The Throstle

1895

In his declining years it was one of Owen's favorite amusements to observe the habits of birds which frequented his garden. Of the throstle he says: There are a few old cherry trees in the garden, One of them a Bigarreau. This I netted in my first summer's possession to preserve the tempting fruit. When the dish came to table, I thought of the frequent pleasures which the morning and evening warblings of the little robbers had given me and felt ashamed at fencing off what I could cheaply get, as fresh and better, from neighboring market gardens. I never repeated the practice, but left the Bigarreaus with the other cherries as "salary of the orchestra." — Life of Richard Owen.

The Tree of the Most Rapid Growth

1895

The eucalyptus, a genus of myrtacae, grows to a greater height in a shorter time than is the case with any other known tree. The eucalyptus has increased its height by as much as 24 feet in the short space of three months and attains rapidly both a great height and a large circumference. These trees form the preponderant and most characteristic vegetation of the Australian forest, where they are famed for their great heights, usually ranging from 200 feet to 400 feet, while one has been recorded as having attained nearly 500 feet, with a circumference of 81 feet. An oak tree in three years grows 2 feet 10-1/2 inches; a larch, 8 feet 7-1/2 inches; an elm, 8 feet 3 inches; a beech, 1 foot 8 inches; a poplar, 6 feet; a willow; 9 feet 3 inches. An elm attains full growth in 150 years and lives to 500 or 600. Ash is full grown in 100 years, while it takes 200 years for oak and mahogany to reach full height. — Brooklyn Eagle.


Indian Corn

There is a miniature Indian corn grown in Brazil. The ears are not larger than a little finger, and the grains are the size of mustard seeds.


Catherine II

Catherine II of Russia had her husband assassinated, and from his death to her own ruled alone.

A Misstatement

1895

Mrs. Spiffins had answered the doorbell of her suburban residence in person. There was a man at the threshold who politely touched the brim of a hat of the vintage of 1892 and began:

"Madam, I represent" —

He did not proceed. Mrs. Spiffins had recognized him instantly, and she interrupted his remarks:

"No, you don't represent! You misrepresent. You were here a year ago and represented that some seed you sold me were those of a celebrated flowering shrub from China, whose blossoms would give me joy the long summer through. When they grew up, I found you had palmed off pumpkin seeds on me. Now, if you don't git this instant, I'll break a broomstick over your back."

He got. — Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph.


Trees

I have written many verses, but the best poems that I have produced are the trees that I have planted on the hillside which overlooks the broad meadows scalloped and rounded at their edges by loops of the sinuous Housatonic. Nature finds rhymes for them in the recurring measures of the seasons. Winter strips them of their ornaments and gives them, as it were, in prose translation, and summer reclothes them in all the splendid phrases of their leafy language. — Oliver Wendell Holmes.


The Giant of the Bat Family

The king of the family Vespertilonidae is the gigantic fox bat of the Philippine islands. Specimens of this winged mammal procured for the Minnesota State University museum by the Menage expedition in 1892 are believed to be the largest examples of this species yet obtained by the naturalists, several individuals measuring more than 5 feet from tip to tip of their leathery wings and having heads and bodies as large as the American red fox. This creature has been fully described in "Notes For the Curious" under the heading of "A Flying Fox." — St. Louis Republic.


Not Necessary Now

"Well, Bessie," said her confidential friend, "you've been engaged now for three weeks. Does it seem as you expected it would?"
"Y-yes," replied Bessie, turning her engagement ring round and round on her finger, "only Herbert doesn't bring me any candy now." — Chicago Tribune.

A New Insect Pest

New York, 1895

The San Jose Scale Threatens Destruction to Fruit Trees.

Special legislation may be required for the extermination of the San Jose scale, which has been found in nurseries on Long Island and in Columbia county. State Entomologist Lintner has been investigating the ravages of the pest for several months, and reports that unless active measures are soon taken the fruit-growers of New York will feel disastrous results.

The scale is a small insect no larger than the diameter of a common pin, and gets its name from being so well known in San Jose. It injures fruit trees in devitalizing the trees by boring through the bark with its proboscis, there being millions on a tree at one time.

