450 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



—didn't — get — even 



The story was as follows: 



"When 1 was a boy, no older than 

 yon, 1 went hunting pigeons as you 

 do, but with the old flintlock now in that 

 corner by the bureau. The flocks of 

 pigeons were larger in those days than 

 now. It would take a long time for a 

 flock to pass overhead, and there were 

 often so man}- as to darken the land- 

 scape like a cloud. One of the smaller 

 flocks alighted in the oak by the pas- 

 ture spring. I say 'smaller' but there 

 were enough to fill the tree so you 

 couldn't see anything but pigeons. I 

 thought what a large number I would 

 kill. I felt as if I wanted to shake the 

 aim over the whole tree and kill the 

 whole lot. I didn't take much aim ; 

 I just pointed that way and fired. I 

 thought the charge couldn't go amiss. 

 Every pigeon flew and I stood and 

 watched them. 

 —a — f — e — a — t — h — e — r !" 



Here my grandfather would laugh 

 "heartily and, "Then," he continued, "1 

 went on till I saw three pigeons go 

 ■overhead and alight on a dead branch 

 -of an old scrag aople tree. I tiptoed 

 around slowly till I got all three — in — 

 line. Then I took careful aim and 

 fired. I — got — all — three — and — I — 



never — had — pigeons — that — tasted — 

 better !" 



Mere he laughed harder than ever! 



There are some of our students and 

 some of our would-be contributors who 

 should tiptoe carefully and get all three 

 into line and then take careful aim! 



Please try to hit something. Do not 

 fire all over a ten mile walk and tell 

 about the heavens above, the earth be- 

 neath and the waters under the earth 

 —your emotions, your soliloquies, your 

 aspirations. Please, Oh, please hit 

 s< >mething. 



A LABOfi OF LOVE. 



The February, ig 19, issue of "The 

 Mineral Collector" completes the fif- 

 teenth volume of that interesting, 

 semi-technical magazine. Mr. A. C. 

 Hates, a well known writer on miner- 

 alogy, tells, in his "Sundry Notes," of 

 the work of Mr. Arthur Chamberlain 

 who for fifteen years has conducted 

 'The Mineral Collector" as a labor of 



love. Quite rightly Mr. Mates praises 

 this indefatigable worker for the great 

 task that he has accomplished and, in 

 closing, says "Let us stand and drink 

 a silent toast to Mr. Arthur Chamber- 

 lain." I intend to drink the toast but 

 not to make it a silent one. Such faith- 

 ful work as Mr. Chamberlain has for 

 fifteen years been doing for that maga- 

 zine now discontinued and on the 

 previous "Exchanger's Monthly" and 

 the "Mineralogist's Monthly" deserves 

 our highest commendation. And that 

 he already has. Nothing that The 

 Guide to Nature can say will add to 

 the estimation in which he is held by 

 his clientele. His work has beeh not 

 a means to an end but an end in itself. 

 I ndoubtedly he will value the praise 

 that has been showered upon him by 

 his subscribers but this, however sin- 

 cere and enthusiastic, cannot be an 

 adequate reward for his labors. The 

 work in itself has been worth doing 

 but to that he has added pleasure by 

 utilizing his evenings and holidays in 

 setting the type and making up the 

 pages of the magazine, a combination 

 that can be realized and appreciated 

 only by those who are likewise engaged 

 in some missionary work for the ad- 

 vancement of the stud}' and the love 

 of nature. 



The Guide To Nature, in the num- 

 ber closing the first volume, makes to 

 Mr. Chamberlain a bow of sincere 

 appreciation. Both magazines, his and 

 ours, are edited by love which Druni- 

 mond, as quoted by Bates, calls the 

 greatest thing in the world. 



I have not had the pleasure of an 

 extended personal acquaintance with 

 Mr. Chamberlain but from what I have 

 seen of him 1 agree with the writer 

 who calls him "a bundle of American 

 energy." He has been a collector of 

 minerals from boyhood and always 

 willing and conscientious, — a com- 

 bination which never fails to do some- 

 thing. 'The Mineral Collector" has 

 not been a large magazine. It has 

 never boasted of having more than a 

 million subscribers and the paoer has 

 not always been good nor the press 

 work the best, but the beauty of the life 

 that has animated the magazine has 

 made every reader close his eves to 



