Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-22
POACHER6s INt THE. PARK
Is it True That Animals onthe Reservation
/ Are, Killed.
Fcaeahing SnAda tez he Actively Onrrfed
On-StntcnAeats# on the Snbjects
From DR.. COues and Others.

! Statements recently published to the eff;
feet that animals on the reservation of the
Yellowstone National Park are being killed
by poaehers,; notwithstanding the law OF
May, 1894, have excited no little discussion.
Mr. William Hosea Balfou, vice president
of the American Humane Association, has
risen to declare, that the allegations are.
wholly false ard without foundation. He:
asserts that the beasts. and birds have.
ample protection, adding that it is high
time that! the public should become ac-
quainted with the facts and take warning
of the awful consequences which await the
shapless individual who attempts to kill or
MAIN animals, or trap them alive, or catch
fish in the park
, Told by the POnchers.
! Mr. Walter H. Weed, who has spent sew
erai years in the park, and is now engaged
in writing report on it for the geological
survey, was INTERCEPTED on the subject
yesterday, He said:
/ "Poaching is constantly, going on in the
park. My information on the subject has
been obtained from the poachers Them
selves. have seen them at work with my
own eyes, On one occasion came across
"a party Of them, who had. the shoes of
their horses; turned wrong side before, so
as to mislead anybody who might be- on
their trail The reservation is SO vast that
1t Is not possible to patrol it effectively
with the means now at hand. There are a
couple of scouts who make expeditions at
intervals In search of poachers, sometimes
alone and at other times taking two or
three soldiers with them. The soldiers
could not find their way through the wildS
uEasssted- by guides. You can easily inn
agfne how far such a system must prove a
failure. 1 could take you into the park next
week and hunt there for couple of weeks
or more without the slightest danger from
the law
Prof. Arnold Hague, who not long ago
completed the government survey of the
park, expressed himself in a. conservative
manner. He said:
Il have no doubt that poaching is now
going on in the Yellowstone Park. The
military force at hand is hardly sufficient
to patrol the reservation with such thor
oughness as would prevent depredations of
the kind
Difficulty of Enforcing the LAW.
DR.. Elliott Coues, who knows much about
the lark. said yesterday:
''The greatest danger to the park is the
presence just outside of it's northeast COR
ner: of a town called Cook City, the in
habitants of which have always regarded
the park as game preserve provided for
their own use 1 am able to state with GER
tainty that not very long. ago, buffalo and
without disguise in Cook City. The string
cnt law of May, Z, 1894, Is an admirable one,-
and WILL no doubt, do good in the future:
but that it has accomplished nauchq hither-
to, or materially affected the poaching, I.
doubt The trouble is. less with the law
than with the practical and us yet unsoly-
ed difficulty Of enforcing its provisions by:
the conviction and punishment of Offenders
l am we'll acquainted with Capt Anderson,
than whom no more efficient and capable
officer could be found for the position he
holds in the park But unless the force at
his disposal for patrolling the park has been
greatly increased since 1 conversed with
him during the summer. before last it is
hardly possible that the poaching should
he done. away with. Knowing. as I do the
active and intelligent interest which the
Secretary of the Interior takes in the pres
ervation Of the park: from poaehers and
vandals, feel sure he will neglect no op-
.portunity of providing for, tho conviction
and punishment of Offenders"
Mai. Powells"V1ew.