. 1884.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



325 



din: creel The request to be made to the Chief of Engineers, 

 I uvnislicd a U. S. Government cliart as the sum of its 

 ability to contribute in this line, and the Land Office at 

 Detroit, after long delay, reported that it had nothing which 

 would be of help in t.lie matter. The Government chart, of 

 course, is an accurate survey of Lake St, Clair and river, 

 ig location and outline' of the shores and islands and 

 carefully everywhere the depth of water, 



About, the time these delays came to an end, the Hon. W. 

 W&ybury, member from the Detroit district, introd need 

 two bills in Congress, the objects of which were to recognize 

 and confirm title to private claimants to Harsen's and Dicken- 

 son a islands (excepting a trifling portion of one of the same) 

 and to include extensive marsh, overflowed or shoal water 

 territory adjacent within certain general bounds, the latter 

 being defined under the head of natural and alluvial acere- 

 tious. 



The claim to title iu each instance dates back to the days 

 of English dominion, no part of the land proper has ever 

 been surveyed by the Government save a portion of Harsen's 

 Island, and to the same surveyed portion the United States 

 long ago confirmed title. 



The' territory included by the claims set forth in the bills 

 Consists mainly of overflowed lauds, and has an area of over 

 fifty square miles. It comprises the main bulk and the very 

 cream of the world-wide famous shooting territory in United 

 States waters, known as the St. Clair Flats. As is generally 

 known, parties resort thither for shooting from the Atlantic 

 cities to the Mississippi, and it is a possession sufficiently 

 desirable to excite great temptation for its acquisition. 



There are several notable things to be taken into account 

 relative to the matter. The claimants are plainly asking for 

 that which they haven't got — title; and an interest in and 

 claim to the territory on the part of the United States is 

 recognized to exist in the asking for the relinquishment of 

 the same. The overflowed territory has, beyond question, 

 largely taken ou its shoalness since the claims set up profess 

 to have been founded, and at which date it is not probable 

 there was any thought of the same being included in the 

 claim. Everything assures that Lake St. Clair itself will 

 eventually fill up and become land, save the river channels; 

 it is but a shoal water anyhow, and if this claim can be 

 allowed in its full extent, it is difficult to see where 

 boundaries may not extend or be set up. The. United States 

 waters of Lake St. Clair proper attain to a depth of eighteen 

 feet only over a very limited surface, and nowhere to over 

 twenty-one feet, and in its Canadian portion nowhere attains 

 to twenty-three feet. Large areas have a much less depth 

 and rushes rise freely above the water. 



Besides the above two bills of Mr. Maybuiy relative to 

 this territory, one has been presented by Senator Palmer, of 

 Michigan, to have the entire United States marsh and over- 

 flowed lands within and bordering Lake St. Clair and the 

 divisions of the St. Clair River set aside as a national pre- 

 serve for the people of the United States, subject to such 

 regulations as may be provided, thus removing it from the 

 grasp of private parties and ownership. This measure seems 

 eminently an act of justice and a tribute to public rights, 

 and if carried out will probably lead to the institution of an 

 eff ecfi ve game protection over the region, and all like pre- 

 serves, if "such shall be instituted hereafter. A petition (a 

 copy of which I inclose to you) in support of this bill was 

 drawn and has been extensively circulated and signed in 

 the. cities and villages of Michigan, not one citizen in a hun- 

 dred being found who is not in favor of it. The foremost 

 citizens and best minds, wherever attention has been called 

 to the matter, not only generally, but almost without excep- 

 tion, express decided approbation of the measure, and many 

 leading citizens are lending active aid. 



Also, this matter is one of national interest, and expression 

 respecting it is properly in order from any State in the 

 Union; the bill deals with national territory only, and for a 

 common or national purpose, and petitions for signature have 

 been sent to several States. 



ASK1NC4 CONGRESS TO SET ASIDE THE UNITED STATES OVERFLOWED AND 

 MARSH LANDS OF LAKJ3 ST. CLAJR AS A PRESERVE FOR THE PEOPLE. 



