M4 



RECREA TION. 



privileges extended by a property owner to 

 hunt game on his land, anyone has the right 

 to slaughter whatever game comes his way 

 and then dispose of it on the market. 



I enclose a clipping from the Savannah 

 " Evening Press," of December 8th, in which 

 is extolled the ravages of a few game hogs, 

 on a recent hunting tfip on Ossabaw Island 

 near this place. This island, and many other 

 small ones like it, near here, are literally alive 

 with deer and other game, and large num- 

 bers of deer are killed there annually, by 

 the same herd of game hogs. The sports- 

 men here (and unfortunately there are but 

 few of them) some 3 or 4 years ago had 

 enacted a law prohibiting the killing of deer 

 from January 1st to November 15th, thus 

 allowing only from November 15th to Jan- 

 uary 1st to hunt them. As a result these 

 game hogs kill as many deer as possible in 

 that time. There is a large field here for the 

 League of American Sportsmen. If some- 

 thing is not done to check the game hogs, 

 the next few years will see the last of deer 

 hereabouts. If I am not mistaken Ossabaw 

 Island is the property of the United States. 



J. D. H. 



Why don't you join the League and induce 

 your friends to do so? You know the con- 

 stitution provides that as soon as we have 

 25 members in any state we shall organize 

 them into a division, turn back 60 per cent, 

 of the membership fees into their own hands 

 and put them to work in the interest of game 

 protection on their own ground. The first 

 thing the Chief Warden (President) of a 

 state division has to do is to appoint local 

 wardens in each county. These are offered 

 a reward of $10 for each conviction secured 

 for the violation of a game or fish law. It 

 thus becomes the duty of every member of 

 the League to look out for and report to the 

 local warden or other officer of the League, 

 any infraction of game laws which he may 

 hear of. 



This is the most effective machine for the 

 enforcement of game laws that has ever been 

 devised by sportsmen and it is doing good 

 work in the states where divisions have been 

 organized. If all sportsmen would join the 

 League as they should, enable us to organize 

 divisions in all the states and to build the 

 membership of the League to such propor- 

 tions as it should have reached ere this, we 

 would within the coming year be able to 

 cover every section of the entire United 

 States so effectively that it would be well 

 nigh impossible for any man to kill game or 

 take fish unlawfully without being detected 

 and prosecuted. 



The national body can do little toward en- 

 forcing game laws in any state where we 

 have not a local organization. It is strange 

 that J. D. H. should invoke the aid of the 

 league to protect the game in his state, with- 

 out himself first having become a member 

 and thus aiding toward the formation of a 

 local branch. — Editor. 



WE ARE HUNTING BIG GAME. 



As soon as the legal season for selling 

 venison closed I made a tour of the big 

 hotels and restaurants up town and tried to 

 buy some. In only one case did I succeed. 

 This was at Delmonico's. Then I wrote Mr. 

 C. C. Delmonico as follows: 



Dear Sir: On December 5th, I went to 

 your cafe at Broadway and 25th Street, with 

 a friend, asked the waiter if they had any 

 venison and he said, " Yes." We ordered a 

 venison steak and it was served to us. We 

 ate a part of it, brought the rest away, and 

 it has been carefully preserved. 



As you are doubtless aware, the legal sea- 

 son for killing deer in this state closes on 

 November 15th, and the legal season for 

 selling or having same in possession on 

 November 20th. 



The League of American Sportsmen was 

 organized for the purpose of enforcing the 

 game laws and we are looking for violations 

 thereof all the time. We do not wish to in- 

 volve anyone in expensive or unpleasant 

 litigation, but we' do insist that the game 

 and fish laws of the state shall be observed. 

 The penalty for selling venison out of season 

 is $ico. In addition to this, the offender may 

 be prosecuted in a police court and fined 

 for committing a misdemeanor. 



I do not believe a prominent house like 

 yours would willfully and deliberately violate 

 a game law, at this late day, and should like 

 an assurance from you that you will not here- 

 after allow game of any kind to be served 

 on your tables illegally. If you will give me 

 this in writing, I shall not prosecute you. 

 Otherwise it will be my duty to proceed 

 against you. 



Please understand this is not a threat. It 

 is simply the discharge of a duty with which 

 I am charged under the Constitution and 

 By-Laws of the L. A. S. 



Awaiting your kind reply, I am. 



Yours truly, G. O. Shields, 

 President. 



In due time I received the following reply: 



Delmonico's, Office Beaver and South 

 William Streets, City. 



December 21, 1898. 

 Dear Sir: Replying to your letter dated 

 15th inst., to our Mr. C. C. Delmonico, 

 would say: We do not intend to act contrary 

 to the law, and will see that no repetition of 

 the occurrence you refer to takes place in 

 the future. Yours respectfully, 



Delmonico's, 

 J. C. Hill, Atty. 



" Peace hath her victories 

 1 No less renowned than war." 



A WORD FOR THE L. A. S. 



I'EMIGEWASSET. 



A clear-headed, observant man cannot fail 

 to be impressed with the recent growth of a 

 national sentiment which favors the protec- 



