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1 i TRUTH J ' - : JH !, THE BIRD AND THE POCKET BOOK. Do you know how much the farm- i . ers of the United States lose everj year in dollars and cents through the J destructive habits of insects? If not, i' here arc some figures by the Audu- ' bon Society which are absolutely j trustworthy and will amply repay your careful study: Amount Product of loss Cereals $200,000,000 Hay 53,000,000 Cotton 60,000,000 I Tobacco 5,300,000 , Truck crops 53,000,000 1 ' ' Sugars 5,000,000 Fruits 27,000,000 ' Farm forests ... 11,000,000 Miscellaneous crops 5,800,000 Animal products 175,000,000 I Total $595,100,000 Natural forests and forest products $100,000,000 Products in storage 100,000,000 Grand total $795,100,000 You have never before had the mat ter of bird protection placed before you in so simple and so practical a light, I am sure; mayhap you are one of those who have dismissed the sub ject as the worthy but sentimental effort of idealists. And there are a great many like you unfortunately; a very great many who nod a' good natured approval, but who do nothing I to help because they have no realiza tion of the utilitarian aspect of the work, and a great many more who give the subject no though at all, for the fancied reason that it does not perconally concern them or their wel fare does not, in a word, touch their pocket. Horrid thought that, and yet based on fact even more repulsive. 1 Now, when the loss to farm crops j from in-sects amounts to nearly six hundred million dollars annually, the subject of protecting the birds that feed on the destroying insects can scarcely be classed as among the en- Ideavors of impractical sentimental ists. The truth is, there is nothing before the American people to-day of a more thoroughly practical nature than this self same subject of bird protection. To protect the birds u means to destroy the insects; and to 1 destroy the insects means to save the farming interests of this country mil lions of dollars. Does that sound like the thesis of a sentimentalist, or does it read like the hard, common or gar den sense of the practical man? And l if you think that it does not touch , your pocket, ask the first schoolboy you meet what proportion of the in , dustrial wealth of this land of ours is agricultural, and to what extent the condition of crops annually influences the money market and thereby affects to some extent' all trade, whether it be in manufacturing boots and shoes, or in selling cheese-cloth over the counter, or in keeping accounts at the bank. Don't you make the mistake Sof thinking the agricultural situation of no concern to you because you Ifappen to earn your livelihood by adding columns of figures instead of hoeing rows of potatoes. On the farm hangs the industrial thermom eter, and do not you of the town em ployed forget it. If crops are good, times are good; if crops are bad, times are bad and money is tight. As there is no question of your concern in the general agricultural condition of the country year by year, so there is no disputing that your ma terial welfare is also to one degree or another affected by bird protection; an incontrovertible conclusion of log ic, for if crops dominate in a measure the country's prosperity, then every man and woman is interested in help ing to maks crops good and lending a hand to protect the birds that kill the insects that destroy the crops, is helping to make crops good; is help ing in a broad, in an American sense to increase your own immediate busi ness, whatever it may be. The average man and woman is apt to look upon all. protective work of this character as the effort of "bird lovers" or "animal lovers;" and the well meaning societies and associa tions organized for this protective work add to the confusion, and handi cap their own splendid endeavors, by using those very terms bird lovers and animal lovers in irieir appeals to the public for support. It is not a question of loving either the birds or the animals whoever wants pets can get them and keep them it is a ques tion of conserving the life which is a potent factor in freeing our land of some of its destructive forces. It is not love of the birds, but love of self; not bird protection, but self protec tion. That is the mental slant for this subject, and it is the literally true one; we need to pet together in the protection of the birds because they serve their use in our fields and in our orchards, just as the horse serves its use on the road. If your boy robbed the hen-roost or filled the cow with shot in his execssof the "sportful" spirit, it would not be necessary to urge you to catch that boy and lay before him an argument against that form of hunting such as he would be likely to remember and respect. But what are you doing about his bird killing and nest robbing? You do not warm the seat of his trousers for knocking over a robin with his sling shot; and yet the robin is one of the most active of that decreasing army of birds that is fighting the increasing insects which are the ememies of your fruits and plants and crops. Does it not appeal to your self-preservative, not to say common sense, as being well worth while to help pro tect the birds which are the most ef fective mans of killing the insects which last year levied a toll of six hundred million dollars upon the farmers? To deny yourself to bird protection is a form of ignorance al- EDWIN STEVENS, AT THE OR PHEUM. - most as dense as to deny your chil- jjH drcn the advantages of schooling. Spare the Birds and Spoil the Cats. jfl The first thing for you to do is to H join the Audubon Society. At the 'H same time you must not let this be H the end of your effort. Every intel- H ligent resident of town or country H can constitute himself and herself an H emissary of this good and entirely H practical work. Sparc the birds! B Don't rob their nests, boys; it isn't H nearly so much fun as to protect H them against the storms and the H neighborhood cats, of which latter, H no doubt, a judicious weeding will be H of advantage to both the birds and the H cats. Besides, worm hunting in the M trees is a bigger and a harder game than egg hunting. If the many thou- M sand bright boys all over the country M will also use their influence among M their playmates they alone will form M a considerable army for the defense M of birds and the farming interests. M But I do not mean to imply that M the boys are the dcspoilcrs of bird M life; not at all; ignorant and vicious M men throughout the country are the M real vandals, and I feel that the class H equally culpable is that large one M which stands idly and indifferently H by, doing no wrong act itcself and H raising no protest against the overt H offenses committed under its very M nose. Bird protection needs converts M to its cause, but it wants more of H those who not only unfurl the ban- H ner, but who fight under it. H THEATRE I Advanced Vaudiville I ALL NEXT WEEK I The Equestrian Queen H OLYMPIA DESVAL H With a Star Aggregation of Horses H and Dogs H EDWIN STEVENS & CO. I In a Protean Sketch, H "Richman, Poorman, Beggarman, H .Thief." MANELLO & MARNITZ I TROUPE I Phenomenal Ladies' Equilibristic- I Acrobatic Act H BARRY & HALVERS I Comedy Singers and Dancers I CARROLL & COOKE I "The Man of the Hour" I KRONEMANN BROTHERS I Comedy Acrobats I KINODROME Motion Pictures I ORPHEUM ORCHESTRA. I Every Evening (except Sunday)1 I 75C, 50c, 25c. Box scat, $1.00 I Matinees Daily (except Sunday I and Monday), 50c, 35c, joe. Box I j seat, 75c.