Roosevelt High School - Bwana Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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THE NEED FOR CONSERVATION EFORE. I begin to talk on the subject of conservation, I should like .QA to compare this country at the present time with this country a century ago. The country back in the early l800's was a hunter's paradise. There was an abundance of buffalo, deer, moose, as well as all sorts of game, birds, and fish. There were no large cities, even the largest town in the more sparsely settled regions at that time being no more that what we would consider a crossroads town now. Most of the families lived miles and miles apart in small cabins that would appal us now. Sometimes there would be ten people living in a single-roomed cabin. They were in constant danger from indians and from starvation. They had no corner store to run tog they had to depend on the vegetables that they themselves could raise and the game that they could kill. They killed because they needed food, not because they enjoyed killing. Where hunting was once considered a necessity and, consequently, a matter not always to be looked forward to, it is now a very popular recreation and one that most men and some women enjoy. Through the years since the l800's the scarcity of game, fish, and birds has become so great as to be alarming. Venison is a rare delicacy, as are quail and many of the once- abundant fish. Too many hunters go out to kill, not just what they need, but what they enjoy killing. Such sport to me seems just like murder and many others regard it in this way. just recently I read a book, The Yearling, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the time of which is just after the Civil War. ln it the author characterized two different kinds of men. One man made me respect him and practically forced me to admire him, while the other made me feel contemptuous of him. The former killed only what he needed, and, as he did so, he felt sad and unhappy because of what he had to do. The other killed for the sport of it. He refused to stop when he had enough and just kept up needless killing. This is the type of person who would probably make a greedy and dangerous hunter today. Since our wildlife is becoming so dangerously rare, it is the duty of all citizens to respect the conservation laws of our individual states, and to see that others do the same. The only way that we can help keep our wild-life from becoming extinct is by the observance of such laws. That our wild-life IIS becoming scarce is a fact. We can understand the urge for hunting that many men have. That is an old urge that will always exist. But, to those that carry out that urge, let us say this. If a person must hunt, let him do so sparingly. Let him take only enough for himself and his family to eat. ln that way he will obey the conservation laws, he will be providing for his family, and he will show himself to be an honorable hunter. LONNIE SLAYBACK Twenty-six

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Couric-sy of Conservation A FOREST FIRE IN MISSOURI me FOREST fire! A forest fire! Like a hurricane the dreaded word Tv' swirls around the country side. All is in an uproar. Men leave every- thing to stop the oncoming flame. Animals rush through the woods, leaping to get away from it. Birds Hy higher. Woe to the unlucky one who is in its way, for the intense fury of a forest fire stops at nothing! Can we city dwellers stop the ravages of a forest fire? Certainly many times it is our carelessness that causes the outbreak. Safety rules are not much good on paper: but when put into action, they will save a great deal of heartbreak and ugliness. We should not drop lighted matches and should be sure our picnic fire is extinguished. Let's do our part! DORIS MARNER Twenty-Eve

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Courlvsy of Conservation Commission f TI DOGWOOD IN BLOOM Close to my heart I fold each lovely thing The sweet day yieldsg and, not disconsolate, With the calm patience of the woods I waiz' For leaf and blossom when God gives us Spring! -Vfhittier. Twenty-seven