Evening star., 1937-04-10
BY Henry Lyon.

4 5 PART of a sweeping develop
~ ment now in progress at the
~ Patuxent Research Refuge,
were tuSily engaged in razing large
shed-Save house structure near Snow
den Hall. Sections of foundation had
been lerked from beneath the super
structure and now the whole thing
seemed to be trembling. Another of
the ~ buildings razed on the wild
nfe refuge was coming down!
The great hulk that had withstood
tho rsvages of time seemed now to
be bidding good-by to the mansion
fronting it. Another tug from the
Facto., from which extended taut
cable, made the building sway peril
eusly.
The C. c. C. kid" on the tractor
looked around at the foreman. 1t
vas pain to see he was anxious to
shift the gears and give the final pull.
''All right, baby. down you come"
be ssi with a grin as the signal was
given There was a snort from the
sxhauit OF the tractor, followed by a
great shout from the crew as the
relic d the slave era collapsed.
A doud of dust, much of which
no doubt had accumulated urdisturbed
since the turn OF the century, arose
from the ruins. Much of the gran
deur sf other days had departed from
the setting, it is true, but there were
those present who reflected upon the
historic value OF the new-departed
Landmark.
To most OF the workmen, however,
It. wss just another task virtually
complied, for during the past few
weeks important developments have
been in progress at the 2,200-acre
project where the Bureau OF Biologi-
cal Survey will conduct experiments
in wild life propagation and care in
conjunction with the National Agri-
cultural Research Center, headquar-
ters TOR which are at BeltSville. The
refuge itself is located less than an
hours ride by automobile from the
Capitol, and an increasing number of
visitors are calling at Bob White
Lodge, on the Laurel-BoWie road,
whee Supt. L. c. Morley and his
family reside.
Throughout the Winter months
work of clearing areas of unwanted
trees, removing all trees and growth
along the l6-mile fence that sur
SOUNDS the project and making neces-
sary horse trails has been continued.
At times as many as 200 c. c. C.
boys have been on the job. At first
they concentrated upon clearing the
10 feet between roads and the fence.
Then when all the fencing was in
place-it is 7 feet high and made of
steel wire-they cleared an additional
IS feet around the entire perimeter
Added to this was the clearing of
certain block areas for specific pur-
poses
QUITTING down the big trees and
- oarting them of to the sawmill
are but one phase Of the clearing
assignment. Smaller trees and brush
have been taken back into the for
ested areas and stacked into piles
to afford cover for birds. The saw
mill is a facility of the Department
OF Agriculture center. so all it's prod
ucts are available for use in con-
struction.
Altogether some 100 acres Of land
has been cleared. Barring the fence
lines near the roadways eliminated
= serious fire handicap.
At one point along the clearing a
typical scene was observed. Workmen
were busy uprooting a huge stump
A short time before the business OF
telling the giant tree had ended and
the men, working with a degree OF
efficiency that would have been a
credit to the loggers of the Northwest
had lashed a cable about the stump
There was a loud noise, like the
firins Of cannon. as the cable and
tractor finally overcame the resistance
OF the main roots, and the mass OF
stump, roots and earth suddenly
tilted up. A cloud of dust filled the
air. A clearing job had been done
thoroughly as it progressed.
A shipment of wild turkeys has al
ready been released into the fast
ness<s of the refuge and the birds
have been seen and heard frequently.
Spring will bring the addition OF
six or eight deer, trapped in some
nearby national forest.
Foxes are numerous. All are not
frightened at the approach of work.
men One was seen to enter a small
culVtrt and c. c. c. youth, moi