a
ll
GbvernmenttPursues Form of "Conserva--tionThat!
Provides'Timber for Future
Peoples WithoutTaking From the Present.
Sowing Seeds on Barren Hills Cost of
Planting Acre.of.Barren.Land. With' Fir
Trees"Is.but'.$l,86,
WHKX a man plants a ltO-rre
farm h t coaaldcred a pretty
ztcntlv farmer, and when an
orrhardUt t out a crop of tre that
will not bar and brln return for 10
or IS yeara, he I aald to be a man who
1 looklmr forward a condderab! time,
but I'nele Sam la planttn; a-rden In
Oregon, or rather orchard, which will
rover an area of over 10.0a acres thta
year, and which will not ba of value for
4 yeara, or even longer.
Tht little 10. 000. acre orchard ! not
the first one of this size that he has set
out. nor will It be the last one: for
every year the Government Is planting;
with trees these vast areas, from which
timber has been burned. This year fir
trees are to be planted narly alto
fether. but Isst year and the previous
year hardwood trees, such as walnut
nd hickory, were set out and are now
lolnc weiL
By plantlnc trees the Government
hopes to clothe the barren hills that
have been flreswept at dlffeernt times,
from the period of the Indian to the
present, and the vast areas which are
aow worthless on the tops of the moun
tains In the Coast Ranee will. In i
years or so. become deep and heavy for
ests, which will keep running; the Ore
ton sawmill and which will maintain
Oregon her place as the lumber center
of the world. Conservation may have
its good points, but the planting; of the
vast burned areas, which are worthless
aow, is a form of 'conservation that
will give the future generations tim
ber without depriving the present clil
ten. rnMi laveeeieat.
The planting of the forests Is not
only a vaet and extensive undertaking.
but Is to be a profitable one to the
BT C B. LOOM 1 S-
IWAS In need of an office boy. and
bad Inserted a notice In the morning
paper and had had the usual run of
applicants In response, but none of
them suited me until Billy "Moran put
In his appearance.
Billy was about It years old. short
for his age. with fiery red hair and
unmistakably New Tork accent.
When he came to apply for the po
sition and I asked him his name. I did
not understand his reply, so I said:
-Write It down."
He wrote In an unusually good hand.
"William Moran."
"Oh. William Moran," said I.
-No, sir: Mawren. me father called ll
an" that's the way."
I afterward ascertained that he was
right, and that Moran. with the accent
on tl.e last syllable, was purely Ameri
can, and not Irish.
"Are you afraid of work?" I asked.
"t hee, no! I never was near enough
to It to be afraid." aald he. and that
answer made me resolve to engage
him.
-We want a boy to run errands, copy
letter, go to the bank and do what
ever he Is told to do."
-I know." said he. spitting through
its teeth on the hardwood floor. "Thai's
what wie twin brother does."
-WeiL if your twin brother does It.
don't you do lu I don't want any
pitting around here."
He smiled cheerfully and said. "I
meant me twin brother. Chamety, was
ooldin down a Job like oat."
I have always been Interested In
twins, and I enquired:
Ioea your twin brother leok like
you?" It did not seem possible that
there could be another boy as homely
as Billy- Probably Ms twin brother
was very handsome, in erder to pre
serve the self-re pect ef his parents.
"He's me dead ringer!" said he. "Any
body ran see dat. He's wattln' en de
comer for me."
I made no answer, but as I was very
deslroes of seeing Billys replica. I
hurried out of the ofHce. after having
sent Mm to the cashier with the news
that be was engaged.
Our office we are In the wholesale
dry goods business Is on Thomas
street, not fr from Broadway, and
when I reached that thoroughfare I
saw Billy's Mrlng Image smoking a
cigarette with aa air that would have
made a hit If he had been playing the
part of a street boy on the stage. It was
o fetchtngly nonchalant and 'devilish.
1 stepped up to htm. half expecting
h.a to recognize me because he looked
so like his brother, but he looked right
past me. being interested In the efforts
of , crowded automobile to run In be
tween a trolley and a heatlly loaded
drav.
