12 



HAKUWOOU RECORD 



Ocloli.-i 111 



and ovcrwlu'lniiiig iiuTCust" in ili'iiiaiul Irom our own niurkrl!.. 1 lu'rr 

 fore conwrviitive iictiuu slioiild ;;oviTn buxinoss policies until with 

 the ■ 'lit of ponec it cnn bo socii just what conditions niUBt 



be n H wo will Irivp to cope witli ttipm. 



Pacific Shipping Hard Hit 



OLD THAFKIC LINES AKK HHKAKLNG Ul' under tlie strew of 

 new oouditiont^. The greatost tingle cLange recently in Aniericiui 

 slupping circles is connected with tlie sale of the vessels of the Pacific 

 Mail Steamship Company to the Atlantic Transport Company. This 

 change in ownership has precipitated a crisis in the carryinjj trade 

 between our Pacific porta and the Far Kast that will have scrioun 

 results. There were already too few vessels to take care of the busi- 

 ness there. The sale of five large steamers, aggregating more than 

 100,000 tons, and their ileparture from the I'ncific waters, will inter- 

 rupt in the most serious way the carrying trade between western 

 America and the Orient. Rates were already so high that trade was 

 greatly handicapped, and the recent transfer of vessels must still 

 further complicate the situation in that part of the world. 



The Pacific Mail Steamship Company has jircjiared to wind up its 

 affairs and go out of business in the part of the world whore it for- 

 merly operated. All agencies and subagencies in the Orient have been 

 ordered closed. All officers, agents and employes have been given 

 notice that their services will be no longer needed in Asia. Americans 

 who have been in tlie company's employ there have been provided 

 with transportation to America, and have been notified that they will 

 not be longer needed. In short, it is a complete retirement from busi- 

 ness in that part of the world. 



Already the ever-alert Japanese are taking advantage of the sit- 

 uation by securing valuable wharfage, offices, and other leases whicB 

 the Americans are giving up. 



The foregoing information is contained in a recent consular report 

 from Hongkong, but the leading facts were already known. The 

 consul, George E. Anderson, remarks in this connection: "It is not 

 competent to discuss in a consular report the causes or circumstances 

 in the United States which have brought about the winding up of 

 the business of this company on the Pacific. ' ' Although the consul is 

 forbidden to discuss politics, every business man knows that American 

 shipping has been harassed and hindered until refuge is sought in all 

 possible ways, even to the extent of going out of business. The mer- 

 chant marine is not building up very fast when a hundred thousand 

 tons of shipping seek change of ownership in one batch. 



Meanwhile, the carrying business between our Pacific ports and the 

 East has received a stunning blow. The effpct will be felt beyond the 

 immediate field occupied by the vessels which have been sold; because 

 a breaking up of business on so large a scale, and the disorganization 

 consequent on attempts at readjustment, must bring confusion and 

 loss on a wide scale. 



The Cover Picture 



Two IMPORTANT RIVERS have their sources in the lake shown 

 in the cover picture of this issue of Hardwood Record. It is not 

 a rare occurrence for two streams to flow from a common lake or 

 pond in a flat, swampy region where, in the language of the geol- 

 ogist, ' ' the drainage system has not been captured ; ' ' but it is very 

 seldom that this phenomenon is seen in a rugged, mountainous 

 country. 



The lake here shown lies on a dividing ridge between the waters 

 of Kings river on one side and those of the San Joaquin river on 

 the other, near the summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Cali- 

 fornia. From one end of the lake a tiny, ice-cold rivulet pitches down 

 a precipice several hundred feet high to a glacier-cut valley below; 

 and from the other end of the sheet of water a brook finds its way to 

 a different river system. The photograph was taken in the month of 

 August by L. A. Winchell of Fresno, Cal. The lake lies little less 

 than 13,000 feet above sea level, and has been scooped from the 

 solid granite by glacier action. The last, vanishing remnant of the 

 glacier which did the work lies on the shore of the lake, forming the 

 center of the picture. It is little more than a mass of compact snow 

 and it has practically no motion now. However, it is not so small 



as it looks in the picture. The front where it ends abruptly .it tlic 

 edge of the lake is about sixty feet thick. 



