Atjc. 6, 1885.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



27 



tbcy caiyie down. They said that the bear had jumped into 

 the cabin soon after they got aronnd in the morning, 

 and, supposinir it to be a "hungry wild one, they had botb 

 hunicd out the baelt way. The bear followed them, and 

 they lost no time in getting up the tree. The bear had 

 lurked around all day. and they were afraid to come down 

 and tackle it, as it kept between them and their guns in the 

 cabin. They had been shouting for help all day. The two 

 men were campers from Philadelphia, and they were so mad 

 over being treed by a tame- bear that they offered witness 

 and John Hiues $20 to be allowed to kill it. The two woods- 

 men held a fou.snltation, and finally decided to accept the 

 offer. The tishermeu handed over 'ifii) which John Hines 

 accepted and put in his pocket. The lishermen shot the 

 bear and took it with them out of tbc woods. Joha Hines 

 said nothing about dividing the $20 with the witness, and 

 alter asking him f 07' it several times and getting no satisfnc- 

 tion, he had goue to Gary Bonear and told him the wliole 

 story about the tame bear a"^Qd what had befallen it, on the 

 condition that the witness should not be held accountable for 

 the part he took in disposing of the animal. 



John Hiues admitted on oath tbat he had received $20 

 from two strangeis on the (ith of July to let them shoot a 

 bear he and George Hines had found in the woods. He 

 hadn't divided the mouey with George because he been short 

 of money, but he consiilered that he owed George $10, which 

 he intended to pay bini as soon as he got pay for his bark. 

 As to the bear being Carey Bouear's lie couldn't say, That, 

 he said, was for Bonear to prove. This the prosecutor was 

 unable to do, and the justice decided that "bears isn't 

 property, anyhow, and if they was there isn't no cause of 

 action in this case, ' and the prisoner was discharged. 



The lawsuit created a sensation in the backwoods region, 

 and all the inhabitauts Avithiu a radius of many miles were 

 present to see how it came out. Much bad blood has been 

 engendered by the result, and the general impression is that 

 there will have to be two or three big fights over the case 

 before it is s(jttled. — Olean (iV. F.) CQrrespondsrm Nm York 

 TimeH, Jaly 28. 



THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION. 



MUCH interest is shown in the convention of sportsmen 

 at St, Louis, Sept. 35. The Bepublican of that city 

 has the following in regard to the meeting, we do not know 

 with how much authority: 



•*To retwn, however, to the main object of the convention 

 — that of devising means to obtain uniformity in the fish and 

 game laws of the whole of the States. It might at first be 

 thought there could be found no dithculties- except those 

 consequent on latitude and clinnite, but directly the broad 

 principle of a common preservation is approached it will be 

 seen that it is surrounded by a belt of very prickly thorns. 

 The persons interested in game preservation are : The far- 

 mer, on whose laud the game is raised; the sportsman, who 

 wishes to arrest the wiping-out jirocess at present pursued; 

 the consumer, who purchases game for food as a delicacy or 

 as a help toward health, and, finally, the dealer, who has 

 embarked his capital in the game business. All the market 

 hunters who work for the dealer and who might be mustered 

 in theii- thousands, count in with him. Farmers are gener- 

 ally kindly disposed to those sportsmen who treat them 

 civilly, and as they are also generally amply protected by the 

 laws of trespa.ss, those of them who are not actually enlisted 

 among the shooting class themselves need not be further 

 thought of in connection Avith the subject of this article. 



