The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1908-10-23
MCH1GAHs FOREST nRxG.
million Acres Of Timber Land 4ayo
Doen Burnrde<rver This Yeas.

A%ASS "a 4AAO0 A1080 10Y
Doen Burnsas<,ver This YsAr.
This years serest frcs III 3fichkean
are alnssag the u0st destructive TIT
hare ever visited fhs state. Ffree =
1871 swept i strip az forty miles Mfde
and $50 miles borg. extending ncrom
the central psirt az the State sron LAko
Huron to Lake M~Iehl-an. Al this tino
more than 4.dssi.asn.ss,o feet Of tinabeo
In board measure was Destroyed -
failing a financial foss Or 31O000Ooo
and resulting In the deaths * SEVERAL
hundred persons
Ten years later. In September. 1854.
more Than i.Sn square miles Ia vuriouo
parts of Michigan were swept BY forest
fires. This resulted in q los In prog.
erty or x2.aGsayoso. In addition b ~
timber destroyed. The number Of fiveD
lost was estimated at from 80 u 504
and more than 1000 persons were renr
derssi destitute.
This years fires. while not involvine
great sacrifice of life. ara wofuily ~
structive OF timber. rrof. Roth, Stats
forester Of Michigan. whs has visited
the burned distriets In ths northesn
parts Of the state. says that II tho low
est calculation 4 million acre@ II tim
Der have been burned ov0r this year,
including between 3.O00 ana <.000 acres
Of the Michigan forest reserve. TO ~
timber this land viii cost s. peT acrat
and the new growth destroyed wa
easily worth m much more. ~ tnat tn
total loss In these two items alone win
approximate $i0,GNO00O In addltioa
there was the mcrchantable timber. tho
farm dwellings and sven villages thae
fell prey to the aames. bringing to
total loss up TO startling proportions
Michigan was once the h0ene - maer
nifcent forests. bat they have been fritz
tered away until now only q rsmindes
OF their former magnitude senaainA
Where the timber barona have nos
stripped the land Of tn wealth for~se
fires have becn permitted 10 taxe -
will. aside from the efforts put forth ~
s~etslers in checking their progress. an1
millions OF dollars that might have
been saved by the exercise ~ proper
caution have gone up In smoke
Forest fires differ greatly. but ID any
event the results ara the same~-o
biackened waste that viii for I genera
ton Q T more be practically worthless
even for agricultural purposes Tho
rich mold covering the ground. ana
which may have been accommodating To-
ages. II burned over, the nitrogen ~
tracted ard the soil rendered useless
for years "a come.
There Is no more magnificent cxhih3-
tion OF unrestralnei force THAN thAt
furnished By a forest Ore. The spec
faele IL onr never To be ferg0ttcu. ana
well worth witnessing. provided you
are ut n safe distance and have no
financial interests I'm the district dcvaor
tated. Onward the flames sweep, form
Ing a wall Of fire an high AZ the trees
deyomred. The roar Ia an of 4 tho4a-
sand trains. and the cracking OF tho
flames az they leap grcedily from tres
to tree, licking up everything infafn-
mabic. reaching out for fresh prey. n
easily dissinguishabls above MI Other
sounds.
Nothing Is spared. The higher tho
tree. the more greedy the tongues e
fame that dart forth to envelop IL
Filling the air for miles around Ii !
dense cloud OF pungent smoke that
ehokes the lungs and makes breathine
difficult. The country Ii hidden Iron
view. and n Il often AffBNait n -
: more than a few feet away. Ana
through. 1t all can be distinguished @
times the sun high overhead like d
great ruby ball. strangely ~emblemat1e
Of the often futile struggle for lifo
being waged in the plaguc-stricken al.