FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 25, 1908. 
138 
about such a land, and man has as much oppor¬ 
tunity here as anywhere of measuring his forces 
with nature’s, and of emerging, if possible, 
triumphant from the trial. 1 his explains the 
Arab’s proverb: ‘Voyaging is victory.’ In the 
desert, even more than upon the ocean, there is 
present death; hardship is there, and piracy and 
shipwreck.” 
“In Wildest Africa,” by C. G. Schillings, trans¬ 
lated by Frederic Whyte. Cloth, 716 pages, 
with over 300 reproductions from photo¬ 
graphs. New York, Flarper & Brothers. 
Mr. Schillings’ “With Flashlight and Rifle,” 
published in 1905 in both German and English, 
created so much of a sensation in Europe and 
America that this second book has been prepared 
and issued. Like the first volume this one is 
filled to overflowing with reproductions from 
photographs made by daylight and flashlight by 
Mr. Schillings, and he lays especial emphasis on 
the fact that they have not been retouched or 
improved by the artist’s brush or the engraver’s 
tool, and are therefore authentic records of the 
wild life of the African veldt, now rapidly pass¬ 
ing away. 
Mr. Schillings intends his latest book to be a 
plea for better hunting methods in Africa, and 
in one place tells us of meeting on the veldt a 
man who was firing rapidly at herds of wild 
game as his caravan journeyed along, but when 
they met the stranger complained bitterly that 
his rifle was inaccurate, and that all he had suc- 
ceded in bagging was one miserable gazelle. 
The narrative is overshadowed by the pictures, 
of course, so remarkable are they, but no one 
should fail to read it, for the author’s attempts 
to photograph wild beasts and birds were often 
fraught with excitement and danger, and at times 
he was compelled to wait days and even weeks 
for photographs he particularly desired. 
Peruvian Vicuna Disappearing. 
Consul-General Samuel M. Taylor, in a 
report from Callao, says that the graceful 
vicuna, one of the most useful members of the 
Peruvian fauna, is in danger of disappearing 
from the elevated plains of the Andes, and this 
seems to be so much realized that steps are to 
be taken to prevent their total extinction. Mr. 
Taylor adds: 1 
“Formerly it was nothing unusual for travel¬ 
ers in the Sierra to see great herds of the vicuna 
moving about on the high plateaus, but now, 
in consequence of their being so persistently 
hunted, most of them have emigrated to higher 
altitudes, which ar^ regions more arid and more 
rigorous in climate. Here many perish, not 
from the effects of the snow and hail storms 
prevailing there and which they are very well 
able to stand, but from sheer starvation, vege¬ 
tation being extremely scarce at these great 
heights. 
“In the summer season the vicunas resort 
to the valleys in quest of food, which they are 
always able to find in abundance on springy 
ground and on the banks of the small streams 
and lakes. But these, unfortunately, are the 
places where they are usually hunted, with re¬ 
sult that they are continually taking fright and 
escaping to the higher regions, where, fearing 
to return, tjiey perish of inanition, wandering 
around the dreary peaks of the great mountains. 
“According to figures issued, the exports of 
vicuna wool and hides from Peru during the 
last five years are as follows: 
,-Wool-^ r -Hides-—> 
Pounds. Value. Pounds. Value. 
1902 . 4,078 $1,773 2,694 $660 
1903 . 7,864 3,421 3,832 1,866 
1904 . 8,618 3,739 4,066 2,193 
1905 . 3,984 4,502 1,334 1,078 
1906 . 11,102 12,092 3,334. 1,297 
Total. 35,646 25,527 15,260 7,094 
“During the past two years the wool, which 
is a fine article of a reddish-brown color, has 
been much in demand in England at from $i to 
$1.25 per pound, but the supply is rapidly di¬ 
minishing. The hides with the wool on are also in 
demand for rugs and are valued at from $15 to, 
$50 for each rug, according to the care in 
selection.” 
The Cleveland National Forest. 
Following his action in changing the name 
of the San Jacinto Forest to the Cleveland Na¬ 
tional Forest, President Roosevelt has sent to 
Mrs. Cleveland the following letter: 
“My Dear Mrs. Cleveland— It has recently 
been my privilege to sign a proclamation chang¬ 
ing the name of the San Jacinto National Forest 
to the Cleveland National Forest. May I ex¬ 
press to you the very great pleasure it gave me 
to take that action—a pleasure mingled with a 
keen sense of the loss to our country and to our 
citizens in the death of President Cleveland. 
“On Feb. 22, 1897, President Cleveland signed 
the proclamation creating the San Jacinto Forest 
reserve in southern California. The date, Feb. 
