28 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 2, 1888. 



and spent several days there, and I found that deer were so 

 abundant in that neighborhood that it was not an uncommon 

 tiling for one of the boys or young men to 'kill one in the adjacent 

 woods, and venison was common moat in the settlement and upon 

 the table of the hotel where I stopped; in addition to this I found 

 also that some of the hunters were dissatisfied with and com- 

 plaining of the existing law and trying to evade it, which provided 

 that bo one banter shall kill more than three deer in one season. 

 Just think of it! there, where a deer was formerly a vara ccrvvs. 

 it is now so common that every one who wishes, be he a native of 

 the State 6r only a visitor, may have three for his share. The 

 Commissioners say: "There arc enough deer for all, and the law 

 has made a fair apportionment of three for each. This is enough; 

 no one man sbould be allowed to make, a business of killing and 

 selling that which equally belongs to all. One moose, two caribou 

 and three deer is the apportionment made by our Legislature for 

 each." This miracle of an astonishing increased supply has been 

 brought about solely and only by the enactment of wise" and salu- 

 tary protective laws and splendid and strict enforcement: of thorn. 

 Yes, gentlemen, protection will protect, as wc will show the 

 people of this Commonwealth if they will give us the laws that 

 will aid us in the work wo have undertaken to perform. 



Lieut. -Gov. J. Q. A. Brackett, in a witty speech, ex- 



Eressed his sympathy with the work of the Association; 

 onimissioner E. II. Lathrop urged the importance of 

 harmony between sportsmen and land owners; Mr. C. B. 

 Reynolds asked the co-operation of the Association in 

 influencing needed legisla lion for the National Park ; Hon. 

 Asa French urged that the Association should not be dis- 

 couraged, even if it were not always successful in the 

 State House; Hon. Levi Woodbury spoke with spirit of 

 the fisheries troubles, and urged retaliation as the most 

 effective mode of hastening an adjustment of present 

 complications. Messrs. Dwyer. Lodge, Commissioner 

 Hodge and others followed with remarks which were 

 well received. 



THE MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION. 



AT the Detroit meeting last week, the different sec- 

 tions of the State were well represented, and the 

 following club members of the association had delegates 

 present: Kent County Sportsmen^ Club, of Grand Rapids; 

 Pottawatomie Club, of Grand Rapids; Kalamazoo Gun 

 Club; Battle Creek and Bay City Sportsmen's Clubs, and 

 the North Channel Fishing and Shooting Club, of Detroit. 



The sessions were held in the Elks' parlors, in the 

 Cowie block. After the members had gone into ecstacies 

 over the magnificent autlers that surmount the presiding 

 officer's chair, President Holmes, of Grand Rapids, called 

 the convention to order. Dr. Joel C. Parker, of Grand 

 Rapids, of the Committee on Enforcement, in his report, 

 called upon the members to put forth their best efforts in 

 aiding the game warden to exact observance of the game 

 laws adopted by the last Legislature. William B. Mer- 

 shon, of the same committee, sent in a communication 

 from East Saginaw, in which he said that to insure uni- 

 versal obedience of the game laws the deputy game war- 

 dens should receive a stated salary, making them inde- 

 pendent of the county supervisors. He also suggested 

 that vigorous measures be taken in enforcing the non- 

 exportation law against the pot-hunters who use nets and 

 spear indiscriminately in gathering a supply for markets 

 outside of the State. 



T. F. Shepherd said that the association should turn its 

 attention to the protection of song birds, which are nearly 

 exterminated, owing to the demands of fashion. Dr. 

 Parker thought that the State ought to recognize the 

 fact that the choice members of the finny, furred and 

 feathered families were being slaughtered 'in unreason- 

 able numbers. A resolution which he presented recited 

 that a State Park would prove a great public benefit in 

 the preservation of game, fish and birds and which called 

 on the State Commission of Forestry to take active meas- 

 ures with a view of establishing an asylum of refuge in 

 that shape. The resolution was adopted and President 

 Holmes was deputized to present it to the Caramission. 

 Judge Speed thought the deputy wardens ought to have 

 a salary, and read a letter from the deputy at St. Ignace, 

 in which that official said he was powerless to act where 

 much could be done, all because he couldn't get paid for 

 his time. 



President Holmes, in his annual address, said that the 

 object of the association could be classified under two 

 heads. The first aim is to procure laws for the proper 

 protection of game and means to enforce them. The 

 second is to study the natural history of the game. "The 

 association," he said, "after thirteen years of life has suc- 

 ceeded in securing needed legislation and in having a 

 game warden appointed to enforce the measures. We 

 should endeavor now to add to his efficiency and to the 

 efficiency of the lawB." 



