Akol i6, 1904.} 
you are familiar, the deer disappeared in a period of four 
years. Comparatively few are left. 
The most thoroughly devastated country I knovir of is 
the Uintah Mountain Forest Reserve, which borders be- 
tween southwestern Wyoming and northern Utah. I first 
went through this country in 1877. It was then a wild 
natural region ; even a comparatively few years ago it was 
blight with game, and a perfect flower garden. It has 
felt the full force of the sheep curse. I think any one 
of you who may visit this country now will agree that 
this is not too strong a term, and I want to speak of the 
sheep question from three standpoints : First, as of a 
great and legitimate industry in itself; second, from the 
economic standpoint; third, from the standpoint of wild 
am'mals. 
General Resulfs of Grazing. 
The formerly beautiful Uintah Mountain range presents 
. a terrible example of the effects of prolonged sheep herd- 
;:ng. The under foliage is entirely gone. The sheep an- 
inually eat off the grass tops and prevent seeding down; 
vthey trample out of life what they do not eat; along the 
: principal valley routes even the sage brush is destroyed. 
Reforesting by the upgrowth of young trees is still go- 
ring on to a limited extent, but is in danger. The water 
■supply of the entire Bridger farming country, which is 
. dependent upon the Uintah Mountains as a natural reser- 
'voir, is rapidly diminishing; the water comes in tre- 
■.mendous floods in the spring, and begins to run short in 
, the summer, when it is most needed. The consequent 
I effects upon both fish and wild animals are well known 
ito you. .No other animal will feed after the sheep. It is 
;no exaggeration to say, therefore, that the sheep in this 
vifgion are the enemies of every living thing. 
Balance of Nature. 
;Eve3i the owner cannot much longer enjoy his range, 
.because he is operating against ihc balance of nature.. 
The last stage of destruction which these innocent ani- 
mals bring about has not vet been reached, but it is 
approaching; it is the stage in which there is no food left 
for the sheep themselves. I do not know how many 
pounds of food a sheep consumes in course of a year- 
it cannot be much less than a ton — but say it is only half 
a ton. how many acres of dry western mountain land are 
capable of producing half a ton a year when not seed- 
ing down? As long as the consumption exceeds the pro- 
duction of the soil, it is only a question of time when 
even the sheep will no longer find subsistence. 
The Last Stage to be Seen in the Orient. 
While going through these mountains last summer and 
reflectiirig upon the prodigious changes which the sheep 
have brought about in a few years, it occurred to me that 
we must look to Oriental countries in order to see the 
final results of sheep and goat grazing in semi-arid di- 
raates. I have proposed as an historical thesis a subject 
which at first appears somewhat humorous, namely, "The 
Influence of Sheep and Goats in History." I am con- 
vinced that the country lying between Arabia and Meso- 
potamia, which was formerly densely populated, full of 
iDeautiful cities, and heavily wooded, has been trans- 
formed less by the action of political causes than by the 
unrestricted browsing of sheep and goats. This browsing 
destroyed first the undergrowth, then the forests, the 
natural reservoirs of the country, then the grasses which 
held together the soil, and finally resulted in the removal 
of the soil itself. The country is now denuded of soil, 
the rocks are practically bare; it supports only a few 
lions, hysenas, gazelles, and Bedouins. Even if the trade 
routes and mines, on which Brooks Adams in his "New 
Empire," dwells so strongly as factors of all civilization, 
were completely restored, the population could not _ be 
restored nor the civilization, because there is nothing 
in this country for people to live upon. The same is 
true of North Africa, which, according to Gibbon, was 
once the granary of the Roman Empire. In Greece to- 
day the goats are now destroying the last vestiges of the 
forests. 
I venture the prediction that the sheep industry on 
naturally semi-arid lands is doomed; that the_ future feed- 
ing of both sheep and cattle will be on irrigated lands, 
and that the forests will be carefully guarded by State 
.and Nature as natural reservoirs. 
Commerdalism aod Ideali&m, 
IBy contrast to the sheep question, which is a purely 
'economic or utilitarian one, and will settle itself, if we do 
not settle it by legislation based on scientific observation, 
ihe preservation of the Sequoia and of our large wild 
animals is one of pure sentiment, of appreciation of the 
ideal gide of life; we can live and make money without 
.either. We cannot even use the argument which has 
ibeen so forcibly used in the case of the birds, that the 
cutting dov/n of these trees or killing of these animals 
will upset the balance of nature. 
I believe in every part of the country — East, West, 
North, and South— we Americans have reached a stage 
of civilization where if the matter were at issue the 
majority vote would unquestionably be, let us preserve 
cur zvild animals. 
