Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-07

part in preserving rare species threatened
| with extinction, such the buffalo, the
giraffe and the Altai wapiti.
| In this country number of well-known
and wealthy men are spending immense
| sums to preserve herds of American bison
| on their large country estates, which are
! sometimes as large as the hunting ground
| Of a small tribe in the olden days when
the Red indian was the only enemy the
| bison knew.
But the great work of the millionaire
in saving rare animals from extinction is
| not done in this manner 1t is accom-
| plished through the geological societies Of
| the great cities-New York, Chicago. Phil
| adelphia Boston and other places. The
millionaire gives his money with astonish-
| ing liberality, and the authorities of the
| geological parks buy with it what they
| want. In this way more good Is done to
| the science of zoology than by the MAX
| ing of private collections.
rs the millionaire good friend to us z!
| said w. T. Hornaday, the director of the
New York Geological Park, in reply to a
question. Well, l should say so. II 1t
were not for him, we should have TO go
| out of business and so would most of the
| other geological parks in this country or
| rather we should not have got into busl-
| ness at ALL
Save Many Rare Species.
"The millionaires of America are not
doing any great work in preserving rare
| species from extinction by means OF pri-
| yate parks. Their best collections of AMI
| mails are insignificant when compared with
some private geological parks in Europe.
But by giving their money to societies ike
| ours the millionaireS are helping 10 save
| MANY rare species from dying out.
| For example, all the antelopes IN our
| house were given u.s. and many OF them
are exceedingly rare specimens. Mr.. sam
1 81 q
| the only giraffeS in a geological park IN
| America The giraffe is one of the rarest
and most expensive of wild ANIMALS ior
| the species is becoming extinct.
! Mr. George F. Baker, among many
| valuable gifts, presented us with an eiand:
a. pair of white-tailed gnus and pair @pI
| white bearded gnus, all exceedingly rare
| animals and worth a lot of money. MRS.
| Frederick F. Thompson gave us our Bak-
| er's roam antelope, the first in this country
| the Beatrix antelope, the only one on tx <
hih,tion in America, if not in the world;
| the Addax antelope. the water-buck ana a
| pair of Altai wapti. This Is splehuio
lot of animals, and cost the ,r, donor sew,
| eral thousands Of dollars. There Is no
| Doubt about 1.-THE milliona1reS are our
hest friends Without the thousands
which they give us, we couid not Aeep
| house. 81, tho zooloe-
| icaI parks in the country, but Mr.. lorna
DAYS magnificent collection OF WIG an
| imals at the Bronx has been pulit up VIZ
/ a
| millionaires in New York believe IN nun
| and are ever ready to open their purse
| strings at his bidding. He has only 10
make it known that rare ana cosby o a..
! ;mal is required, and somebody immediate
| w stems forward with an offer to put up
| the money.
| Gifts From individuals.
| Whom # became necessary to stock She
lion house 1t was decided that the patrons
and founders of the New York Zoologlcal
| Society. most of whom are well-known MIL
| uonaires should be invited to contribute
sums of money with which to purchase an
| imals to take their places In the collecuol
as individual gifts. Mr.. Hornaday maue
| ont a list of the animals wanted, ana pul
| alongside of them their probable cost lhis
| LIST was sent around to the millionalres
| and they responded promptly, with the 70
| suit that every animal In the non mouse W
| day, except the babies born there, IS inc
| Gift of some individual member or 1rleno
| Of the society Altogether the colleStion
| cost over $15,OOO. 80
| Nelson Robinson gave a splendid pair OF
Barbary lions, which are declared os eN
! in captiyity anywhere The male, SUI
| tan" according to Mr.. Hornaday, Is as
| handsome a lion as ever trod cage moor
| and his mate "Bedouin Maid,' Is "a model
| At to represent her sex In any studio.
| Andrew Carnegie gave another magnlncent
| Barbary lion named Hannibal, wmcn ID
| said to possess the most luXurianl maine q
| anv lion on show. "Hannibaf is also the
| yainest beast in the business. He Is always
| striking imposing attitudes in the center OF
his cage for the benefit Of visitors, and II
| he sees that nobody is looking at MN ne
| roars with disgust and curls himself sulkily-
/ IN in a corner. His mate, cleopatra,
was the gift of Col Oliver II. Payne.
| Cleveland H. Dodge gave a young short
| named Nubian lion, "Dongola, and Philip
| SCHUYLER was the donor of a beautiful fe-
male lion, "Sandibel," from Senegal, West
| Africa.
| wild animals, ordered a pair OF SIBERIAN
| tigers as one of his gifts. The order was
| given between two and three years ago,
but it has not yet been filled. There IS
| great difficulty in procuring specimens OF
thfs very rare variety. 1t is the largest,
| most COSTLY and most sought after of all
tigers. and the number now in captivity
| could be counted on the fingers VI po'h
Without Success.
5anv agents have been at work during
the mast two or three years trying to graf
ify Colonel Payne, but none has yet sue
ceeded. These Siberian tigers, like their
brethren of Korea and Manchuria, are eX-
tremely hardy They can be kept out in the
omen throughout the winter, in the snow
and ice, and will not suffer any more than
the polar bears do. This is one reason
why they are so eagerly desired by zoolog-
ical parks.
Jacob H. Schiff gave two beautiful speci-
mems of the cheetah, or hunting leopard,
and William D. Sloan presented a pair Of
jet black eopards from the Malay PENN
sula These, black leopards, as a rule. are
the most vicious and cantankerous of all
felines. A wildcat is amiable by COMPARE
son, and jaguar is positively gracious.
But Mr.. Sloan's specimens are not so cross
as most black leopards, fact which great
ly enhances their value.
One of the most costly gifts consisted of
a couple of snow leopards, presented by
Mrs. Emma B. Auchincloss Snow leopards
are the rarest of the large feline animals,
and before these specimens were obtained
from the lower slopes of the Himalayas
there were only two in captivity-one In
London and the other in Berlin. Unfor-
tunately one of Mrs. Auchincloss' leopards
escaped from its cage one night last sum-
mer. and had to be shot by a policeman
after an exciting chase all over the park.
Among the other millionaries who pre-
scented valuable felines were Frederick L.
Eldredge. Captain Thomas Golding and
Charles T. Barney.
tits owing to the generosity Of the mil
lionaires that the New York Geological
Park. possesses four animals which are not
on exhibition anywhere else in the world.
,uvl., hoo he Dao-