Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1900-10-06
vANDERBlLT'S FOREST.
Its Fish and Game and the Guardian
Rangers of the Place.


bjlt something like $250,000, or about
$3.50 per acre. lie has bought 1t In
great or ANAL tracts as rapidly as pos
sible, and now his rangers are the only
denlzens. There are five Of them, all
picked men Of the mountains, Of fine
physique, good riders and dead shots.
One Of them comes to meet the pill
grlms and looks at their permit, which
is very important piece OF paper.
This forester whose name is Kearns,
is type of the rangers, good humored,
tall and strong, we'll mounted, with re-
peatlng rifle slung at his back. saddle
bags and poncho. To him these noun
tain wilds are like an open book, and
upon him and his associates great
and incessant responsibility devolves.
They must keep open the roads and
the trails, see that the boundary fence,
800 miles In length. Is all right, keep
out poachers, look after the game and
the trout and always be on the alert
for timber stealers. The poachers
would come from near and far to
catch the trout or. rather, to kill them
by exploding dynamite cartridges In
the deep pools where the big fellows
Turk. or to kill the deer, the grouse, or
pheasant, as they are known popular
ly; or the wild turkeys. At an incred-
ible distance the trained ear of the
ranger will hear the explosion OF dy-
Mantle, and he tracks the offender I'M
erringly. even into other counties. and
once into Tennessee.
There are 265 miles Of trail In this
forest. the trails leading alongside each
trout stream. There are 20 miles Of
road passable for wagon. Trail and
road are always kept In readiness
against Mr.. Vanderbilt's coming. He
IS. as the rangers say, "liable to come
any time" There are miles OF shoot
ing paths. the latter 10 feet In width
and cut ont right and left from the
roads. When deer are driven, they
must cross these paths. and by means
of the latter alone can the hunter see
them In time to get shot
The absence Of noises other than
those made by the streams Is one OF
the most noticed things. Rarely is the
note of bird heard and schooner still
is any feathered thing seen. So per-
feet and so dense is the cover that q
deer can lie unseen only a few feet
away. Numerous as the turkeys are,
only one was flushed and only q very
few pheasants were seen. The sharp
footmarks of the deer are constantly
visible In the trails. and alongside the
streams are the footprints Of the wild
cat. High overhead the golden eagle Is
seen soaring, and Ranger Kearns
shows a mounted specimen which he
killed with a revolver as II sat In
tree top so yards away.
Though Mr.. Vanderbilt 10 not q
sportsman, but student yet, A. stat
ed, all things are kept ready for him.
His pleasure Is the pleasure OF Others.
On his last visit he only caught one
trout, nor did he fire a gun. His wife
was with him. She Is a good horse
woman. and rode pony up and down
the steepest trails. Under protection
native trout are rapidly restocking the
streams without artificial propagation.
In some of the streams rainbow trout
from California have been placed, but
these are not so satisfactory 6sh.
They rapidly lose their rich color and
have to be quickly eaten to be pala-
table, while the trout Of the locality,
properly dressed, keep well. In the
old days, before there was protection,
there were caught In two days In this
very forest 1850 trout, and most OF
this needless slaughter was pure
waste.
At Biltmore Mr.. Vanderbilt has an
arboretum, one Of the largest in the
world and the pioneer in the United
States. This was formerly under the
direction of Clifford Pinchot, who is at
present head forester Of the United
States; 1t is now under the direction Of
DR.. Shenck, as forester. In this ADORE
tum more than 100000 trees and
shrubs have been planted. Pisgah for
est is the complement Of the arbore-
tum, and in these wild woods DR..
Schenck has a lodge, where he spends
much of each summer with his class.
In the latter are often youths Of wealth
and high social position who wish to
study fOrestry-a study which the
United States sorely needs, since so
many millions are daily devoting them
selves to the task Of forest destruction
and so few to Observation-Disclosures
and Stream.