304 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Sept. 7, 1912 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company, 
Charles Otis, President. 
W. G. Beecroft, Secretary. S. J. Gibson, Treasurer. 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
CORRESPONDENCE— Forest and Stream is the 
recognized medium of entertainment, instruction and in¬ 
formation between American sportsmen. The editors 
invite communications on the subjects to which its pages 
are devoted, but, of course, are not responsible for the 
views of correspondents. Anonymous communications 
cannot be regarded. 
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THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful in¬ 
terest in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate 
a refined taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
THE WEEKS BILL. 
Enlightened sportsmen throughout the 
country agree that such a bill as that presented 
by Representative Weeks, of Massachusetts, is 
necessary to prevent the speedy and total ex¬ 
tinction of certain migrants. They point to at 
least two cases—that of the wild pigeon and the 
Eskimo curlew—in which shooting during the 
breeding season has resulted in annihilation. The 
woodcock and woodduck are in immediate danger 
of a like fate as a result of unrestricted shooting. 
It is significant that of the twenty-four va¬ 
rieties of ducks, geese and swans breeding with¬ 
in our borders, the woodduck is the one most 
distinctly a resident of the United States. Pro¬ 
tection for this bird would be sure to result in 
its increase, for it seldom leaves the confines of 
the Union. Many other species, which have been 
driven from their former breeding grounds, 
would stop with us again, if on their arrival in 
the spring they were not greeted with deadly 
fusillades which compel them to continue north¬ 
ward. 
Since many of the individual States refuse 
adequately to protect migratory birds, the only 
way their extermination can be prevented is for 
the National Government to do so. It is held 
in some quarters that this would be unconstitu¬ 
tional, as interfering with the police powers of 
the States. But there is precedent for Federal 
control of matters which concern the nation as 
a whole when the States refuse, or are unable 
to control them. 
The action of Representative Mondell, of 
Wyoming, in having the Weeks bill stricken 
from the calendar of the House a few days be¬ 
fore adjournment was uncalled for, inasmuch 
as it was recommended by the American Game 
Protection and Propagation Association and all 
others who are qualified to pass judgment on 
such a measure. During the recess of Congress 
every sportsman and bird lover should work in 
the interest of the Weeks bill, so that when it is 
presented at the next session of Congress, senti¬ 
ment will be too strong to be upset by the gentle¬ 
man from Wyoming. 
PARCELS POST. 
News that the Parcels Post service goes into 
effect Jan. i gladly will be received by those who 
go South this winter to shoot quail, duck and 
other game birds. It will enable them to ship 
an eleven-pound package of birds, properly 
labeled, of course, to their home, and at about 
one-quarter the expense and half the time re¬ 
quired to send by express. Then, too, every 
hamlet has its postoffice, while express offices 
sometimes are far apart. 
The law admits to the mails practically all 
kinds of merchandise that can be safely trans¬ 
ported, including products of the farm and gar¬ 
den, provided such articles do not weigh over 
eleven pounds, nor exceed seventy-two inches in 
combined length and girth. Above four ounces 
rates are by the pound or fraction thereof, and 
varying with distance as follows : 
Each 
Rural route and 
First 
Pound. 
city de- 
Additional 
Pound. 
E’even 
Pounds. 
livery . 
. 05 
•OI 
•15 
30 mile zone .. . 
. 05 
•03 
•35 
150 mile zone .. 
.06 
.04 
■ .46 
300 mile zone .. 
.07 
■05 
•57 
600 mile zone .. 
.08 
.06 
.68 
1,000 mile zone . 
.09 
.07 
■79 
1,400 mile zone . 
. 10 
.09 
1.00 
1,800 mile zone . 
. II 
• IO 
1.11 
Over 1,800 miles 
. 12 
.12 
1.32 
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING. 
The man or woman who never has enjoyed 
the delights of mountain climbing has yet an¬ 
other joy to live for. Few are the sports re¬ 
quiring such combined physical and mental re¬ 
sources as seeking altitude afoot. Strength and 
physical fitness are most useful to the climber, 
but while the former may be dispensed with to 
some extent, the latter is absolutely essential. 
