The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-08-10
UN|MPORTANCE OF
MAN EMPHASIZED
BY HUGE SEQU0|AS
Trees of National Forest, Over
1000 Years Old, Among
World Wonders
BY GEORGE d. MANN

Glacier Point, Yosemite Park, Aug.
4.-What Is man that God should be
mindful of him, Is a reflection that
comes readily as the wonders of this
national park are unfolded. No one
who has not viewed the sequoias,
those giant trees of the Sierras, can
appreciate Kilmer's great apostrophe.
What is lovelier than a tree? It is
less than IL hours by train and auto
to the splendors of the Yosemite from
the clamor of Los Angels, hectic over
the Tenth Olympiad and its job of
welcoming the world. Here indeed is
the Sabbath quiet within a few hours
from the city of milling millions.
Speeding out of Los Angeles, up
through the vineyards of the San
Joaquin valley, home OF the sun
kissed raisin, we entered this national
park by the Fresno gateway. Fresno
is the hot spot of the valley. Tenn
perature climbs to 1T in the shade
and try to find the shade-but it is a
thrifty city of $4,000 population, half
of which are Armenians. Here is is
sued one of the few, if not the only,
Armenian language daily newspaper
in the United States.
Through miles of vineyards, which
paid good profit before Volstead got
his dry idea, the Yosemite is ap-
preached through the Sierra National
Forest. Great sugar pines, holly
leaved oak and sequoias comprise what
is almost forest primeval.
Giants of Old
Make a sharp turn in the highway,
and the great sequoias of the Mari
posa grove loom up like giants. Some
are estimated to be nearly 1000 years
old, but they show no signs of dete-
rioration-fine examples of tree i'm
mortality. That age fills one with
awe. These monarchs of the Sierras
grow from one to one and half
inches q year and in some years they
slump little under that figure, but
foresters versed in the lore of the tree
circles, read their ages by that means
as veterinarian reads the teeth OF
a horse to determine age. There Is
usually one ring for each year of &
trees growth and the expert is thrown
off the track only when fire or dis
ease has obliterated some of the rings.
Probably these trees have attained
an age of 5000 years, for John Muir,
the famous Californian naturalist, the
authority for this statement, said he
counted rings on one sequoia that in
dicated at least 5000 years.
What greater inspiration for lover
of nature than to stand beneath one
of these trees? He feels puny in COM
parison and insignificant as he real
ICES that these trees have stood for
at least four millenniums. Many of
them were full-grown when Caesar
conquered Gaul. They approached
their prime as Moses was leading the
children of Israel out of bondage.
Undaunted by Age
One tree lover, writing of the Sc
quotas, has said: ''They stood in a
calm and undaunted maturity when
Jesus trod the Judean hills; and when
William of Normandy fought on the
field of Hastings they were already
putting on the hoary garments of
age"
Seemingly they are not much hurt
by age, ravaged only by fire and the
hand of man. Bolts Of lightning de-
stroy their tops, but like that sequoia
called the Giant Grizzly, they stand
undaunted.
Disease rarely attacks them and
their recuperative powers are charac-
teristic of the genus. They measure
more than Is feet in diameter and
have attained height of nearly 400
feet. Half a million feet of lumber
is contained in an average sequoia
and the wood, when freshly cut, Is OF
beautiful roSe-red color. It's ex-
treme softness robs it of great COM
mercial value. Cost of milling is great
because ordinary numbering methods
cannot be used and the trees have to
be dynamited to be reduced to the
proper sizes.
The drive to Glacier Point is over
rather perilous, narrow trail, but
these professional drivers know Their
curves and one can ease back in the
cushions and enjoy mountain Scenerj
that defies description. Today the
park is being preserved for those who
like to hike or explore on horseback.
To the memory of the Unknown,
Dead in the war, giant tree has
been dedicated and in memory OF
Stephen Mather, father of the ma
tional park system, a small sequois
has been planted so that ages hence
his name will still live as this tree
towers toward the skies.