202 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 8, 1886. 



There is a hidden motive for the eagerness with which this 

 grant is sought; a motive that has not yet been acknowledged. 

 It has probably to do with the natural wonders which lie 

 aloug the proposed line, and which may be included in any 

 grants of land which may be made to the Cinnabar & 

 Clark's Fork Bailroad for stations and other purposes. We 

 notice among the names of those who urge the granting of 

 this right of way that of C. F. Hobart, who has before 

 reached out an eager hand for the National Park, happily 

 without much success. An inspection of the map will 

 show that the proposed line would pass close by Soda 

 Butte Springs and not very far from the wonderful fossil 

 forest. 



We print this week a map, carefully compiled from the 

 best sources, which shows the falsity of the statement made 

 by two committees of Congress, that the proposed railway 

 line which follows the Yellowstone Biver and Soda Butte 

 Creek will only pass through the Park for twenty-five miles. 

 Lf any one cares to take the trouble to measure the Yellow- 

 stone Biver from the point where it leaves the Park up to 

 the East Fork, and then up that to and up Soda Butte Creek 



to where the latter enters the Park, he can readily calculate 

 for himself what distance will be traversed by this line. 



Lieutenant Daniel C. Kingman, Engineer-in-Charge of the 

 Park, has been quoted in committee reports as favoring the 

 railroad line up the Yellowstone. Let us see what he says 

 about it: 



Headquarters Department of the Platte, I 

 Kngineer's Office, Omaha, Neb., March 25. j 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your favor is received. I am surprised that my report of 1883 should 

 be quoted as in any way favoring the construction of railroads for 

 any purpose whatever within the Yellowstone National Park. 



I think this must be a mistake. I have always been opposed to the 

 construction of railroads in the Park. I have given this subject the 

 most careful thought and study, and I should regard their introduc- 

 tion as the most serious injury that could be iuflicted on the Park. 

 And the construction of the Cinnabar and Clarke's Fork Railroad 

 would be specially deplorable because it seems so unnecessary. 



There is every reason to believe that the route up the Stillwater 

 (lyiDg wholly outside of the Park) is a better one for a railroad to the 

 mines than that via the Yellowstone River and Soda Butte Creek. 



Dan C.Kingman, 

 First Lieut, of Engineers, in charge of Improvement, Yellowstone 

 National Park. 



SIGNS OF SPRING. 



[From Mrs. Huldah Lovel's Rag Bag.] 

 "jl/TORE'N a month the crows ha' ben a-jawin' 



Where they'd hev corn planted; 

 Naow they've got it settled wi' their cawin', 

 An' appears contented. 



Snow banks is a-gittin' siled an' gritty 



All along the fences, 

 An' the bluebird 'long the stakes his ditty 



In these days commences. 



The phebe on a mullein sets a-watchin' 



For the fust flies a-wrogin'. 

 Frequent 'twixt her frequent scoops o' ketchin', 



Tew short notes a-smgin'. 



The woo'chuck's top o' the world agin 



A-thawin' aout his whistle, 

 A-wishin' the clover's growth to begin 



As spry as the thistle. 



The pussy willers where brooks is runnin', 



An' a-prattlin' busy, 

 Is yallerin' some, an' their tails so cunnin', 



Is a gittin' fuzzy. 



From his ellum I hear the high-hole's cackle, 



I s'pose he calls it singin', 

 An' in alder swamps the sputterin' crackle, 



O' the frogs is ringin'. 



The maples their slow sweet rain is drippin' 



Int' one dish or nu'her. 

 When the blankit of the snow is slippin' 



From last year's leaves o' luther. 



Onkiv'rin' logs for the patridges' drummin', 



An' liverworts a-blowin' ; 

 Where sunshine's sot wild bees to hummin,' 



A-comin' an' a-gotn.' 



O, spring hes comet The long days o' wishin' 



Is ended fairly, 

 If the wind is saouth I'll go a-flshin' 



In the mornin' airly t S. L. 



NOTES FROM KEY WEST. 



