S .ePARTMENT OF                                          BOARD OF NATURAL
RESOURCES 
REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION                                      AND CONSERVATION

JOHN J. HALLIHAN. DIRECTOR                                    JOHN J. HALLIHAN,
CHAIRMAN 
      SPRINGFIELD                                            BIOLOGY - WILLIAM
TRELEASE 
                                                             FORESTRY 
                                                             GEOLOGY    EDSON
S. BASTIN 
                                                             ENGINEERING
 LOUIS R. HOWSON 
                                                             CHEMISTRY  -
 WILLIAM A. NOYES 
                                   STATE OF ILLINOIS         UNIVERSITY Of
ILLINOIS- 
                                HENRY HORNER, GOVERNOR       PRESIDENT ARTHUR
C. WILLARD 
                  STATE NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY DIVISION 
                              THEODORE H. FRISON. CHIEF 
                                     URBANA 
                                                            Faville Grove

                                                            August 15, 1940

 
 
 
  Dear Aldo: 
 
             Sorry to have missed seeing you before you left for Delta. 
  The important developments I wired about had to do with our Coopwrative

  Delta-Illinois plan which we discussed at our last meeting. 
 
             I stopped at the A. L. Eustice farm near Barrington and later

  had Mr. Rustice's waterfowl man spend two days with me at Havana. Result:

  All seems to be ripe for our proposed joint conference with Mr. Eustice

  and outline to him a program similar to that which you have outlined for

  Delta. 
 
             Mr. Eustice seems to be a second Mr. Bell. (Pirnie knows him

  well and could verify or disagree with my conclusion.) He is very wealthy,

  extremely interested in ducks, and willing to spend big money on ducks.

  He employs a very good man, Carlton Beckhart (not college-trained, but
of 
  the Peter Ward calibre), who spends full time in caring for the water-

  fowl and ornamental game birds. Beckhart banded nearly 1500 ducks on 
  their fifty-acre lake last year, goes to Wilson Club, etc; meetings, 
  went on the Lyon gull-banding expedition, and is anxious (and capable)

  of cooperating with us one hundred per cent. 
 
  To         To return to Mr. Eustice a minute: He donated that snow 
  mobile and a special aeroplane to the Byrd expedition at an estimated 
  cost of upwards of a quarter million, so you see he has funds. Despite

  his wealth, he is a hard-working business man who enjoys nothing better

  than spending Sundays sitting by the hour looking at the ducks. He 
  has read Pirnie's "Waterfowl Management" and visited Ptrnie.
Pirnie 
  has been tD his place several times. I lent him my copy of "Game LE

  Management" because of his interest in literature of that type. 
 
             You may be surprised to learn after all I've said about Mr.

  Eustice that I never met him personally. My authority is Beckhart, 
  but we discussed his boss's traits so thorougily that I'll be much 
  disappointed if he is not all I have said of him. 
 
             I am nov thinking of the Eustice set-up as a possible American

  duplication of the Delta set-up. I think Mr. Eustice is the type who 
  wants a detailed and concrete plan with reasons. If it looks good to 
  him, I suspect he might sink ;10,000 quick as a wink.