Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1909. 
1 VOL. LXXII.—No. 8, 
( No. 127 Franklin St.. New York 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1909, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary. 
Louis Dean Speir^ Treasurer. 
127 Franklm Street, New York. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful interest 
in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate a refined 
taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
GLACIER NATIONAL PARK. 
The House Committee on Public Lands has 
authorized a favorable report on the bill creat¬ 
ing the Glacier National Park in Northwestern 
Montana, and the measure should come to a 
vote before the close of the session. As before 
explained, the bill provides for the setting aside 
of about 1,300 square miles of extremely rough 
mountains, some of which are over io,ooo feet 
in height. The region has been mapped by the 
Geological Survey, but it was Forest and 
Stream that first introduced it to the public 
about twenty-four years ago, and since then- 
much has been said about it. 
This has always been a country abounding in 
game, and thirty or forty years ago the “wood 
bison” were numerous in ?ts valleys and along 
the steep slopes of its mountains. Elk and 
moose have been found there up to within re¬ 
cent years and a few deer, but sheep and goats 
have been and still are especially abundant. In 
this region a year or two ago Dr. Chas. Pen¬ 
rose, brother of Senator Penrose, of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, had a thrilling fight with a grizzly beaj-, 
in which he was badly hurt. In the lakes and 
streams which lie at the bottoms of the narrow 
valleys traversing this interesting region are 
several species of trout, while four or five dif¬ 
ferent kinds of grouse live on the prairie, in the 
forest and on the mountaintops, and in the sea¬ 
son of migration wildfowl abound. Whether we 
regard the beauty of its scenery, the vast amount 
of water of which it annually collects and gives 
forth or its adaptability as a game preserve, the 
country in question is most valuable. 
If set aside as a national park and properly 
protected, the Glacier National Park—though so 
very much smaller—will yet be quite as interest¬ 
ing as the Yellowstone National Park because of 
the presence there in great number of the extra¬ 
ordinary white goat antelope. 
Within the area to be set aside are 250 lakes, 
many of them of considerable size, and over 
sixty glaciers. The value of the Glacier Na¬ 
tional Park as a source of water supply can¬ 
not be overestimated, and it is of the highest 
importance to a section of the Northwest that 
the bill shotild pass. 
SPRING’S FIRST FLOWER. 
Fruitful theme of poet’s song or nature 
lover’s enthusiasm is the first flower of spring— 
grateful sign of earth’s awakening from its long 
winter’s sleep, joy-bringing forerunner of sum¬ 
mer’s beauty and verdure. Modest violet, nest¬ 
ling close to earth; golden marigold, whose 
petals overhang the brimming brook; snowdrop, 
swift following the last melting drifts; May¬ 
flower and bloodroot all have been hailed in song 
or story as this first spring flovver; but who has 
voiced the praises of what, in the East, is really 
spring’s first flower—the humble skunk cabbage? 
It is in midwin+er, wdien snow lies deep and 
swamps are bound in ice, that the first stirring 
of renewed life is felt in the deep root stock of 
the skunk cabbage; and, if there have been days 
of mild soft airs, the hood-like spathes begin to 
push themselves above the ground. In the 
sw’amps, where still the ice holds strong enough 
to bear a horse, the plants, if they show at all, 
appear as yet only as low curved green spikes; 
but, near some warm spring or along the brook, 
whose banks have overflowed in the January 
thaw, the red and yellow streaked hoods which 
shelter the globular fleshy spadix covered with 
tiny flowerets, may be tw'o or three inches above 
soil or water in February. 
When the w'arm weather has really come, the 
leaves of the skunk cabbage begin to push forth 
and grow rapidly, so that by midsummer they 
are one or two feet long and their thick clusters 
hide the ground. Then, when the woodslover 
tramps through their growth, crushing them be¬ 
neath his feet, he smells the strong odor—skunk¬ 
like, with a whiff of onion in it—which gives 
the plant its common name. Later, the leaves 
and spathes die down and disappear, while the 
roundish mass which holds the fruit—ripe in 
September—remains all winter above the ground. 
This fruit lies imbedded in a soft white pith 
and the quail and ruffed grouse eagerly pick this 
to pieces to get at and devour the large roundish 
seeds. 
The skunk cabbage is curious rather than 
beautiful; we do not know that it is ever gath¬ 
ered by ardent lover as a choice blossom to pre¬ 
sent to her whom he adores; it is banned by 
an evil name. It is a humble plant withal; yet 
it has its place in the economy of nature, and 
through the long months of winter it gives food 
to some of our favorite woodsfolk. 
In many places it is the first flower of spring. 
The Pittsburg Flood Commission of the 
Chamber of Commerce has reported that the 
costly floods in the Ohio River and its tribu¬ 
taries can and will be controlled in the future, 
but does not say just how this will be brought 
about, or specify a time after which riverside 
property and homes will be safe. Afforestation 
is slow at best. Deforestation can be stopped 
only at a large expense of money and effort, 
but earnest work will serve to minimize the 
tremendous losses that attend the spring floods 
in the Ohio valley. Apparently these annual 
floods are sufficient to frighten the people and 
the business interests involved into activity, but 
the drouth of last year was even worse. The 
great canal for the coal and iron trades, the 
Ohio, was practically closed from early summer 
until in December, and the consequent losses ran 
up into seven figures. In September and October 
the beautiful stream was a mere brook, its once 
green-clad hills a waste of brown and red. Hun¬ 
dreds of steamboats and freight barges lay idle. 
In some of its tributaries the remnants of the 
game fish formerly so abundant were huddled 
in stagnant pools, to become easy prey to man 
and beast. 
vt. 
Senator Allen’s bill to amend the New York 
forest, fish and game law so that residents need 
not procure shooting licenses will, if it becomes 
a law, defeat one of the cardinal features of 
the present licensing system. At present a pro¬ 
tector can arrest any person found in the woods 
with a gun in the open season, but without the 
necessary license. This feature enabled protec¬ 
tors to prevent aliens from hunting, and it kept 
many of them out of the woods, as few cared 
to pay twenty dollars for a license, or to take 
their chance of arrest if caught without one. A 
great deal of good work has been done through 
the churches and the papers printed in foreign 
languages, for the chief game warden prefers 
to prevent law violations rather than to punish 
persons by arrest and fines. To change the law 
now would mean waste of time and money de¬ 
voted to a worthy cause. 
K 
Noisy power boats are not only a nuisance, 
but there is no valid reason why they should 
be tolerated. So numerous have they become 
that Congress will be asked to compel their 
owners to provide mufflers or under-water ex¬ 
hausts for motors. To this end Mr. Greene, of 
Massachusetts, has introduced a bill in the 
lower house of Congress, and this measure is 
now in the hands of the Merchant Marine Com¬ 
mittee. Among the great reforms the crusade 
against useless noises is gaining supporters every 
day, but so far there has been no concerted ef¬ 
fort to ensure peace and quiet to the many good 
people who find rest and recreation along our 
waterways and on the shores of bays and lakes. 
The nerve-racking exhaust from launch motors 
is a common nuisance. To abate it is the duty 
of Congress. 
m. 
Winfield T. Sherwood’s trout fishing papers 
are a notable addition to the literature of ang¬ 
ling in America. Unfortunately, however, the 
series will be concluded in our next issue. 