The New York state experiment station at Geneva obtained an appropriation last year of $8,000 for the extermination of insect pests on the farms of the produce gardeners of Long Island, and will probably investigate the damage done by the scale in that part of the state. In case the fruit-growers neglect to interfere with the pest, as they have done thus far, the Legislature will be asked to pass a law allowing state employes free access to nurseries to spray infected trees with whaleoil soap which is fatal to the scale.

Professor Lintner will soon issue a cautionary circular on the scale to the fruit-growers of the state.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, N.Y., Jan. 18, 1895, unknown page number.

A Famous Library

1895

Its Hundreds of Unique Volumes Are Made Entirely of Wood.

In a retired street of Cassel stands an old fashioned, roomy house, the depository of the Natural History museum of Hesse. The most unique and interesting of the various collections is the so called "Holzbibliothek," or library of wood, consisting of 546 volumes in folio, octavo and duodecimo, made from trees growing in Wilhelmshire park and representing 120 genera and 441 species.

On the back of each volume is a rod morocco shield bearing the common and scientific name of the tree and the class and species to which it belongs according to Linnaeus, specimens of the moss and lichen peculiar to it, a bit of the rind or bark, and if it is resinous a drop or two of the rosin. The upper edge shows the young wood cut crosswise to exhibit the rings and pith, while the under edge is of old wood cut in the same manner to illustrate the changes which take place in the texture as the tree gains in age and size.

The top cover is of unripe wood in the rough; the front edge shows the polished grain and also the fungi to which the tree is liable when in the stages of decay or disease. Attached to the front edge is a cubic inch of mature wood, on which is noted its specific weight when the sap is flowing in the early spring, again in midsummer and still again when thoroughly dry. Under this is given the degree of heat obtainable from a cubic inch of dry wood in a cubic foot of space, that given out by the same quantity when it becomes a glowing coal, its diminished size and weight when charred, and the properties of the tree, together with a description of the soil in which it flourishes best.

The interior of the book or box contains a complete history of the tree, especially of the organs of nourishment and fructification. There are capsules, with seeds; the germ bud, with rootless and first leaves; a branch, with leaves in various stages of development; the flower from the tiny bud to the perfect blossom; the fruit from the embryo to its full maturity, and last of all a skeletonized leaf. — New York Journal.

Dog, Chasing Cat, Is Stranded In Tree

1920

MIDDLEBORO, Mass. — Alphonse Provost had missed his dog Fido for three days when Chester Amsden stopped to inform him his pet was stuck in a hollow tree near the John B. Savage farm.

Fido had presumably chased a cat not wisely but too utterly regardless of consequences, and got wedged in, with a knot hole sufficiently large to admit of sticking his head out and barking for aid.

An ax enlarged the knothole and Fido was liberated, little the worse for his experience except being a bit hungry.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 3.

Transplant in the Fall

1916

In general, the fall is the best time to plant trees and shrubs on the home grounds. When planted in the fall, the plant is given an opportunity to spend its strength in producing new root growth rather than top growth. These new roots are the "feeding" roots, and if well established will give added vigor to the plant the following year. The protection and health of the root system is the most important consideration in plant growing.

There are some exceptions to this rule. If the summer and fall seasons have been unusually dry and the plant has suffered from drought, it may be best to wait until early spring to transplant, as plants may recuperate during the winter. In some parts of the country, late summer planting of evergreens has proved best, but for Missouri early spring planting seems more satisfactory.

It is best to transplant all trees and shrubs in the fall. It is possible to move plants after they have leafed out, but there is some danger of over-evaporation of moisture from the leaves and bark which will exhaust the strength of the roots. The plant will then show wilt and spend its strength on new leaves instead of readjusting its roots. To lessen the danger from evaporation, it is always well to cut the tops back severely, and if in leaf, the trunk of a tree should be wrapped with straw or sphagnum moss to keep it moist. It is better to transplant early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

Rainy or cloudy days are the best ones in which to do planting. Transplant after the leaves drop in the autumn or before they open in the spring. Remove injured roots, broken branches, and cut back the tops. Preserve the fine hair-like roots; they are the feeders, the others only serve as anchors. Never allow the roots to dry out in the wind or sun. Cover them with earth or wet straw. Dig the hole much larger than the spread of the roots and do not bend or crowd them. Tamp the soil firmly and closely about the roots, but leave about two inches of loose soil at the surface. These planting rules are important. A tree lives longer than a man; take time and care in planting it, and, in general, plant in the fall.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 26, 1916, p. 4.

