Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Tekms, $1 a Year. 10 Ore. A Coi 

 Sex Months, $2. 



NEW YORK, JANUARY 28, 1883. 



CORRESPONDED i 'E. 

 The Forest and Stream is the recognized medium of entertain- 

 ment, instruction and information between American sportsmen. 

 Communications upon the subjects to which Its pages are devoted are 

 respectfully invited. Anonymous Communications will not be re- 

 garded. No name will be published except with writer's consent. 

 The Editors are not responsible for the views of correspondents. 



SUBSCRIPTIONS 

 May begin at any time. Subscription price, $4 per year ; $-2 for six 

 months: to a club of three annual subscribers, three copies for $10; 

 Ave copies for $16. Eemit by registered letter, money -order, or draft, 

 payable to the Forest and Stream Publishing Company. The paper 

 may be obtained of newsdealers throughout the United States and 

 Canadas. On sale by the American Exchange', 440 Strand, W. C, 

 London, England. Subscription agents for Great Britain— Messrs. 

 Samson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1* Fleet street, London. 



A D ySKTISBMENTS. 



Only advertisements of an approved character inserted. Inside 

 pages, nonpareil type, 25 cents per line. Special rates for three, six 

 and twelve mouths. Reading notices $1.00 per line. Eight words 

 to the line, twelve lines to one inch. Advertisements should be sent 

 In by the Saturday previous to issue in which they are to be inserted, 



Transient advertisements must invariably be accompanied by the 

 money or they will not be inserted. 



Address all communications, 



forest and Stream PnblUhlng Co. 

 Nos. ,TJ ANn 40 Park Kow. New York City. 



CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 



To Correspondents. 



The Park Saved, 



"Non-Cleaning" .Rifle Matches. 



The Loss of the Cimbria. 



New York Game Laws. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Around the Coast of Florida.— I 

 Natural History. 



The Birds of Maine. 



Strange Sea Monsters. 



Strange Hawks' Nests. 



The Little Spotted Skunk 

 Game Baq and Gen. 



What the Press Thinks. 



Game in Kentucky. 



Guinea Fowl as Game Birds. 



Moose in Maine. 



A Portable lee-Box. 



Wildfowl and Game Clubs. 



The Dog in the Manger. 



Duck Hunting on Crystal River. 



Barney Butts. 



The Illinois Game Law. 



The Air Space. 

 Sea and River Fishino. 



Winter Talks on Summer Pas 

 times. — si. 



Gameness of Lake Traut. 



A Trip for Black Bass. 



The Trout Stream. 



Wall-Eyed Pike. 



Fishing Through Ice. 



FlSHCULTURB. 



I i . . ■ , 1 . .- ..>■•= F : , i 



Fishculturs in Iowa. 

 Report of the Colorado Com- 

 missioners. 



Impregnate: :- :--.:,ir- .'",.-■.■ 



Scotch Prize Essays. 



Scintillated Egotism. 



;,■■,,: iv .'- i.-, s V. r i,., 

 The Kennel. 



Ottawa Show— Special Prizes. 



Washington Show Prizes. 



Meriden Dog Show. 



Western Perm. Poultry Society. 



A Just Verdict. 



Long Island Fox Hunting. 



Llewelllns vs. Pointers. 



Kenuel Notes. 

 Rifle and Trap Shootino, 



Preparing for the Return Match 



Note Bene. 



Midway vs. Jersey City Heights 



Range aud Gallery. 



The Trap. 



Matches and Meetings. 

 Yachting and Canoeing. 



Log of the Seminole. 



Cruising on Lake Ontario. 



The Case Correctly Stated. 



Four 



a Row 



A Naval Boat Race. 

 Death of Capt. Robert Fish. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



With its compact type and in its permanently enlarged form 

 of twenty-eight pages this jou mat fu rnishes each week a target 

 amount of first-class matter relating to angling, shooting, tht 

 kennel, and kindred subjects, than is contained in all othei 

 American publications put together. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



WE must again remind our correspondents, and we think 

 that this is about the one- hundred and seventy-third 

 time that we have done so, that all communications, editorial 

 and business, must be addressed to the "Forest and Stream 

 Publishing Company." Letters addressed to individuals 

 connected with the paper often fail to receive attention, aud 

 in such cases the writers feel that they have been neglected. 

 There is usually good reason for such silence. howeTer. 

 Thus it has frequently happened that one of the editors or 

 some one in the business department has been absent from 

 the office, for a month or two at a time, aud during this time 

 his personal mail has remained unopened. Our correspond- 

 ents, therefore, of whatever class, will save themselves aud 

 this office much trouble by addressing their cornmunica 

 tions to the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, Mew 

 York, N . Y. 



Adirondack Forest Protection.— A bill has been 

 passed at Albany prohibiting the sales of State lauds in 

 the counties of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, 

 Montgomery, Saratoga, St. Lawrence and Warren. There 

 were abundant reasons for the passage of this bill. The 

 foolish and ruthless destruction of these timber lands has 

 very materially affected the great and important water sup- 

 plies of the State, to say little of the destruction of the 

 attractions of the Adirondack*, and still less of the attendant 

 lulling of game. Just how far the improvident waste of 

 forest lands in this country will be carried is something 

 that the next generation will know more about than we do, 

 and they will suffer from it in proportion. 



