446 



RECREATION. 



the game laws. I also enclose copies of my 

 annual report. This expresses the sentiments 

 of all the progressive sportsmen in the 

 whole country, North and South. Unfor- 

 tunately, there are thousands who do not 

 agree with us in this, but we hope they 

 will all get into line. 



Following is a copy of the circular en- 

 closed : 



To Texas Sportsmen. 



As you are doubtless aware, the Eastern mar- 

 ket for wild ducks, geese and brant has been 

 largely supplied for the past 50 years from Car- 

 rituck Sound, N. C. ; but the market hunters have 

 finally succeeded in practically exterminating the 

 great clouds of wild fowl that formerly wintered 

 there. These vandals are now looking for new 

 fields to conquer. I am told that 2 of the most 

 notorious butchers of the lot have gone to Corpus 

 Christi, or Aransas. Pass, to continue their slaugh- 

 ter. They have prospected the coast, have found 

 the place they were looking for, and have writ- 

 ten back to certain of their kind in North Car- 

 olina to come to Texas at once. They report 

 millions of ducks there, and say the Texas shoot- 

 ers know little about how to slaughter or ship 

 them; so the thoroughbreds from Carrituck sound 

 are likely to have a walk-over. Strange to say, 

 your State has no law prohibiting the exporta- 

 tion of water fowl, though you have a non-ex- 

 port law on some other kinds of game. 



Do you not now think it time to have your laws 

 amended, so as to prohibit the shipment out of 

 your State of all wild fowl? If not, your coast 

 will soon be devastated as that of North Caro- 

 lina has been. 



My information comes from one of the old-time 

 market shooters in North Carolina, whom I have 

 known for many years. He has long been sick 

 of his job, and has revolted at the slaughter that 

 has been carried on there. He would have quit 

 it long ago, but that he knew his neighbors would 

 keep on until the finish, and he has argued that 

 he might as well have his share of the blood 

 money. 



I have no personal interest in preserving the 

 game in your State, or anywhere else; for I don't 

 expect ever to do another day's shooting. I am 

 doing this work solely because I love the birds 

 and the wild animals, and because I dread to see 

 them exterminated. 



Now, why don't you and all your friends join 

 the L. A. S. and help me in this work? 



G. O. Shields, President. 



CLEVER DETECTIVE WORK OF A GAME 



WARDEN. 



(Denver Post, Aug. 16.) 



Pretending to be an agent of the Philadelphia 

 Zoological Gardens, Game Warden Harris has 

 just completed a piece of detective work that 

 resulted in the confiscation of buffalo bones and 

 hides valued at $5,000. The men charged with 

 wantonly killing all but 2 of the last herd of 

 buffaloes in Colorado are under arrest, and 

 Warden Harris intends to prosecute the case vig- 

 orously. Yesterday at Buena Vista he caused 

 the arrest of F. W. Bartlett, who is accused of 

 doing the killing; C. Bartlett, his brother, a tax- 

 idermist, who had the remains in his possession, 

 and C. E. Webb, another taxidermist, who is said 

 to be implicated in the matter. The men, being 

 confronted by the sheriff and an overwhelming 

 force of game wardens, submitted to arrest with- 

 out resistance, merely saying the buffaloes had 

 been killed 6 years ago. 



For years it has been known that a herd of 

 buffaloes were roaming in Lost Park, and the 

 various game wardens guarded them as carefully 

 as possible. The herd gradually dwindled, how- 



ever, and when Warden Harris came into office 

 he was told that it consisted of but 3 cows and 2 

 bulls. He urged his deputies to make frequent 

 reports on the whereabouts and the condition of 

 the buffaloes. The first report he received after 

 issuing these instructions was to the effect that 

 one of the bulls had died and another had been 

 killed. 



Warden Harris set immediately about investi- 

 gating the matter. After much difficulty and vol- 

 uminous correspondence he succeeded in getting 

 the Bartletts to admit they could obtain some 

 valuable specimens. He wrote them from various 

 cities and always described himself as an agent 

 of the Philadelphia gardens. At length the tax- 

 idermists agreed to sell the skeletons and hides 

 of 3 buffaloes for $3,000. They sent Harris an 

 accurate description of the specimens. One was 

 a magnificent bull, standing 5 feet 7 inches high; 

 another was a cow, 5 feet 2 inches in height, and 

 the third a calf. In their eagerness to get the 

 money the men admitted that the calf and cow 

 had been killed within the last year. 



Last Tuesday, Warden Harris, after notifying 

 his game wardens to meet him at Buena Vista, 

 set out for that place. As soon as he arrived 

 there he began personal negotiations with the tax- 

 idermists. He told them he would not buy until 

 he had the official taxidermists from the Phila- 

 delphia gardens see the specimens. After some 

 hesitation, the Buena Vista men agreed to let an- 

 other man beside Harris inspect the goods. Har- 

 ris explained he would have to wire to Denver 

 for his taxidermist, and this caused a delay of 24 

 hours. 



Yesterday the "taxidermist from Philadelphia" 

 arrived at Buena Vista. He was one of Harris's 

 game wardens. Another warden had told the 

 sheriff he was likely to be wanted, and that offi- 

 cer was on hand. 



The men were exceedingly cautious, however, 

 and said it was time for Harris to show he meant 

 business. Harris displayed a bank book and a 

 roll of bills, which seemed to represent several 

 thousand dollars. 



The Bartletts then took Harris and his "taxid- 

 ermist" to a rear building and showed the speci- 

 mens. They were getting nervous, and Harris 

 was drawing his money to pay for the specimens, 

 when the sheriff and the other game wardens broke 

 down the door and arrested C. Bartlett and C. E. 

 Webb. F. W. Bartlett was caught some distance 

 out of town later in the day. Game Warden 

 George B. Fravert of Leadville was Harris' prin- 

 cipal assistant. 



The minimum penalty for killing a buffalo is 2 

 years in the penitentiary, and heavy fines are also 

 discretionary. 



I am in receipt of a letter from 

 Game Commissioner Harris, in which he 

 says he intends to prosecute these buffalo 

 thieves to a finish. Every nature lover in 

 the land will wish him God speed. — 

 Editor. 



BIRDS INCREASING UNDER LACEY LAW. 



I note considerable increase in summer 

 ducks this year. Owing to the universal- 

 ly high tides, the ducks bred in thick 

 inaccessible swamps and marshes and but 

 few were killed. For the past 3 years this 

 fine bird has been decreasing rapidly, but 

 the favorable weather conditions this sea- 

 son have apparently given them a fresh 

 start. 



Three seasons ago feather hunters 

 stripped our beach of nearly all gulls and 

 shore birds, 60,000 skins being shipped 

 from our county alone. Fortunately the 



