388 



RECREATION. 



miles from this city. Kahler and Clements, 

 with 2 dogs, were in the stubble and were 

 seen to fire a number of shots, presumably 

 at prairie chickens, while Fink and Mc- 

 Grane remained with the team. Owing to 

 i the character of the country and general 

 I surface of the land Kroessin and Judd 

 were only able to approach to within about 

 half a mile of the hunters without being 

 discovered, as the team, with its 2 attend- 

 ants and sentinels had been left, accident- 

 ally, of course, on a high knoll. After wit- 

 nessing the shots, Kroessin and Judd drove 

 up and placed the outfit under arrest. The 

 24th of August complaint was made before 

 Peter Finton, village justice of Alden, 

 charging these 4 defendants with an at- 

 tempt to kill one prairie chicken, at the 

 time and place above referred to. They 

 were arrested and arraigned the same day, 

 pleaded not guilty, demanded a jury trial, 

 and the case was accordingly tried the 

 (27th of August. They employed 2 attor- 

 neys and fought the case stubbornly, but a 

 jury of 12 representative men found F. W. 

 'Kahler and Thomas Clements guilty. Fink 

 and McGrane, who had remained with the 

 team, were released. August 30th, pur- 

 suant to adjournment, the defendants Kah- 

 ler and Clements were again in court, to re- 

 ceive j'udgment. They were each sentenced 

 ^to pay a fine of $20 and one-half the costs 

 of prosecution, and in default of payment 

 to be imprisoned in the county jail of this 

 countv for the term of 30 days, or until 

 such fine and costs were paid. The costs 

 alone amounted to $71.06. They refused to 

 pay and were committed. The constable de- 

 livered them to the sheriff, who received 

 them about 1 P. M. Kahler, however, was 

 /permitted to visit his invalid wife before 

 I going behind the bars and somehow lost 

 jhis courage and concluded to appeal; al- 

 though it was his declared intention to go 

 to jail and seek a release by habeas corpus 

 proceedings. Clements went to jail, but 

 about 6 P. M. lost his courage and also ap- 

 pealed, rather than await the slow course of 

 habeas corpus proceedings. The case is 

 now pending in the district court. 



This case has done more for game protec- 

 tion throughout this section than any case of 

 its kind yet brought to my notice. The 

 defendants received no comfort or conso- 

 lation whatever from anyone outside their 

 immediate friends, and the universal ver- 

 dict is that it served them right. Kahler 

 and Clements are saloon keepers and men 

 of means, and the former had long been 

 suspected of setting tLe game law at de- 

 fiance. The case is unique in several re- 

 spects, especially because the alleged of- 

 fense was committed on land owned and 

 occupied by the father of one of the parties, 

 Mr. Fink, and because they were convicted 

 of an attempt to violate the game law. At 



the request of the game warden and the 

 county attorney I took charge of the case 

 from the beginning, and in the end had 

 the satisfaction of knowing that in this 

 county, at least, the game laws can be en- 

 forced. I should have stated in the fore- 

 going report that Warden Kroessin cap- 

 tured one gun, which was confiscated by the 

 State Board of Game and Fish Commis- 

 sioners, but he was unable to secure the 

 dogs and other guns. 



Taken all in all it was an expensive piece 

 of sport,, and no self-respecting person, hav- 

 ing regard for his reputation and his purse, 

 will care to duplicate it. 



Henry N. Morgan, Rear Warden Albert 

 Lee Chapter. 



MICHIGAN. 



I am enclosing a letter and a report from 

 our Mate Department, which will give you 

 an idea of the amount of work being done. 

 As Mr. Morse says, sentiment in many 

 localities has been so changed, thanks to 

 Recreation and the L. A. S., that a viola* 

 tion is almost sure to be followed by con- 

 viction. My work has been along these 

 lines. I have used all the influence I have 

 had to help the State Department. This is 

 an already well organized machine, and I 

 have let them have the credit for every- 

 thing. They are entitled to it, but they 

 know our organization will fight them, too 

 quickly, if they don't do the right thing. 



Through Mr. ^.iorse I have secured the 

 appointment of several L. A. S. men as 

 deputy State wardens. Many of them are 

 not known amon? their best friends to be 

 wardens, and will not be so known until 

 the riar-t time comes. Then some violator 

 will be made an example, and a moral 

 lesson taught, which has a great influence 

 in our cause. Our laws as they now stand 

 can be enforced, and they consequently meet 

 the approval of those who are employed 

 to enforce them. 



The first year I was a member of the 

 League, the State game department had 

 no use for us. I Overcame that feeling, 

 thanks to you and Recreation, and soon 

 let the politicians know what we were after, 

 and what we were going to get. We now 

 work in perfect harmony and are accom- 

 plishing something. My aim has been to 

 get good men appointed and then support 

 them. In return I am consulted and know 

 what is going on. They desire this support 

 and give something in return for it. 



We have good laws, great improvements 

 over the old ones. We are enforcing them; 

 we are educating people to help enforce 

 them. The men we are especially after are 

 the game hogs and market hunters, the 

 worst class of violators in the world. With 

 our markets on all protected game closed 

 at all times, and the deer limit reduced to 

 3, transportation out of the State prohibited, 