The Present Number closes the Nineteenth Volume of 

 the Forest AMD Sjuf.am. The index will be published 

 nest week. 



THE PARK 8A \ED. 



"pHE following letter has been sent by the Secretary of 

 ' t In- Interior to Senator Vest: 



Ho, 



c a. 



ate: 



Peaii Sir— I have Mr. Langford's letter addressed to you, and by 

 you referred to me. I have determined not to take any action in the 

 matter of the lease to Messrs. Hatch ,t Co. until Congress shall take 

 action on your bill: at least not until the close of the session. If no 

 action should be taken ou the bill, 1 shall feel inclined to execute to 

 them a lease in strict accordance «ilh the views expressed 

 by your committee in the report made to the Senate. 



I have issued an order prohibiting the cutting of timber without 

 special authority from the Seerelarj , and prohibiting the killing of 

 game within the Park. 



I trust you will procure the early passage of the bill so that it may 

 pass the House. 



Very respectfully, H. M. Teller, Secretary. 



Mr. Langford's letter is herewith returned 



This ends the fight. The grabbers are defeated. The 

 people's rights are to be protected. The Yellowstone Park 

 is not to become a second and greater Niagara. The indi- 

 cations are now rather that it will be a place where one can 

 go and have a delightful summer jaunt, stopping at a hotel 

 if he likes, or if he prefers it, camping wherever his desires 

 may lead him. 



We trust that no one will forget for a moment that the 

 redemption of the Park is due entirely to Senator Vest, 

 who has on this, as on other occasions, shown himself in 

 the broadest, sense a true friend to, and representative of, 

 the People, and an uncompromising enemy of all jobs and 

 monopolies. 



We said over a month ago that It was clear that there was 

 an inner history to this matter, and the event has proved 

 that we were right. Whether all the secrets of this ring will 

 ever be brought to light is doubtful, but enough has been 

 developed to make it appear that some of the officials of the 

 Interior Department have, under certain circumstances, 

 more power in their hands than they can safely be trusted 

 with. Any extended comment on this point is superfluous 

 to those who have carefully read the history of the attempted 

 land grab as recorded in these columns. 



A number of curious facts have lately come to the surface 

 through the investigations of Senator Vest; facts which 

 show very clearly the true relations to it of certain individ- 

 uals whose names have been prominently connected with the 

 scheme; facts which are creditable, to some of the parties 

 and veiy much the reverse to others. One of the most 

 remarkable features of the whole business is the readiness 

 with which Mr. Merritt L. Joslyn appears to have lent himself 

 to the. plans of the "Improvement" Company, in direct op- 

 position to the instructions of his superior officer. 



A week or two since, Senator Vest introduced a resolution, 

 which was agreed to, calling upon the Secretary of the In- 

 terior to send to the Senate all correspondence and papers 

 relating to the leasing of the Yellowstone Park. Accord- 

 ingly last week the papers were sent in the Senate and an ex- 

 amination of their contents tells a curious story, so curious 

 that we recount it here. 



On April 38, 1882, Secretary Teller wrote to Mr. P. H. 

 Conger, the superintendent of the Yellowstone National 

 Park/inclosing a list of applicants for hotel privileges within 

 the Park, and making inquiries as to the responsibility of 

 the parties uiinied. In the course of his letter he said: 



Applicants should be informed that, under the law no lease can be 

 granted for a longer term than ten years. You will also inform 

 them that leases will not be transferable without the assent of the 

 Secretary of the Interior, and that, if improvements are notmadeon 

 the lands within eighteen months of the approval of the leases, the 

 leases will he canceled. No lease will be given covering lands cou- 



rt] ,. 



sltie 



Pari 



u'IJi 



T pr 



t frc 



spr 



-i-tei: 



or springs. This instruction in relation to the springs is deemed 

 proper to procure to all the full enjoyment of the medicinal waters 

 vi i i i nt a monopoly in their use, but it is not intended to pre- 

 vent the granting of leases for hinds in close proximity thereto. As 

 the to v authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to grant leases for 

 building purposes in "small parcels of ground," no application will 

 be entertained for leases of more titan twenty acres in any one con- 

 tract, and •> hero the laud desired is in the immediate eternity of the 

 cipal attractions of the Park the location should be confined to 

 i parcels of land as will reasonably accommodate the buildings 

 and the necessary surroundings proposed by the leases. 



The following are the terms fixed by the department for the leasing 



of the ground within the Park, subject to such modifications as may 



from time to time he desirable: For tracts not exceeding five acres, 



$10 annually; for tracts exceediug five acres and not more than 



tot each additional acre over Ave. 



This letter shows plainly just how the leasing of plots was 

 egaidcd by the head of the Interior Department, and makes 

 t clear that had he been in Washington at the time, no such 

 contract would have been made as was entered into by his 



subordinate, or such monstrous form of lease'eonsidered as 

 was intended to be made. 



( i Literal Brisbin's application for the right to place a steam 

 boat on the Yellowstone. Lake was made July 13 and granted 

 July 27. 



