Nov. 26, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
845 
the hat was dyed and again washed, stiffened 
and dried. If a long nap was desired the sur¬ 
face of the felt was carded; while to obtain a 
smooth finish it was rubbed with pumice stone. 
It was then ready to be “trimmed,” that is, to 
have the band, binding, lining and sweat band 
put on. Beginning with the cutting of the fur, 
these processes are now performed by electri¬ 
cally operated automatic machinery.—Electrical 
Record. 
BATTLE WITH BEES. 
In India about eight miles from the town of 
Jabalpur is a place called “The Bee,” from the 
fact that swarms of the insects live there and 
defend their holding against the world. Shock¬ 
ing tragedies have resulted from invasion of the 
spot. Some men who had unwittingly disturbed 
the bees were set upon by millions and stung to 
death, or chose drowning in the river nearby 
as a more tolerable fate. Deer, pigs and even 
the lordly tiger have paid the same penalty for 
their indiscretion, says Harper’s Weekly. 
A bold Englishman, who some years ago de¬ 
termined to invade the home of the bees, began 
by designing a suit of defensive armor. It con¬ 
sisted of a sort of overall suit, tied round the 
neck with tape, a bee veil to be tucked into the 
garments, riding-boots, gauntlets, and two pairs 
of gloves. Into this suit he was sewn by a 
tailor, so that there should be no chink or 
crevice. He took with him a native, similarly 
armored. 
The two were to climb up to the back of the 
hills so as to get above the bees, and another 
native, also armored, who was in charge of the 
boat, ascended the rocks. He went to the bank 
of the river, which was under the point of at¬ 
tack, and made his boat fast. 
With his first attendant the Englishman 
climbed to a well-considered height, and then 
crawled cautiously forward alone. He could 
hear an all-pervading hum, and his nostrils were 
filled with that sweet smell which is made up 
of honey, wax and bee. 
Deciding that the point of attack was about 
a hundred yards further on, the Englishman re¬ 
turned for his native, and together they made 
their way thither. The cliff was sheer, and even 
overhanging. A dense mass of bees and comb 
lay about fifty feet below the Britisher, and 
fifty feet below that were the boat with the 
native in charge. 
The hunter put on one end of a rope round 
a tree growing at the edge of the cliff, gave the 
other end to his attendant, and went over. He 
found that he would have to get a swing to 
reach the ledge on which he meant to stand. 
Hanging down over this ledge from above were 
ten or fifteen feet of comb. 
The Englishman reached the rock with his 
hand, gave a push, swung out, then in again, 
struck in the middle of the comb, and gained his 
feet upon the ledge with a scramble. 
Immediately the bees were upon him. The 
noise of the water below was drowned by their 
angry hisses. The Englishman was completely 
blinded, for they had swarmed over his veil, 
blocking out the light. When he touched his 
body it seemed to him, through his glove, that 
he was covered by a thick, soft fur—all bees, 
of course. 
For a few moments the daring Britisher was 
stupefied. Then he realized that his armor was 
trustworthy and that he was safe. The native 
lowered the bucket, and blindly the hunter felt 
about for the comb, and, as weh as he could, 
scraped it into the bucket. He then lowered 
it to his native, giving the signal for himself 
to be lowered also. The man who lowered him 
stated afterward that he could not see the Eng¬ 
lishman. In the place where he knew that his 
master must be there was nothing to be seen 
but a brown, whirling mass. 
The Englishman swung out into the dark, 
bumping as he went. At last he was clutched, 
and at once knew that he was at the bottom. 
He brushed the bees from his veil, and through 
a driving mist of them saw a cluster of other 
bees in the shape of a man. This was the native 
who had the boat. 
They cut themselves adrift and rowed to a 
convenient place, where they made for the 
shore. There, five miles away, they made a 
sulphur smoke and were freed from the last 
of their persistent enemies. 
The armor had held, none of the men were 
stung, and the booty was just fifteen pounds of 
honey. 
THE ELEPHANT WHO SAVED ONE 
THOUSAND LIVES. 
As there were many wild bazaar rumors 
afloat about the disaster at the bathing festivi¬ 
ties at Sorong in the Agra Division, I have in¬ 
terviewed the proper authorities, and obtained 
the following particulars, says a correspondent 
of the Allahabad Pioneer. 
Thousands of pilgrims had camped on a strip 
of land which had never before been flooded 
within memory of the oldest residents. On 
Sunday night there was a sudden rise in the 
tide of the Ganges, and the pilgrims were 
stranded on the spot where they were en¬ 
camped, which has now become an island sur¬ 
rounded by deep water. The pilgrims who had 
the presence of mind to link arms and stand 
up, though immersed chest-deep in water, were 
saved, but those who ran panic-stricken to re¬ 
gain terra firma, fell into the deepest stream 
and were lost. 
Rescue parties, headed by the deputy col¬ 
lector of the locality and the police, arrived on 
the scene as soon as possible, and with the aid 
of boats and an elephant rescued the stranded 
pilgrims. 