Hitherto, that is of late years, the dealers and sportsmen 

 have worked together. Neither class could have accom- 

 plished separately half the good that has been arrived at be- 

 tween them and it would appear that in the West at least the 

 dealers have been so thoroughly loyal to the sportsmen that 

 they have gradually forced the separate interest of the con- 

 sumer out of the field and incorporated it in their own. They 

 have refused to supply game out of season and with the re- 

 fusal the demand has ceased. This fact has therefore nar- 

 rowed down the interests concerned to two, the sportsmen 

 and the dealers. Theii- joint efforts and their haud-ia-hand 

 action have procured in most of the States legislation which 

 has been most satisfactory all round. The market hunter 

 (proper) has found his out-of-season-game vocation gone as 

 soon as the dealer would not receive his bag, and the sports- 

 man found a corresponding increase in the game he met with 

 in the following open season. It appeared a few months 

 ago tbat the unwritten treaty between the two classes would 

 never be broken, the tie between them being that of mutual 

 interest, and it is likely enough that nothing but over-legis- 

 lation will bring about such a rupture — one to be regretted by 

 all— for it is one which will cause all those interested to suffer. 

 The Eastern game dealers at the beginning of the year put their 

 heads together and formed "the American association for the 

 protection of game, game dealers and consumers." The 

 avowed object of the corporation is that "of so arraneing the 

 laws. State and national, that game killed in season may be 

 sold and eaten without restriction as to time, and game pro- 

 tected from asinibilation.'-' The mison d'etre of the associ- 

 ation was the fact that dealers in New York saw that while 

 the thousands which they had invested in their business 

 were lying idle, owing to the fact that the sale or even the 

 mere possession of game in the close season was an offense 

 punished by extremely heavy fines in their city, vet in Bos- 

 ton, close by, game could be sold right along, provided the 

 close dates of Massachusetts itself had not been violated by 

 the act of kilhog game within its borders. It is extremely 

 improbable that Western dealers would or wiU lend them- 

 selves to the fight between the game dealers of those cities, 

 provided they are fairly treated themselves, but if they are 

 ,so legislated against that their business is taken from them 

 without any apparent necessity, it is full likely that they will 

 be forced into an antagonism with sportsmen which will re- 

 place the previous healthy alliance between the two. There 

 can be no doubt but that the majesty of the law can be so 

 exercised that it must in the end overcome a defiant game 

 dealer whose underground railroad routes for game must be 

 detected sooner or later; but it may be asked if it is not 

 better to look into his side of the question before forcing 

 him into an opposition from which he will probably come 

 out second best, but into which he should never have been 

 driven. 



The object of the convention is clearly laid down by the 

 published circular, but it may be accepted that the root of 

 the principle which it will adopt is the production or the 

 selection of a body or bodies of men whose experience and 

 sound judgment in respect to the subjects they take in hand 

 shall be such as vrill lead any or all Legislatures to look to 

 them for almost infalUbe opinions and absolutely correct ad- 

 vice in regard to game and fish preservation. In many eases 

 tJje laws oonnected with the game question contain so much 



that is nonsensical that it is no wonder that|they are a dead 

 letter, nor is it a matter of surprise that dealers and even 

 shooters are often driven into efforts to evade their provi- 

 sions. In this regard it is clear tbat each and every State 

 cannot but benefit by the selecting of a number of gentlemen 

 to whom the Legislature can safely apply for suggestions 

 and guidance in the framing of laws about game and fish 

 preserving, and the whole country will benefit in the same 

 way by a wise extension of a common principle to all. How 

 necessary such a board of advisers is to a Legislature 

 may be learned in a very few words. Those 

 of our St. Jjouis citizens who wish to occupy 

 twelve hours of leisure in the pursuit of prairie chicken 

 must seek their sport in either Illinois or Missouri. The 

 Legislature of the former State pi ovided at its last session for 

 the entertainment of a number of game constables, and it 

 has tacked to its proper and wise measui-esfor game preserv- 

 ing one that makes the possession of a bird out of season a 

 crime. It then adds the delicious absurdity that a game 

 constable shall seize illicit game wherever he can, and shall 

 at once dispose of it at pubilc auction. A is cvivxghi flo.[ir a iiLr. 

