The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 25, 1898, Page 20

20 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDA Y Al CATCHING THE BUTTERFLIES THAT SOLD FOR $575. Miss Mary Yoemans of Humboldt County Found That It Paid Better to Raise Butterflies and Beetles Than to Raise Stock. OULD any one believe that a fortune could be made by | collecting butterflies and beetles? Away up in the mountains in Humboldt | County lives Miss Mary Yoe- mans with her three brothers. owns a ranch well stocked and bring- ing in a large income, and all of it was paid for by butterflies and beetles. It is now nearly thirty years since | a gentleman died in England, leaving four children. in luxury and highly educated, but at their father's death they found them- selves possessed only of a few hundred They decided to come to Amerfca, as in their own country there seemed no opportunity for them to ad- vance or even gain a livelihood. One of the younger brothers knew something about botany and bulbs, while Miss Yoemans, the daughter, knew a good deal about bugs and bee- tles and butterflies, and so the four young folks set to work. “Humboldt County is one of the rich- est countries in the world for collect- ing beetles,” says Dr. Fuchsii of the San Francisco Academy of Science, and | for the beeties and | this must be so, butterflies paid better than sheep or any other stock. It is a modest home where the Yoe- mans live, but there is the air of re- finement and culture about it which only much study and well used books can give. Books and pictures, a great fireplace and a grand piano (I won- dered how it ever came there, miles from anywhere), and a gentle old lady, with white bair and a soft voice, help to form their living room. “It is such a pleasure to me to talk about my ‘bugs,’ as my brothers call ninety | She | They had been reared | [ the flock ,wheel and fly back to the | top of the hill again, where there were | quantities of yellow flowers. | head. “At dark I had fourteen butterflies. The boys helped me to pin them my setting braid as we sat around the campfire. “I knew that the rest of the flock could be caught in the morning, and 1 was out before the sun was up, for that is the easiest time to catch bui- terflies, for they are sluggish then and stick to the damp foliage. “Yes, I caught the rest to pin down. Money was rather scarce with us then and I was saving my_postage, which meant a good bit of a sum, so, as a safeguard, I sketched my butterfly in water color and sent the sketch home to England. “Such a long wait as I had and fancy my delight when word came to send my entire flock to London. “You'll never guess what they of- fered me for them, even when I tell you they were rare specimens? Twen- ty-five dollars each. As there were twenty-three you see I had the tidy lit- tle sum of 3575, which I promptly in- vested In three very fine sheep. “Well, that was the beginning. After that I worked in real earnest. You see California is very rich in new spe- cies both of butterflies and beetles.” Then Miss Yeomans howed me a cat- alogue of a firm in Paris which deals only in butterflies, and every butterfly or beetle has its marked value; some of them ranging as high as $100. In Europe many people in private life, who have plenty of money and nothing to do, make these collections and pay great prices for rare or beau- | tiful specimens, so that it is a regular them,” and Miss Yeomans told me more | about butterflies than 1 can ever write | down. The beetle is a symbol of the resurrection, and is found in all Egyp- tian tombs. Every one knows how of- ten the butterfly is used to symbolize the, resurrection. * i Yeomans possesses boxes and boxes of beetles, which she has gath- ered, but which she intends to keep for her own private coilection. More beau- tiful than jewels they reflected the sun- Yght in a thousand colors as she shook them about. I asked her to tell me ho - she had collected them, and she sa hen we first came out here we were very lonely away up here in the mountains, but we had to make our farming venture a success, for we had to live, you see. “I had collected butterflies in Eng- land, and knew the rare ones. One day I was out on those mountains back that way,” pointing to some hign hills on the horizon. “My brothers were laying out a new road which had to be surveyed. I was afraid to stay at home alone, and as they had to be away for four or five days at a time we all went up there together and camped. I was on the lookout for butterflies and had my net. That day I had my first real success. I saw a whole flock of butterfiies, yellow, large, with white tracings on the wings, and I caught the whole flock of twenty-three. “Such a chase as T had! I could run well, fortunately, or I would have lost them, for after 1 had caught one the fock flew straight down overachemisal covered mountain. I ran around the business to handle butterfiies and bee- tles. There are at least three large firms in London and Paris with seve- ral hundred thousand dollars capital invested. “Americans,” cdntinued Miss Yeo- mans, “use these specimens in their museums, and every college has its specimens for the students. They are my customers.” Miss Ycomans' cellar is not intended for vegetables or eatables, but for the rearing of beetles. .