Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-10-29

In usual liquid form or In chocolate
'--'"d tablets called 5agsatabs.
ing. Alas, for the vanities of human
fleshl She was past recall. No
more straight-fronts for her. But
her breakfast was good. she had
no inclinations to modern methods of
robbery. My entertainment cost me
six bits and she threw in an apple
Ribbons OF white cog trailed down
the little draws. The frost had
cooled off the earth to a lower tenn
perature. The brown trees were
browner, the yellow sprcutings in the
clearings were yellower. The fern
was growing rusty. Jack Frost had
laid his chilling hand on all the
landscape. The cabbage patches
glittered with coat of silver,
presaging on sweeter taste to the
coming crop of sauerkraut A mile
out was overtaken and picked up by
a rafting spring wago' driven by
lame man. He had either one stiff
leg or wooden 'oot. Later ! learned
the other man was his father and had
whole wooden limb. 1t seemed to
run In the family. They carried two
shotguns and some sacks of feed and
1t did not take me long to decide
that was travelling with professional
poachers. They had let me ride
rather reluctantly. Now any sort of
politician will not only ascertain
peoples business but will approve of
their occupation. Every half mile or
so the rig would stop, one of the men
would take a gun and stalk a grouse
or pheasant and the dog would bring
1t to the wagon where II went into
the bag. Trespass notices had no
terrors for them. The lamest Of the
gamesters confessed he had potted
antelope in Colorado, geese and
ducks on many waters, but his main
reliance for hunting was upland
game birds. The men carried camp
ing outfit, slept where night over
took them, live on choice tidbits that
only adorn the menu cards of million
aires. I offered them cigar for
my ride but both scorned It for the
pleasures of briarwood pipe. /
tramped up stony vale and over a
ridge to Tonquin. There was a de-
licious GOODNESS in the air, made only
the more refreshing by the yellow,
mellow radiance of IN October sun. |
Night before last I had heard the
wild geese honBing in all directions
in the overhead darkness. They
smelt the coming of the first frost.
The shrill calling of the Jays, the
chlrp of the cricket, the busy hustling
Of the chipmunks along the fence
rails-all were expressing their 81
told you so" about the too early ap-
pearance of King Jack. Winding up
toward Tonquin, this vale is a sue
cession of ancient beaver-dams-
where one day was pond after pond,
stuck full of feeding waterfowl in
winter and nesting birds in summer
And the busy beavers built and
patched night and day. We have
honored him with the nickname of
our state, named our baseball team
after him and several brands of
cigars, and put him on the seat of
Oregon. Our choicest garden lands
ire named for the beaver and. the
end of his fame has not arrived.
Some day we will become decent
and civilized and we will enact a
Jaw TO protect the few remaing
survivors of this race of conservators.
The beaver built the reservoir that /
held up the flood waters that now
ievastate lie preserved the streams
from erosion, furnished the fisheries
grounds, and the water
fowl nesting places. The white man
cut his dams. turned loose the floods,
the harmless home
builders for their furs, and Uncle
Sam must Issue bonds to build stor-
age reservoirs to hold the waters.
All future generations must pay
taxes for killing off the beavers, just
as the farmers have to buy squirrel
poison for killing off the hawks, owls
and snakes,
sauntered along meditating on
older times and wishing might have
lived far enough on the frontier to
see beaver in his own house. when