The perfect mountaineer may be impossible at 
other sports, but he can beat James Thorpe, of 
Olympia, when it comes to climbing. Steady 
nerve, coolness in times of danger, ready re¬ 
source, agility, perfect self-control, discipline, 
patience and long endurance are called for, if 
the sportsman would write his name in the his¬ 
tory of mountaineering. Foolhardiness has no 
place in the climber’s book, for that way danger 
lies. Difficult ascents are a tonic to the moun¬ 
taineer of many seasons. There is nothing quite 
like the enjoyment of pitting your skill against 
the forces of nature, the skillful choice of route, 
the careful working round a precipice, the sur¬ 
mounting of a pinnacle that allows little foot¬ 
hold, the avoidance of an avalanche-swept slope, 
and then the final ascent of the summit. What 
is there in life that can equal it? No wonder 
climbing attracts so many of the most intellectual 
men of the day, for it exercises the mind as well 
as the muscles, and only those who appreciate 
the more subtle beauties of nature can empty 
the glass of its joys. Climbing, too, teaches self- 
reliance and dependence upon one another. The 
members of a climbing party know that each is 
working for all and all for each. A failure to 
notice what the man ahead is doing, a momen¬ 
tary lapse of attention to the matter in hand, 
may bring disaster to all. It is indeed a sport 
par excellence. 
GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP. 
Commodore J. Stuart Blackton, of the At¬ 
lantic Y. C., has discovered that not to be a 
citizen of these United States denies him an¬ 
other privilege than that of helping to slay the 
Bull Moose on Election day. It took from him 
what he, so ardent a yachtsman, considers the 
yet more glorious opportunity to steer his mar¬ 
velous little speed boat in the race for the 
Harmsworth trophy in the international races 
at Huntington Harbor. 
According to the deed of gift of the trophy, 
presented by Lord Northcliffe, "helmsman and 
crew must be citizens of the country the boat 
represents.” It turns out that, although Com¬ 
modore Blackton, an Englishman, has resided in 
America for twenty-six years, he never has be¬ 
come naturalized. 
1 his should have ended the matter, instead 
of which the Motor Boat Club of America cabled 
the donor asking him to waive the rule for these 
particular races. This, to our way of thinking, 
was most unsportsmanlike. It might be said to 
be looking a gift cup in the mouth. We believe 
Mr. Blackton, who has been tireless in his effort 
to improve the sport of motor boat racing in 
this country, would have been too much of a 
sportsman to have accepted the waiver had Lord 
Northcliffe been foolish enough to grant it. 
ERRATA. 
Throuh error in the secretary’s report in 
our issue of last week we gave the date of the 
fifth interstate tournament under the auspices 
of the Newark Bait- and Fly-Casting Club as 
Sept. 12. It should read Sept. 7. 
The Ballade of the Seekers. 
BY R. M. CLEVELAND. 
Far in the past when the world was small. 
Hemming the Mediterranean Sea, 
There sounded for men an elfin call 
To rise and search unceasingly, 
Bevond the farthest mountain cone, 
For the lands that uttered endlessly, 
The whispered call of the wide unknown. 
Men listened then and were held in thrall 
By that distant summons of mystery, 
Till they rose and obeyed, and leaving all, 
Went forth to find what they knew must be, 
In the South, where the happy birds had flown; 
In the North, which breathed so icily, 
The whispered call of the wide unknown. 
They followed their voices, some to fall 
In the burning desert in agony. 
And some to be lost in the spruces tall, 
Where the gray wolves hunted hungrily. 
But they marked their paths with a guiding stone, 
That men might follow more easily 
The whispered call of the wide unknown. 
L’ENVOI. 
Princes, hark to the wind in the tree, 
How through its branches there is blown 
To your hearts, Lords, and the heart of me. 
The whispered call of the wide unknown. 
