'Cbe Conservative *
MKNACK IN YUL.K TKEKS.
Christ iiins Custom Called the Doom of ( ho
ForentH.
The buttle is 011 between the forests
aud the Christmas tree. Which shall
be saved ? The question is one that has
been put forward by men who have
watched the trade in small spruce and
fir trees in the Chicago market for the
last two weeks. The preservation of
the forests is more important , they
believe , than the Christmas tree. Dr.
Jenkiu Lloyd Jones , who once lived in
Wisconsin , is convinced that the people
must give up the Christmas tree to save
the forests. But to some anonymous
champion of the spruce the crueade
against Christmas trees owes its chief
impetus. He has had printed and cir
V " culated the following :
Whereas. The custom of destroying
young and tender trees for holiday
festivities is on the increase among
Christians :
Whereas. The abject of this destruc
tion is a double one ; first , to enable
these Christians , adult and juvenile , to
enjoy a mere childish aud temporary
pleasure , and second , to foster a long
standing delusion that the Father in
heaven is pleased to witness a thwart
ing of his efforts and a destruction of
his works on earth :
Resolved. That man , the ignorant
1 * ingrate aud dependent pauper upon the
bounty of the trees , is not only acting
the part of an unreasonable fool in his
treatment of the trees , but he is acting
the part of progressive suicide as well ,
for the trees are not only a conserver -
server of the water , but a conserver of
the air as well , and if man increases his
mining aud mechanical operations in
the future the same as ho has been do
ing in the past , the time will come where
the ass will be unable to live on the
earth at all. Hark yea people , if it
were possible for the trees to assemble
in a convention and pass some such
resolution , would it not be a true indict
ment of man ? Is it not a fact , then ,
that the growth of the trees on the
mountain tops must keep pace with the
growth of man in the valley ? Finally people
ple , I claim that you are not only acting
contrary to your own material interest
in your treatment of the trees , but you
are acting contrary to the bible as well
( Gen. i. , 29) ) . And God said : "Behold ,
I have given you every herb-bearing
seed which is upon the face of all the
earth , and every tree in which is the
fruit of a tree yielding seed to you it
shall be for meat. "
JOIICH TallcH of ChrlhtmiiH Trees.
"Every tree that is being sold in the
market , " said Jeukin Lloyd Jones ,
"represents a growth of from ten to
twenty years. The growth is slow.
The great forests of Wisconsin are be
ing denuded that the growing trees may
* * *
be shipped hero for Christmas celebra
tions. It is one of the reforms that cries
out for attention. From a purely
economic standpoint it is an important
question. The country becomes barren ,
the streams dry up and the laud suffers.
It seems that we are about to repeat the
history of Palestine.
' 'It is no longer what it used to be
the cutting of a few trees for Christ
mas. We have introduced a new in
dustry for which there is no adequate
return. Christmas trees not only are
not utilized as a product should be , but
it may be said they are a menace to the
safety of buildings.
"What will take the plnce of this
tradition ? That is a question to con
sider. And yet the Christmas tree is
not a universal custom. Santa Glaus
might come down the chimney or in a
sleigh or fill the stockings without it.
I hope something may bo done about
this desolation of the forests. It is too
late to do anything this year. I hope
ministers will see fit to take up the
question in their pulpits another year. "
Mrs. Hciirotln Would Save Forest * .
Mrs. Charles Henrotin , who has been
a leader in the Christmas shopping
crusade , said the matter of Christmas
trees had not been called to her atten
tion.
"I believe however , " she said , "there
is a growing sentiment against the
ruthless destruction of trees. It seems
to me rather a question of replanting
trees than one of not using them for
this purpose. If it is true that they can
not bo grown in nurseries and that the
native forests are despoiled to furnish
Christmas trees. I should say we must
find something to take their place. "
J. S. Hoviland , 72 South Water street ,
said that only those people who do not
know how the trees are "cut or where
they come from would object to a traffic
in Christmas trees.
"They are a second growth , and
many of them are taken from the
swamps , " he said , "They would never
grow up to become valuable forest
trees. The lumbermen are glad to have
them out of the way. The men who
cut them sometimes go out on the ice ,
and because there has been no ice this
year is one reason it was hard to get
them. "
Supply Thih Year la Small.
The business in Christmas trees is at
its height this week. There will not be
half as many for Chicago as for several
years. The demand was greater than
over , but the supply was limited for
several commercial reasons. The Christ
mas trees that come to Chicago by the
carload and boatload are largely from
the forests of northern Wisconsin , with
a few from Michigan. They are second
growth spruce and fir trees , from 10 to
25 years old. The tree grows so slowly
that they pay better as Christmas trees
than for lumber. Trees that formerly
sold at $75 and $100 a carload this year
bring $175 to $200. The total number
shipped to Chu ago last year is estimated
as eighty-seven carloads , and this year
there will not be more than thirty-five
carloads , according to the principal
shipper.
The trees are cut largely by men
whose business it is to guide hunters in
the summer and fall. For several years
the work has been done close to the
railroads , and two men could cut down
a carload in a day. One reason for the
scarcity this year is that the districts
have been stripped of trees and the
cutters have had to go seven or eight
miles back into the country. Chicago
Tribune , December 28 , 1809.
ThG
DK. JOHN A. ,
WAKUEK. forests , orchards
and country homes
of the United States never had a friend
and benefactor more enthusiastic , effi
cient and honest than John A. Warder.
In the early days of Nebraska Doctor
Warder was often a guest of Governor
Furnas at Brownville and a visitor at
Arbor Lodge. He traversed all eastern
Nebraska as a missionary , teaching
arboriculture and forestry. He did a
generous and great work for Nebraska.
In view of the foregoing facts it is
agreeable to comply with the request of
a friend and republish in THE CONSER
VATIVE the following tribute to bis
character , pronounced January 24 , 1884 ,
before the Mississippi Valley Horti
cultural Society at Kansas City by J.
Sterling Morton :
"As guests register their names at a
hotel , depart , and are forgotten , so
humanity , stop-
Kulofjy on Dr. . ,
John Warder. Plng for a short
time on the earth ,
makes its autograph upon the age and
sets out upon its roturnless journey to
that realm whence come neither tidings
nor greetings.
"Each individual of the race leaves
some trace of his existence on the gener
ation in which he lives , and considerable
numbers transmit their names to pos
terity italicised in good deeds or
embalmed in noble and elevating
thought.
"The desire to be remembered and
esteemed by those who come after us
seems to be , with the better and more
exalted minds , a greater inspiration to
high intellectual effort than the mere
plaudits of contemporaries. As on the
stage , those actors who play best their
parts are recalled and applauded after
the curtain has fallen , so those in the
brief drama of life who have best per
formed their duties are , after their
mortal costumes have been forever laid
away in restful graves , again called out
by their admiring contemporaries , and
thus their intellectual and moral per
sonalities reappear before the lights ,
t
