Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-01
D0WD's GIANT TREES
CALAVERAS GROVE THE PRIDE
OF CALIFORNIA.
How the DISCOVERIES Story Of the
Forest Of Great Sequoias Was
Received by His Neighbors.
Written for The Star.

written Tor Inc STAR
That truth is stranger than fiction" Is
trite saying, but 1t Is one which is partcu-
larly apt to come into ones head during q
discussion Of the, great trees of California.
II a man had tried a hundred years ago to
tell an outrageous yarn concerning trees.
the size Of the trees to be- found in some
abode Of giants, it is altogether doubtful II
his figures would have been larger than
| those which actually represent the size of
the great sequoias. And 1t is certain that
his story would not have been more dis
credited than was the story Of A. T. Dowd,
the man who first discovered what Is now
| known as the Calaveras grove. and told
the simple truth about his discovery And
we can hardly wonder that he was placed
side by side with Baron Munchausen as an
| inventor Of big yarns. when we know the
story he told to people who had seen only
ordinary trees.
He told them that while in pursuit Of
wounded bear he found himself at night
| fall in a dark forest. The air was dry and
warm, and being weary. he stretched him
self on the ground and went to Sleep He
awohe about daylight, and when he saw
the kind Of forest he was in he rubbed his
| eyes and pinched himself to make sure he
was not dreaming. He saw all about him
| monster trees. such as no man had ever
seen before. They reared their heads.
seemingly into the blue sky. and their
| enormous trunks, DrlSnt cinnamon IN COiOr,
| scanned and ribbed, arose like mighty fiuted
pillars.
| Felt Like CULVER in Brobdingnag.
The hunter felt like CULVER felt in Brob-
| dingnag, and half expected to see the huge
| forms OF giants come striding through the
| wood. He knew that II the tallest church
of his native town were set down here the
cross on the pinnacle of its spire would be
| shaded nv tho hrqnchaS would a dolls
| house beneath q maple. He arose, and
| walking up to one Of the trees spread his
| arms around as far as they would go. Then
| he moved sidewise, placing his left fingers
where his right hand had been. He re-
peated this again and again, and found
| that he had to do 1t twenty times before
| he could circle the trunk. He looked up
| and saw that many OF the branches were
| from three to seven feet in diameter. that
| there were no end of smaller ones that
| were as big as ordinary trees. and he fg-
| ured that II all those branches were cut on
| close to the trunk and set In the ground he
would have a good sized forest Of big
| timber.
| Well, when he got back to civilization
| and sprung this story on his fellow towns
men they admitted they had heard liars
! before, but that the very biggest liar they
| had ever heard was George washington
| compared with Dowd. AS matter OF fact,
| his stories were much less wonderful than
| the trees themselves.
1t is almost impossible to comprehend
how impressive these giants are without
| actually seeing Them but some idea OF their
size may be had by comparing them with
| things Of every day life. We have all more
| or less of an idea of the great height of the
Flatiron building in New York city. II a
giant sequoia were transplanted TO the cor
ner of Broadway and 9Th avenue. the roof
| of the tall building would be In shadow.
More than that. If the tallest elm on Man.
haitian Island were set up on the roof OF
| the "F1atiron" the upper branches. OF the
| I, OH the elm well.
One Would Serve as a Bridge.
=, Gen. Walteuffel stated some time ago
that If he could have had one Of these big
| trees to throw across the Pei-ho river upon
! the arrival Of the international army 1t
would have served as a bridge across which
| he could have marched the entire army of
| thirty thousand men into Picking in forty
| five minutes.
| Looking at them from another point Of
| view, 1t is estimated that some Of these
trees contain as much as seven hundred
and fifty thousand feet of lumber each
| This would build a board fence six feet
| high and twenty-four miles long, or It
would supply enough telegraph poles to
| sas City to Chicago. II the tallest elm we
| know were bent into a circle 1t would about
| make ring for the base of one OF the big
| trees.
| But 1t is not their size alone which makes
| these great trees SO impressve; their age
| is even more remarkable. We are often re-
minded of the great antiquity Of the Pyra-
| mid of Cheops: yet when the great army
that ediflce. two thousand years before
| Christ, the great sequoias were already
older than the pyramid Is today; they had
| battled with the elements for probably at
| least four thousand years. They were old,
old trees when Methuselah was a baby;
| they are today the very oldest living things
| on the face Of this earth. And Americans
should regard them as priceless heritage,
which once taken from them could never
| be replaced. and they should at any cost
guard them forever from those who with
ak and saw would In one week destroy the
work Of eight thousand years.