Geographic Notes 



l 5 



ers applied to the Bureau for assistance 

 in the care of their forest lands ; these 

 included lumber companies in Arkansas, 

 Missouri, New York, and Maine, and 

 Hon. William C. Whitney. In each 

 case a working plan was made for the 

 owner. An examination of the Black 

 Hills Forest Reserve, where practical 

 forestry is urgently needed, was made, 

 and a working plan for the reserve is 

 nearly ready. The Prescott, Big Horn, 

 and Priest River forest reserves were 

 also examined for the same purpose. 



Mr. Pinchot announces that an ex- 

 tensive investigation of the forest condi- 

 tions of Nebraska has been carried far 

 enough to show that it is feasible to 

 replant large areas hitherto believed to 

 be permanently treeless. The forests of 

 Texas have been carefully studied and 

 will form the subject of an early special 

 report. Many owners of unprofitable 

 cleared or treeless lands have received 

 assistance from the Bureau, and by re- 

 planting have made these lands of value. 



The Bureau of Foresty is studying 

 the native trees of the United States and 

 Philippines that yield commercial tan- 

 barks, resins, and gums. As many as 

 50 species are being tested in conjunc- 

 tion with the Bureau of Chemistry. 

 Another investigation of the greatest 

 importance aims to find the causes and 

 prevention of decay of railroad ties and 

 timber, and to discover what trees will 

 produce railroad ties in the shortest time. 



LOSS OF LIFE BY LIGHTNING 



FROM 700 to 800 persons are killed 

 annually in the United States from 

 lightning strokes, is the estimate given 

 by Prof. A. J. Henry in a bulletin on 

 the subject recently published by the 

 U. S. Weather Bureau. For some years 

 the Weather Bureau has been seeking 

 to ascertain the loss of life from this 

 cause, and in 1900 received actual rec- 

 ords of 713 fatal cases of lightning 

 stroke. This number was obtained from 



the reports of the many officials of the 

 Bureau throughout the country and 

 from lightning cases cited in the news- 

 papers, especially in the journals of the 

 rural districts. During the two years of 

 1899-1900 as many as 30,000 clippings 

 were received by the Bureau from one 

 clipping agency, which shows that the 

 lightningstrokes were carefully watched. 

 Of course, most of the clippings were du- 

 plicates, sometimes as many as 50 notices 

 of the same case being received. 



The loss of life from lightning is 

 greatest in the Ohio Valley and the Mid- 

 dle Atlantic States, if we consider both 

 unit area and density of population. If 

 density of population only be considered, 

 it is greatest in the Upper Missouri Val- 

 ley and in the Middle Rocky Mountain 

 region. Of the 713 fatal cases reported 

 in 1900, 291 were killed in the open, 158 

 in houses, 57 under trees, and 56 in 

 barns, and the circumstances attending 

 the death of the remaining 151 are not 

 known. During the same year nearly 

 one thousand — 973 persons — were more 

 or less injured by lightning. The 

 Weather Bureau has discontinued col- 

 lecting statistics of loss of life by 

 lightning. The experience of the past 

 years has convinced it that the practical 

 results of the enquiry do not justify the 

 expenditure of time and money. 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



RECENT publications by the U. S. 

 Geological Survey include: 

 " Geology and Water Resources of 

 Nez Perce County, Idaho." By Israel 

 C. Russell. Professor Russell describes 

 at considerable length the Columbia 

 River Lava formation of Washington, 

 Oregon, and western Idaho. This area 

 produces annually from 50,000,000 to 

 60,000,000 bushels of wheat and large 

 quantities of other grain. The fine, 

 dark, rich soil, almost unrivaled in fer- 

 tility, has resulted from the disintegra- 

 tion and decay of volcanic rocks which, 



