ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1513 



for active service in the defense of New York 

 Cit3^ In a short time we expect to organize 

 Company B. 



I should not fail to state, Mr. President, that 

 not only has every man and woman and every 

 boy and girl of this Park signed the solemn 

 pledge of loyalty that recently went to the 

 President, but each one also has voluntarily 

 pledged himself, or herself, to contribute to the 

 cause of preparedness and defense one hour 

 daily of extra service, whenever called upon, 

 and in any manner necessary for the general 

 welfare. 



Mr. President, I now turn over to you, and 

 leave in your hands, the Zoological Park 

 Guards. 



I have the honor on behalf of the Managers 

 and the Members of the New York Zoological 

 Society to present this flag to this company of 

 officers and guardsmen of the New York Zoo- 

 logical Park. 



Speech of President Henry Fairfield Os- 



BoRN, Presenting the National Colors 



to the Zoological Park Guards. 



The Zoological Society belongs to the Ameri- 

 can nation. At this time we are all Americans ; 

 we know no other home, no other country, no 

 other allegiance, no other flag than the stars 

 and stripes. 



Our beautiful flag has a great history ; no 

 other nation has a flag which means so much ; 

 ever}^ color has a meaning. The red stands for 

 brotherhood and the willingness to sacrifice life 

 itself for our homes and our brothers. It is the 

 red not of anarchy, but of the common good. 

 The white stands for the faith of the American 

 people, the stars and the blue stand for our 

 ideals. 



The thirteen bands of red and white are the 

 original states which stood together for freedom 

 and union. The forty-eight stars on the blue 

 stand for the hundred million people who are 

 now united in forty-eight states in the cause of 

 liberty, of justice, and humanity. 



This is both a serious and a joyous day. It 

 is serious because some day you may be called 

 upon to defend your homes and your city. It 

 is joyous because a symbol that we all realize 

 what we owe to our beloved country, to the 

 patriotic men who gave their lives to it in the 

 Revolution and in the Civil war, and our alle- 

 giance to our country today and readiness to 

 follow their great example. 



We are behind the President of the United 

 States, we are behind the fighting Mayor of this 

 great city, we are behind our soldiers and sail- 

 ors, and ready to join the ranks of the defend- 

 ers of our citv if we are so fortunate as to be 

 called. 



SALT-LICKS AND ALKALI SPRINGS 

 FOR ELK. 



IN SOME states it is unlawful to make a salt- 

 lick. Hunters sometimes make a lick to lure 

 the deer in to be shot, and in the west a suc- 

 cessful way to hunt for meat is to watch a lick 

 during the evening or early morning. Some very 

 timid animals have been lured with salt to with- 

 in a few feet of the camera, to get their pictures. 



In the West, all herbivorous animals — elk 

 deer, moose, antelope, mountain sheep, horses 

 and cattle — seem to require either salt or al- 

 kali water. It is not the salty taste that is 

 sought, for in Jackson's Hole neither the earth 

 nor the water that oozes out has a salty or 

 brackish taste. The water is a cathartic, both 

 to man and beast. Natural salt-licks are not 

 often found in a granite or volcanic formation, 

 and the wild animals that range-th-e-re must, in 

 most cases, travel for miles to reach the nearest 

 lick. Great trails are worn out, some of which 

 have been in use for ages. Loads and loads of 

 the earth are eaten by them for the salt or al- 

 kali that it contains, and that is necessary for 

 their existence. Without it they become slug- 

 gish, their hair has a dead look, their ej^e loses 

 its fire, and their spirit and energy are dimin- 

 ished. Sometimes their actions really denote 

 debility. 



The larger portion of the basin of Jackson's 

 Hole is of sedimentary origin. It contains many 

 veins of coal, sand-stone, slate, shale, and lime- 

 stone. It also contains many natural alkali 

 springs that are used very extensively by the 

 elk. I think that this, as much as any other 

 one thing, accounts for their being there. The 

 few elk that range outside the limits of these 

 springs will leave their range and travel for 

 miles to the nearest lick, and on drawing near 

 it will come in on the run, and begin immedi- 

 ately to sip the water or eat the earth. 



Elk will hang around a spring for several 

 days before returning to their range. To draw 

 an irregular circle to include all the alkali 

 springs in the Jackson's Hole country, would 

 include nearly all the elk, and though other 

 portions of the county in every other way are 

 adapted to the needs of the elk, they will not 

 stay elsewhere because there are no alkali-licks. 