The Committee on Laws had the most important report 

 of the day. After reviewing the work of the Legislature in 

 passing needed laws last winter they said that measures 

 should be enacted placing black bass in quarantine, so to 

 speak, from April to July inclusive. Fish shutes are now 

 so constructed as to be of little use, and to remedy this 

 the committee suggests that the game warden be made 

 supervisor of all the shutes. There are thirty-eight coun- 

 ties in the State for which there are twenty-one special 

 local provisions, and the committee favors embodying 

 these into a general State law, Anothor measure 

 favored was one to prevent the spearing of black bass in 

 June, July and August. 



The report received the hearty approval of the Associ- 

 ation and was further added to by ex- Judge Speed and 

 Edgar Weeks. Both thought that stringent restrictions 

 should be placed upon the use of the seine. During the 

 winter months it is used along the lakes in scooping out 

 tons of fish from under the ice. Fry are thrown away 

 on the ice and spawning fish wasted. A fishery at the 

 mouth of the Clinton River was held accountable by Mr, 

 Weeks for the comparative scarcity of black bass along 

 the shore there and at the Flats, because of its wanton 

 waste with the seine. 



The Association also resolved to endeavor to procure a 

 statutory jirovision prohibiting the spearing and shooting 

 of fish in all inland waters at all seasons. 



The president and secretary were also instructed to 

 issue an appeal to the ladies of Michigan, in behalf of the 

 Association, asking them to refrain from the embalmed 

 dickie birds as headgear. 



Treasurer Osgood, of Battle Creek, reported cash on 

 hand $139.92. The next meeting will be held in Lansing 

 on the second Tuesday and Wednesday of next January. 



The final business was the election 4Jf officers. Dr. 

 Holmes was chosen president for the thirteenth consecu- 

 tive time, much against his wishes, Secretary Norris 

 declined re-eleotion, and A. L. Lakey, of Kalamazoo, was 

 chosen secretary. Edgar Weeks was elected treasurer, and 

 F, S. Cobb, of Kalamazoo, director for four years, 



THE FORESTRY BILL. 



BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

 the United States of America in Congress assembled: 



DESIGNATION OF FOREST LANDS. 



Section 1. All lauds now owned or controlled or which mavbe 

 hereafter owned or controlled by the United States, and which 

 are now, or shall hereafter he, devoted to forest uses, are for the 

 purposes of this act declared to be public forest lands. 



WITHDHA W A L OP FOREST I/ANUS FROM SALE. 



Sec. 2. The unsurveyed public lands of the United States em- 

 bracing natural forests, or which are less valuable for agricul- 

 tural t nan for torest purposes, and all public lands returned by 

 the putilie surveys as timber lands, shall be, and the same are 

 hereby withdrawn from survey, sale, entry, or disposal under ex- 

 isting laws, and shall be disposed of only as provided in this act 

 and as Congress may hereafter prescribe. 



PREVENTING ENTKIES 17FON FOREST LANDS. 



Sec. 3. Every person applying to make an entry or filing of 

 public lauds under any law of the United Bin fcos before the classi- 

 fication and survey of the forest lands as provided in this act shall 

 be made, shall tile with lus application an affidavit under oath, 

 corroborated by witnesses, stating that the land applied for is not 

 exclusively forest land an« not situated near the headwaters of 

 any stream, and is more valuable for agricultural or mining pur- 

 poses than tor the timber growing thereon, and each such appli- 

 cant shall state particularly his means of information and his 

 person? 1 knowledge of the facts to which be testifies, and upon a 

 certificate irom the Commissioner of Forestry the lauds so entered 

 may be disposed of under existing laws; and every person swear- 

 ing falsely to any 8U6h affidavit shall be deemed guilty of perjury 

 and liable to the penal ties thereof; and all illegal entries of timber 

 lands shall be absolutely void, and upon satisfactory proof shall 

 be subject to summary cancellation bv the Commissioner of the 

 General Land Office. 



INSTITUTING THE OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER OF FORESTS. 



Sec. 4. There shall be in the Department of the Interior a 

 Commissioner ot Forests, who shall be appointed by the Presi- 

 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and he 

 shall have the care, management and control of all the forest 

 lands owned or controlled by the United States, He shall be a 

 suitable person, versed in matters of forestry, and shall be entit ted 

 to a salary of $5,000 a year, with such allowances for assistants 

 and expenses as will insure a proper execution of the provisions of 

 this act and as Congress may from year to year provide. lie shall 

 hold office during good behavior, and may be removed by the 

 President for cause, and before entering upon his duties he shall 

 give bonds with sureties to the Treasurer of the United States in 

 the sum of 860,000, conditional, to render a true and faithful ac- 

 count to the Treasurer quarterly of all moneys which shall be bv 

 him received by virtue of the said office. 



