Decembbb 3,1880. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



347 



S^ff guHme. 



.'lNOTHER attack on a GiVME PROTEOTOR. 



LAST week we chronicled tlie attempt on the life of 

 Game Proteeter G. M. ScliWHrtz, of Roclicstcr, N. Y., 

 by a rifle shot from the share while he was in the discharge 

 of ills duty, and we now learn from the Syracuse Com wr that 



John S. CoUett, oue of the game protectors recently ap- 

 pointed bv the Governor under an act jmssod Iiv the T.c>t;ip!a- 

 tore last winter, li-fl, Allianv for a trip t" Ol".spm> ronntv, 

 liaviiig heard lii;it li^hLTuienon tlic Susiiuehannu wen- killin:; 

 fish in greiil. qniiniitifs and in violation of law. He secured 

 the a-ssistauce of the Dcpwty Sherill of thecomjty, Jlr. jlcad, 

 and meeting that functionary at Unadilhi, the pair proceeded 

 to the little village of Wells Bridge^ near which it was under- 

 stood the illegal operations \vt re going on. AVhiie in the 

 discharge of their duty thr- olticer.s were stoned by the fisher- 

 men and uarrowly escajied with their lives. 



in commenting upon the remark which we ij[Uoted from 

 an Oswogo paper, last week, the Utica Jlerald says: 



' ' The Oneida. Coimty Game Protection Association is no 

 more deeply interested" iu this work than tmy other associa- 

 tion of its kind only as far as the enforcement of the law is 

 concerned. The secret of the whole trouble is that county, 

 town and village officials and local game constables around 

 Oneida Lake, with but few exceptions, are as deeply in- 

 terested iu illegal fishing as the poachers, and for years have 

 willfully neglected their duties and winked at the open viola- 

 tion of the law. The people of the State are spendiug money 

 to feed and support the outlaws and moonshiners who 

 threaten to shoot the State officers. It is probable that they 

 will have an opportunity of testing theij- bravery, and possibly 

 they may discover that shooting is a game that can be played 

 at by others. It would be a just judL;menl on the sliarks to 

 withhold all supplies of young (i?b and allow thcni to scoop 

 out all the fish within the lai;e und t ben starve out the re- 

 mainder of their days upon its banks. AVhen the next raid 

 is made by State Gnuie Agent Dodge and liis men there will 

 be few nets left to work with." 



THE CENTRAL PISHCULTITRAL SOCIETY. 



The following circular has been issued : 



Deak Sik : The second auuua! meeting of the 



Pisli 

 tel, ( 



resp. 



usual, for 

 aome 

 and all r 



Central 



,• at the Grand Pacific Ho- 

 . . - ■ I , ' -i, h 15, and voi_u- attendajice is 



!; .; - :i ; .. ; :, !i :, _,, l rted that the meeting will 

 1,11 ill iuii ,i_.-i, as Ui.iijy pupero are e.\]:ieeted to be read 

 iseuK.sed liuring the day or two which the society may 

 u in session. 



list, of the iiapers to be read has been received, but it is 



5ueii members as may choose, to preparea paper on 



■h of the subject with which they may be familiar, 



invited to do so without further invita- 



! b(! unable to attend, the secretary will 



lion : or, .should ^ii' 

 rcadyom- couimui 



Arrangements have 

 Grand Faeilie Hotel, « 

 pose attetidiiig the we( 



Correspondence pr 



•u made for reduced rates at the 



t would be well for those who pro- 

 r to engaire rooms in advance, 

 s to llie ineelinf; iniiy be addfcssed 

 to the President, jNIr. N. K. Fairbank. o!) Waliash av., Chi- 

 eagu. 111., or to the Corresponding Secretary, office of Forest 

 .so STBKA^f, New York City. 



By order of the President, 



F. M.4.TnBR, Cor. Sec. 



PISCATORIAL PIRATES. 



Under this head .the Syracuse, N. Y., Dail}/ Courier gives 

 an account of the lawless fishermen of Keuka and Seneea 

 lakes, to which we referred last week and from which we ex- 

 tract the following: 



It is a lamentable fact that the lakes of Coutral New York 

 are rallied Ity lawdess gangs of pirates who care aaiight for 

 the laws or iep-itimate'sporl. This is the spawning season, 

 but the i)iseati7rial |_iirfite's seem to be intent on depleting the 

 waters and leaving ihi'iH barren of their (iuny populations 

 These buccaneers snap their lingers at the statutes and bid 

 defiance to the ofliteis. In not a few instan<>es they [nu-suc 

 their vocations armed to the leeth and threaten to empty a 

 ctliarge of lead into any oue who interferes with them. 



