NEAR THE STILL LIVING CRATER HALAMAUA IN THE PROPOSED NATIONAL PARK OF VOLCANOES, IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS CALLED THE SAFETY VALVE OF THE PACIFIC BECAUSE IT HAS NEVER ENDANGERED HUMAN LIFE-A VOLCANO WITH A HOTEL ON THE BRINK OF ITS CRATER whose bowl is seven miles in diameter the largest known extinct crater in the world. Haleakala's rim rises 10,000 feet above the sea level, and its crater floor is sunk 2,500 feet below the rim. In the Crater Lake park is a lake, 2,000 feet deep, surrounded by the sheer cliff walls of an extinct volcanic cone, a thousand feet in height, fed by no streams but only from the snows that melt from its own sides, feeding no known streams, a wondrous, lonely, and serene body of transparent blue water set in the inverted peak of what was once probably the greatest mountain in Oregon. In the Glacier National Park, one of the largest of the ice-fields is the Sperry Gla cier which spreads fan-shape from its source on the crest of Glacier Mountain for a distance of five miles and then pours its melted ice over two waterfalls into the lake 5,000 feet below. The Wilber Mountain Glacier towers 1,000 feet above Iceberg Lake and drops from its frozen lips great masses of ice that grind against each other in the water with a sound that goes wailing down the cañons. But in spite of the fact that these parks are dedicated to public use and enjoyment, they do not as yet really fulfil their mission. The development and maintenance of the parks could be greatly improved. The Secretary of the Interior, in his report to Congress, says: "At present each of these parks is a separate and distinct unit for administrative purposes. The only general supervision which is possible is that obtained by referring matters relating to the national parks to the same officials in the office of the Secretary of the Interior. Separate appropriations are made for each park and the employment of a common supervising and directing force is impossible. Many of the problems in park management are the same in all the national parks, and a great gain would be obtained and substantial economies could be effected if the national parks and reservations were grouped together under a single administrative bureau. Bills to create a bureau of national parks have heretofore been introduced in Congress, and in my judgment they should immediately receive careful consideration so that proper legislation for this purpose may be enacted. Adequate appropriation should also be made for the development of these pleasure grounds of the people, especially through the construction of roads and trails, and their proper care and maintenance." As the Government and the railroads are making the parks more easily visited Americans will more and more get the habit of seeing these "dramatic" points of American scenery before going elsewhere not as a patriotic duty but because there is nothing in natural scenery more worth while. ONE OF THE BIG TREES THE OLDEST LIVING THINGS IN THE WORLD, WHICH ARE PRESERVED IN THE THE SEQUOIA, NATIONAL PARK AND IN THE GENERAL GRANT NATIONAL PARK HOW TO GET RID OF MOSQUITOES WAYS TO KILL THEM AND WAYS TO KEEP THEM OUT OF HOUSES AND S OUT OF COMMUNITIES BY FRANK PARKER STOCKBRIDGE CIENCE has definitely fixed upon the mosquito the responsibility for every case of malaria and for every case of yellow fever. Even the varieties of mosquito that do not carry the parasites of these diseases are recognized as being important contributors to the increase of nervous affections. The mosquito is no longer regarded as merely a nuisance, and the resources of states, counties, and municipalities have been brought to bear in the effort to exterminate it. It is easy to get rid of mosquitoes. There are few sections of the United States that are entirely free from them. The largest and most numerous varieties prevail along the Atlantic Coast. These are the "Jersey mosquitoes" which have given that state an unenviable reputation. They breed in the salt marshes all the way from Massachusetts to Florida, whereever a fresh water stream dilutes the ocean saltiness sufficiently to attract the mosquito, which will not lay its eggs in undiluted salt water. But the salt marsh mosquito, although capable of causing the most intense annoyance, is not so dangerous as some of the fresh water varieties. The malaria (Anopheles) mosquito breeds only in fresh water pools and the "Stegomyia" variety (which is the carrier of yellow fever) propagates its kind in any stagnant body of water, even in the houses. The commonest of all mosquitoes, the "Culex," of which fiftyseven varieties are known, also breeds wherever water stands. |