58 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 14, 1911. 
creasing in their manufactured products faster 
than the State of New York, and this is particu¬ 
larly true of the coal-producing States. Dur¬ 
ing a score of years prior to 1900 New York in¬ 
creased its manufactured products 100 per cent., 
Pennsylvania 157 per cent., Illinois 200 per cent., 
Ohio and Indiana 150 per cent. If coal from 
other States furnishes the heat energy, we pay 
the profit to the coal-producing States, although 
we have within the confines of this State power 
energy equal to all the power energy that can 
be produced from the coal mines of other States, 
and it remains only for us to conserve and 
utilize this power energy for the commercial and 
industrial development of our State. In the con¬ 
struction of the barge canal we are spending 
$100,000,000 to facilitate transportation of the 
products of the soil and of the factory, yet we 
have hitherto failed to take advantage of the 
hydraulic energy or power units which are 
wasted by the unfettered course of the water 
from the mountains to the sea. Cheap power 
is vital to manufacturing, and hydraulic energy 
is practically the only natural resource within 
this State for the development of power—that 
great and fundamental requisite to the pros¬ 
perity and comfort of a civilized community. 
The total power used in manufacturing in 1905 
was 1,643,000 horsepower, of which 850.000 horse¬ 
power was produced by steam. To produce this 
850,000 horsepower with coal throughout the year 
costs $85,000,000. To produce 850,000 horsepower 
by water and distribute it electrically would cost 
$25,000,000 per annum, thus saving $60,000,000 
per annum. These figures interpreted mean that 
we are contributing $60,000,000 per year to other 
States for the purchase of coal. 
This amount could be saved annually to the 
State by taking advantage of our own resources. 
Rivers, like other resources of nature, must be 
adapted to man’s uses in order to reach anything 
like a reasonable degree of efficiency. Every river 
in the State exhibits such irregularity of flow 
in its natural state that the water power which 
may be developed economically from the present 
minimum flow is far below the. average which 
can be obtained by means of scientific regula¬ 
tion. We should take advantage of these indus¬ 
trial benefits so as to increase the number and 
prosperity of the people by the location of manu¬ 
facturing plants along our systems of water¬ 
ways. In this way there would be increased 
prevention of damage by floods, and there would 
be increased general wealth and health of the 
people. The accomplishment of this great pro¬ 
ject should not be delayed if we are to maintain 
this Commonwealth as the Empire State. 
Reforestation to perpetuate our forests is a 
vital problem to be solved by practical methods 
diligently applied. That we should purchase 
seedlings abroad to do a fractional portion of 
tree planting is a reflection on our forestry sys¬ 
tem, and I advocate active work being done to 
establish tree nurseries in various localities with¬ 
in the forest preserve, where ample, shipping 
facilities are obtained. These nurseries should 
be on a commercial basis, affording abundant 
stock for tree planting in this State. 
I recommend to you for these reasons, the 
consolidation of these departments into one body. 
All the game laivs of the United, States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
Cat and ’Coon. 
Omaha, Neb., Jan. 7 .— Editor Forest and 
Stream: My old ducking friend, Harley M. 
Smith, of River Sioux, la., was in my office 
one evening recently, and after a little chat on 
the prospects for next season’s shooting, he 
said: 
“I want to tell you of a fight I witnessed on 
Thanksgiving Day, while out looking up some 
late mallards I had seen going down in a cer¬ 
tain slough the evening before. 
“I built a blind of dead smartweed and saw- 
grass at the lower end of this slough, which 
was several hundred yards long, with the upper 
end thickly overgrown with wild plum trees. I 
hadn’t waited more than an hour when a small 
bunch of mallards, those old red-leg fellows, 
came in and went down near the line of the 
plum trees. They had no more than settled be¬ 
low the tops of the tules, when they arose with 
a loud, discordant quacking and went off pell 
mell over the fields and out of sight. A quarter 
of an hour later a lone mallard came in, and 
after warily reconnoitering up and down the 
slough several times, always of course keeping 
out of reach of my little 16-gauge, he, too, 
went down near the plums. But he did not 
linger more than a half minute, when up he 
bounced with a vigorous squawking and flap¬ 
ping and disappeared in the direction the other 
birds had taken. 
“Again a flock came in, a dozen, maybe, and 
they, after the usual circuit of investigation, 
settled down near the plum thicket. Again I 
was thrilled to see them rise almost before they 
had gotten their feet wet, all of them squawking 
frantically, and off they went over those same 
old fields as fast as their wings would carry 
them. 