To the Hon, Senate and House of Representatives of the United 

 States: 



Whereas^ A bill was introduced in the last Congress to enable the 

 United Stales Laud Commissioner to sell the extensive marsh and 

 over/lowed or shoal water lands in the Unites States waters of Lake 

 St. Clair, which lands are one of the most notable resorts for shooting 

 and Ashing in the nation and most highly esteemed for the same, the 

 purpose of the bill being to enable private parties to become the own- 

 ers of this large territory and make the same a close private shooting 

 preserve to the exclusion of all right and privilege of the people 

 therein, which bill was not perfected by congressional act; and 



Whereas, two bills have been introduced into and are being con- 

 sidered by the present Congress, the purpose of which bills is to give 

 title and ownership of the greater and most valuable part of the r ter- 

 ritory above described to private and interested individuals upon plea 

 of old time claims to contiguous islands, which claims profess to have 

 been founded in the days of English rule; and 



Wfi&reas, Title to the islands proper, if established, should not con- 

 vey ownershirj of the many miles in extent of adjacent marsh and 

 Bowed or shoal water lands, which also represent much financial 

 value and present great temptation to private greed for their posses- 

 sion; and 



H herccrs, the bills introduced to give and confirm title to the afore- 

 said claimants admit a (•hum to the territorv in question to bees 

 on the part of the United States : 



Therefore, we pray you that no title pass or be confirmed which is 

 not unmistakably demanded by indisputable legal right and justice. 

 and that the United States uusurveyed marsh and overflowed lands of 

 Lake St. Clair and bordering the divisions of the St. Clair River, be 

 set aside permanently as a National Preserve in common for the 

 people of the United States, subject to such regulations as may be es- 

 tablished by rightful authority. 



.:t a dfu rtli er, we earnestly deprecate the policy which is being exten- 

 sively practiced, of Government's selling the shoal water and marshy 

 margins of our Great Lakes and other Government waters— the peo- 

 ples' patrimony —to private parties, to be converted by them into 

 close private shooting preserves to the perpetual exclusion of the 

 people in common therefrom, which restriction and monopoly will, 

 in the future, be deeply felt as a. standing public aggravation and 

 outrage of magnitude, and is contrary to both good public policy and 

 justice; such favorite grounds for game and shooting throughout the 

 nation are fast passing, and largely have, already passed, to private 

 ownership and control; Therefore, we express our belief that Con- 

 gress should allow such proceeding to go no further, but should set 

 aside such territory as a preserve in common for the people, subject 

 to appropriate and efficient provisions and regulations. 



Further. Mr. Maybuiy, who presented the bills for the 

 private claimants, has also recently prepared another bill for 

 the purpose of setting the same territory aside as a national 

 park and game preserve, placing it under charge of the Sec- 

 retary of War, but is not expected to present the same until 

 the committee having charge of the bills for private claim- 

 ants have expressed their views respecting the same. 



The State of Michigan has also appeared iti the case as a 

 claimant to the St. Clair territory in question, under the 

 Swamp Lands act of Congress relating to a class of United 

 States lands in the State, it sent one of its ex-Congressmen, 

 Mr. McGowan, to Washington to look after the State's in- 

 terest in the matter. He is reported— no doubt correctly— 



as having advised that the General Land Office pass upon the 

 question of Ownership, and if the United States is adjudged 

 the owner, let Congress have a survey made and the lauds 

 sold, he evidently having embraced the Whole matter with a 

 very ordinary view. It is reported later that the State 

 authorities at Lansing arc preparing papers to forward to 

 him Showing the State's ownership of the lands. 



There, is no disposition on the part of the movers for a 

 National preserve to deprive any one of legitimate private 

 rights or show disrespect for the same. The move has pro- 

 ceeded upon the common public understanding, which fairly 

 might be said to be universal, that the overflowed lauds of 

 Lake St. Clair, belonged to the United States, such land, of 

 course, being entirely legitimate and proper for such pur- 

 pose. The prime movers in the matter had never heard of 

 the claim of private ownership to this territory until Mr. 

