THE PASSING OF THE FUR BEARER. 



259 



When my neighbor came to look at the traps he found his 

 own private mark on the traps, so he said to the warden that they 

 were his traps, for there was his own private mark. The warden 

 replied that he couldn't help that, and that there were three more 

 over at the house that he could get if he wanted to. When my 

 neighbor went to get the other traps he found that they were 

 not his traps, but he knew by the mark on them the traps be- 

 longed to his neighbor, so he told the warden about it. 



Now the intention of the true sportsman is to kill two birds 

 with one stone through the Bounty Law ; destroy the fur bearer, 

 and by so doing, do away with what I have heard many a true 

 sportsman call a nuisance the trapper and his traps. Apparently 

 this state or its law makers, look upon the game business and the 

 fur industry in a very different light from what many do. 



Many states throughout the Union are enacting laws to pn> 

 tect the fur bearing animals of their respective states, and are 

 only placing bounties on such animals as are of little use as fur 

 bearers, and are destructive to stock. No doubt but that these 

 states look upon the hundreds of thousands of dollars put into 

 the pockets of their citizens through the trapper and his products, 

 the same as they would upon equal amount of money brought 

 into their respective commonwealths through any other industry. 

 I believe it would have been well to have had a bounty of $2.00 on a 

 wild cat, and 50 cents or $1.00 on a weasel, and the same on 

 hawks. 



I would like to have a little private talk with the trappers of 

 Pennsylvania. I do not wish to go away from home to give ad- 

 vice, for usually unsought-for advice will reach about the same 

 distance that the giver's hat rim does. Boys, remember that this is 

 private just between you and I. When we get ready to' set our 

 traps about the first of November, let's try to Oh, well, you 

 kick, do you? You say that the bounty trapper will have every- 

 thing caught before the first of November. That is true to a 

 certain extent, but we can't help that, for you know we are not 

 true sportsmen, so all we can do is to stick to common sense. 



What I was about to say, boys, when we set our traps about 

 the first of November, was, let's try to set our traps so as to 



