ties. What mighty tornadoes have
they defied! What strength Of thou
sand Herculeses is in those iron back
bones What unconQuerable heights
have they! What forest fires have
they endured But after nll. the most
impressive fact to me about these trees
is not their great girth nor their great
height. but that they are living trees.
They are not mummified trees found
among the cemeteries Of dead trees.
what is the greatest fact that i'm
presses you about the big trees?" l
asked a gentleman. THAT they are
alive" he answered. Yes. that is the
overwhelming fact about Mariposa
grove. Those big trees IRE alive, just
as We are alive. You can 60 and stand
by some Of them and see their sides
wrinkled and scared like the indenta-
tons upon the cheek OF the sphinx Of
the Egyptian desert, but you can feel
that they are alive. You can see where
some Of their sides have been burned
by forest fires. In the Haverford tree
the wood burned out OF one side has
left q cavity large enough to shelter
twenty horses or head of cattle from
the winter storms. yet the Haverford
tree is alive. The great Telescope tree
had forest Ares eat into its sides and
tunnel their way into it's center and
then from the center burn up until you
can stand at the bottom Of the tree
and look up through 1t and see the blue
sky Of the heavens above you. Yet the
Telescope tree Is alive and still grow
Ing. The six hundred trees of Mari.
posa grove are emphatically alive.
As stood with uncovered head amid
the huge trees Of Mariposa grove "Old
Griszly." the greatest Of the group IL
he could have spoken might have said:
"White man Of the east, you think you
belong to a race Of kings. but would
tell you that you are not a king. You
are 40 short lived that you are no more
u Auc tudu Tue IuocCt WHICH ID OOTU
In day, grows old In a day and dies
Of old age at the setting Of the sun Is
20 you. You think you know the past.
but have seen more sights and heard
more sounds than your people will ever
see or hear though they may live to
be as old as Methuselah. My ears have
heard the birth cries and the death rat.
ties not of generations, but OF species
When had been living thousands Of
years I heard the click Of the trow-
els and the groan' lgs Of the machinery
that lifted the rocks and laid the cap.
stones of the pyramids. When
stretched my head above the clouds 50
that could see upon the other side
Of the world eonh see the thrones OF
the Caesars lift themselves and then
totter and fall heard the angels
chant the song of the Nativity above
Bethlehem of Judaea. have seen
Athens rise In her power and the Gre
clan sculptors and the poets wax and
wane and die. The old mound builders
used to pitch their wigwams at my
feet. Backward. still backward, into
time I 60. Long before the coyotes
call was heard among the hills or the
grizzly bear growled at the Indians
who afterward took their name I lived.
Though have lived at least 5000
roo in tho noct nm Nv,tN~ ctil1