 Maybuiy introduced his bills iu the interest of the same. 

 Parties opposed the bill introduced iu the preceding Con- 



fress to enable this shoal-water territory to be sold as United 

 fates unsurveyed lands, and conferred with different mem- 

 bers of Congress respecting the same, and yet never heard of 

 such private claims until Mr. Maybury's move. 



Private, claims to land of the islands proper which oughtto 

 be respected may be, shown, and if so, say all let them so be. 

 Title to the islands proper, it is claimed, carries the same 

 right to this many miles of overflowed shoal water territory, 

 the most of which you can sail a boat, over. This claim 

 should not be granted because the same is asked for. It 

 should never be conceded except after the most thorough 

 scrutiny determines that justice unmistakably demands the 

 same. 



The islands proper, in question, were not deemed essential 

 in the plan for a national preserve. It seems like a most 

 liberal stretch of credulity to contemplate that this large, 

 overflowed territory should pass upon the claims set up, 

 when the case is fairly and fully scrutinized, 



Able efforts by able counsel have been made- before the 

 committee for the claimants, and it is due the people that 

 both sides be thoroughly presented, as no doubt will be doue, 

 and then let Congress give a fair decision, dictated by intelli- 

 gent justice. * * * 



Michigan, May 12. 



THE ADIRONDACK BILL, 



rHE text of the Adirondack bill passed by the Albany 

 Legislature is as follows. 



Section 1. Within ten days after the passage of this act 

 the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the 

 Senate, shall appoint a suitable person, who shall be a resi- 

 dent and citizen of this State, as Commissioner, who shall be 

 known as the Forest Commissioner of the State of New 

 York. Said Commissioner shall hold office for six years and 

 until his successor shall be appointed and confirmed by the 

 Senate. The said Commissioner shall receive an annual sal- 

 ary of $4,000. Neither said Commissioner nor his subor- 

 dinates shall be liable to any person or corporation for any 

 damages sustained by reason of want of repair of any road 

 or bridge situated upon the forest lands of the State. Said 

 Commissioner shall have an office in the new Capitol in the 

 city of Albany, where all the records of said Commissioner 

 shall be kept. 



Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the said Commissioner to 

 cause all the forest lands now owned or which may be ac- 

 quired by the State to be located, and, when necessary, to be 

 surveyed; to procure suitable books of record and cause all 

 said lands to be recorded; to make and publish such reason- 

 able rules and regulations for the use of said forest lands by 

 the public as shall give the greatest amount of liberty iu the 

 use thereof, consistent with the preservation of the forests 

 thereon; to prevent trespass upon the said lands and streams 

 situated thereon ; to make reasonable regulations for the pre- 

 vention and extinguishment of fires thereon; to prevent 

 overflow of lands belonging to the State by the erection of 

 dams and obstructions hereafter built or made in the streams 

 within said boundaries; to report to the, Legislature on or be- 

 fore the fifteenth day of January in each year his official 

 action during the preceding year, and such information as 

 may be useful in preserving the forests upon State lands and 

 the forests of the State generally, and maintaining and pre- 

 serving the supply of water derived therefrom; and also to 

 report generally upon the subject of forest preservation and 

 the utility thereof in its scientific aspects; to report to the 

 Attorney-General trespassers upon said land and streams and 

 furnish to him the evidence thereof. Said Commissioner 

 shall not grant to any person or class of persons or corpora- 

 tions any exclusive use of any portion of said forest lauds 

 or any lakes or rivers thereon. 



Sec. 3. The Attorney-General shall, upou the report of 

 the Forest Commissioner, commence actions in any court 

 having jurisdiction against persons who have eomrnittctd 

 trespass upon forest lands of the State, to recover the 

 penalties prescribed by this act, or for any cause of action 

 the people may have against such trespassers. In any action 

 brought by the Attorney-General, under this act, an injunc- 

 tion ma}' be granted upon the application of the Attorney- 

 General restraining any act of trespass, waste, or destruction, 

 and in cases where lands belonging to the State within said 

 boundaries are being injured by the maintenance of any 

 dam or obstruction which may hereafter be erected in any 

 stream or lake, the court maj r order the removal or partial 

 removal of said obstruction during the pendency of said 

 action, provided that the owner of such dam or obstruction 

 shall not be deprived of any legal or equitable right to 

 damages for such removal. 



