San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-10-12

the establishment of great game pre-
serve in the country's last remaining
region where wild life still exists i'll its
original abundance.
When King George of England began
to treat the American colonists as though
thew were incorrgible children, certain
settler in New Jersey. impelled hv his
love of independence. sold out his mold
ings there and removed to a region
which was then regarded as the widest
of the hatitablc parts of North America.
From the King of Spain he bought a
large tract OF land in the k.vange!inc
country. 1t was his purpose 10 hold 1t
as a domain secure against rho 3liGhting
influences of the kind of civilization
that despoils the hantiiwork of Nature.
He either had great foresight or was
lucky; for. while the West. then I'M
known to the white man. has since been
tanned. the region which this early
American chose has remained in its
original condition. 1t has passed from
father to son, and each possessOr seems
to have been imbued with the spirit
which animated the New Jersey settler
who could not abide the tyranny of King
George. And with the land each posses
sor seems to have inherited also a love
OF wild life That passion expressed it
self few years ago in the ambition on
the part of the present possessor to en-
large the tract and convert the whole
into great game preserve part OF
which would be open to the public
this part comprising no less than 10000
acres.
There were doubters, OF course. But
the dreamer was persistent. He set out
10 boy contiguous virgin tracts. piece by
piece Soon he enlisted the aid of vari-
ous foundations. including the RocEetel-
Ter. the Sage and the Rainey. and OF
other agencies interested in game con-
Recently it was announced
that plans were nearing completion for
the systematic. scientific maintenance of
almost the entire tract-1OO,OOO acres-as
hunting grounds for real sportsmen. A
two-mile strip OF land running through
the tract will remain permanently closed
to speak. in which game may pass at any
time to and from contiguous state pre-
serves on either side. Together with the
state preserves. the area devoted to the
and protection OF game. with
seasonal shooting on the tract controlled
by the descendant OF the early colonist,
will consist of about $40 square miles,
with a frontage OF IS miles on the Gulf
of Mexico.
Although the project is being put
by private interests-men who
are interested not only in hunting but in
conservation as well-a stable part OF
the preserve will be open to the public,
under the state game laws. But in this
part, too, it is announced, scientific con-
servation will be practiced.
This region abounds in every kind OF
game that existed there in the earliest
days, including a species OF black bear
that is reputed to be the largest in North
America, and deer, raccoons. foxes,
turkeys and many smaller fur-bearing
animals, to say nothing OF every species
of duck known to this country.
To Texans, some of whom go into the
woods OF the far North in search of
game that has become extinct in this
state, this prospective paradise for hunt
ers may seem, in description. to ''elong
in the category of things too good to
be true" Yet they will have a compare
lively easy opportunity to see for them
selves whether the dream that has been
kept alive since early Colonial days has
at last really come true.