Evening star., 1925-08-13

Forest fires are raging throughout
the Far West, where lies the main
supply of timber. Hundreds of miles
of forest are being consumed. 1t is
estimated that forest fires annually
destroy as much timber as all the saw
mills cut. The most elaborate system
of fire protection is inadequate 10 pro-
tect the forests from these annual
holocausts. Annual fire loss is above
$50 900, 900, not estimating the dam
age done TO surviving young trees and
to the soil.
Not only is the loss serious to the
owners of the forests, but equally so
to the public consuming lumber, at an
average of some SIG board feet per an
mum. Whether one is a householder
or just a renter, the loss of timber
by fire touches his pocketbook in in
creased cost of his SIC feet per an
mum, or in rental upon what he re-
quires from his landlord.
Ten years ago we were told by tim
ber conservationists that the country
was on the verge of total timber de-
nudation. They assured the public
that within 10 years there would be no
more hardwood; within Is years there
would be no soft wood within reach of
transportation and in rs years there
would be no wood in America and we
brick, iron and concrete.
X
Times up" says Bluebea I'd.
Times up" Time at least to check
up on these prophets of disaster, says
the lumber manufacturer.
The mills are cutting over 10000 900
acres of timber annually. Soft woods
are being cut eight and a half times
as fast as new growth is replacing
them. Col. William s. Greeley. chief
forester of the United States Forest
Service, says that forest fires consti-
tute rs per cent of our forest problem,
for the acreage of timberland destroy
ed by fire constitutes whatever short
age is impending in timber supply; if
it were not for the fires, the new
growth would keep up with the saw
ing.
The venerable quirp to the effect
that figures won't lie" does not seem
to apply to the estimates made from
time to time by various authorities,
concerning the supplies of different
kinds of timber.
In 1880 the United States Census
| reported that the forests of continen-
tai United States contained 405 sos. 100
thousand feet of soft woods. Ten
years later, 1890, the same authority
found 1 1,o90, ,00o, 900 thousand feet, and
in 1916 the United States Forestry
Service discovered 2,12S,50O 900 thou
sand feet-reduced by four years
cutting 1920 to 1,755,218,o00.
To a less degree, but with similar
wild guesses, the Census reported
hard woods, in 1880, amounting to
435 ,6s5, 900 thousand feet. and the
Forest Service found that in 1916
after 36 years of destructive saw
ing"-there was still growing hard
wood timber to the amount of 49,
675 900 thousand feet.
1t was partially upon the basis of
such inaccuracies that the prophets
of timber famine based their mis-
givings.
The average waste of the mills is
shown by the statistics of their an
nual savage. In 1899 there were
1888 mills, and they sawed over
35 900 900 Thousand feet of lumber. In
1922 the number of mills had de-
creased, while the average capacity
Increased, and they still sawed 5,0o0,-
600 thousand, feet of all kinds of lum-
Der.
The peak of lumber saving was
reached in 1909, when 44,509.7 ISL thou
sand feet were produced, and the low
est point of the last quarter century
was reached in 1921, when the mills
| sawed only 3o,500,000 thousand feet.
No exact tigtlreS are available beyond