&
JOHN DICKINSON S
PhotcgreN'.s FRANCES LA FOLLETTE
Natural
Wonderland
in Indiana on
Lake Michigan
Should Be
4
ANTED: The Dunes National park
in tin* sand dunes of Indiana on
the shore of Lake Michigan be
tween Gary and Michigan City!
The middle West has visited the
playgrounds of the people in the
scenic West—the national parks of
the Rockies, Sierras and Cascades,
it lias found them good, it has fallen
in love with the national park Idea.
Now it is asking: “Why not a na
tional park right here, instead of
half way across the continentV” For
there is not a scenic national park worthy of the
name between Rocky Mountain m t oho ado and
Lafalyette on the coast of Maine.
So ‘Indiana, Illinois and Michigan want a na
tional park, and they have picked out the dunes as
the right place for it.
How they are going to bring about it-, establish
ment is a big question. The proposed park area
is aii under private ownership and is held at spec
ulative prices on the chance of a second Gary
being built at the head of Lake Mich gam Even
at actual values it would cost about oOtMtW) to
buy tlie 13,000 acres most desirable for park pur
poses. The scenic parks of the West were taken
from the national forests and the public domain
by congress. To date there is no precedent lor
the appropriation by congress of funds to purchase
a national park area. Lafayette was piesented to
the government for national park purposes by the
owners of the property.
Congress has no national park policy. It dilly
dallies with national parks as it does with most
other tilings. It is now generous with appropria
tions and again niggardly ; for instance, it gave
Yellowstone $334,000 and Yosemlte ikxi In
1910 and kept Rocky Mountain, with twice as
inanv visitors as both parks, down to $10,000.
Politics enters largeiv into all national park legis
lation. in the Sixty-fourth congress the interior
department supported the bill to enlarge Yellow
stone and the bill to add to Sequoia and change
its name to Roosevelt. The agricultural depart
ment, because the proposed additions would he
taken from national forests, and therefore from its
control, opposed both hills, heating the former in
the senate and the latter in the house. So there
is no telling what congress will or will not do in
the matter of national park legislation.
Can congress be induced to appropriate money
for the purchase of private holdings for national
park purposes?
Tills question lias been put squarely up to con
gress by two bills introduced at tiiis session. One
calls for the appropriation of a million dollars or
so for the purchase of Mammoth cave, Kentucky,
and its environs for a national park. The other
provides for the establishment of the Mississippi
Valley National park on both sides of the Missis
sippi in southwestern Wisconsin and northeastern
Iowa. Here the two states own the land under
the river, the federal government controls its
navigation, part of the proposed .area is a Wiscon
sin state park, some of the land will be donated
and the land to tie purchased by the government
has been appraised at a very moderate price.
Can congress condemn private holdings for na
tional park purposes?
Nobody seems to know. Most lawyers would
say off-hand that the state of Indiana can con
demn tli(> dunes for state park purposes. And
presumably the state of Indiana could transfer the
land to the federal government. The national park
service has been looking into the question of con
demnation. It Is advised that the government can
condemn private holdings inside of national park
boundaries—in fact, a hill is pending to condemn
100 acres in General Grunt National park which
the owner will not sell for a reasonable price. As
to the condemnation of patented land < utside of
a national park the national park service is yet
undecided. Condemnation of the dunes has been
advocated by private Individuals and l>\ the press.
The creation of Lafayette National park has
established this precedent: The federal govern
ment will accept suitable land presented to it for
national park purposes. So, while other questions
are being thrashed out, the Indiana, Illinois and
Michigan federations of tlie* General Federation
of Women’s Chilis are engaged in a campaign to
raise sufficient money by subscription to purchase
the dunes end present them to the government foi
m national park.
Z4,i2: AAc°///(JA/^
**</ ^©SgSSSS*
There is no question that the Indiana dunes are
worthy of national park honors. October 30. 1010,
;i public hearing was held in Chicago by the in
terior department in pursuance of a senate resolu
tion. In September, 11)17, it printed report by
Director Stephen T. Mather of the national park
service was issued. This report eliminated from
consideration all of tin* dune country except a
strip along the shore of Lake Michigan about it
mile deep between Miller's in Luke county and
Michigan City. After describing the dunes with
considerable enthusiasm, Director Mather says:
“Assuming, without further description of actual
conditions in this dune country, that the sand
dunes of Indiana are equal to those in any other
section of the country; that they are the most ac
cessible dimes; that they possess extremely inter
esting flora and fauna ; that they offer unparalleled
opportunities to observe the action of the wind
and its influence on the sand and plant life; that
the Lake Michigan beach is beautiful and offers
bathing facilities for a multitude; that the recrea
tional uses of the region are myriad, should they,
or a large section of them, lie preserved for present
and future generations? If they should be pre
served. are they worthy of inclusion in a national
park? And if limy are worthy of consideration as
a possible national park, would it be practicable
to establish them ns such a park for the benefit
and enjoyment of the people?”
