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Published We'ekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company 
Chas. A. Ilazen, President Charles L. Wise, Treasurer 
VV. G. Beecroft, Secretary Russell A. Lewis, Gen. Mgr. 
22 Thames Street, New York. 
CORRESPONDENCE:—Forest and Stream is the re¬ 
cognized 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. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $3 a year; $1.50 for six months; 
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This paper may be obtained of newsdealers throughout 
the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Foreign 
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Entered in New York Post Office as Second class matter. 
THE CURSE OF CARELESS CAMPING. 
It is a sad commentary on the carelessness of 
American people that a dozen or more recent 
serious forest fires in the West 'have been laid 
at the doors of camping parties. The time has 
come when the penalty for letting camp fires get 
beyond control should be made a more serious 
offense, even to the maximum of a real felony. 
There is no excuse whatever for nine-tenths of 
the forest fires that occur in America, and there 
is absolutely none for those Who through care¬ 
lessness—we 'were going to say cussedness—are 
the cause of so much useless and expensive de¬ 
struction. The man who cannot keep a camp 
fire under control, or who, knowing better, lets 
it run beyond control, has no business in the 
woods, and the law should see to- it that he will 
have no future opportunity of getting there. This 
may be strong language, but the time for speak¬ 
ing in terms less harsh has passed. We have no 
idea that readers of Forest and Stream have 
been guilty of such offenses, for they are as a 
rule expert in outdoor practices. But they can 
do valuable work in reporting to the authorities, 
either state, national, or provincial, all instances 
of transgressions of the foresters’ and campers’ 
first law, and they will be doing less than their 
duty if they fail to thus bring to book every 
offender with whom they may come in contact, 
or about whom they may have good evidence. 
We cannot afford to have our forests burned, our 
game covers destroyed, and havoc and heavy 
pecuniary losses continue simply that pleasures 
of careless people may not be interfered with. 
IMPORTED PHEASANTS IN MASSACHU¬ 
SETTS. 
We print in this issue an interesting and im¬ 
portant article covering the report of the Mas¬ 
sachusetts Commissioners on Fisheries and Game, 
on the spread of imported pheasants in that state, 
and the habits of the new game bird, particularly 
in its relations, good or bad, to the farmer. The 
report clears the pheasant of the charge of being 
a crop destroyer to any appreciable extent, and, 
on the other hand, proves the bird to be one of 
the farmer’s best friends. The pheasant is a 
great destroyer of noxious insects, and eats annu¬ 
ally millions of those unmitigated pests and 
FOREST AND STREAM 
menaces, the gypsy and brown-tailed moth and 
larvae. The Chinese or ring-necked pheasant is 
as easy to raise as ordinary domestic poultry, 
and a great many people have gone into the busi¬ 
ness at substantial profit. The escape of tame 
pheasants, and the continued propagation of those 
turned loose for game purposes, bid fair to make 
Massachusetts one of the best bird states for 
sportsmen in the East. 
What Massachusetts has done and is doing can 
be accomplished by every other thickly populated 
state in the Union, and while there are many 
readers of Forest and Stream who do not take 
kindly to the thought of replacing the beautiful 
and native ruffed grouse with his Mongolian 
cousin, sentiment in this case will not stand 
against common sense methods. It is better to 
have ring-neck pheasant shooting than no grouse 
shooting at all, and the latter condition is fast 
becoming a certainty in every section not now 
remote from settlement and civilization. 
The report of the Massachusetts Commission¬ 
ers will be read carefully in many states where 
the problem of game propagation becomes more 
pressing from year to year. 
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 
We are in error in having designated New 
York Zoological Park as Bronx Zoological Gar¬ 
den. We must admit this bit of technical injus¬ 
tice—nevertheless more persons will recognize 
the institution as the Bronx Zoo than by any 
other name, and, after all, a rose, etc., doesn’t 
make the life of the caged animals any sweeter, 
nor does it make the cruelty proposition any 
further from investigation by the A. S. P. C. A.—• 
Why do we allow God’s creatures to be bottled 
up day in and day out, from year to year, finally 
to die, after having entertained thousands of 
children, and proved nothing more than how 
cruel grown up’s can be to elephants, lions, tigers, 
bears and other animals whose creator never in¬ 
tended them for exhibits in a menagerie. Once 
more we admit the technical error in designation, 
but not lack of heart. Let’s stuff what we have 
and captivate no more. 
