USA > Indiana > Centennial history and handbook of Indiana : the story of the state from its beginning to the close of the civil war, and a general survey of progress to the present time > Part 26
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an economic evil which the forest conservation- ists have in mind in their propaganda for re- forestation.
2. The removal of the forests, it is now be- ing discovered, has disturbed the balance of nature and affected the climate, the conservation of the water supply, the conservation of the soil, and the agricultural status as it depends upon these. Some of the results discussed are at pres- ent hypothetical, but the detrimental changes,
C. Gobel illustrates the first surface effect by the simple idea of an inclined plane covered with loose soil. When well sprinkled with water the downward wash of this soil by the force of the descending water follows as a matter of course; but if it is covered with a layer of cotton batting and the batting is sprinkled the force of the fall- ing water is taken up by this covering and the moisture gently permeates the earth. If in addi- tion to this we think of the soil as reinforced by
FORESTRY
Forestry Building, State Fair Grounds, Indianapolis. This building was erected in the summer of 1915 for the purpose of maintaining a permanent exhibit of everything pertaining to forestry and forest products of Indiana. The building was dedicated September 7, 1915, Ex-Vice-President Charles W. Fairbanks and Governor Ralston participating. The names of persons seated reading from left to right are E. A. Glad- den, State Forester ; Warren T. McCrea, President Indiana State Board of Agriculture; Prof. W. C. Gobel, Nashville; Charles W. Fairbanks ; Curtis D. Meeker, Monticello; W. A. Guthrie, President Board of For- estry. Standing is Governor Ralston.
whatever their exact relations, are sufficiently pronounced to have brought about the conserva- tion movement, which is nation-wide.
Physical Effects of Forest Destruction .- In the State Board of Forestry report for 1913 Professor Glenn Culbertson, of Hanover Col- lege, sets forth in an interesting and informative article some physical effects of forest destruction, which effects are more far-reaching than we generally suppose. In the same report Mr. W.
many interlacing roots the wash will be still fur- ther minimized. Moreover, the batting takes up a part of the water, retaining it as moisture, which affects the underlying soil for some time after. This fairly represents the leaf-mulched surface of forested areas as contrasted with bare, denuded areas which shed the rains before they have time to saturate the earth.
Our local histories repeatedly state that marked changes have taken place in the normal
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flow of our streams since pioneer times. The explanation is that the waters instead of being fed gradually from the mulched soil. go off with a rush, damaging freshets alternating with a normal flow that is proportionately small. Pro- fessor Culbertson, from a special study of a half- dozen hill counties along the Ohio river, cites instances of the freshet damages along the streams and of landslides and washings on the hillsides that have left the lands ruined for agri- cultural purposes.
The estimate has been made that of the total annird rainfall over the earth some 6,000 cubic miles of water finds its way to the sea by the streams, and the further estimate is that the "average annual immediate run-off from these streams to-day is at least 50 per cent. greater than that from the same regions under the for- ested conditions of the past."
One effect of this rapid disposition of the rains is the lowering of the water level in the ground. The earth does not become thoroughly saturated and hence springs fail and wells have to be sunk deeper and deeper to find strong, reliable veins, while in cases of drought the effects are felt much quicker and more severely.
In a word, under forest conditions the rains, which otherwise rush away and in large degree are wasted, are conserved and by various natural processes made to serve the fullest purpose. The extent to which the State has been deforested has seriously disturbed the balance of nature, and the question of remedy is now being forced 111011 us.
Supposed Climatic Effects .- The physical effects of deforestation as above cited are too well established to be speculative. There are other more remote effects, not so certain of proof, but widely accepted nevertheless, particu- larly as they regard the modifying of climate. Professor Culbertson's argument, perhaps, fairly covers the ground. This is that the evaporation in the hot season from a soil and leaf-mulch that are saturated is very considerable, and where such area is extensive the moisture contributed to the atmosphere must be a factor in the pre- cipitation.
Again, the amount of moisture taken up by trees in the form of sap and evaporated from the leaves is, in the case of a whole forest, some- thing enormous, experiment having demon-
strated that one large tree, under certain condi- tions, may give off as much as several tons within twenty-four hours. That this must have some- thing to do with increased precipitation seems altogether plausible. Moreover, this evapora- tion, it is said, modifies the temperature of the air and creates atmospheric conditions that favor precipitation.
