426 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



A Wl5fc.K.i,¥ J 



DEVOTED TO flMLD 



Fish cclturb, te 



amd tub inculcation 



in odt-doob rkchbation 



AQCiA'ricSrOKTS,FflACTICALNATITKALHl8TOKT, 

 HKOTECi'IOfi OF l.AME, Fi'.ESJSKVATION OF FORESTS, 



alkn and women ok a healthy intebebt 

 id Study : 



PUBLISHED BY 



£ott&t md gtrtajq jgabUshing §ampar^. 



—AI- 

 SO. Ill PULTON STKEBT, NEW TOKK, 

 [POST OFKCB Box 2832.] 

 TBRM8, FOUK DOLLABS A TEAK, STRICTLY IK ADVANCE, 



Twenty-five per cent, oil for Clubs of Two or more. 

 " Advertising Kates. 



Inside pages, nonpareil type, 26 cents per line ; outside page, 40 cento. 

 Special rates -tor three, six and twelve montlis. Notlcea in editorial 

 columns, 60 cents per line— eight words to the line, and twelve lines to 

 one inch. 



Advertisements Bhould be sent in by Saturday of each week, if pos- 

 iible. 



All transient advertisements must be accompanied with the money 

 or they will not be inserted. 



No advertisement or business notice of an immoral character will be 

 received on any terms. 



VAny publisher inserting our prospectus as above one time, with 

 brief editorial notice calling attention thereto, and sending marked copy 

 to us, will receive the Forest and Stekam for one year. 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1878. 



To Correspondents. 



All communications whatever, intended for publication, must be ac- 

 companied with real name of the writer as a guaranty of good faith 

 and be addressed to the Fokbst and Stream Publishing. Company 

 Names will not be published if objection be made. No anonymous com- 

 munications will be regarded. 



We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 



Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us with brief 

 notes of their movements and transactions. 



Nothing will be admitted to any department of the paper that may 

 not be read with propria in the Some circle. 



We cannot be responsible for dereliction of the mall service if money 

 remitted to us is lost. No person whatever Is authorised to collect 

 money lor us unless he can show authentic credentials from one of the 

 undersigned. We have no Philadelphia agent. 



W Trade supplied by American News Company. 



Sensible Holiday Presents. 

 FOREST AND STREAM. 



Clubs can obtain subscriptions to Fokebt and Stream and 

 Rod asd Gun at $3 per annum. Now, at the beginning of 

 the year, is the time to start new clubs ; subscriptions to be- 

 gin Jan. 1. The circulation of Fokebt and Stream is now 

 distributed among 2,400 post offices in the United States and 

 Canada, and over 100 in foreign countries. Twenty-nine 

 foreign countries are represented. 



CHRISTMAS-TIDE. 



THE antiquarians, those wrinkled and grizzled old fellows 

 with great spectacles through which they are constantly 

 peering into the past, complain that we do not keep Christmas 

 nowadays after "the good old way." No, we have not 

 preserved the merry festivities of old England. The yule-log, 

 the mistletoe bough, the wassail bowl and the mummers are 

 known to us only in the books. But Forest and Stream is 

 not among those who can see good only in what is antiquated. 

 We have changed our mode of celebrating the holidays, it is 

 true, but the better spirit of the season we have not lost, and 

 Christmas 1878 is hailed with as much true joy in America 

 to-day as ever it has been since the time, no one knows exact- 

 ly when, that the early fathers made of the old Roman Satur- 

 nalia the Christian festival of rejoicing and good. Christmas 

 was never more widely and more heartily observed than it is 

 now, and who shall place a limit to its reign in the future ? 

 As Forest and Stream goes forth to-day it finds everywhere 

 the joy of the Midwinter Holidays, and in accordance with 

 the honored custom of the season, ic extends to each one of 

 its many thousand friends the salutations of cheer and good 

 will. 



—A very general snow storm has prepared our people for 

 Christmas, verifying the allegory of Santa Claus with his 

 sleigh and reindeer team, coursing over the country through 

 the falling snow. In Montreal on Monday the snow was three 

 feet deep and the streets impassable. In the northern part of 

 this State and through the Northwest generally travel is much 

 obstructed by deep snow. In the city of New York, however, )& complete revision of existing laws or such a judicial con- 



CANADIAN RIVER LEASES. 



A S all anglers who visit Canada are well aware, there is 

 a * really no free salmon fishing in the waters of the Do- 

 mn jn. The fisheries are held either by the lessees of the 

 Crown or are in the hands of riparian owners. 



