The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1922-07-05

4 SutAE service. Ill the OlOA vs. 5USlOSe
appointments to consular positions
were hi any way regulated BY the age
1 of the applicant 1t was the occasional
hgbits ~ Presidents ID give easy posts
10 men 81 writing fame 50 that they
might work a little for their govern:
:3inent. and ailittle for themsely es amid Ain
fcongelial surround ings. IN N
q Among men or writing fame who
shavesserved the United States sip spne
capacity d Drs another In the dipl omAtict
service, ii hre Il or were thur Stler-
bourne Hardy, james Jeffrey Roche
Albion w Tourgee. Francis Bret
Harte, Francis ii. Underwood Fand OF
course james Russell lLowells and 9TH
Ber greater lights. n; 5.E5ss 3.S
When Albion w. Tourgee was serv-
ing his country as consul at Bordeaux,
France. he wrote for the pages Of the
Bully Consular Reports one Of the fin
est descriptive ARTICLES s0f its specific
Kind HAT IS known NJ Certainly no gov.
eminent document issued FOR the few
and casual real ers ever contained any
thing SO compelling. s 5s:9 N
Touroee's Reforestatlon Report. Il
The title of the article was simply
& eforestation In France The first
few lines showed little Of interest.
Then the eye reached this: y & 4 i
zone after another great waves Of
sand, moved by the restless winds that
swept across the Atlantic. scontinued
stheir tunce sing march across 1.-THE fair
plains Of southern France, burylng all
before them heIds, eadoWs, Vine
yards, houses. churches, even villages.
leaving behind them only gray saDil-.E
lows to which clung lunches ossbratEs.
ZEN, few starved bushes Of scrub DAkK
md thickets of white and purple g6fsAs
fighting stubbornly for q hold upon the
shifting sands, with here and there
some struggling groups 0f pine, the
protesting remains Of a great forest
which wind, and sand. and fire. and
water had spared" sssgss IN
Y This was the beginning OF q descrip-
ton Of the irresistible march of athe
gray sand dunes from the shore Of the
Bay Of Biscay toward the heart Of the
most productive land In Europe. The
story, for this old official communica-
5tion is a true story, continues: On
the seward side the great burrows,
lying one within the other, were bare;
and gray. The western winds lHtedS
the light sands and dropped them just
beyond the crest to- drown and srn0th..
er the shrubs which struggled up the
Ieeward side. Here Sand there in fa-
;vorable places a few scattered pines
marked the location ofsthe ancient for
5estst To- which the Greeks and the
Romans, perhaps seven ]. the a:P h oenicil-
ans, came for, timber and pitch
left their names on the shore to mark
the limits OF. forgotten commerce. Z.
4 @fhey brought Swith them, not only
reckless greed. but still more reckless
flame. which, cooperating with the
steady western winds and the sand
thrown up by the restless waves. ate
away the forests and left only the e
shifting dunes great 4 sand pillows
that. crept on inch by incha and year
.by year 5entonbing more ofathe bright.
,,blossomed bruyeres and genets. no
matter how bravely they fought Tor =
existence, leaving behind them only
dry roots, which the .forestiers' gath
cred for their hearths. = 5s 5. ..
Napoleon Stopped the Devastation.
ION! and on crept the phalanx Of
the terrible dunes, slowly but surely!
bliehting aIt Siin their path, not only.
creating a dasert But sdsstroying hope
las long as Tie wind blew from the
west The dimes marched toethe< east;
The desert Afes ravased the interyen-
ing spaces-focks grew fewer, the des-
oiation more extreme. In the heart of
sunny Francs a desert, was established,
ever increasing dnsfSt md q. threaten-
fig to stretch acfosE. Its Sfairest fields,
the aridness Of the Sahara"
\ Bremontier, one of the sons Of the
seemingly doomed region, conceived,
m idea of saving the country. It was
Napoleon who seizedsupon the thought
of Bremontfer. ''His VISION penetrated
the centuries and he saw the marchs0f
the deadly dunes arrested and the sdes-
ert they had created made to blossom
like d rose y f = 3 Az ' :
Today; as. we are told, the seeds Of
the pin MARTINEZ Of the French
were gathered and sprouted and the
young trees planted.
Now 1.-THE dark squad rons Of the pin
maritime are posted on, thousands Of
sandy slopes, faithful guardians in the
shelter OF which the vineyards and
wheat fields rest secure. The gray
dunes which we're sweeping over the
land have become serried fortresses
which shelter ciyiliza ton and pros
perity. 5,s,s I 81 H.
Sometimes It seems that a literary
consul" is worth while.> n y. ~ III
Model 81 "euffaIo Nickel" Dead.
The original mpdel Of the Buffalo
( steakels 5,,s e ,. Rgh .sss!,.s e1s;
Okla. Wis deAla, and his head, properly
mounted, hangs in the ranch house Of
the Miller brothers, This most sfa-
NOUS DC ell TIL b4sp9 diq Aahslks
nfaskf4 ahSi,tnr iilS1N agO Ms3 a 8Hath