Still another effect to which the forest contrib- utes is the gentle "secondary showers," following thunderstorms, due to the vast amount of evap- oration from wet leaves ; which showers saturate the soil much better than the beating storm.
Forestry Movement in Indiana .- Experience and observation have taught in Indiana as else- where that the deforestation of the country brings about detrimental conditions that affect economic welfare so seriously as to demand at- tention and attempt at prevention. It stands to reason that we can not restore the original for- ests with their leaf-mulch as a water conserver, and just how and to what extent reforestation can be promoted is still a debatable question. The theory on which the State is proceeding to- day contemplates both conservation, or the pres- ervation of remaining forests, and rehabilitation, or the re-establishment of woodlands. The the- ory is that certain rough areas in the hilly por- tions of the State, of little value for agriculture, might profitably yield timber for commercial pur- poses, and do this continuously by a process of scientific forestry. It also holds that through- out all parts of the State are scattered small areas, practically waste, that should be given to trees ; it is figured that wood crops, such as catal- pas for fence posts, make a good return, and the maintenance of a wood-lot as a feature of every farm is encouraged.
Back of this theory is a practical movement for the promotion of reforestation which will be briefly described in this connection, though it might appropriately come under the head of "governmental activities." Some time prior to 1901 a society, under the name of the "Indiana Forestry Association," was formed, with Albert Lieber, of Indianapolis, as its president, and John P. Brown, of Connersville as secretary. Its aim was to create interest in agriculture and pro- mote the passage of a forestry law, and in 1901 it, succeeded in securing such a law. This statute established a "State Board of Forestry," consist-
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
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ing of five members, one to be from the member- ship of the Forestry Association, just mentioned ; one from the Retail Lumber Dealers' Associa- tion of Indiana ; one from the faculty of Purdue University ; one from the woodworkers of the State, who is to be a mechanic actively employed at his trade, and one who was to have special knowledge of the theory and art of forest pres- ervation and timber culture and a technical knowledge of the topography of the State. This last member was to be secretary of the board
Twin Beeches. These twin beeches are on the Purlee farm, in Pierce township, Washington county. It is said that they were there when the land was entered about 1821-22.
and ex officio State Forester, at a salary of $1,200 and an expense allowance not to exceed $600 .* The duty of the board was "to collect, digest and classify information respecting for- ests, timber lands, forest preservation and timber culture, and for the establishment of State forest reserves," while the secretary's office was to be a bureau of information on such subjects.
State Forest Reserve .- In 1903 the State purchased, through the forestry board, 2,000 acres of cheap, broken land in the northwestern
part of Clark county, near the town of Henry- ville. The larger part of this was in the wild state, but some of it had been cleared and farmed, and one use of the reserve was as an experi- mental nursery, the cleared portions being planted to various kinds of native forest trees. The rates of growth and the success of the plant- ings under different conditions have been re- corded from year to year and the results have been put before landowners over the State.
The work of the forestry office is largely edu-
This poplar tree in Washington county is 18 feet in cir- cumference. The first limb is 75 feet from the ground. The owner, Mr. Carry Morris, refused $500 for this monarch of the forest in 1912.
cational. To quote from one of its reports : "The question has been presented to the public through the press, public schools, farmers' insti- tutes, civic federations, women's clubs, etc., un- til now almost every one knows something about the forestry movement and many wood-lot own- ers are practising scientific forestry." One fea- ture of the propaganda is "Arbor Day," estab- lished by law "for the purpose of encouraging the planting of shade trees, shrubs and vines." The third Friday of April in each year is desig- nated as a day for general observance, and the
* The salary was afterward increased to $1,800.
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governor is to make proclamation of said day in each year, at least thirty days prior thereto. The observance chiefly holds in the schools, it being made the duty of county and city superin- tendents to prepare programs of exercise for the pupils. In this law Charles Warren Fairbanks is especially recognized as "the leading spirit of Indiana forestry conservation."
