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RECREA TION. 



New York, August 12, '98. 

 Manager The Antlers, 



Raquette Lake, N. Y. 



Dear Sir: I am informed by persons who 

 have lately stopped at your hotel that you 

 are serving venison on your table in close 

 season, and in violation of law. I am as- 

 tonished that the manager of a hotel which 

 caters to sportsrhen so conspicuously as 

 you do should be guilty of thus breaking 

 a law which is framed by and in the inter- 

 ests of sportsmen. I have taken measures 

 to obtain the necessary proofs against you, 

 and if successful shall swear out a warrant 

 against you and have you prosecuted. 



I might add that one of the men I quote 

 says he saw a saddle of venison at your hotel, 

 with the legs and feet on, so that he is posi- 

 tive it was venison. 



The League of American Sportsmen is, 

 as you will see by consulting the Consti- 

 tution and By-Laws, copy of which I en- 

 close, organized for the purpose of en- 

 forcing the game laws and of protecting 

 the game.. We intend to prosecute every 

 man we find violating these laws and 

 against whorfi we can get the necessary 

 proofs. 



I have deemed it only fair to give you 

 this frank and candid warning. We do not 

 wish to antagonize you or any other man, 

 but we do insist that the laws which are 

 made for the preservation of our game and 

 game fishes shall be obeyed. 



Yours truly, 

 G. O. Shields, President. 



Raquette Lake, N. Y., August 15, '98. 

 Mr. G. O. Shields: 



Sir: I am this day in receipt of a letter 

 signed by you, and I wish to tell you right 

 here you are no gentleman, nor are you a 

 sportsman in any sense. Whoever gave 

 you such information (which I very much 

 doubt) is a liar of the first order, and I ask 

 you to go on with your prosecution. I 

 also wish to say my ad. was put in your 

 sheet contrary to my orders in August, and 

 I take this opportunity to ask you who gave 

 you leave to publish it. I have spent more 

 years as a true sportsman than you can 

 ever hope to if you live to a hundred. 

 Yours, etc., 



C. H. Bennett. 



New York, August 17, '98. 

 Mr. C. H. Bennett, 



Raquette Lake, N. Y. 

 Dear Sir: Your letter of the 15th inst. 

 is not in any sense an answer to my letter. 

 to you. I wrote you as a gentleman. You 

 reply in the language of a blackguard. My 

 informant is a man who has spent a good 

 deal of time at your hotel, with his family, 

 and has paid you a large amount of money. 

 He said he did not care to figure person- 

 ally in this, for the reason that he expected 

 to return there. I have sent your letter to 



him and you may hear from him direct I 

 hope he may also consent, now, to make 

 an affidavit in this case. 



Yours truly, 

 G. O. Shields, President. 



Thus this case, like many a similar one, 

 fails because certain men dislike to go on 

 the stand and testify against a game law 

 violator. However, we shall watch The 

 Antlers next summer, and if we again hear 

 of game being served there in close season 

 we shall try to find a man who will be willing 

 to swear to the fact. — Editor. 



A TIMELY WARNING. 



Keene Valley, N. Y. 



Editor Recreation: I have been wonder- 

 ing for some time what the " League of 

 American Sportsmen " has accomplished, 

 beyond forming the society; whether it has 

 taken active measures to have any changes 

 made in the laws relative to game preserva- 

 tion in this or other States. 



At our convention, many changes were 

 suggested, and from the enthusiasm man- 

 ifested at that meeting, it seemed as if some- 

 thing practical would result. I am sure 

 some of the gentlemen who spoke were 

 very much in earnest. I have read Recrea- 

 tion thoroughly since the League was 

 formed, but have not seen in it, any plans 

 for the enactment of new laws, or for the 

 enforcement of those we have, unless I ex- 

 cept Mr. Pond's efforts for the appointment 

 of local game constables. In that matter I 

 may have appeared somewhat remiss myself. 

 I promised him to look about in this sec- 

 tion, and recommend some suitable person 

 to act in that capacity. I have looked and 

 have consulted with others, but have not 

 found any one willing to serve whom I be- 

 lieve would act faithfully. 



It is difficult to find, here in the Adiron- 

 dacks, any reliable man willing to take such 

 a position. They either have not the cour- 

 age, or dislike to inform of their acquaint- 

 ances. 



In this section, so far as I have been able 

 to judge, the laws relative to killing deer 

 illegally, have been generally observed. As 

 to the taking of small trout, I think the law 

 is violated all the time. The State Game 

 Warden has caught one or 2 violators, but 

 always some one not living in this section. 



There is great need that the sale of game 

 should be prohibited. It seems rather hard 

 to stop all sale of game in the cities, or in 

 the country either, to people who are un- 

 able to hunt or fish for themselves, and I 

 am not sure that such laws could be passed. 

 But the belief that such laws. are needed is 

 entertained, much to my surprise, by a great 

 number of people living in the country. In 

 this town there are 4 or 5 men who never 

 do an honest day's work, but who fish day 

 and night, and sell all they take to 'the 

 hotels, or cottages. Nearly all the money 



