Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



NEW YORK, JANUARY 4, 1888. 



I VOL. SIX -No. S8. 



) Nos. 39 & 40 Park Row, New York, 



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Forest ami Stream Publishing Co. 

 Nos. 80 and 40 Park Row. New York City. ■ 





CONTENTS. 







Sea AND BlVER FtSHlNG. 



The Park Grab. 





Florida Fishes. 



The :rv-,vr..' .-. 



ssociation. 



Striped Bass or Rock Fish. 

 The Sea of Cortez. 





it a Gun. 



Kubbit'siiootinj 





An Octogenarian on Carp. 









Baypon Florlc 





The Louisiana Field Trials. 







Butler's Siberian Bloodhound. 



: ,.L: UlSTOir,' 





Cocker Spaniel Produce Stake. 

 With Hie Byron Hounds. 



The Birds r,: ?>]r 









Kennel Notes. 



Gahh li.v 





Ritle and That Shooting. 

 The Match of 18i3. 



- ,,_!,,.,.; 



of Game Birds. 



Jersev City Heights Gun Club. 





ill-Hunting. 



Range and Gallery. 



Maine Game. 





The Trap. 



Big Gain.- at Tn 



a Pond. 



Yachting and Canoeing. 



K,:u'!:.-- c,-i- 



Michigan. 



New Breech-Loading Gun. 



Shootiug Deer i 



i Summer. 









Only a Side Show. 







What Will You Call Her! 





i Summer Pas- 



Experience Much to the Point. 

 What, has been Accomplished. 



My Fir.,! Fiv R. 





Whom did he Refer to? 



Blue-Back iron 





Answers to Correspondents. 



TEE PARK GRAB. 



HPHE project of the worthy speculators who are after the 

 -*- peoples' pleasure ground, appears to be flourishing. 

 Here and there a feeble voice is raised in protest against the 

 steal, but with a powerful lobby to T>ack them, and no op- 

 position from the Interior Department, the grabbers have 

 little to fear. The term of office of many congressmen is 

 now expi ring, so that they feel they have little to lose, and can 

 thus act as they please. Their constituents have rejected 

 them at the polls, and they need no longer regard the wishes 

 of the people. 



It is hoped that Senator Vest, who took hold of this sub- 

 ject in an earnest way at first, will make a strong fight 

 against the monopolists who desire to appropriate for the 

 beneat of fchsiv pockets ths only National Park possessed 

 by the American people. It is whispered that his interest 

 in the subject has on a sudden ceased, but we cannot believe 

 this to be trii3. LitUs by little interesting information is 

 leaking out in regard to the purposes of this Improvement 

 Company. At first its promoters, if their own story was to 

 be believed, were working solely and simply for the inter- 

 ests of the people of this country. They related with tears 

 in their eyes most heartrending stories of the slaughter of 

 game, and told about the destruction of geysers and other 

 natural wonders. It is true that none of these statements 

 were very new, for all that tbey spoke of had been going on 

 for years, and was perfectly well known to every man who 

 kept, himself at all informed as to what is taking place in 

 the Park, but they talked about "vandals," and quite made it 

 appear to people ignorant of the subject that they were act- 

 ing almost entirely from philanthropic motives. It is true 

 that they mentioned incidentally that they wished in return 

 for the benefits that they were going to confer upon the 

 people, to have a monopoly of the hotel, stage and telegraph 

 privileges in the Park, but they said that this would be a 

 small matter, and that they would really scarcely pay 

 expenses, A little later it appeared that they were to 

 charge for the guides and the lorses which tourists 

 would require while in the Park, and were to have 

 the sole right to all timber and arable lands; and now 

 we are told quito as a maimer of course' that this com 



pany is going into the cattle business, and that the Park, 

 which has been set aptrt for the people, is to be turned into 

 a big slock range for the benefit and behoof of the Yellow- 

 stone Park Improvement Company. Truly the modesty of 

 these monopolists is startling, but not more so than the 

 meekness with which the people endure this monstrous in- 

 vasion of their rights. 



