312 



RECREATION. 



prohibiting mainly the sale of game at an . 

 lime of the year. 



"The work you do this year will show its 

 effect next year, because for this season 

 every chicken within 15 miles of here has 

 hern killed. The better class of sportsmen 

 here are forced to go out before the season 

 opens. Otherwise the market hunters 

 would have killed everything and the de- 

 cent man would get nothing. 



"I can not openly do much for the good 

 cause, as 1 have already lost a great deal 

 of my trade on account of the game ques- 

 tion, but should like to hear from you as 

 to whom I could instruct about these mat- 

 ters. To notify the sheriff is nonsense. 

 These political officeholders are not the 

 people for such work. Should the sheriff 

 undertake to arrest a game hog on his own 

 account he would never be re-elected to 

 office. Every pot hunter, game hog and 

 game dealer knows that warrants should be 

 served to-day on 2 certain men. When the 

 sheriff received notice that these men had 

 violated the game laws he should have 

 gone to the 2 game dealers here and he 

 would have secured about 80 chickens as 

 large as quails in one place, and 38 or 40 

 at the other. A friend told me he saw 

 one man picking the chickens in the back 

 of his store, for the U. P. dining cars. If 

 offenders are to be punished it should 

 be done quietly. You will never succeed 

 if you have the parties told beforehand 

 what is going to happen. 



"I will to-day write the President of the 

 L. A. S. about the above, as I think the 

 L. A. S. is free from political office grab- 

 bers, and therefore can do more, and has 

 done more, than any other so-called pro- 

 tective association." 



This man has talked to the readers of 

 Recreation before, and the sportsmen of 

 Nebraska owe him a debt of gratitude for 

 the excellent work he has done in the 

 cause of game protection, even though it 

 has entailed a heavy loss on his business. 



It is strange that only one man in 10,000 

 is willing to adopt such a fearless and ag- 

 gressive course as this man has taken for 

 the purpose of saving the game. — Editor. 



A STEAMSHIP COMPANY IN THE WRONG. | 

 A few days ago a member of the League 

 sent me a bill of fare issued by the Maine 

 Steamship Co., on which were announced 

 quails. Then the following correspond- 

 ence took place: 



General Passenger Agent, 



Maine Steamship Co.. New York. 

 Dear Sir: — 



A member of this League has called here 

 and handed me copies of your menu cards 

 for June 22d and 23d, on both of which you 

 announce that you are ready to serve 

 quails. Furthermore, the gentleman men- 



tioned ordered a quail and it was served to 

 him. You are, of course, aware that it is 

 in direct violation of the laws of this State, 

 and, in fact, of nearly every State in the 

 Union, to serve quails or other game birds 

 at this time of year. 



This League was organized for the pur- 

 pose of enforcing the game laws. We 

 have 3,000 members distributed throughout 

 all the States of the Union, and practically 

 all of them are busy looking for infractions 

 of the game laws. 



It therefore becomes my duty to caution 

 you against a repetition of this offence, 

 and I should like to have a pledge from 

 you, in writing, that hereafter you will not 

 serve game of any kind in close season. 



Awaiting your reply, I am, 

 Yours truly, 



G. O. Shields, Pres't. 



HE PROMISES TO QUIT. 



Dear Sir: — 



Replying to your letter; I am obliged to 

 acknowledge that I did not know it was 

 against the law to serve quails at this time 

 of the year. I am not up in the game 

 laws, and supposed I could buy and serve 

 at my table anything that was on the mar- 

 ket for sale. It would seem that the peo- 

 ple who sell quails are more to blame than 

 those who buy them. I have been in the 

 steamship business a number of years and 

 have learned something every day; but 

 this is another thing I had to learn. 



I think you will agree with me that the 

 man who ate the quail, if he was one of 

 my guests, and then reported it, did not 

 show much manhood. However, I should 

 like you to understand that I do not want 

 in any way to go against the laws of this 

 country; and we will not use quails again 

 except in the proper season. We are all 

 fond of good living, and we look around 

 on the market for the best we can find. 



Thanking you for calling my attention 

 to it, I remain, 



Yours truly, 



H. Hall, 

 G. T. M., Maine Steamship Co. 



Mr. Horatio Hall, G. T. M., 



Maine Steamship Co., New York. 

 Dear Sir: — 



I do not agree with you that the man 

 who reported the case in question to me 

 showed thereby any lack of manhood. He 

 is a member of this League, and it is the 

 duty of every member to report promptly 

 to headquarters any violation of any game 

 or fish law which comes to his notice. We 

 have thousands of members distributed 

 throughout all the States and Territories 

 of the Union and into Canada, and through 

 them we receive reports of game law viola- 

 tions almost every day. In nearly all cases 

 we give the offender the same opportunity 

 to correct the abuse that we gave you, be- 

 fore taking any legal measures. 



