Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1916-02-25

|
| TREE.
Refilling his long, black clay pipe
and topping it with live coal, I'm
Gle Ez, mindin2 the curiosity of the
timber seekers over an old deer
hide covered and square-shaped
trunk that stood in the corner by
the tall wooden clock, remarked:
That there was made out O. the
Kings Tree by my grandfather
down in Massachusetts when he was
a young man, long 1924 or there
abouts. Grandfather was handy
with tools and he wanted to make
his mother and sweetheart bureau
and table, and himself trunk, but
he couldn't find any timber near O.
the right kind, only that that had
been marked wi the Kings broad
arrow"
NOTE.
The new charter of N. +. i'll 1902 provided
that all pine trees which were more than two
feet in diameter at a foot above the ground,
should be the property OF the king Tor the royal
navy. A surveyor general of the kings woods
was appointed, whose duty it was to see that
such trees were marked by stamping the
broad arrow" upon them. The fine for cut
ting one of these trees was one hundred pounds.
In I724 timber controversy still ragged in New
| England over the con6scation of the best tim
Der from the forests for government use
marked with the kings bread arrow"
So grandfather thought he'd take
his chances wi the kings agents, or
woodwards, and chop down one O.
those trees which stood back O. their
house a few rods. His folks didn' t
! know he'd done it; he KEEP it from
'em cause he didn't want 'em to
( worry, they'd got so old, and he
wanted to make his mothers heart
glad with nice bureau to put her
(: things in. Grandfather said that
;. when he was chopin the tree down
an old Injin who had showed him.
t self friendly happened around and
: pointing to the mark of the broad
e arrow" exclaimed, Him! Him
Big Chief! No chop" Grandfather
), pointed his finger above and an
, swered, HIM Him! Big Chief
: Give me tree chop" The Injin re-
piled, ME Injun, heap tree, nc
' chop!" In the course of a year
e after that, by the time he had the
3 kings tree worked up into lumber
and seasoned, and had made the bu
e reau and table and trunk, wealth OF
e possession he had so ardenUly looked
forward to and took such keen de-
:. light in the maxim, the kings for.
y esters ranged the woods again ir
y the locality where they were living
Il and observed the stump of lost
= marked tree. There was one tree
h missing out of the number counted
v and marked with the broad ar
d row." and here is the stumpl Grand
father had a sweetheart whose home
e was mile away in the woods, theil
9 nearest neighbors, to whom he haC
d confded his secret about cutting
> down the kings tree. The for
e esters called at her home and haC
u dinner. They asked her father il
= he knew of any trespassing in the
! kings woods of cutting dowr
s marked trees. When she heard thai
Z remark she put on her sun-bonner
- and ran along the wood-path tight:
she could go to grandfather's home
and told him that the foresters were
coming. Grandfather then told hi
folks what he'd done and that HI
guessed he'd better hiker off SOM
ers, but that he'd be back sometime
B before very long and for them tt
b not worry. He had two oldel
B brothers and two younger, and foul
sisters at home, soft he want goin
to leave his parents alone. H,
grabbed his gun and ammunition
and bundle of clothes and food hi
mother had hastily done up, anC
kissin' his mother goodbye started
H with his sweetheart back in round
h about way to her home. In tn
meantime the foresters were stroll
ing thro' the woods tor'd their set
Element lookin' arter the king
trees, and comm across the stunt
O. the tree he had cut down, wen
straight to his log abode and de