Using the Forests

1916

Not more than 30 per cent of the timber in the forests of the United States is ever utilized as lumber, according to figures recently compiled by the Office of Industrial Investigations of the Forest Service. Seventy per cent, chiefly in tops, limbs, stumps, bark, sawdust, slabs and small and defective trees, is for the most part wasted. Of the wood in the individual tree 33.5 per cent is made into lumber and of the logs which reach the mill 40.3 per cent is worked up into lumber.

New uses for waste products are constantly being discovered. It is reported that dolls' heads are now being made from a composition of wood flour and rye flour. A planing mill company in California has discovered a profitable use for odds and ends, such as are generally sold for fuel under the name of mill blocks. It has established a shop for the manufacture of children's toys, which it is turning out by the carload. Another California plant is working up blocks into dowels; another into beekeepers' supplies.

Thru the medium of the Wood Waste Exchange organized and maintained by the Forest Service much waste material is finding use.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 6.

Hunter Treed by Wolves

1905

Hungry Pack Turn Tables on Minnesota Sportsman

Henry Temfehr, a business man of Chisholm, Minn., came to the court house to-day to claim $20 as bounty for a wolf pelt in his possession. He had a harrowing experience getting his pelt, according to his story, which is vouched for by Judge Brady of Hibbing.

Mr. Temfehr was hunting north of Chisholm a few days ago, and while returning to town toward evening a pack of wolves assembled and threatened to attack him. He sought safety in a tree, and he thought it would be easy work to dispatch the pack, one at a time, from his safe perch in the tree, but after firing one shot, at which he came near falling to the ground, he changed his mind.

The wolves scattered about, realizing their danger, and watched from a respectful distance. All night the wolves kept their coveted prey in the tree, and Mr. Temfehr, although warmly clothed, came near freezing to death. During the first part of the night he fired a few shots at the beasts, and when, numb with the cold, he climbed down in the morning, he found one dead wolf.

It is supposed the other wolves hesitated to eat their dead companion for fear of meeting a like fate. — Duluth Correspondence St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Japanese Villages Are Dark

1905

"Without having actually seen them, you cannot imagine how dark some Japanese country villages remain, even in the brightest and hottest weather. In the neighborhood of Tokyo itself there are many villages of the kind. At a short distance from such a settlement you see no houses; nothing is visible but a dense grove of evergreen trees.

The grove, which is usually composed of young cedars and bamboos, serves to shelter the village from storms, and also to supply timber for various purposes. So closely are the trees planted that there is no room to pass between the trunks of them; they stand straight as masts and mingle their crests so as to form a roof that excludes the sun. Each thatched cottage occupies a clear space in the plantation, the trees forming a fence about it, double the height of the building. Under the trees it is always twilight, even at high noon; and the houses, morning or evening, are half in shadow. What makes the first impression of such a village almost disquieting is not the transparent gloom, which has a certain weird charm of its own, but the stillness.

There may be fifty or a hundred dwellings; but you see nobody; and hear no sound but the twitter of invisible birds, the occasional crowing of cocks and the shrilling cicadae. Even the cicadae find these groves too dim and sing faintly; being sun lovers, they prefer the trees outside the village. I forgot to say that you may sometimes hear a viewless shuttle — chaka-ton, chaka-ton — but that familiar sound, in the great green silence, seems an elfish happening. The reason of the hush is simply that the people are not at home. All the adults have gone to the neighboring fields, the women carrying their babies on their backs; and most of the children have gone to the nearest school, perhaps not less than a mile away. — Atlantic Monthly.

Dogwood's Many Uses

1896

Dogwood wands make excellent whipstocks, and are used in some of the best whips. They are cut sometimes by coachmen in the suburbs and sent to town to be dressed and made up into whips. The stocks made of this wood are notable for their ornamental knobs at regular intervals, being the truncated and rounded branches. These are imitated in some other whipstocks, but the imitation is a cause of weakness. The dogwood stocks are extremely tough and elastic, being comparable in elasticity with whalebone.

