3 68 



RECREATION. 



funds with which to carry on a litigation 

 which was sure to be sharply contested. 

 We, moreover, felt that it was the duty of 

 the proper officials to take action after the 

 evidence was presented to them. 



In a letter to Mr. Pond, dated December 

 3, 1898, I used the following language : 

 ''Yours of the 31st received, and am much 

 obliged therefor. We have a good case 

 against the proprietors of the hotel, and I 

 would like your advice as to the best meth- 

 ods of procedure. It will do more good to 

 get a case against this house than against 

 a half a dozen smaller fry, and it will prove 

 to the public that we are sincere in our 

 crusade. Ordinarily I should be afraid of 

 going to the jury with a case of this kind, 

 but I feel that in the present instance it 

 may be better. Kindly let me know what 

 you think best to do." 



Mr. Pond came to Buffalo and had an in- 

 terview with me. I told him I considered 

 it bad policy to get into court with this 

 class of cases unless one was sure of win- 

 ning, as the moral effect of defeat was to 

 encourage the law breakers. I did not, 

 however, tell him I considered the case 

 against the hotel in question weak. It will 

 be seen from my letter and from the facts 

 stated that my opinion was quite the op- 

 posite. 



Mr. Pond was afterward introduced to 

 one of the hotel proprietors by me, and had 

 an interview with him at which I was not 

 present. Not seeing Mr. Pond again I 

 wrote him a few days afterward asking 

 what had been done and what he wished 

 me to do, and in reply received the follow- 

 ing letter, from which I have purposely 

 erased the names : 



Albany, N. Y., Dec. 30, 1898. 

 Dear Sir : — Replying to your letter of 

 recent date : The interview I had with Mr. 

 W. was quite satisfactory, as he appeared 

 very gentlemanly and professed that they 

 had no desire to break any laws. He 

 claimed ignorance of the repeal of Section 

 249, and the younger brother assured me 

 that when Mr. D. informed him it would 

 be illegal to handle venison after the 20th, 

 he did not know that the law applied to 

 antelope. I think perhaps that if a demand 

 was made on them they might pay a pen- 

 alty, but from an understanding I have had 

 with Commissioner H. I do not feel that it 

 would help the situation by exacting them 

 to pay under the circumstances. We are 

 asking the papers as far as possible to an- 

 nounce that under the present law no game 

 can be lawfully handled after the last day 

 of this month. * * * 



Yours truly, 

 J. W. Pond, Chief Protector. 



Comment is unnecessary. 



Yours truly, 

 Thomas @ary Welch. 



Buffalo, April 10th, 1899. 

 Mr. J. YV. Pond, 

 Chief Protector, 

 Albany, N. Y. 



Dear Sir: — I received a call on Saturday 

 from a gentleman who owns a home on 

 Niagara river, near La Salle. He states 

 that some men in the vicinity are persis- 

 tently and continually using a seine, and 

 that he had been a witness to it. I asked 

 him whether he had any other witnesses, 

 and he replied that he had not; but that 

 he owned a cottage commanding a view 

 of the dip and that if a protector would 

 conceal himself therein he would doubt- 

 less in a short time be able to obtain the 

 necessary evidence and catch the men in 

 the act. 



If I remember correctly you told me you 

 were going to send a man here this spring 

 who was an adept, and that you would 

 have him call on me. It seems to me that 

 would be a first class case for him to begin 

 with. Yours truly, 



Thomas C. Welch. 



State of New York, Fisheries, Game 

 and Forest Commission. 



Albany N. Y., April 11, 1899. 

 Mr. T. C. Welch, 



Buffalo, N. Y. 

 Dear Sir: — Am in receipt of yours of the 

 10th, giving information as to what you 

 recently learned from a prominent person 

 owning property on Niagara river, near 

 La Salle. One of the Protectors that I 

 had in mind when talking with you I am 

 to meet in Syracuse Thursday of this 

 week, and after he has completed a cer- 

 tain amount of detective work that he 

 has been called to do, will have an under- 

 standing with him about calling on you 

 and trying to adopt some plan of action 

 to break up illegal fishing along the river. 

 Yours truly, 



J. W. Pond, 

 Chief Protector. 



Buffalo, April nth, 1899. 

 Mr. C. F. Witmer, 



Williamsville, N. Y. 

 Dear Sir: — I inclose herewith copy let- 

 ter received from Chief Protector Pond, 

 regarding the matter of which you spoke 

 to me. It explains itself. When the man 

 gets here I will communicate with you. 

 Yours truly, 



Thomas Cary Welch. 



Williamsville, N. Y., Dec. 16th, 1899. 

 Messrs Cary & Welch, 

 Buffalo, N. Y. 

 Dear Sirs: — Last spring I called at your 

 office and made complaint of illegal fish- 

 ing being done by Mang and Perry at La 

 Salle. Soon after you sent me a letter to 

 your Mr. Welch from J. W. Pond. Chief 

 Protector at Albany, N. Y. 4 in which he 



