Mat 11, 1889.] . 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



289 



BIG CAME DESTRUCTION. 



THE work of the skin-hunters is beginning to attract the 

 attention of the press of the West. We copy below 

 BOine editorial remarks from the \fadisonian, published at 

 City. As will be seen from the statements made, 

 the skin-burners have invaded the National Park itself, and 

 are now carrying on their butchery of game, which is sup- 

 posed to be protected by the law which prohibits killing 

 game within (he limits of the park. xV correspondent 

 assures us that the statements of the Madhouio,, an- m>: 

 overdrawn. This is a matter of national concern. It de- 

 mands the immediate attention of the National Government 

 at Washington: 



If Congress could ever be brought to consider anything 

 that is not flavored with political chicanery, there might be 

 some hope that a stop would be put to the wholesale de- 

 struction of large game which is constantly going on in the 

 plains and mountain regions. At the rate at which buffalo. 

 elk, deer, moose and other game are just now being slaugh- 

 tered for their hides and pells, it will not be long until the 

 animals will be utterly annihilated, and their existence only 

 be known as matter of history. Even now, the elk and 

 deer are disappearing from the most accessible points under 

 the fierce fusilade for pelts, and the destruction that is going 

 on in the more remote points is something fearful to contem- 

 plate. We are reliably informed that even in the. National 

 Park, almost under the nose of the assistant superintendent, 

 the slaughter of these animals is being carried on with 

 amazing rapidity, notwithstanding the law prohibiting the 

 killing of game within its limits; and furthermore, that a 

 system of driving the bands into basins where the deep 

 snows prevent their escape is being extensively practiced. 

 Some two or three weeks ago a party of hunters succeeded 

 in corralling a band of fifteen hundred or two thousand elk 

 (said to comprise nearly all of that species in the park) on 

 the east fork of the Yellowstone, where they were slaugh- 

 tered as fast as they could be skinned, and the carcasses left 

 to rot on the wound, the pelts being all that the hunters 

 were after. That this wanton destruction is inimical 

 to one of the best interests of the mountain regions is too 

 plain to need establishing by argument, and that .stringent 

 measures for its suppression are necessary is quite as ap- 

 parent. 



Under present laws, efforts to prohibit it are utterly futile, 

 and will he, so long as the army of so-called hunters can find 

 a market for the hides and pelts. What is needed is a law 

 that will make all who are found with any parts of these 

 animals in their possession equally amenable to it's penalties 

 as the killer himself. Delegate Post, of Wyoming, recently 

 introduced a bill in Congress — the provisions of which have 

 already been printed in the Madinonian — which, in our opin- 

 ion, would, if it became a law, effectually stop the inmiman 

 business. The press and people of Montana — and, indeed, 

 of all the Territories, should urge its immediate passage, if 

 they would preserve in the National Park and other moun- 

 tain resorts one of their chief attractions. The people, of 

 the Territories gel but little good out of the traffic in pelts, 

 and even those engaged in it here make a more precarious 

 livelihood than they could earn in other pursuits. In fact, 

 the encouragement of them in their nefarious business is 

 only driving them into a state of semi-savagery, leaving 

 them but little better tiian the Indians. And It is well- 

 known that a large moiety of the tourists' travel to the moun- 

 tains is drawn there by the abundance of large game; as 

 many, perhaps, as by the attraction of the geysers and 

 natural marvels of Wonderland. Af we have said, Congress 

 is slow to act: on questions of this sort, unless spurred to ac- 

 tion by the people of the sections directly interested. We 

 trust our delegate will urge to the utmost the passage of Mr. 

