Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-02-03
IS BUFFALO
|||R LONG VIEW
10 + WANTED
- lslasl Caa CT Nselsss II
An1nal Yanily e fazk b
Asking Secretary.

Froe Of charge. Rock island can
nv The foundation Of roo at Long
Wv park.
with no cost to the city, save
|perhaps for the freight charges.
Jlock Island, BY immediate action
~ the part Of municipal omcials
'nad the park board, can obtain .
bu6alo, which would be the first Of
= roo family for Long View.
For years people who have seen
Long View grow more beautiful
each succeeding season realized the
ono missing feature Of the natural
scenic playground Of the city-s
roo. And now comes congress In
The current agricultural bill to
make II possible for Rock Island to
have . zoo---mayhap not q large
one 1t first, but at least one an
1mal Is : nucleus.
The bill gives the secretary OF
agriculture, who, by the way, only
last week was appointed by Presi-
dent Wilson, the right to give buf-
falO to municipalities and public
institutions from any surplus which
may exist in the herds now under
control of the department OF agri-
culture. The new secretary Of ag-
riculture is E. T. Meredith OF Des
Noines, a comparative neighbor OF
Rock Island, and any request from
this city In respect to these buffalo
would no doubt receive ready At
tention from him.
or course, one buffalo would pro-
vide Rock Island only with a be-
ginning towards a moderate-sized
roo, but 1t would be sufficient to
start the city In the right direction
toward the end of establishing ami
NAL life at Long View park, and,
once started, II the desire to make
additions in the zoo family Is forth
coming on the part of the public.
the means will through some source
be provided.
Rock Island children would see
additional attractions at the park
and would find even the one buffalo
Of interest to watch.
"A visitor to the city should be
we'll impressed by its parks. Why
not make them interesting to all
who inspect them?
& 1t would seem from the informa-
zion at hand that 1t is up to the
mayor, city commissioners and
lark board to act at once, for there
Are many cities with ZOOS which dc
not possess . buffalo. These mu-
inequalities probably already have
made requests for one Of the ami
mails, and only by cutting red tape
and eliminating argument as to
authority in the. matter. Rock Is
land can get it on the offer.
The current issue Of the Ameri-
can City magazine has this in part
to say Of the agricultural bill:
"In order to aid in the propaga.
Non Of the species, the bill pro-
vides that animals may be lent t.
Or exchanged with other owners o.
I. American bison. No provision i!
made to give them to individuals
md only one may be given to eacf
municipality or public institution
This provision is made because o
the surplus Of bulls in some of TIL
department Of agriculture's buffalo
herds, particularly the one in tn
Wichita national forest and gam
preserve. in Oklahoma, and be
{ cause the department is nearing tn
realization Of the first stage in tn
Preservation Of the species-th
E acquisition OF at least 1000 hea
IL buffalo by the government. Tn
humber to be distributed will b
small.
Y "There are approximately 100
buffalo in North America. Canad
A has something over $500. and tn
Total number In the United State