During the ice age, some thousands of years ago, the gl;icier hero 

 seen in its last stages, was many humlreds of feet thick and came 

 ilown from high ]ieaks beyond, the base of one of which is seen 

 at the left of the picture — known as Camera peak. It was the rock- 

 shod snout of that glacier which tore out the vast hole in the solid 

 granite which is now Hlleil by the water of the lake. The whole 

 region was formerly one of intense glacial activity. The rock grooves 

 cut across summits in the ranges tell the direction of the moving ice 

 which pushed forwanl with irresistible force, "grinding like the mills 

 of God." From the summit of Mount Ooddanl, an enormous peak 

 nearly fifteen thousand feet high lying about three miles back of the 

 scene shown in this jiicture, an observer may, when no clouds inter- 

 vene, count seventy-three glacial lakes, every one of which marks 

 the downward pitch of an ice-cataract of past ages, like the lake in 

 the photograph. 



The scene is apparently devoid of vegetation, but appearances are 

 deceptive. Grass and flowers grow in crevices between boulders. 

 Grass may actually be found growing within two steps of perpetual 

 snow. But there are more ambitious plants hidden behind rocks 

 where they are sheltered from the everlasting winds which sweep 

 across the heights. Whitebark pine makes its last stand on the shores 

 of tliis lake. It is not found at any higher elevation in that region. 

 Most readers of Hardwood Record possess copies of H. H. Gibson 's 

 book, American Forest Trees. It may be of interest to know that the 

 description of that interesting species on page thirty-seven and fol- 

 lowing was based on a personal study of white bark pine on the shores 

 of this lake, although the pine's jihotograph was taken in another 

 and more hospitable region. The pines which grow on the plateau 

 near the lake are not visible in the cover picture for the reason that 

 they crawl like vines between the granite boulders and in rock 

 crevices, and do not lift a branch above the shelter of their retreat. 

 Trees several hundred years old and with trunks as large as a man's 

 body do not rise more than four of five feet, because the wind will 

 whip them to pieces if they do. Their enormously long branches lie 

 flat on the ground. Twigs no larger than a lead pencil may be fifty 

 years old and so tough that they may be tied in knots like hickory. 

 Winter snow, from ten to forty feet deep, presses these sprawling 

 trees flat among the rocks and holds them there eight or nine months. 

 In locations sheltered from the wind the sun in summer is very warm 

 and in a few weeks the trees bloom and ripen their seeds. 



The lake is fed by snow water and is always nearly ice cold and 

 50 clear that the bottom may be seen at depths of fifty or sixty feet. 

 It is believed that tlie (iliotograph here shown is the only one ever 

 made of this lake. 



Ask Further Appalachian Appropriations 



VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND CO.MMERCIAL BODIES repre- 

 senting the Appalachian region from New England to North 

 Carolina and Tennessee recently met in Washington in conference 

 with Secretary Houston of the Department of Agriculture, for the 

 jiurpose of taking the necessary steps to secure further appropriations 

 for jiurchasing lands for forest reserves in the Appalachian regions. 

 The money set apart for that purpose five years ago will be gone by 

 the end of the present fiscal year, and the most painstaking critic 

 has not been able to say that the money has not been wisely and 

 economically spent. Lands have been purchased among the mountains, 

 have been placed under protection, and the work has won the support 

 and good will of the people among whom the purchases have been 

 made. 



The work must stop unless Congress provides funds for further buy- 

 ing. The meeting in Washington drew up a petition to the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, asking him to include in his estimates a fund for pur- 

 chasing more land. The sum is placed at two million dollars a year 

 for five years. Congress will be asked to appropriate that amount. 



The importance of providing the means for carrying on the work at 

 this time is generally understood. An adequate and experienced work- 

 ing force is now in the field, ready to examine, survey, and report on 

 lands needed to complete strateg^ic protected areas. If no appropri- 



