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Show FALL OF A FOriBST MONAnOrl." lawlog llon a, ClUnI 1'lna Tree U Ike ailnaeeoU TOoiHta. I had my eye on a grand old pine standing a little way from any of his fellows, a monarch In the forest. It must have ben n hundred and forty feet, perhaps moro, from tho topmost point In Its glossy green coronal down to the dead goldenrod In tho snow at Its base. It was about three feet In diameter at the ground, so tall, bo strong, so straight, n noble tree Indeed, In-deed, In very truth a king of the fort ret. It waa the result ot the llts which dwelt In the tiny black, winged seed which waa lost to view moro than n certtury and a half, before. Whlls I waa admiring tho splendid proportions propor-tions of tbo tree throo pien came to ward me. One' was a bright-eyed fellow, fel-low, short of stature and swarthy of kin, looking like ont of the Chippewa Indiana whose homo this forest had been nobody knows how many wntit-rlos. wntit-rlos. Ha looked tho treo over uuarply, stepping to thla aide and to thai, eyed It critically from various points ot view, and then with a small, sharp ax cut a keen gash In the trunk about a foot above the top ot the dead goldenrod gold-enrod In tho snow. Ha was an trade r-cutter, r-cutter, a man whoso business It la to cut Into the tree on the side on which It should fall, so tbat It mar not bs broken In tbo fall, or lodge In the crotch of another trc. Tho cut on tho Bids of the treo Is the guide for the sawyers. Tho other men, bearing a big saw, began cutting down the pine, sawing Btcadlly and powerfully through tho fragrant ycllowlsh-wblte trunk. Now and then the undercutter would etep up to hum to ace bow they were progressing. When tbelr saw had passed the heart of the pine ho placed a small bright steel wedge In Urn path of the saw and drove It In. "Iok out there, now I" camo the c l c-C Uie uudercuttcr aa ho looked In n., ttrectton. I made a quick acr-n-bio through tbo deep snow, nearly tumbling ocr a hidden log, and grabbing grab-bing my camera as I went. I had no Intention of staying In tbe Immedlata vicinity, for I had soon troei like this fall before, and I knew It was a risky thing to stand bard by. Tho best directed di-rected treo will sometimes veer a little lit-tle In Its fall, and woo to tbo one who stands below It. Many an experienced woodman has been killed In Just such a place; ninny a ono has boon caught and pinioned, perhaps to cscapo with only broken legs or ribs. In a second moro tbe noblo plno ramo crushing down through the branches of the other trees, falling upon the troion earth with a nolso which drowned all tho ol!r uoI.m ot Hie fore.t a roar which echoed and ro-cchoed through lbs long, dim aisles of tho forest llki tbo booming ot soma mighty cannon-ado. cannon-ado. W. 8. Harwood In St. Nicholas |
