Evening star., 1935-12-01
Bv John Jaw Dalv.

DV JOIH JuV DUEVs
TN HIS home out on Klingle road,
George Shiras, Sd, sits in an easy
/ chair and contemplates 60 years
Il Of field work as naturalist study
ing wild life in the forests, streams
and in the air that blankets North
America.
With rod and gun, Mr.. Shiras, as
o young man, brought down more
than his quota of wild animals of
every size and species. Later, he
gave up the sport of hunting. AS the
inventor of hashlight photography, he
turned to the gentle art of making
pictures which show to one part of
the world how another part lives.
These pictures were the first ever
taken of animals that had never be-
fore "sat" for the photographer
Today Mr. ShiraS, in his easy chair,
has the supreme satisfaction of hold
ing in his artistic hands two choice
volumes-books just off the press
containing a record of his life as
hunter, with rod and gun and camera
and flashlight. but mostly hunting
VIII 1i1O Will Lie ldGGGT.
AS matter of record, that is the
title of the books: Hunting Wild Life
With Camera and Flashlight" They
are published with exceeding care
and splendid arrangement by the Ma
tional Geographic Society. Years
ago Mr.. Shiras wrote his first articles
for the National Geographic Magazine,
and the present books contain re-
prints-mostly rewritten-of these
earlier articles. Altogether they con-
tain an accurate and inspiring his
tory of American wild life.
In day and time when 100000
licensed hunters are roaming the
countryside bent on filling their bags,
when the population of America is
scattering itself into the suburban
areas, and when the back-to-the- farm
movement, with country gentlemen
in the van, brings into cultivation
great areas Of pristine pastures and
forest preserves, the wild life Is having
q great struggle for existence. It is
not so wild as it once was, according
to those who want to preserve some
of the old romance and adventure.
Therefore, Mr.. Shiras' two books
come out at time when most Ameri-
cans who know anything whatsoever
of problems affecting the animal world
are considering what to do about it
all Here, in these two volumes, may
be found the answer.
Mr.. Shiras was out in the fields
taking pot shots at beasts and birds
long before the average present-day
hunter knew the difference between
q popgun and lollypop. He was
a hunter, true and tried, when the
city of Pittsburgh-his old home town
was wilderness haunt. His father
before him had been a hunter and
fisherman, and his father before
that. Mr.. Shiras, Sd, relates that his
paternal great-grandfather, George
Shiras, 1st, who was born in New
Jersey in 1773, wandered over to
Pittsburgh in 1890, married there
q sister of Commodore Perry. the hero
of Lake Erie. and settled down in the
city, then unspoiled by smoke wreaths
and somber skies.
A S MIR. sHIRAS' paternal grand
father was also a lover of the
great outdoors, especially devoted to
trout fishing, and his father pill
grim to the native habitats Of fish
and fowl and fiighty game. it was
only natural that the third to bear
the name would take over hunting
and fishing as an avocation-and
hobby.
When this youngster was in his
eleventh year, in 1849, he was taken
to the south shore of Lake Superior,
where his father established vacation
headquarters at the village of Mar
quette.
In IS years, or since he was II,
George Shiras, Sd, has not failed to
visit the old stamping grounds at
Marquette. Each year he makes a
pilgrimage there. AS boy he found
adventure in primitive forest and un-
frequented places along the stretches
Of Lake Superior.
Out of this background, where the
lives and habits of wild beasts and
birds were studied, has come to Amer
lea a veritable heritage-bound and
wrapped as a Christmas gift in two
volumes and given to the Nation as
the combined gift of Mr.. Shiras and
the National Geographic Society.
This monumental work would not
have been possible without the
extraordinary combination of an ar
dent lover Of the out o. doors and an
altruistic publisher who sacrificed any
inclination for gain. Though the vol
umes sell at SIS for the two books, the
actual cost Of production is far be-
yond this sum, and the society loses
several dollars on each sale. AS the
content of the books, especially the
$50 photographs. had appeared in the
National Geographic Magazine over a
period of 3o-odd years, the plates were
already paid for-years ago. They are
polished and presented now in per-
manent and attractive form, the books
a marvel of typography-printed, Incl
dentally, by local concern.
When Mr.. Shiras, in the year 1889,
laid aside his guns and rods and be-
gan to shoot wild life with camera
a new sport began to develop. He be-
came, after the fashion of pioneers,
the father Of wild-life photography.
In daytime and at night he piled his
new-found art over lakes and rivers
and inland streams and dells-and