AS the "Key of the Gulf" entirely escaped the frost of 

 the last cold snap which played such havoc with the 

 fruit crop on the peninsula of Florida, and blighted the 

 usually verdant foliage of Jacksonville's semi-tropical 

 vegetation, everything in the way of plant life here is 

 green and flourishing, and would ljok fresh if the absence 

 of rain for nearly two months had not allowed the whitish 

 dust to settle on all the trees and shrubs and somewhat dim 

 their beauty. 



Key West is a low coral island which lies about 50 miles 

 southwestprly from the South Cape or end of Florida, and 

 the Dry Tortugas island lies southwesterly from Key West 

 70 miles. Key West is a chief naval station of the United 

 States. The town now contains about 10,000 inhabitants 

 about one-half of whom are Spaniards from Cuba engaged 

 in the tobacco business. Fort Taylor is on Key West and 

 Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tori ugas; both are small inlands 

 of the sea. Southern prisoners were confined at the Tortu- 

 gas during the late civil war. 



The natural or indigenous flora of the island is rather 

 scanty, and at this season there are less than twenty plants 

 in flower. None are more striking to the eye of an inhabi- 

 tant of the Northern States than the cactus (Gereus mono- 

 clonos), which attains quite majestic proportions and a height 

 of nearly twenty feet, presenting with its ascending, col- 

 umnar branches, ridged and armed with closely set snines, 

 as formidable an obstacle as man or beast cares to encounter. 

 It is not, however, in bloom. The botanical feature of the 

 island is the large number of foreign palms and shade trees 

 which are to be seen about the dwellings. The cocoanut 

 palm grows almost everywhere in the settled portions, and 

 the date palm, though not so frtquent, is very luxuriant. 

 Figs, limes, bananas, tamarinds, sapodillas, sugar apples, 

 and other semi tropical fruits are produced in abundance. 

 Most interesling of all, perhaps, is the banyan tree, which 

 occurs in many of the house yards, and, though small, as a 

 rule, has attained great proportions in one specimen growing 

 within the inclosure of the barracks. This covers with its 

 outstretched branches an area of fifty feet or more in 

 diameter. Its later descending shoots firmly rooted in the 

 ground are interlaced and entwined about each other and 

 about the older ones with the firmness of the serpents enfold- 

 ing the ill-fated Laocobn, and, unpoetical though it be to 

 tell, a numerous flock of poultry nestle between its roots 

 with as much enjoyment and complacency as if banyan 

 trees had been introduced into the United States for the ex- 

 press accommodation of domestic fowl. 



The usual occupations of the seafaring inhabitants — 

 sponging, wrecking and fishing— are quite dull at present. 

 The high duty on fish at the Cuban ports renders this pur- 

 suit unremuneralive, and there have been no wrecks for 

 some time. Moreover the high winds of the present month 

 have stirred up the fine coral mud through the constant 

 agitation of the water so that the sea is quite milky and the: 

 sponger, even with his glass, cannot see bottom. 



The wrecking vessels, which are employed in summer in- 

 carrying fruit to New York, are able smacks of 35 to 50' 

 tons register and schooner rigged, some rigged with a main- 

 topmast and some with none; they carry but one jib and 

 sometimes set a maintopsail and maintopmast staysail. With 

 a generous but not very large spread of canvas and often & 

 fett draft of water, they will stand up and fly with a good 

 breeze in a style that would make many a yachtsman turn 

 green with envy. And right well the wreckers know how to 

 handle them. The crews consist of a captain, mate, cook, 

 and four or five men, none of whom receive any compen- 

 sation, but share in the salvage. Out of about 400 shares* 

 the captain receives 4, the mate 2, the cook li, and the men 

 1 share each. In some cases a share will amount to a small 

 fraction of a dollar. The smacks are provisioned by the 

 owner, and go to the Dry Tortugas, some 65 miles west 

 from here, where they usually lie at anchor in the harbor off 

 Garden Key till something turns up. During the past season 

 four wrecks have occurred, but so many vessels have been 

 on hand that the individual receipts were small. 



During the past week I made a very enjoyable trip to and' 

 from the Dry Tortugas, on wrecking smacks which happened' 



