122 



RECREATION. 



him, set up a yell, which caused the so- 

 ciable bear to clear out. 



The next night the same bear, it is sup- 

 posed, entered a tent below, on the same 

 creek, where a prospector was sleeping, 

 having piled his possessions back of his 

 bed in the tent. The bear placed one paw 

 on the sleeping man, reached over him, 

 took a side of bacon, # and made for the 

 open air. The miner, awakened by the 

 unusual pressure on his chest and realizing 

 it was no ordinary nightmare, sprang up, 

 ran out of the tent with his rifle, and was 

 lucky enough to break the bear's back with 

 the first shot from his old reliable .45-70 

 rifle. 



B. F. Clayton, Portland, Oregon. 



FATE OF A NON-COMBATANT. 



Recently while descending the Rio 

 Grande, on the river gunboat Covadonga, 

 the lookout sighted a great, dark object on 

 the shore. Lieutenant Webb, the com- 

 mander, examined it with his glass, and 

 saw it was an immense crocodile. The 

 lieutenant ordered out a firing squad with 

 "Krags." The entire crew and all the 

 newspaper men were on deck to see the 

 fun. At a signal the squad fired a volley. 

 The crocodile went straight up and seemed 

 to stand on the very end of his tail, with 

 feet extended and mouth open. Another 

 volley brought him to his feet as well as 

 to his senses, and he fairly split the air 

 in getting to the river. We thought we 

 had lost him; but Lieutenant Webb gave 

 him a turn or 2 from a Gatling, and the 

 great saurian stopped so short that he 

 drove his nose and feet deep into the mud. 

 A boat's crew landed to look at him, and 

 concluded to take him to Manila. They 

 tied a rope around his head, but the en- 

 tire crew could not budge him. Then the 

 rope was attached to the Covadonga's 

 winch, and he was dragged aboard. This 

 crocodile was 20 feet long; I don't know 

 what he weighed. The natives said he was 

 over 100 years old. The Utah Battery 

 boys will take the skin home as a trophy 

 of the war. 



Lieut. C. F. O'Keefe, Manila, P. I. 



A CONGRESS FOR PROTECTION. 



Why not call a congress of nations to 

 protect all big game? In Africa many va- 

 rieties of large and beautiful animals, of 

 value to the whole world, are rapidly fol- 

 lowing the American bison to the happy 

 hunting grounds, where the game hog is 

 not admitted. It is a crime to exterminate 

 these creatures, but the fate of the great 

 auk and the dodo will soon be theirs un- 

 less we wake up and save them in time. 

 With slight encouragement the valuable 



animals of Africa, India aiul America 

 would increase and form a source of wealth 

 and pride to the people who now think 

 only of destroying them. Most of the 

 African antelopes would thrive in South 

 America, and some would no doubt do 

 well in the Southwestern part of the United 

 States. An international congress of 

 scientists and sportsmen would be a great 

 step toward preserving the remaining pas- 

 sengers of Noah's ark. Start the move- 

 ment in Recreation. 



Dan. Beard, Flushing, L. I. 



An excellent suggestion and one I 

 should like to see put in operation. Let 

 us hear from nature lovers on this subject. 

 — Editor. 



ANOTHER FAKE HEAD. 



In August Recreation, which contains 

 an account of a fake elk head sold by 

 Wittich, of Livingston, Mont., is a letter 

 from A. H. Paton, of Meeker, Col., de- 

 scribing another large elk head. Both 

 heads, I fancy, are of the same kind. Some 

 time ago I had an order for an extra big 

 elk head, and having heard Paton had one. 

 I wrote to him. He replied he had sold 

 it to Mr. Ball, proprietor of Ball's hotel, 

 Meeker. I ordered the head and looked at 

 it as it passed through here on the car. I 

 mistrusted its genuineness and wrote to 

 Paton and to Ball about it. Both assured 

 me it was all right, and I thought no more 

 of it until I heard from the buyer. The 

 latter wanted only the horns, and em- 

 ployed a taxidermist to remove them from 

 the head and mount them on a shield. He 

 found the head had been made up and the 

 horns spliced. 



Gus Stainsky, Colorado Springs, Col. 



GIVE THE FARMER CREDIT. 



In reading October Recreation I no- 

 tice J. W r . Griggs tries to throw the blame 

 of the decrease in game on the farmer. 

 He claims the farmer has the game all 

 killed before the season opens. I do not 

 agree with him. In the first place, the 

 farmer has no time to hunt before that 

 date, or for a month after. Secondly, 

 farmers furnish food for the birds and 

 often protect the nests. Did Mr. Griggs 

 ever see a farmer shoot a quail from a 

 fence post, in the breeding and hatching 

 season? I think Mr. Griggs will find, pro- 

 vided he looks, that a certain class from 

 the towns or cities make a business of go- 

 ing out 2 to 7 times a week and shooting 

 everything they find, in season or out. 

 They kill much more game than the 

 farmers do. 



R. W. R., Alberton, la. 