This then is about the way things appear to stand at pres- 

 ent, Tbe lease which the company hopes to obtain provides 

 that it shall have the free use of timber in the Park for 

 building purposes: shall have the free use of arable land in 

 the Park; slrall have the free use of the waters of the Park 

 for supplying hotels and other buildings; shall have the ex- 

 clusive right to put yachts, sailboats and rowboats on 

 Yellowstone Park Lake; shall have exclusive right to erect 

 telegraph wires throughout the Park; shall have the right 

 to establish stores and trading stations, and shall have ex- 

 clusive right to furnish transportation and guides to and 

 from points within the Park. The company has selected 

 seven tracts in the Park, each containing, with one excep- 

 tion, 640 acres, and the lease provides that those interested 

 shall have the use of this land for a period of ten years with 

 privilege of holding it longer. A provision in the lease 

 also gives the company the right to occupy such other por- 

 tions of the Park as may be desired. The annual rental Of 

 the land is not to exceed $2 per acre, and the company 

 expects to get a much lower rate, In other words, these 

 enormously valuable piivileges are to be leased to these men 

 for the pitiful sum of $9,000. Their store privileges alone 

 will be worth many times this sum, to say nothing of all 

 the other valuable franchises enumerated before. 



The lobby which is working for this lease is a strong one, 

 but a more powerful ally than any lobby has been secured. 

 The press of the country, through its Washington corres- 

 pondents, has been captured, and that at a very moderate 

 cost. This shrewd maneuver was carried out by the private 

 secretary of Mr. Eufus Hatch, who himself is an old news- 

 paper man. This gentleman, week before last, gave a grand 

 dinner to all the correspondents of the press in Washington. 

 The occasion was a delightful one; the company was 

 good, the viands delicious; wine flowed freety; the 

 schemes of the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company 

 were discussed and applauded, and from this time the de- 

 spatches to the newspapers throughout the country took a 

 different tone. The press telegrams now began to speak of 

 it rather favorably, and to attempt to soothe the fears of 

 those who had become alarmed about the matter Now was 

 not this money well invested? Just think of muzzling the 

 press of the whole country by means of a good dinner, at a 

 cost of only a few hundred dollars. How the schemers of 

 the company must have chuckled over their economical 

 methods. No doubt they resolved that the young man who 

 originated and carried out this idea should have a good pfa 

 in their employ, for he will be useful in the future. This is 

 cheaper than buying up Congressmen. 



As for the press at large, it remains to be seen whether its 

 conductors will he held in check by their Washington cor- 

 respondents who have parted with their independence for a 

 mess of pottage washed down by a bottle of champagne. 

 If they should be so controlled, it will give people generally, 

 quite an exalted idea of the power and importance of a 

 Washington correspondent. 



We refer our readers to a press dispatch to the Ikrahl for 

 further details of this project for grasping the people's 

 rights by this band of monopolists. The correspondent 

 who sent this is one of the few who has had the manliness 

 to speak honestly on thesubject of this outrageous piece of 

 business. In a few words it tells a significant story: 



A gentleman who was recently at the Park said to-day that he 

 would rather have the lease which the company desires than have a 

 fee simple title do the entire tract. He stated that during the past 

 a fully ten thousand people had visited the Park, a number Ave 

 greater than during any previous year. Among the visitors 

 have been some of the most prominent men in America, and also 

 travelers from England, Scotland, France and Sweden. Those whose 

 travels have beou extensive pronounce the scenery the grandest in 

 the world. A traveling physician said t'no medicinal waters were 

 the linest that have ever been discovered. 



The gentleman also stated that since last September a considera- 

 ble number of men have already bceu at work under Ruf us Hatch, 

 and at present are at hard labor in getting out timber for the pro- 

 posed hotels. Several saw mills are iu active operation. The com- 

 pany has already selected seven sites for hotels. 



General Sheridan in a report recently made opposed the granting 

 of such privileges as have been given to the YeUowstoue Park As- 

 sociation. He also described the acts of vandals who were destroy, 

 tog the cones of geysers and burning the forests. Others also oppose 

 the scheme, claiming that placing Hie Park in the hands of a monop- 

 oly would not be in the interests of the public. They believe that 

 the privileges to be allowed should be divided. 