« In one corner is a box filled with what looks like sticks of wood for the kitchen stove. ““This {s my nursery and these my babies,” she explained. “May be I am their Bluebeard, though, for I make out of this box the series of the life of a beetle from the time it is in the egg to maturity.” Then she took up one stick and showed it to me. It was split down the middle, but the two halves were held together by a rubber band. In a hole between the two sticks she had put a beetle to eat its way through the wood. When it works its way out she will put it back again and so prevent its running aways These beetles are worth $3 each. he receives $15 for the entire “synops¥s,” which consists of a male and female adult, eggs, larva, pupa, in different stages, showing the entire metamorphosis. The beetle on that particular stick was one ‘which was supposed to grow only In Italy. “One day a stranger and his son came to our house,” said Miss Yoemans. “He wae a Frenchman and asked per- mission to stay a few days while he collected butterflies in the vicinity. “I was surprised, of course, but said 1 might | stranger came home one morning. | have known they would come back to | had spent the night going about the | the yellow flowers, but I quite lost my | flowers in the garden with a candle, and on | he brush and reached a ravine, only to see | at once we would be glad to have them stop with though, that 1 did not tell him collecting. The He us, I was was perfegtly jubilant. “I have found one so great beauty,’ aid in ecstacy. ‘For so many years I have hunted, hunted, hunted! Now I have him! ‘“‘Why, 1 know that species. I have seen it before.’ I exclaimed. “‘You, you know some things?" “I bowed low and whispered to him I had carefully kept the setret from every one that I was an idiot. “‘Ah, madam,” he went on deprecat- ingly, “you will pardon an old man who is too enthuslastic. To me they are so wonderful, these jewels which people look at but do not see. And you, madam, can it be that to you, too, is known this so great marvels?’ “That stranger was Dr. Le Fontani of Paris, and such a delightful man! He taught me many things, and this beetle was the ‘beauty’ he found in the garden. “Wherever you find one its mate is sure to be not far away, and he and I hunted together and found it. They were the ancestors of these in this box | it with ether and made a careful draw- | ing of it and sent it to the custodian of markets for her specimens and he him- self was able to make more extended researches. Miss Yoemans likewise can find no one to help her in collecting except a small Indian boy. Four or five years ago a small, brown, barefoot boy emptied his pock- ets on her kitchen table. He had caught some rare butterflies which he | called his flying flowers. His mother had washed for the Yoemans, bring- ing her boy with her. He had seen Miss Yoemans' cabinets full of butter- flies, as boys will see things you never give them credit for. In running about the hills he watched the bugs and had | learned a good deal of their habits. ‘Whenever he found butterflies he had never seen before he caught them and brought them to Miss Yoemans. “I couid have cried when I saw those | crumpled remains, for they were noth- ing else,” she said. “They happened to be a very rare kind and the custo- dian of the Smithsonian Institution had asked me to try to find the very | species. 1 told Joe I would give him | a dellar if he would bring me some | more. He could not find any, but | brought me Instead a big beetle. It | was not one I recognized, for, you see, I know a great many bectles and can tell at a glance what they are. I killed the Academy of Sciences in Philadel- | phia, with a description of the place | it had been found. I told him I had sent the same drawing and description to Washington. It is just as well to sell in an open market, you know. “In a few days I was surprised to see our next neighbor ride into our ranch in a great hurry and give my brother a telegram. The nelghbors were sure some one was dead, so my brother opened the telegram with a very se- rious face. As for me, I was near fainting, for telegrams are almost un- known in this cormer of Humboldt County. “ ‘Mary, he wants a bug,’ said brother | at last. | ‘‘Who wants a bug?” ““T.is wise man of Philadelphia.’ “He was afraid the other man might get the beetle whose picture I had telegraphed, and asked me 4o sell it to him at my own price.” “And what was your price?” I asked. “Fifteen dollars, and it was the most valuable beetle I ever sold. “1 went with Joe to the place where he had found it. If there is one there are sure to be more, if you know where to look for them. “When the reply came from the man at Washington offering me $10 1 sent him one. I sold four others—one for $3, one for $5 and one for $6—and now I can get only $1 each for them, because they are no longer rare. The species was supposed to live only in the Alps, and was very scarce.” Miss Yoemans goes through the red- woods every yvear to collect her speci- mens. Spreading a white sheet on the ground, she gathers up the refuse un- der the trees and scatters it on the | sheet. When something moves she looks to see what it is, and if it proves to be a good specimen she places over it a wide-mouthed bottle having a sponge dipped in a solution of cyanide of po- tasslum, which kills the insect instant- ly. This last year has been very bad for insects, for they demand moisture, and there has been so little rain. i ————————— i A singular custom prevails among the | Tartars or Kurds. If a man gets into dif- ficulties, 1. e.. loses his cattle or other movable property, he pours a little brown sugar into a piece of colored cloth, ties it up, and carries one such parcel to each of his friends and acquaintances. In return he is presented, according to circum- stance, with a cow, or sheep, or a sum of money. He is thus at once set on his | sl e T R y NI A ».."«‘;“xl»w‘ e .‘{.}V?H.A,;" y e The Dragon, Ichthyosaurus. as It Lcoked When Alive. and my box has never been empty since then.” 1 was curious to see what manner of “beauty” it was. Miss Yeomans laughed and said: ‘"You had better not.” Why 2" ““You are doomed to disappointment if you do,” and poking about in the saw- dust she raked out a dead beetle and put it into my hand. There it lay, to me a slender, black, long-legged bug half an inch long, for I am not one who, as the doctor put it, “know some things.” This doctor was a famous French scholar afid was traveling in this coun- try with his son. The latter, according to the farmers around Miss Yeomans’ ranch, was also “a bug catcher.” He carried back to France many entirely new species. The bov made enough out ,of the collection he made to pay all his share of the’ expenses of the trip across the ocean and across a continent. Dr. Le Fontani planned the trip to California because he was sure valuable specimens could be found out here. He could find no native Califor- nians to make collections and he had never heard of Migs Yoemans, and he came out himself. Through his in- fluence Miss Yoemans found better legs again. The same method is adopted when a young man wishes to marry, but is not in'a position to satisfy the parents.| of his intended bride in the matter of the “bashlyg”—i. e., mariage dower. Only.Jn this case he- does not go round himself, but sends a friend or a servant. THE FRAM'S NEXT TRIP UDGING from the comments with which the American press recent- ly accompanied a couple of tele- grams about the Fram having been reported seen by different vessels since she”started on her second expedition to the Arctic regions, it will not be amiss to.give the Ameri- can public a few data about the new Fram expedition. It is not a “private scientific expedition, chiefly English, under command of Lieutenant Johan- sen,” as the papers have repeatedly stated, but it is a scientific expedition, essentially Norwegian, under the com- mand of Captain Sverdrup, the well- known commander of the Fram dur- ing Nansen's expedition. ha' capitalists, the same men who were the expedition—the two brothers Ringnces, brewers, and Consul Heiberg. The Norwegian state has, besides' giving the use of the Fram, which is state prop- erty, also directly contributed to the expedition. 2 This expedition is larger than Nan- sen’s, consisting of sixteen members, including the leader, Captain Sverdrup, while Nansen had only twelve follow- ers on his expedition. Outside of Sverd- rup there is only one of the members of the old Nansen expedition partici- pating in the present one, P."L. Hen- driksen, from Tromso, Norway, a skip- per who for sixteen years has devoted his time and energy to Arctic travel, hunting and fishing. The vessel is this time commanded by Victor Baumann, a lieutenant in the Norwegian navy. Fourteen members of the expedition [OJOJOXOXORONOROROROXOXOXOXOXOJOROJO) [ETLES chief private contributors to Nansen’s | PZI are mainly borne by three Norwegian are Norwegians, one is a Swede and one | |a Dane. The Swede is H. G. Simmons, | a botanist, and the Dane Edward Bay, | a zoologist. The physician and sur- | | geon is Dr. Johan Svendsen of Bergen, | | Norway, and the scientific staff out- | | side of the men named