FOREST AND STREAM 
651 
extended to us. Our thanks are herewith cordially prof¬ 
fered. 
One ot tho handsomest papers published. Money saved by pa¬ 
tronizing- its advertisers.—Cape Gimrtkau (Mo.) Netm. 
It Is our best sporting exchange .—hake BWtew* (JFis.i Cisco. 
Best paper of the kind published.— Beloidere (III.) NcrrtlmeS&rn . 
Every earnest sportsman should read ft.— TtoiHsto (Pci.) First 
^The popular sporting paper of this country .—Petersbury (W.Ya.) 
°IUa a gentleman's paper. It is got up In a size and style only 
possible from a liberal support .—Renfrew (Canada) Mercury • 
Most valuable.—Stmfhrow (Canada) Am. 
Every one interested in tield or aquatic sports should be a sub¬ 
scriber.— Lodi Haven (Pa.) Rzpuhlican. 
No higher authority or more complete chronicle —JSammllc 
^HaswoiTthe adinivation of every true sportsman .—Akron (N.Y.) 
B The C; ‘ Old Reliable."—Warren (Pa.) Mail. 
Edited by a sure-enough sportsman, and deserves to be called a 
standard authority.— Vcrmillionm* (La.) Advertiser. 
Filled with interest to every true American gentleman.—Boll(- 
Salisbury (Pa.) JReoister. 
5ur sporting fraternity find Forest Anp Stream a first-rate 
authority.—TionesCa (Pa.) Forest Republican. 
One of its best features is accuracy.— Havre- da Grace (MS.) Re- 
J>l Jiis"tsuch a paper as a. gentleman sportsman wants in his family. 
—Hlnhtstawn (iV. J.) Gazette. 
It is I7te sporting paper, drama (TV.) Farmer. 
Bevond dispute the leading sporting paper m this country.— 
Nawenn (Ohio) Democratic Erimitor. ,, „ , 
Most reliable paper of its character in the world.—.Madison (Inti.) 
favorite with all lovers of the rod and gun.—IFanofcJc (N. Y.) 
Review. 
Aggregating over 4,000’articlesper annum— Catoetin (MS-.) Olar- 
i0 Now the best paper of tho kind published.—.Mount Holly Springs 
(Pa.) Mountain Echo. 
We commend it to all who are not already subscribers.—Aasb- 
ville (Torn.) Rural Sun. 
What, every true sportsman wants.—Waterloo (Tinea) Conner. 
No paper ih this country is better authority than this well-known 
periodical .—Somerville (Maes.) Advertiser. 
Its field notes range from Labrador and Florida to Alaska.— 
Charles City (Towa) InteUiyeneer. 
Its news is thoroughly reliable.— Philadelphia Sunday Mc.n.uni. 
We take particular pleasure in noting tho oontinued prosperity 
of this journal.—New Haven ( Conn .) ReyUter. 
The sportsman's favorite—Bristol (VI.) Gazette. 
A well-edited paper —Providence (It. I.) Press. 
Valuable exponent of out-door sports.—Logonsport (pl«.) Chron- 
*°Does not notice bullfights and ohieken mains .—Providence (R. 
^Muchsousht after.— BaldWlnsOille (IF. V.) Gazette. 
Now moro attractive than ever.—Boston Herald. 
Moat excellent periodical.—LMtmOflCjjMicii.) Rows. 
Its editor labors indefatigably.—KtfialjtWitoit'H (Tbim.) Moun- 
(n solid enjoyment in its columns; u valuable companion—Ott.’cn 
°Best spcutiii^pnper in this country.—Orttdnnrt (.Mich.) Advertiser. 
The only paper of its kind published in the United States which 
completely fills the bill.—Corinth (Jtffss.) Herald. 
A fine institution, and we Uko to help let the world know it.— 
North field [Minn.] Journal. 
More attractive than ever before.—Buffalo Express. 
Literary excellence and high morality .—Fermmllm [Florida] 
'^Hasno equal in America —Tecmater ICanadaTHem. 
Should be in every family.—Davenport Hbwal Blue Ribbon Ncm. 
CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE. 
