The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1921-02-23
OLYMPIC CYCLONE
CAUSED HEAVY LOSS
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRI-
CULTURE REPORTS WORST
DISASTER IN YEARS.

| Washington, d. C.-The greatest
fire trap known in the history of the
United States resulted from the cy-
clone which swept the forests of the
Olympic Peninsula in the State OF
Washington on January 49, according
to telegraphic reports received by the
United States Fore It Service.
! "a tremendo Is tornado" states
Acting Forester f. A. Sherman
hicW down timbnr estimated at five
to e:rht billion board feet, in strip
70 nl1les long and % miles wide, one
y lilon board feet of which is within
t. olympic Nati5na. Forest. If the
loss Is as great as enlcunce1 and la
test reports tend to increased rather
than to diminish the extent Of the
catastrophe, this is the greatest dis
aster ever recorded in the annals of
forestry or NUMBERING"
A wind velocity of 1872 miles an
hour was recorded at the North Head
Station of the Weather Bureau, near
the mouth Of the Columbia River,
which was partly destroyed by the
storm. The observer at this station
estimates that after his instruments
were wrecked the wind increased in
strength to $50 miles an hour. The
highest wind velocity ever recorded
previous to this date on the Pacific
Coast was 144 miles an hour at the
Port Mendocino Station in California
in 1885,
Chance for Salvage Small.
THE wind thrown TIMBER" said
Mr.. Sherman, (which, reports state,
lies in tangled mass over an area
of 2,250 square miles, is largely
western hemlock and spruce, both of
which are subject to rapid decay
Transportation is lacking for much of
this region, and it is doubtful whether
any considerable proportion of the
timber can be salvaged unless prompt
action is taken. The stand was ex-
ceedingly heavy Where the full force
of the wind was felt practically every
tree was thrown down, and all roads,
trails, and telephone lines were COM
pletely obliterated. Much of this
destruction is on land owned by pri-
vate individuals and large timber
Forest Service field officers re-
port that, as far as is known, no one
was killed by the storm, although +,
there were many narrow escapes. A
large number of buildings were de-
stroyed and some cattle killed. It is
believed that many of the elk which |
inhabit this region we're killed, or if |
not killed are hemmed in by the
1own timber and debris and will I
slowly starve. The storm zone reach
I'd entirely through the best winter
,eeding grounds of these animals.
Fire Danger Is Enormous
eff fire should ever gain headway
n this devastated area, the most
tupendous conflagration ever known
n this country would result The
geography is very broken and the
,low-downs are in part at least
,nown to be "spotty," with much
inc timber uninjured. Fire would not
'nly destroy all these islands of tim
er but would seriously endanger
asst surrounding stand. Fifteen bill
ion feet is exposed in the adjoining
art of the Olympic National Forest,
esides large amounts on State and
rivate lands. The destruction would
e likely to exceed even that of 1910,
he most appalling fire season ever
by the Forest Service,
7hen over four million acres of Ma
ional Forest land were burned over
I the West, and 61s billion feet of (