-Chee. I wish dty'd hit It," said be.
thinking out loud,
The Iran Tw ins
Government. It Is really an Inveetmeni.
aud the principal expended Is very
small when compared with the Income,
It costs II. fc to plant an acre of barren
land with fir trees, placed at a distance
of seven feet apart. It Is estimated by
the Government authorities that In the
Coast I'.ange. where rainfall is abun
dant, with to SO Inches a year, and
the fogs from the sea keep the trees
damp the year around, that In 48 years
every tree will contain between 80
and 1800 feet of lumber, worth at the
present time fl a thousand feet as
sturapsge.
As they are being planted there are
no less than to trees on the acre. and.
taking an average of 1000 feet to the
tree, this means a valuation of 1180
worth of lumber on an acre. And this
Is to be taken oft land that today Is
worthless and upon which less than 12
is to be Invested. And when It Is real
ized that this year alone 10.000 or more
arres will be planted, it Is seen that a
revenue of no small extent will be net
ted Uncle Sam if he plants this much
every year.
Rewlaatlaa; Grew "Barm."
la the Sluslaw reserve, which includes
the timber on the Coast Range. In
Douglas. Lane and Lincoln counties,
over 1000 acres will be planted. The
most of this acreage Is on the Neatucca
River, near Tillamook, where the great
Are of lt swept the hills barren of
any plant life for many miles. There
are places here where one can stand on
a high place and look for mllea and
see no green tree. Furthermore, this
county la not Isolated, and In the val
leys below Is now one of the greatest
dairying centers of Oregon. So when
Tl'ncle Sam's crop of timber Is harvest
ed It will not be very far rrom tts mar-
-James." said I, and he turned and
looked at me in surprise.
"Did you speak said he. in a tone
that was if anything tougher than hla
brother's.
"Tes. Are you James Mawren?" said
I. careful to give the Irish pronuncia
tion. "New. I'm Chames Moran." said he
"I'm Amerlkin."
He gave me a searching glance. "Are
you tlier feller that advertised for a
boyr
"Tes. and I've Just engaged your
brother, but he told me that Mawrea
was the way to pronounce his name."
Vhee. he makes me sick to me stum
nilck." said he with a weary expres
sion. "He's as Irish as Bl'.ly Bedam
but Tm Amerlkln from der wold go."
"But you're twins." said I. wishing
that Billy would come up and Join his
brother, that I might compare them.
This boy's hair was a little redder than
hla brothers, but his nose was Just
as tip tilted and he was precisely as
homely.
-Yea, we're twins, but he makes me
tired Jus" de same. Say. wens he
comln' ?"
"He ought to be right along now."
I looked hack as I spoke, and thought
I saw him comtng out of our store,
but Just at that moment I was hailed
by a business friend on a Broadway
car. and as I wanted to talk to him
on a matter of Importance, I Jumped
upon the car with a hasty goodby to
the little tough.
Next day Billy began work, and he
proved to be a bright, happy little chap.
He was respectful, reasonably heedful
of what was said to him. and very quick,
on bis feet. The cashier reported on
him favorably, and I was glad to have
at last found a boy that suited, as we
had been having a succession of stupid
or vicious or lsxy boys, and a boy of
either of those types takes a good deal
out of a man In the way of nervous
force.
But Billy waa Just the boy for the
place, for at least two weeks. And then
one day at noon he came to me and
said:
"Me brother Chamsev ta out of a Jon.
Is dere a chanst here?" I shook my
head. "No. Billy. I don't believe there
Is."
-Well. If I was took sick could Cham
sey take me placer'
-Why. yea. Are you expecting to
be took slckr- said I. He started to
spit and remembered. He was always
starting to spit and remembering. "No.
I'm all right, but sav I wanted to go
to a ball game or to Cooney fer a day
would It be all right If he earner1
I thought it over a minute.
"1 can't see that it would make any
great difference." said L "But Is your
brother as quick and at as reliable as
ypoT
"Aw. he s nre twin. said he In a tone
that seemed to settle the question, and
so I told hlra that If he wanted now
and then to go he might, but as his
ket and worth proportionally more be
cause of location and accessibility.