Among the noteworthy undertakings of to-day is the ex¬ 
pedition to Alexandria to take down the world-famous 
Cleopata’s needle fromits present position and to transport 
the same to New York City, where it is to be erected as a 
memorial to the young Republic of the glory of ancient 
Egypt, This is a work which must prove of the deepest 
interest to all students of mankind. -The wonderful 
changes of time will be emphasized in a most stupendous 
manner when the hurrying living throngs of to-day 
gaze upon this silent yet eloquent monumeut of an ex¬ 
tinct civilization. 
Prompted by the success of England in setting up in 
London, the Alexandrian obelisk, a public-spirited citizen 
of New York lias assumed the financial responsibilty of re¬ 
moving the Cleopatra’s Needle to America. Concern¬ 
ing the present progress of the undertaking the World of 
a recent date says 
The readers of the World will learn with pleasure, we 
are sure, that Lieutenant-Commander Gorrmge, of the 
United States Navy, will sail from this city to-day in com¬ 
pany with his assistant, Lieutenant Seaton Sohroeder, 
for Liverpool on his way to Egypt, there to superintend 
the taking down, shipment ana transportation to this 
country the world-famous Cleopatra’s Needle, a monu¬ 
ment conspicuous in the history of mankind for twenty 
centuries past, and now through the liberality of the 
Egyptian Government to become a permanent and most 
interesting feature of ‘this metropolis. For some time 
past Lieutenant-Commander Gorringe had been superin¬ 
tending the construction, at the iron works of the sons of 
the late Mr. Roebling, at Trenton, of the machinery de¬ 
vised by himself to be used for the removal and ship¬ 
ment of this great monolith. This machinery will aggre¬ 
gate about eighty tons in weight. It consists of two 
towers each twenty-six feet in height, which are to be 
shipped in sections and put together after their arrival 
in Alexandria, of two steel castings each weighing over 
six tons, and of a cradle sixty feet in length. The towers 
correspond to the sides of a gun carriage and the castings 
to the trunnions of a gun. Like the machinery for hand¬ 
ling the monster gun of the colossal Italian ironclad Duillo, 
this machinary for moving the Alexandrian obelisk will 
command the critical attention of machinists and en¬ 
gineers, and it is most satisfactory to know that the work 
of transferring to the New World the first great Egyptian 
monument which has ever crossed the Atlantic will be 
carried out entirely under American auspices, though it 
ought not to be forgotten that we are indebted for the 
first hint of the feasibility of such an acquisition to a dis¬ 
tinguished English engineer, Mr. Dixon, of London, who 
laid the subject two years ago before the Editor of the 
World. 
Lieutenant-Commander Gorringe, to whom the work 
has been confided, returned to this country recently from 
a cruise of eighteen months on the Mediterranean, during 
which, in command of the United States ship Gettysburg, 
he thoroughly surveyed the shores of the Levant and 
made himself entirely familiar with the harbor of Alex¬ 
andria and with the conditions under which the monolith 
is to be handled. He will enjoy also the advantage of a 
full and friendly understanding with Mr. Dixon, who 
conveyed the sister obelisk from Alexandria to London, 
and who has in the handsomest manner put all his exper¬ 
ience and all his information thuB acquired at the service 
of Lieutenant-Commander Gorringe. 
The method of embarking the obelisk which is to be 
adopted by Lieutenant-Commander Gorrmge will interest 
and be appreciated by all seamen. A steam collierhaving 
a water-ballast compartment will be secured alongside of 
the pier and the necessary preparations made for heaving 
her down to careening lighters placed alongside on the side 
opposite the pier. The water-ballast compartment will be 
filled. A port having been opened to admit the obelisk 
into the fore hold it will be launched in. The listing of 
the steamer from taking its weight will he overcome by 
heaving down on the careening lighters, and the sinking 
due to both operations will be counteracted by pumping 
out the water-ballast compartment, thus removing a 
weight of water corresponding to that of tho obelisk, 
Tidal a.nd windrift differences of level will be overcome 
by means of a float secured at the shore end after the 
fashion of a ferry-ship. The progress of Lieutenant-Com¬ 
mander Gorringe in this enterprise will be watched with 
deep interest by all intelligent people in this country, and 
the American public will be kept fully and accurately in¬ 
formed of it from time to time in the columns of the 
World, 
A TRIP TO NORTH PARK. 
(THIRD PAPER.) 
[FROM OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENT.'! 