He answers the first two questions emphatically
in the affirmative. He says this region should be
preserved to the people for till time and that it is
worthy of national park honors. As to the third
question, he thinks it one of legislative policy to
lie determined by congress, inasmuch tis tin* dunes
are not public lands, and private lands have never
neeii purchased for national park purposes. He
thinks the park should contain from U,000 to l.'I.OOO
acres, extending 15 or 20 miles along the lake. lie
finds that options secured by speculators vary
between $"50 and $000 an acre, with one tract of
2,300 acres held at $1,000 an acre,
"Manifestly," says Mr. .Mather, "none of these
lands are actually worth $050 an acre at this time.
A figure less than $200 ati acre probably represents
the actual value of tin* average tract of land not
under the influence of urban values, due to prox
imity to cities. I’radically all of the larger hold
ings must be purchased in their entirety. I believe
that 0.000 to 13,000 acres of dune lands can prob
ably be secured for park purposes for approximate
ly $200 an acre. The purchase price of a park of
tin* size suggested would therefore be between
$1,800,000 and $2,000,000.”
The proposed Dune National park is really a
wonderful place. In the first place, the dunes are
an uninhabited wilderness. The fact that there Is
an uninhabited wilderness within a few miles of
the center of population—In 1010 at Bloomington,
lnd. and tit the very doors of Chicago, the second
city of tin* nation and the fourth city of the world.
Is in Itself a marvel. Incidentally, the dunes are
within ti few hours by rail and automobile of 20,
000,000 people. This makes them unique as a pub
lic playground.
Again: The dunes are a different world from
the monotonous flatness of the Chicago plain.
They are a country of hills anti bluffs, gullies and
valleys. There are all sorts of interesting varia
tions: Little lakes, streams bogs, meadows. The
bluffs above the beach are imposing. The beach
Itself is a wonder—broad, smooth, cman, free from
gP^-%, vu’ i YeP&VP
SAZI4FJ?
rocks and stones and quicksands, sloping very
gradually into deep water. There is probably d»
finer freshwater bathing beach in the world.
Don’t think of the dunes as heaps of hare sand j
in a desert. They are exactly the reverse. They i
have water, trees, shrubs, vines, flowers, grass,
birds and small wild animal life. The truth is that j
the dunes are a great natural propagating garden ,
with a most astonishing array of trees arid plants •
and flowers. This garden is parked full of flora j
from liie Lake Superior region, the Atlantic coast,
tli(> middle South and the western prairie. It ;
seems to have almost everything in the plant line !
from cactus to cranberries and from pines to tulip :
trees. A list of only the most characteristic and j
important plant species numbers ‘20H.
To the ordinary visitor probably the spectacle ;
of the “walking dunes" is the most interesting, j
Here he sees land in the making. Mere today Is a i
towering dune crowned with flowers and plants
and trees: tomorrow it is gone and where it was is
a great blow-out of glistening sand, with its steep |
sides strewn with (lead trunks exhumed from tin j
ancient graveyard of a previous forest. Today !
tiiere is a deep gash in the bluff; tomorrow its j
place is taken by a very lofty heap of white I
sand that lias come up, grain by grain, out of the j
lake, on which grasses and plants and shrubs and
treelets are already struggling for a foorholil. To
day stands a forest on the edge of a shallow pond;
tomorrow it is a cemetery, with even the tree
tops covered by sand marching in from the beach.
The accompanying map and diagram shows
where tlit* material that builds the dunes is com
ing from and how it gets there. Lake Michigan
has been taking material from the west shore and
depositing it at the dunes for a period reckoned at
about 5,*X)0 years. Previous to this period the !
level of the lake was .">() or <J0 feet higher than now j
and the discharge was toward the Mississippi at j
a point near where now are the dunes. When the j
iee-gorgo or glaoer which prevented the discharge j
of water into the St. Lawrence was removed and ’
the lake drained into the Atlantic instead of the |
gulf, the level dropped, the present lake currents .
set in and the building of the dunes was begun. j
Public land surveys made in 1S115 and soundings j
of Lake Michigan furnish the data for these
estimates: During the last 5,000 years the waters
of the lake have washed away about f*00 square
miles of land from the shore extending from the
Indiana state line northward into Wisconsin.
