THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN SPORTSMEN. 



3*3 



I wrote the manager of that house, enclos- 

 ing copies of the correspondence with Del- 

 monico and Fleuret, and asking him to 

 pledge me, as the managers of these houses 

 had done. I said I had noticed the state- 

 ment on the menu card that the venison 

 had been imported, but that that fact would 

 constitute no defense under the law; that 

 the statute simply prohibits the selling or 

 having in possession of venison, except 

 from August 15th to November 20th, and 

 makes no distinction as to where venison 

 may come from. In due time I received a 

 letter from Mr. Baumann, Manager of the 

 Holland House, which reads as follows: 



It is needless to state that a house of our 

 reputation and standing never intends to 

 violate any game law. 



This is not as explicit as it should have 

 been, but I dined at the Holland House 

 again, soon after receiving this letter, and 

 the venison item had been taken from the 

 bill of fare. 



On February 10th, I went to the Hotel 

 Savoy and found Egyptian quail listed on 

 the bill of fare. I ordered one and it was 

 served to me. It was an American bird, 

 and on my return I wrote the manager of 

 the house to that effect. I also called his 

 attention to the fact that even if the birds 

 were imported that would make no differ- 

 ence, as the law prohibiting the sale of 

 quail at this time of the year, makes no 

 exception in favor of imported birds. 



On February 13th, the manager of the 

 Hotel Savoy wrote me as follows: 



Your letter at hand. The Hotel Savoy 

 regrets the circumstances that occasioned 

 your letter, and gives its assurance of intent 

 to comply with the law, and of care that 

 the law will be adhered to. 



It begs to present its acknowledgments 

 for the courteous tone of your letter. 



Early in December. Mr. Arthur F. Rice, 

 Secretary of the League, was notified that 

 a certain meat dealer in Washington mar- 

 ket was exposing caribou for sale. Mr. 

 Rice called there, found a carcass of caribou 

 on exhibition and demanded of the man- 

 ager of the stall that it should be taken 

 down and not again offered for sale. The 

 manager claimed he was not violating the 

 law; that there was no law against selling 

 caribou meat in this State; that he had 

 consulted a certain authority on this sub- 

 ject and had been advised to this effect. 

 Mr. Rice very properly had a copy of the 

 game law in his pocket, a section of which 

 he read to this man. When the man saw 

 he had been misinformed, he plead guilty, 

 took the carcass down, put it away and as- 

 sured Mr. Rice it would not be offered for 

 sale again; but that it would be destroyed. 



A few days ago Mr. Rice learned that 



another dealer in the same market was 

 offering venison for sale. He called there 

 and found a carcass of it hanging up. He 

 saw at once that this was not an American 

 deer. He called on the dealer for an ex- 

 planation and was shown a steamship bill 

 of lading for 19 carcasses of venison, from 

 Havre, France. It is believed at this 

 writing that it is unlawful to offer even im- 

 ported venison for sale here, and this ques- 

 tion is now being investigated by Attorney 

 Seymour. As soon as we learn the exact 

 status of the law on this point, we shall 

 proceed against this dealer, if we find he 

 is violating the State law. 



Another important work which the 

 League is doing is this: It has secured 

 from the Secretaries of the States of Wis- 

 consin, Michigan and Minnesota lists of 

 the names and addresses of the Legislatures 

 of these States, and I am now engaged in 

 writing a personal letter to each of these 

 360 men, a copy of which letter is ap- 

 pended hereto and made part of this report. 

 It is hoped a considerable number of these 

 law makers may be induced to join the 

 League and aid us in our work. We hope 

 by this means to show them the impor- 

 tance and the need of prompt action in 

 order to save the game and the fishes, 

 song and insectivorous birds and the for- 

 ests of their respective States. 



We are also pushing the missionary work 

 of the League into the Southern States as 

 rapidly as our funds will permit. 



Your President and Chief Warden Pond 

 were chosen by the Executive Committee 

 of the League to represent it in the National 

 Convention of the State Fish and Forestry 

 League, which was held in Syracuse De- 

 cember 8th. We had several opportunities 

 there of making known to the delegates in 

 that Convention the nature and objects of 

 the L. A. S., which were heartily approved. 

 I personally had the honor of introducing 

 this resolution: 



Resolved: That the Law Committee be 

 instructed to ask for an amendment to the 

 present game law prohibiting the sale of 

 ruffed grouse, woodcock, quail and brook 

 trout at all times. 



This resolution was greeted with a 

 storm of opposition. Several men claimed 

 the floor at once in order to talk against 

 it, and each in turn was recognized and did 

 oppose it. Friends of the measure, how- 

 ever, set out to win these men to it, and 

 did so, one by one. When the Convention 

 finally voted on the resolution there was 

 only one voice against it. 



That the L. A. S. is not to be confined in 

 its work to the United States is shown by 

 the fact that we have already 16 members 

 in Canada. Among these are some oi the 