T HE Laramie Plains, over winch the first few miles of 
our jouruey led us, comprise nearly 3,000,000 acres 
of comparatively level or rolling prairie land. The section 
is essentially a grazing country, although there are not 
wanting, along the streams, considerable tracts of agri¬ 
cultural land. Tho elevation is so great, however—over 
7,000 feet— that stock raising will always be the most im¬ 
portant industry here. Nothing, it would seem, can 
check the progress and increase of this source of wealth 
except a winter of exceptional severity. The Laramie 
Plains are well watered and the feed, which consists of 
native grasses cured standing on the ground, is most nu¬ 
tritious. Through cattle, that is, cattle which have been 
driven from a distant point during the summer, and 
which reach their range worn out and thin in flesh in the 
fall, come out in spring fat and round, in fact, fit for 
beef. 
In 1860 General Reynolds wintered with a small force 
in the mountains on the northern edge of these plains, in 
what are now known as the Freeze Out Mountains, and 
turned out his horses to find their own living until spring; 
the animals being all broken down and unfit for use. 
When they were gathered in the spring the horses were 
found to bo fat and in good order, only one of them hav¬ 
ing been lost. In his report General Reynolds says :— 
"This fact, that seventy exhausted animals, turned out 
to winter on the plains the 1st of November, came out 
in the spring in the best condition and with the loss of 
but one of their number, is the most forcible commentary 
I can make on tlie-quality of the grass and the character 
of the winter,” There are many thousand head of cattle 
already on these plains, and in the little valleys through 
which flow the numberless small streams which empty 
into the Big Laramie, the Medicine Bow River and the 
North Platte, several individuals have large herds of 
horses, both mustangs, half-breeds and American horses. 
Here, too, sheep raising has been undertaken on a larger 
scale and more successfully, I believe, than on the plains 
east of the mountains. The breeder purchases Mexican 
ewes, and by means of Merino rams soon grades his flock 
up to a higher standard. Some Cashmere goats are oc¬ 
casionally to be seen with the sheep and it is to fie hoped 
that the experiments in this line may prove successful. 
The annual increase in a flock of sheep is usually eighty 
per cent., and as the expenses of the business are light, 
the profits to a man whose luck is good are heavy. There 
are instances on record where capital has been doubled 
in two years, but tljis requires unusually careful manage¬ 
ment. The sheep are herded during the day and are 
always folded at night. Sheep for mutton sell at Lara : 
mie for from $2.50 to $3 each, and wool brings from 18 to 
20 cents per pound. Hie yield from the Mexican sheep 
is only about two pounds, hut each cross with t-htj,Merino 
increases the weight of the fleece about a pound, and the 
quality of the wool is improved with each cross. 
It is in cattle, however, that the largest sums of money 
have been made. The vast herds which are driven each 
year from Texas, fattened on the nutritious bunch grass 
which covers the prairies, have proved better investments 
to their owners than the richest mines. This industry, 
which has sprung up on the. plaiOfl and in -the mountains 
within the last ten yeate. Is constantly increasing in im¬ 
portance, and bids fa it before long to rival in extent and 
the amount of cap' ul inTestod in it, the wheat growing 
operations in tho trans-Missouri States and Territories. 
We may expo- < before long to hear the beef crop spoken 
of in the sa e breath with the corn and wheat crops. 
Texas l t ie have in the past been the stock ia which 
most of the cattle men have dealt. Driven from Texas 
( in the .early spring, they reach the line of the Union Pa¬ 
cific Railroad in midsummer, and are then somewhat thin 
in flesh, but it takes them only a month or two to become 
fat enough to withstand the winter's cold, and by the 
middle of the succeeding summer they are fat enough to 
sell for beef. Men who intend to start a herd usually 
purchase a number of yearlings, two and three year old 
steers, and also some cows and heifers with which they 
turn out a number of well-bred bulls, so that the stand¬ 
ard of the beef raised is being constantly improved. 
Steers are usually sold at four years old and bring $25 to 
$35. The prices paid for through cattle of course vary 
from time to time, but yearling steers or heifers can usu¬ 
ally be bought for $8: two-year-old >steers for $14 ; cows 
for about the same price, and three-year-olds for $18 
to $20. 