Sec. 4. The said Commissioner shall have power to ap- 

 point such foresters as he may deem necessary, not exceed- 

 ing ten in number, at salaries not exceeding $600 each per 

 annum, and such clerks as he may deem proper, within the 

 limits of the appropriation made by this act. 



Sec. 5. Any person or corporation who shall cut, or 

 cause to be cut, any tree or timber standing upon the forest 

 lands of the State, with intent to remove the same, or any 

 portion thereof, or bark therefrom, shall forfeit to the people 

 of the State of New York the sum of $10 for each tree so 

 cut, to be sued for by said Commissioner. 



Sec. 6. Whenever the State owns an undivided interest 

 with tiny person in any forest lauds, or holds or is in posses- 

 sion of any such real estate as joint tenant or tenant in com 

 mou with any person, wit hiti this State, who has an estate 

 of freehold therein, any such person may, upon obtaining 

 consent in writing of the Comptroller thereto, maintain an 

 action for the actual partition of said property according to 

 the respective rights of the parties interested therein, in the 

 same manner as if the State were not entitled to exemption 

 from legal proceedings and with the same force and effect as 

 in other cases, except no costs shall be allowed to plaintiff 



therein, and no sale of said lands shall be adjudged in said 

 suit. 



Sec. 7. The sum of $20,000, or so much thereof as may 

 he necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in 

 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purposes 

 of this act, payable on the warrants of the Controller to the 

 order of the said Forest Commissioner. 



Sec. 8. This act shall take effect immediately. 



MASSACHUSETTS GAME INTERESTS. 



ON Friday evening, the Massachusetts Fish and Game 

 Protective Association held a very successful and en- 

 thusiastic meeting. Five new members were received, and 

 the attendance was the best for a long time. The meeting 

 was the last of the season, but it was decided to come I o 

 gether again in the fall earlier than usual. Severn! new and 

 very important committees were appointed, some of which 

 may strike poachers and law breakers with surprise. 



Ihe matter of the defeat, of the game law, which was to 

 have beeu generally adopted in New England, was discussed, 

 and it appears that the stupidity and the cupidity of the 

 country member had much to do with the defeat. Two 

 clauses in the bill, both of minor importance, appear to have 

 weighed heavily on the mind of the member from the rural 

 districts, and together with the force of the market element, 

 the bill was killed. The obnoxious clauses in the bill were 

 the ones relating to "shore birds" and to killing birds in 

 certain ponds in the State, Evidently the country member 

 desires to shoot ducks and geese ou the shore at all seasons, 

 and means to have all there is left of migrating waterfowl 

 which are accustomed to stop to rest in Massachusetts ponds. 

 A member from among the marketmen claims that there 

 is an improvement going on among the game dealers, and, 

 honest and earnest himself, he will labor in that direction, 

 and hopes that, at least, his fellow-dealers will not meet the 

 bill another year with organized opposition. It is also very 

 gratifying to note that several of the lobster dealers, seeing 

 the depletion so rapidly going on in these valuable shellfish, 

 have declared themselves in favor of stringent protection 

 and promise to aid in securing legislation in that direction. 

 _ The game bill came up in the House at a very-unfortunate 

 time — during the unavoidable absence of its best friends and 

 defenders. But its loss for one season has not disheartened 

 them in the least. Mr. John Fottler, President of the Asso- 

 ciation and than whom no man in the State has labored more 

 earnestly for game protection and for this bill, at the time it 

 came up in the House was performing the mournful duty of 

 burying his business partner. All the best friends of the'bill 

 at the State House happened to be away, and consequently 

 when the measure was attacked by its enemies, present in 

 full force, there was nobody to defend it. 



Commissioner E, M. Stillwell of Maine, says that he is 

 not at all surprised at the defeat of the Massachusetts bill. 