The wood is used also for butchers' skewers, and some philologists conjecture that the first syllable of the name is a corruption of "dag," meaning a spine or dagger. Dogwood, as being peculiarly free from silex, is used by watchmakers and opticians in cleaning watches and lenses. The bitter bark of the dogwood is used also as a substitute for the Peruvian quinine tree.

Dogwood is notably of slow growth, and in all thickly populated regions the tree is recklessly despoiled for the sake of its blossoms, so that the supply of the wood for commercial purposes is not large. — New York Sun.

Eating Parrots, Albatross, Weeds, Acorns

1896

Food Can Be Almost Anything

Few of us, or, indeed, of any people, would think of eating parrots, especially if anything else could be gotten, yet the Romans esteemed them for the table, the Boston Traveller writes.

Cranes are sometimes used for food.

The American ostrich, of South America, is eaten, both flesh and eggs. The eggs of the African ostrich are used, and the flesh, when the bird is young.

The albatross, largest and strongest of birds, produces eggs that are edible.

There is a weed in this country, much cursed by all who have to do with the soil and its products, called a vulgar phrase "pussly." No one in this country would think of eating it, yet this foe of farmers and gardeners is used as a salad in Europe and Egypt.

Acorns in this country are put to no use, unless it be for swine; but in Saxon times "mast" was valued not only for herds, but for man. In times of dearth acorns were boiled and eaten by the poor in England and in France, as one species is still in Southern Europe.

Whales are no longer eaten by civilized men, but in the thirteenth century their tongues were held in great esteem in parts of Europe. Whales are now, with seals and walruses, the chief food of many inhabitants of the Arctic regions. Of the narwhal the Greenlanders eat flesh, fat and skin.

Isinglass is a strange food; it is a gelatin prepared from the air bladders of different kinds of fish from large rivers that flow into the North and Caspian Seas.

A Minute Survey Made

1904

A high official of the War Department tells of an amusing report once made by General McKibben, of the Engineer Corps, who had been sent west to examine the course and condition of a certain road. The general's instructions especially directed him to report whence and whither the road led.

Most carefully did the officer follow orders; and when the final report was rendered it was seen that the road about which the War Department hungered for information eventually made its way up a certain hill, and climbed a tree at the top.

"Don't you think we had better omit that part?" inquired the commanding officer, when the report was laid before him. "You see, this report is to go through the regular military channel, and will be filed. Really, you know, a road wouldn't go up a tree!"

"That's where this road went," insisted General McKibben. "It got fainter and fainter; then up that hill it wound and climbed into the tree, just as I have shown in the report. There was, sir, not the least evidence of a trail beyond the tree, but it was blazed far up toward the top, and that was the end of the trail. I think the report should stand as it is, sir; I am prepared to substantiate every word of it!"

The report is so recorded in the archives of the War Office.

Keeps His Youth By Risking Life

1920

Man Does Peril Stunts to Stave Off Age

Says Fear is "Vampire" That Breaks One's Spirit

LOS ANGELES -- Physical fear and undue caution, to which the softened city dweller becomes increasingly subject, are the twin vampires that help prematurely to steal away a man's youth and break his spirit.

Out of this conviction, L. W. Walker, capitalist, philanthropist and famous daredevil of 64 years, has evolved a singular formula for staving off "age" while growing old.

Whenever he sees the "vamps" in the offing he promptly takes 'em out on a mountain top, into the tip of a giant tree or drapes himself over a precipice with them, and pronto -- they're gone.

Wins Name as Daredevil

For years Walker has performed hazardous feats that have won him a name in the clan of daredevils. And, to add zest to his adventures, he garnishes them with wager readily taken by men already in the grip of fear.

His winnings -- and he seldom loses when he attempts a humanly possible exploit -- are devoted to the poor and the handicapped.

Here are some of Walker's most recent stunts, all wage-winners (and remember he's 64!):

Stood out at right angles half way up a 100-foot tree, one foot in the crotch of a limb.

Hung by the knees, head down, from topmost branch of a towering pine.

Stood erect, hands free, on the top of another tree leaning over a deep chasm.

Climbed an almost vertical mountain wall to a point which many hardy young mountaineers had pronounced inaccessible.

Scaled a cliff where the foothold was so precarious that he had to be rescued with ropes from above.

Dived Among Sharks

Walker has proof of many other equally hair-raising performances, and continues to add to the list whenever he feels in need of a "bracer."

