FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



243 



THE HUMBUG OF THE YEAR. 



From The Great Divide. 



Frank S. Thayer, of Denver, has published 

 a book called " Hoofs, Claws, and Antlers," 

 the idea being to show by the pictures snap- 

 shot views of wild animals of the Rocky 

 Mountains in their native habits. Several 

 pictures of such were procured, but not 

 enough to make a book. No doubt some 

 one told Mr. Thayer that, as the late Mr. 

 Barnum said, the people liked to be hum- 

 bugged; which, of course, in this case was 

 taken seriously and followed in the most 

 exact detail. 



The few genuine photographs were repro- 

 duced. A Mr. McFadden, a taxidermist 

 who has a collection of stuffed animals com- 

 prising almost everything, from a prairie dog 

 to a buffalo, was sought, and the stuffed ani- 

 mals taken to the woods, on the plains, or on 

 the mountain side, so as to make the sur- 

 roundings as natural as life. Then the 

 services of the well-known photographer, W. 

 H. Jackson, were secured, and the photo- 

 graphs taken. 



In order that the humbug might be com- 

 plete, sample pictures and a flattering letter 

 were sent to Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, with 

 the request that he write the preface for the 

 book. It must be said to Mr. Roosevelt's 

 credit, that all the photographs were not sent, 

 else his knowledge of game might have de- 

 tected the fraud. The preface came, Mr. 

 Thayer was delighted with it, and used it 

 verbatim. The book was printed, sent to the 

 journalistic critics, and received notices 

 praising it to the sky. The editor of the 

 Cosmopolitan Magazine was so pleased with 

 the book that the pictures in it were repro- 

 duced in his August number. 



The price of " Hoofs, Claws, and Antlers " 

 is $3.50 for the regular edition, $5 for the 

 edition de luxe, limited, but printed from 

 same plates. 



If you want to see these pictures for noth- 

 ing, write to W. A. Bailey, Hotel Colorado, 

 Glenwood Springs, Colo., who also repro- 

 duced them in a beautiful pamphlet adver- 

 tising his hotel. We do not believe that so 

 successful a humbug has been given to the 

 public since the find of the Cardiff Giant in 

 1869. 



Editor Recreation : 



The waterfowl are just arriving at this place 

 from the North, and it seems we are to have 

 another season's shooting ruined by the 

 launch owners, unless steps are promptly 

 taken to restrain them. Yesterday a launch 

 was out hunting up the few birds that have 

 arrived. 



It seems impossible, with the present fa- 

 cilities afforded by the State, to do much 

 with them. The first game warden district 

 embraces the whole of Long Island, Staten 

 Island, Long Island Sound, and New York 

 Bay ; and while Mr. Brown, the protector, 

 is an energetic man and a valuable officer, 



he cannot be in more than three pi ao 

 once. Hence the launch owners have things 



their own way nearly all the tunc I am 

 convinced that if sportsmen knew how una h 

 mischief the launches really do they would 

 be more active in reporting them. 



No one objects to the number <>f birds 

 really killed from launches, as the) an- a \ er\ 

 small proportion, indeed, of the total number 

 of birds shot. As a matter of fad, I i 

 never seen any but cripples killed and 

 picked up by launchmen. What we do ob- 

 ject to is the incessant chasing of b 

 which can only result in driving them off 

 their feeding-grounds and out of the Sound. 

 We know this will be done this year, . 

 has every year since the naphthas started 

 in. According to my ideas, the State should 

 provide the game protector with a 

 launch, and keep one man to patrol the 

 Sound during the ducking season. 



There was but one arrest and conviction 

 last year that came to my knowledge, but on 

 every good day there were from 01 

 three launches chasing birds off this p 

 It is practically impossible to ascertain the 

 names of the boats violating the law, as the 

 owners generally take care to >ver them up 

 with a board or strip of canvas. This is its 

 as I understand it, an additional violation. 



We would have very fair shooting hen 

 only legitimate methods were practiced, and it 

 seems a shame to have it ruined by the s 

 ish practices of a few law-breaking boat 

 owners. I can suggest no other rem* 

 the one above mentioned. Possibly 8t 

 of your numerous leaders can devise oth 

 A. S. DOANE, Lattingtown, I.. 1. 



Editor Recreation : 



Did you ever have winter in the summer 

 time? We have had a two-dayt 

 storm here, and it's been quite liki 

 mas — has driven the game down from the 

 high ridges so we can get at them without 

 walking our feet off. Everybody has yei 

 now, and some have be; Billy 



I are going away on a hunt 1! find 



our cayuses. Have been out all day hunting 

 them. We need them in our busm- - 

 some jerked elk or venison. 



Last fall a lot of Indians came hi 

 camped, and ran the deer out with U 

 dogs. We have halt' an oum • 

 nine, and woe to the canines ii theyconn 

 fall. We will fix them all right. Billy 

 there is no room for him and an) N 

 in this mining district. I have a pair ol pel 

 salmon trout down here in the littli 

 They an- spawning now, and it 

 to watch them. The mail carrier from l 

 to Salmon Meadows ran into a blUl< 

 Monday evening on his way over h< n 



Some ranches on South Fork 

 hay in here, 2 bales to 

 usual load. It sell 

 rens. It should be good to 

 a pound, but it isn't. 



Mark West, Wood River, Ida 



