The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1908-07-23
PASSING OF OAK A
TREE IN ILLINOIS

TREE in ILLINOIS
Rrookport, H.. July "a (spe-
cial. Along in the late SOS the hast
Of the rich section OF the valuable
hardwood timber belt that once
stretched over the great central val
laey east OF the Mississippi, was pene-
tratcd by the extension of oombi-
nation of small railroads that reached
from East st. Louis TO BellevIlle TO
I P.rckneyviile. the St l.. a. C. S. l..
10 Murphysboro, the ST. Louis Coal
Kentucky to Carbondale, the st.
Louis Central to Marion, the old Car.
I bondale a. Shawneetown and TO
, Brookport by construction and here
the locomotive was met by the large
double track SIXTEEN car transfer. the
Steamer George w Parker, and the
cars were feiTied across the Ohio and
landed al the prosperous little south
.em city Of Paducah, Ky.
! This line crossed the Ozark range
of hills two miles east of Parker on
the Cairo division Of the Big Four
railroad. dropped down the east slope
, By descent Of something near 400
feet IN a distance Of four and one
half miles along the headwaters of
the Big Bay and Cache creek. and
from Slmpgon-to Round Knob passed
through one Of the finest belts of
hardwood timber the world had ever
known. where Immediately sprung
up chain OF thriving saw mill VII
lagos, from which was shipped mill
lions OF feet OF as fine hardwood
lumber as the northern market had
ever inspected.
Here also came the box shook and
heading machines, and the spoke and
axle men. and the ruthless butcher
OF the forests, with their shining
blades and SAVE, the great cross tie,
companies. and for Ave or six years
the ring OF the axe could be heard
and the huge piles of ties ranked
alongside OF the right-of-way could
be seen in every direction Here,
too. over the shining rails snorted the
,iron horse daily. with her train of
box cars and swarms of co'ored labor
ers gathering up the ties and loading
them FOR shipment to the prairie
country OF the north and west. where
they were needed to go under the
trunk lines of overland commerce.
Thus disappeared IN few years
the urgent pride OF nation, forest
that had thus far eluded the wild
schemes OF the spectators, on ac-
count of the rough range of Ozark
hills that lay between these timbers
and the Big Four railroad to the west
and the high BLUM ridges east along
the Ohio river
There is still some fine timber held
by conservative farmers and most
farmers have their dminutive woods
lot but commercially It is all gone.
Indeed so thoroughly was the rem
nants worked by the heading mills
which use gum, EN- and almost II
not all kinds of timber, that one can
look out from the car window across
the valley at almost any point on the
road and see the majestic cedar clad
ridges that lnclose Hike massive walls
one of the most fertile valleys in the
world. Indeed the debris is being
rapidly cleared away and where but
a few years ago stood the massive
oak from a single specimen OF which
~ standard railroad cross ties were
cut, now grows some of the finest
Ltlmothy and corn IN the world.
Il, This land. too. is not yet valued
high in the sense that high prices. are
construed, but the prices for the past
year or two have begun to decline,
and eaeh new oornheld or meadow
that is cleared from the underbrush
gives new impetus to the prices that
before prevailed.
The recent construction of the To-
mile branch line from Reevesvil.e via
the b. f. b. to Golconda. H., on the
Onio river, completed the opening OF
the gate TO the outside word of the
whole area or valley shown on old
maps as the southern Illinois ever
g,ades, and the active. work by farm
ers and the district authorities in the
draining of the few. remaining shall
low cypress pounds bids fair to soon
develop the garden spot of southern
Illinois.
The completion of the extension
planned by the c. B. & Q. from
Marion, the c. a +. |. from Joppa,
the Big Four from Harrisburg and
the Pennsylvania company or Wabash
from near A,tamont to Brookport,
the trolley line from Metropolis via
Brookpoft to New Liberty, the estab-
lishment of the winter head of the
Ihakes-to-the-gu.f deep water way al
the mouth of the Tennessee river as
recognized by the Mississippi valley
river men, and the construction oil
the large double-track railroad bridge