22, was no mere accident, since the signature of 
the proclamation was timed to coincide with the 
birthday of our first President. 
“President Cleveland was one of the first to 
recognize the need of forest preservation, and 
the creation of the San Jacinto and other forest 
reserves, with a total area of 25,686,320 acres, 
was one of the results of his foresight in this 
direction. Throughout his life he took great in¬ 
terest in conserving the natural resources of the 
nation, and I particularly regretted his inability 
to attend the meeting of the Governors in May, 
because that meeting was in part the fruit of 
seed he had sown years before. 
“The name of Grover Cleveland will always 
be prominently identified with the movement to 
protect the forests of the United States, and it 
seemed to me eminently fitting that one of the 
forests which he created should bear his name 
throughout all time. Sincerely yours, 
“Theodore Roosevelt.” 
Minnesota Timber Leeches. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The truth was never more fearlessly told, 
and never more in need of circulation, than in 
the letter of your correspondent, Mr. E. P. 
Jaques, in your issue of June 27: needed even 
now when the mischief formerly predicted is 
already being done. It is a graphic letter and 
it tells of distresses, losses and hardships which 
are not known or have been dreamed of by the 
world outside of the district immediately affected 
by the hydraulic juggling with the water supply 
of northern Minnesota. 
Those who are members of the Minnesota 
State Forestry Association, as I am, and have 
been for sixteen years, recall the protests against 
the contemplated crime which was intelligently 
discussed when the Mississippi reservoir system 
was so persistently urged (in “behalf of navi¬ 
gation”). None of us was hoodwinked, but the 
grafters held the winning hand, and they will 
play it while the loot lasts, as Mr. Jaques antici¬ 
pates, and when the devastation is complete we 
need not go for parallels to the deserts of the 
Old World or to our desiccated Southwest, where 
the rivers of Arizona and Old Mexico attest to 
the folly of deforesting large areas of conserva¬ 
tion of nature’s water supply. 
From Mr. Jaques’ standpoint, and from the 
knowledge we have of human greed, the situ¬ 
ation and prospect seem hopeless, except for the 
timber leeches and their tooters and helpers. The 
process from inception to finish is like the move¬ 
ment of a row of bricks, which when once 
started it is hard to block at any point, and not 
then without great loss. The salvage would 
hardly pay for the cost of reservoir construction. 
The wail of the settler is joined to the plaint of 
the red man, and there is no one to hear and 
regard. Charles Hallock. 
Forest Fires in the Adirondacks. 
Utica, N. Y., July 20 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Forest fires broke out last week in the 
Adirondacks and might have become very de¬ 
structive but for badly needed rains. The woods 
were dry and burned like tinder. The fires were 
reported between Loon Lake and Mountain View, 
between Tupper Lake and Saranac Inn. To fight 
these fires two special trains with gangs of 
men worked in relays. On the 13th, between 
Tekene and Plumdore, the fire crossed the tracks 
and got beyond the control of the fire fighters. 
On the same day a tank car and a gang of men 
were sent out from Remsen to work on a section 
near Tupper Lake. On that day two alarming 
fires were reported between Floodwood and 
Saranac Inn. The most serious fires were along 
the Adirondack division of the New York Cen¬ 
tral Railroad. On the 14th the road had three 
trains with pumps and tank cars patrolling a 
section of seventy-five miles of tracks, and ac¬ 
cording to the report “the fires in the neigh¬ 
borhood of the tracks are being driven back.” 
Near Saranac Lake, according to a member of 
the fighting force, a locomotive threw out sev¬ 
eral large sparks which set several small fires 
going. Several fires were reported on the pre¬ 
serve of William Rockefeller. The fires in some 
of the localities burned over ground which had 
been burned over before. This is probably true, 
since the land is largely along the railroad. 
The question naturally arises, is. not there a 
law regarding a screen to be used in locomotives 
to prevent the sparks from passing out of the 
engine and into the woods? Why is not this law 
being enforced? Whose place is it to enforce it? 
The mention of forest fires brings to mind 
the various ways they are set. Empty whisky 
bottles have been known to set forest fires. The 
bottle serving as a lens concentrates the rays 
of the sun and sets fire to the leaf mold. In 
the Rockies, avalanches sometimes set forest 
fires by the sparks resulting from stones strik¬ 
ing together as they rush down the hillside. 
Prof. R. S. Tarr, of Cornell University, says 
that sometimes, when people see fires on a moun¬ 
tain and knowing that no person has probably 
been there, they think it is a volcano, and that 
accounts for the reports of volcanoes being in 
action. In the Philippines, forests sometimes 
take afire by the bamboo trees rubbing together 
in the wind. E. A. Spears. 