The process of planting is Interest
ing. It Is done by the Government
Forestry Service. The same supervi
sors who are now directing the work
of fighting the destructive fires In two
months will be planting seed on the
regions burned before there was aiy
Forestry Service.
The work of planting really begins
first wlph the gathering of seed. This
year Is a very productive seed year and
in the Blsuslaw reserve and about the
hills of Springfield and Eugene from
10.000 to 15.000 bushels of ripe fir
cones will be gathered byan army of
men and boys, who will be paid 15
cents a bushel for the seed-hearing
cones. Every small tree will be
stripped of its cones and even the
siulrrels nesta will be robbed. This
theft is not as cruel as It sounds for
the squirrels have a mania for gath
ering cones and will hoard In a hol
low tree many times as many as they
can use. Often there are found piles
of cones six feet high, laid carefully
oroiner wuuiun w ijuno " w . ,
I wouldn't want It to happen ften.
"How will you get him to work for
yoi?" said I.
"Oh. I'll give him me wages fer the
day he comes. Y'see since he was out
of a Job he's go'n" to Cooney or some
yres 'most every day an" he makes me
crazy to try them loopln' the loops an'
the other things, an" I thought, me
.comln' so late In the Spring. I wouldn-t
have any vacation, an" I could take it
that way." Then, in his mercurial way,
he changed the subject and said. "Say.
boss, did youse ever see Mansflel' In
"Dr. Jekyll an" Mr. Hyder"
-Yes. a good many years ago." said L
His face lighted up. "Say. ain't he
a peach? Me hrudder an' me was to
see him las' night up In der nigger
heaven, an' he's a honey cooler fer
fair. Every time he comes to N'Tork
we go."
Well. you show good taste. Billy.
Now that Booth is dead, he comes near
being our greatest actor."
"Say. doe he wear a false face, or is
it muggln"?"
"I guess It's muggln . said I. wonder
ing where he could have picked up so
English an expression.
A day or two later, when I arrived
at the office. I heard someone sing
ing "Bedella"' In a very loud, but not
unmusical voice, and I soon discovered
It to be Billy. As he wss usually very
quiet I was surprised, but I said noth
ing, as he seemed to be on the last
verse. The verse ended, he spat on the
floor. This called for sharp reproof,
and I said. "Billy. Tve told you not to
spit and I don't want you to sing."
He walked right up to me and said
with, an assumption of camaraderie
that was amusing:
"Mr. Larktn, wofs a little ring like
that between frlen'sr'
Something In his tone caused ma to
look at him keenly.
-Why. are you are you James?"
11 I-
"Sure. I fought you was on. Billy
had a chanst to go wld St. Peter's ex
cursion up to Iona Islan" an" he ast me
to hoi' down his Job."
-Oh." said I. "Well, try to hold It
down as well as he does and remember
to keep quiet and don't expectorate."
"Pon't what?"
"Don't spit."
"Chee, w'ere's a feller to spit? Te
can't do It In der cars or on der side
walk. Nex- t'lng dey won't allow it
In a feller's home."
There are some homes where It
doesn't go trta now, James." said L
-You're no better off for spitting."
"Feels good." said he. and I turned
away to hide my face.
That was a noisy day. Black Is not
more different from white than wss
Jsmes Moran from Billy Mawren. He
was nothing short of Impudent to me
several times, but he was Impudent In
such a whimsical way that my sense of
dtg-nlty was not as stout as my sense of
humor and I put up with things that
. i 1 .T . V n n
CXZT 4Z2S3J-& 'v ' I III V ;
In layers. rir.sentln; the 6t"fringrs
l.f several years, which have been un
touched bv the rodents for food.
Preparing -the Seed.
These cones are gathered from th8
pickers by A. K. Cahoon, supervisor
of the Sluslaw reserve and by Supervi
sor C. R. Seltx, of the Cascade reserve,
and their deputies. The picking season
lasts from September 1 to September
15. The cones are then shipped in
sacks to Wyeth. Or., where the Gov
ernment has a cone-dryer. Here arti
ficial heat Is applied by which tho
cones are forced to give up their seed,
which are collected and put in pack
ages. These are sent back to the
ranger for planting.
