284 



RECREATION. 



HE Publisher oi "Hoofs, Claws 

 and Antlers of the Rocky 

 Mountains" hereby offers a re- 

 ward of ONE THOUSAND 



DOLLARS to anyone who will 

 prove, directly or indirectly, that 

 the pictures shown in this book, as taken by 

 Mr. A. G. Wallihan of Lay, Routt County, 

 Colorado, and for which an introduction was 

 written by Mr. Theodore Roosevelt of New 

 York, are anything but genuine, and taken from 

 life as represented. 



FRANK S. THAYER, 



Publisher. 



"Denver, Colorado, September $tb, 1*95. 



We wish we could reproduce here the 

 glowing red color of Mr. Thayer's initial 

 letter T with which his circular opens. The 

 design is that of a volcano casting forth 

 smoke, fire and melted lava, which we pre- 

 sume is a symbolical representation of Mr. 

 Thayer's mental condition. It is a coinci- 

 dence that T is the initial of Mr. Thayer's 

 name, and that the T in his circular seems 

 to be having a red-hot time. • 



If the circular meant what it appears to 

 mean, The Great Divide would claim the 

 $1,000, and present the money (when it got 

 it) to the " Society for the Prevention of 

 Crime ;" but the circular doesn't mean what 

 it appears to mean any more than " Hoofs, 

 Claws and Antlers " means what it pretends 

 to mean. In a word, the circular says one 

 one thing, means another and explains., 

 nothing. 



The Proof. — The book contains 33 pic- 

 tures of wild animals, 26 of which are real, 

 but nearly all of these are either elk, deer 

 or antelope, in different positions. 



Seventeen of these bear the copyright im- 

 print of Mr. Wallihan, and no doubt, as Mr. 

 Wallihan is an honest man, all of the pic- 

 tures are genuine. 



It might be of value to hint that in all 

 probability these are the pictures that 

 were sent to Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, and 

 only these are the pictures that prompted 

 him to write the glowing letter which Mr. 

 Thayer uses in his book as a preface. 



This is suggested because Mr. Theodore 

 Roosevelt is a sportsman and an honorable 

 man, and would not under any circum- 

 stances, indorse a lot of stuffed animals as 

 live ones. 



The stuffed animals in the book are as 

 follows : 



The picture entitled " On Guard," Rocky 

 Mountain goats; shows five of them standing 

 and lying, just as they were stuffed. 



" Who Are You?" A group of Rocky 

 Mountain sheep, arranged in most natural 

 positions, but all stuffed, 



"An Untamed Pet,"a wildcat on a 

 fallen tree, stuffed as natural as life. 

 " King of the Plains," a group 

 of three buffalo or bison. This is 

 really an artistic piece of photog- 

 raphy, and the bison are a credit 

 to the taxidermist, because they 

 are stuffed, as natural as life. 

 There is really an excuse if this 

 picture deceived Mr. Roosevelt. 



" In the Berry Patch," two grizzly 

 bears, beautifully arranged to be 

 photographed. They look as natu- 

 ral as life, but they are stuffed. 



"Building a Home," a picture 

 of two beavers in a marsh, very 

 artistic, but stuffed. 



"A Jumping Jack." This jack rab- 

 bit could not have been better if he 

 had been really alive; but he was 

 dead as Julius Caesar, and stuffed. 

 "A Successful Colony," eleven 

 prairie dogs and two owls ( 13, an 

 unlucky number), all posing in a most aristic 

 way. It's sad but true, they are stuffed. 



But there is no need of criticising this 

 book any further ; it is simply a fraud. The 

 name of an honest and honorable man 

 and some genuine pictures have been used 

 by Mr. Frank Thayer to defraud this great 

 American public. Be it said to his credit he 

 advertised the book liberally, and made hay 

 while the sun shone. 



His public announcement offering $1,000 

 to any one who directly or indirectly " knocks 

 the stuffing " out of his " still life" pictures 

 is covered with equally as much care as the 

 stuffed pictures are covered by Mr. Theo- 

 dore Roosevelt's introduction. 



The pictures taken by Mr. Willihan are 

 no doubt genuine, but they represent only 

 5 kinds of animal life. To make a long 

 story short, every man, woman or child that 

 has purchased this book has been deceived; 

 in other words, "stuffed," by Mr. Frank S. 

 Thayer, who surely deserves the title of 

 " The Stuffed Prophet of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains." 



A CLUB HUNT. 



The Antlers' Club, with headquarters in 

 Rochester, N. Y., is comprised of the follow- 

 ing gentlemen: 



C. H. McChesney, president; C. L. Hoyt, 

 secretary and treasurer; J. L. Willard, com- 

 missary; F. E. Shepard, assistant commis- 

 sary; E. H. Danford, historian; W. H. 

 Learned, "Adirondack Bill;" S. B.Williams, 

 D. C. Wilson, W. P. Fredericks, all of Roch- 

 ester, N. Y.; G. R. McChesney. D. W. Par- 

 dee, E. N. Wilson, Frank Seaman, all of 

 New York City; W. C. Hutchins, Johnstown, 

 N. Y.; Jas. Nolan, Buffalo, N. Y. 



The club had its annual outing in the Adi- 

 rondacks in October. The following gentle- 

 men were present as substitutes, etc.: 



Henry Bentz, New York City, substitute 

 for Mr. Seaman; F. E. McCord, Rochester, 

 N. Y., substitute for Mr. Nolan; D. Salter 

 and J. K. Hunt, invited guests. 