We are generally considered a commercial people, and 
so we are ; but we are more than this, we are a people 
of ideas, and we value them. As stated in the preamble 
of the Sequoia bill introduced on December 8, 1903, we 
must legislate for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, 
and, I may add, for the greatest happiness of the largest 
number, not only of the present but of future generations. 
So far as my observation goes, preservation can only 
be absolutely insured by national legislation. 
Government Legislation by England, Belgium, Germany, 
The English, a naturally law-abiding people, seem to 
have a special faculty for enforcing laws. By co-opera- 
tion with the Belgian Government they have taken 
effective and remarkably successful measures for the pro- 
tection of African game. As for Germany, in 1896 Mr. 
Gosselin, of the British Embassy in Berlin, reported as 
follows for German East Africa: 
That the question of preserving big game in German East 
Africa has been under the consideration of the local authorities 
for some time i)ast, and a regulation has been notified at Dar-es- 
Salaam which it is hoped will do something^ toward checking 
the wanton destruction of elephants and other indigenous animals. 
Under this regulation every hunter must take out an animal 
license, for which the fee varies from 5 to 500 rupees, the former 
being the ordinary fee for natives, the latter for elephant and' 
rhinoceros hunting, and for the members of sporting expeditions 
into the interior. Licenses are not needed for the purpose of 
obtaining food, nor for shooting game damaging cultivated laud, 
nor for shooting apes, beasts of prey, wild boars, reptile, and all 
birds except ostriches and cranes. Whatever the circumstances, 
the shooting is prohibited of all young game — calves, foals, young 
elephants, either tuskless or having tusks under three kilos, all 
female game if recognizable — except, of course, those in the 
above category of unprotected animals. Further, in the Moschi 
district of Kilima-Njaro, no one, whether possessing a license 
or not, is allowed without the special permission of the Governor 
to shoot antelopes, giraffes, buffaloes, ostriches, and cranes. 
Further, s^pecial permission must be obtained to hunt these with 
nets, by kindling fires, or by big drives. Those wiio are not natives 
have also to pay 100 rupees for the first elephant killed, and 250 
for each additional one, and 50 rupees for the first rhinoceros and 
150 for each succeeding one. Special game preserves are also to 
be established, and Major von Wissmann, in a circular to the 
local officers, explains that no shooting whatever will be allowed 
in these without special permission frdm the Government. The 
reserves will be of interest to science as a means of preserving 
from extirpation the rarer species, and the Governor calls for 
suggestions as tO' the best places for them. They are to extend 
in each direction at least ten hours' journey on foot. He further 
asks for suggestions as to hippopotamus reserves, where injury 
would not be done to plaeitations. Two districts are already 
notified as game sanctuaries. Major von Wissmann further 
suggests that the station authorities should endeavor to domesti- 
cate zebras (especially when crossed with mtiscat and other asses 
and horses), ostriches, and hyaena dogs crossed with European 
breeds. Mr. Gosselin remarks that the best means of preventing 
the extermination of elephants would be to fix by international 
agreement among all the Powers on the East African coast a close 
time for elephants, and to render illegal the exportation or sale 
of tusks under a certain age. 
In December, 1900, Viscount Granborne in the House 
of Commons reported as follows : 
* * * That regulations for the preservation of wild animals have 
been in force for some time in the several African Protectorates 
administered by the Foreign Office, as well as in the Sudan. The 
obligations imposed by the recent London Convention upon the 
signatory Powers will not become operative until after the ex- 
change of ratifications, which has not yet taken place. In antici- 
pation, however, steps have been taken to revise the existing 
regulations in the British Protectorates so as to bring them into 
strict harmony with the terms of the convention. The game re- 
serves now existing in the several Protectorates are : In (a) Brit- 
ish Central Africa, the elephant marsh reserve and the Shirwa 
reserve; in (b) the East Africa Protectorate, the Kenia District; 
in (c) Uganda, the Sugota game reserve in the northeast Pro- 
tectorate; in (d) Somaliland, a large district _ defined by an 
elaborate boundary line described in the regulations. The regu- 
lations have the force of law in the Protectorates, and offenders 
are dealt with in the Protectorate Courts. It is in contemplation 
to charge special officers of the Administration with the duty of 
watching over the proper observance of the regulations. Under 
the East African game regulations only the officers permanently 
stationed at or near the Kenia reserve may be specially authorized 
to kill game in the reserve. 
Other effective measures have been taken in the 
Soudan district. Capt. Stanley Flower, Director of the 
Gizeh Zoological Gardens, made a very full report, which 
is quoted in Nature for July 25, 1901, p. 318. 