APPOINTMENT OF FOUR ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS. 



Sec. 5. The Commissioner of Forests shall appoint to himself 

 tour assistant commissioners, one of whom shall be a resident of 

 tlic State of California, or any of the Territories on the Pacific 

 slope and well acquainted with the forest conditions of tho Pacific 

 slope; another shall be from the State of Colorado or any of the 

 Territories bordering the Rocky Mountains, and well acquainted 

 with the forest conditions of the Rocky Mountains, and the third 

 Shall be from one of the States east of the 100th meridan,and well 

 acquainted with the forest conditions there prevailing. The 

 fourth shall be an expert in the knowledge of scientific forestry. 

 The four assistant commissioners are to act as a council to the 

 Commissioner of Forests in all matters pertaining to the adminis- 

 tration of Government forest lands as constituted bv this act, and 

 each shall have special charge of one division of the public forest 

 reserves, which he shall personalty inspect at least once every 

 j ear. Each of the assistant commissioners shall receive a salary 



CLASSIFICATION OF FOREST LANnS. 



_ Sec. 6. The forest lands on the public domain shall be arranged 

 in three general classes, namely: 



First. Lands distant from the headwaters of important 

 streams, covered by timber of commercial value, more valuable 

 for forest purposes than for cultivation. 



Second. Lands partially or wholly covered by timber, but suit- 

 able for homesteads, and more valuable for agricultural purposes 

 than for timber. 



Third. Mountainous and other woodlands, which for climatic 

 or economic or public reasons should be held permanently as 

 forest reserves. 



ESTABLISHMENT OF FOREST RESERVES. 



Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Forests to 

 examine and classify the forests and public timber lands of the 

 United States, and to determine, subject to the approval of the 

 Secretary of tho Interior, what portions of such forests and tim- 

 ber lands should be permanently retained in reservation for 

 climatic or other economic or public reasons, and what portions 

 may be disposed of without disadvantages to the public interests, 

 lie shall cause to be prepared connected maps or diagrams show- 

 md the approximate situation and a reas of public timber lands in 

 each State and Territory, and tho .President shall, bv proclama- 

 tion, designate the permanent forest reserves as the same shall 

 be selected and approved as herein provided; and it shall be the 

 duty of the Secretary of the Interior to cause exterior boundary 

 lines thereof to be run and marked by durable monuments: and 

 no further survey of any timber lands of the United States shall 

 be made until the permanent reservations herein provided for 

 are established. 



APPRAISEMENT OF TIMBER. 



Sec. 8. The lands of the first and second class shall from time 

 to time be appraised, under the direction of the Secretary of the 

 Interior, and lists and plats thereof made; and the value of the 

 timber shall be appraised separately from and in addition to the 

 Government price, of land. 



OISPOSITION OF TIMBER. 



Sec. 9. The President may, from time to time, in his discretion, 

 by proclamation, authorize the sale of such appraised timber on 

 lands of the first class, on the stump, in aggregate quantities not 

 exceeding twenty-five thousand acres at any one sate. 



MANNER OF SALE OF TIMBER. 



Sec 10. Such sales shall be made under the supervision of the 

 Commissioner of Forests and in accordance with such regulations 

 as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe, and under the con- 

 dition that the purchaser will comply with the regulations as to 

 the cutting and removal of the timber prescribed and made known 

 by the Commissioner of Forests; but no such timber shall be 

 disposed of except to the highest bidder, upon sealed bids, by 

 legal subdivisions of sections, at not less than the appraised price, 

 and after due public notice as now provided by law. 



RESTORING FOREST LANDS TO ENTRT. 



Sec. 11. Lands of the second class, when reported to the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior by the Commissioner of Forests, with the ap- 

 proval of the President, shall be restored to homestead entry or 

 sale; but a special price for the timber thereon, as appraised, shall 

 be paid by the applicant in addition to the usual price and fees for 

 the land. 



CO-OPERATION OF OTHER OFFICERS. 



Sec. 12. The Commissioner of the General Land Office, surveyors 

 general, registers and receivers, and other federal officers con- 

 nected with the public lands, are directed to co-operate with and 

 assist to the extent of their power the Commissioner of Forests in 

 the selection and classification of the public forest lands. 



FURTHER HUTIES OF FOREST COMMISSIONER. 



