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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1905)
THE STHOJAY. OKEGOXIA,.PORTLAXD, SEPTEMBER 24, 1903. - WHJ ANIMAL TMT FIiK KOCKPraLEflOW" O INTERESTING STORIES OF ANTELOPE, MOOSE. .ELK AND BUFFALO. INJSEMTCAPTIVITY "jh THERE i nothing Frank Fockefeller 11km lwttr to talk about than ani mals and their ways. He is the yungel of the three brothers in the family made famous by petroleum, and at one time he was Interested In the Standard Oil. though today, it is under Fteed. be has no. Interest whatever In the orgnnteatfon. and he declines positively to dtecaas It or kK brother. John D. "Jvext to my family," he said, sitting love animals more than anything else m tJhe world, and by simply having- ftm wttfc them I have found out a good man' thteg and learned a good many lessons tact I sever could have learned other wise. DM you ever own any young boars? Won. If you haven't you ou't know how tord you can mush. At least, the four little Mack bear cubs I owned for some time mode me laugh harder than I ever hew buugfeed at anything olee. Comical Ways of Bear Cubs. ? got those ottos in Canada, north of lAko Superior, where 1 went one time to look on a story about some copper depos its or something. They were brought into camp by an Indian. I brought them homp bere and took tfee 'jnio my place. Lake land. 14 mites out of town, at WicklifTe e -the-Lake. 1 thought they'd do to play wKh the dogs, and maybe they'd amuse tbe children who were small then. "We pave them the freedom of the lawn most of the time, and we never hod anything around that gave us more ?4onntr than those bears. They were ejsHe as playful as young puppies, and they had great fun playing with my Scotch terrier. But oven when the bears wore young they had a little more dig nity than the puppies; at least the cubs ed almost alwaya to get tired of play tog before the puppies did. and when they wore tired they would make it so plain by a cuff alongside the head or In tmmt other way that the pups always un derstood and stopped at once. "One of the most amortng things about tJe whole bustneaei was the way the dogs would 'go way back' and He down, as poon as they noticed that the cubs were tired. The dogs always knew when the boars had had enough, and. too. they knew It wasn't healthy to suggest more frolidcJng tilt the beat made it clear that they were ready to have fun again. Then the puppies were always on hand; I do not remember .thai they ever got tlrod AksC "After we had had the cubs a few months and they had grown eonslderably tfcor began to got pretty rough and fierce In their play, and when, at the age of a year and a half, they began to think It fvmty. once in awhile, to knock a dog dear off the sround. so that he would de scrtt a parabolic curve In the air before he came down again. I thought it time to got rid of them and gave them to the Zoo. We got moot fun out of the boar cubs wntcntng them take their dally bath. Thoy enjoyed the tub as much as erer a human being did, and Insisted n It as regularly. At least, whonever, Xor some reason or other, they didn't got It they were cross and wouldn't "When they wore still quite small they all bathed together in one tub. which I made for them by sawing an Id oil barrel in two. after which I set it into the ground out on the lawn. I -would put eight or ten Inches of wator Into that half barrel and put them all in together, and they would sit there and yap like pupplos having the time of their llvos. Finally I guessed maybe they'd like it If I put a little ice into me water, wen, ir, I guessed just ngnu iou never saw such happy bears as thoy were In the bath after -that. "One day we forgot to put in the ioe, and the cubs made a great fuss. They wnimporcd and whined; they scolded and swore. Then they clambered out in the most disgusted way and they wouldn't get In again until the ice was put in. It finally got so they would In- ?-os.iniu mo ivaier in tne tup every ums oetorc goung in; no Ice, no bath for the bears, and that was all there was about It." Mr. Rockefeller has no bears on his ptaec at WIcklifre-an.-tho-Lake now, nor any other wild . animals, for the matter ofrthut. "The cnlldron are crown up now." he explains, "and none of us la as young -as we used to be." But ho still keeps doer, elk and other wild animals on his ranch at Belvldcre, Kan Jits dogs arc still a foature, of bis Cleveland place, and their care is one of Ills chief pleasures. According- to 'als nolghbors, he doesn't look upon them as many fanciers do upon their dogs. but as personal pets, to be known Indi vidually and intimately as comrades. He carries a'dop whistle always, and whenever he ooraes home, after an ab sencc, either long or short, he takes the whistle from his pocket and sounds It about as socn us ho sets foot upon the place. Once let the dogs hear that