148 



RECREATION. 



getting it through ; but they have had no 

 such chance as yet, and may not have. 

 Furthermore you have gone off half-cocked 

 about the watch business, and about claim- 

 ing all the glory due on account of the 

 Lacey bill. When the bill becomes a law 

 it will be all right for sportsmen to give 

 Mr. Lacey a watch, and incidentally to 

 boom the L. A. S., yourself and your maga- 

 zine ; but don't be in a hurry. Don't count 

 your chickens before they are hatched. 

 And so, friend Shields, you see that, in 

 the light of the facts your congratulations 

 to the L. A. S. are premature. In other 

 words you have gone off half-cocked. 



Yours, etc., Chas. S. Wheeler. 



To which I replied : 



I would advise you to go over to the 

 capitol building and ask Mr. Lacey 

 whether or not his bill has passed the 

 Senate. If you are not willing to believe 

 what he says about it go to the document 

 clerk of the Senate and ask him whether it 

 has passed that body. If still sceptical you 

 might go to the White House and ask the 

 President's private secretary whether the 

 bill has passed, and whether the President 

 has signed it. You might also inquire 

 what was done with the pen with which the 

 bill was signed. As a matter of fact it is 

 on my desk now ; but probably you will 

 still not be satisfied when the secretary 

 tells you he has sent me the pen. So you 

 might go next to the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment and ask Doctor Palmer whether the 

 bill has passed and been signed by the 

 President. He knows all about it. 



It is sometimes necessary to go away 

 from home to learn the news. 



ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW. 



I have received yours of recent date, en- 

 closing a sheet which states that the 

 League did it. This passage of the 

 Lacey bill and signing by our President is 

 the greatest achievement ever accom- 

 plished in game protection. 



The first bill filed to amend the Inter- 

 state Commerce law was drawn by Hon. 

 F. S. Baird, attorney for the National 

 Game, Bird and Fish Protection Associa- 

 tion, and was introduced in the House 

 February 7, 1896, by Hon. Geo. E. White, 

 of Chicago, H. R. 5729. For want of time 

 it failed to pass. The next bill for same 

 object was introduced by Senator Teller, 

 Senate Bill 2329, July 2, 1897. The next 

 bill was introduced January 18, 1898, by 

 Senator Teller, Senate Bill 3257, to cor- 

 rect his former bill. The last bill was 

 H. R. 6634, by Congressman Lacey, intro- 

 duced January 17, 1900, which has passed. 



This is a brief history of the movement 

 made to restrict traffic in game, com- 

 menced by a national association and fin- 

 ished by the L. A. S. This fact should give 



the League great prestige and should in- 

 duce every sportsman in American to at 

 once join it. The enforcement of this ex- 

 cellent and much needed law will give em- 

 ployment to every member of the League 

 in every part of America. Another sug- 

 gestion is, let those who read Recreation 

 send it to someone who may also read it, 

 and thus do missionary work, which is 

 sure to bear good fruit. 



M. R. Bortree, Chicago. 



A GRACEFUL RECOGNITION. 



The Milliners' Association, of this city, 

 has surrendered gracefully and almost un- 

 conditionally. At a recent meeting it 

 adopted this agreement : 



The undersigned importers, manufac- 

 turers and dealers in raw and made fancy 

 feathers do hereby pledge themselves not 

 to kill or buy any more North American 

 birds from hunters or from such people as 

 make it a business to destroy North 

 American birds. However, we shall con- 

 tinue to manufacture, sell and dispose of 

 all such North American birds and their 

 plumage, as we now have on hand, and 

 shall so continue until Congress shall 

 make laws which shall protect all North 

 American birds. . . . This does not 

 refer to plumage or skins of barnyard 

 fowl, edible birds or game birds killed in 

 their season, nor to the birds or plumage 

 of foreign countries, not of the species 

 of North American birds. Furthermore, 

 it shall be our solemn duty not to assist 

 any dealer or person to dispose of any 

 North American birds killed after this 

 date. 



Any member of this organization vio- 

 lating this pledge, _ upon conviction shall 

 be fined the sum of $500 for each offense. 



This action is due entirely to the work 

 of the Audubon Societies, the Ornithologi- 

 cal Union and the L. A. S., and again 

 proves that the world do move. 



A HOTEL THAT LEAGUE MEMBERS SHOULD 



PATRONIZE. 

 The correspondence given herewith ex- 

 plains itself: 



Chicago, Feb. 28th, 1900. 

 Manager Hotel Sommers, 



Moline, 111. 

 Dear Sir: — I am advised that quails were 

 served by you on the evening of the 12th 

 inst., and am in possession of indisputable 

 evidence that my informant's statements 

 are correct. The League of American 

 Sportsmen is an organization devoted to 

 the protection of game and the enforce- 

 ment of fish and game laws throughout the 

 United States, and as the chief warden of 

 the Illinois division of this organization I 



