The Washington herald., 1909-10-10
TAFT SAW GIANT TREES
MaripOSa Grove and Yosemite Valley Offered Thrills for
the President.
the President.

! Qndian for big trees) now stands. In the
summer or that year he discovered the
big trees. He opened g trail and built a
log cabin I'm the grove for the comfort OF
visitors. This cabin became known as
Galen's Hospice.
1t is c pleasant drive OF eight miles
| from the Wawona Hotel 10 the grove OF
/ four square miles on the west slope OF
the Sierras, an altitude OF from $500 70
/ 800 feet. There are COO Sequoias IN the
/ two groves. The trees were named after
Sequoiah, a Cherokee Indian born IN
Alabama about ITO. who prepared an al
phabet and written language for HIS
tribe
The Sequoia Is an evergreen The body
IS bare for nearly 100 feet. II requires a
much greater quantity o. moisture than
other forest trees. Tho foliage Is scanty
and the roots not extensive, and Il Is
! thought the enormous growth Is due 70
their deep breathing OF mountain air The
cones are about the size OF a hens egg.
II takes two years for the seeds TO ma
ture, and another year before these par
snip-like seeds fall from the cone.
There are but few young SeQuOias TO be
face OF the ground IS so deeply covered
with the fallen matter and dead veea,s-
ton that the seeds seldom get into the
soil.
Symmetrical in Form.
The average diameter OF these sequoias
at the base IS about twenty feet: the av-
erage height. 275 feet They are so SYM
metrical in form and height that their
size is deceptive. The illusion is dispelled
when they are measured by some IA
miliar object
The President saw Grizzly Giant. the
patriarch OF the grove, which Is 1O4 feet
in circumference at the base. 30 feet :
inches five feet from the ground. and 224
feet in height. A limb 50 feet from the
ground measures twenty and a half feet
In circumference. According 10 the esti-
mate made by the examination OF the an
nual ring growth. this tree IS thought to
be 600 years old and contains LOO. 900
feet Of lumber. sufficient TO build fifty
siX-roOm houses.
The Mariposa was pointed out as the
finest tree in the grove. circumference
100 feet: height, 20 feet President Taft
drove through q tunnel ten feet high.
through WawOna tree. which has a diam
eter OF twenty-eight feet. He saw Fallen
Monarch. twenty-slx feet in diameter and
300 feet long, prone upon the earth. and
listened TO the story Of how a six-horse
stage was photographed on the tree.
He also saw trees with familiar names:
Washington. Lincoln. GARFIELD. Mckinley,
and Hay; Grant, Sherman. Sheridan. Lo-
gan, Robert =. Lee. and Stonewall Jack
son: Francis Scott Key. Longfellow, and
Whittier. Admiral Dewey has a tree
named after him. the only instance Of a
living man having a Sequoia namesake.
Trees Are Old.
Who can tell the ages OF these trees?
In examining tho fallen trees II IS found
that the annual ring growth near the
heart numbers ten to the inch, and near
the outside surface. fifty to the inch. The
average rate OF growth is estimated at
one inch OF diameter for every twelve
years.
There is an annual inside growth OF
bark, formed in contact with the new
outside growth OF wood. The cinnamon
colored bark is from one foot to three
feet in thickness. The bark acts as guar
dian. Fire does not reach the heart Of
the tree. The Sequoia has no disease,
does not decay. cannot be blown down.
has an irrepressible vitality.
One Is filed with generation as he
realizes that he stands in the presence OF
the Oldest living thing on earthl Ma
jestic old SeQuoias. tell me, were YOU
alive when Adam was put into the Gar
den OF Eden to dress It and to keep itY
Did the winds murmur a requiem among
your branches that dark. yet moonlit.
night when the lonely. homeless
Prophet OF Galilee prayed under the olive
trees in Gethsemane? Patrisrchs OF
peaceful solitude farewell. In your ven
cradle presence I bow the head In rever-
ence, and wonder II you Will Be- swaying
In the Snowy Range when the clock OF
time strikes at the last. The only living
link from the tree Of life in Eden 10 tho
tree OF life In the midst OF tho paradise
OF Cod
Ny heart is awed within me when I think
OF the great miracle that still gees on
In silence round mc-the perpetual work
OF thy creation. finished yet renewed
Forever. Written on thy works l read
The lesson Of thy own eternity.
Life mocks the idle hate
OF his arch enemy. Death-yea, seats himself
Upon the tyTant's throne.-the seppilchre
And Of the triCmphs Of his ghastly foe
Makes bis own ncuTishment. For ne caTo forth
From thine own bosom and shall have no end
There have been holy men who hid themselves
Deep IN tho woody wilderness. and gave
Their lives 10 thought and prayer till they outived
The generation born with them. nor seemed
Less aged than the hoary trees AID rocks
Around them; and there have been holy men
Who deemed it were not well TO pass life thusi
But let mo often % these solitudes
Retire. and in thy presence reassurs
Ny feeble virtue