42 



RECREATION. 



men and have fixed the membership fee 

 for boys under 15 years of age at 25 cents. 

 I wish all the thousands of boys who read 

 Recreation could be induced to join the 

 League as junior members. Many of 

 them have done so already, and the others 

 will all do so in time. A philosopher once 

 said, "Give me the boys, and you take the 

 men, and in 20 years I will rule the world." 

 I second the motion. — Editor. 



HOW IT WORKS. 



Waterlily, N. C. 

 Editor Recreation : 



I cannot resist the temptation to tell 

 Recreation readers how the crusade 

 against feather hunting operates on the 

 hunting ground. 



On April 1st the pick of our gunners 

 here left for the Pamlico, to shoot gulls 

 and beach birds for the milliners. Ducking 

 was over here, and the boys wanted some- 

 thing to do. 



Yesterday about 18 came back and no 

 more birds will be shot this season, for 

 feathers, in our section of North Carolina. 

 I asked the boys how it was they quit so 

 early. Last year they shot all summer 

 and took 60,000 birds off from our beach. 

 They told me they had been advised by 

 the New York house, for whom they were 

 shooting, that a law had been passed pro- 

 hibiting feathers from being worn or han- 

 dled. 



I doubt this, but think that, owing to the 

 determined efforts of the L. A. S. and 

 Recreation, the wholesale houses are 

 frightened and are calling in the gunners, 

 with a view of keeping the public eye off 

 from their business. Yes, Coquina, you 

 have saved thousands of birds here this 

 year. 



If the public could once realize the mis- 

 chief these houses are doing by putting a 

 price on feathers, their business would be 

 doomed. To give some idea of the de- 

 struction caused by feather hunting, I will 

 say that 5 gunners killed over 300 birds 

 in one afternoon. This is no pipe dream, 

 like many stories about large bags, but a 

 fact ; and it was not c , anted much of a 

 day's work, either. 



The whole future of our game and birds 

 lies in the large cities. If the market for 

 game in New York, Boston, Chicago, 

 Philadelphia and Baltimore could be cut 

 off, the occupation of the market gunner 

 would be gone and birds would at least 

 hold their own. Local game laws arc of 

 little value. Witness our fish law, right 

 here in this county. Drag-net fishermen 

 must stop April Tst. Last year some 

 genius discovered this did not apply to 

 nonnd nets, and as a result the Sound is 

 full of pounds, that fish all summer and 

 destroy 3 times as many fish as the drag 



netters would if allowed to continue. If 

 will probably be at least 2 or 3 years 

 before we can have the law amended to 

 disqualify pound nets. If the markets 

 were properly governed, there would be 

 no occasion for game laws or fish laws ; 

 as the violations of individuals are com- 

 paratively insignificant. The cheap air 

 gun is responsible for the death of more 

 song birds than any other weapon, and it 

 should be a criminal offence to have one 

 in possession. 



There should be comparatively little dif- 

 ficulty in abolishing the sale of game and 

 feathers. These are not bought by the 

 great mass of people. They can not afford 

 them. It is only the wealthy people who 

 create this demand and therefore there 

 should be little opposition from the masses. 

 I am aware our wealthy classes, as a rule, 

 have less time and are harder worked than 

 the poorer; yet their large preserves and 

 sporting clubs should furnish them suf- 

 ficient game for their own consumption, 

 without compelling them to go to market 

 and pay fancy prices for it. 



Don't blame the market hunter, but the 

 buyer. The market hunter gets his living 

 the easiest way for him. If there were no 

 buyer he would have to find another way. 

 Don't be too hard on the game hog. He 

 generally kills more in his imagination 

 than anywhere else. Besides, he can be 

 educated out of it. Never, however, give 

 up the fight against the market that is the 

 root of the entire matter. 



A. S. Doane. 



ANSWER. 



This was written before the passage of 

 the Lacey bill and the Hallock bill. These 

 are now in force and so the plumage deal- 

 ers, must look for other employment. 



Tditor. 



A GOOD PLACE TO REST. 



Duane, N. Y. 

 Editor Recreation : 



"I have found a perfect paradise!" This 

 was the greeting my friend the doctor gave 

 me at Malone, in 1891, as I brought my 

 family into the Adirondacks for the sum- 

 mer. The doctor had gone before, pros- 

 pecting, and had found the Hotel Ayers, 

 on Lake Duane, 12 miles from Malone. We 

 came here that summer and have come 

 every year since. 



As I write, the lake lies shimmering un- 

 der the rays of the setting sun, while the 

 leafless branches of the birch and maple, 

 and the evergreen of the spruce and bal- 

 sam are reflected in the mirror-like surface 

 of the lake, a scene of transcendent beauty. 



And if so beautiful in the early spring 

 what, you ma v ask, must it be when the 

 woods are in full leaf and the gentle breezes 

 of summer waft the woodv odors from the 