whis tle and no leash could Tibld them. stonlshing "Ways or Antelope. Mr. Rockefeller has had almost as much, fun with antelope as he has -with cub boars, and he likes them almost as woM. "I usod to shoot antelope with General Custer in Kansas lit the old days." . he said. "Antolope arc easy to tame; an an telope will soon loarn to follow you about like a dog. but they are not oasy to breed and raise, as it in hard to keep them alive when young. They're a mischievous set and very nervous. I sent four antolopo to my brother William for his place in Greenwich, Connecticut; I knew he had some deer, but no antelope, and I thought he'd like thorn. Well. sir. those four fol antelope got scared at something one day and started to run In a perfect frenzy; they all butted their heads against a strong picket fence and they all broke their necks, and that was the end of William's antelope. "Antelope are as fond of bright objects as crows are and will hide spoons, cups and whatever they take a fancy to In the same way. They arenas destructive, too, and they particularly like to tear up paper. If you ever own an antelope, don't leave the morning paper about till after you ve read It, for if the antelope can got at it he'll destroy it- I had an an telope once who would seize a news paper In his tocth and then get his front feet on it and stamp and tear away at It till it was all torn Into little bits. "I've soQh that antelope lie in wait like a puppy dog to grab something, say a piece of clothing, that he could seize and run away with. Sometimes he would watch for the dining-room door to open, when he would rush in and pull the cloth off the table. He was particularly fond of getting a handkerchief away from any one he could; sometimes he would tear It up by'jumping on it, but ns often he would hide It. "We called the antelope Jack and he answored to the name as well as a dog would. He would follow me like a dog. too. Sometimes I would take him hunting with me. I would go on horse back and Jack would follow. Out on the plains, when I wanted to shoot a wild antolope or two for food, I would picket Jack, then drive a stick into the ground nearby and tie something red to the stick. "All antelope are very inquisitive and they can see a long ways off. They would see the bit of red and come run ning up. A little distance off they would stop and look about cautiously, for they are as timid as they are in quisitive. Seeing Jack their timidity would vanish and then they would come into oasy range. "No, Jack never seemed to want to rejoin the wild antelope. I never had to lead him. Sometimes after I'd un picketod him I'd try to lose him. Just to see what would happen, and manage to snoak a good quarter of a mile away from him before I'd mount my horse. Then I'd ride away as fast as I could, but Jack never failed to get borne ahead of mo." Rockefeller Talks of Elks. Mr. Rockefeller owns a small herd of buffalo, which the keeps on his Kan sas ranch. He has found the breeding of buffalo a difficult proposition. "But elk." he said, "are more difficult both' to breod and to ralso than buffalo. "I have 13 Ik," he added, "on my Kansas ranch. I got them from some Indians in Wyoming- and the Dakotas. .1 had four bull elk at one time. One day one of them killed three young bulls in my herd of cattle, besides smashing two wagons. Elk are about as bad animals to have around as you can find. They have no senso of hu mor, like cub bears or antelope, and I wouldn't advise you to invest In elk. "After the bull elk I have Just men tioned had killed four of my cattle, one of my ranchmen planned to rope the brute, throw hlro and then cut off his horns. Well, with some help, tho man managed the roping all right, and for a littlp while supposed he had been got under perfect control. But his supposi tion was not, founded on fact. "That elk was quiet for a few mo ments. Then he gave one lunge straight up Into the. air. came straight down on his head, broke his neck and lay dead before the men. A good, normal, healthv i 4-year-old bull elk stands 14 bands high at the withers four inches to tho hand, you know and that's as high as a big horse Such an elk will weigh quite as much as a horse of the same height, and jyhen he holds up his head It will be a good deal .higher In the air than a horse of the same weight. "Elks horns sometimes spread 5 feet S. The hnndsomcst elk heads I eer saw mounted were put up by a cljap I met once in Wyoming, at a place called Sara toga, near Fort Steele. He was a taxider- v I W I 7HBBSBBBSWHBSSWraB,VMBSSSSSSSlBSSSSSBVBShb2ny . WV- X . . v a . mi M 1 I ' 11m W. K m WE?