 One of the chief elements hi this proposed enterprise is the stock- 



raising venture, which is to be on a large scale. It is believed that 

 the contract, which appears to relate chiefly to hotels, includes tbe 

 right to use all the grazing lands in the Park, and that under this 

 cover the most successful stock ranches can be conducted. The 

 whole scheme is one that evidently needs more careful scrutiny than 

 it has yet received. 



There certainly was never a more audacious and bare 

 faced plot to rob the people, nor one which apparently en- 

 countered so little opposition. 



How will it turn out? 



THE MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION. 



A MEETING of the Michigan Sportsmen's Association 

 •£*- will be held at Detroit next Tuesday. Several matters 

 of importance will receive attention, among which we 

 may mention the appointment of a State game constable, 

 the abolition of spring shooting, and the repression of an- 

 tagonistic legislation. 



Michigan has been in many ways the pioneer in game pro- 

 tection, and the experience of this association is a valuable 

 guide for similar societies in other States. The most im- 

 portant work accomplished by the Michigan sportsmen 

 during the past year has been the formation of game clubs 

 in sections of the State where formerly there was a misap- 

 prehension of the spirit and aims of the society, and a de- 

 cided antagonism to its members and their work. The 

 formation of these clubs is due to the tact of Mr. Cyras W. 

 Higby, who was sent out by the association as its agent. 

 Within the year Mr. Higby has organized twenty such 

 clubs, and as the natural sequence there has also been 

 wrought a decided change of sentiment in the towns so 

 visited by him. 



We understand that with the success of the past year 

 upon which to base their claims, the Michigan sportsmen 

 propose to apply to the State for assistance in the support 

 of a State game warden, who shall carry on the work so 

 successfully inaugurated. This demand is just and reason- 

 able. H the game is worth preserving at all, it is the con- 

 cern of the State to secure the protection. It cannot be 

 expected that a number of individuals, no matter how 

 earnest and enthusiastic they may be, will go on forever 

 paying out of their own pockets what should be paid by the 

 public. The Michigan Sportsmen's Association is working 

 not for its own members only, but for the public as well; 

 and it is not asking too much that the burden of expense' 

 be borne by all who reap the harvest. 



The abolition of spring shooting will be discussed, and 

 while there is little probability that it will meet with favor 

 from the majority of the delegates, discussion cannot fail 

 to be a profitable one. There is certainly a very decided 

 change of sentiment on this question, and it is not improb- 

 able that should one State set the example others would fol- 

 low in forbidding spring snooting. Among the oldest and 

 most experienced sportsmen the wisdom of such a step is 

 not questioned. What State will be the pioneer in incor- 

 porating in its game law a, clause forbidding spring shoot- 

 ing? 



Like all other societies of this kind, the Michigan Asso- 

 ciation has encountered much opposition among individuals 

 whose toes have been trodden upon. In certain sections of 

 Michigan the deer shooter is no respector of seasons; the 

 buck, the gravid doe and suckling fawn are all one to him. 

 Everything is meat that comes within range of his gun. 

 He scouts game laws, and, for that matter, other laws as 

 well— witness the Clare county case, reported in these 

 columns last year. 



There is also, and always will be among men who are 

 high minded and public iu their convictions, an honest dif- 

 ference of opinion regarding certain phases of the law. No 

 society, organized as is the Michigan Association, can be 

 perfect in all that it does, nor hope to escape criticism from 

 outsiders. It can demand, however, that in discussing its 

 work, these outside critics shall take into consideration its 

 general chaiacter and work and not attempt to simply pick 



Mlnnesota'Venison.— New York game dealers are rais- 

 ing the usual complaint, because they can no longer sell 

 Minnesota venison, of which they have a large stock on 

 hand. The season closed with the last month. There is 

 no valid reason for changing the present law, even if the 

 dealers cannot get rid of their stock. On the contrary there 

 is every reason why the law should remain as it i« at present 

 H Eastern markets for Western game are cut off, so much 

 the belter for the Western game supply. As for the over 

 supply, that may be easily remedied by the market-mea 

 themselves; if they cannot sell so much, let less be shipped 

 to them. 



