Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



''^'^"^'^iIShs! i NEW YORK, DECEMBER 3, 188B. {m^.s^r^v^IA'^Yo^. 



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Forest Knd Stream Publishing Ooi 

 Nos. 39 AND 40 Park Bow. New York Citv. 



A REPORT ON THE NATIONAL PARK. 



WE take great pleasure in laying before our readers this 

 week the full text of Mr. W. Hallett Phillips's report 

 on the Yellowstone National Park. This document rep- 

 resents the investigations made during a month and a half 

 in the Park last summer, and the conclusions reached are in 

 almost every case identical with those which we have ex- 

 pressed in the past with others which we had drawn during 

 a sojeurn there in August last. These conchisions we had 

 embodied in a series of letters on the Park which we had 

 proposed to print on the assembling of Congress, and which 

 are now forestalled by Mr. PhiUips's excellent report. 



The most important matter touched upon in this document 

 relates to the government of the Park. We have often 

 alluded to this subject in years past, and have urged upon 

 Congress the necessity of providing some means of enforcing 

 the law on this national reservation. The bills introduced 

 in Congress have attempted to provide such government by 

 placing the Park within the jurisdiction of Wyoming or 

 Montana, but as these bills have failed to become law, the 

 Park still remains without a government. We pointed out 

 last August that, notwithstanding this fact, Wyoming had 

 enacted a statute providing for the government of such 

 portion of the Park as lay within the borders of that Terri- 

 tory, authorizing the election of peace officers for the reserva- 

 tion, and providing pains and penalties for violations of this 

 statute. We also showed that the machinery thus provided 

 was in operation, and remarked that, owing to the failure 

 of the Vest bill to become a law, the statute passed by the 

 Wyominf T ^gigiature was without eifect, and that the peace 

 oflflccrs actidg under the authority of the Territory had no 

 jurisdiction whatever in the National Park. It will be seen 

 that Mr. Phillips takes the same view of the case that we 

 then expressed. He recommends to remedy the present 

 condition of affairs in the Park, that two United States 

 Commissioners be appointed, one to sit at the Mammoth Hot 

 Springs and the other at the Lower Geyser Basin, and that 

 these Commissioners be vested with such extraordinary 

 powers as are conferred upon the Commissioners appointed 

 under the recent Alaska act. They should have power to 

 try all offenses not above misdemeanors, and all violations 

 of th« laws of Congress, or the rules and regulations estab- 

 lished by the Secretary of the Interior. Congress should at 

 the same time provide pains and penalties for the violation 

 of these laws and regulations, 

 The attempt to govern the reservation by means of Terri- 



torial law has proved an entire failure. We should have 

 been glad to see this means employed if it could have been 

 done effectively, but the ridiculously low salaries appropri- 

 ated for the justices made it very difficult to procure men 

 of character for this position, and it is openly stated that the 

 man Hall, who was the justice at the Firehole, made use of 

 his office to squeeze what he could out of such visitors to the 

 Park as were unfamiliar with the regulations and with the 

 Wyoming statute, under which he supposed that he was 

 acting. The Territorial plan having failed, we are inclined to 

 regard with favor the one recommended by Mr. Phillips. It 

 is certainly worth a trial. It is extremely important that 

 some steps should at once be taken to deal with offenses 

 more serious than misdemeanors. A few years ago last 

 summer a party of tourists were "held up" on the Firehole 

 River by a couple of ruffians, and this may occur again. 

 Provision should be made for the punishment of all crimes, 

 and some court or courts should be designated which shall 

 have jurisdiction over this territory. It is further recom- 

 mended that the assistant superintendents be vested with the 

 powers of deputy marshals, including that of arrest, a most 

 important and desirable addition to their powers, and one 

 which we have long advised. 



Mr. Phillips's recommendations with regard to the posting 

 of the regulations, the prohibition against advertisements, 

 against shooting within the limits of the Park, and the licens- 

 ing of guides,will commend themselves to the judgment of all. 