Thanks to the efforts of Uie Omndaga Fishing Olub, the 

 illegal fisheruieu have learjied that they can draw their seuies 

 and set their L'iU nets oiilv at their peril. Game Constable 

 • ' • nalelaelors, and it, is seldom 



i befiire as line sporl can be 

 (111 any lake or river. Last 

 V l\uM foi-'ten years. 



it he pi-edal ory fiperations of 

 Ihe robbers, but it is hoped that before long they will be 

 made to answer for their transgressieiu of the law. 



On Skaneateles Lake the pirates carry on their unlawful 

 work in open defiance of the law. In the vicinity of Glen 

 Haven the water is lighted up at night by a large number of 

 jack lights. The fishermen are rapidly depleting the waters 

 dt the flue trout for wbich the hike is noted. The robbers 

 threaten vonireanee "n any one who interferes with them or 

 makes complaint, a::ainst ihein. The people living on the 

 lake hardly dare saj' their souls are their own owing to the 

 recldess acts of these nocturnal fishermen. This is a splendid 

 field for some daring officer. 



The people living in and about the adjoiuing towns have 

 endea\ oied ti i stoek Owasco Lake but the pirates liuve resisted 

 their elTiivrs \.y robbing Ihe lake, inlet and outlet.- If the 

 robbers iii'; jlloMd to continue their work Owasco Lake will 

 never Vie know n as a tishiug groimd. 



Qn Oneida lake it is well known ihe poachers are up in 

 arms and defy the law. A short time a"0 their nets were 

 raided by State Game Constable Dodge. This aroused their 

 ire, and they now patrol the beach along the tSshing grounds 

 with loaded gimsund swear they will kill any one who ap- 

 proaches. Tiiere is little reason to doubt their threats, as 

 they are lawless in their liabits and a bold set of rascals. 



"Every da3'we hear of fresh evidences of the great goodaf- 

 fected by the establishment of the fish hatchery at Sandwich. 

 The main bulk of the white lish taken thks season are of an 

 average weight of a pound and a half each. There are hard- 

 ly any old one* taken, showing beyond a, doubt that ihe 

 hatchery has provided the catcii, .Hud that bin fur its having 

 been put into operation white-flsliing on the Detroit River 

 and enniuclinu: lakes and rivers wouldTiy this lime practically 

 have become a thing of the past. So long as the catch was 

 made up largely of old fish it was diHienlt to convince 

 skeptics that the fry turned into the river each spring sm- 

 vivcd the dangprs of young fish-life and returned to the^place 

 where they first took water : but none now can find a rea.son 

 for disbelief. Not only is the existence of tiie fish uncpies- 

 tionahly due to the liatcherv, but their Tiumbers are immense 

 —just what we and others favorable tft the enterprise at the 

 outset predicted they would in a fi'W-years liecome. Even in 

 parts of Lake St. Clair where a white fish had not been taken 

 for a long period, Ibey are now ipiite alnmdaut. All that is 

 necessary to bring back the old-time big fish-harvests here 

 and consequent cheapness of [ui.-e to consumers all over the 

 continent, is to work up the fish hatebcries to their highest 

 capacity. The matter of supply is eiilirely in the hands of 

 the authorities." 



CuiNBSB AND OTinsB Po.^cnEBS iNM'.\riFOR>n\,— The So- 

 nora Unwii-JJarujtrat says: '■ < tn.antities of ilead flsh are fre- 

 quently seen on the Stanislaus IJiver at or near Reynolds' 

