628 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Nov. 16, 1912 
Published Weekly by tbe 
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¬ 
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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. 
RED WHALES CAPTURED. 
In the American Museum Journal, published 
by the American Museum of Natural History, 
Roy C. Andrews has given an interesting account 
of a recent visit to Korea, made to complete the 
study and collection of the Japanese whales, 
upon which work had been begun in 1910. 
The two species especially sought were the 
California gray whale and the humpback. The 
first of these has been thought by many natu¬ 
ralists to be extinct. It is so rare that no com¬ 
plete specimen exists in any other museum of 
Europe or America. Mr. Andrews has before 
been to the Orient in search of whales and por¬ 
poises besides killing at different points along the 
Atlantic coast animals thrown up on the shore. 
He has thus had much experience. How suc¬ 
cessful he was in securing the desired specimens 
is told in the Museum Journal article, from which 
we extract a few paragraphs; 
“When I arrived in the Orient at the begin¬ 
ning of 1912,” says the explorer, “everything 
had been prepared for my reception. I left Japan 
immediately upon one of the company’s trans¬ 
ports for the Corean station, situated in the beau¬ 
tiful bay at Ulsan, on the east coast forty miles 
north of Fusan. The next day I had my first 
view of the California gray whale, for a splen¬ 
did specimen was brought in by the steamship 
Olga Maru. 
“It was especially interesting to examine the 
specimen with reference to the accounts of the 
species which have already been published, for 
all are full of inaccuracies. Probably no whale 
has more individual peculiarities than has this 
species—the shape of the head, of flippers and 
flukes, and in fact of the entire body is quite 
unlike that of any other large cetacean. 
“Its habits, too, are distinctly individual. 
About the middle of December the animals begin 
to appear on the coast of Central Corea, follow¬ 
ing the shore line closely on their migration to 
the islands of the south. 
“In April the young are large enough to 
travel northward and accompany their parents 
on the long trip to the Okhotsk Sea and the ice¬ 
bound shores of the Arctic. 
“Gray whales live in perpetual terror of the 
killer whale, which seems to single this species 
especially for attacks. 
“When a herd of killer whales surrounds a 
gray one, the latter will often turn upon its back, 
the fins extended, and lie quietly at the surface, 
seemingly paralyzed by fear, 
“The killers force open the mouth and at 
times eat out almost the entire tongue before 
the gray whale escapes, or the animal may be 
killed and completely devoured. 
“One fine skeleton was taken for the museum 
and a second, by arrangement, for the National 
Museum at Washington. Many photographs also 
were secured (the only ones in existence of this 
species) together with much alcoholic material 
and three rolls of motion picture films, besides 
notes and measurements of the thirty individuals 
which were taken during my stay at Ulsan. 
“We wished to get the skeleton of a hump¬ 
backed whale. Although humpbacks are common 
in many parts of the world, they have been so 
persistently hunted in Japan that they are now 
extremely rare. 
“The humpback furnishes the most highly 
esteemed food of all the whales, and in the 
Japanese markets the flesh of a single individual 
brings as much as 5,000 yen ($2,500). 
“February came and I had almost despaired 
of getting a 'humpback in Corea, for only one 
had been taken during the entire season. On the 
13th of the month, however, three specimens were 
brought in and the skeleton of the largest was 
preserved, a male, 48^2 feet long. The museum 
is fortunate in securing such a splendid repre¬ 
sentative of this species. 
“As soon as the bones had been cleaned and 
crated, I chartered a schooner and sent the whale 
skeletons to Shimonoseki for transportation to 
New York.” 
EPIDEMIC AMONG DUCKS. 
For several weeks prior to the opening of 
the duck shooting season reports were received 
by the California Fish and Game Commission to 
the effect that in certain sections of the State 
ducks were dying by thousands, and a careful 
investigation of this matter has been made to de¬ 
termine, if possible, the nature of the epidemic. 
A number of dead birds were sent to the San 
Francisco office of the commission, together with 
several that had not yet succumbed to the 
malady, and these have been placed in the hands 
of experts for examination. Theodore Kytka, 
the prominent hand writing expert, chemist and 
bird fancier, took a number of these and has 
just made a report of his findings. There are 
no evidences of a contagious disease to be found 
in the birds, and it is now believed that the 
heavy mortality is the result of food and water 
conditions. The sick ducks placed in charge of 
Mr. Kytka speedily recovered when given clean 
food and water. However, it is possible that 
the ducks are affected with a disease that is 
communicated from one to another and the in¬ 
vestigation will be continued. 
The frequent recurrence of epidemics among 
ducks and deer in California has brought out 
clearly the need of a change in the game laws 
whereby the commissioners would be empowered 
to declare a closed season in any section where 
disease was prevalent. Just now it is almost 
impossible to secure a sick duck, as these, being 
unable to make their escape, have fallen an early 
victim to the market hunter. The present epi¬ 
demic seems to be confined to Buena Vista and 
Tulare Lakes and the Alvarado marshes. 
HIGH COST OF LICENSE. 
Now and then we get letters from gunners 
who complain of high cost of license. It is 
difficult to make some of these complainants un¬ 
derstand that every dollar paid for license by 
the sportsman comes back to him through its in¬ 
vestment in improving game conditions. There 
are those who raise the issue that they cannot 
take out enough game on a non-resident license 
to pay the cost of the license. We hope this 
is true. In no line of sport does the true sports¬ 
man expect remuneration for his pleasure. Does 
the trapshooter get back in prizes the cost of 
his season’s shells and targets? Does the golfer 
get any money back for the balls he slices into 
the woods or foozles into the water hazard? 
Does the baseball player draw any dividend from 
his time and expense through indulgence in the 
national pastime? Does' the yachtsman win in 
cups the money invested in yachting? To every 
question the reply is no—decidedly no. Nor do 
any of those indulging in these sports expect in 
return anything but the recreation and improved 
health that goes with each divertisement. To those 
unconvinced by the “value received in sport” 
argument we cite the deadly parallel—that of 
the cost of license, or certificate, in England. To 
carry a gun, 10 shillings; to shoot game, 5 
pounds a year or 2 pounds for less period; for 
two weeks’ period, 1 pound, with shooting pro¬ 
hibited Sundays and Christmas. 
THE FLUSH OF AUTUMN. 
During these days the pulse of nature is 
beating fast and sending added color to her 
cheeks. We sfand awed by her beauty and 
sobered by her fate. 
The hectic flush is but the indication that 
she is wooed by death. A feeling that nature 
but reflects our life, comes over us, and we bow 
our heads in sympathy with her. 
But is she wooed by death or by the promise 
of a larger, more complete life? 
As a babe, mother earth nursed her. She 
was rocked by the breezes and kissed by the 
light. Her father sun smiled upon her and she 
grew through the spring of her j^outh into the 
summer of her maidenhood. 
She flirted with the elements and danced her 
merry youth away until autumn, in all the bloom 
of life, wooed her. Then she waxed beautiful. 
Sobered by new responsibilities, yet sweetened 
and chastened by experience, her autumn is one 
of fulfillment of life rather than resignation to 
death. Tenderly she cared for her children, 
knowing full well their little hearts would de¬ 
velop even as hers. Sublime faith and love 
illumined her days. She had married death and 
found that his soul was eternal life. 
[This pretty bit of sentiment was written by 
Miss Elsie Schneider.] 
