Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy, 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1910. 
1 VOL. LXXV.—No. 17. 
^ No. 127 Franklin St., New York. 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1910, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary, 
Louis Dean Speir, Treasurer, 
197 Franklin Street, New York. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful in¬ 
terest in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate 
a refined taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
EARLY OCTOBER DAYS. 
For more than the first half of October- 
through much of the North—drouth and warm 
weather have worked against men and dogs in 
behalf of the birds. In swamp and woodland 
green leaves obscure the view, while hillsides, 
stubbles and even swamps are dry and dusty, 
so that the dogs can fyardly use their noses. 
While the gunner can push his way dry shod 
through swamps which in ordinary seasons are 
impassable, he finds little there, for the birds 
have moved away to localities where water may 
be had. 
Over much of the country the absence of sharp 
frosts has deprived the woodland of something 
of the brilliant color that at this season it com¬ 
monly wears, and oaks and beeches are as green 
to-day as they were in July. Nevertheless the 
ripened leaves are dropping from the birches, 
the hickory crowns are becoming brown and 
shriveled, while everywhere tulips are yellow¬ 
ing and maples reddening. Down through the 
soft October haze a thousand leaves are twirl¬ 
ing, each one suggesting a bird on the wing. 
If birds are scarce, and the dog is tired and 
discouraged, let the weary shooter take the shells 
from his gun and sit down a while to rest. If 
he shall stop in some bit of woodland where tall 
trees rise branchless toward the sky, overtop¬ 
ping red-crowned dogwoods, now brilliant with 
their scarlet fruit, he may before long see some¬ 
thing worth looking at. Very likely his approach 
has frightened from the branches of the dog¬ 
woods, flocks of robins that were gorging them¬ 
selves on the ripe fruit, and from the leaves be¬ 
neath the trees a horde of rusty grackles that 
were gleaning the crumbs that fell from the 
robins' table. Soon these birds will return to 
the feast, and will come close about him. With 
them will be a few shy brown-coated thrushes 
from the North, a flicker or two, bluejays and 
perhaps one or two of the larger sparrows. .Few 
things are more interesting than to remain quiet 
and watch these birds as they eagerly gather 
their food. It is amusing to see the wild alarm 
and flight of the little gluttons when the observer 
rises to his feet to pursue his walk. 
Early October may not be a very favorable 
time for shooting, but it is a great time for 
observing the migrating birds. 
SCENIC BEAUTY VALUABLE. 
An interesting and important decision recently 
rendered by Judge Robert E. Lewis, in the United 
States District Court at Pueblo, Colo., gives, per¬ 
haps for the first time in this country, a con¬ 
crete value to beautiful scenery and protects this 
scenery from injury. 
Coming down through a canon on the north 
slope of Pike’s Peak, at the mouth of which the 
town of Cascade is situated, is a beautiful moun¬ 
tain stream forming falls in the canon and con¬ 
stituting one of the chief attractions of the town. 
Recently the Empire Water and Power Company 
made an attempt to divert the water from this 
stream for the purpose of generating power, and 
instituted condemnation proceedings. 
The Cascade Town Company resisted these 
proceedings on the ground that to divert this 
water meant the destruction of the chief asset 
of the town company, since it is the beauty of 
this stream and its falls which make Cascade the 
summer resort that it has become. 
Judge Lewis granted the town company a per¬ 
manent injunction, prohibiting the Empire Water 
and Power Company from using this water for 
the intended purposes. The decision sustained 
the contention that in playing its part in mak¬ 
ing beautiful scenery the water is already being 
put to beneficial use within the meaning of the 
law, and therefore is not subject to condemna¬ 
tion proceedings. 
The effect of this decision may be far reach¬ 
ing. 
STRENGTH IN UNION. 
The weak spot in all attempts to secure better 
protection of natural things is the entire lack of 
organization among outdoor people. A large 
share of the public is interested in outdoor life 
—in the sports practiced in the open air, in 
nature and its study—the way of the bird in the 
air, of the beast on the earth, of the plant as 
it turns toward the light. Too often this in¬ 
terest goes no further than the consideration of 
their own enjoyment. They do not regard the 
general good nor do they think of the needs in 
such matters of their children or their children’s 
children. 
Yet an ever-increasing number of people is 
coming to feel that we of the United States, 
who possess such undeveloped resources, should 
stop trying to exploit them all at once and for 
our own immediate benefit, and should consider 
also the future and the needs of those who are 
to come after us. 
Many of those who feel this are working hard 
to carry out their ideas. Legislatures are asked 
to pass better laws for protection of forests, 
streams, fish and game, to authorize replanting 
regions stripped of timber, to prevent stream 
pollution and to protect stream heads. Yet, of 
all this work much is being done unintelligently 
and to little purpose. The reason is obvious. 
Outdoor people, nature lovers and conserva¬ 
tionists are working without established organi¬ 
zation or definite plan, and without knowledge 
of what is being done by others interested in 
the same thing. The conservation idea has taken 
hold of the public mind, but is only vaguely 
understood and has a different meaning in dif¬ 
ferent localities. 
If all the people who desire the same thing 
could get together, thresh out their ideas, decide 
on a definite course, and then act together, the 
work in which they are so deeply interested 
would move forward much faster. In the physi¬ 
cal sense they cannot get together, for they are 
scattered over the whole country—a few here 
and a few there. What they might do with 
profit is to endeavor to win over to their own 
way of thinking their neighbors and associates, 
and then to take up in Forest and Stream the 
questions that interest them, discuss them there, 
and by means of such discussion learn what 
other people are doing, what the different sec¬ 
tions of the country need, and finally what ac¬ 
tion will be most effective to secure results. 
Efforts to influence legislation, even by a large 
number of people, rarely accomplish much, un¬ 
less these men work together. The political 
party that has the best organization wins the 
most victories. Those who love outdoor life and 
who believe that outdoor things should con¬ 
stantly be better safeguarded, will not secure 
this end until they recognize that a wider public 
sentiment must be aroused and that this feeling 
must have organized expression, if it is to carry 
weight. All over the land the neighbors and 
friends of the enthusiastic conservationists must 
be convinced that the public good demands the 
better protection of our natural resources, water, 
soil, forests and life. 
The situation along the international boundary 
in Ontario and Minnesota has improved since 
last week, when fifteen towns were reported 
wholly or partially destroyed by forest fires. 
The loss of life is probably not so great as 
originally supposed, but the sufferings of the 
people, their losses of property and the destruc¬ 
tion of game have been frightful. Fanned by 
a gale of wind, and with the whole Rainy River 
basin so parched by the long drouth that every¬ 
thing was ready to burn, the fire swept through 
the region so rapidly that for large numbers of 
people to escape was impossible. Those who 
had time to do so turned their live stock out, to 
escape if it could, and the strange spectacle was 
witnessed by many, who saw moose, deer, bears, 
horses, cattle and other stock—all possessed by 
a common fear—traveling in company away from 
the flames. 
R 
W. P. Titcomb, of the United States Fish 
Commission, died suddenly last week at his home 
in Washington. His age was sixty-nine years. 
