Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-01-07
KALbFUS URGES
CARE FOR BIRDS
If People Want to Hunt They
Should Provide For the
Birds in Wintertime
HOW THEY CAN BE SAVED
Practical Plan Suggested by the
Active Secretary Of State
Commission
HOW THEY CAN BE SAVED

DR.. Joseph Kalbfus, secretary of
the State Game Commission, has
issued his annual call to the farmers
and the sportsmen to save the birds.
The secretary says people are all very
willing to hunt, but not so careful
about looking after the game. In his
circular the secretary makes q unique
plea.
Here are some of his ideas:
"'Pity the needy and the helpless
these cold days Is an expression often
heard, and some of those Voiclng TINS
sentiment mean just what they say, and
stand ready to do what they can Tor
those who may be suffering. To many
men these words are meaningless, and
so long as they themselves are well fed
happen ha roteee to others. @ The poo poor, haif-ciad
child in the street corner blue and
shivering and starving Is indeed a pitt
able sight. but the mumbling of words
of pity brings no relief to such one
at any time. You remember the story
of the merchant who, while journeying
from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among
rosGsde and rhe wap pres e from %o
cause of his position most was, expect
ed. passed by on the other side. The
Levite, another of the leaders of PUBLIC
help. No one even had a kind word
until Samaritan, from whom appar-
emily nothing was expected, came that
way. 1Ou remember NndL l6 ulu anu
the Master said. Who was neighbor to
that man?
ITO be wet and cold and starving is.
indeed !, terrible thing for any crea-
for men who almost rebel against God
when such conditions are forced upon
them. Have you ever seen men on the
verge Of staryation? Have I you hivs ever +
starving? If not. you. may well bless
God for sparing you this ordeal. have
seen both these conditions and have
been wet and cold and starving, and
know whereof speak, for 1 was in the
mountains of Colorado the winter of the
Chicago fire when the snow fell unex-
pectedly to great depth, just as 1t fell
supplies We're caught, game could not
be found, for weeks. and how some of
us lived the Almighty alone knows. The
unusual depth instead of disappearing
under the influence of the west wind as
was usually the case. leaving the south
side of the mountains and the. plains
bare so that grazing animals could feed,
settled to about eighteen or twenty
inches, and then froze, forming COW
ering of heavy ice. against which the
winds were powerless. before spTringe g.
cattle. and horses, and antelope, and
elk dying from starvation. For weeks
and months. day and night, I heard the
begging for that which could not be
given calling, calling, until not one was
left. I travelled among herds of ante
lope, with here and there an elk. so
emaciated that they hardly moved. out
of ones way, but no call for help from
men came from those wild creatures.
no complaint, no sound at all, save per-
pack of wolves bore them donwn. Have
you ever noticed the wild bird, wounded
almost unto death, sitting on its perch
without a sound of complaint, nothing
20 II "a ctt nP
save the tap, tap tap, of it's life blood
striking on the leaves below? Have you
ever seen the birds starve? Well, |
haye and Hs see n the SHOWS
days of long ago, and ! come to you
now in this letter in behalf of the birds
and beg of you to do something for
them. They are wet and cold. and help
less. The SHOWS have fallen. The birds
have no stored supplies. They have no
fellows, who better off than they, might
give them even crumbs from their
table. They have no organized chari
ties to whom they can turn for succor.
They must have help or they will surely
perish
more than enough to keep the birds in
your community in food for many days,
and l beg of you to see to 1t that this
is done: Grain scattered for Bob-White
where the downey woodpecker or the
kinglet or the nuthatch may find 1t;
crumbs and small seeds for the little
ground feeding birds. will surely be
appreciated by them in this their time
of need, and will bring to you a return
through the lifework of these birds
that cannot be expressed in words OF
figures. You may not be able to dc
much in yourself. but you can do some
little thing.
IT have friend in Western Pennsyl-
vania who has his heart in the right
DIaca and when the snow fell OJIf tbpre
last week he used his telephone in
starting his neighbor in the work OF
feeding birds; One neighbor called .to
was interested. The Boy Scouts took
up the call, and the fields are now daily
filled with men and boys, each one bent
on showing through works that he
truly pities the needy and helpless
these cold days. Who will be neighbol
TO the birds in your community? A
prayer or kindly spoken word means
listening ear, but neither prayer OIL
kindly feeling amount to much with
out accompanying works One bushel
of grain placed where Bob-White and
his family can get it means more te
them than all the kind words that could
be spoken in the county where they are