State Laws. 
The preservation of even a few of our wild animals is 
a very large proposition; it is an undertaking the diffi- 
culty of which grows in magnitude as one comes to study 
it in detail and gets on the ground. The rapidly increas- 
ing legislation in the Western States is an indication^ of 
rapidly growing sentiment. A still more encouraging 
sign is the strong sympathy with the enforcement Of the 
laws which we find around' the National Park in Wyom- 
ing and Montana especially. State laws should be en- 
couraged, but I am convinced that while effective in the 
Ea«i!t, they will not be effective in the West in time, be- 
cause of the scattered population, the greater areas of 
country involved, the greater difficulty of watching and 
controlling the killing, and the actual need of game for 
food by settlers. 
When we study the operation of our State laws on the 
ground we find that for various reasons they are not fully 
effective. A steady and in some cases rapid diminution 
of animals is going on, so far as I have observed, in 
Colorado and Wyoming; either the wardens strictly en- 
force the laws with strangers and wink at the breaking 
of them by residents, or they draw their salaries and do 
not enforce the laws at all.* 
*Addendum.— There is no question as to the good intention of 
State legislation. The chief difficulty in the enforcement of the 
law is that officers appointed locally, and partly from political 
reasons, shrink from applying the penalties of the law to their own 
friends and neighbors, especially where the animals are apparently 
abundant and are sought for food. The honest enforcement of the 
law renders the officer unpopular, even if it does not expose him 
to personal danger. Ke is regarded as interfering with long 
established rights and customs. The above applies to conscientious 
oflicers. Many local game wardens, as in the Colorado White 
River Plateau, for example, give absolutely no attention to their 
duties, and are not even on the ground at the opening of the sea- 
son. In the Plateau in August, 1901, the laws were being openly 
and flagrantly violated, not only by visitors, but by residents. At 
the same time the National forest laws were being most strictly 
and intelligently enforced. There is no question whatever that 
the people of various States can be brought to understand that 
National aid or co-operation in the protection of certain wild areas 
is as advantageous to a locality as National irrigation and 
National forest protection. It is to be sought as a boon and not 
as an infringement. 
The Variotis Causes of Elimination. 
The enemies of our wild animals are numerous and 
constantly increasing, (i) There is first the general ad- 
vance of what we call civilization, the fencing up of coun- 
try which principally cuts .off the winter feeding grounds. 
This was especially seen in the country south oi the 
National Park last winter. (2) The destruction of 
natural browsing areas by cattle and sheep, and by fire. 
(3) The destruction of game by sportsmen plays a com- 
paratively small part in the total process of elimination, 
yet in some cases it is very reckless, and especially bad 
in its example. When I first rode into the best shooting 
country of Colorado in 1901, there was a veritable can- 
r'onading going on, which reminded me of the accounts 
of the battle of El Caney. The destruction effected by 
one party in three days was tremendous. In riding over 
the ground — for I was not myself shooting — I was con- 
stantly coming across the carcasses of deer. (4) The 
summer and winter killing for food; this is the principal 
and in a sense the most natural and legitimate cause, al- 
though it is largely illegal. In this same area, which 
was more or less characteristic and typical of the other 
areas, even of the conditions surrounding the national 
reserve in the Big Horn region, the destruction was, and 
is, going on principally during the winter when the deer 
are seeking the winter ranges, and when they are actually 
shot and carted away in large numbers for food both for 
the ranclHnen and for oeighborin^ towns. Making all 
allowances for exaggeration, I believe it to be absolutely 
true that these deer were being killed by the wagonload ! 
The sarne is true of the pronghorn antelope in the Lara- 
mie Plains district. The most forceful argument against 
this form of destruction is that it is extremely short-lived 
and benefits comparatively few people. This argument is 
now enforced by law and by public sentiment "in Maine 
and New York, where the wild animals, both deer and 
moose, are actually increasing in number. 
Granted, therefore, that we have both National and 
State sentiment, and that National legislation by co- 
operation with the States," if properly understood, would 
receive popular support, the carrying out of this legisla- 
tion and making it fully effective will be a difficult matter. 
It can be done, and, in my judgment, by two measures. 
The first is entirely familiar to you : certain or all of the 
forest reserves must be made animal preserves ; the forest 
rangers must be made game wardens, or special wardens 
must be appointed. This is not so difficult, because the 
necessary machinery is already at hand, and only re- 
quires adaptation to this new purpose. It can probably 
be carried through by patience and good judgment. 
