Hobart Senior High School - Memories Yearbook (Hobart, IN)

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20 HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL. OUR NATURAL RESOURCES. GEORGE E. TABBERT. HE forests of America, however slighted by man, must have been a great delight to God, for they were the best he ever planted. The whole continent was a garden, more beautiful than all the other wild parks and gardens of the globe. Bright seas made its border, and lakes and rivers gleamed in the broad basins and glistened in the fruitful valleys. Far below the surface lay the coal and minerals hidden and treasured by the ages. From the mountains of wealth came rushing rivers and mighty waterfalls abundantly charged with strength to move all the wheels of industry, This store-house, this garden formed our great American heritage — a heritage not to be excelled in all the world. Such was this country some three centuries ago when our liberty-loving, intelligent, and ambitious fathers landed on this continent. With these resources is there any wonder that the United States ranks first among the civilized nations ' ? But, sad to relate, this garden, this granary, this treasure- house has been dissipated far beyond the realization of the American people. A few years ago representatives were sent here by foreign governments to study our methods. They were sent because European nations could not understand our marvelous powers of production, our rapid recuperation after panics and crises. These men were convinced that in all the world the land that was best adapted for the development and preservation of a happy people was the United States of America. They were so convinced that now the United States is universally known as the “Land of Unlimited Opportunity.” This world to-day is a world of wants. We are prone to forget that man is a land animal, that his sustenance comes from the earth. We are prone to forget that future generations must be sheltered, clothed, and fed. And more than all our forgetting, we have yet to learn that the earth’s resources are limited. We, as a nation, have been prodigal of our wealth. We have been reckless in our wastefulness. Look at the wanton destruction that has been going on for the past hundred years. Our buffaloes have been slaughtered to practical extermination. Natural gas and oil have been treated as though they were abundant as sea water. Coal, that master agent of power and progress, has been lavishly dissipated. The greater part of its strength has merely served to spread darkness above and unsightly rubbish below. Through the agency of coal England has surpassed all other nations of Europe, and

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HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL. 19 Feb. 23 — One of the faculty had a birthday. March 3 — Alarm clocks kept busy. March 5 — Are Angels men or women? March 13 — Water color girls paint tulips. March 17 — Freshman wore true colors. March 18 — Li I taught school. March 19 — Senior found a valuable shell? March 23— Earle visited H. T. II. S. March 26— Local contest. March 27 — Juniors’ and Sophomores’ parties. April 4 — Freshmen party. April 5 — Fire drill ! April 15 — Ti 1 lie broke Arthur’s glasses. April 23 — Hammond contest. April 23 — Sophies have class meeting in Manual Training room. May 5 — Hattie works very diligently at her bookkeeping. May 14 — Junior reception to Seniors. May 21 — Senior class play, “Queen Esther.” May 28 — Commencement and Alumni Banquet.

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HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL. 21 through the agency of coal the United States has surpassed England. Hut, lacking coal, Italy stands still and has stood still for over three centuries. What is true of our coal is also true of our ores. We leave about one-half in the mines in such condition that its future mining is impracticable. It is hard to believe that so intelligent a people as we are thought and said to be can tolerate this heedless waste. In the settlement of this country men wanted bread more than timber or beauty and, in the blindness of hunger, the pioneers regarded God’s trees as only a larger kind of pernicious weed, extremely hard to remove. Accord- ingly, with no eye to the future, these pious destroyers waged war. Chips flew and trees in their beauty fell crashing to the ground. But the making of fields would not have brought about the present conditions. We owe the approaching timber famine to the criminal lumbermen. No such destroyers ever before walked the face of the earth. They have robbed, killed, and laid waste the land. They have spread death and confusion in the fairest groves and gardens ever planted, in the American forests, the glory of the world ! What does the earth most want? Power. The forests are mighty factors in the world’s supply of power. Coal is only stored sunlight and it came to us by way of the forests. The ferns and other vegetation of prehistoric ages burn upon our hearths to-day. The waters that once were held back by the for- ests now are permitted to rush to the valleys without restriction. The rich soil that once lay about the tree-roots is now in the bed of the ocean. Not only are the material agents of warmth and light passing beyond our reach, but the very land, yea, the very soil that furnishes us food is slipping into the sea. When this work is finished we become aware that we have undone the work of countless centuries, that the garden God gave us has become a fruitless, profitless ruin. The age of steam is passing and the age of electricity appears. But the question that must be solved is the source of power. Our country has the best system of rivers in the world. If we but bring the yearly floods under control we have power and to spare. Mills and factories, railways and lighting systems may be supplied with electric power generated by distant rivers. Corporations are now seeking locations and franchises for this purpose. Give us electricity and we have motion, heat, and light. But to acquire this energy we must preserve and control our rivers; and, if we would keep our rivers and waterfalls, we must see that large areas of land are covered with forests. Europe and Asia can teach the United States a lesson on the care and management of forests. We have behaved as a rich and foolish spendthrift who has inherited an estate in perfect order and through neglect permits it to be plundered. Historically, the situation resembles the closing years of the old regime in France. In each case we have a nation eager for action but