What are called native cattle, i. c., cattle which have 
been driven from Utah, Montana, Oregon, or Washington, 
are now held in more esteem than Texans or their de¬ 
scendants, and I believe command a higher price in the 
Eastern and other markets. They are said to fatten more 
easily, to make better beef, and to be much more easily 
handled than their wilder brethren from the South. Still 
it must be remembered that the Texas cattle of to-day are 
by no means the same or similar to the beasts that were 
driven from that State ten or fifteen years ago. Cattle 
have been improved in Texas as elsewhere, as the statis¬ 
tics of the numerous importations of thoroughbred bulls 
in recent years would show, had we them at hand. So 
much is this the case that at present it is very unusual to 
see in the great annual drives a single old-fashioned Texas 
steer, all horns and legs: this form of a nim al has al¬ 
most entirely disappeared. 
The cattle having been purchased and turned out on a 
good range, the subsequent expense is merely nominal. 
One herder to every three hundred head is a fair estimate 
as to the number of hands to be employed, and these men 
can readily be hired at from $30 to $40 per month and 
board. Calculations made by reliable parties indicate 
that it costs about $4.50 to raise a steer to the age of three 
years and market him. If these figures are reliable the 
business is evidently a profitable one, It is said that in 
the past 40 per cent, on capital invested has been the aver¬ 
age profit made by cattle men. 
The last of May is the season for the “ round up.” By 
this time most of the calves have been born and are run¬ 
ning, unbranded, of course, with their mothers. The stock 
men start out and gather tho cattle from far and near, 
until a herd of 5,000 or 10,000 has been brought together. 
Those are driven along, and as the ranch of each owner 
is passed the cattle are halted, the herd is looked over, and 
all the animals bearing the brand of this particular owner 
are "cut out” and .held near the ranch for a few days. 
The remainder of the herd is then driven to the next 
ranch, where the same performance is gone through with, 
and so on until all the cattle have been sorted out. The 
calves, of course, remain with their mothers and are 
branded and ear-marked at once. A majority of each 
owner’s cattle will be found on his own range, but some, 
mixing with the herds of different owners, wander 200 
Or 300 miles in the course of a season. It is astonishing 
to note how few cattle perish in winter and how small 
is the annual percentage of loss from all causes. Six 
cent, is the highest allowance I have ever heard, trade 
and 2 per cent, the lowest. 
It was estimated in 1878 that in Nebraska. Colorado 
Wyoming, Utah and Montana there were 1,525,000 sh.eep 
and 1,540.000 cattle, and any one who appreciates the 
enormous area of country covered by these States and 
Territories will see that the business to wl-fich we .have 
referred is as yet in its infancy. There is room for mil¬ 
lions of head, and the industry is constantly growing. 
Homes, too. as we have said, are^heing reared in large 
numbers, and the crjss.of the mustang with good Amer¬ 
ican horses produces an animal unequalled for toughness 
and endurance, and yet with the size which the mustang 
lacks. BaUi <fc Bacon, near Laramie, have a herd of over 
1,000 head of horses, and many others have gone into the 
business, but on a smaller scale. 
rill this is digression, to be sure, but the subject is such 
sm Interesting one that I feel tempted to write even more 
tuil.v about it than I have done. Perhaps, however, I 
hr.ve raid enough to indicate the importance of the topic. 
] ^liould add, perhaps, that the shipments of cattle—fat 
cattle, be it remembered—over the Union Pacific Railroad 
in 1877 were 95,000 head, one man alone, Mr. J. W. Iliff, 
since deceased, having shipped 15,000 of this luunfteiv 1 
should say, too, that hay in this region is never fed to the 
range cattle. Most stock men out a small quantity to feed 
to their bulls, which are kept up during the winter, and 
to theirjdding ponies, but the cattle shift for themselves. 
The snow rarely falls to any great depth and never lies 
long upon the ground. Even if it does not melt it is usu¬ 
ally swept off by the winds, which are very severe dur¬ 
ing the winter. Sheep are usually fed hay. 
My next letter will, I presume, be written in North 
Park, and I shall hope to be abte to give you novadades 
of fine scenery among the snowy mountains, and perhaps 
of some interesting facts with regard to the fauna of the 
region. Yo. 
Laramie, Wyoming. 
—Remark of the oyster—“Herewe R again." 
