FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



MORE TROUBLE FOR POND. 



There are several Ponds in this neck of 

 woods. One of these is A. E. Pond, chief 

 warden of the New York Division of the 

 L. A. S. He is made of the right kind 

 of stuff. Then there is J. W. Pond, of 

 Malone, who for too long a time has held 

 down a chair in the office of the Fish, 

 Game and Forestry Commission at Al- 

 bany. All this time he has drawn a fat 

 salary. That's what he's there for. All 

 this time he has talked about protecting 

 the game and fishes of the State. He has 

 told what he had done and was going to 

 do. Also what others have not done — 

 especially the L. A. S. Incidentally Me 

 Lone Pond has really done a few things. 

 But a history of what he has threatened to 

 do and has not done would make a bigger 

 book than Webster's Unabridged. 



And now that his days in office are num- 

 bered Me Lone Pond waxeth hot because 

 an officer of the League has called him 

 down. He has used up a lot of State sta- 

 tionery and some hours of the time of a 

 State stenographer in formulating a long 

 letter to the Sun. In this he tells how he 

 is the whole show; how he has prosecuted 

 all the game-law breakers that have been 

 reported to him and that could be success- 

 fully prosecuted. 



Mr. Hornaday, Ernest Seton Thompson. 

 Mr. Boardman and Thomas Cary Welch 

 have answered this Roily Pond, and 

 called him down as to the case the League 

 made against the Iroquois Hotel, in Buf- 

 falo, away back in '98. The first 2 have 

 shown that they identified the piece of 

 steak which Local Warden E. P. Dorr 

 bought at the Iroquois and sent here as 

 venison. They have stated over their sig- 

 natures that they identified it by the bit of 

 skin and the few hairs that hung thereby. 

 They have reminded this Albany-Malone 

 Pond that they were ready to go on the 

 stand and swear the aforesaid was venison, 

 and that they are still ready to so swear. 



All of which I wrote this North- Woods 

 Pond at the time, but he declined to prose- 

 cute. 



Mr. Welch has written the editor of the 

 Sun that he assured the Lone Pond there 

 was a good, clear, strong case against the 

 Iroquois ; but still this Chief Protector of 

 Game Law Violators declined to prose- 

 cute. 



And now comes Mr. Welch and stacks 

 the cards on this same Pond again. Will 

 he play? Or will he stay out? 



The following correspondence explains 

 itself. 



Buffalo, March 19th, 1900. 

 Editor Recreation: 



I was surprised and interested to read 

 Mr. Hornaday's letter in yesterday's Sun. 

 It was the first I knew of the controversy. 

 By good luck I managed to get a copy of 

 the Sun of March 12th, and was still more 

 surprised to find that Mr. Pond had so 

 wofully misrepresented me. I have there- 

 fore prepared a letter to the Sun, which 

 you may have published if you see fit, in 

 which I have set myself right and have 

 set him back a few. 



I am also sending you copies of corre- 

 spondence had with Mr. Pond in regard to 

 another matter, which may prove interest- 

 ing and serviceable in this connection; to- 

 wit: The case of Mang and Perry. Noth- 

 ing has ever been done in this case, as far 

 as I know. I am writing Mr. Witmer to- 

 day, and will give you his answer. This 

 strikes me as about as flagrant and wilful 

 a neglect of duty as is possible. Mr. 

 Worts called on me in January, talked the 

 matter over, and promised to attend to it ; 

 but as far as I know that was all he ever 

 did. Yours sincerely, 



Thomas Cary Welch. 



Buffalo, N. Y. 

 Editor the Sun. 



I have just read the letter in your issue 

 of March 12th, signed by J. W. Pond, in 

 relation to the Buffalo hotel venison case. 

 As my name is used in connection there- 

 with I deem it proper to set forth the actual 

 facts. They are these : 



My attention was called to the fact that 

 the hotel in question was serving meat un- 

 der the name of antelope in defiance of 

 the law, and in spite of the fact that a 

 copy of the law had been sent to the pro- 

 prietors, and that on Thanksgiving day 

 they were warned personally. I invited 2 

 gentlemen to lunch with me there, ob- 

 tained a copy of the bill of fare, on which 

 antelope steak was set forth as one of the 

 dishes, and ordered it. We each of us ate 

 a portion, I paid for the same in the pres- 

 ence of 2 gentlemen, making a copy of the 

 bill which was verified by them, and we 

 brought away a piece of the meat. This 

 was carefully wrapped up, marked for 

 identification and sent to New York, as has 

 been stated, for scientific testimony as to its 

 character. At the same time precautions 

 were taken to preserve the chain of evi- 

 dence so that no possible question could be 

 raised by the defendants on the trial as to 

 the identity of the specimen. Mr. Pond 

 was afterward requested to authorize or 

 begin the prosecution of the hotel proprie- 

 tors, because we had at our disposal no 



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