 delkiit. with six grouse; these arc sold to C and D by con- 

 stable B, who should at once seize seize C and D for unlaw- 

 ful possession. In Missouri the absurdity of the game law, 

 as passed by the last Le2:islature, is still greater. "The vari- 

 ous g1u1)8 in the State have determined that tha laws, right 

 or wrong, shall be acted up to, and the olficers of several of 

 the sportsmen's associations akeady li:tve their eyes upon 

 different dealers in the c'vty, and will' prosecute to conviction 

 wherever possible. The Legislature this year a.llered the 

 opening of the grouse season in Missouri' to the 15th day 

 of October. This law says, therefore, that practically 

 scarcely a single prairie chicken shall be eaten in 

 the State this year. All of those who know the 

 habits of om- prairie grouse are ' aware that 

 they pack in large flocks after the first heavy frost; that they 

 then become extremely wild and almost invariabjy rise out 

 of shot. We generally experience more than one sound 

 frost before the 15th of October, and as the fall business has 

 generally well commenced by that date there will be found 

 but very few gunners, either sportsmen or hunters, who will 

 wfnderto the w^est of the State for half a dozen doubtful 

 shots a day. It is dilficult to understand why the opening 

 day has been set back so far. The sportsmen don't seem to 

 appreciate it, the marketmen no doubt hate the change, and 

 tliere is little doubt that the public will send up a bowl when 

 on the next mid date of September they find that they have 

 to look forward a whole month for a delicacy to which they 

 have become accustomed at that special season. It must 

 be remembered that the possession of a grouse, even if it 

 comes from the Indian j?erritory, is as rigidly punishable 

 as is the killing of one on the nearest piece of prairie. 

 It is not easy to find any one who will say that the 

 opening of the season was so postponed on account of a 

 diminution of the head of grouse in the State, and 

 there is no doubt that no such special cause for a 

 change existed, but even had it been the reasou for a special 

 act of legi.slation, it would have been easy to add a special 

 rider to the bill to the effect that game exhibited and 

 registered as such on entering the State should be marked in 

 some way or other, and that its possession should not be un- 

 lawful when declared. The trivial expense incurred might 

 easily have been recovered from the dealers. If Mifssouri 

 had possessed a board of sportsmen to which the Legislature 

 could have turned for advice, no such absurdly late date as 

 Oct. 15 would have been insisted on for the opening of the 

 grouse season, and neither dealers nor the public would then 

 have had occasion to look on themselves as ill used. It is 

 quite possible that the American association alluded to above 

 will take a hand in testing the constitutionality of a law 

 which keeps articles of merchandise out of a State, and the 

 results of stich actions in other parts of the Union do not 

 point to any great probability of the wisdom of the Legisla- 

 ture being upheld by the United States courts. 



It is probable that the convention will be asked to suggest 

 that the officers of the various fish commissions be merged 

 in those for the protection of both fish and game. 



QUAIL IN THE HAY FIELD. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



An affair in my experience that occurred some years ago 

 in relation to the destruction of setting quail in the hay field, 

 may be of interest to those who wish to protect broods so 

 situated. I had come in possession of my first pointer. As 

 she was unbroken, I undertook the job with the assistance 

 of books and such other information as I could gain from 

 one or two who shot on the wing over trained dogs. Single 

 quail were to be found in every lot and clearing, so we did 

 not lack for material. One day in a hay field Fan found 

 three sitting birds. Two of them covered sixteen eggs each, 

 the other twenty-three eggs, the largest number I ever met 

 with in a single nest, It seemed to me a great pity to have 

 their nests destroyed, as they surely would be Avithin the 

 week, when the field was to be mowed. I immediately took 

 steps for their protection, by driving sticks that reached 

 well above the grass, and described a circle of ten feet or 

 more in diameter around each nest. The mowers respected 

 the boundary lines, and to our pleasure and surprise, each 

 bird remained with her charge. 



