PARK AND CEMETERY 
199 
Save the Big' Trees of California. 
By Mrs. Herman J. Hall, 2 cl 
Vice-Pres. A. P. and O. A. A. 
“/ love the forest through and through. 
I love to hear those giants hoary 
Tell younger trees the endless story 
About the ages long ago, 
And heaps 0’ things that I don’t know.” 
— F. E. Brooks. 
Since the beginning of historic data, the world has 
known many protective movements promoted and con- 
ducted to a successful finish by women, but none de- 
serves more commendation than the effort of feminine 
lovers of the forest to preserve that unique feature of 
vegetable life — the California red wood, or Sequoia 
sempervirens which exists in forest form only on the 
Pacific Coast between Oregon on the north and Monte- 
rey on the south. 
Here are found the largest specimens in the world, 
reaching from 200 to 300 feet in height, with a circum- 
ference of from 60 to 100 feet. These trees first at- 
tained renown when an Englishman purchased one of 
the largest, removed the bark and took it to the World’s 
Fair in London in 1854, where it was erected in the 
form of a cylinder. Thence spread the fame of the 
Big Trees. This “Mother of the Forest” was taken 
from the Calaveras Grove, and the Sequoias now grow- 
ing in England, France and Italy sprang from seeds 
sent from this grove. The majestic dignity of the 
Calaveras trees is indescribable and should of itself stay 
the destructive commercial hand if the eyes of men 
were not blinded by their insatiable greed. 
The Sempervirens Club, composed of leading men 
and women of California, was organized in May, 1900, 
for the purpose of securing the preservation of that sec- 
tion of forest known as the Big Basin, situated in the 
Santa Cruz mountains. This basin is a natural park 
containing many beautiful forms of' plant life besides 
the trees. The women of this club adopted every 
means within their power to secure the legislative ap- 
propriation of $250,000 to purchase 3,800 acres in the 
Basin, and at the eleventh hour finished their crusade 
by peppering the Governor with prayerful telegrams, 
which reached him every few minutes on the day the 
bill was to be vetoed or signed. The effect of the 150 
telegrams was that the Governor, who had decided to 
veto the bill in the morning, changed his mind and 
signed it in the evening. 
The President of the Sempervirens Club is Mrs. 
Lovell White, wife of a well-known San Francisco 
business man, and a club woman of rare culture and 
unusual ability. The other officers include such noted 
Californians as Senator Joseph Ivnowland, the Honor- 
able T. P. Irish, and Miss Eliza Keith. 
The club is on a permanent working basis, with the 
purpose of assisting in the promotion of the inter- 
ests of this park and of encouraging scientfic forestry 
throughout the state. It is now attempting to save 
from destruction the largest Sequoia gigantea in the 
world. This tree belongs to the Sanger Lumber Co., 
who value it at $1,500 for its 300,000 feet of lumber. 
The club is trying to induce the company to donate to 
the state the acre of land containing this specimen. 
The most strenuous of all the efforts, However, 
has been made by the California Outdoor Art League, 
which is heroically mothering the bill now pending- 
before Congress which relates to the preservation of the 
Calaveras Big Tree Grove. Former bills were ap- 
proved by the Public Lands Committee and the Sen- 
ate, but never reached the House of Representatives. 
The bill provides for condemnation proceedings within 
sixty days of its passage, unless the Secretary of the 
Interior purchases the grove for a sum not to exceed 
$200,000. Should condemnation proceedings be insti- 
tuted, without the support of Congress, the proceed- 
ings will be dismissed. The present bill has passed 
the Public Lands Committee, and there is every reason 
to believe it will reach the House. The League has 
secured over one and a half million signatures on its 
petition to the President. Councils have been organ- 
ized in twenty-two states, which have used every means 
to arouse sentiment for tree preservation in those likelv 
to influence the passage of the bill. Minnesota has 
been most loyal and Illinois has reached the ear of 
Speaker Cannon, through friends many times over — 
to receive the glad response that he is heart and soul 
for the Big Trees, as .all truly patriotic men must be. 
Mrs. C. F. Millspaugh, the indefatigable President of 
the Woman’s Auxiliary to the American Park and Out- 
door Art Association, has been of the greatest assist- 
ance to the League since she was made chairman of the 
Illinois Council. In club rooms and in parlors she has 
preached the gospel of worth and beauty in forestry, 
and has induced busy editors and still busier men of 
commerce to sign their names to her petition and use 
their influence with Congressmen for the protection of 
the grove. Such men as General J. C. Black, Presi- 
dent W. R. Plarper of the University of Chicago, Dr. 
E. J. James of the Northwestern University, E. E. 
Ayer, President of the Field Columbian Museum, Mar- 
tin Rverson, Judges Freeman and Tuthill, Mathew 
Scott of Bloomington, and Mrs. Chas. ITenrotin, Presi- 
dent of the Woman’s Club of Chicago, are among 
those in co-operation. The personal plea of Mrs. Hen- 
rotin to Speaker Cannon marks one of the happy 
episodes in this worthy campaign. 
The following message, sent by President Roosevelt, 
reveals the vital interest felt by the chief executive : 