Conservation of Bird Life .- Closely con- nected with arboriculture and of such economic importance that it may fairly be considered a nat- ural resource, is the bird population. The indis- criminate destruction of bird life has been yet more wasteful and wanton than that of the trees. The result has been an increase of the insect pop- ulation that is a standing threat to vegetation. Pomology in particular has suffered and fruits that once thrived with little protection can now be secured only by a continual and systematic fight against insect enemies. If unchecked these enemies with their amazing reproductive powers would doubtless overrun the globe in time and by their destruction of plant life indirectly destroy animal life. The spread of the San Jose scale, the curculio, the codlin moth and other fruit devastators is a familiar story. Among the for- est trees each has its peculiar enemies and the same is true of each plant in the garden; the wheat has its chinch bug and Hessian fly ; the young corn its cut worm, and so on, ad infinitum.
In the nice balance of nature birds are the nat- ural regulators of the insect population. In the ground, beneath the bark of trees, on the foliage and in the air they find grubs, eggs and adult in- sects to sate their voracious appetites, and ob- servation has shown that the amount of con- sumption is astonishing. In a word, the wanton destruction of birds has seriously disarranged nature's scheme of regulation and we are now beginning to realize the consequences.
The first movement looking to the preservation of birds was, perhaps, a sentimental rather than an economic one. The wholesale slaughter of birds for the barbarous decoration of women's hats created a revulsion among those of finer feelings who loved birds and who saw the heart- lessness of the custom prevailing in the name of fashion. This sentiment, reinforced, of course, by the economic argument, crystallized in the Au- dubon Society movement, which has been the
great educator for the last fifteen or twenty years .* The Indiana Audubon Society within that time has faithfully pushed its propaganda for bird protection with a wisdom that looked to the future for results, and with a patience that be- spoke permanence it carried into the schoolroom its gospel of good-will to birds, and its annual meetings held successively in various cities over the State have given it State-wide prestige. The' effects have been beneficent and marked. This society, of course, was but a unit in a country- wide movement. As a general result there has been a notable change in the wearing of bird plumage by women, which was the greatest cause of bird destruction. Stimulated, doubtless, by the growing interest that was based on sentiment, the economists have come to the fore and the public is being educated to the necessity of bird protection as a part of the great conservation movement which affects material welfare; while; Indiana, along with many other States, now has an excellent law protecting insectivorous as well as game birds. The State laws, in turn, are rein- forced by a Federal law that affords protection to migratory birds as they pass beyond the juris- diction of protecting States.
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COAL
Early History .- Knowledge of coal in In- diana long antedated its utilization as an impor- tant natural resource in this part of the country. As early as 1763 George Croghan, an English of- ficer who was captured by the Indians and taken up the Wabash, makes mention of the mineral. | The first surveyors of Indiana (1804) also dis-' covered and made note of it, and in 1812 Robert ! Fulton, who brought his steamboat, the "Or- leans" down the Ohio river, found and dug coal at a point near Cannelton. The first charter for the mining of coal was granted to the American Cannel Coal Company, of Cannelton, in 1837. The abundance of wood for fuel and the ab- sence of manufacturing industries retarded the development of the coal industry, but by 1840 it was pursued on a small scale in various places, partly for export. The chief domestic use was for blacksmithing. The earlier mining was where the coal outcropped, the first shaft being
* The Indiana Audubon Society was organized at Indianapolis April 26, 1896, with Judge R. W. McBride as president and George S. Cottman as secretary.
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
junk in 1850 by John Hutchinson one mile east of Newburg, on the bank of the Ohio river. In ligging a well in Clay county, in 1851, the block coal of that region was discovered, and in the fol- owing year this coal was mined and shipped out of the county. With the incoming of the manu- actories the coal industry rapidly increased and n 1879 laws were passed for the regulation of mines and a mine inspector was appointed .*
The Indiana Area .- The Indiana coal area is part of a great field of about 47,000 square miles hat covers a large portion of Illinois and laps over into our State and northwestern Kentucky. The total Indiana area is estimated at about ,500 square miles. It comprises the west and. southwest part of the State, and a line drawn rom Benton southeastward to Owen, thence to Crawford at Leavenworth on the Ohio, would, roughly speaking, enclose our coal field. This Includes fourteen counties that are wholly and welve that are partly underlain. It has been estimated from drillings that reveal the approxi- nate extent and thickness of the beds, that be- heath the surface of these counties lies something ike 40,000,000,000 tons of coal. A great deal of this is regarded as "unworkable" with our present facilities, but by 1898 100,000,000 tons lad been actually mined out, and by a further computation, based on the rate of increasing con- sumption for eighteen years, and on area re- yarded as workable, it is thought "safe to assume hat the life of the Indiana coal field is at least $00 years,t and probably more" (Ashley).