Five days after haying was over, in company with Fan 

 we visited the locality. In and around the two smaller nests 

 there was xjlenty of scent and there were broken egg shells, 

 but no birds. After a short search in the vicinity we found 

 numerous young peepers, some of them made frantic efforts 

 to buzz off, but soon fell back on the best and most effectual 

 game of skalk. On the large nest Fan came to a point, and 

 peering through the grass we plainly saw the old hen on the 

 nest. Three days after this we again visited the nest. The 

 hcnwas gone; there only remained a lot of broken shells 

 and three addled eggs, so I think we are correct in stating 

 that fifty-two birds were the reward of this operation. As 

 these three broods remained in the neighborhood of the 

 farmyard we did not disturb them. There were numerous 

 bevies on every farm and clearing in all quarters, and none 

 to disturb them until winter with the trap; boys came on the 

 field about the middle of October, I am certain. These pro- 

 tected birds wintered in one gang, and remained so more or 

 less of the time until the pairing season in March. Thev 

 were daily visitors to the outhouses and garden, and so tame 

 as never to fly or skulk, in the usual way, on the approach 

 of person or dog. When the first heavy snows came we 

 placed a quantity of cornstalks in the form of a large hollow 

 shock in an open field near the barn; it was always supplied 

 with wheat and other grain screenings. This place was 

 regularly visited by them, but they never remained over 

 I night, always taking to the adjoining grass flelda or low 



scrub as twilight set in. They know best where to spend 

 their nights out in safety. The last I saw of these birds was 

 in early March, when I counted the tracks of twenty two 

 birds, enough certainly to stock a good piece of country. 



Dr. E. Sterling. 



Cleveland, Ohio. 



TuE Forests op Upper Coos.— Connecticut Lake, N". H., 

 July 21 —Editor Forest and Stream: The article in last 

 week's issue by Dr. Prime on the failing Connecticut, will 

 apply to the valley of Ammonoosuc twenty years ago; but 

 where on all the branches of the Connecticut have one 

 thousand acres of pine timber been cut off, and where has 

 the lumber been sawed in that number of years? Pine 

 stumps are not nn easy article to remove and in Upper Coos 

 I have seen but few, and it is here that the greater portion of 

 forest cutting has been done within the last ten years, and 

 spruce trees alone liave been the object of interest; and care 

 is taken to cut only those over eiglit inches in diameter. I 

 think it a safe estimate to mak<^ on all the lands cut over 

 during the last ten years on the Upper Connecticut and its 

 tributaries less than 25 per cent, of shade-producing trees, 

 and where ten years .since millions of feet of spruce were cut 

 from the vicinity of Lower Connecticut Lake the shade of 

 the forest is sutflcient to deceive any but the spruce-tree hun- 

 ter, so dense is the foliage of birch, maple and fir trees that 

 have extended their branches to fill the vacant spaces. The 

 lands are now owned by parties and companies who are 

 guarding against forest fire by employing men for the pur- 

 pose when there is danger of its spreading. I remember to 

 have seen Dr. Prime at Colebrook, JSf. H. If he can tell at 

 the distance (one mile) across the valley at that point v/here 

 "bleak masses of rocks" have taken the place of tree cutting, 

 I would like to see it. The forest owners of to-day are men 

 who know the value of their lands iu Upper Coos, where 

 birch cannot be taken to market profitably via the "canal," 

 and no other conveyance is at hand. — Ned Norton. 



Smith AND THE Game Constable.— A correspondent to 

 the Philadelphia Telegrnia reports: "Paid Smith, the well- 

 known hotel man of St. Regis Lake, talking to some of his 

 guests a few weeks ago, said: 'They wanted me to goto 

 Albany and see what I could do to 'kill the bill. I went. 

 When I got there I was asked, "What is it worth to have this 

 bill defeaterl '?" That was enough for me. I came home at 

 once, for 1 thought it would be cheaper, when I wanted to 

 do some deer hounding around Lake liegis, to give our game 

 nonstable $40 and send him away on a visit, than it would 

 be to buy up the Legislature.' The sentiment among sucli 

 men is very sti-ongly expressed again.st Governor Hill, who 

 signed the bill, as they vow they will not vote tor him if he 

 is nominated. The law will be violated to a considerable 

 extent, but its effect will be good iu keeping the wilderness 

 in its present wild condition. Hotels increase there all too 

 rapidly for the accommodation of non-sporting guests, and 

 they will close earlier if the deer-slaughterers do not come. 