Ten years ago, with a view to the protection of Canadian 

 waters, which were becoming rapidly depleted, the Govern- 

 nunt assumed jurisdiction over them, established hatcheries 

 fa propagation, set apart close seasons, made regulations as 

 to tue kinds of nets and devices to be used and their disposi- 

 tion in estuaries and tide-waters, imposed penalties for viola- 

 tions, and exacted large licenses and fees for net and rod 

 p. Alleges, with a view to revenue for maintaining the service 

 ot wardens, overseers, superintendents of hatcheries, and 

 it i purchases of spawn and breeding fish. As none but 

 tjj very wealthy could afford to lease whole rivers, or even 

 tore's of rivers, for the mere purpose of sport with the rod 

 (some of the rentals costing as high as $300 per annum;, 

 th y set aside sections of available rivers for what is known 

 as rod privileges, to be obtained at the rate of $1 per day per 

 rod. Applications for river leases had to be made to the 

 Chief Fishery Commissioner at Ottawa, while the rod permits 

 could be obtained, on request, of any local overseer. To 

 facilitate applications, an official list of available rivers— that 

 is to say, of such as were in market not rented— has been pub- 

 lished early in the spring of each year in Canadian papers, and 

 also in Forest and Stream, the latter journal being regarded 

 as the best medium for reaching the American angler. It is 

 needless to say that any person securing a lease of the whole 

 or a portion of any river, secured the exclusive right to the 

 same for the entire fishing season. As the rivers are not 

 numerous— the whole number of those accessible not exceed- 

 ing thirty— the great body of anglers, rich and impecunious, 

 have been crowded together on the $1 per day reserves. The 

 result has been a scramble for precedence and best stands, 

 with very small returns in the shape of fish, and a goodly pro- 

 portion of disgust and dissatisfaction. We have seen as 

 many as fifty rods together on the six-mile section of the Res- 

 tigouche, and the same on the Rough Waters of the Nepissi- 

 guit, both New Brunswick streams. In this dilemma re- 

 course was often had to riparian owners by gentlemen not 

 disposed to forego their favorite sport ; and just here a 

 vexed question has arisen as to the respective rights of the 

 Crown and individuals, especially in the Province of New 

 Brunswick. The law at present does not seem very well set- 

 tled. The presumption, however, seems to be as follows : 

 " That where land, bordering on a non-tidal river, is granted 

 without the bed of the river being reserved, the grantee has 

 the exclusive right of fishing from his own land ad medium 

 filum aqua." Where, however, the bed had been reserved, 

 the majority of the judges held that the Crown had a power 

 of leasing ; but the opinion was not an unanimous one, and is 

 held by many to be at variance with the consiitution of the 

 Province. 



In practice, the $1 per diem system is a complete farce, as 

 the river sections so assigned are systematically fished by 

 every loafer who can swing a rod, and who sally forth at 

 early dawn and carefully try each pool ; but assuming that 

 the right of riparian owners to fish from their own land is es- 

 tablished, the fishery would lapse into the hands of several 

 small proprietors, from whom the right might probably be 

 leased. Should this be so, it would well repay hotel keepers 

 to rent the water and have it properly protected, making a 

 fair charge to a limited number of rods, tinder some such 

 system good sport, especially at the beginning of the season, 

 would be obtained ; and the fair law-abiding angler would be 

 saved the annoyance of having his sport spoiled by men who 

 have no right and title to fish in the water. 



It will be apparent, from what has been said, that a great 

 deal of vexation must inevitably be experienced, especially by 

 strangers from whatever country, who attempt angling in 

 Canada without having previously informed themselves of the 

 conditions which we have explained. Of such class, pre- 

 sumably, is one of our correspondents who has had the manly 

 courage to prefer his complaint through our columns over his 

 own signature. But it is evident that a general sweeping 

 charge of "unjust discrimination against Americans," by an 

 American who imagines his countrymen the only class ag- 

 grieved, if noticed at all, would be promptlyand indignantly 

 met by a disclaimer of the Chief Commissioner of Fisheries, 

 upon whom the responsibility of granting the Government 

 leases rests ; and we are not surprised therefore to receive 

 from that conscientious official the following challenge, which 

 we have been requested to publish : 



Ottawa, Dec. 14, 1878. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



Dear Sir— Mr. Samuel Hanson Is hereby requested to specify in- 

 stances of ungenerous "discrimination" against Americans " Inthe 

 leasing of salmon rivers," to which Ms letters refer. That any such 

 cases exist, at least within my knowledge, is distinctly denied. 

 Yours truly, w. F. Whitcher, 



Commissioner of Fisheries. 

 Now, we have no idea that Commissioner Whitcher has 

 been guilty of any misfeasance, or even of favoritism ; nor are 

 we wi l l in g to believe that our correspondent assumes that he 

 has. Our correspondent ODly declares his grievance in a 

 general way, without considering where the force of the accu- 

 sation strikes. The whole question is in a sad muddle, as we 

 have shown, and the only remedy that we can discover lies in 



shall be permitted to fish at all. Meanwhile all anglers who 

 are not wealthy enough to lease whole rivers may as well 

 hang up their rods. 



the ground is bare, and the biting cold makes thick glare ice f struction of the same as shall definitely settle where one may 

 for the skaters. I fish, and fromjwhom he shall obtain the right, or whether he 



SHALL CREEDMOOR BE ABANDONEE)? 



O HALL Creedmoor be abandoned, is now the live ques- 

 »--} tion among the members of the National Rifle Associa- 

 tion, and the one difficulty on which the advocates of a 

 change base their demands, is that of access to the range. 