Growth of Coal Industry .- By 1879 the coal ndustry had expanded to an output, that year, of about 1,000,000 tons, and by 1898 this had in- creased to 5,000,000 tons, in spite of the discov- ery and extensive use of natural gas. After the collapse of the gas era mining developed yet more rapidly. About 11,000,000 tons were taken but in 1903 and 13,250,000 tons in 1907. Ac- cording to the annual report of the Inspector of Mines, James Epperson, for the year 1910} (35th Geol. Rept.), the "total general average for all mines in the State" was 18,125,244 tons
and the total number of miners 14,810. The total number of mine employes were 21,171 and their wages for a year amounted to $15,527,- 390.72, being an average of $733.42 for each employe. Of the output 54.56 per cent. was shipped to other States, and the remainder, amounting to 8,235,655 tons, was used in In- diana. The total number of mines employing more than ten men were 182, and these were dis- tributed irregularly over fourteen counties, with Clay, Greene, Sullivan and Vigo in the lead as to numbers.
Kinds of Indiana Coal .- All the coals of this State are bituminous in character, but fall into three distinct kinds, known as "bituminous," "block" and "cannel." Our cannel, which is lim- ited in amount, cuts little figure in the coal mar- ket, though it has its peculiar merits, being cleanly to handle and remarkably easy to ignite. A difference between the bituminous and the block is that the former in burning runs together or "cokes," which gives it especial value for forge work, while the block burns to a clean white ash without coking. The especial merit of the latter is as a steaming coal. The quantity of bitumi- nous mined is far in excess of the block and on the market takes various specific names.
NATURAL GAS
First Wells .- Conspicuous among the natural resources of the State during the period of its usefulness, was natural gas. The natural gas era, which was in the ascendency here from 1886 to 1900, may be spoken of as spectacular, so sud- denly did it develop as an economic factor and so great were the changes it wrought.
What is frequently spoken of as the "discov- ery" of gas in the eighties is an inaccurate use of terms, since there is record of it in Pulaski county, Indiana, as early as 1865; elsewhere, long before that, it had been used for lights and fuel, and it was so used extensively in Pennsyl- vania before it was utilized in Indiana. In 1884 a well sunk at Findlay, Ohio, yielded a strong flow of gas, and the interest in this part of the country was stimulated by that find. In 1886 it was discovered at Portland, Jay county, that Indiana had rock capable of a high-pressure flow. The same year a Kokomo company drilled and
* See "Coal Deposits of Indiana," by George Hall Ashley. ndiana Geological Report for 1898.
* This, of course, is largely speculative. Elsewhere we are old our fields ought to last a thousand years.
# The last statistics we find on mining, the subject not being ncluded in the later reports of the Department of Statistics.
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secured a "gusher." and the utilizing of this well for factory and domestic fuel seems to have been the beginning of the "gas era" in this State .*
The commercial opportunities that opened up with the application of this new resource created an excitement akin to the oil craze of earlier days. \ cleanly. convenient and labor-saving fuel of greater heating value than either wood or coal, that could be brought cheaply to one's fur- nace or stove, set both manufacturers and pri- vate consumers agog, and the capitalists hastened to supply them.t Land speculation ran rife wherever it was suspected there was gas-bearing rock, and in and out of the beit wells were sunk till. in the words of a humorist of the day, Indi- ana, in spots, was suggestive of a porous plaster, and the only way to utilize the wells that never found gas was to "saw them into post-holes."
Natural Gas Area .- The gas area, as finally developed, comprised, wholly or in part twenty- six counties (Geol. Rept. 1907). The chief field may be described as approximately pear-shaped, the small end resting in Decatur county, thence swelling eastward with the eastern limit at Ran- dolph and Jay counties and westward to the east- ern part of Clinton. From these east and west extremes it rounded northward almost to the Wabash river .; Another field in the southwest- ern part of the State extends from Vigo to Gib- son and Pike, and reaches eastward to Greene. These fields combined are said to be much larger than those in any other State, and they were practically enlarged miles beyond the productive limits by the construction of pipe-lines that con- veyed the gas to outlying territory. Indianapolis, Richmond, Lafayette and many other outside cit- ies were thus supplied.