 Post's measure, and that the press of the Territory will unite 

 in seconding the effort to prevent the wanton and useless 

 butchery which threatens the extinction of the noblest ani- 

 mals that roam our broad domain, 



Scaipe! ScaipeI — Editor Forest nnd Stream: Your poetry 

 in last week's issue was evidently not written by a snipe 

 shooter. The lines contain internal evidence that that "C." 

 did not, know what he was writing about. 1. The snipe is 

 not a "brown" bird. 2. You never hunt snipe with the 

 gale in your teeth. Every "practical sportsman" knows 

 that on a windy day snipe are very wild and fly in the face 

 of the wind. Hence if the gunner is going against the wind, 

 the birds which are flushed will rise out of range and fly 

 directly away from the shooter. 3. A dog is of very little 

 use in snipe "shooting on a windy day. — Scolopax. [There 

 Are Several kind of people in this world; and the writer of 

 the foregoing is one kind lie may be a good snipe shooter; 

 but he has evidently never been under the influence 

 of the divine afflatus. His soul is as barren of sentiment as 

 his eriutism of our contributor's sportsmanship is fallacious 

 and uncalled for. It is very fine to be a good snipe shot; but 

 it is better to be a snipe shot and a poet too. "0. has proved 

 himself a poet already; here is a private letter which came 

 with his poetry; and we think it conclusively proves that he 

 knows how to shoot snipe. This is what he says : "Editor 

 Fvrixt iind Streams I have just returned from a day and a 

 half's snipe shooting. The wind was high, so also was the 

 water; the birds were scarce, uneasy and wdld. With my 

 fe-gauge 6A-Ib- gun I did, I think, the best shooting of my 

 life; only missing two that I had a ghost of a chance of kill- 

 ing: and killing several at surprising distance— sixty yards 

 and over by actual measurement, and they were twisters 1 

 tell you. My total bag was twenty-one birds. The impres- 

 sions I received T have endeavored to express in the in- 

 closed. — C." Now if "Scolopax" can give us any further 

 poinis ■m how to run the paper, we should be pleased to hear 

 from iiim early and often.— Ed. F & S.] 



St. Paul Guts Outs.— The St. Paul, Minn., Gun Club is 

 reorganized for 1882, with the following officers: Dr, Riche- 

 ipn. President: Paul Engels, Secretary; John Burkhard, 

 Treasurer. The club has been organized five years, and 

 miring the shooting season has never missed its weekly meet- 

 ing for practice with the gun, except when storms prevented 

 outdoor sport. The club is as vigorous to-day as when first 

 org.mi/.rd, thanks to the kindly interest of its presidentin its 



all a if-. 



CiMPnra Grounds ox the St. Lawrence. — Clayton, N. 

 Y. — For the benefit of "Green Horn, "(in No. 13) I will say he 

 can have good fishing and camping grounds near here, or 

 Rarer Eel Bay in September. Eel Bay is distant about five 



miles from here, Utioa and Black River Railroad here. Can- 

 not say much for the wild fowl shooting, date is too early.— 

 G. M." 



§e<t and Miter 



t<?5 



TO PALEMON. 



May 28, 1789. 



li I write thi3 while Cleora is angling by my side under the shade of 

 a spreading- elm that hangs over the banks of our river. A nightin- 

 gale more harmonious even than Strada's is serenading us from a 

 hawthorn bush which smiles with all the gaiety of youth and beauty; 

 while 



Gentle gales 

 Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense 

 Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole 

 Those balmy spoils.— Mutton. 

 Whilst I am thus enjoying the innocent luxury of this vernal 

 delight, I look back upon those scenes of turbulence, wherein I was 

 once engaged, with more than ordinary distaste, and despise myself 

 for ever having entertained so mean a thought as to be rich and 

 great. One of .our monarchs used to say that he looked upon those to 

 be the happiest men in the nation, whose fortune had placed them in 

 the country, above a high constable, and below the trouble of a jus- 

 tice of the peace. It is in a mediocrity of this happy kind that I here 

 pass my life with a fortune far above the necessity of engaging hi the 

 drudgery of business, and with desires much too humble to have any 

 relish for the splendid baits of ambition." 



—Letters of Sir Thomas Fitzosliorne. 



WEST VIRGINIA'S SHOWING. 