 His remarks on the liquor traffic in the Park are deserving 

 of careful consideration. To the scenes of drunkenness at 

 the Hot Springs, witnessed last summer, we have already 

 alluded. His views in regard to the qualifications of the 

 men to be employed as assistant superintendents and the 

 name by which they should be known are excellent. The 

 number of these men should be increased to twenty-five 

 at least, and such increase should be made at once. The 

 territory which they have to cover is very large, and each 

 year the increase of travel to the Park adds to the danger 

 to game and to the forests. We have long urged that 

 the powers of the Superintendent should be considerably 

 enlarged, and that matters should be left more to his dis- 

 cretion than is now the case. It is manifestly absurd that 

 he should be obliged to appeal to the Secretary of the 

 Interior whenever he wishes to purchase a sack of oats or to 

 give a permit to cut a few tons of hay. 



Mr. Phillips's remarks with regard to leases, while very in- 

 teresting, call for no special comment. 



The question as to the enlargement of the Park was wholly 

 without the purview of Mr. Phillips's instructions and is 

 not touched upon in his report. It is one that we hope to 

 see come up later in Congress. 



Taken as a whole the document is a remarkably clear and 

 intelligent statement of the more pressing needs of the Park, 

 and those who are interested in the reservation may congratu- 

 late themselves that so competent an agent was chosen by 

 Mr. Lamar to look into the condition of this reservation. It 

 is very gratifying to us that an intelligent gentleman sent 

 out by the Government, and making his observations under 

 the most favorable circumstances, should have reached con- 

 clusions identical in most respects with those which we have 

 arrived at after years of investigation. 



THE NEW YORK FISH COMMISSION. 

 TITE find the following in the Albany An/us of late date: 

 ' ' "On investigation it has Cteen discovered that the 

 terms of oliice of the Commissioners of Fisheries, with the 

 exception of that of William H. Bowman, of Rochester, 

 have expired. The term is five years, instead of life as 

 heretofore believed. The statutes are mandatory in the 

 matter of filling these vacancies. The Anglers' Association 

 of the St. Lawrence River has filed with the Governor a 

 vigorous protest againt the reappointment of Fish Commis- 

 sioner Blackford, of Brooklyn, because he is a fish dealer 

 in New York city, and his private business interests are at 

 variance with his public duties and inimical to all true 

 sportsmen," 



On two former occasions this objection was urged against 

 Mr, Blackford, and twice a bill was introduced into the 

 Legislature forbidding any person interested in the sale of 

 fish to be a Commissioner. In each of these cases the bill 

 was instigated by a man whom Mr. Blackford had dis- 

 charged for stealing trout from Long Island streams, and the 

 bill came to naught. If the Anglers' Association would 

 make a specific charge and show in what way Mr. Black- 

 ford's private interests interfere with his public duties, we 

 could then judge of the merits of the case. We know that 

 Mr, Blackford has been one of the most active men in the 



board, and that he has not only devoted time but money to 

 furthering flshculture. He has hired a room from the city 

 and fitted it up as a laboratory, which is open to students of 

 natural history at all times, and he has employed Prof. H. J. 

 Rice to examine the stomachs of fishes in order to prove the 

 nature of their food, so that some light might be thrown on 

 the menhaden question, as well as on the breeding seasons 

 of fishes. All this has been at his own expense. Besides 

 this, he has given hundreds of dollars' worth of rare fishes to 

 the National Museum, buying everything new or strange 

 that comes into the market and donating it. 



We are at a loss to understand this opposition to him by 

 the Anglers' Association. This association is composed of 

 enthusiastic gentlemen who, no doubt, mean well, but who 

 do make a mistake sometimes, as in the case of the striped bass 

 law, and we feel sure that they are mistaken now. In a 

 former case when this same question came up. our late friend 

 George Dawson said to us: "Why, you might as well pass a 

 law that no man shall be a professor in a college who is 

 competent to teach.'' 