Where this land was is now water from MO to 00
feet deep. The old shore line extends out from
three to nine miles; then there is an abrupt drop
of several hundred feet.
This is an unparalleled erosion; it is accounted
for by the softness of the shore, which is largely
composed of material that was ground very flue
by the glaciers that deposited it. It is estimated
Hint 7,000,000 tons of soil is taken yearly by the
lake from the shore north of Chicago. i>o there
Is plenty of material for building operations at
the dunes.
These facts suggest this interesting question:
What will happen to the dunes when the supply
of building material stops?
And stop it will, and that comparatively soon.
For the shore north of Chicago will in a few years
be pretty solidly settled by people who have money
to spend to prevent further erosion of the shore.
In fact, erosion has already been stopped over
long stretches, and in many places the shore lias
been built out. The time is coming when the west,
shore will be protected from erosion by piers and
breakwaters. The supply of building material for
the dunes will presumably stop. Perhaps theti the
dunes will stop “walking.”
Lot ns hope that long before that time tin
Dunes National park will he a people’s playground
dedicated to public recreation forever.
Tiie men who are not satisfied
Are they who set the pa> •'
The men who do not meet defeat
With ealm, contented face.
The men who labor on and on
With minds and fingers skilled
Tiiev are the great uns.tWfi- d
Who plan and fight and build. i
MANY MARMALADES.
various
Marmalades may he prepared from
kinds of fruit. The apple i»
perhaps the best known.
A conserve which Is ;»
marmalade of mixtures
of fruit is always an ad
dition to any menu.
Here are a few worth
keeping and handing
down:
Orange Marmalade.—
Take one dozen oranges,
half a doz**n lemons,
pool very thin anil remove the white
innor rind. Chop the riml very fine,
or put through the meat grinder; also
grind the pulp. To a pint of pulp and
rind add one and one-quarter pints
of water; boil twenty minutes. Re
move from the heat and let stand
twenty-four hoars, then measure and
add one and one quarter quarts of
sugar to one quart of pulp. I’.oil an
hour and a half, or until the fruit is
thick.
Amber Marmalade.—T
one earn
of large grapefruit, orange and lemon,
wasli and wipe and cut lia . shred the
peeling in thin strips discarding the
seeds. Add three and a half quarts
of cold water and iet .-.and over teg’.if.
The n. xt day >•>< >k until the peel is
very tender ami again set aside over
night. The next day add five pounds
of sugar and cook until the sirup is
thick. Store as jelly.
Golden Marmalade.—This is a mar
malade which takes the place of the
more expensive orange marmalade
and is very tasty and wholesome.
Scrape and put through o meat chop
per one and one-half pounds of car
rots, two lemons and the same meas
ure of sugar. Cook the carrots in as
little water ns possible, add the lem
ons, also ground (roino, ug lin
seeds). When well cooked, add tite
sugar ami cook until thick, stirring
carefully to keep the mixture from
burning. Cut in glasses as any other
marmalade.
Tomato Conserve.—Take four quarts
of ripe, fine tomatoes; add four
pounds of sugar, six large lert ns and
or.e cupful of raisins. Prepare ns
usnal and
glasses.
cook until thick. Seal in
Four Sofia I drop !n every !
One for the worm to hanm,
One for the frost to k. t,
And two for the barn
SEASONABLE7 OOOD THINC3.
A delicious was . -mwitig beets, the
i tender voting ones, i> ;o ■■■i.i, ihetu 110
til tender ; then 1 hop at.• 1
return i<> the tire, pout*
over a well seasoned
French dressing atnl
serve its ;i vegetable.
Creamed Eggs With
Sardines.—Melt four
tablespoonfuls of butter,
add one-fourth of u ni[v
j fu! of bread crumbs and a cupful of
! thin cream, bring to the boiling point,
| then add two hard-cooked eggs finely
| chopped, a hall :t box of sardines
j freed from tlie skin and bones, and
| salt, pepper tint! paprika to taste.
! Bring again to the boiling point and
serve at once.
Drop Cookies.—Cream one-fourth of
n cupful of shortening, add one-third
of a cupful of ginger sirup and half a
cupful of strained honey with one egg
slightly beaten. Mix and sift two and
three-fourths cupfuls of flour with two
teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, one
tenspoonful of soda and half a tea
spoonful of salt. Add to the first mix
ture, beat well, drop from the tip of a
teaspoon onto a buttered sheet and
bake in a moderate oven.
