Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal. Copyright, 1906, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Tetms>$ l^h^ aC0Py 'f NEW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1906. 
I VOL. LXVII.-Nol26. 
1 No. 346 Broadway, NewjYork. 
The object of this journal will -be to studiously • 
promote a healthful interest in outdoor recre¬ 
ation, and to cultivate a refined taste for natural 
Objects. Announcement in first number of 
Forest and Stream, Aug. 14,1873. 
NINETEEN HUNDRED AND SEVEN. 
The year now closing has been one of remark¬ 
able activity among those fond of the outdoor life 
of forest and stream. Among other things -it has 
witnessed a longer outdoor season than usual, 
showing that our people are realizing that out¬ 
door life is not now a sort of summer resort or 
picnic affair of two months’ duration. 
In the vicinity of the cities, holidays in early 
spring found parties tramping the hills and woods, 
garbed in comfortable old clothes, carrying packs 
containing materials for the midday lunch be¬ 
side a tiny campfire. Late autumn saw more of 
these abroad where in other years none was 
seen. Young and old, men and women, com¬ 
posed these parties. And the summer witnessed 
such activity afield and afloat as has never before 
been known. The time is passing when our peo¬ 
ple can say they are unfamiliar with their own 
suburbs save in occasional views through car 
windows. For years the steady concentration of 
our best young people in the large cities has been 
the subject of adverse comment by educators, 
lecturers, writers. To-day it cannot be denied 
that the movement toward’ the country is the 
logical result of a revulsion against too close 
confinement within brick walls girt about by 
paved streets. 
Everything points toward this. Our cities are 
becoming crowded to an intolerable extent. Im¬ 
provements in transportation facilities and in all 
the equipments necessary to pleasant life in the 
forest and along our streams have brought the 
latter much nearer home in point of time and 
cost. Burning the candle at both ends, it is now 
understood, must cease, at least for part of the 
year. The time has passed when millionaires 
only may live in the country in the warm, sea¬ 
son. It has been shown that shooting and fish¬ 
ing are not the only objects of vacation trips, but, 
through protective and propagative measures, 
these pleasures can be perpetuated or revived, 
according to localities. Particularly have water 
sports grown in favor, through better .under¬ 
standing and system in boat building. To-day 
our rivers are dotted with small craft where none 
was seen a generation ago, and every grove along 
shore has its week-end or season’s camp. 
There is one thing which has a direct bearing 
on this forest and stream question that must not 
be lost sight of, and this is the propagation of 
game and fish. We said fishing and shooting 
were not vital to the enjoyment of woods life, 
but they will always be,' as they have been, highly 
attractive features. Fishing especially appeals to 
increasing numbers with the passing of the years. 
Our country is rich in rivers, streams and lakes. 
Its coast lines are thousand of miles in length. 
The logical conclusion is that there should be 
fishing for all. Fish propagation is a science 
well understood. The Government, the States, 
the railway and resort companies are all working 
to restock waters depleted through lack of fore¬ 
sight and lax enforcement of our laws. The 
propagation of game and food fishes is now recog¬ 
nized as a necessity, but its scope must be widened 
a hundred fold. The pollution of our waters 
must cease and these be frequently stocked and 
zealously guarded. In this work the assistance 
of our country dwellers is necessary. On every 
farm there should be a fish pond. 
The propagation of game is more expensive, 
requires greater care, but is fully as practicable. 
At first' thought it may seem that shooting game 
reared in confinement smacks of old-world 
methods. Perhaps, but there the practice was 
born of necessity. With us, where there is more 
land and better cover, it is only necessary to 
give nature a chance to work out her own ends. 
This is possible with all game from moose and 
deer to squirrels and grouse. The Government 
and club preserves will help. The latter, often 
decried, will act as distributors. 
The watchword for 1907 is propagation with 
protection. 
THE RAVEN IN STORY. 
The interesting references in another column 
to the raven and its folklore barely touch on the 
myth and fable. which have grown up about it. 
A volume would not contain all that might be 
written of this bird of mystery. 
Primitive man has credited the raven with 
qualities both good and bad. It has a place in 
religious art, where in commemoration of the 
ravens that fed Elijah it is emblematic of God’s 
providence, and several of the saints are repre¬ 
sented as accompanied by the bird. 
In the wild north land, where war and rapine 
were man's highest pleasures, the standard of 
Odin bore a raven, typifying the desolation of the 
land after his hordes had passed over it. The 
figure embroidered on the standard predicted de¬ 
feat and victory, the bird appearing alert, proud 
and aggressive for victory, and shrinking and 
timorous for defeat. Two ravens, which repre¬ 
sented thought and memory, were fabled to sit 
on the shoulders of the war god and to whisper 
.wise advice in his ears. The ravens of Odin are 
not alone in northern old world legends, for an 
army of ravens attacked the enemies of a- Welsh 
hero, while Cucfrullaind, an Irish chieftain, was 
aided by two ravens who warned him of the com¬ 
ing of his foes. 
The raven was a bird of foreknowledge and 
prophecy. It foretold war, famine and pestilence; 
and this belief in its prophetic powers arose from 
the fact that ravens frequently accompanied an 
army, expecting to feed on the bodies of the slain. 
These primitive ideas are found in the new 
world as in the old. On the northwest 
coast, the raven, still everywhere extremely 
abundant and a useful bird, is the hero of a thou¬ 
sand Indian myths. In some of these he is the 
creator, or a hero who performs great deeds, or 
again is the chief actor in mischief making prank. 
Among the Indians of the plains the bird is 
credited with much power. Of all the animals 
he only does not fear that dread power the 
Thunder, and sometimes-—according to the stories 
■—even helps mortals to overcome him. 
The raven never starves, for he knows always 
where food is to be found. Often he will fly near 
the hungry hunter or over the starving camp and 
by his cries and flutterings will urge them 
to follow him to a place where buffalo or other 
food may be found. 
In war too, the raven is helpful, for if a war¬ 
rior wears the skin of a raven tied to his scalp- 
lock the bird will warn him when danger is near, 
tapping him lightly on the head with its bill or 
whistling in his ear a note of warning. 
in the old 'world and the new alike, it is 
fabled that once the raven was white. A classi¬ 
cal myth tells how Apollo blackened him for a 
fault, and Algonquin stories tell of a white raven, 
hostile to the people and who drove away the 
game, and how when a hero who pitied the suf¬ 
ferings of the tribe captured the bird, it was tied 
in the smoke hole, where it hung and coughed 
and grew thin and feeble until its feathers were 
wholly blackened, when it was set free with a 
warning. Since then all ravens have been black. 
There is truth in Mr. Clarence L. Parker’s 
statement, printed elsewhere in this issue, that 
preserving the Adirondack forests is of the great¬ 
est importance, because if the cutting of timber 
continues the deer will’ be deprived of food, and 
the streams will dwindle in size until it will be¬ 
come a waste of effort and money to restock 
them. This question is a vital one to the people 
of the State at large, involving, as it does,, so 
many matters of general importance. It were 
folly to restrict the acts of shooters and anglers 
while permitting the pulp and lumbermen to 
swing the ax where and when they please. 
Sportsmen who go to distant States should 
inform themselves as to the laws of such States 
before they begin to shoot. In North Carolina 
quail in large numbers are said to have been 
thrown away because the owners found, after 
the birds had been killed, that they could 
not be shipped out of the State. There is no 
excuse for such acts. Ignorance of the law can¬ 
not be urged in extenuation of offenses of this 
nature, for it is a sportsman’s duty to act un- 
derstandingly.. 
