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Show poiii of stoma i goo told in forestreport! "Greatest Disaster Ever Re-' corded in Annals of Lumbering" Lumb-ering" is Claim FORMER OGDEN MAN TELLS OF DESTRUCTION Rapid Action Necessary to Reduce Great Loss of Valuable Timber WASHINGTON', Feb 18. Eight I billion board feet of timber was de-1 atroyed by the cyclone that ripped a I 7r.-rnlo path. 3o miles wide, through th' forests of tho Olympic peninsula. Washington state. January 29. Reports Re-ports from tho forest service, made public today, class the storm as "the greatest disaster ever recorded In the annals of forestry and lumbering." iTo-MU.i: UIM) The wind registered 132 miles an j hour before Instruments at the weather bureau station were destroyed. destroy-ed. It la estimated to have reached 170 miles thereafter Practically ail! standing timber of 22T.0 square miles went down In n tangled mass obllter-.ting obllter-.ting roads and telegraph lines and' i with little chnnoe of salvage. Most I of it was western hemlock and spruce. , I Acting Forester B. A. Sherman report-ed, report-ed, and subbct to rapid decay. MM l.s PERISH No human lives were lost, but l buildings were' destroyed and many' animals perished, Including elk. Num-1 ! bers of animals were penned In by the tangle of debris to die of nun-, ' ger. The bee) winter feeding ground I for oik of the region was swept. "If fire should gain headway In the Hrv.ist.vcd Oreo.'." life forester reported, report-ed, "the most stupendous conflagration conflagra-tion ever known In this country would result. Fifteen billion feet fof tlm-1 tlm-1 ben Is exposed In the adjoining part of the Olvmplc national forest." I IR1. is FEARED. As special precaution against fire. the navy department has been asked to make an air survey of the storm area since It Is Impassable afoot. Re-equipment Re-equipment of the wartime spruce railroad, rail-road, tho only line of rails into the i section, has been asked of the war department in order to salvage as I much timber as possible. |