The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-05
ORGANIZATION
MAKES PLEA
FOREAGLE
Nature Association Fears En-
bIem Of Freedom. May Be
Wholly Destroyed.
BY international News Service.

A protest against the wholesale
slaughter of American eagles in
Alaska was registered by the Ameri-
can Nature Association in a state
ment issued today.
The association charged that the
bird which American pioneers
adopted as the national emblem
would soon be extinct If some &C.
ton designed to offset the bounty
offered by the act Of the Alaska
legislature is not taken.
In a broadcast appeal the asso-
citation seeks to reach the children
of the public schools by supplying
them with its literature, as means
toward developing sentiment against
the practice.
"The easiest place to see an
American eagle is on your money,
and that will be the only place If
the slaughter OF this bird Is kept
up" says the American Nature AS
sociation's call. mo longer do the
tourists to Alaska see these en-
blemS of American liberty float
above the forests and shore line.
"A1aska's legislature six years
ago put a bounty Of so cents on
every eagle within the Alaskan
boundary. The law provides that
when an eagle is killed the gunner
may get his money by cutting both
feet from the bird and exhibiting
ka. with an affidavit.
From 1917 to 1923 $4,000 eagle
feet, cut from $4,000 birds, have
been checked and accounted for on
the bounty records" says the state
ment in Nature Magazine. "Some
were wounded and not caught.
Many have fallen into inaccessible
places, where they could not be
reached. A large number have
been shot for sport by people who
have not collected the bounties.
"It seems safe to say that, in
stead of $4,000, approximately 49,
600 American eagles have been
killed since the campaign began.
Think Of it! Enough eagles to car.
pet a trail over thirty-three miles
long If the wings were spread and
the tips touching. This means
about $50 tons of eagles fell before
Alaskan gunners.
"At certain seasons of the year
fish in. Alaska are abundant, and
the bald eagle undoubtedly lives
largely on salmon, but it is a we'll
known fact that the salmon dies
after spawning. The banks of
streams are at times lined with the
bodies of spawned-out fish which;
are carried away and eaten by
these birds.
"The eagle stands firm before
every earthly power except the
hand of man." the American Ma
ture Association points out. HE
is our symbol Of courage, our en-
blem of freedom. In NEUROLOGICAL
times the eagle rested at the side
of Jove as the symbol of strength
and power. The eagle was borne
on Roman standards. France,
under the Bonapartes; Austria,
Prussia and Russia have used the
eagle as a national bird. On juno
20, 1882, the venerable white-headed
bird of Washington, beloved by
Americans, was adopted as the en-
blem Of our country. Are the
American people to be represented
by a defunct species? Did our
forefathers make a mistake?
n LOU 1Ok GA0SAO 4AAOs
with this recorded slaughter
Of $4,000 eagles, Alaskans may
be sure there are not enough. left to
affect their supply Of fish and
game. The war on eagles should
be discontinued before the last
emblem of the American people is
laid low. Is the American eagle to
be exterminated without thought Of
investigation? Is it to be weighed
in the scales of commercialism
alone? Is there not a strong senti-
ment in the minds of the Ameri-
can people for this bird?
Eighteen thousand American
eagles shot down at the price of
SO cents each!
Granted the eagles of Alaska do
diminish the salmon crop by few
cases! AS a symbol of liberty
should they not live with the Stars
and Stripes?"