Sun Printing and Pubfisniicn 
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AUDUBONS WON’T TAKE $ 25 , 000 , 
OFFERED BY GUN MAKERS FOR 
THE GOOD OF GAME BIRDS. 
Frank Chapman Argues to the Society’s j 
Directors That They Have Enough to j 
Do Cdjrlng for Songbirds—Besides, 
Are the Ammunition Men Sincere? | 
A question of a gift of $25,000 agitated 
the directors of the National Association j 
of the Audubon Society at a meeting held 
yesterday at the Museum of Natural 
History. After a long discussion it was 
finally decided to tell the various gun and 
ammunition interests that offered the 
njeney to the society to go elsewhere with 
their $25,000. 
This offer has been the cause of all 
sorts of argument among the various 
members of the society for some time. 
The directors were told by members that 
by-'Accepting any such sum from the 
gun mailers they would be laying the |, 
society <vp©n to criticism. 
Th;>y said it would be ridiculous for 
suf!h an organization, which has as its 
•object the protection of birds, to accent i 
gifts from their indirect destroyers. 
P. F. Palmer, vice-president of the asso¬ 
ciation, came on from Washington to pre¬ 
side at yesterday’s special meeting, at 
which seven directors we-e present. 
Frank M. Chapman, the naturalist, 
who has just got back from research 
work in South America, saved the day 
He hadn’t heard about the offer until he_ 
landed, but he promptly looked into the 
conditions of it and found that it was 
made to help the society’s work in pro¬ 
tecting game birds. 
Thereupon he told the meeting that 
the society had originally been founded 
to protect insectivorous and song birds. 
There were lots of societies, said Mr. 
Chapman, that took care of the game 
birds, but the Audubon was the only one 
that watched after the lives and happiness 
of non-game birds. Now the gun men 
come along and want to hand the so¬ 
ciety a lot of money to be expended for 
something for which it was not intended 
to labor. 
Therefore he suggested to the directors 
that as the acceptance of the gift would 
completely change the purpose of t'he 
society the money be returned with thanks 
All the directors thought a while, remein 
bered what had been said by some folk; 
about the $25,000, and told Mr. Chapmar 
to go on with his speech, that it sounde~ 
mighty sensible to them. 
The naturalist continued to say that the 
game birds were not as educational as 
the non-game birds anyhow and that 
where one saw a sandpiper once a year 
maybe you could go out and study a 
robin through a field glass pretty nearly 
any day. Mr. Chapman’s speech was 
followed by others in the same vein and 
finally all seven of the directors were 
unanimous and the offer of the gunmakers 
was rejected. 
Mr. Chapman was asked after the meet¬ 
ing if he thought that the criticism of 
the gift was justified and he said that it 
was his opinion that the gunmakers were 
sincere in their offer. 
“The society would have to protect the 
birds if they took the money, and the more 
birds there are the more shooting there is 
to be done, if you want to get at it that 
way,” he commented. 
Gifford Pinchot, an advisory member 
of the board of directors, was present at 
yesterday’s meeing and listened to the 
discussion with interest. 