-. A.ZWKKrK. ' Ci if MMm mist, up there to get well of consump tion, and I had him mount two heads for me, which I sent to my brother Will. Most of the Animals Are Tame. "D0 I ever have trouble taming ani mals? Well, my animals aro tame. You can't expect full-grown bears or bull elk or moose to be very tmae, but most of the animals we have had about the place at Lakeland and those we now have on the ranch at Belvldcre have always been as little afraid of us as the horses and cows. "We have one old doe on the ranch that will eat sugar out of your hand as read ily as any pet colt. I have an amateur snap shot of that old doe and my daugh ter Anna that speaks for itself. You can see from It how tame the animal Is. She runs entirely free, and I have seen her 24 miles away from home and found her back there ahead of me by the time I got to the house. Sometimes she stays away a week, but she always returns all right. All my animals do. Afraid some one might shoot her If she is always al lowed to run loose? Why, all the folk around Belvldcre know my animals when ever and wherever they see them, and none of my neighbors would think of mo lesting them. "You'll have to be careful about the food of your wild animals If you ever try to breed any. You must look out espe cially that there are no decayed or frozen apples or potatoes on the ground where they can get at them, and this Is particu larly true of deer. A deer will die in half an hour after eating a mess of frozen po tatoes. Oats are bad for them, too, and a pint of oats will kill a moose In an hour. If you want to give them grain In any form let it be ground feed. Moose Arc Great Runners and Jump ers. "Speaking of moose. I brought four moose here from Canada once. I had some trouble getting them out of the country, for there is a. Canadian law against letting thorn come over the bor der. Xo, I didn't run them over on tho quiet. I applied to the authorities and got a permit in good and regular shape. I told the authorities I wanted to bring them here as curlOBltles, and that eventu ally I .should give them to some zoological park, which I did. "I had a pretty good time with my moose, and I learned more about them than some of the natural history writers or even the Indians know about them. I had always heard that moose would never Jump and that they had only one gait, a sort of slow trot. ."I asked the Indians about It and they confirmed what I had heard. 'Why said thoy. 'you'll have no trouble at all In keeping your moo so from Jumping; any way they can't possibly Jump a fence rlglter than two rails.' I was particular about that because 1 did not want to bring the moose here and have them breaking into my neighbors' Inclosurcs. The as surance of the Indians on that point satis fied me completely, though, and I brought the moose along. "At first I had no trouble at all with them. Thej- were not full grown when I brought them but they grew very rapidly find became strong and sturdy. They hadn't yet' Jumped over any fences, but It began to look as If they would soon be able to push anything but a very strong fence ovor, and so one day I decided to take them out of the small lot I was keeping them In and put them In a cortain big pasture field. Its fences were a good doal stronger and some higher. . "Now. I had some brood mares and their colts pasturing In that field, but' I couldn't see that there "was any reason why I shouldn't put the moose In too, and I did It. Well, the subsequent pro ceedings wre highly Interesting and truly educational in the way they re vealed the nature and capability both of brood mares and moose. The mares wcrp high-bred trotters: one of them held quite a record, and, of course, they, were high-strung and nervous. Also, of course, they had never seen any moose. But I dln't think any thing of that. It never occurred to me that the presence of the Btrange. ungainly looking animals In the same pasture with them would annoy the marcs In the least. But you should have acen them. As near as I can get at it, neither of the mares was afraid of any personal damage from the moose, but It was perfectly clear that one of them feared for her colt. "At all events, she stood quite still for a little space and looked at .them. Then she laid back her ears, rolled her eye and, with a wild scream, started straight for the moose that was nearest her. It was a .case of hate at first sight. As I have said, I had never yet seen a moose take any gait but the rather slow, curious sort of trot, everybody knows who knows moose, most of the action being from the knees; but when that moose saw that mare coming straight at him' like a, tiger, her ears back, her teeth shut tight and her eyes showing the white, he turned and began to get away. "At first he stuck to his trot, but It wasn't for long; that gait was speedily abandoned and he broke Into a long, quick run, fleeing for dear life. The maro caught up with him, though, and set her teeth viciously-into his rump, whereupon tho moose let out another link, going like the wind and finally breaking away. This was surprising, but what happened when he came to the