Second, the matter of the preservation of the winter 
supply of food and protection of animals while enjoying 
this supply is the most difficult part of the whole prob- 
lem, because it involves the acquisition of land which 
has already been taken up by settlers and which is not 
covered by the^ present forest reserve machinery, and 
which I fear 'in many instances will require new 
legislation. 
Animals can change their habits during the summer, 
and have already done so ; the wapiti, buffalo, and even 
the pronghorn have totally changed their normal ranges 
to avoid their new enemy; but in winter they are forced 
by the heavy snows and by hunger right down into the 
enemy's country. 
Thus we not only have the problem of making game 
preserves out of our forest reserves, but we have, the 
additional problem of enlarging the area of forest re- 
serves so as to provide for winter feeding. If this is not 
done all the protection which is afforded during the sum- 
mer will be wholly futile. This condition does not pre- 
vail in the East, in Maine and in the Adirondacks, where, 
the winter and summer ranges are practically similar. 
It is, therefore, a new condition and a new problem. 
Greater difficulties have been overcome, however, and 
I have no doubt that the members of this Club will be 
among the leaders in the movement. The whole country 
now applauds ,the development and preservation of the 
Yellowstone Park, which we owe largely to the initiative 
of Phillips, Grinnell, and Rogers. Grant and La Farge 
were pioneers in the New York Zoological Park move- 
ment. We know the work of Merriam and Wadswortli, 
and we always know the sympathies of our honored 
founder, member, and guest of this evening, Theodore 
Roosevelt. 
What the Club can do is to spread information and' 
thoroughly enlighten the people, who always act rightly 
when they understand. 
It must not be put on the minutes of the history of 
America, a country which boasts of its popular educa- 
tion, that the Sequoia, a race 10,000,000 years old, sought 
its last refuge in the United States, with individual trees 
older than the entire history and civilization of Greece, 
that an appeal to the American people was unavailing, 
that the finest grove was cut up for lumber, fencing, 
shingles, and boxes ! _ It must not be recorded that races 
of animals representing stocks 3,000,000 years of age, 
mostly developed on the American continent, were elim- 
inated in the course of fifty years for hides and for food 
in a country abounding in sheep and cattle. 
The total national investment in animal preservation 
will be less than the cost of a single battleship. The end 
result will be that a hundred years hence our descendants , 
will be enjoying and blessing us for the trees and animals, 
while, in the other case, there will be no vestige of the 
battleship, because it will be entirely out of date in the 
warfare of the future. 
Tanawadeh Oatin§f Qub Dines. 
The second annual dinner of the Tanawadeh Outing 
Club was held at The Arena, Broadway and Thirty- 
first street. New York, on April g. The following 
officers and members were present: President, F. 
James Reilly; Vice-President, J. Frank Case; Secre- 
tary, Plarry V. Radford; Treasurer, Joseph B. Hanf; 
John F. Curry, S. Valentine Farrelly, Francis W. Nor- 
ris, Jr., Joseph E. Ridder, William F. Reilly and 
Charles Stepath. The menus were in the form of 
pyramidal tents, composed of regular army duck, upon 
untying and opening which was disclosed the list ot 
viands, printed in the club colors, sky-blue and marine, 
and ornamented with sketches emblematic of the out- 
of-doors life to which the members were so enthusi- 
astically devoted. The following toasts were responded 
to: "Allurements of the Out-door Life," J. Frank 
Case; "Our Club — Its Aims and Objects," Joseph E. 
Ridder; "True Sportsmanship," Harrv V. Radford; 
"Campfire Fantasies," William F. Reilly; "The Ninth 
Annual Outing," S. Valentine Farrelly. 
The Tanawadeh Outing Club was organized in 1896 
primarily with the object of encouraging out-door 
sports and promoting good fellowship among its mem- 
bers. The membership limit is twenty. 
_ A Chicago professor_ has the petrified form of a fish 
sixteen feet long. It will be recognized at once by many 
truthful anglers as the one that got away when they 
were about to haul it into the boat. — Chicago News. 
Secretary Taft does not pretend to be much of a soldier, and 
has to take a good many jokes on his incomplete knowledge of 
military matters. Last night at the banquet of the Virginia 
Military Institute men he made a speech on the War Department 
in which he humorously disclaimed any particular acquaintance 
with the ways of the army. "When I was on my way home from 
Manila," he said, "I stopped in Japan, where I was invited to in- 
spect the Japanese Army. I did so, and told the officers the army 
was all "right.- As a matter of fact, I was trembling in my boots, 
all the time for fear some one would ask me what was the caliber 
of. a Krag-Jorgensen rifle." — New York Times. _ 
