4So 



RECREATION. 



The reports issued from the U. S. Pat- 

 ent Office each week contain frequent no- 

 tices of patents issued to game and fish 

 hogs, that are enough to bring tears to the 

 eyes of any true sportsman. The infernal 

 devices being invented by bristlebacks and 

 ly men who would cater to them, are sim- 

 ply appalling. 



In one of these weekly reports now be- 

 fore me, there is a drawing and a descrip- 

 tion of a bird trap; another of a fish hook, 

 and another of an artificial minnow, which 

 are so manifestly damnable in their nature 

 that their use should be prohibited by law. 

 If we had a true sportsman in the big chair 

 of the Patent Office, he would refuse to 

 issue patents on many of these infernal ma- 

 chines for which governmental sanction is 

 sought. 



Caroline Harding, editor of the Palm 

 Beach Daily News, prints in a recent issue 

 of that paper, an eloquent plea for the pro- 

 tection of birds, in which she says, among 

 other things: 



"That birds soon became aware of pro- 

 tection is shown in no way more strikingly 

 than by the numbers of lesser scaup ducks 

 that all through the winter dive and sail 

 confidently about the shores and docks of 

 Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. A few 

 miles South it is almost impossible for a^ 

 boat to get within range of them." 



It is indeed encouraging to find so many 

 editors of daily and weekly newspapers 

 throughout the country coming into the 

 ranks of game and bird protectors. 



Alphonse Laurence, of Missoula, Mont., 

 was arrested in March last for killing song 

 birds, and on proof of guilt, Justice Phil- 

 lips fined him $50. Alphonse refused to 

 pay, and was locked up. It seems almost 

 pathetic that a man who carries such an 

 aristocratic name should be degraded by 

 having to live in a bastille, but Alphonse 

 is not the first man to suffer for slaughter- 

 ing song birds. It is hoped Alphonse will 

 learn to devote his leisure to something 

 more worthy of his romantic cognomen. 



L. A. Petrie, Glace Bay, Cape Breton, 

 will make a determined effort this summer 

 to land one of the great tunas which have 

 of late years frequented that bay in goodly 

 numbers. The picturesque Mira river has 

 its estuary in Mira bay, and is famous ang- 

 ling ground for all the great game fishes. 

 Being tidal for 15 miles of its course, the 

 sea bass, sea trout and the Atlantic salmon 

 use it as a river, and summer in the cool, 

 deep waters of its upper reaches. 



Mr. Petrie is an enthusiastic sportsman, 

 and can furnish guides and full informa- 

 tion to fellow sportsmen. 



Mr. A. W. Fassig, a restaurant man in 

 Columbus, Ohio, was serving quails inclose 

 to, entering them on the bill of fare as 

 snow birds. Taken into court by a game 

 warden, Fassig claimed he thought they were 

 snow birds; but every sensible man present 

 knew he was deliberately lying. The court 

 was convinced of this fact and fined Mr. 

 Fassig $200, which the latter paid. When 

 he advertises to sell snow birds hereafter, 

 he will probably give his customers the real 

 thing. 



I he Park Commissioners of Tacoma, 

 Wash., recently presented the New York 

 Zoological Society with a pair of Olym- 

 pian elk, otherwise known as Roosevelt's 

 elk, and so named by Dr. Merriam, in 

 honor of the President. These animals 

 came through from Tacoma by express in 

 good condition, and Director Hornaday 

 has placed them in a section of the elk 

 lange by themselves, where they are at* 

 ti acting a gr at deal of attention. 



Oscar North, of Moingona, la., recently 

 took a bag of catfish to a hotel at Boone, 

 la., where he delivered them to the cook. 

 Before he could get his pay for them, Dep- 

 uty Game Warden Louis Jensen stepped 

 in, captured the fish and the fisherman; 

 took the latter to Justice Barrett's office, 

 where he pleaded guilty and was fined $50 

 and costs. North's sister paid the fine for 

 him, and he says, "There won't be no more 

 fish lines out at Moingona." 



W. H. Johnston, foreman of the Electric 

 Light company at Dillon, Mont., killed 2 

 willow grouse near that place in April last 

 and paid the State $50 each for them. 

 Deputy Game Warden Henry Avare acted 

 as collector in the case and Judge Vermil- 

 lion as treasurer. Johnston will probably 

 try to get along on spring chicken and 

 squab hereafter until the legal shooting 

 season opens. 



Frank Nichols and Will Faulk, of Alle- 

 gan, Mich., broke the fish laws of that 

 State, were arrested by Deputy Game War- 

 den Coulter, taken before Justice Cook and 

 fined $4.35 and costs each. They probably 

 deserved a good deal heavier dose than 

 this, but possibly this may prove sufficient 

 to induce them to walk in the straight and 

 narrow way hereafter. 



A young man in Earlville, N. Y., wrote 

 me an interesting letter regarding his ob- 

 servations of certain birds, but as he for- 

 got to sign his name to it I can not use it, 

 nor can I even acknowledge receipt of it 

 by mail. Readers are once more reminded 

 that no notice can be taken of unsigned 

 communications. 