fence was still more sur prising, for he cleared it like a trained high Jumper or maybe I should say like a bird he seemed fairly to fly over' the high six-rail barrier. "Of course, that settled it. There was no keeping the moose in the pasture with the brood marcs. In tho first place the mares would have killed the moose, and In the second place the moose wouldn't stay. Every blessed one of them learned to be high Jumpers right away, ana I couldn't build fences high enough io keep them In. "Both moose and buffalo are tameable; women may pet them even; except at cer tain times. In a fight, by the wny, the buffalo. Is no match for the elk. Because of the great atrtngtfc and spread of his horns tho elk Is able to tear the buffalo literally to pieces." AVants to Save the Buffalo. Mr. Rockefeller is very much In sym pathy with the movement lately set on foot by Dan Beard, the artist, writer and naturalist, and editor of Recreation, for the preservation of the bison or buffalo. "I have been greatly In hopes that some way might be worked out for the sav ing of the buffalo," said Mr. Rockefeller, "and I started a herd on my Belvldere ranch some, years ago. But I have never had much luck breeding buffalo, and to day there are only four head In my herd, all told. I have talked with "Buffalo Bill" Cody. "Buffalo" Jones and several other men who claimed to know and ought to Know a good deal about them. "The man who knnwa mnro nhrmtihin ln my Judgment than any on else alive Is named Goodnight, and he lives at Goodnight, Tex. He has quite a herd, and some years ago he believed he could produce a new breed by crossing buffalo and regular cattle, which would be of" groat value both as to hardiness and beef producing qualities. He purposed1' naming the Jtew species 'Cattalo when It should be produced, and he has devoted a good deal of time, money and attention to the matter. "But with all his knowledge and ex-- perlence he has produced no results that are very encuoraglng. nor has he man aged to Increase his herd much. If any. He has been able to breed a few common cows to buffalo bulls, but buffalo cows have never been bred to common bulls successfully. In my experience pure-bred buffalo have never borne young oftener than once In two years, and I am doubt ful whether they breed any oftener than that In the wild state. I was told that If the calves were taken from their mothers they would breed yearly, and I tried It, but It didn't work. "I have seen It advocated that tho Gov ernment establish a great reservation In New Mexico and breed buffalo there, and the scheme sounds all right. But the trouble Is that what's everybody's busi ness Is nobody's, and there Is danger that the buffalo wouldn't be properly cared for. "Look at the buffalo In the Yellowstone reservation; the herd Is smaller today than U was years ago. I do not know that this Is because the buffalo do not breed there; probably they do. but slow ly, as I believe they do everywhere, .nd In all circumstances. But the animals are not properly watched; every now and then they wander across the borders of the reservation and are shot. "But nobody, kills ray buffalo nor the buffalo In any private herd. And whllo my buffalo are not increasing, the buffalo In some private herds are. A Government reservation large enough and properly cared for Is the only solution. By belry; properly cared for I mean that they must be kept from wandering- away and that it must bo seen to that their feeding grounds are all right. "Mr. Beard?s plan Contemplates the es tablishment of a buffalo sanctuary la a part of the Flathead Indian reservation In Montana, and I hope It will go through. I have thought it would be better to lo cate such a reserivrtlon. If ever estab lished. In the Southwest, as that seems to me to be their natural breeding place. Still they can be bred In the North, for as I understand It the buffalo herd estab lished by Austin Corbin In New Hamp shire Is Increasing steadily, so it js quite feasible that a Government reservation In the North would be a success. "Buffalo are bred with more success, 1 believe, In Lincoln Park, Chicago, than anywhere else In captivity, and I woukl advise anyone interested in buffalo to go to Lincoln Park and talk to the keeper. He knows his business. Anyway I shall take pleasure In doing all I can to help carry along Mr. Beard's buffalo preserva tion scheme as much as I can. The buffalo and tho Indians are practically the only forms of life peculiar to this continent, and we ought not to allow either to be come extinct. I don't suppose there's much danger of the Indian being wiped out, but unless the shrinkage of the buf falo Is brought to a halt pretty soon It will be lost forever from the face of the earth." Big Scheme to Save the Buffalo. Mr. Beard's scheme for buffalo preser vation Is based on the fact that tho Flat head reservation