Forest Service. The winter work last- 

 ed from the middle of January until the 

 middle of April, and all work was done 

 on snow shoes, using dogs and tobog- 

 gans for freighting. Among the chief 

 advantages of winter reconnaissance in 

 the Superior country he mentioned the 

 following : the freighting is easy and 

 economical with dog teams ; control lines, 

 traverses, or meanders are easily run on 

 the frozen surfaces of lakes or rivers ; 

 lakes, streams, and swamps do not in- 

 terfere with the running of strips ; mos- 

 quitos, black flies, and other insect pests 

 are out of the way. Among the main 

 disadvantages he said that, the intense 

 cold often interferes with the efficiency 

 of the men; and the deep snow is a 

 hindrance in running strips, and at the 

 same time hinders the study of soil and 

 ground cover. He concluded, however, 

 that winter is the most favorable season 

 for cruising in this region. 



After Schaefer's talk, coffee, "wien- 



ers," and the "sour stuff" in sandwich 

 form, were passed around, and the bunch 

 "stuck" till the janitor went out to hunt 

 up the police force to eject the crowd, 

 singing, smoking, and talking more For- 

 estry than an expert could think up in 

 a year or so. 



The second smoker was held just be- 

 fore the "finals" were staged, and no talk 

 was given. Eats and smokes were dish- 

 ed out, and the Club Quartette, Kraebel, 

 Trigg, Carey, and Weitknecht, sang a 

 number of snappy pieces. Plumb re- 

 cited some bits of verse in the French- 

 Canadian dialect, and Weber ground out 

 a hundred stanzas, more or less, of 

 his favorite ballad concerning the his- 

 tory of one ancient warrior. 



The first smoker was in charge of 

 Hornby's group, and the second one 

 was taken care of by Weitknecht. 



Nothing that the Club does keeps the 

 interest in the Club and in the Depart- 

 ment at such a height as these smokers. 



PROFESSOR LOVEJOY ON "THE 

 CONGRESS AND STATES' 



CONSERVATION 

 RIGHTS." 



Before the Club on January 7th, Pro- 

 fessor Lovejoy gave a talk on the Con- 

 servation Congress of this year, explain- 

 ing what it did and did not do,khat its 

 aims and results were, and what influ- 

 ence it has in the country. He gave a 

 history of the formation of the Conser- 

 vation Congresses, and described a few 

 of the political ins and outs. He also ex- 

 plained the controversy over states' 

 rights with reference to water power 

 control, and showed some of the reasons 

 for the attitude of the West. 



He told how the Conservation Con- 

 gress was organized by Westerners and 

 was at first in the control of the "in- 

 terests"; how Mr. Pinchot came to the 

 front in the second Congress at Saint 

 Paul, and how when it was held in Kan- 



sas City in 1912 the friends of conser- 

 vation turned out in force. This last 

 Congress at Washington was a "drawn 

 battle with the champions picked," he 

 said, and Forestry was not the question 

 at issue, but rather the water power sy- 

 stem. He showed that two doctrines of 

 political economy were pitted against 

 each other, two political systems, two 

 ideas as to the function of the Govern- 

 ment, two ideals. Money, politics, law 

 prejudice and a desire to win appeared 

 on each side. Charges of "packing" and 

 crookedness were made and returned. 

 Those opposing the "national control" 

 idea used every parliamentary dodge to 

 escape an issue, forced the votes by roll- 

 calls, attempted to adjourn without ac- 

 tion, and almost broke up the Congress 