Industrial Effects of Gas .- The gas area va- ried in its yield or strength of flow. The center of our greatest supply was Madison and Dela- ware counties and the adjacent region, and it was here that natural gas, combined with excellent transportation facilities, wrought the greatest ef- fect. This was industrial. Cheap fuel was a tempting bait to the manufacturers that required much of it, and the gas belt suddenly found itself
in possession of a valuable asset. Its fuel was so cheap that it could be given away and many com- petitive towns, making a bid for industrial pros- perity, offered free gas to establishments that would settle in their midst. The general result is thus stated by one writer on the subject :
"In 1886, when gas was discovered, the gas belt was an agricultural district. Besides the cus- tomary flouring- and saw-mills the factories were! few and confined almost exclusively to the mak- ing of wooden wares. Soon, however, all classes of industries were represented.
About the time the gas was beginning to fail in Ohio and Pennsylvania it was discovered in In- diana. The field was vast in extent, the supply strong. Capitalists were glad to move their in- terests to the new field. By 1893 over $300,- 000,000 had been invested in factories in Indiana, and more were constantly being erected. It was estimated that at that time not less than three hundred factories had been located and put in operation as a direct result of the development of natural gas. Many of them were very large, as the De Pauw Plate-Glass Works at Alexan- dria, the largest of its kind in the world. In 1880 there were seven States manufacturing more glass than Indiana. In 1890 only three States stood above ours in this product. The value of glass products in 1880 was $790,781. In 1892 it had risen to $2,995,409. In 1890 there were twenty-one glass factories valued at $3,556,- 563, and employing 3,089 men. In the iron and steel industry there were in 1880 nine factories with a value of $1,820,000, employing 1,740 men. In 1890 the number of factories had! increased to thirteen, the value to $3,888,254. Two thousand six hundred and forty-four men re- ceived annual wages of $1,215,702. From 1890 to 1895 the growth was still more rapid. Janu- ary 1, 1895, the number of glass factories was 50 instead of 21. They were valued at $5,000,000 and employed 7,000 men, with an annual wage of $3,000,000."*
Decline of the Gas Era; Culpable Waste .- It is rarely that nature has given to man a bless- ing so freely bestowed as natural gas, and if it had been properly appreciated and used with dis- cretion it would doubtless have continued its service for many years. As it was, never was a
. Before this, however, gas from weaker wells that had been drilled for oil, had been utilized in a small way.
; In the geological report of 1895 a list of incorporated natural gas companies is given, numbering 324.
For chart showing location of wells and pipelines sce Geol. Rept. 1897.
* "Natural Gas in Indiana," by Margaret Wynn; Ind. Mag. Hist., March, 1908.
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natural resource wasted with such senseless prodigality and with so little excuse. There was hardly a limit to the absurd uses to which it was out. The writer recalls one man who kept a big Hambeau burning over his swill barrel to keep it from freezing and had arches of lights over his gates from curved perforated pipes ; nor was this eccentricity exceptional. In small towns the streets were illuminated, torch-like, by the lighted gas flowing without check from the mouths of two-inch pipes and it was no rare spectacle to see the flow from gas wells burning an immense Hame, day and night. It is said that "in 1889 the average daily waste from uncapped wells alone was estimated to be 10,000,000 cubic feet" (Mar- garet Wynn).
As there was no replenishing of this fuel this waste must before very long have its effect. By reason of multiplying wells and the tapping of new areas the flow steadily increased from 1886 to 1900. Since this time it has been declining. As expressed in terms of money value, it in- creased from $300,000 worth in 1886 to $7,254,- 539 in 1900, and declined to $1,702,243 in 1910 (Geol. Rept. 1911). The State geologist pro- tested against the waste long before steps were taken to check it. By the early nineties the Leg- islature adopted restrictive measures, and the office of natural gas supervisor was created, but it was too late to save the illimitable wastage which has been a dead loss to the community and which can never be regained.
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