Page:Pacific Monthly volumes 9 and 10.djvu/127

 the standing timber of the two States, besides the fact that the timbered area in Washin^on is not as great as in Oregon: (i) A considerable part of Washington is at a great altitude, upon which the timber is scattering; (2) a much larger area has been cut and burned in Washington, owing to the •earlier development of the lumber in- <lustry.

In his last annual report Secretary Hitchcock, of the Department of the Interior, referring evidently to Oregon, says: "The reports of the special agents of this department in the field show that, at some of the local land offices, carloads of entrymen arrive at a time, everyone of whom makes entry under the timber and stone act. The cost of 160 acres of land under this act, and the accompanying commissions, is S415. As many as five members of a family, who, it can be readily shown, never had $2,075 "^ their lives, walk up cheerfully and pay the price of the land and the commissions. Under such circumstances there is only one conclu- sion to be drawn, and that is that where a whole carload of people make entry under that act, the unanimity of senti- ment and the cash to exploit it must have originated in some other source than themselves."

The companies have not been the only factors in the purchase of timber land under this act, however. Cruisers and locators, working independently of companies, have sought out public land

A SCENE OF ACTIVITY IX THE WOODS— The steam tramway is a substitute for horse power in conveying the logs to the stream or the railroad.

Photo by Darius Kinsey, Sedro-WooUey. Wash.

and located people solely for the locating fees. Carloads of people have frequently been taken out by locators who were not the servants of corporations. A few years ago one man located a number of persons on valuable claims in the central part of the State. The fees received were only half what is now paid for cruising; but there being no prospect for a sale of the tim- ber, the men who did not know its value began to coig^|.y5!^t@(t^y had