“With my curiosity whetted to an edge, I 
got up and slashed my way through the mud 
and weeds around to the upper end of the 
slough. As I cautiously approached the line 
of plum trees I heard a floundering and splash¬ 
ing among the tules, mingled with a spitting 
and whimpering that puzzled me greatly, and 
I realized that something unusual was going 
on. I crouched and carefully crept forward 
until I gained a clear view of the opening under 
the low trees, and you can imagine my feelings 
when I saw there a common tiger house cat 
and a big, fat raccoon facing each other as they 
squatted about a yard apart, the cat with her 
back arched and tail swollen and the ’coon with 
his thin lips drawn back showing his teeth. 
They had undoubtedly just emerged from a 
scrimmage, as both were bedraggled with mud 
and water. The struggle had evidently been 
long continued, as it was certainly the cause 
of startling the first bunch of mallards into such 
precipitous flight over an hour before. 
“Anxious to witness the outcome of this in¬ 
teresting combat, I kept myself well hidden and 
watched the two animals closely. For ten 
minutes they remained in the same attitude as I 
found them, the cat caterwauling low and 
threateningly, and the ’coon whimpering plain¬ 
tively as if anxious to compromise. But pussy 
was mad clean through, and all at once, as the 
’coon lifted one of his fore feet, as if to turn 
and retreat, she was on him like a fury, and 
over they went, in a furry ball, into the low, 
roily waters that ran in quite a ways under the 
plum trees. It was a great mixup, and mud 
and water and fur flew in all directions. I could 
not see the struggling animals as well as I 
would have liked, while they were down, and 
clawing at each other as they rolled backward 
and forward, and was just about to advance to 
a better position, when there came a particu¬ 
larly loud squeak or squeal, evidently from the 
’coon, and I saw the cat as she sprang up into 
the low crotch of one of the plum trees. The 
blood was dripping from her mussed features, 
and, I think, was not quite so full of fight as 
she had' been. 
“The ’coon, first glancing covertly up at the 
cat, raised himself to his haunches, and after 
wiping his pointed snoot and rubbing his frayed 
ears for a second or two, lowered himself, and 
with another look up at the still complaining 
feline, lumbered slowly away into the thick 
tules bordering the slough. 
“I waited a moment, thinking there might be 
a renewal of the fight, but seeing nothing 
further of the ’coon, I stepped quietly forward, 
intending to see how badly kitty was hurt. But 
she did not appreciate my amiable intentions 
and flung herself out of the tree with a spiteful 
cry and slunk off among the amaranthine flags. 
I raised my gun, but was too late. I knew she 
was one of those devastating tramp cats and 
meant to kill her if I could, although at first 
I intended to offer her a helping hand. 
Looking about the spot, which was much 
trampled, and sprinkled with tufts of hair from 
both cat and coon, with many bloody splotches, 
I found a dead redbird—a cardinal—half 
buried among the broken down weeds and 
grasses. Which animal had stalked and slain the 
bird, of course I had no means of determining, 
but naturally inferred that it was the cat, as 
birds are the main diet of these predatory aliens. 
What puzzled me most was how the ’coon 
got tangled up with her. I never knew the two 
animals were hostile to each other, and the only 
animal I had ever known the ’coon to fight 
was old Joe, my ’coon dog, after we had 
shaken him out of a tree.” 
Henry N. Miller, of Wahoo, has been ap¬ 
pointed chief game warden of Nebraska to suc¬ 
ceed Dan Geilus. 
While I do not know Mr. Miller personally, 
he is said to be a good man for the office, a 
well posted enthusiastic sportsman himself and 
much interested in all matters pertaining to the 
welfare of our game birds and animals. 
Sandy Griswold. 
Ocracoke Island. 
Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 4. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: If any of your readers want some real 
sport I advise them to go to Ocracoke, N. C. I 
have just received word that the ducks, brant 
and geese are there in untold thousands. I was 
there in November and had fair shooting among 
the early birds, but now they have all arrived 
and the gunning is ideal. Miah Garrish, or J. 
H. Fulcher, or the postmaster at Ocracoke, Hyde 
county, North Carolina, can give details as to 
accommodations, etc. A game warden who lives 
in the town has the issuing of non-resident 
licenses. A gasolene boat from Beaufort. N. C., 
makes daily trips. The place is ideal, for you 
get all the shooting you want without any of the 
usual discomforts and hardships. 
Louis H. Parke. 
