4i8 



RECKEA TION. 



paid an admission was entirely satisfied with 

 the investment. The live birds and animals 

 were a strong attraction of themselves. 

 Though most of them are familiar to pat- 

 rons of zoo gardens and circuses, they are 

 such animals as are always interesting. One 

 of the most attractive features of this de- 

 partment was the 2 beavers. They always 

 drew curious and interested crowds, and 

 many women who wear beaver coats had 

 never before seen a live beaver. The 2 baby 

 bears were also great drawing cards. There 

 were conflicting reports as to their age, but 

 at any rate they were less than 2 months old 

 when the show opened. They weighed only 

 about 2 pounds each and their legs were so 

 soft the little fellows wabbled and stumbled 

 like a club man at 2 o'clock in the morning. 

 Thousands of children begged permission 

 to handle the cubs, but this could not be 

 granted. 



The bear and the bull terrier were other 

 star attractions. They had grown up to- 

 gether — or at least the bear had. He was 

 first put in the cage with the dog when he 

 was a cub and the former at once assumed 

 a fatherly care over him. They would play 

 and romp together by the hour, and if the 

 bear at any time became too fresh the dog 

 would shake him into subordination. Now 

 the bear is 2 years old, and, though he is 10 

 times as big and as strong as the dog, he 

 does not realize it. He frequently hectors 

 the terrier for an hour at a time, and, finally, 

 when he goes beyond the limit of the dog's 

 endurance then the dog makes a lunge at 

 him. The dog has long since learned that 

 the one vulnerable point about the bear is 

 his nose. He can chew and shake any other 

 part of the bear for any length of time ; but 

 can make no impression on him. He there- 

 fore usually aims for the bear's nose at the 

 first jump. The bear is as quick as greased 

 lightning and simply stands on his hind feet, 

 holding his snout out of the dog's reach ! 

 If the bear only knew his strength he could 

 kill the dog at one swipe of his great paw, 

 or one grip of his mighty jaws; and unless 

 the owner separates them this is sure to hap- 

 pen sooner or later. Then there will be a 

 dog funeral in that family. 



The panthers, wolves, coons, lynx, deer, 

 elk and moose all came in for their share 

 of attention and admiration on the part of 

 the curious crowds. 



The tank furnished excitement and 

 amusement every afternoon and evening 

 for the thousands of visitors. The water 

 polo games carried the crowds to the pin- 

 nacle of excitement, but the swimming con- 

 tests, and the exhibitions of trick swimming 

 and diving were also interesting. 



The exhibits made by the Quebec Govern- 

 ment, the Adirondack Hotel League, the 

 Adirondack Guides' Association, the Maine 

 Hotels and Guides, the Megantic Club, the 

 Canadian Pacific Railway, and the New 

 Brunswick Government were all strong feat- 



ures and were full of instruction and in- 

 terest for nature lovers. 



Among merchandise exhibits those of the 

 Union Metallic Cartridge Co., Laflin & 

 Rand Powder Co., Dupont Powder Co., 

 Schoverling, Daly and Gales, Remington . 

 Arms Co.. Parker Gun Co., Savage Arms 

 Co., The Peters Cartridge Co., D. T. Aber- 

 crombie & Co., the Gun Bore Treatment 

 Co., the Pantasote Co., W. L. Marble's 

 Camp Axes, and the novel collection of 

 pictures of live wild game shown in Rec- 

 reation's booth, were by far the leading 

 features. 



The Association has already announced 

 the Sixth Annual Show, to be given March 

 1st to 19th, 1900. Unfortunately, the Bos- 

 ton people have fixed the dates of their 

 show for February 20th to March 10th. 

 This renders it practically impossible for 

 any house to exhibit at both places, and 

 unless these dates can be changed the lap 

 over is sure to result in loss to both asso- 

 ciations. I hope this may be done. 



The trap shooting on the roof drew large 

 crowds daily. The special event, arranged 

 by Recreation, drew out 4 college gun club 

 teams — 2 from the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania, one from Columbia and one from 

 Princeton. Pennsylvania won the first 

 prize, a Parker gun, valued at $100, and 

 Princeton the second prize, a Remington 

 gun valued at $45. Each of these guns is 

 to be shot for by the winning team once 

 each month until some one man wins it 3 

 times in succession, when it is to become 

 his personal property. 



The rifle and pistol tournaments in the 

 basement of the Garden were also well pat- 

 ronized and many good scores were made, 

 of which more will be said in Recreation 

 hereafter. 



Washington has passed a law, prohibit- 

 ing the sale, at all times, of venison, grouse 

 of all kinds, pheasants and deer skins, and 

 prohibiting the hunting of imported game 

 until 1901. 



The Olympian state has thus set a pace 

 that all the other states in the Union might 

 well follow. Few states have more game, 

 of the species mentioned, than Washing- 

 ton has and she has taken the precaution 

 to lock the stable door before the horse 

 is stolen. The L. A. S. has a good, strong, 

 working division in Washington, which, in 

 connection with the state officers, will see 

 that the laws are strictly enforced; and it 

 is safe to predict that in 20 years from now 

 there will be more deer and grouse in Wash- 

 ington than there are to-day. In the states 

 that continually allow the sale of game, 

 and which do not provide adequate protec- 

 tion, these species will be entirely extinct 

 within 5 years. 



The U. S. S. Fish Hawk, which spent the 

 winter in scientific investigations in Porto 