FACTS relating to either fin or feather never come amiss 

 to a sporting Journal, and as other States are reporting, 

 why not West Virginia? 



£ast fall Death held a carnival at the expense of our game 

 fishes. He came not in his usual garb of a skeleton, but 

 called in the form of a seven months' drought, taking a deal 

 of our black bass and brook trout to satisfy his pitiless crav- 

 ings. It is difficult to say what proportion of bass were 

 taken, but at least two-thirds of the trout have disappeared. 

 The little speckled fellows were not given time to "vanish 

 like the aborigines before civilization and settlements," as 

 you say they do, but simply "exhaled and went to heaven," 

 or passed in a twinkling from the sweltering pools to the 

 maw of Zippy Coon. The waters evaporated, leaving the 

 trout to rot on the dry rocks or fall a victim to "Zip," who, 

 by the way, is a great lover of fish and an expert at catch- 

 ing them. The odors of decay were noticeable several hun- 

 dred yards to windward of the creek beds. The clear creeks, 

 with a usual flow of several feet of the purest water in the 

 world, were dry except in shallow pools for miles and miles, 

 the headw T aters barely running and furnishing a retreat for 

 what trout succeeded in escaping the sunstroke, or. what is 

 worse still, of being roasted alive! Those who sniffed the 

 tainted gale can best form a conception of the mortality 

 among this hitherto populous tribe of noble fish. 



Yet, despite all this, we still have plenty of trout left— 

 and to spare! Some were saved in Cherry River and some 

 escaped from the creeks to the. friendly protection of Meadow 

 River. Last April even the little spring branches among the 

 Sewells had a good many trout in them. They, too," are 

 numbered among the things that were; and those" who claim 

 a knowledge of such matters say it: will take three years to 

 re-stock our st reams as they were before the drought set in. 

 The mild winter and early spring give promise of a fine sea- 

 son for both trout and bass this year, and several weeks ago 

 a lively campaign was opened, with the trout in the lead. 

 They are biting finely, and are as young and full of fight 

 and 'fire as bottled-up lightning could possibly be. Consid- 

 ering the agility and the scintillations of its body, I take it 

 that a brook trout is nothing more nor less than a sparkling 

 thunderbolt that has wriggled from the clutch of old Jove 

 himself. It is certainly worthy of such an origin. Only 

 the other day an ancient trouter said to me: "They are the 

 wildest fish' that lives, I reckon, them mountain trout. 

 Why, I've seed 'em dart up a sluice faster'n y r our eye could 

 folle.r 'eni; and that, too, where any other fish couldn't bend 

 his tail to swim!" Occasionally we take them from eighteen 

 to twenty-two inches long! — the latter like angels' visits. 



So much for the trout, and now a few moments to the 

 bass. I only report specially for the Third District; but see 

 from the Commissioners' report that the fish generally all 

 over the State arc doing well. We have wholesome fish laws 

 and abide by them, Just now the introduction of carp is 

 engaging the attention of our Commissioners. In the deeper 

 waters— the New River, for instance— the bass did notsuffer 

 any by the low water, but those in the Greenbrier had a 

 happy old time of it. The river and the fish parted com- 

 pany twenty or thirty miles above here, and those living 

 along the banks gathered up bass and other fish by the arnis- 

 ful. " This is literally true. And there, too, "Zip" enjoyed 

 many a hearty meal. Had he chosen he could have made a 

 1 'first course" on bass in the Greenbrier at dusk, and then, 

 truvelng over the mountains to shake it down, taken a 

 "dessert" of trout at midnight in the Clear creeks or in 

 Cherry River. 



The taking of the bass from their almost waterless prisons 

 was fun for the people and the coons, but death to the fish. 

