140 



RECREA T/OJV. 



fashions — as if our designers were wholly 

 lacking in originality and good taste. But 

 the argument fell on deaf ears. 



Now, however, our best American wom- 

 en have been touched on a spot even more 

 tender than their love of Parisian fashions. 

 The hostile attitude of the entire French 

 press (than which no more rotten sheets 

 ever disgraced the name of journalism), 

 and the insults that Parisian blackguards 

 have heaped upon Americans, have roused 

 the patriotism of American women. Not 

 only are Americans generally staying away 

 from Paris, but from one end of this coun- 

 try to the other the women are up in arms, 

 vowing to boycott French goods and 

 French fashions, forevermore. 



Heaven send strength to this movement. 

 French hatred has earned it, and there is 

 every reason why it should take root and 

 prosper mightily. It would put millions 

 of honest dollars into the hands of Ameri- 

 can workers, it would forever end the 

 slaughter of birds for millinery purposes, 

 and it would furnish lucrative employment 

 to thousands of American women who now 

 are idle and in need. It would develop 

 here a new field — the designing of fashions 

 of all sorts. 



The French retort that American women 

 cannot get along without French gowns 

 and millinery to make them attractive. A 

 truly French idea. As if the world does 

 not know that it is the American woman 

 who adorns the gown, instead of the re- 

 verse. Let him who doubts it try to pro- 

 duce an American girl by putting a Worth 

 gown upon a German, or French, or Italian 

 woman. 



Speed the boycott; and stay away from 

 Paris. There are many cities whose boule- 

 vards smell far sweeter; where land sharks 

 are fewer, and where one can get more for 

 less. Of course Paris is now trying to 

 crawl back into the favor of money-spend- 

 ing Americans; but now is the time for the 

 people of this country to cultivate long 

 memories as to friends and foes. 



DO FLYING SQUIRRELS REALLY FLY? 



Mr. Belcher speaks of flying squirrels 

 flapping' their wings. Is he not mis- 

 taken? I have watched these little animals 

 time and again, and have never seen any- 

 thing of the sort. They frequently fly up- 

 ward a short distance at the end of their 

 flight, but they do it by sailing, just as a 

 bird does before alighting, by changing the 

 angle of their wings. They slide up, as it 

 were, by their momentum, as a sled runs 

 up a short incline after sliding down a 

 longer one. 



A few years ago there were quite a 

 number of these animals near my camp, 

 in Northern Michigan. As I made it 

 a rule not to disturb anything near my 

 camp, they became quite fearless after a 



time, and I had exceptional opportunities 

 to observe them. They came out every 

 evening at dusk, and flew from tree to tree. 

 They would run up a tree some distance 

 and then fly downward to a neighboring 

 tree, sometimes as much as 50 feet, then run 

 up that and fly down again. In almost 

 every case, just before alighting they would 

 sail upward for a short distance, apparent- 

 ly to reduce their momentum and avoid 

 hurting themselves; but in no case could I 

 discern any flapping of their membranes. 

 What Mr. Belcher took for flapping of the 

 wings, may have been the movement of 

 their legs in the effort to change their in- 

 clination. If not, I hope his observation 

 will be verified. 



W. S. Bates, Chicago, 111. 



SILVER GRAY FOXES. 



Where can I buy 3 silver gray foxes? 

 Would Minnesota be a good place to raise 

 them? Are they hardy or tender? How 

 high a fence would be required to enclose 

 them and how deep should it be set in the 

 ground? About what would the foxes cost, 

 each? A. C. Ferguson, 



Pelter Institute, Colo. 



Answer. — The only way to obtain genu- 

 ine silver gray foxes is to advertise for them, 

 inspect before buying, and be prepared to 

 pay a good price. It makes no difference 

 about their age, so long as they are physi- 

 cally perfect animals. With plenty of room, 

 foxes are easily bred in confinement, but 

 for breeding they need acres of ground, 

 not square yards. For all information 

 about fences to enclose them, consult the 

 Page Woven Wire Fence Co., Adrian, 

 Mich. With rough and brushy ground, 

 the climate of Minnesota would be suitable 

 for breeding the silver gray fox, and all 

 other varieties of the red fox. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



Greenville, Mich. 

 Editor Recreation: Last summer a 

 large black water snake was brought me, by 

 a boy who had just killed it. I wanted it for 

 my collection, and the 36 fully developed 

 young that were within it are now in a jar 

 of alcohol beside the mother. I do not 

 give this for the " one blow " business, but 

 as a natural history fact concerning the 

 fecundity of some of our harmless snakes. 

 While not expecting that every one should 

 make pets of these creatures, I think, it 

 would be well if people would study them a 

 little more; at any rate so far as to be able 

 to distinguish between the venomous and 

 harmless ones. Many of the latter are ex- 

 tremely beneficial to agriculture, and if the 

 farmers only knew it, they would protect 

 them for the large numbers of field mice, 

 gophers, etc, they destroy. This killing for 

 the sake of killing, just " because it is a 

 snake," which is so universal, is wanton and 