Spanish Ragout.—In a deep cas
serole put some fat or oil, slice a few
onions and add a clove or two of gar
lic, a little mace, .salt and pepper,
brown well then lay on top of these
vegetables a pig's liver wl:h very little
water, just enough to keep from burn
ing. Cover and cook two hours. The
liver will shrink and absorb most of
the contents of the pan. When cold It
slices nicely.
Newport Pound Cake.--Cream sev
en-eights of a cupful <r£ butter, add
one and a half cupfuls of flour grad
ually, and a teaspoonful of vanilla.
Heat the yolks of five eggs until thick
and lemon-colored and add one and a
half cupfuls of powdered sugar grad
ually. Combine the mixtures, add the
whites of the eggs beaten .stiff and sift
over one teaspoonful of baking pow
der. Beat thoroughly, turn into a deep
buttered cake pan and bake one hour
in a moderate oven.
Mustard Pickles.—To a gallon of
vinegar add one-half cupful of mus
tard. one cupful of salt and two cup
fuls of brown sugar. Drop in the
pickles as they are gathered; cover
with horseradish leaves.
Be sure to put In store for
winter a few quarts of cherries
prepared as follows: Wash the
cherries unstemmed and place In a
fruit Jar; half till the jar with good
vinegar and fill with cold water, add a
teaspoonful of salt to a quart and sea!
ns usual. They make a delicious
pickle to serve in the place of olives.
) It,1ilU
EQUIPMENT FOR ROAD WORK
Tractors, Rollers, Concrete Mixers and
Other Implements to Be Returned
From France.
(Prepared by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
At the request of the <lepartment of
agriculture, the war department has
ordered to he returned from France as
soon as possible a large quantity of
engineering equipment to be distrib
uted by the department of agriculture,
through the bureau of public roads, to
the states for use in tile construction
and maintenance of federal aid high
ways. The equipment will be distrib
uted to the states without charge, in
accordance with recent legislation em
powering the secretary of war to turn
over to the secretary of agriculture
surplus military equipment not needed
for military purposes but valuable in
highway construction work. The
equipne nf will be apportioned on the
basis of the a :* *.tits in the federal
aid road net, in the same way that
20,000 army motortrucks are now be
ing distributed by the bureau of pnb
j He n-ads at request of the state
highway department.
The equipment which the secretary
of war has been requested to return
iiit France b , id, - about 1,500 cater
pillar tractors; about 400 road rollers,
steam and gas driven; and a large
lumber of concrete mixers, road
graders, elevating graders, rock crush
ers. Industrial locomotives. Industrial
railway track, dump cars, steam shov
els, hoisting engh <. electric motors,
and quantities of sttmiler equipment.
In bis letter requesting the return
•>f th equipment the secretary of
agriculture said:
“The highway construction program
which the federal government and the
states propose to begin immediately is
the largest public undertaking con
templated in the near future. It of
fers an immediate Held for the em
ployment of labor and the use of ma
terials that will help to stabilize busi
ness along a number of lines. The
w"rk has been expanded so suddenly
that it has not been possible to make
adequate provision for furnishing the
necessary equipment, nr d previously
al! the available supply was absorbed
r
isszz™* rn—TTWIWBI.
Traction Engines and Trains.
ttsi> demands of the war depart
ment. ...
“I ending you this list as a re
sult of a conference which I have
*' ' ' udh the executive of the
American Association of State High
""•v oflicials, at which It was repre
m nti d that the various states are very
tu.xioiis to secure additional equipment
of tlio kind indicated.
“I am thoroughly in sympathy with
the efforts that are being made hy the
war department to aid returning sol
diers in securing employment, and I
am convinced that, if the equipment
and supplies listed are made available,
it will facilitate highway construction
and thereby stimulate the employment
or labor.**
GOOD ROADS HELP SCHOOLS
Before Improvement Average Attend
ance Was 66 in Eight Counties—
76 Afterwards.
A survey made hy the government
i Of the effects of good road building on
school attendance in eight counties
shows that before the roads were im
proved the average school attendance
was dO, with 70 after the roads were
Improved.
Autos Hurry Development.
I he advent of the automobile In
the country districts was the rpiiek
ener that put the spark of life ia the
good ruads movement.
Good Roads Demanded.
Good roads are demanded as an es
sential to the proper extension of
national and local development.
“Big Stick’ That Produces.
A live road club In a community U
lie big stick” that produces good
'•ads.