308 FORESTANDSTREAM July, 1922 
HOWARD EATON 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
W ITH the passing of Howard Eaton, 
senior partner of Eaton Brothers, of 
Wolf, Wyoming, the country lost one 
of its best-known exponents of the out- 
door life. Of equal importance has been 
his work in the raising, protection and 
distribution of wild game of all kinds 
throughout the country. 
To those familiar with the exceptional 
difficulties of conducting successful 
camping trips, the extensive and won- 
derful record of Howard Eaton in this 
work is something good to contemplate. 
His spirit is with us; it will guide us 
and others to follow in his footsteps. 
This is the great consolation for all those 
who have had the pleasure of Howard’s 
genial and helpful companionship. 
The Indians describe Heaven as the 
Happy Hunting Grounds and that place 
will be rendered more enjoyable by the 
advent of Howard Eaton. It is an added 
inducement for those who knew him to 
attain the same goal. 
The old pathfinders and scouts of our 
Western country, as a rule, lived a life 
of loneliness apart from their fellow 
creatures, but Howard Eaton’s life was 
spent with many people on camping trips 
and added greatly to their enjoyment on 
the trail and around the camp fire. 
Always thoughtful, considerate and 
entertaining', full of energy, it was a 
pleasure to meet him at any time or place 
and one always felt better after such 
meetings. 
It is a great satisfaction to know that 
the principles upon which Eaton Brothers 
ranch is operated are so well established 
that the same service will be rendered 
in the future as in the past. 
Edward Gillette, Wyoming. 
LOST GEESE 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
a foggy night about April 1st, an 
odd incident took place in Central 
Nebraska. The fog' was very heavy and 
the air perfectly still. Geese migrating 
from the South were coming toward the 
Platte in great numbers, and several peo- 
ple afterwards spoke of listening to the 
calling of the white geese as they flew 
back and forth or circled about the lights 
of the city. 
‘About a half mile from the Platte 
Ri\-er stands a farmhouse, the buildings 
scattered about among the trees. There 
is a grove of trees to the north of the 
house, and rows of high cottonwoods to 
the west and to the south, leaving the 
apple orchard as a boundary of the trees 
on the cast. Between the house and 
barn is an open space, measuring about 
a hundred yards by seventy-five yards ; 
and on this open space, on the foggy 
night in question, the geese began to 
alight about midnight. 
By four o’clock in the morning, the 
man who occupies the house said he 
could stand the noise no longer, and went 
out to investigate. He had no more than 
stepped out from the house into the yard 
when, wdth a mighty roar of wings and 
much squawking and cackling, several 
hundred geese — mostly snow geese — rose 
from before him. 
No doubt the geese became lost and 
alighted in this open space. The man 
who told the story is a truthful and up- 
right friend. Platte River. 
THE ADIRONDACK BEAVER 
PEST 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
COME years ago the beaver was re- 
introduced into the Adirondack Park. 
The public in general, as w'ell as resi- 
dents of the region, approved of and 
welcomed his advent. At the time of the 
present wuiting, how'ever, and owing to 
the rigid protection accorded him by the 
law, his numbers have multiplied to such 
an extent that, by property owner and 
transient camper alike, he has come to be 
regarded in the light of an unmitigated 
nuisance. 
The beaver is a tremendously interest- 
ing creature. He is also tremendously 
destructive. When no measures are 
taken to curtail his limitless propagation, 
he rapidly develops into a pest. Literally 
thousands of acres of timberland have 
already been sacrificed to his ruthless sys- 
tem of damming and flooding. The beauty 
of many wilderness lakes, ponds and 
streams has likewise been ruined and 
their scenic value irrevocably lost. The 
damage consummated on private hold- 
ings, as well as on state land, is truly 
appalling. No one coming to the moun- 
tains on a pleasure trip w'ishes to pitch 
his tent amid the gray desolation of 
dead timber. Neither does he care to 
sojourn where vistas of flooded shores 
replace the lovely verdure of the living 
wilderness. 
It is time indeed that something defi- 
nite should be done. A law permitting 
an open season on these animals when 
they may be trapped or shot, and their 
pelts legitimately marketed, should not 
be considered as a privilege but as a 
crying need.' Moreover, in dealing with 
the beaver pest, owners of game ore- 
serves should be allow'ed freedom in 
holding in check the undue increase of 
their numbers. 
Anyone wishing to investigate existing 
conditions, or doubting the veracity of 
the above statements, has only to go to 
the Adirondacks and look things over for 
himself. He will soon be convinced that 
the “dear little beaver” has become a ^ 
curse instead of a blessing, a liability in ■ 
lieu of an asset. The Adirondack Park I 
is too noble a possession to be wmsted by I 
either fire or flood, when such elements * 
of destruction can be prevented. The 
beaver has already done enormous dam- 1 
age. Are w'e going to close our eyes and I 
let him keep on? I 
P. Brandreth, New York. 
THE TWENTY BORE 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
1 WAS A'ery much interested in Mr. || 
Landis’ articles on Shot Gun \"eloci- 
ties recently running in your journal, 
but object seriously to his criticism of 
the 20 gauge as he fails to do this excel- I 
lent little gun justice. 
Brother Landis appears to be plainly 
prejudiced against the 16 and 20 in favor I 
of the 12; for while he gives the maxi- | 
mum factory loads for the 12, 1.; gives | 
the 18 gr. dense, or 2^4 bulk load as j 
the maximum for the 20, ignoring the ' 
fact that the true maximum of the 20 is 
20 gr. dense, or 2j4 bulk powder; in 
which loads it compares favorably with 
his table of 12 ga. loads, 3J4 dr. bulk 
and 134 oz. shot in all shot sizes. Air. 
Landis says : “Suppose we take the heav- 
iest factory 20 ga. load of 2Rj dr., % oz. 
shot in low base shells and use 7p2 shot 
for comparison. This charge develops i 
868 ft. seconds.” | 
In the first place, his premises are in- j 
correct. The heaviest factory 20 ga. 
load, in low base shells, is not 18 gr. or 
234 dr., but 20 gr. or 2^4 dr. and % oz. 
shot, and the velocity, according to one 
of the largest shell-loading concerns is 
930 ft. for No. 6 shot, and 903 for No. 
7j4 ; almost identical with the popular 
12 ga. load of 3j4 — 1/4 combination. 
Mr. Landis argues that the use of a 
134 oz. or 134 oz. load, permissible only 
in the 12 ga., give an increase in effi- 
ciency over the 20 in the exact propor- 
tion that the larger amount bears to the 
smaller oz. load. In actual practice 
this is incorrect. A 20 ga. properly 
bored will sufficiently fill a 30-in. circle 
at 40 yards to bag the game sought, 
provided, of course, that the proper size 
of shot is used. A 12 ga. will do the 
same, and will put more pellets in the 
circle, of course, but only adds more 
pellets to the already sufficient 20 ga. 
pattern. This has been proven by the 
writer scores of times, on targets, and 
in duck shooting over decoys. In other 