 To regular visitors of Creedmoor, as well as those who oc- 

 casionally enjoy it as a shooting ground, the fact of the in- 

 sufficient railroad accommodations must have strongly im- 

 pressed itself. But then the railroad system of Long Island 

 is peculiar in this respect, and long before the advent of 

 modern rifle shooting this was an established fact, that for 

 not doing what a railroad is expected to do the Long Island 

 roads were especially noticeable. At present though Creed- 

 moor is but thirteen miles from Hunter's Point, the trouble 

 exists only on the last 7 miles where the Central Line track 

 extends from Flushing to Garden City, and it is rather to 

 the removal of the disabilities on these few miles that the 

 energy of the directors should tend instead of rushing off to 

 solve the problem, a hundred times more difficult, to find a 

 new range locale. 



In other words, the Association propose to begin, denovo, 

 to throw over everything but its name, to sacrifice money 

 and prestige, to break existing obligations, implied if not 

 specified, and generally to lose almost every advantage gained 

 by a half dozen exceptionally prosperous years, to secure 

 what can be gained at Creedmoor by one tithe of the labor 

 required for this new turn-over. 



One of the committee on the selection of the proposed 

 new range as secretary of the Association at the time of the 

 purchase of the present grounds said in his first annual re- 

 port in Jan., 1873, that, "the work of selecting grounds of 

 a sufficient extent for a range, which should be at onee 

 cheap, safe and convenient of access, proved no easy task," 

 nor will it prove one whit easier to-day. 



The meeting of the incorporators of the Association was 

 held on Nov. 24, 1871, and on Dec. 5 the first step was taken 

 toward the securing of a range by the choice of a Committee 

 on New Range, consisting of Alex. Shaler, A. W. Craven, 

 Augustus Funk, F. A. Mason, John Powell, Jr., Henry G. 

 Shaw, W. J. Harding, Geo. W. Wingate and Geo. Moore 

 Smith. This committee divided itself into sub-committees, 

 " who made a thorough canvass of the whole neighborhood 

 about New York, consulted with the leading real estate 

 agents, and advertised in the. daily papers." New Jersey, 

 Staten Island and Long Island were the localities inquired 

 into. The state grant of §25,000 to the purposes-of the Asso- 

 ciation on May 14 abut off New Jersey, and Staten Island 

 was abandoned as difficult of access, and also because no suit- 

 able grounds were offered there. Land from $1,000 down to 

 $200 per acre were offered at various points. " After much 

 consideration, it was decided to purchase the tract of land 

 offered at Creed's Farm, as in all respects the best for the 

 purposes of the Association, as well as the most desirable in 

 location and the most valuable for the price." In July, 1872, 

 a contract was accordingly made for thepurchaseof 70 acres 

 at $375 per acre, and this is now held by the Association in 

 absolute title, free from nil incumbrances. 



To-day, were a sale attempted, it is the opinion of com- 

 petent judges that it would not bring within $10,000 of its 

 original price of $26,250, and then the loss on permanent 

 improvements placed on the range would be even more than 

 that. The new butts put up in these cheap latter days cost 

 $2,700, every cent of which would be lost by a removal. The 

 fence about the grounds would be worth nothing for remov- 

 al, and though the grounds are in prime condition for gar- 

 dening work, the fall in the price of real estate would more 

 than counterbalance this. The great old butt embankment 

 into which so many thousands of dollars were recklessly 

 poured, would stand only as a monument of somebody's 

 mistake, and serve in after years as an antiquarian puzzle, 

 or perchance a lead mine. The building on the range, in- 

 cluding the hotel now in position could only be left behind 

 as hooting places for owls, and the valuation of $100,000, 

 which the last annual report put on the plant and properly 

 of the Association, would shrink away to a few iron target- 

 slabs, whose cost, if not their value, would only be increased 

 by freightage. 



The Winchester Arms Company, in Sept. 1870, presented 

 an admirable donation to the association in the Running 

 Deer target, with butts and everything complete. Out of 

 the $1,417.17 spent on this, fully $1,000 would stand behind 

 as a monument to the folly of removal. It would be well if 

 an officer of the association, familiar enough with its peculiar 

 book-keeping to get order out of chaos, should make a re- 

 port on the_moneys sunk in plant and improvements upon 

 the range, and which must be lost by removal. 



As a range per se, independent of the railroad complica- 

 tions, the new committee can hardly expect to find anything 

 superior. John A. Church, the engineer. who surveyed 

 and mapped out the range, says of it : " The ground formed a 

 perfectly even slope of close npon 20 feet in 3,000, or ona 

 foot in 150. This is entirely imperceptible to the eye, while 

 its effects in placing the targets in relief, if it ias any effect 

 at all, will be to the benefit of the marksman. Certainly the 

 most careful search could not have resulted in a more happy 

 selection of ground ia this respect than that which has been 

 made by you.'; The verdict of tbotuands of riflemen from 



