Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-12-01
THE HASKIN LETTER
TO SAVE THE
nv Frederic !. Haskin.

Is UOW ~ fOR1
The whole state is up in
arms over the wholesale destruction
of these Oldest and rarest trees
which is now going on. IL you are
a loyal Californisn-if you were
born Thereon, IL your loyalty Is
based merely on a two-weeks visit
which you have never been able to
forget-or let your friends forget
Join this Save the Redwoods" cam
paign, and send an angry protest to
your Congressman.
Whether you have been to Calf
fornia or not, you have heard of its
redwoods, its monster trees, which
are the oldest living things IN the
world. Those of the Sierras are -
ready well protected. 10 the Gala
veras grove. at Wawona, in the Sc
quota National lark and General
Grant National Park, the giant trees
are safe for generations 10 come.
But the beautiful redwoods CT the
coast, smaller of girth but taller
even than their Sierra cousins,
are entirely without protection.
Through the heart of some of the
finest groves OF the coast redwoods,
the state of California built its coast
highway-one of the most glorious
highways ever conceived by Gar
For several miles you bowl along
under a giant sequoia archway, so
old and stately that it makes the
motor achievements of the twentieth
century appear smart but insignih-
cant. Yet the very building of this
road which has made 1t possible for
motorists to visit the Tedwoods has
resulted in their destruction. For
a good road and motor trucks have
made the timber marketable, and
the owners of the trees have lost no
time in converting them into
lumber.
Today everyone who travels over
this highway is heertsick at the
thought of the certain ruin that
awaits the entire stand of redwoods
unless sufficient funds are raised to
buy the timber lands along the road
and turn them into a state or ma
tional park.
Only A Few Left.
mot such a great deal is left to
be saved" explained the secretary
of the Redwoods League. in discuss
ing its campaign. 1T is not such
a great task that faces us, and the
mills are reducing 1t every day. One
mill is working within a hundred
feet of the state highway. in the very
heart of one of the most beautiful
remaining groves. Signs along the
road warn the motorist to beware
of falling trees.
There are only a few miles of
redwoods along the state highway,
not more than a dozen at most he
continued. hunting through his desk
for a map that would show their
exact location. You GO along for
some distance on a beautiful road,
shaded by oak and pine trees. Then
all at once the road dips sharply
into the shade of tremendous trees
that rise in straight columns 800 feet
or in the air. They are not
like the clumsy giants of the Sierras.
but graceful and beautifully proper
toned.
THE contrast between one of
these groves and the stretches of
~desolation where the lumbermen
have been at work is terrible. The
world must have lumber, no doubt,
and the redwoods must furnish their
share, but there are thousands OF
redwoods elsewhere in the state that
may be used for this purpose. To
destroy the redwoods along the
highway is simply a monstrous piece
of vandalism that it will take ten
centuries to make amends for"
Perhaps 1t is the ancient tree
worshipper in every man that makes
him love the ~redwoods. There seems
to be something kindly as we'll as
awe-inspiring about them, as If. hav-
ing watched man for centuries, they
had nothing but pity left for him.
The sequoias at n time covered
almost the entire northern hemi-
sphere, according to scientists. who
have unearthed their fossil remains
in Europe, Siberia, Alaska and CGn-
ada. And of all this tremendous
stretch of sequoia forest that once
encircled the world. only the Cali
fornia redwoods of the coast and the
Sierras have survived.
Among the latter. protected in the
national forest, are 10000 trees
which exceed ten feet in diameter.
The General Sherman tree. the
most celebrated of all. is 279 feet
high, with a diameter of sc feet.
The Abraham Lincoln is a close Sec
ond. being 270 feet tall with a diam
eter of 81 feet. and the William Nc.
Kinley Is 2s1 feet tall, with a diam
eter OF rs feet.
The Parks.
Inc General Grdnt NallOndl fdrk,
which is sometimes mistaken for the
Sequoia National Park because it is
separated from it only by six miles
of mountain and forest, was created
merely for the protection of one
giant sequoia. the General Grant
| Tree. 264 feet high and 35 feet in
diameter. Next to General Grant is
his distinguished neighbor, George
Washington. who is only Q feet less
in height and 6 feet less in diameter.
1t is a matter of record that 5000
fence posts. sufficient to build a wire
fence around eight or nine thousand
acres of land, were once made from
one of these giant trees, and that
was merely the first step i'm dispos-
ing of its great carcass. Next. ESQ.,
900 shinsles-enough to cover the
roofs Of seventy or eighty houses.
were taken from its trunk. This
left hundreds of cords of firewood,
which had to remain where it was
because it was too expensive to haul