WOMEN IN CAMP. 
Year by year an increasing number of women 
go into camp, accompanying their husbands or 
brothers on fishing or shooting excursions. It is 
common enough now to meet socially women who 
are enthusiastic anglers or who follow the dogs 
over -the stubbles or through the swamps, or who 
have killed big game or climbed mountains. More¬ 
over, the woman who does this, and takes to it, 
usually does it extremely well—quite as well as 
her male companion, even though her training 
has extended over a few months only, while his 
runs back over many years. Women are natural 
fly-casters and natural users of the shotgun. They 
take readily to the use of implements of sport, 
but in the use off firearms—like other beginners— 
they must be watched and cautioned, and it takes 
them some time to appreciate the dangerous char¬ 
acter of these weapons. 
Women have made their mark in mountain 
climbing, and there is no reason why in all out¬ 
door sports women should not quite equal men in 
all respects except that of endurance; and in fact 
there is no reason why they should not become 
as enduring as men after they have had the prac¬ 
tice that men have had. For no better reason 
than because up to within a few years it has 
been unusual for women to indulge in these 
sports, it has been taken for granted that such 
sports were unsuited to women, but we believe 
this to be wholly a mistake. A few women in 
America have been sharing these pleasures with 
men for a good many years, as have a few 
English women. 
Living in camp has recently become a favorite 
diversion with many women of good social posi¬ 
tion in Great Britain. It is called caravaning 
because the campers move about in slow travel¬ 
ing wagons. Here in America, where genuine 
hunting and fishing can be had, and travel in wild 
regions can be indulged in, there is no better way 
of spending one’s vacation time than in camp. 
In the matter of trap shooting our women far 
excel in numbers as well as in skill, those in 
Europe. It is estimated that more than two 
hundred ladies in America are enthusiastic trap 
shooters, and it may be said it is as fine a sport 
for woman as for man. 
A WISE USE FOR PARKS. 
In Chicago on a summer afternoon the stranger 
who strolls through one of the beautiful wide 
parks is at first impressed with the apparent dis¬ 
regard of the people for all the conventional park 
rules. Everywhere they will be seen, in small 
groups and crowds, strolling across the lawns, 
playing games, sitting under the trees, picnick¬ 
ing or frolicking. 
When one grows bold enough to take a short 
cut across the lawns from one point to another, 
he half expects to be warned back, and is aston¬ 
ished When the first officer he meets passes him 
without a reprimand. 
Within comparatively few years these great 
parks have been extended and improved to a re¬ 
markable extent. They are beautiful indeed, but 
it is not merely to please the eye that they are 
so well kept. Instead they are for the pleasure 
of all the people, and that they are appreciated 
is evident at a glance on any sunny day or pleas¬ 
ant evening, when the variety of the forms of 
recreation indulged in is confusing to the stran¬ 
ger. That the people, young as well as old, take 
pride in their playground, is found in the absence 
of any of the earmarks of vandalism and petty 
resentment which are too often to be found 
wherever stringent rules are enforced in public 
places. 
The Park Department has taken long strides in 
the right direction, when it has gone to large ex¬ 
pense not only to provide comfort for all citizens 
but also to encourage clubs and groups to prac¬ 
tice their favorite forms of sport, the department 
providing the place and adapting it to the require¬ 
ments of the game. Permanent artificial fixtures 
that might be unsightly are not permitted, but 
space is provided for the storage in park build¬ 
ings of such equipments as are required for the 
games. 
A trial of this freedom in New York City has 
been disastrous to lawns, flowers and shrubs, so 
that the happy privilege has been withdrawn. 
Perhaps the solution is that New York’s popu¬ 
lation is more cosmopolitan than that of its west¬ 
ern sister. We know the appreciative recreation¬ 
ist may be trusted in the park, and perhaps the 
call abroad for reservists will make possible the 
reopening of the great parks of Greater New 
York. This is the proper use of parks. 