An account given of the work done by an 
elephant named Jung Bahadur is most interest¬ 
ing. Jung Bahadur belongs to a rais named 
Koer Jaswant Singh, who was on a visit to the 
fair, and his presence was providential. With 
ropes attached to his trappings, the elephant 
repeatedly swam out to the distressed pilgrims, 
who would cling onto the ropes and be landed 
in safe places. It is estimated that this noble 
animal saved at least one thousand lives. 
The number drowned is put down at about 
two hundred, or even less, but as the pilgrims 
had thronged from all parts of India it is im¬ 
possible to say how many were really drowned. 
The collector of Etah and his officers did all 
they possibly could to help the pilgrims in their 
misfortune. 
LONGEVITY OF BIRDS. 
An instance was recorded in a German paper 
recently of the shooting of a crow with a ring 
on its leg bearing a date of over a hundred 
years ago. In the same week a resident in one 
of the English counties wrote to the ornithol¬ 
ogical press putting on record the coming of 
age of his skylark. 
That letter brought to light the fact that if 
twenty-one years is not exactly a common age 
for a lark it is by no means a unique one. The 
writer has owned canaries that exceeded the 
twenty-one years of the skylark, and one bull¬ 
finch he possessed reached the age of sixteen 
years. Exhibition or “fancy” bred birds on the 
other hand are comparatively short lived, and 
the variety known as the “Scotch Fancy.” the 
canary with the half-moon shaped body, is de¬ 
crepit when two or three years old and is be¬ 
coming extinct.—Dundee Advertiser. 
A ROYAL SPORTSWOMAN. 
The Comtesse de Paris, who has been shoot¬ 
ing at Wood Norton with her grandson, King 
Manuel, ranks with the Duchess of Bedford 
and a few other society leaders as one of the 
best lady shots in England. 
The Orleans and the Bourbons have always 
been devoted to sport, and the Comtesse has 
been an enthusiastic and clever shot since her 
early girlhood. A good many years have 
passed since the Comtesse when staying at 
Sandringham astonished the natives of Norfolk 
by her prowess with the gun, few members of 
the royal shooting parties acquitting themselves 
better.—Westminster Gazette. 
Let Us Tan Your Hide. 
And let us do your head mounting-, rug, robe, coat, and 
glove making. You never lose anything and generally 
gain by dealing direct with headquarters. 
We tan deer skins with hair on for rugs, or trophies, or 
dress them into buckskin glove leather. Bear, dog, calf, 
cow, horse or any other kind of hide or skin tanned with 
the hair or fur on, and finished soft, light, odorless, moth 
proof and made up into rugs, gloves, caps, men’s and 
women’s garments when so ordered. 
Get our illustrated catalog which gives prices of tanning, 
taxidermy and head mounting. Also prices of fur goods 
and big mounted game heads we sell. 
THE CROSBY FRISIAN FUR COMPANY. 
584 Lyell Avenue - - Rochester, N. Y. 
Perfection Bird 
Houses for the 
Purple Martin 
Beautify your grounds 
and help your bird 
neighbors by securing 
one of our Martin 
Houses. 
Nesting boxes for 
Wrens, Bluebirds 
and Swallows. 
Send 10c. for new 1911 cata¬ 
logue of bird-houses, and 
second supplement booklet, 
containing reports from per¬ 
sons who put up our Martin 
Houses in 1910 
Jacobs Bird House Co. 
404 So. Washington St. 
Waynesburg, Pa. 
SCOTCH CALABASH PIPES 
Make ideal Xmas presents 
for your friends. Scotch Cala¬ 
bash Pipes ensure a cool, 
sweet smoke by absorbing all 
nicotine. Money back if not 
satisfactory. 
THE ROYAL PIPE CO. 
210 Broad Street Nashville, Tenn. 
CA r each or 3 for $1 
delivered free 
Stamps 
Taken 
BUNTSM 
iED DIXON’S GRAPHITE 
id lock mechanism in perfect 
ite. Booklet 
cmr. ml a 
Camp-Fires of the Wilderness. 
By E. W. Burt. Cloth. Illustrated. 221 pages. Price, 
$1.25. 
The volume treats of a multitude of matters of in¬ 
terest to the camper, who, unless he is made comfortable 
by the exercise of a little expert knowledge and thought¬ 
fulness, may find himself when in camp the most miser¬ 
able of mortals. A man who has had experience, makes 
himself as comfortable in camp as at home, while the 
free and independent life, the exercise that he is con¬ 
stantly taking, the fresh air in which he works, eats and 
sleeps, combine to render his physical condition so per¬ 
fect that every hour of every day is likely to be a joy. 
“Camp-Fires of the Wilderness” is written for those 
persons who wish to go into camp, yet are without ex¬ 
perience of travel, chiefly by canoe and on foot, through 
various sections of the country, and it may be read with 
profit by every one who enjoys camping. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