 Feny. The belief is that giant powder causes their destruc- 

 tion. If such be the fact the parties engaged in the nefarious 

 business should be hunted out and punished as the law con- 

 templates." The Tuoluume Indejundent says : ' 'Renorts reach 

 us from various sources that al different points on "the Stanis- 

 laus River, a.bove Knight's Ferry, Chinamen are killing and 

 taking fish iu violation of the law by the mtroduction ofuied- 

 icated bait and blasting wilh giant powder: and fm-thermore, 

 are obstructing the iiussajre of fish to the u|iper waters of the 

 river above named by const ruetinj: dams in the operation of 

 mining their claim.s. White men are also taking fish iu these 

 waters by unlawful means. AVe are informed that the salmon 

 are quite plentiful iu the upper Avaters that have passed the 

 fishways at Knight's Ferry dam ; therefore it is to be seen 

 of what vast importance lo this part of Tuolumne County the 

 construction of a fish ladder at that place has proved." "^ 



A Dox.vriox TO TUK C'AfE Cleai7. FrsTiKKMEX.— The Bar- 

 oness Burdettc-f'outs has taken a great interest in (he fisher- 

 men of Great Britain and Ireland and has made them several 

 charitable hei|uesi,s, as well as haviui: built, a hivj^o fish mar- 

 ket in London, which, however, was never occupied, as the 

 dealers would n,:.t h-.-ive old, cramped ami iinconiforiahle Bil- 

 ling.sgate. This truly -.Hid lady has just tcrauted flliat is the 

 wonl uised for lier gifts! the (ape Clear fishermen the sum of 

 .irl4,2oi.) to help tlieui ?tart aL;:ain in business after the disas- 

 trous season just closed. Tlds swells her bounties to the fish- 

 ermen alone to Ilie |n-incely simi of half a million of dollars. 



Unlawful B.^ss— iVw Toi-k, jYuv. 25.— I saw in a fish 

 store in Harlem a few days ago a strinc of striped bass, not 

 one of which would weigh over a, quarter pound, and have 

 seen small bass for sale in many other places down town. 

 What can I do to iirevent tlieir sale without appearing per- 

 sonally in the matter ? What is the price of the "U.S. 

 Tide Tables," of which yon speak in the Forest asd 

 Stkeam ? Skabo. 



You may complam to the nearest Game Protector, who 

 must prosecute. Apply to Thomas Manning, 53 Beaver 

 street. New York, for the tide tables. 



Cabp koe Tenm;.~-.i:i, and Akkansas.— Mr. J. F. Ellis, 

 of the Ignited fc?tates I'ish Commission, recently delivered one 

 tJiousand carp to Judge W. W. McDowell, Memphis, for dis- 

 tributipn ia Western Tennessee and Arkansas. 



the engine whistled, when the deer would toss their heads 

 defiantly ; but in spite of the efforts of the engineer he was 



unable to overtake the animals. The race continued for over 

 three miles, when a man who was walking up the track 

 frightened thi.' deer from the rails, and they leaped down the 

 embaukmeut lo the Laekawaxen River, which they crossed, 

 and disappeared uito die mountains. The engineer fired sev- 

 eral shots at them from his revolver as they ran down the 

 track, but they apparently escaped untouched. 



We met Dr."Twaddell at Krider's ibis rnorniiii; and learned 

 of the great sport he had in ^larvland with his beiiyles. Blun- 

 der and Melody, eighty hares having lieeu kille.t during the 

 trip. It Is not generally known that the marsh or black- 

 footed hare of the Middle and Southern States makes a much 

 better run than the common variety of " cotton tail " which is 

 found nearer timber and frequents the upland more. It was 

 the little black-footed fellow that afforded the D. ici, ,r and his 

 parly so nmch amusement, and the runs made, he staled, 

 were astonishingly long and quick ; few lia,r('S escaping ex- 

 cepting those that "holed." The portion of the company 

 that devoted their time to the quail found the bii'ds abundant 

 and the coveys full. 



As I wrote you would be the case, now that we .ire having 

 a real touch of cold weather, the ruft'ed grouse shooliug 

 through our Slate has hecomc better. The birds are seeking 

 the valleys along water rourses for shelter, and are being 

 f omul there. :\fore canvas-back ducks have been killed this 

 week at Havre de Grace than since the opening day of the 

 sea.son. but they are not by any means plentiful. Frompar- 

 lies that have returned from the New Jersey coast we learn 

 that the brant do not stool well, and many Canada geese pass 

 " right along bigli " without stopping or paying the least at- 

 tention lo the decoys. We imagine that the numerous im- 

 mense holds that'havc been i milt on the narrow strip of 

 beach which separates these inland bays from the ocean, has 

 the effect of frightening the fowl. We have frequently seen 

 fiocks of both geese and IiranI, when comuig in sight of these 

 barns of buildings, to •• climb " right up into the air and con- 

 tinue their jomney soiithAvard without touching, when it was 

 evident they would have alighted to the stools had they not 

 been driveii from their course by the buildings. Homo. 