 Down this way it was not so had, as the water was a little 

 deeper, but you ought to have seen the more fortunate ones 

 swimming around with umbrellas raised to keep the sun from 

 scorching their dorsal fins. Some I caught in October and 

 November must have loaned out their sunshades during the 

 "heated term." as, when taken from the water, they were as 

 black as Africa. Often I fished for hours without "getting a 

 "rise." when, planting my foot on a half-submerged rock. 

 out would pop two or three bass, and probably a cattish — 

 hiding from old Sol as he fairly simmered the few inches of 

 water over iheir heads. Either my sense of hearing was 

 dulled by the heat, or the water was too warm to babble ami 

 murmur audibly over the riffles. You think I didn't really 

 see the river smoking several limes? Well, maybe it was 

 only the uprisings of "the gentle dew" that didn't "fall upon 

 the" place beneath" for more than seven full months at a 

 stretch. 



The close season began on the 1st. instanr, lasting until the 

 15th of June, and whilst eking out the 1.080 intervening 

 hours, 1 take the liberty of catechising a little. It has been 

 my habit — Frank Forrester's idea, though — to string the bass 

 and keep them in the water. But I don't like the method. 

 They choke each other to death in a few hours and turn all 

 sorts of colors. In the evening the string often resembles an 

 inverted bouquet of flowers — black, a muddy yellow, spotted, 

 flowered and ''ringatrdked, speckled and grisled. : ' Ya, 

 though displaying ex< j ry known variety of markings, the fish 

 are firm and palatable. Tell me, somebody, JIs it better to 

 keep them dry in the creel of a warm summer day, or let 

 them struggle on a string "from early morn till set of sun?" 



And yet one other question, please, How to cook him? In 



the Sportsman's Gou tu t /■ you say be "is sweet, tender and 

 juicy, and, when well cooked, makes a dish fit for a king." 

 Correct. But "well cooked" means a good deal more than 

 sow of us fully comprehend We are not all Delmonicos, 

 hence many failures are made in the preparation of this 

 capital game fish for the table. We have both the large and 

 small-mouthed species of bass. 



In 1877—78 the streams of West Virginia were stocked as 

 follows: First Congressional District, California salmon, 

 260,000; land-locked salmon. 8,000. Second District, amixture 

 of 300.000 trout, land-locked or California salmon. Third 

 District, trout, 11,000; black bass, 983; California salmon, 

 213,000. The trout have gone to the different headwaters, 

 the bass are very plentiful, but the land-locked and Califor- 

 nia salmon— where are thev? I hardly ever hear of one 

 being seen. Last year (1881) the distribution of fish was as 

 follows: First District, land-locked salmon, 10,000; German 

 carp, 714. Second District, land-locked salmon. 2,500; 

 trout, 7.000; carp, 1,080. Third District, carp, 158; black 

 bass, 545; land-locked salmon. 6,000; silver perch, 125; 

 wall-eyed pike, 15; and sturgeon, 6. When the salmon arc 

 heard from you shall certainly be apprised of their doings. 



It is said that President Arthur is very expert with the rod 

 and fly. If he comes to the White Sulphur this summer, as 

 the papers report, fine sport is awaiting iiim if he chooses to 

 indulge. Instead of vetoing anti-Chinese, bills in the dingy city 

 of Washington he can veto the life-and-liberty struggles of 

 Messrs. Bassiand Trout in the limpid waters of Greenbrier and 

 Cherry rivers. Though differing widely in ourpoliticaltastes. 

 yet "verily we be brethren" when it comes to the love of the 

 angler's rod. We stand on the J same platform, the same 

 pktnk, the same end of the plank even, when it comes to 

 that. M. W. Z. 



Lbwisburg, W. Va. 



THE LONDON FISHERY EXHIBITION. 



TT7"E have received a copy of the message from the Presi- 



VT dent of the United 'States to the House of Represen 

 tatives, transmitting a communication from the Secretary 

 of State, relative to the International Fisheries Exhibition 

 to be held in London in May, 1883. The President approves 

 the suggestions contained in the report, and recommends that 

 favorable action be taken on the subject at the present ses- 

 sion of Congress, in order that there may be ample time for 

 making the necessary preparations. 



