Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2 , 1909 . 
I VOL. LXXIII—No. 14. 
1 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 Franklin 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. 
OCTOBER. 
Seldom are the marshes, the meadows and the 
woodlands in the vicinity of New York city so 
beautiful as at the present time. The long 
drouth has been broken by light showers, just 
enough to wash away the dust of August and 
freshen the green of the birches and the oaks. 
The red maples of the swamps are aflame with 
color that is accentuated by the dark green of 
the scrub pine and the shading of that color 
through oak and birch and beech and pussy wil¬ 
low; the now bright purple of the iron-weed 
flower of every roadside, the yellow and brown 
of the goldenrod and the brown-eyed susan, 
those homely flowers whose place in the hearts 
of all outdoor people is forever fixed. Here 
and there an ivy-festooned snag blazes with 
color in the rays of the setting sun, and a single 
purpling leaf picked out in the mass of green 
of the gum tree marks the effect of chill nights 
and heavy dews that will within a fortnight 
give way to frost. 
For a while there was a dearth of birds in 
places where they were numerous in midsum¬ 
mer, but of a sudden there came a great host 
of robins at nightfall and the marsh was en¬ 
livened with the cries of blackbirds seeking 
resting places. With the approach of another 
dawn they resumed their flight southward and 
more birds from the north took their places as 
the afternoon shadows grew long. Like sea¬ 
soned campers, these migrants make an early 
stop for the night and are away in the bracing 
air of the dawn of a new day. 
A season of unrest among the feathered tribe, 
the present is also a season of great activity 
for the men and women smitten with‘the hunt¬ 
ing fever. While the anglers and the summer 
outers are homeward bound, the tide of travel 
to the game regions is growing stronger. The 
best season of the year, in the hunters’ estima¬ 
tion, is at hand. 
Another important seizure of game birds 
has been made by the Forest, Fish and Game 
Commission. A large number of both upland 
birds and waterfowl were found in a cold stor¬ 
age warehouse in New York city, where they 
were being held out of season as poultry and 
meats. The law provides that game can be 
held in bond, but not otherwise, and the owners 
are liable to be fined in a large sum. 
THE HUDSON AND THE PALISADES. 
Amid the hurly burly of the Hudson-Fulton 
celebration, now being held in New York city 
and along the Hudson River, a ceremony of 
great popular as well as sentimental import 
escaped the attention of the majority of the 
vast throng of visitors, partly because it was 
held in a downpour of rain in the woods. 
This was the formal dedication of the Inter¬ 
state Palisades Park, which is now owned 
jointly by the States of New York and New 
Jersey. It is one of the most remarkable reser¬ 
vations in existence. It is bounded on one side 
by the low water mark in the Hudson River, 
and on the other by the summit of the cliffs, 
which range from 300 to 500 feet in height, and 
it is therefore literally set on edge. Fort Lee 
marks the southern end of the park and old 
Sneeden’s Landing the northern line. Mostly it 
is composed of sheer cliffs and steep slopes 
cluttered with fallen stones, but it is well 
wooded and there are beaches and springs and 
shaded nooks that have been the delight of 
many generations of Hudson’s followers, just 
as these places were favorites with the Indians 
in their time. 
Not so long ago this great barrier was threat¬ 
ened with partial destruction by stone crushers, 
but the women and the sportsmen and the 
patriotic societies of the two States raised their 
voices in emphatic protest, and in time they 
secured what seemed impossible then. Funds 
were appropriated by the States and by indi¬ 
viduals, a commission was appointed, and slowly 
plot after plot of land was purchased, unsightly 
structures were demolished and nature rapidly 
covered the scars and gashes in the cliffs with 
verdure-. It was a difficult thing to persuade 
property owners to sell their holdings in such 
a place, but this has been accomplished, and only 
a very few plots remain in private hands to-day. 
From Governor Hughes’ dedication address 
we extract this bit of sentiment: 
Within a short distance of the great metropolis, within 
easy reach of its teeming population, lies this extensive 
area of natural beauty, making with its fascinating story 
a special appeal to the patriotic American heart. Easily 
accessible, it should be a place of renovation and in¬ 
spiration for the toiling multitudes. Here should be the 
people’s countryside for the common recreation. The 
Highlands of the Hudson and these Palisades, the glory 
not simply of our States, but of the entire country, 
must be put beyond the reach of the devastating hand 
and conserved for the general good, and on future cen¬ 
tennial anniversaries the measures taken to that end, 
and for the preservation of the forest sources of this 
stream and to secure its undiminished and unpolluted flow, 
may well be regarded as our most important contribu¬ 
tion to the welfare of the succeeding generations. 
It was a fitting time and place to urge upon 
the people the importance of preserving the 
river as well as this imposing park of its shores, 
and the Governor reviewed the work that has 
been done throughout the State to preserve the 
forests, the watersheds and the streams, and 
pointed out the need for a greater popular de¬ 
mand for reforms along these lines. 
But the public is awakening to the necessity 
for greater activity in the conservation of our 
natural resources, and the policy that is guid¬ 
ing the leading spirits in the work is well under¬ 
stood. With the accumulation of wealth and 
the demand for recreation grounds that has 
followed as men have found more time for re¬ 
laxation, comes the very natural protest against 
despoliation of areas that are well adapted to 
their requirements. 
The anglers, the hunters and the canoeists 
have long been enthusiastic advocates of this 
policy, but now the general public is becoming 
interested. What was believed to be the special 
hobby of the few is regarded as very necessary 
by increasing numbers. The outlook is a very 
promising one. 
THE GULF STORM. 
The great storm and abnormally high tides 
in the Gulf of Mexico last week undoubtedly 
brought about heavy losses in the ranks of the 
sea birds and land birds. The extent of the 
loss will never be known, and estimates, how¬ 
ever accurate, cannot be made at present. 
While the nesting season was at its height 
last spring, a similar storm wrought great havoc 
among the sea birds that habitually make their 
nests on the low islands of the Gulf, and it is 
known that the effects of that storm were very 
disastrous, particularly along the Louisiana 
coast. The more recent hurricane came at a 
time when the adult. birds were better able to 
take care of themselves. Perhaps the sea birds 
were not so greatly affected by it after all, as 
they were in better condition than during the 
breeding season to withstand the storm, still 
the loss will no doubt be a discouraging one 
at best, and it is practically certain that all prop¬ 
erty on the bird islands has been badly dam¬ 
aged or lost. 
The storm came at a time when migrating 
land birds were pushing their way southward 
for the winter. The vanguard of these hosts 
was no doubt lost at sea or badly battered by 
the winds, but the main army of migrants es¬ 
caped a similar fate, as it had not reached 
points so far south at the time when the hurri¬ 
cane was beating against the Louisiana and Mis¬ 
sissippi shores. 
Fishing parties and yachtsmen in the vicinity 
of New Orleans were heavy losers. Few cities 
can lay claim to so many club houses and camps 
and recreation grounds as the Crescent City, 
and these are Scattered about in the lake and 
bayou country that stretches away from the city 
in every direction. The property loss to these 
sportsmen was heavy and not a few of them 
were fortunate in saving their own lives, for 
lives were lost in the most exposed places. 
