Not even Old Faithful is exempt from this wantonness. It is a matter of record that one party, wishing to experiment, filled its orifice “with at least a thousand pounds of stones, trees, and stumps” and then sat down to await further developments. Another group wrote this shameless account: “We abused that spring [geyser] with everything in our power. We threw sticks into it and stones, but it was no use; nothing would rile it.”[314] Name writing in pools and geysers is particularly alluring to a certain class as nature fixes the insult indelibly so that in after years all men may read, in letters as large as a neon sign, that “Sadie, Mamie, and Jack” visited the Park. Many a ranger, attempting to eradicate such legends with his wire brush, has heartily agreed with the following statement “... and when the man from Oshkosh writes his name with a blue pencil on her sacred face, let him spend six months where the scenery is circumscribed and entirely artificial.”[315] Will the public never learn that, although it owns the Park, ownership may be expressed in much more appropriate ways? The offense of “soaping” geysers is said to have originated in 1885 when a Chinaman encompassed a small spring with his tent and started a laundry. When the spring became impregnated with soap there was an eruption, and up went tent, washing, and Chinaman! It is a fact that soap produces viscosity which retains heat, and as steam rises it may aid explosive action. Hence, if some visitors could have their way, the beautiful sapphire springs and geysers would be “in the suds” constantly throughout the season.[316] Such activity is strictly prohibited by the government. In recent years Park officials have been greatly distressed by another type of violation. Large numbers of people are disposed to cast tax tokens and pennies into the otherwise beautiful hot springs and geysers. Familiar with wishing wells in commercial resorts, they fall short in adjusting to national park standards of conduct. As one ranger said, “They forget what kind of animal throws a (s)cent!” Many lovers of Yellowstone would like to see the rangers crack down upon rule violators with a vengeance. They argue that a full 10 per cent of the human race will lie, steal, and destroy flora, fauna, and features whenever and wherever they find a chance to do so. Of course, the rangers are quick in recognizing varying degrees of moral and social responsibility. Their policy to date is one of energetic education and moderate restraint by authority. The problem of forest fires causes much concern during July and August. Fires may start from natural causes, as from lightning, and friction caused by trees rubbing together during violent windstorms, but about 50 per cent of them are caused by the carelessness of man. Of course, nature manages to extinguish forest fires eventually, but man has learned to cooperate.