Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/The Oak
THE OAK.
A gentleman once stood before an oak tree pondering deeply. Nine miles from the coast of Cornwall lay some dangerous rocks on which many a brave ship had been wrecked. Twice a lighthouse had been erected upon them, and twice destroyed. On what plan could he build a new one, which should stand firm through storm and tempest? The oak tree stands for hundreds of years; branch after branch may be broken off, but never the oak. Mr. Smeaton wondered if it was not the peculiar shape, the broad base and curving waist, that made this tree so strong. He went away, and in 1759 the new Eddystone Lighthouse was built, broad at the base and sloping upwards like the trunk of the oak tree; and it stands firm to this day.—Mrs. Dyson.
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