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RECREATION. 



L H. REUTINGER, 

 Chief Warden Ohio Div. 



the statute, which provides a penalty of 

 $ioo for each deer, or part thereof, had in 

 possession. 



In May last the Duluth Medical Society 

 held its annual banquet at the Spaulding 

 House at Duluth, Minn., and during the 

 dinner a course of quail was served. This 

 was in close season, and Dr. J. D. Tit- 

 comb, of Duluth, a 

 member of the L. A. 

 S., protested, in the 

 name of the League, 

 against this violation 

 of law. He wrote 

 me the facts, and I 

 took up the matter 

 with the manager of 

 the hotel and with 

 Chief Warden Smart, 

 of the Minnesota di- 

 vision. The manager 

 of the hotel assured 

 me that the law was 

 broken without his 

 knowledge or intent, 

 and that if allowed to 

 escape in this instance he would see that 

 the laws were strictly observed by his em- 

 ployees in future. 



It affords me great pleasure to mention 

 Sidney M. Logan, John Eakright, W. F. 

 Mulaney, and Geo. H. Farmer, of Kalis- 

 pell, Mont.; Eben P. Dorr, of Buffalo, N. 

 Y.; Dr. J. C. Ross, of Canaan, Conn., and 

 W. P. Beach, of New Haven, Conn., as 

 among other local wardens and members 

 who have rendered efficient and valuable 

 aid in our work. 



A great deal of good has also been done 

 by personal correspondence with persons 

 accused of law breaking. Hundreds of 

 cases have been reported to me by mail, 

 and I have in every instance written the 

 accused, stating the nature of the com- 

 plaint made against him, and asking him 

 for a pledge that he would obey the laws 

 in future. I have advised all such persons 

 that unless they made such written prom- 

 ises they would be prosecuted, and that 

 in any event our officers or members 

 would keep watch of them. In nearly ev- 

 ery case a prompt reply has been received, 

 promising faithful obedience to the laws. 

 A number of these reports have been pub- 

 lished in the official organ, and it is im- 

 possible to calculate the amount of good 

 thus done. We can readily understand 

 that in every such instance the news had 

 been widely circulated that a certain man 

 had been reported to the League for 

 breaking the laws, and that the League was 

 following up the case. This has had the 

 effect of putting other would-be law break- 

 eis on their guard, and it is safe to say 



that thousands of birds and mammals have 

 been thus saved from destruction. 



Here are a few cases in point. On 

 March 16, 1899, I was informed that cer- 

 tain employees of the D. & H. Railway 

 Co., in the Adirondacks, were buying 

 ruffed grouse and sending them by train- 

 men to Albany, and thence to New York, 

 in violation of law. I reported this case 

 to Mr. J. W. Burdick, G. P. A. of that 

 road, who is a member of the League, and 

 who at once made a searching investiga- 

 tion. He was unable to detect any one of 

 his employees in violating the law, as 

 charged; but he reported to me that he 

 had all his employees under surveillance; 

 that he had cautioned them, and that in 

 any case where guilt could in future be 

 proved the offender would be promptly 

 dismissed from the service. 



In January of this year I was advised 

 that an employee of the Great Northern 

 Express Co., at Butte, Mont., was buying 

 and selling trout in close season. The 

 complainant sent me a copy of a telegram 

 he had received from this man. I prompt- 

 ly transmitted this to the general manager 

 of the company, who investigated the case, 

 found the man guilty and disciplined him. 

 In a letter written a few days later, the 

 manager assured me this man would never 

 offend again and that all his employees 

 had been cautioned against violating the 

 fish or game laws in any way. 



Another means by which a great deal of 

 good has been done is in the publication 

 of reports in the daily press throughout the 

 country of the work of the League in vari- 

 ous localities. Chief Warden Elrod, of 

 the Montana divi- 

 s i o n, and Chief 

 Warden Stearns, of 

 the Virginia divi- 

 sion, have done a 

 vast amount of good 

 in this way. They 

 have written column 

 after column of in- 

 teresting and effec- 

 tive matter, which 

 has been sent to and 

 published in all the 

 important daily and 

 weekly papers of 

 their States. The re- 

 sult is that the 



League is known and talked of by a larger 

 percentage of the people of Montana and 

 Virginia than of any other States in the 

 Union. There is scarcely a man or wom- 

 an in either State, whether interested in 

 field sports or not, who does not know and 

 talk about this organization. 



This is one of the most fertile fields for 



FRANKLIN STEARNS, 

 Chief Warden Va Div. 