The seed is very small and two
bushels of cones' make a pound of
seed. By the time it Is returned to
tho supervisor for planting It has cost
the Government $1.50 a pound. One
pound will plant one acre by the "spot
method and only one-fourth of an
acre by their "broadcast" method.
Planting begins during November, if
the 'spot" method is used, and lasts
until the end of January. In the
THE 5T2RY QP AN 2FFICE
would have won a discharge In many
offices.
When he went home that evening
so the shipping clerk told me after
ward he broke out into a song and
dance of the most abandoned descrip
tion. "I hope Billy won't take another day
off." said he.
Next morning: I saw by the paper
which I read on my way into town
that a boy had been lost from St. Pe
ter's excursion and that up to the time
of going to press he had not turned
up. and it was feared he was drowned.
I was sure it was Billy, and felt a
real depression, for I had learned to
like the quiet little fellow.
To my relief 1 met him coming out
of the store as I went in.
"Hello, you didn't get lost, thenr'
He slapped a copy of the Sun in his
side pocket and said:
"No, that was on'y a kid about nine
years old. He ll toln up all right."
"Well, Billy, I hope you had a good
time yesterday, but I think that the
plan won't work very well. .Your
brother is rather noisy."
Billy's expression was sympathetic
In the extreme.
-Che. boss. I tol' him to keep his
mouf shut- He's been brought up
bsd."
"Why, how's thatr' said I. -You both
had the same bringing up. didn't you?"
'Yes. but me mudder had a favorite
en" it was him. She hadn' time to train
us bot" an' she let him do as he
pleased. I'll have him quiet nex time.
Say. we had a great time. I hit der
nigger free times out of five wit" a
baseball. Chee, wot a hard nut
Plunked him right on der place w'ere
his bald spot'll be."
I opened the door to go In. "Well,
I'm glad you had a good time. You
look burned."
"Chee. I'd ought t'be. I never wore
me hat lost It overboard before we
got to Twenty-thold street-"
It was a week before Billy felt the
need of another outing, and then as
soon as I reached the office I knew
he was away.
"You lika-me an' I lika you." was
being sung at the top of a tuneful
vbice. and if I had not had ears I
could' have traced my quarry by a line
of expectorations. I found James in
the private office, standing before a
mirror "mugging" while he sang.
"Now that will do," said I, sternly.
"It was Just go'n' to do," said he, in
a mimicry of myself that I recognized
as being; capital. My handkerchief came
out and I left the private office to ob
tain command of my features.
-Pond of actln'. Boss?" said he. when
I went In again to open my desk.
"James. I must decline to talk thea
ter with you. I've got my letters to
look at."
"It aln" so hard to do that Imertatlon
of a bass Tl"l that Mansfiel' does in
Prince Karl," said he, pertinaciously.
"I seen him la night- How's dls?"
"broad-cast" planting it is done while
the snow Is on the ground.
The Epot planting Is the cheapest and
has proven the most successful and ef
ficient. When the Beed is planted in
this way it is taken by a crew of 15
men. each armed with a heavy four
pound hoe and a bag of seed. They
work in a line, each man seven feet
from the other and sweep over acreage
at a rapid rate. Like the farmer drop
ping "spuds" in each potato hill, these
forest planters plant the - trees in
"hills." Each "hill" Is seven feet apart
and In 40 years each fir tree will be
standing as regularly as in an orchard.
Planting Crew at work.
Tlth the heavy hoe the planter
scrapes off the dirt until he reaches
the mineral soil. Then he drops his
seed, 12 or 15 of the little seed in a
hill, and stamping them into the earth
with his foot he moves on with the
line of planters to the next hill. A very
large area can be covered in this fash
ion in a short time. The crew that
will plant'the 2000 acres of land in the
Siuslaw reserve this Winter will num
ber 30 men and It will take them not
more than six or eight weeks. The
and m
The next instant there was the
plaintive and nasal boom of a 'cello
and James was giving an Imitation of
a master, mimic that bettered his mas
ter to speak in a paradox.