Once he dived into a school of sharks that lashed away in terror as the "old" man splashed his defiance.

He is now taking up aviation by way of further diversion and conquest of fear, claiming that he is growing steadily younger as his life-span lengthens toward the proverbial three-score-and-ten.

As modest as he is fearless, Walker gives freely, but without ostentation, from his ample funds to those he feels deserving.

An Unopened Padlock — A Legend of Vienna

1907

Vienna's Strange Relic That Defied the World's Locksmiths

In 1810 a blacksmith went to Vienna and locked an iron band around a tree with a padlock. What he did with the key no one knows to this day. There is a mirthful legend to the effect that he carelessly threw it into the air and that it never came down again. At any rate, the key could not be found, and the Austrian government offered prize of 500 ducats to anyone who could make a key that would turn the bolt in the lock without breaking it.

Many have tried to win the prize, but nobody has won it. Eventually it became the practice among the contestants to drive a nail in the tree and the heads of some of the nails bear the initials of those who drove them. The practice of driving nails into the tree sealed its fate. The lower part of the tree in a few years assumed the appearance of a solid mass of iron. One spring the leaves failed to come out, and later a summer storm blew the top away.

The historic stump was cut off and placed on a pedestal on one of the prominent street corners in Vienna. At the same time the iron band was cut in two and put around the stump to hold it in its niche, leaving the padlock in its original position. And there the old stump stands to this day an object both of the curiosity of tourists and the veneration of the residents of Vienna. Incidentally, a street, Stock im Eisen — "Stick in Iron" — has been named after the stump. — Scrap Book.

The Tree Doctor

1907

His Method of Treating a Trunk That is Decaying

When a tree doctor treats a decayed tree he begins by cutting an aperture in the tree large enough to allow him to get at the inside and remove all the decayed wood. This is essential to the success of the operation.

When this work has been done the cavity is ready to be filled. The composition used in case of large fillings contains five parts of sand to one part of portland cement, except for the outer part, where these ingredients are used half and half, this outer coating being several inches thick. To hold the cement in place while it is hardening a stout tin or zinc is employed, this being secured to the trunk of limb in a way to preserve the natural shape. The tin is put on in strips, being fastened with round steel nails having a broad head and a small shank. The strips are wide enough to lap over upon the sound wood, and the nails are placed from half an inch to an inch apart, according to the strain imposed.

The first strip of tin is put on at the lower part of the aperture and the cement put in until it reaches nearly to the top of the tin. Then a second strip is put on, lapping over the other two or three inches, and the two nailed together. Then more cement is used, and so on until the cavity is filled, the last strip of tin being bent down while the final application of cement is being puddled into place and the cavity entirely filled, and then it is straightened up and nailed in place. In case of extra large cavities large sheets of tin or sheet iron are nailed on the outside to prevent the tin from bulging out until the cement has hardened, when they can be removed. The smaller the cavity the larger are the strips of tin employed, as the strain is proportionately less. In twenty-four hours' time the cement will have hardened completely, and the tin may all be removed. This remedy is applied successfully to fruit trees as well as shade trees. — New York Tribune.

Grafting In a New Root — Renew Your Old Life, Do Something New

1921

By DR. WM. E. BARTON

IF THE top of a tree dies down, or does not bear a satisfactory kind of fruit, new branches can be grafted in. But what if it be the root that dies? Is there any way of grafting in a new root?

In Riverside, California, stand the two parent navel orange trees. If I have the information correctly, the entire navel orange industry on the Pacific coast began with the successful propagation of that kind of orange from these two trees.

One of them stands on Magnolia avenue, and the other was transplanted by President Theodore Roosevelt, and stands in front of the Mission Inn.

Both these trees are very old and manifestly dying. But they are trying the experiment of creating a new root for one of them. If that succeeds, I presume they will do the same for the other.

They take a vigorous young tree, cut off its top, plant it as close to the old tree as possible and at an angle, and graft the top into the side of the old tree a little above the root.

They have grafted in several such young roots, and they appear to be growing and to be saving the life of the old tree.

Such an undertaking lends itself to reflection. There are men who are dying at the top because they have not sufficient root. Why not dig down near the root, and put in a new one?

