EDITORIAL 



347 



been polluted to such an extent that the 

 water there was black. It is said that the 

 Elkins tannery empties its vats into the river; 

 and one of the Ohio papers states that a 

 brewery has recently killed all the fish in an 

 adjoining stream and speaks of it as a joke! 

 It would be well for that paper to remember 

 that dead fish means impure water, and im- 

 pure water means dead men. Pure water 

 means healthy people and fish will thrive best 

 in pure water. Let us have both — we have 

 a natural and a legal right to pure water and 

 healthy fish. 



From what has been previously said it may 

 plainly be seen that the indefinite preservation 

 of game and forests and the purity of our 

 streams rests with the people themselves. 

 Legislators will enact such laws as the people 

 shall demand; and the courts will interpret 

 those laws in accordance with the demands of 

 the people. The trouble lies in the fact that, 

 when we have delegated our power to a group 

 and that group has delegated it to a smaller 

 group, it is easy for an organized band 

 of corruptionists to use their tainted money 

 effectively on these few people for the benefit 

 of themselves, and have the will of the public 

 treated with contempt ; but they can only do 

 this when the people, bv their negligence and 

 inattention allow it. We have a recent exam- 

 ple of how quickly even prominent politicians 

 become virtuous and honest when the lime- 

 light is turned full upon them, and we can 

 keep the limelight blazing only by keeping up 

 a universal interest in these subjects so dear 

 to our hearts, and educating the masses to the 

 importance of preserving the animal and veg- 

 etable life of our continent. 



Apropos of the silly talk of a would-be 

 editor, which was quoted in the last number 

 cf this magazine, I would say that there is a 

 pamphlet issued by the government conclu- 

 sively showing the great benefit the game 

 laws are to the farmers, and there is a liberal 

 education in these reports. It would be well 

 if all our farmers insisted upon their repre- 

 sentatives having their names placed upon the 

 mailing lists of all reports regarding the ani- 

 mal and vegetable life and agricultural sub- 

 jects printed by our government especially for 

 the farmers. The government spends a great 

 amount cf money in making the necessary in- 

 vestigations, printing and mailing it. 



Not. only should all the farmers receive 

 them and read them, but all nature lovers, 

 sportsmen and foresters should demand that 

 they be put upon the list so that they may 

 also receive these reoorts, which are printed 

 especially for their education and printed by 

 the expenditure of the money collected from 

 them in the form of taxes. 



deal of careful judgment and artistic senti- 

 ment. But the judges have been worked hard, 

 and they want to say right here that, while 

 they expect a number of protests to come in 

 through the mail as a special favor the judges 

 ask the "kickers'' to be easy on them. The 

 judges have done their best, and if their judg- 

 ment is not satisfactory in all cases, it is due 

 to the inability of our staff to appreciate all 

 the circumstances under which the photo- 

 graphs were taken and not through any 

 biased or opinionated ideas of their own. 

 They have discussed the photographs, looked 

 at them hung on the wall, looked at them 

 spread on the floor, assorted them in bunches 

 and then taken what they considered the best, 

 placed them together and voted on them, gone 

 over and over them, and they sincerely hope 

 that they will be treated with kindness by the 

 ones who have failed to win. 



Of course, there must be many losers and 

 few winners in all competitions ; but the 

 judges would feel very badly if they were 

 thought to be unjust. 



Come now, boys, brace up anil Drove your- 

 selves to be good losers, and here's to you ! 



"NEWSPAPER"— NATURAL HISTORY. 



[SPECIAL CABLE TO NEW YORK AMERICAN AND 

 JOURNAL] 



London, May 17. — Major-General Baden-Powe'., 

 as Inspector-General of Cavalry, has begun his active 

 spring work by putting the "Blues" through some 

 very stiff jumping work in Windsor Great Park. 



It has been suggested that "B.-P.'s" unrivalled 

 skill as a cavalry scout forms quite a remarkable 

 instance of heredity, seeing that he is descended 

 trom Pocahontas, the American Indian Princess, 

 who has given her name to "La Belle Sauvage" 

 Yard, on Ludgate Hill, and lies buried at Deptford. 



Pocahontas and her fellow tribesmen must 

 have ridden on deer, for there were no horses 

 in America until the white men imported 

 them. 



PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION. 



Recreation is delighted with the success of 

 the photographic competition. The results 

 have been most interesting and show r a great 



MY COMRADES THREE. 



BY FRANK LEO PINET. 



I. 



The blackbird is the parson, 

 And he preacheth all the day; 



The blackbird is the parson, 

 But I never heard him pray! 



II. 



The bluebird is the poet, 



I know it by his song; 

 The bluebird is the poet, 



And he pipeth all day long. 



III. 



The redbird is the soldier, 



For his is a bugle call ; 

 The redbird is the soldier, 



And I love him best of all. 