Sec 13. The Commissioner of Forests shall properly subdivide 

 and arrange into divisions and districts of proper size such forest 

 lands as shall constitute the forest reserves and forest lands 

 remaining under his control, and shall organize a service of 

 and appoint inspectors and rangers for their protection and 

 proper administration and provide a practical system of forestry. 

 He shall make reasonable rides and regulations for the prevention 

 of trespass upon said lauds and for their protection and the con- 

 servation of forest growth, and he shall be empowered to sell 

 timber from the said reservations as the local demands require 

 and a proper forestry permits. He shall designate every year the 

 acres which may be cut over and prescribe the conditions, manner, 

 method and time forZthe cutting of the same, and fix the Govern- 

 ment rate for the stumpage on such areas, and upon the applica- 

 tion of any resident citizen desirous to obtain his supply of wood 

 from the Government forest reserves, suitable locations shall be 

 designated to him. The Commissioner of Forests shall have the 

 power to regulate pasturage and any occupancy whatever upon 

 the forest lands. And all moneys received from the sale of tim- 

 ber or any other privileges he shall cover into the United States 

 treasury. 



CO-OPERATION WITH STATE BOARBS. 



Sec. H. Whenever any of the States in which public forest 

 lands are situated shall have instituted and provided for a forest 

 commission or other forest management of the forest lands be- 



longing to the State, it shall be in the discretion of the Commis- 

 sioner of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the. 

 Interior, to co-operate with such forest commission and 'to allow 

 the same to act as agents for the United States under his direction 

 for the purposes of this act. 



PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL CUTTING ON FOREST RESERVES. 



upon any torest reserve of the United States, every such person 

 li niw llable , toa fine of not less than $100 and not more than 

 $1,000 for each such offense, to imprisonment at hard labor not 

 exceeding one year and to civil prosecution to recover the value 

 ot the property so unlawfully taken cr destroyed. 



PENALTIES FOR CUTTING TIMBER ON ANY FOREST LAND, 



.I0.1WU.} uuru. mjure, rap, giraie or destroy any timber on or 

 from lands of the United States, or to export, transport, purchase 

 or dispose of the same, or of any lumber, charcoal, pitch, tur- 

 pentine or other product manufactured therefrom; and everv 

 person violating the provisions of this section shall be guiltv of a. 

 misdemeanor, and shall be fined in a sum not exceeding «1,0(10, 

 and imprisoned not longer than one year; and everv person 



liable in an action of trespass for the full value of the timber d 

 timbcr product at the place of delivery; but nothing contained in 

 this section shall prevent any agriculturist or miner from taking 

 from his claim the bmber necessary for domestic purposes or the 

 support of his improvements. 



And wherever there exists a right previously established by 

 law, to cut timber on the public lands, everv person or corpora- 

 tion exercising such right must comply with the rules and regula- 

 tions prescribed by the Commissioner of Forests and approved bv 

 the Secretary of the Int erior. * 



And a failure to comply with all the rules and regulations so 

 prescribed and approved in regard to the manner of using a nd 

 occupying the public forest lands shall constitute a misdemeanor 

 punishable as provided in this section. 



PENALTIES FOR OCCUPANCY OF PUBLIC LANDS. 



Sec. 17. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or cor- 

 poration to knowingly erect, establish or maintain upon public 

 lands of the United States without proper authority, any sawmill 

 or manufactory of lumber or other timber products, or to engage 

 or be employed m the manufacture, or lumber, charcoal, pitch, or 

 turpentine upon public lands, or to use at anv such mill manu- 

 factory or works, any timber cut or removed from public lands: 

 and any person viola! iug this section shall be liable to a fine of not 

 less than $500 and not more than $5,000, in addition to the penalties 

 hereinbefore prescribed; and all mills, manufactories and works 

 so erected or maintained upon public lands shall be absolutely for- 

 feited to the United States. 



PENALTIES POll TRANSPORTING AND HANDLING ILLEGALLY CUT 

 TIMBER. 



Sec. 18. That if any master, owner or consignee of any vessel, 

 or any officer or agent of any railroad company, shall knowingly 

 receive for shipment any timber, lumber, or timber product taken 

 without authority from timber lands of the United States, with 

 intent to transport the same to any port or place within the 

 United States, or to export the same to any foreign country, everv 

 such master, owner, consignee, officer, agent and railroad com- 

 pany shall be liable to the penalties prescribed in the eleventh 

 section of this act, and the vessel on board which anv such timber, 

 lumber, or timber product shall be taken, transported or seized, 

 shall be wholly forfeited to the United States. 



PROTECTION BY MILITARY FORCE. 



