Under the conditions found, it was determined to repair and use the old car as 

 long as possible so that use was made thereof for delivery of fry during 1917. 

 In the early Spring of 1918, we again had the car inspected by an expert of the 

 Northern Pacific Railway Company who reported that the car could be used with 

 a reasonable degree of safety so long as hauled on the rear end of trains. In 

 this way three early Spring deliveries were made of Eastern Brook trout fry 

 after which we were notified by the several railway companies that the car was 

 unsafe and would no longer be accepted for transportation. 



In this emergency a car was borrowed from the Northern Pacific Railway 

 Company and has been fitted with the necessary air pump, pipes and bunks, and 

 will be used until a demand is made for its return. 



It would be most advisable to have a sufficient appropriation made to cover 

 the cost of a new fish car, such amount to be determined at the time the bill is 

 framed therefor. It would be most unwise to buy an expensive or elaborately 

 finished car, it being the judgment of the Commission that a plain, roomy and 

 substantial one would be most satisfactory; it should be new, built according to 

 recent designs, fitted to the needs of the State. It should be remembered in 

 making the plans for a car^ that the number of fry produced each year is slowly 

 Increasing, that more space will be required each year and that facilities for dis- 

 tribution must be provided, and that without a car for transporting the fry, the 

 work of the hatcheries is of no use except for stocking streams in close proximity. 



The law prohibiting the sale of game animals, and birds, or parts thereof, is 

 one of the greatest safeguards against commercializing game that is on our statutes, 

 but there is one class of tradesmen, upon whom it works an injustice, in its pres- 

 ent form, and that is the professional taxidermist. As the law now exists, it is un- 

 lawful for a taxidermist to dispose of a mounted trophy, even to cover his 

 charges for mounting same, when the trophy is uncalled for by the owner. 



In order to make it lawful to sell these trophies, and give the taxidermist a 

 lien for his charges, it is suggested that a law be enacted permitting those who 

 are licensed taxidermists to conduct auction sales of all uncalled for trophies, 

 after advertising same by publication, and after deducting their regular charges 

 for such work, that the balance be paid into the State Treasury, to the credit of 

 the Game and Fish fund. 



Counting the Elk in Yellowstone Park — 1917 



(8) 