"You and Billy seem to be fond of
the theater," said I.
"We'd have a chanst to do a toln
as a twin team on'y we haven't got
a good ac' yet. We was at Miner's
for one night. Got a recall, too, but
I gave an imertatlon of der way der
stage manager talked an' he got hot
an' chased us."
"James, will you please go and ask
Mr. Wilson to . give you something to
do outdoors. I haven't opened my mail
yet." ,
"Aw, tell me you're sick of me an
I'll skate. You can't hurt my feelin's."
He went out of the office, dancing
a double shuffle, with his head very
affectedly on one side and an extra
tilt to his snub nose, and I dived Into
my desk to hunt for something.
After he had gone I relieved my
pent-up feelings by laughing.
A step on the threshold made me
look up.
There stood James, a grin on his
face.
"I fought I'd get a smile out of you,
1 can deliver de goods every time. Aw,
I never was cut out fer business."
"Leave me," said I sternly, and he
went out
I had founds Billy to be perfectly
honest, and he waa In the habit of car
rying the deposit around to the bank
on Broadway. On the occasion of
James' first day with us the cashier
had taken "the deposit up himself, but
today, being very busy, he called the
boy In and told him to take it and to
be very careful, as there was over
200 in bills, to aay nothing of the
checks.
"If I'm not back In half an hour sen
me a MarconL I might go to Eu
rope." With a cheerful grin be took the de
posit and slid out of the office and then
took to his heels and ran the length of
the store, singing "Bedella" as he went.
"That boy is Incorrigible," said the
cashier.
"Oh, yes. We can't have him another
day. It's queer there should be truch a
difference between them. He seems
Just as smart as Billy, but he's pos
sessed of a devil."
"Did you hear him say he was going
to Europe with the depositr" said the
cashier, coming out from behind his
desk.
"Yes. but that doesn't worry me. He
looks honest enough."
But if "Chamesy" looked honest he
did not turn out so. i
He had one to the bank at half-past
two, and he should have been back by a
quarter of three, as he had nothing else
to do, but three and four came without
bringing Billy's brother.
We sent a clerk around to the Danlc
men are paid 12 a day for the work
and their board and expenses costs the
Government less than a dollar. It has
been found by actual demonstration
that the actual cost of planting, not
counting the cost of the seed, is but 36
cents an acre.
The broad-cast method of planting is
used less than in the past because it
requires more seed and has proven less
efficient. In planting in this way the
work is done in the early Spring when
the snow is on the ground. Then the
sowers cover the burned-off areas,
scattering, the seed right and left.
When the snow melts the water car
ries the seed into the ground and an
early start is given.
Setting Out Young Trees.
Still another way of planting forests
is by setting out the young trees, as
the orchardist does. These are started
in green houses owned by the Govern
ment at Wyeth. When they are six in
ches high, they are pulled up and sent
to the various forestry departments,
which transplant them on the forests.
Dm
and learned that our deposit had not
been brought in. but that the checks
and the slip had been found on tne mar
ble floor near the paying teller's desk.
James had said that Billy was going
to Coney Island. Could the two be in
league?
I would have gone at once to the
home of the twins, but I understood
that Billy had taken his mother with
him to Coney Island, and they were go
ing to stay to see the tower lighted. I
would therefore wait until morning; be
fore doing anything. Perhaps James
would turn up.
Next morning I was at the office early
and found not James, but Billy! He
was waiting to get in, the porter not
having put in an appearance, although
it was 7:30. Billy looked worried.
"W'ere's Chamesy?" was his first
Question.
I looked him searchingly in the eyes
and what I saw in their honest depths
made me hate to tell him the truth, but
I had to.
I tactfully acquainted him with what
had happened.
"Oh, wouldn't dat make you sick to
your stummick," said he, and walked
with bowed head in at the door.
The office force assembled in course of
tlme much surprised to find one of the
heads there before them and we held a
consultation and decided to do what we
should have done the day before tele
phone the police.
Billy, the picture of melancholy, went
about his work for a while, and then
he went downstairs to the shipping de
partment, and the various clerks said
pleasant things about the little chap
whose brother's rascality had made such
a deep impression on him.
