NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE. In addition to longer articles suitable for the body of the magazine, the editor would be glad to receive brief memoranda of noteworthy trips or explorations, together with brief comments and suggestions on any topics of general interest to the Club. Descriptive or narrative articles, or notes concerning the animals, birds, fish, forests, trails, geology, botany, etc., of the mountains, will be acceptable. The office of the Sierra Club is Room 402 Mills Building, San Francisco, where all Club members are welcome, and where all the maps, photographs, and other. records of the Club are kept. The Club would like to secure additional copies of those numbers of the SIERRA CLUB BULLETIN which are noted in the list in this number as being out of print, and we hope any member having extra copies will send them to the Secretary. DEAR MR. COLBY: A LETTER FROM JAMES BRYCE. May 3, 1913. Thank you for your kind words of greeting. It would have been a great pleasure to meet you and your friends here had that been possible. We are off this morning for China and Japan. All best wishes for the Sierra Club and its members and its efforts to save Nature. Please greet John Muir cordially for me. Very sincerely yours, JAMES BRYCE. [EDITOR'S NOTE: The above came in response to an invitation to meet the members of the Sierra Club at a reception.] OUR RECORDS ON ORIZABA. MEXICO CITY, April 28, 1913. Gentlemen: I take pleasure in advising that on the 18th of last month I, in company with the following gentlemen, ascended the peak of Orizaba: Mr. Hiram W. Hixon, of Philadelphia; Mr. Hugo Brehme, of Mexico City; Mr. Carl Jacobsen, of Mexico City. The box containing the Record of the Sierra Club was found in perfect condition. Our trip was a most successful one. Yours very truly, To the Sierra Club, San Francisco, Cal., U. S. A. Apartado 504, Mexico, Mex. THE CAÑON OF THE MIDDLE FORK OF THE FEATHER RIVER. There has recently appeared in the San Francisco papers several notices of the discovery of an impassable cañon and wonderful waterfalls in Butte County, California. The basin referred to lies north of Mooretown and the cañon of the Middle Feather is here Yosemitelike and nearly impassable. There is also a picturesque water-fall on Fall River, a branch of the Middle Feather. This fall is probably over 400 feet in height and is well worth a visit by all lovers of natural scenery. The cañon of the Middle Feather for some miles above Fall River is extremely rugged, reaching a depth of 3,000 feet, but can hardly be said to be impassable throughout, as it is crossed by trails at two points. An engineer of the Western Pacific Railway lost his life in exploring the cañon some years ago, when this route was under consideration for the railway. There is, however, nothing new about the district. It has been well known to the residents of the region for probably fifty years, and a picture of the Fall River falls was published in the Bidwell Bar folio of the United States Geological Survey about 1898. SAN FRANCISCO, March 28, 1913. CALIFORNIA BOTANICAL CLUB. H. W. TURNER. On Saturday afternoon, April 12th, some twenty persons interested in various phases of plant life gathered at the call of Dr. W. L. Jepson, in the meeting room of the Oakland Public Museum for the purpose of considering the formation of a botanical society. A preliminary organization was effected and a general organization meeting held in the same place on the evening of April 26th. Within a month following its organization the society has enrolled 120 members and gives promise of becoming a useful and permanent organization. It is the object of the society to promote and encourage study of the native and cultivated flowers, trees, shrubs, ferns, fungi, mosses and other plants of California; to hold evening meetings for lectures and discussions, and day meetings for field excursions; to take part in the movement for the preservation of the wild flowers; to hold exhibitions of plants; to publish an illustrated journal of its proceedings and to carry on other activities within the province of a botanical society. It may confidently be expected that this new society will be a valuable ally to the Sierra Club and other similar organizations in their work of general welfare, the preservation of scenery, protection of natural parks, and the saving from destruction of historic trees or landmarks. The officers of the society are: President, Dr. W. L. Jepson; first vice-president, Mr. Guy Smith; second vice-president, Dr. W. F. Badé; corresponding secretary, Miss Rowena Beans; secretary-treasurer, Mrs. B. W. De Veer, 1426 Oak St., Oakland, California. Inquiries regarding membership should be addressed to the secretary-treasurer. The dues are one dollar per year. |