Travis has a sharp e\ 



that oue escujjes hii 

 stocked, and it will 

 obtained on tin- Ihn 



e forth 

 1. The 

 lol he 1 

 nda-a i 



sunmier the lishine- w 

 The Seneea river s 



as liner 

 itVers fr 



Qnnie ^nq and 0un. 



OUTi PHILADELPHIA LETTER. 



IN the Southern ixirtiou of New Jersey there is an extent 

 of coimtry, especially in Hie counties of Atlantic and 

 tnirlingion, covered with extensive growth of scrub oak and 

 dw arf jnnes, which has long furnished an e.xccllent harlior 

 and range for deer, and although they do not exist there iu 

 any great numbers it is of very common occurrence for par- 

 ties going out properly equipped in quest of them to brin" iu 

 one. two or three as trophies of the hunt. ° 



We have been on a Jersey deer hunt, and nmst confess it 

 is a very tedious, if not unsportsmaidike affair. A party of 

 this kind is composed of anj-where from five to fifteen men, 

 all armed with double-b.^rre^ shot-nuns loaded with buck 

 shot. Evei'v point where the deer is expected to p.iss it is 

 all guesswork) isgum-dcd by a sun, while <inc or iwoot the 

 party midic the drive with the dogs. Pmelv-bred hounds are 

 seldom used, and I have seen pointers, 'half-pointer and 

 bound terriers, beagles and tlie thoroughbreds raalcing up a 

 pack in one of these ,Terscy deer htmts. The drive is nen- 



m'nllv II «hiirl ori(i .i,,,! .-.„r. ,7,.,.t;^n v.,1:...^ ,. 1 ^ 



eraUy a short 

 second and ev 

 is killed Ihe c; 



Y<a!foon-espo 

 ingin :\ew .1 

 never to U;. 



. - - --- section bemg "drawn blank; .. 

 a third and fomth is tried. Wlau a deer 

 ise is (hvided, and us the parly is itenerally 

 ill portion only falls to the share of cadi, 

 ait has made a vow never to i;o deer huut- 

 - -'y again, for it has always been luy luck 

 either buck, dne or fawn come mv way or 



WntTEFisii C'uLTPBE OS THE DETROIT RivEB. — Very good 

 progress has been mode in stocking the lakes with the white- 

 fish, Corefniwiii iilbw, by depositing the fry at the great 

 tiatural spawning grounds in the Detroit Eivei-. The Bm.c 

 Sfyord, of Windsor, OBtario, recently said : 



.a„.t» ,....., V, ,^„u^. .juLtt, HOC ui lawii come inv way or 

 pas.s my post. In fact, but two deer were ever killed in" the 

 numerous hunts I have been fortunate or. I slKjuld say un- 

 frrtimate enough to have attended. There is too much 

 "needle in the haystack" chance in them for me. 



Very many deer from our owm State arc coming into mar- 

 ket and a plentiful crop of nia.st is reported : in fact there has 

 been a great growth ot beech trees allover through om- forest 

 counties, which acconuts tv,|- the number of wild pigeon ex- 

 posed for Side at our uume stores. 



A very remarkable fccue was witnessed on the Hawley 

 branch of the Eric ruiiln.,-! lust week. This branch runs 

 fromHawlevtoLackawiixeii, Pa . ,, .liscmce of fifteen miles 

 passmg through a veiy wiM section of the Sf.iie and wiuiiuc 

 Its way along the course of the Laekawaxen River the entire 

 length of the road. The other dav as a lo.nled coal train was 

 movmg under fifil headway three lar-e deer bounded from 

 the woods and leaped upon the track. They stopped, 

 looked at the coming eniiine, and then like a flash darted 

 down the travk a few yards m aelvance of the train. The en- 

 gmeer mcreased his speed considerably, and at short intervals 



EFFICIENT METHODS OF GAME PROTECTION. 



THE WEST .TEBSEY GAME PEOTEOTIVE SOCIETY. 



I HAVE been reading with considerable interest in the 

 late numbers of your paper the articles written by yornr- 

 self and others in regai-d to the protection of game and the 

 formation of game societies, and I shotdd like to add a few 

 lines of my experience for the last six years, both as one of 

 the committee on the pmchase of game and the committee on 

 policing and prosecuting violations of the game laws of the 

 West Jersey Game Protective Society. 