Sec. 19. The President is authorized to employ so much of the 

 land and naval forces of the United States as may be necessary 

 effectually to prevent the cutting down, removal, or other destruc- 

 tion of trees or timber on public forest lands, and to prevent the 

 transportation of any such timber, and to take such other meas- 

 ures as may be deemed advisable for the protection of the forest 

 lands of the United States. 



RESTRICTING QUALITY OF FOREST OFFICERS. 



Sec. 20. No person wlio Js directly or indirectly engaged in the 

 manufacture of lumber, or timber products, or conducting a£g 

 business which requires a large consumption of timber or wood, 

 shall be qualified to serve as commissioners of forests under this 

 act, or to serve in any official capacity in connection with public 

 woodlands. 



REPEALING CLAUSE. 



Sec. 21. That the acts of June 3, 1878, chapters 150 and 151, and 

 the first and second sections of the act of , June 15, 1880, entitled, 

 "An act relating to the public lauds of the United .states," and all 

 acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act, be, and the same 

 are hereby, repealed. 



ENACTING CLAUSE. 



Sec 23. This act will take effect on the 1st day of July next, but 

 the President may appoint the Commissioner of Forests prior to 

 that date, with his duties and salary to commence at that date. 



APPROPRIATION CLAUSE. 



Sec. 23. For the purpose sf carrying out the provisions of this 

 act, for the payment of salaries, traveling and other expenses the 

 sum of $500,000 is hereby appropriated. 



THE ALBANY GAME LAW MILL. 



ALBANY, Feb. 1.— It is likely that the game committees of the 

 two Houses will meet this week and take some action on the 

 numerous bills already before them. 



Senator Coggeshall has introduced the bill already introduced 

 in the Assembly by Mr. McAdam, making the close season for 

 duck, geese and brant from Jan. 1 to Sept. 1. 



Assemblyman Knapp's bill makes Delaware county governed 

 by the general law for the shooting of woodcock, which makes the 

 close season from January to August. 



Mr. Thompson, of Jefferson, presented a petition to the Assem- 

 bly to-day from his constituents, praying for the putting of a 

 "premium on the scalps of English sparrows." 



The report of the Forestry Commission, sent to the Legislature 

 to-day, recommends an increase in the number of forest wardens 

 to prevent the frequent infraction of the game laws. The Com- 

 mission also asks for the power to lease small tracts of lands to 

 private parties. More power is also asked for to enable tho forest 

 officials to more readily suppress fires. 



Assemblyman White's bill repeals the act of 1887, allowing the 

 fishing with fyke and other nets in Keuka Lake. 



Assemblyman McAdam's bill prohibits the shooting of ducks, 

 geese and brant in the State throughout the spring. The close 

 season is made from Jan. 1 to Sept. 1. 



Assemblyman Hadley's bttJJ amends the Forestry Commission 

 act of 1885 so that there may be sold from the forest preserve 

 such small parcels not exceeding five acres in area as may be 

 leased to individuals or clubs, for pleasure resorts or camping 

 purposes only, by the comptroller upon the recommendation of 

 the Forest Commission or a majority thereof in accordance with 

 such rules and regulations as the Commission shall from time 

 to time establish; no lease to be for more than five years. But 

 nothing in the act shall be so constituted as to prohibit the comp- 

 troller upon the recommendation of a majority of the Commis- 

 sion from selling any mature timber liable to decay situate on 

 the State lands and granting to the purchaser the right to enter 

 upon the land and remove the timber subject to such rules as the 

 Commission shall establish. 



THE NEW YORK AND CHICAGO LIMITED. 



THE expedient of inclosing, or, as it has been termed, the vesti- 

 buling of car platforms, for the comfort and convenience of 

 passengers having occasion to pass from car to car while a train 

 is in motion, has been adopted from time to time, and the device 

 has been in daily use on the celebrated fast mail trains over the 

 New York Central and Lake Shore roads for many years. From 

 ordinary vestibules constructed with board partitions and with- 

 out ornamentation— such as are found on the fast mail trains— to 

 the glass-paneled, tight-fitting and handsomely decorated vesti- 

 bules designed for magnificently appointed passenger trains, was 

 an easy and natural transition. The wonder is that the applica- 

 tion of the vestibule arrangement to passenger trains was so long 

 delayed. When so introduced the device could hardly be called a 

 new invention. 



Recognizing the merits and advantages of such an arrangement 

 on a train scheduled to run at a high rate of speed, with few stop- 

 pages and without detention at dining stations, the Wagner Pal- 

 ace Car Company has constructed for daily service between New 

 York and Chicago, over the New York Central and Lake Shore 

 roads, the requisite number of cars provided with vestibides, and 

 so perfect in all their appointments, so replete with comforts, 



