THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN SPORTSMEN. 



OFFICERS OF THE L. A. S. 



President, G. O. Shields, 19 W. 24th St., 

 New York. 



1st Vice-President, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, 

 Washington, D.C. 



2d Vice-President, E. S. Thompson, 144 

 Fifth Ave., New York. 



3d Vice-President, Hon. W. A. Richards, 

 Cheyenne, Wyo. 



4th Vice-President, W. T: Hornaday, 69 

 Wall St., New York. 



5th Vice-President, A. A. Anderson, 93 

 Fifth Ave., New York. 



Secretary, Arthur F. Rice, 155 Pennington 

 Ave., Passaic, N. J. 



Treasttrer, F. S. Hyatt, National Exchange 

 Bank, 90 West Broadway, New York. 



NEW YORK DIVISION. 

 A. E. Pond, Chief Warden, 124 5th Ave., 

 New York City. 



PENNSYLVANIA DIVISION. 

 Hon. J. O. H. Denny, Chief Warden, 

 Ligonier. 



NEW JERSEY DIVISION. 

 T. H. Keller, Chief Warden, Plainfield. 



MASSACHUSETTS DIVISION. 

 Dr. Heber Bishop, Chief Warden, No. 4 

 Post Office Square, Boston. 



CONNECTICUT DIVISION. 

 Ralph B. Lawton, Chief Warden, Bridge- 

 port. 



MICHIGAN DIVISION. 



J. Elmer. Pratt, Chief Warden, Grand 

 Rapids. 



MONTANA DIVISION. 



Dr. E. F. Coyningham, Chief Warden, 

 Butte City. 



WASHINGTON DIVISION. 

 J. S. Stangroom, Chief Warden, New 

 Whatcom. 



Applications for membership and orders 

 for badges should be. addressed to Arthur 

 F. Rice, Secretary, 19 W. 2\th St., New 

 York. 



HE CONVICTS HIMSELF. 

 J. Elmer Pratt, Chief Warden of the Mich- 

 igan Division, sends me a letter from a 

 friend of his and a copy of his reply to same, 

 portions of which are appended. I wish I 

 were at liberty to give the name of Mr. 

 Pratt's friend, but I am not. He writes thus: 



" I am one of the same party this year to 

 go North and if I can kill as good a bag this 

 year as last, I am going to do it, notwith- 

 standing the monthly roasts I see in Rec- 

 reation. I abide by the laws and never kill 



game out of season and when I have a 

 chance to make a killing I am going to do 

 it. It is not human nature not to. I am no 

 game hog, but I'll kill birds or anything else 

 just as long as they come my way. Take 

 some housed-up office man that has but one 

 chance in a season to go out shooting. He'd 

 be a darn fool to quit on 8 or 10 birds when 

 he could get a decent coat full by staying 

 where they were. 



" There is one thing I should like to see 

 and that is a universal law prohibiting spring 

 duck shooting. We have no show at them, 

 so long as Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and 

 Minnesota are allowed to kill. 



" Another thing: I should like for Mr. 

 Osborn to refuse absolutely all ' Scientific 

 Purposes ' permits, as piles and piles of 

 ducks were killed in that way last spring. 

 There were 6 of these permits here that I 

 know of; one for purposes of photographic 

 experiments and the privilege of killing 5 

 ducks. Another was issued to the worst 

 market hunter in this county, and he was al- 

 lowed 4. Guess he killed his limit all right. 

 The holders of all these permits were my 

 friends, too, so I didn't feel quite like mak- 

 ing a noise about it. The way quails are 

 slaughtered in the late summer and early fall, 

 here, is shameful and something should be 

 done. 



" As I said before, I believe in game pro- 

 tection, but do not agree with you and Rec- 

 reation on every point; for when a man 

 advocates a bag of 8 or 9 birds I make up my 

 mind they are scarce in his locality; or that 

 he can't hit a flock of barns when he does 

 find them. 



" This editor of Recreation lives where 

 he probably does not see a patch of brush or 

 a good duck marsh only about once in years, 

 and goes on to roast men, gentlemen and 

 everyone else, simply because they go out 

 and have the ability to kill a decent mess of 

 birds. The epithets he uses so freely are a 

 good indication that he has sand, but I don't 

 like his style. I should like to see him roast 

 game hogs in a decent way, but he uses 

 names too freely. A man shouldn't pot 

 game in any shape, manner, or form, but 

 when he can make clean, wing kills and do 

 it all day, he is the man I like to go out with. 

 Why, one of Coquina's game protective bags 

 wouldn't stink the pan. My subscription to 

 his magazine expires this month and I shall 

 not renew; for I like to read something be- 

 sides the roasts he gets up, of kills made by 

 different persons. 



" I see by current issue that you are State 

 Warden of the L. A. S. Well, I am heartily 

 in favor of game protection; that is, strict 

 enforcement of our present laws, which are 

 all right with one exception; that is, quail 



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