I contend in order to protect the game successfully the pro- 

 per laws must first be passed : and, secondly, there must be 

 pluck and nerve enough to enforce them, oiherwise they are 

 a dead letter. 



We SCO in 3'our columns the format ioir of numerous game 

 societies thj'oughout the country, but fail, except in rare in- 

 stances, to see that they ever achieve anything, aitd in the 

 course of six months the\- either go out of existence or dwin- 

 dle into a pigeon-shooting club, the very reverse of what they 

 were formed for. 



This arises from various reasons. A want of funds is no 

 doubt often a stumbling block, and ^vheIl such is the case it is 

 to be deplored. But too often it arises from an a|i:itiiy«nd 

 selfishness upon the part of the members, who are unwilling 

 to give the time and trouble necessaiy in seeing that the laws 

 are properly carried out. It is surprising to- me to see how 

 many intelligent men who shoot who will not even lake the 

 time to iuform themselves upon the objects, letter .and spirit 

 of the game laws, but rush madly into print and condemn 

 the very laws as unconstitutional which two weeks before 

 they considered right and proper. 



There is no doubt that the people of this counlry have to 

 be educated up to a knowledge of ii 

 the game laws. This, how-e\-er, is bi 

 sporting papers of the counlTV, 

 deserves more credit in this respe 

 Society of New York. With plenty of money, integrity of 

 standing and [uirpose, backed up with nerve and most, able 

 comisel, they pushed their cases to the courts of the last 

 resort and the commimity were thus given a line of decisions 

 which not only placed the standbig of the game laws upon a 

 proper footing, but also put to fiight the curbstone law^'ers 

 and the unconstitutional letter writers. 



The first duty of a game ijroteeiive society is to employ a 

 lawyer of good standmg. w ho will examine t'he game laws of 

 the State and post himself upon the lnws .and the decisions of 

 the different States. Let him flien, under the directions of 

 the society, frame the game laws which they int<;nd to pre- 

 sent to Ihe Ligislature. if this is done the society will find, 

 when tlu- time comes lo prosecute their cases, that'thc offend- 

 er will be unable to escape by any quibble, and that theComt, 

 ibself wUl not be in doubt as to the meaning of the phraseolo- 

 gy used in the act. To have an offender arrested with all 

 the evidence against him, and yet to allow him to get off by 

 tlu; insufficiency of the law, is the very worst thing that C(mld 

 bappeu. 



The next step should be, after appointing a police comrait- 

 tce. is lo get an intelligent, sober and industrious ollicer. 

 This individual is a most important person, as upon his intel- 

 ligence and ability wiU depend tbe successftU termination of 

 ail suits. The ofticershould be supplied withan olTiciiil paper 

 setting forth his appointment, and should also be supplied 

 with blanks drafted by the counsel of the society. Most of 

 the justices of the peace before whom the rjfl'ender first come,* 

 are so ignorant as lo be imable to draft the papers properly, 

 and in the event of an ap|ieal to a hlLdier tribunal the cause 

 will fail iu consequence of this want of knowledge. 



• Then let the laws be printed In book and carf form, and 

 printed in the papers, so that people may have eveiy oppor- 

 tunity of rcadir^ them, andbc distributed wherever they can. 



ci!.,^* ,1 — .-.; 1 e i^. — ;i ..i ...^. — .^.^..:...^ 1 •. ., — :— .■— 



11.1 a pro|ier respect for 

 being deiiie rapidly by the 

 nd I know of no one who 

 ■ct Ihim Ihe Game Protective. 



Solicit the £ 

 mission b 

 are liabh- 

 Wheu vc 



id of the 



ailroad companies, and get their per- 

 ' n their depots. Show them they 

 iers in violating the game laws. 

 of shipping game out of season, 

 use yom- Seaieu .miiiuul freely, and go through the depots, 

 freight cars, boats, or any other place that you have good 

 reason to suppose harbors game out of season, i if course 

 this must be done in Ihe proper legal way, and with good 

 j reason (which is supported by affidavit), that you have cause 

 to suspect the person of violating the laws. The railroad 

 companies are always ready to help you, and you can gel 

 ' them lo issue an orde? lo their employes that any one know- 



