FROM THE GAME FIELDS, 



41 



civilian scouts or duly authorized enlisted 

 men. 



I do not believe the protection of game 

 requires, at present at least, the killing of 

 any bears; the number of deer and elk 

 destroyed by them is, as suggested by Mr. 

 Merriam, insignificant. It has been re- 

 ported that young buffalo have been killed 

 by them, but I can find no evidence as to 

 this. I shall make every effort to investi- 

 gate this when the bears come out in the 

 spring, and if such is found to be the case 

 it may be necessary to destroy some of 

 them in the buffalo country; but I seri- 

 ously doubt if the decrease of the buffalo 

 is due at all to the destruction of their 

 young by bears. 



During the summer and fall the bears live 

 about the hotels, and have given much 

 trouble at these places by breaking doors, 

 windows, etc., in search of food; in some 

 cases it may be necessary to kill one or 2 

 of these, or preferably to capture them, if 

 possible, and send to some zoological 

 park, where they are wanted. Any such 

 contemplated action would be referred to 

 the Interior Department for approval be- 

 fore being executed, and no course would 

 be recommended that would tend to dimin- 

 ish any of the species which find in the 

 National Park the only safe refuge. 

 Oscar J. Brown, 

 Captain 1st Cavalry, 

 Acting Superintendent. 



SHOULD BOYS USE RIFLES? 



Chicago, 111. 

 Editor Recreation: 



I should like to know your views on 

 •the subject of the following clipping from 

 the Chicago Times-Herald: 



Gladstone, Mich., April 7. — The mvstery surround- 

 ing the fatal shooting of Miss Lydia Barstar. the school 

 teacher at Isabella, yesterday, was partly cleared up 

 by the arrest of 2 bovs late last night. They were 

 hunting crows in the vicinity of the schoolhouse. and it 

 is supposed that a bullet from the rifle of one of them 

 crashed through the window and killed the teacher at 

 her desk. 



The names of the boys have not been learned. 

 Whether the shooting was accidental or intentional is 

 not known, but the boys are in jail at Escanaba pend- 

 ing an investigation by the prosecuting: attorney, it 

 being alleged that one of them had a grudge against 

 the teacher. 



The tragedy recorded is but one of many 

 that have been traced to the small boy and 

 his cheap rifle or pistol. I believe that the 

 promiscuous sale of cheap .22 caliber rifles 

 and pistols to small boys should be pro- 

 hibited in every State in this country. In 

 fact, I am strongly in favor of laws which 

 will forbid the use of firearms by persons 

 under 15 years of age, except in shooting 

 galleries and other well enclosed buildings. 

 The makers of the cheap little rifles and 

 pistols which, in the hands of small boys, 

 cause constant trouble to their users and 

 the general public, advertise the weapons 

 as especially adapted to boys' use. The re- 



sult is that every small boy who reads 

 these advertisements begs his parents to 

 present him with a rifle. In Illinois there 

 is a law which prohibits the sale of fire- 

 arms to minors, but it is not enforced. At 

 least, it does not prevent the killing of 

 thousands of song birds every year by 

 small boys armed with cheap .22 caliber 

 rifles, to say nothing of the chickens, 

 pigeons, cats, favorite dogs and human 

 beings who frequently follow the birds. 

 This law should be amended to include in 

 its prohibition the use of firearms in the 

 open by all persons not above 15 years of 

 age, and if you think as I do regarding 

 the subject, steps will be taken to secure 

 such an amendment. 



Louis Lehle. 



ANSWER. 



The problem is a serious one and has 

 been for 100 years past. I agree with you 

 as far as the tough boy is concerned, but 

 not as to the other class. I know hun- 

 dreds, yes, thousands, of boys under 15 

 years old who are genuine sportsmen of 

 the highest type. None of these I refer 

 to are game hogs or fish hogs in any 

 sense of the word. Furthermore, they do 

 not destroy the song or insectivorous birds 

 or their nests. They exert a wholesome in- 

 fluence on the reckless boys, who are in- 

 clined to create havoc in that way. These 

 boys will in time be the representative 

 sportsmen and naturalists of this country, 

 and it would be entirely wrong to deprive 

 them of their fun now that they have time 

 to enjoy it. In future years most of them 

 will, like the rest of us, be tied down to 

 desks, except for a few days each year. 

 By all means let them enjoy life to the 

 fullest extent, but in a legitimate way, 

 while they are young. I am in favor of a 

 law to prohibit the tough boys from own- 

 ing or using guns, but it would be impos- 

 sible to discriminate, as a rule. The ques- 

 tion can be solved by enforcing our game 

 and bird laws as they exist in most States. 

 If a man or a boy kills a bird or an animal 

 or takes a fish in close season he should 

 be prosecuted. If he kills a song or in- 

 sectivorous bird at any time of the year, 

 except for absolute scientific use, he 

 should be prosecuted, regardless of his age. 

 If he kills more than a reasonable number 

 of game birds or animals or takes more 

 than a reasonable number of fish in a day 

 he should be prosecuted, old or young. 

 All the States that have not already 

 enacted laws limiting the bag of game or 

 fish should do so at once. Then those laws 

 should be enforced. There are thousands 

 of boys who would help us to enforce 

 them, not only as against other boys, but 

 as against men who have less regard for 

 decency than my army of boy friends have. 

 We have created a junior clnss member- 

 ship in the League of American Sports- 