You can learn Greek at forty, or study Browning at fifty, or become an expert on psychoanalysis at sixty, or make yourself either a learned man or a fool at seventy.

Maybe you do not care for those particular studies — in that case there are others.

Why should not a man who lacked opportunities, in his youth for higher education, set about it in middle life, and pursue a course of good reading? Why not study astronomy, or botany, or literature?

Many men die a good many years before the undertaker carts them away. A man begins to die when he ceases to grow. Why not graft in a new root?

The Influence of Man Upon Climate

1877

The influence of man upon climate has been a favorite subject of late years, and it is now well known that, by cutting down forests and draining the soil, men can materially change the climate of a country.

Some recent experiments conducted in Germany confirm this belief, by showing the extent to which woods will affect the rainfall. Two observatories were established for the purposes of comparison — one over a clump of trees forty feet high, and the other over a bare sandy plain about three hundred yards from the forest. Both observatories, were built at the same height from the ground. Twelve months' observation showed that of the total rainfall within that period ten per cent more rain fell over the trees than over the bare sand distant three hundred and thirty yards from them. Further, the air above the wood was charged with aqueous vapor to the extent of ten percent in excess of the air over the barren open soil. The ground too, under the trees, retained far more water than the exposed earth, evaporation from the surface, thanks to its shade of trees and moss, being only one-sixth of that outside their friendly shelter.

These results are valuable in that they point out a possible means of improving the condition of sterile tracts, i.e., by planting trees.

Hornets Got Him in Tree — and Other Painful Stories

1909

CHESTER, Pennsylvania — His head swathed in bandages, his sight temporarily gone, a leg and arm broken, and a rib splintered, Albert Thachrah, aged 15 years, of Aston Mills, is suffering from the effects of a fierce battle with a nest of hornets.

He was high up in the branches of an apple tree, when, in attempting to save himself from falling, he grabbed a branch to which a huge nest of hornets was attached. Immediately the angered insects began to sting him, and the boy tumbled to the ground, breaking his arm and leg and splintering his rib. Being unable to run, Thachrah was easy prey for the hornets until his cries brought relief and he was carried to a place of safety.


Mad Dog's Scratch Fatal

WAVERLY, New York — A scratch from the paw of a rabid dog was responsible for the death today of George Murray, the 4-year-old child of a local merchant. The boy was playing near his home one afternoon, three weeks ago, with two older boys, when they were suddenly attacked by a strange dog. The other two were bitten and were sent to the Pasteur Institute for treatment as soon as it became known that the dog was made. The Murray child's injury was so superficial, however, that no alarm was felt. yesterday he developed unmistakable symptoms of rabies and died today in great agony.



Tiger Chews Boy's Arm

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — During the arrival of Campbell Bros. show, Ernest Hammond, aged 13, leaned against a tiger's cage and the animal seized his arm, breaking it at the wrist, and lacerating it so that amputation may be necessary. The boy was held by the tiger for ten minutes before the keepers could pry its jaws open with iron bars.

Man Lives Without Stomach — Predigested Food

1909

Man Lives Without Stomach

NEW YORK — William Smith, whose stomach was removed three weeks ago in the Bushwick Hospital, Brooklyn, has left the institution cured, the surgeons say. There is no reason why Smith cannot live, it is said, and his only handicap will be that he can eat nothing except predigested foods.


Stove Discharged Rifle

EVANSVILLE, Indiana — A stove, which Mrs. Mary Gregory was trying to set up this afternoon fell against a loaded rifle in the corner. The weapon was discharged and Mrs. Gregory was shot in the abdomen and is said to be dying tonight.


Whisky is 86 Years Old

SPENCER, Indiana — Workmen engaged in tearing down the old Owen County courthouse found a gallon jug of whisky, 86 years old, buried in a crevice in the foundation stones under the building. The liquor is in possession of the county auditor, who has purchased a spoon preparatory to dealing the liquid out to county officials and others.


Hurled From Auto Into Tree

NEW YORK — When a speeding automobile struck a tree near Coney Island five men were in the machine, but after the accident the ambulance physicians found only four men, all of whom had suffered broken ribs or other injuries. When one of the four recovered consciousness he inquired for the fifth member of the party and a search revealed an unconscious man hanging over a limb of a tree, to which he had been hurled by the collision.