Now comes the Hobart-Douglass application which has 

 caused all this pother. This letter was backed by one from 

 Senator Windom, who recommends the applicants as respon- 

 sible, .and further says that he will call upon the Secretyr, 

 of the Interior shortly in regard to the matter. The letter 

 of Messrs. Hobart and Douglas was submitted by Mr. Teller 

 to Superintendent Conger. It did not take this gentle- 

 man long to see what the plans of this modest "Improve- 

 ment" Company meant. He says briefly but to the point 

 that the applicants "ask to cover entirely too much ground," 

 and further gives it as his opinion that before long the fran- 

 chises asked for will be very valuable, and that the public 

 would not boar very patiently the transfer of all these privi- 

 leges to a single corporation. Mr Conger's judgment on 

 this point shows him to be a person of discernment. 



It was shortly after this that, during Secretary Teller's 

 absence from the Department, Mr. M. L. Joslyn, who may 

 be supposed to have been informed of all that had been 

 done in this matter, made the attempt to hand over the Park 

 to the Improvement Company. Incidentally a letter has 

 come out which was addressed by General Brisbin to Con- 

 gressman Belford, and by him turned over to the Secretary 

 of the Interior with the request that it may receive early at- 

 tention. It bears directly on the grab of the "Improvement" 

 Company, and on another little monopoly, which might he, 

 if confirmed, a profitable one. 



General Brisbin had been granted the right to put his 

 steamer on the Yellowstone Lake, but hearing that the Im- 

 provement Company were also to put boats on this sheet of 

 water, he became alarmed and wrote as follows: 



Fort Keogh, M. T., Sept. 25, 1863. 

 J. B. Belford, Denver, Col.: 



My Dear Belford— Your letter of the 17th is received. Since 

 writing under date of August 81, 1 have, received a letter from the 

 Honorable Secretary of the Interior, of which I will send copy. While 

 I am very thankful to him for his concession, It hardly covers what 

 we asked for. Jly application asked for the right to build a steamer 

 to navigate the Yellowstone Lake for the pleasure of tourists and 

 such additional steamers from time to time as might be required to 

 accommodate the traveling public. The grant is for one steamer 

 alone. A syndicate composed of Mr. Hobart. of the Northern Pacific 

 Railroad ; H. T. Douglass, of St. Paul, and some New Yorkers, notably 

 Rufus Hatch, claim that they have cut under us and have secured 

 the right to put on all the additional steamers for the next ten years, 

 together with all sailboats. I am to be "allowed'' lo run one steam 

 boat. These fellows claim to have hogged the whole Park, with all 

 rights, privileges, immunities, ordinary and extraordinary. They 

 are to build hotels, put on stages, and do all things. If you don't 

 like the fare and charges at one of the company's hotels you can go 

 to another kept by the same fellows and be charged the same and be 

 given the same fare. 



This extraordinary grant does not come from our good friend, 

 Secretary Teller, but from the "assistant secretary," whoever he 

 may be. We have a rule in the army that a commanding officer 

 being temporarily absent from his command, an officer who succeeds 

 him in command shall not grant favors, etc.. but shall confine him- 

 self to the discharge of merely routine duties. This would be a good 

 rule to adopt in the departments of Washington. This Assistant 

 Secretary of the Interior during the temporary absence of his 

 superior, Judge Teller, takes advantage of his absence to sign away 

 the. Park. It went slick. However, we do not care, provided the 

 right to navigate the Yellowstone Lake by us is respected. I will ad- 

 dress a letter to these men respectfully requesting that they coucede 

 this right to us, and if they do not accede toil we will upset the grant. 



I wrote Judge Teller for a copy of the authorized lease granted 

 the syndicate by his assistant secretary, and on receipt of it I will 

 send it, to you with my remarks. Meanwhile, will you see the Secre- 

 tary and advise with him? Ask him to grant an absolute right to 

 navigate, the Yellowstone Lake for a term of years for the accom- 

 modation and pleasure of tourists. That is the application on tile 

 in advance of all others, and thai, no doubt, is what Judge Teller 

 intended to grant me. 



T eaunot find language to express the importance of this matter. 

 Next year 30,000 tourists will be in the Park and 100,000 annually 

 thereafter. The navigation of the Yellowstone Lake for ten years is 

 worth $1,000,000 to the holders. Does that express it sufficiently! 

 Do anything, do everything, Judge, to secure this rigid. lam very 



ixious, so write me again as soon as you have seen Judge Teller 

 \~ours truly. James S. Brisdin. 



This letter is certainly a very amusing one from all points 

 of view. General Brisbin knows very well how valuable 

 the Park is, and being partly in the good thing, he is evident Ij 

 afraid that the "Improvement" Company will prove too power- 

 ful competitors for him. He therefore gives his opinion on 

 their methodsand on those of the Interior Department with tie 

 lightful frankness. 



It is hoped that Senator Vest's bill will come up iu the 

 Senate within a few days, and we have the strongest 

 reasons for believing that when it docs come up. it will pass. 

 We hope to see it, become a law before the. close of the 

 session. 