We know that some of the employees of the Fish Commis 

 sion do not approve of Mr. Blackford because he has insisted 

 on introducing some discipline and business methods, and 

 has perhaps been lacking in hero worship, but if the associa- 

 tion has been influenced in any way by them, it has listened 

 to bad counsel. We asked Mr. Blackford about this matter, 

 but he simply said that he should not fight it, the position 

 was not sought by him, and he thought of resigning, 

 as the duties had become burdensome. That this was the 

 first complaint he had heard from anglers who have gener- 

 ally felt kindly toward his efforts to increase the fishes, and 

 also for his hearty support of practical legislation for fish pro- 

 tection. This was all he cared to say on the subject. We 

 would regard the absence of Mr. Blackford from the Board 

 of Commissioners as a loss to the fishery interests of the 

 State, and in the absence of charges showing wherein he has 

 allowed his private interests to interfere with his duties we 

 shall continue to think so. 



The Eastern Field Trials MEExrNG. — The general 

 dissatisfaction which appears to prevail among those inter- 

 ested, and the fact that some of the handlers almost came to 

 blows on the field, indicate that all things did not go 

 "merry as a marriage bell" during the trials at High Point. 

 Most of the dissatisfaction appears to have arisen over the 

 Pointer Stakes, though there are not wanting expressions of 

 disapproval over some of the decisions in the Setter Stakes. 

 It seems likely that there will be before long a vigorous 

 criticism of the rules and of the judging, and there is no 

 doubt that such a discussion is needed. The canons of good 

 taste, if nothing more, were distinctly violated at the recent 

 meeting as we hope they will not be again. We think that 

 the time has come for a thorough revision of the field trial 

 rules, and when such revision takes place we hope to see it 

 undertaken by competent persons. 



"Practical Joking." — A community must be in a curi- 

 ously benighted condition when it makes game of the 

 statutes, and plays practical jokes in the form of farcical 

 trials of offenders against the law. In a Vermont village, 

 for example, a fellow who went out to the mountains and 

 killed some of the deer — put there by the liberality of public- 

 spirited gentlemen and protected by law— was, upon his 

 return with the disgraceful booty, put through a mock trial 

 by his fellow townsmen just for the fun of seeing him well 

 "scared," That speaks well for public sentiment in that 

 region ; and when the community is so insensible of decency, 

 what can be expected of the venison-hungry individual? 



Connecticut Anglers are advocating a six-inch trout 

 law. That is right. Why fool with fingerhngs when fish of 

 decent size are to be had? And if the fish are not of decent 

 size, then give them a chance to grow. The Connecticut 

 Fish Commissioners have sent out 3,000 brook trout fry for 

 distribution in the streams during the past year. Reports 

 from a number of correspondents show that previous efforts 

 in this direction have resulted in a tangible improvement. 



The Deer Hounding Law Enforced.— Protector John 

 Liberty, of the Sixth District, reports the conviction of four 

 persons in Essex county for hunting deer with dogs. These 

 are the first convictions reported under the new law forbid- 

 ding hounding. ' 



• CrtTisb of the Coot. — Begin at the beginning— last nam' 

 her — and follow this cruise, Which is destined to become 

 famous, 



Editohial, 



A Report on the National Park. 



The New York Fish Commission 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



To Chief Mountain. 



Climate of the West. 



The Special Report on the i^ark. 

 Naturai, Historv. 



Birds of Michigan. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



The "Forest and Stream" Tra- 

 jeciory Test. 



An Illinois Quail Preserve. 



A "Jumbo" Buck. 



In the Cache River Bottoms. 



Field, Wood and Farm Notes. 



Deer in Vermont. 



Deer near Lake George, 

 Sea and RrvBR Fishing. 



Casting From the Reel. 



Lawlessness in the Adirondaeks 

 Fishculture. 



Black Bass in Germany. 



The Kennel. 



The Eastern Field Trials. 



Graphic's Alleged Flush. 



Kennel Notes. 



Kennel Management. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



Range and Gallery. 



Thanksgiving Rifle Matches. 



The Trap. 

 Canoeing. 



Light Canoes and their Uses. 



A Boat Cruise Down the St, 

 Lawrence. 



British Canoeing. 



Two Amateur Canoes. 



Florida Canoe Headquarters, 

 Yachting, 



Cruise of the Coot — ii. 



Puritan vs. Arrow and Poca- 

 hontas. 



An Improved Windlass. 

 Answers to (Jorrbspondbnts. 

 PiTBLiSHERs' Department. 



