Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1921-04-14
THE CEDAR
Of lebanon
Maud Robinson TOombs

read with interest by our readers as
it refers to c. H. Rintelman, bro
ther of Mrs. A. L. Fontaine.
From earliest biblical times the
Cedar of Lebanon was the symbol of
majesty and held sacred 1t is called
"the tree of Jehovah planted by His
right hand crowning the great noun
tains," and in the XCII Psalm is the
beautiful verse: The righteous shall
flourish like the palm tree; he shall
grow like a cedar in lebanon.
The cedar is native of Syria on
the coldest part Of Mt. Lebanon where
it grows at an altitude of 1000 feet.
1t is a coniferous evergreen of the
larger sort, bearing large roundish
cones of smooth scales, standing erect,
needles one inch long and thick set.
The wood is reddish hue and very aro-
matte, reputed almost imperishable
and of such bitter taste that worms
and bugs cannot endure it. For this
reason the ancients used tablets of
cedar when they wrote anything they
wished to last. They also smeared
their books and writings with a juice
drawn from cedar to preserve them
from rotting. Cortes is said to have
built palace in Mexico in which were
1000 beams of cedar most of it 120 #
long and four feet in diameter The
cedar used in the main mast of the
galley of King Demetrius measured
130 feet long and eighteed feet in dia-
meter. The wood was in particular
demand for religious buildings. King
Hiram of Tyre sent it to King David
as the most precious material with
which to build the temple of Jer-
usalem.
It's massive trunks great height and
dark heavy foliage, green at all sea-
sons, made the forests of Lebanon fa-
nous the world over even in the days
of the prophets. Heroes and emperors
were likened to the kingly cedar of
| Lebanon which stood for all that was
precious and majestic in trees. The
wonderful fragrance of it's wood,
which never dies away, also made it
highly priced.
Some of the giant trees on the
slopes of Nc. Lebanon were said to
have been planted by Solomon himself,
and when Palestine was opened to the
christians in the middle ages the
patriarchs threatened with ecclesias-
| tical censure those who harmed these
venerable old trees by making pill
grimages to them in order to collect
wood for crosses, tabernacles and the
| interior of churches. In this manner,
| the grove was no doubt saved for fu-
ture generations, but a scientific in
vestigation conducted by Sir Joseph
Hooker, the eminent English botanist
in 1860 reported a rapidly diminishing
number of trees. Those remaining
did not exceed four hundred in num-
Der, varying in girth from eighteen
to forty feet, and he found no seed
lings or young trees, showing that
favorable conditions for the germina-
tion of the seed must occur at great
intervals. It will be seen therefore
how rare and valuable these trees are
and how difficult to raise from seed.
In 1868 the cedar of Lebanon was
introduced into England, and in the
latter part of the eighteenth century
is was brought OF this country 1t is
claimed that there are only five adult
specimens in the United States, many
of the trees which pass for Lebanon
cedars both in this country and in
England, being the much easier grown
and far less valuable cedar of Mt.
Atlas. The trees in the United States
are:
The "Old Cedar" in a field in the
northern section of Flushing, Long
Island; one on the Prince estate, also
in Flushing; one at Woodlawn, Prince
ton, New Jersey; one on the Coils
Huntington estate at Throggs Neck,
L. l., and one in Idaho.
The cold Cedar" has right to it's
title as it is the largest, most vener-
able of the fire trees. It has been
the object of many pilgrimages from
tree lovers all over the country, some
coming all the way from the Pacific
coast, and with reason, for it is a ma
jestic specimen. 1t stands at a height
of rs feet, with a diameter of six feet,
and its lower limbs extend ffty-four
feet It's heavy and matted branches
spread their plane-shaped masses of
dark green, both winter and summer.
The origin of this venerable ancestor
cannot be traced but it was probably
brought over as a Seeding in the re-
volutionary times.
The cedar on the Huntington estate
was imported by Philip Livingston,
the former owner of the estate. 1t is
about seventy feet tall.
The Princeton tree was planted at
Woodlawn by the late Judge Field in
1912. It is in the neighborhood of
SiYty foot