Secret aiy Frelinghuysen informs the President, that he han 

 received a tele-ram from Mr. Lowell, the United States 

 minister to England, stating that a formal invitation will be 

 extended to the United Stales by the .British government to 

 participate inssid exhibition, and that in view of the im- 

 portance of the fisheries interests of this country, the widely 

 extended and growing exportation of our maritime producta 

 as food and for use in the arts and manufactures, and tin' 

 constantly increasing attention which our citizens are giving 

 to the subject of fishculture, it would tmdoubtedly be a 

 wise and profitable measure for Congress to make such pro- 

 vision as would enable the United States to take a part in the 

 proposed exhibition at London commensurate with the in- 

 terest of the country iu the subject. He then recommends 

 that $50,000 be appropriated to'enable the Secretary of State 

 to take the necessary steps for securing the representation of 

 this country at the London International Fisheries Exhibi- 

 tion of 1883, by contributing illustrations of the condition 

 and products of our domestic and ocean fisheries, and of the 

 progress of fishculture in this country, and also by sending 

 competent persons to the exhibition to study the exhibits 

 and to exchange the latest views upon this important sub- 

 ject with the delegates of other countries, etc. He then 

 transmits copies of rec , jspondence on the subject, and 



the prospectus of the exhibition. 



On April 7, Mr. Frelinghuysen writes to Prof. Eaird and 

 says: "It will give me gratification to communicate to Mr. 

 Lowell, by telegraph, your readiness to organize an American 

 Exhibit, so that he may make use of the information before 

 the date of the meeting at the Mansion House on the 20th in- 

 stant. As soon as the "formal invitation is received, I will 

 lay the matter before Congress and ask suitable provision for 

 our creditable national participation iu the exhibition." 



To this Prof. Eaird replies: "Sm — I have the honor to 

 acknowledge the receipt of your letter inclosing a copy of 

 Mr. Lowell's communication in reference to participation by 

 the United States [ n the International Fishery Exhibition, to 

 be held in London in May. 1883. In reply thereto, I beg to 

 say that should the necessary bill, with a suitable appropria- 

 lion. be passed by Congress, "and the work be intrusted to my 

 charge, I will do all in my power to prepare a display that 

 shall be a credit to the I nited States. It is very desirable 

 that any communication that you may have occasion to pre- 

 sent to Congress on this subject, should be transmitted at an 

 early date. It would be well, therefore, to invite a tele- 

 graphic communication from the British government in 

 advance of a more formal letter. I respectfully request per- 

 mission, at the proper time, to make some suggestions in 

 regard to the form of communication to be presented to 

 Congress and the amount of appropriation to be asked for." 



The following despatches were then exchanged: 



Washington, April 15. 

 Lowell, Minister, Ltmdfflr? 



Answering dispatch of 30th March, Commissioner Baird 

 will prepare national exhibits if Congress appropriates therefor 

 this session. Desirable that formal invitation be soon placed 

 before Congress. You may express our willingness to assist, 

 and when invitation is made telegraph immediately. 



Filelix oh o rasas . Secret ary. 

 London. April 20, 1882. (Received April 21). 

 Lord Granville writes he will make application to United 

 States Government on behalf of International Fishery Con- 

 vention. Lowell, Minister. 

 The draft of the resolution presented to both houses of 

 - is: 



JOINT KESOLI IfctOH OONCfBBNING AX INTERNATIONAL FISRERT 

 EXHIBITION, TO BE HELL) AT LONDON LX WAY 1883. 



Whereas the government of the United States has received 

 official i or ':> it Britain that it is pro- 



posed to bold an International Exhibition of Fish. Fisheries, 

 and Fish Product,-, al ateen hundred and 



eighty-three, whereat, the representation of the United States 

 is invited: 



And whereas, also, by its action as a government, and by 

 the active enterprise ol fishermen, and inventors, 



and the researches of men ' tins country, the 



has attained and hold i m all 



that -plates to the development of the great USherieS indus- 

 tries, the exten J relationship with 