"When the detective came, the first
thing he wanted' to do was to have an
interview with Billy, and I sent down
stairs for him.
He was not there..
For a short moment I suspected he
had fled, and then the shipping clerk
told me he had sent him around to
Tifft, Howells & Co. on an erarnd.
"Where does his mother live?" was
the next question.
We found her address, and he and I
were soon on our way to her home, in
Mulberry street, not far from Houston,
and not very far from police headquar
ters. She lived In a rear tenement, whose
hallway approach was noisome in the
extreme. We found her engaged in
hanging out clothes, for she was a
washerwoman.
"Is this Mrs. Moranr said the detec.
tire, -with the accent on the "ran."
A startled look came into her eyes.
-Sure it is. What's happened to Billy?"
"It's happened to Ja-mes," said the
policeman.
""An- who the divvle's James?" said
she, with a long-drawn breath of re-
Ue-Jamesy. Billy's twin brother." said L
This method is the surest, for every
tree grows. But it is more expensive.
When planting the men use the hoes
and carry a bucket of water. Before
setting them in the hole, the roots are.
moistened, and this insures their start
ing. But even from the seed, when the
"spot" method is used, the young trees
grow very rapidly. Seed that was
planted in February of this year is now
in the form of youns fir trees, over a
foot high. The percentage of trees
that grow from the "hills" in the "spot"
method is very high, and out of the
several seeds planted in each "spot"
one is nearly sure to grow. The work
that has been done in the past three
years in the Siuslaw forest has been
highly satisfactory up to this time, and
it is probable that the work will be
continued by the Government each year
until every acre of the vast areas that
were burned by the great fires In the
early days will be re-covered with green
forests.
FRANKLIN S. ALLEN.
thinking she had not understood th
officer's pronunciation of James.
"Feth, an" Is it twins you're talkin'
about? Sure me twins died when thej)
was babies an' it's only Billy I have,
in' care enough at that wid his play-i
actln' ways."
I looked at her In astonishment, a
light began to break on me.
'"Do you mean to tell me that you
have but one son?"
"Yes, that's all. What's happened
himr' said she, her anxiety returning.
The detective explained what had hap
pened, and the poor woman's apron was
over her head in a minute, and for the
first time in my life I heard real keen-.,
ing.
"Oh, he was always actin', but I
didn't fink he'd do anyfing dirty. Him
gtaleln', an' the father he had."
I have never been more depressed by;
anything than I now was at the out
come of this incident. And I found!
that much of my sororw came from the
thought that the Billy who had made
such a good impression on me had never
existed: that he was really Jamesy all
the time, and acting a part to lull my
suspicions. His bravado in coming1
back was all of a piece with his whole
conception of the part. By now he had
really decamped with the picayune 20u.
I left the detective questioning tha
distracted mother, and went back to tha
office. I would never put confidence In
a boy again.
As I turned off Broadway to Thomas 1
thought I saw Billy-James going up tha
steps of our store. I hurried after and
found; to my great relief, that I waa
right in' my surmise.
Quite Irrelevantly the thought of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde came Into my mind
and then I saw that Billy himself had
been playing the double part suggested
by the play.
Into the office I hurried, wondering;
whether be were going to make resti
tution or brazen It out.
There I found not Billy, but
Chamesy, for he was spitting through,
his teeth and laughing gaily and flour
ishing a bank roll.
"Didn't I do it fine?" he was saying
to the cashier.
The cashier, who thought that James
had been overcome by qualms of con
science, held out his hand for the money;
and said:
"Boy, do you know that your brother
Billy is all broken up over what you
did?"
Chamesy-BIlly roared with laughter
and hunched his shoulders with delight.
"Better"n an' better," said he.
Then he turned to me. "Did I fool
you. too, Mr. Lark in?"
"William-James," said I, solemnly,
"you've lost your position with this
house. You'd better apply to Richard
Mansfield for a position. The dry goods
business is not the proper place for the
display of your histrionic talents.'
(Cony right by Shortstory Pub. Co.)