In Montana, by act of Congress is to be thrown open to settlers In tho Spring. What Is known as the Pablo-Allard herd ranges on that reserva tion, and It is Board's plan to set aside an area of 96 square 'miles 12 miles long by eight miles wide for the use forever of this herd. It Is the only large herd of buffalo now living on an old range, and tho fact that buffalo have thriven there from time Immemorial Mr. Beard, con siders presumptive proof that they will continue- to thrive thero If properly guarded and provided for. Mr. Beard has made a census of the buffalo In this country and Canada and finds that tho total number of animals now In existence, both In a. wild state and In zoological gardens, eta. Is less than 10CO. Forty years ago there were 10.000,000 buffalo In America. The creation of the proposed reservation must be accom plished by act of Congress In the coming session, and Mr. Beard Is anxious that all who, like Mr. Rockefeller, approve the movement, will lend their voices to Its furtherance. One of Mr. Beard's plans Is for the friends thereof to write to their local Congressman and their local news papers announcing their views. It Is un derstood that the plan will meet with some opposition, since the proposed buffalo sanctuary contains some of the finest farming land In the entire reservation. Grover Cleveland. Melvlle E. Stone. John Burroughs, Robert Morris. Robert Mulr and many other well-known men are heartily In favor of the scheme. Mr. Rocekefeller's great desire to pre vent the disappearance of both the buffalo and the Indians Is well known by his Cleveland neighbors, who are also very familiar with his great love for animals. He has given a great many beasts and birds to the Wade Park Zoological Garden In Cleveland and to other zoos elsewhere. Some of the animals given to the Cleve land zoo are in good health and are often pointed out to visitors as his gifts. Frank Rockefeller divides his time be tween his Cleveland place. Lakeland, his ranch at Belvldere. Kan., and traveling. During the five months In the year that he lives In Cleveland he goes to his office and works from six to eight hours every day. Lakeland 13 approximately 100 acres In extent. Tho house Is picturesque, com fortable, handsomely furnished and well kept up. There Is a private trotting park In the place, where ha speeds his own horses for the fun of it. He Is exceedingly fond of trotting as a sport, but he con fines his indulgence In It to his own track, on his own place and with his own horses. He has never had any blooded animals for profit either at Lakeland or the Kan sas farm, except his cattle. Mr. Rockefeller has money say from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000, though that Is only a surmize. His Kansas ranch Is enormous In size. It Is at the end qf a branch rail road, over which access to It Is difficult because of Infrequent trains. On tho ranch he has raised 3000 horses and 30,000 cattle. Mr. Rockofeller looks a good deal like his brother William, and very little like John D. He Is not much. If any, over 50. His eldest daughter (he has three daughters, but no son) Is now Mrs. Walter Bowler, wife of a Cleveland business man. Alice and Anna, 4he younger daughters, are wholesome, healthy, well-groomed, good-looking American girls. They live at homo with their parents. There seems to be little nonsense about the Frank Rocke fellers and their standing with their neighbors appears to be of the best. Copyright, 1D03, by Dexter Marshall. Resolutions for a Year. HenrJ- Frank. Resolve ever to be young. Age consists not In years but In heart-throbs and the wreck of worry. Count not your anniver saries as milestones toward the grave but as commemorations of your birth. As the years Increase make the heart lighter and the body more supple by courting the cheerfulness, enthusiasm and buoyancy of childhood. Thus are we born again each year, and youth becomes Immortal. mmmmiMmmmm DR. WING LEE THE GREAT CHINESE DOCTOR LOCATED IN PORTLAND SINCE 1830 m He is called creat because ha cures all diseases without resorting to the knife. Call and nave a free examination. He will tell you the exact nature of your trouble. He treats successfully every form of female complaint, all private and blood diseases, cancer, paralysis, tumors, rheumatism and all disorders of the stomach, liver and kidneys. He has had great success In curing consumption when the victim Is not too much run downby the dis ease, and will stop hemorrhages In an incredibly short time. He brews hU own medicines from Chinese roots, herbs. Duds, barks and vegetable teas, all of which are entirely harmless, and whose medicinal properties are un known to American doctors. He uses In his practice over 500 different Oriental remedies. Hundreds of testimonials from grateful patients. DR.WIfSG LEE 11 NORTH FOUJITH" STREET POXTLA2TD, OREGON