Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-28

NANSA eOO~S ~>Do'N
The dam was most cunningly constructed. No
man could have built a better one. 1t was
e 81 e s1 i
and logs knitted together most adroity and
were covered with leaves grass, and mud So COM
pletey did the dam obstruct the creek that mill
pond was created extending nearly half mile up
stream.
'On the morning that we made the great haul, we
found all our traps full We killed the beavers that
had been caught in the traps by striking them the
head with heavy club After we had empted our
traps Balser walked out the dam and found that
the weather had melted the ice in places about
the logs and branches He tried to loosen them,
and found several that yielded to his efforts.
He drew three four loose logs, and then thrust
a long pole down into the dam This of course caused
CONSERVATION among the poor little beavers. and
they began to out through the tunnel that served
them doorway and opened above the water line
on the bank l stood at the opening, club in hand,
and killed the beavers they out. That
morning. think, got twenty-five beavers.
1T seemed cruel to kill the beautiful little ami
mails, and was of conscience; but there were
two good reasons for killing them. One that
wanted their pets. That reason alone might not
have justified us; but the second one did. 1t was
this: no orchard could live in the neighborhood of
a beaver dam. The little pests gnawed the bark
from the young fruit trees and killed them as fast as
the farmers could plant them. But they did even
greater damage than this Their dams blockaded
the streams backing the water the bottom land
and running it for agricultural purposes.
g have heard great deal of sympathy expressed
for the thousands of wild animals that slaugh-
tered by the settlers in early days. but it war
to the death between man and the beasts of the
forest The settlers greatest enemy was these wild
animals The fox the mink, the weasel, the coon,
the muskrat would often depopulate large poultry
yard in night Turkeys, chickens, ducks. and
geese could be raised only by keeping them con
stantly in sight or by combining them in substantial
buildings, and the farmers were too poor to con-
struct these.
Two or three bears and herd of deer
DESTROYED large field of young for my
father. In one night he lost entire seasons
work by their depredations. l remember one
winter Ba1ser's father lost six fine fat shoats
that he was saving for his winters meat. Bears
killed them all in one night. Bill Raster lost
nineteen sheep between sunset and sunrise.
tell you, the settlers had to kill the game
move out of the country! But always
soft hearted about it, and that the poor q
animals and birds conquered, would not
shoot one in cold blood.
81 have hunted the beasts and the birds of
the forest as much, suppose, as any man OF
my years; but stopped when the foe was con-
quered, and now the poor wild things should be
allowed to live. There are not many lett, and
the rich farmer of to-day is able to protect
himself against them. But when l boy
we had to kill them in self defense.
PUT must get back to the story of the flood.
- The weather remained cold, and Balser and
l were SO busy taking pelts that we had for
gotten what said about the thaw. During
the days the ice had broken and it
banked up in huge piles at the drifts and bends
in the creek. The drfted ice completely
damned the stream in many places that
day and heavy rain might flood us in
few hours; but chung to the cabin.
One morning we awakened to find the sun
bright and almost fair May
day Two such days would spoil the
After feeding Solomon Balser came back to
the cabin where I was getting breakfast, and
said, Well go home tomorrow, sure, Tom
Andy Bill, or we shall be flooded
By noon the weather warmer the sky
overcast with clouds, and the rain began
to fall in torrents We knew then that the flood
would soon come; prepared for instant flight.
But we had waited too long. BY four O'Clock the