consists of one | geologist, P. Schel, and one lieutenant | of cavalry, G. I. Isachsen, who is to act | as chartographer and attend to the | imagnetlcal and astronomical observa- tions. The remalning members of the expedition are seamen, mechanics and | sportsmen generally. The Fram has, before starting on this | expedition, undergone considerable al- | terations, the front part having been | raised so as to be a little higher than the poop, which formerly arose consid- erably above the stern. Thereby has | been galned considerable more space | for staterooms, and the men now have very commodious quarters. The elec- tric light plant carried by the Fram id fora Jary on the previous expedition has been re- moved, on account of the unsteadiness of the Arctic winds, which had to fur- nish power for the electric plant. There is nothing English about the expedition at all, and published state- ments to that effect must be due to the expedition being mig(efl up with the Antartic expedition, which, |_mdcr com- mand of Carsten Borchgrevink, on the | Southern Cross, is starting. Expenses of that expedition are borne by an Englishman, Sir George Newnes, and its twenty-six members are about evenly divided between Englishmen and Norwegians. ¥ The object Captain Sverdrup has in view with the Fram is to circumpavi-, gate and explore the Arctic regions to the north and east of Greenland, but there is no Intention of trying to find the north pole. The sote and only ob- ject of this expedition is sclentific re- search. 2 fofolcroloJolooYoloYoXoXoXoXoXoToJoRoJoKoJoroRoRol CROICROROROROROJORONO] WONDERFUL SKELETON OF A DRAGON DISCOVERED IN ENGLAND. HE complete skeleton of a dragon has at last been unearthed, . its last. lying just as it did when it breathed This is one of the most important finds ever made in the way of geological remains. It was in England The locality h: was found. that this valuable skeleton as long been famous for its bones and fossils, but has never yielded anything to equal this. The little Warwickshire village of Stockton, plowed and excavated by three manufacturing cement firms, all the honor. claims The late rector of that city educated the quarrymen by lectures and in conversation to understand and value the prehistoric earthed. bones and fossils that they constantiy ‘With their help he formed a collection that now un- constitutes the nucleus of a eounty museum. The saurian remains found in the vicinity of Stockton have always been the men'’s areless digging. fragmentary, a fact due, most likely, to To prevent any calamities in the future the rector instructed the men to send for an expert if ever they came across what appeared to be a large portion of a skeleton. In the case of § Expenses of the present expedition [ the fish-reptile the dragon, the latest find, this was done. One of the men says he suddenly struck a whole section of backbones, He laid down his pickax and called the fore- man, who notified the expert. It was a big job. The expert proceeded slowly and with great caution and in due time uncovered the remains of a noble ichthyosaurus. He lies forty-five feet below the surface; twenty feet in length, the head two feet across and three feet ten inches long. The paddles are unusually distinct. The front pair are two feet six inches and the hind pair one foot eight inches in length. The tail is ab- ruptly curved and some of the lumbar vertebrae are slight- ly displaced. The pelvic ring is missing, removed, perhaps, before the nature of the find was guessed and still to be recovered. The quarry where the find was made belongs to M. Larkin of Leamington, who intends to present the speci- men to the South Kensington Museum. Crowds from all parts of the county throng to see the dragon’s skeleton and not a little vigilance is necessary to protect it from dishonest visitors attempting to purloin teeth or fragments. It has been beautifully photographed by H. Elkington of Broadwell, Rugby, who will, on ap- plication, furnish copies to geologists and others desiring them. N VRS MY S ey SKELETON OF A DRAGON FOUND IN A QUARRY AT STOCKTON, ENGLAND. From a Photograph. sometimes attained a length of fifty feet. ured about twenty-five feet [ This is the most perfect skeleton of the extinct monster ever unearthed. All s : have been fragmentary—a head here, a tail there and a leg somewhere elseA'j il Other remains that have been found idea of the perfect monster formed. The ichthyosaurus is one of the most int been classed as belonging to the stone age, which at the most reliable com; lated bones of this dragon—ichthyosaurus, as it is called by science—have These have been. put together' and an’ eresting of prehistoric animals. It has putation was about 50,000 years ago. Iso- been found of such sige as to indicate that The one from which the above photograph was taken meas-