May, 1920 
249 
FOREST AN 
were produced from under the driver’s seat but they 
were not particularly adapted to the business of a 
wheelwright. However, a little later when he called 
for a hot fire the wheel began to look like coming 
back into service. The tire was heated and set, the 
wheel replaced on the axle, and in a short time the 
party was following the old buckboard down the 
road again. The ex-blacksmith said it wouldn’t last. 
But it did last. As a matter of fact when the 
buckboard came to bring them back over the same 
trail four weeks later it was very plainly evident that 
the wheel was still doing business. 
Three of those men still make that same trip each 
year. It is not difficult to guess which one is not in- 
cluded. While one explanation for his absence 
may be his own disinclination to suffer the little 
inconveniences and physical discomforts of the 
trip, the real reason is the common feeling on the 
part of the other three that he is not the kind of a 
partner they like to have with them. The incident 
of the broken wheel may have been a relatively small 
matter in itself, yet it served as a background upon 
which that man showed very clearly what kind of 
human being he was. The four men had been more 
or less intimate friends for years, yet never knew 
each other before. The same incident, or one of even 
more importance under formal civilized environment 
would never have had the same significance. 
There is a kind of friendship that springs up be- 
tween men who have followed the trail together that 
measures a greater depth of human emotion. There 
is something mighty humanizing about the campfire. 
Its glow has a most subtle way of exposing and il- 
luminating the heart of one’s companion as no other 
influence can do. Those who knew the man Roose- 
velt best and loved him most were those who had 
heard his voice and watched his face in the flickering 
light of the evening fire. 
_ COLONEL GRAVES RESIGNS 
'"THE resignation of Col. Henry S. Graves, for ten 
years U. S. Forester, is a severe loss to the 
public service. 
Colonel Graves was a Professor of Forestry at 
Yale University, and took the position in the Forest 
Service that had been held by Gifford Pinchot. He 
has managed that service with remarkable ability 
and judgment. An expert and enthusiastic forester, 
he feels also a keen interest in general conservation, 
and especially in that kindred branch which con- 
cerns itself with the protection of the big game, now 
found hardly anywhere* save in the national forests. 
About the care of this large game he has thought 
much and his broad and constructive ideas and exec- 
utive talent have enabled him to make plans for its 
preservation which, when carried out, cannot fail to 
have excellent results. 
The position of U. S. Forester is one not easy to 
fill. It calls not only for knowledge, energy, and 
industry, but above all, for great tact. There must 
be a continual balancing of public interests and a 
perpetual watchfulness to prevent encroachments on 
each other by diverse interests, which, viewing 
things each from its own standpoint alone, can see 
only its own side. This tact Colonel Graves pos- 
sesses in high degree and it has enabled him to keep 
° n / a g°°d terms the cattle men on the one hand, 
and the most earnest forestry people on the other. 
Colonel Graves has striven earnestly and effective- 
ly to bring into closer sympathy and co-operation 
the federal and state conservation agencies in for- 
D STREAM 
estry and game protection. He has pointed out the 
obvious fact that since these agencies have the same 
objects in view, they can accomplish far more by 
working together than they can by individual effort. 
He has not concerned himself solely with the pub- 
lic forests, for he realizes that to make the most of 
each farmer’s woodlot is hardly less important to 
the public than to administer wisely the vast forest 
reserves. He has formed plans and had published 
one or two papers on small woodlots which merit, 
and we believe will receive, the attention of the 
public at large. 
Colonel Graves has worked quietly, steadily, faith- 
fully, and wholly without self-advertising. His serv- 
ices are not generally understood ; yet on the other 
hand there are many people who appreciate what he 
has done, and who realize that he has given a great 
impetus to public forestry in the United States and 
has made the Forest Service of extraordinary value 
to the nation. 
THE MAN AND THE GUN 
■"THERE is just one well founded criticism that ap- 
1 plies with equal force to all modem firearms ; in 
each and every instance the gun outshoots the man. 
For example, the Army’s Springfield rifle possesses 
a degree of range and accuracy that renders it im- 
possible for any living man to utilize the full capa- 
bilities of the weapon, and, when placed in the hands 
of the average hunter, this is equally true of our 
sporting rifles. Most of our shotguns make such a 
close pattern that none but the very best wing shots 
can use them to advantage and even then the full 
choke gun is only suitable for the traps and marsh 
shooting. It is all very well to dream of a shotgun 
that will kill at a hundred yards, but pause to con- 
sider the skill that would be required to hit a bird 
at that distance. Just now we are badly out of bal- 
ance; too much time has been devoted to the gun 
itself and too little attention has been given to the 
man who points it. 
Another great fault is careless and ill advised se- 
lection. In chosing a gun three things must be care- 
fully .considered; first, the work that it will be 
required to perform ; second, the strength and tem- 
perament of the man, and third, the condition under 
which the arm will be used. And even if all these 
requirements are intelligently met, the time, labor 
and money are wasted unless the man already is or 
becomes a capable shot. 
This is the situation that brought the FORES T 
AND STREAM SHOOTING SCHOOL into exist- 
ence, a place where the old timer can correct his mis- 
takes and improve his skill, where the novice can re- 
ceive a complete course of instruction in marksman- 
ship under the personal direction of men who have 
made a life study of the game ; a place where a man 
can select his weapon by actual trials and tests made 
out-of-doors under field conditions and “a gun” be- 
comes “the gun” by being properly altered and fitted 
to the individual ; a place where all our readers can 
obtain accurate and unbiased data concerning any 
form of firearm in which they may be interested ; a 
place where the shooting fraternity can meet and 
hold matches of the sort that will improve their skill 
as hunters; a complete proving ground and experi- 
mental station where the great clan of powder burn- 
ers can try out their pet theories among men who 
are keenly interested and fully in sympathy with 
whatever experiment they are trying to work out. 