 Meanwhile the deer will increase in numbers, and sportsmen 

 who enjoy hunting them in a sportsmanlike manner will 

 reap the benefit." The game protector is Peter B. Leonard. 

 We should be pleased to hear from Mr. Leonard in reference 

 to this speech of Paul Smith. 



Eatinc Prairie Chicken Eggs. — Emmetsburg, Palo-Alto 

 County, Iowa— Edit^jr Forest ani Stream: I have been here 

 over a week now, and find chickens very scarce. What few 

 coveys there are have full number of young birds, but I 

 fancy the breeding stock of old birds must hjive been very 

 limited. I have had letters from several points in Nebraska 

 and Minnesota, and the same general complaint is made. To 

 one who can look back only four years ago and remember the 

 almost unlimited quantities of this noble bird that then 

 stocked the prairies, and then see it as deserted as it now is. 

 the retrospect is indeed sad. It is not only the breechloader 

 of the city sportsman — though that has undoubtedly been a 

 potent factor in the exterminating process — but the burning 

 of the prairies in the spring after the birds -are setting destroys 

 hundreds of broods. Then again the herdboys rob what 

 nests they find, breaking some of the eggs to see if they are 

 newly laid, and building fires on the plains and wasting and 

 eating the eggs. Then almost every farmer owns a gun and 

 makes it a point to have a me.ss of chickens as soon as they 

 are large enough to fly up out of the grass. I see nothing 

 ahead but complete extermination for these grand birds. — 



Bay Bird Movements.— Philadelphia, Aug. 2.— The 

 flights of curlew, brownbacks and creakers have been good 

 during the past week. Many of the first named have passed 

 down the coast in bunches of ten to twenty. Few, however, 

 if any, of the varieties have been killed. The mosquitoes 

 on the meadows are simply horrible in numbers and blood- 

 thirstiness. A good and strong south wind now will bring- 

 more birds and will keep down the mosquitoes and make 

 matters bearable. Parties that wish to have a good time 

 with the bay birds had better go to Ocean City, Siunepuxent 

 Beach, during the first ten days of August. "The fashion for 

 ornamenting ladies' hats with small bird skins is declining, 

 and the use of the long shafted wing and tail feathers of 

 much larger species is coming in. This is good ; the bay 

 birds will have a rest, not, however, as they should until all 

 spring shooting ceases. Grassplover are flying over Phila- 

 delphia at night in goodly numbers, so their whistles heai-d 

 before daybreak and through the wee sma' hours would 

 indicate. — Homo. 



A Texas Game Coitntry. — I have just made a trip of 

 pleasure to see what lay between Harrold. Texas, the ter- 

 minus of Fort Worth & Denver City Railroad, and Fort 

 Sill. Indian Territory. I struck out over prairie till I came 

 to Deep Red. There I camped for the night with plenty 

 of firewood. Early next morning I was up after turkeys, 

 and found them plentiful, killed three for breakfast; saw 

 several deer. Leaving Deep Red I was on prairie again 

 for over twenty miles; saw numbers of quail; also several 

 herds of antelope. Stopped on a small creek for the night 

 and killed several plover for breakfast next day. At noon 

 I sav/ Cash Creek with plenty of timber ;on both sides its 

 banks. Turkey signs abounded, and I saw a heard of over 

 tw^o hundred antelope feeding out into the open. Quail 

 appear to be everywhere, from every thicket I heard Bob 

 White. From Cash to Sill antelope were in view on side 

 hills. It is a sportsman's country all over. I reached 

 Fort Sib, and should give the distance from fifty-eight to 

 sixty miles, and from five to ten miles shorter than from 

 Henrietta.— Almo (Harrold, Wilbarger CQMntv, Texas. 

 July 28). - " - ■ » 



