AMERICANS IN THE FRENCH FORESTS 



143 



in mind to impress upon the Boches that Americans 

 were in France. At all events they had the opportunity 

 to see for themselves that it was a fact, and I am glad to 

 have been the means of conveying it to their minds. 



The night before I left Paris, which was New Year's 

 Eve, a number of officers of the forest organization who 

 happened to be in town gave me a little dinner. Of 

 our old Forest Service men there were present Major 

 Greeley, Major Woolsey, Major Peck, Captain Stuart, 

 Captain Bruce, Captain Ringland, Captain Moore, Cap- 

 tain Granger, Lieutenant Wolfe, and Lieutenant 

 Agee. One of the things which they asked me 

 to do was to tell the members of the Forest Service here 

 how much they and all the men working in forestry in 

 France appreciate the sweaters and other useful articles 

 you are sending them. I can assure you that this is not 

 simply a polite expression of thanks. I have seen the 

 men, in camp, in the fields, and at headquarters, when 

 they have received the things you have sent; perhaps 

 yourselves have made them. I know what it means to 

 them, not only from the standpoint of sentiment, but 

 also from that of real comfort. 



On the way home I got a little glimpse into the work 

 of the Navy that impressed me tremendously. It was a 

 long trip, but one which I would not have missed for 

 anything. It did not, after all, seem such a serious mat- 

 ter to run the submarine blockade, for there were the 

 destroyers to protect our ships, but it did seem a pretty 

 serious matter for a light boat they do not, of course, 

 bring back as heavy loads as they carry over to run the 

 blockade of six very severe North Atlantic storms, which 

 is what we did. You feel a whole lot different in a storm 

 one, for example, which necessitates the ship turning 

 back toward France, as we had to do twice when you 

 have confidence in those who are in command of the 

 ship, and when you have seen the crew of that ship, a 

 splendid, disciplined body of young men. Those were 

 the kind of officers and men we had on our ship, and 

 so far as my own observation goes and from what others 

 have told me I am confident that these are the kind of 

 men of which our whole Navy is made up. 



Another thing which impressed me when I got back 

 here was the tremendous things which this country is 

 doing. We have really got to judge our progress in this 

 war by perspective ; we have got to judge it by periodical 

 progress; by achievement during a period; and by re- 

 sults. It is results that count, and they are the only things 

 that do count. That is the first thing that one learns 

 when he goes into the Army. There are no excuses in 

 the Army or in the Navy either, I presume. When an 

 order is given it must be carried out. There are no 

 reasons why it can not be carried out, because it has 

 got to be carried out. And that is the only way that the 

 war can be won. So to judge of our progress by achieve- 

 ment is, I think, the only way to obtain a true viewpoint, 

 one in which we will not be deceived by something near 

 at hand that may possibly obscure real accomplishment. 



In France, of course, one gets very close to the war, 

 and so perhaps appreciates a little more what we are 



doing. One sees more vividly the terrible consequences 

 of war, the sorrow and distress of the people, homes 

 broken up, homes ruined, industries destroyed, economic 

 conditions overturned. 



It is not necessarily hate that is in one's heart; it is 

 more a realization of what a monstrous thing it is that 

 has possessed a nation, perverted its sense of honor, 

 crushed its sense of the proprieties and decencies, and 

 made it do monstrous things. The world has been made 

 an impossible place to live in until this monstrous thing, 

 however you express it, personally or impersonally, in- 

 dividually or collectively, is swept away. Not until then 

 can we follow peaceful pursuits, not until then can we 

 know that our homes are not going to be wiped out, that 

 happiness is not going to be destroyed, that unhappiness 

 is not going to be spread through our land, let alone 

 other lands. I do not see how any one who comes at 

 all in contact with this war can feel any other way. And 

 the feeling that I have and that every man has who has 

 seen this war at close range is spreading farther and 

 farther away from the center of things and is entering 

 deeper and deeper into the hearts of the people of this 

 country; the realization of this terrible thing that has 

 been forced upon the world, that has been forced upon 

 us, and for the cure of which we count it our duty, our 

 privilege, and our joy to make every sacrifice. 



T^ROM the Southern Lumberman of October, 1890, is 

 ;t taken the following interesting quotation: 



"Regarding the longevity of European trees recent 

 information gathered by the German Forestry Com- 

 mission assigns to the pine five hundred and seven hun- 

 dred years as a maximum, four hundred and twenty-five 

 years to the silver fir, two hundred and seventy-five years 

 to the larch, two hundred and forty-five years to the red 

 beech, two hundred years to the birch, one hundred and 

 seventy years to the ash, and one hundred and thirty 

 years to the elm. The heart of the oak begins to rot at 

 the age of three hundred years. A sequoia gigantea, 

 felled in Calaveras county, California, had attained the 

 age of three thousand years. It was three hundred and 

 eighty-seven feet in height, and measured fifteen feet in 

 diameter, one hundred and twenty-five feet above the 

 earth. The Bradburn yew, in Kent county, England, had 

 attained the same great age. The dean of trees of the 

 a few years ago in the vicinity of Boston. Prof. Abbott, 

 beneath its shade." 



'T'HERE is a demand for trained men with skill in 

 * fruit growing, and a number of positions promise to 

 be available. The State College of Agriculture at Cornell, 

 Ithaca, N. Y., in offering a free course in fruit grow- 

 ing to residents of New York State, says it does not guar- 

 antee positions to those who take the course, but feels 

 that it will be able to place many who desire to gain ex- 

 perience in commercial work. A few exceptional stu- 

 dents, it adds, may be placed as foremen or superintend- 

 ents on fruit farms. 