 In fact he rather expected it. His experience with the ob- 

 taining and enforcing of the excellent law in Maine has 

 shown him the fighting qualities of the poacher and market 

 hunter*; He regards the defeat this year as but one of the 

 drawbacks which will probably lead to success next winter. 

 He expects a fight in his own State then, and dreads the in- 

 fluence of the Boston game dealers more than any other 

 force. But efforts are already begun for the early passage of 

 the Massachusetts bill in this Stale, and as the "Maine and 

 Massachusetts Legislatures next meet at the same time, the 

 game dealers will have a double enemy to fight, Earnest 

 work will be put iu by the Massachusetts Fish and Game 

 Protective Association, and the ultimate success of the New 

 England protective bill without essential modifications is 

 confidently expected. The Commissioners of the other 

 States are neither alarmed nor discouraged at its defeat this 

 year in this State, but will labor for its enactment at home. 

 Boston, May 18. SPECIAL. 



SEA OTTER SHOOTING. 



[EMERGING from a nest of low sandhills, covered by 

 J stunted hemlocks and dwarf cedar, the grand Pacific 

 Ocean, with its continuous line of white breakers extending 

 as far as the eye could reach north and south, presented a 

 glorious view. It was just one mile to the first breaker, 

 directly across a stretch of level sand beach, where the look- 

 out or derrick was stationed. A derrick is mounted on three 

 legs, like a tripod, with an open box 4 feet square inclosed 

 on three sides, shore side open, the upper edge of the box 

 being cushioned for gun-rest. The box is supplied with low 

 stools for the hunter. The derrick is 30 feet high, and placed 

 on a line of about half tide. 1 take a. glance at the weather 

 vane — wind in the sou 'west, good; tide coming in, better; 

 sky clear, correct. These different conditions of wind and 

 tide have to be closely observed to insure the drifting ashore 

 of the otter when shot. A nor'west wind is as good as one 

 from the sou' west quarter, but it seldom occurs ^in this sec- 

 tion of country. The guns used are Sharps rifles, 12 to 16 

 pounds weight. .44-caliber, using from 100 to 120 grains 

 powder and 450 to 550 grains lead, bottle-necked shells, per- 

 fectly smooth, square-butt, naked bullet. A Rocky Mountain 

 rear sight is used with a globe sight in front, the globe being 

 about one inch long, with pinhead. There is considerable 

 inquiry among the otter hunters in regard to new guns, as 

 their Sharps rifles are wearing out and they cannot secure 

 more; the Ballard seems to be the favorite. A wooden step 

 is made for each distance of 100 yards and laid in rotation 

 for instant use, to avoid mistakes or confusion. 



In twenty minutes we were on the derrick, glasses in hand. 

 An otter was discovered diving for crabs. He soon came up 

 with a large crab in his little, squirrel-like front paws, and 

 lying on his back, with head erect, proceeded leisurely to 

 eat it. In an instant the 700-yard sight was adjusted, the 16- 

 pounder spoke, and a 550-grain bullet was landed three feet 

 to windward. A good horizontal line shot. The distance 

 was correct, but the wiud not carefully noted, which was 

 from the 10 o'clock quarter, the otter at 12 o'clock and the 

 shooter, at 6 o'clock points. In about a minute the otter ap- 

 peared at the 1 o'clock point, about 100 yards to windward; 

 the same sight was used, and at the second shot the otter 

 turned "back up," head and flippers down, and began drift- 

 ing ashore dead. It proved to be a fine silver-tipped, and 

 $100 was received for its pelt on the beach. 



It must be remembered that sea otter shooting is attended 

 with many difficulties, viz.: All shooting must be done 

 from 4.00 to 1,000 yards over the water. Generally there is a 

 heavy ground swell, and there is more nice calculation in 

 making a shot of this kind than the reader would naturally 

 suppose. First yon have to calculate on the force of the 

 wind, distance, rise and fall of the otter, and last, but not 

 least, this calculation has to be made in a moment. 



Tellicum 

 Gray's Harbor, Wash. Ter. 



