ISO 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 10, 188?. 



THE MAINE COMMISSIONER CHARGES, 



AN investigation by the Governor and. Council has 

 been ordered on the formal charges preferred against 

 E. M. Stillwell of Bangor and Henry O. Stanley of 

 Dixfield, the Maine Fish and Game Commissioners. The 

 movement against the Commissioners originated in 

 Franklin county. 



The f ollowing from the Boston Herald gives the side of 

 the element which is inimical to game protection and 

 has undertaken this move to abolish game protection. 



The officials are charged, first, with an improper and 

 unjust enforcement of the fish and game laws; second, 

 with maliciously prosecuting Gen. George M. Harmon of 

 New Haven, Conn., whom "they know to be innocent; 

 third, with having used funds, provided by the State for 

 the propagation of fish and game, improperly and to 

 defray then - own private expenses; fourth, with having, 

 through prejudice, failed to properly protect or propagate 

 fish in the great Rangeley Lake region; fifth, that not 

 only have they failed to properly protect or propagate 

 fish in that region, but that they have taken spawn from 

 those lakes and sold it outside the State; sixth, that they 

 have taken fish from spawning beds, and, after removing 

 from them their spawn, have marketed the fish; seventh, 

 that one Commissioner improperly and unlawfully at- 

 tempted to influence a witness in a fish and game case. 



This very brief summary is sufficient to outline the case 

 brought against the Commissioners. Fremont E. Timber- 

 lake of Phillips, cotinty attorney of Franklin county, and 

 Spear and Clason of Gardiner are the attorneys engaged 

 to present the evidence to the Governor and Comicil at 

 the investigation. In addition to the evidence they will 

 present an immense petition of citizens of Northern 

 Franklin, asking for the removal of Commissioner Still- 

 well. The petition is headed by Hon. N. B. Beal, presp 

 dent of the Sandy Eiver Railroad, and contains the names 

 of a great number of the most prominent citizens, among 

 them Hon. John R. Tootaker of Rangeley county, Com- 

 missioner of Franklin county; Maj. E. J. Gilkey of Strong, 

 member of the State Board of Agriculture fbr Franklin 

 county; Henry P. Dill of Phillips, ex-United States 

 Consul to Guelph, Can.; Hon. Isaiah Chick of Madrid, ex- 

 county commissioner, and Hon. Jeremiah W. Porter of 

 Strong. In addition to this, similar petitions are being 

 prepared in many other sections of Maine. Ab stated 

 above, this movement originated in Franklin county, but 

 no sooner was it publicly known to have started than 

 from all sections of Maine came aid and encouragement, 

 and evidence which, the prosecutors claim, will sustain 

 the charges. The prelude to this investigation by the 

 Governor and Council begins in Farmington next Tuesday 

 in a trial before the Supreme Judicial Court now in ses- 

 sion there, in which case Gen. Harmon of Connecticut 

 brings suit against Game Warden Huntoon of Rangeley 

 and the Fish Commissioners to secure §40 claimed to have 

 been illegally received by them for the killing of a deer. 



The case is a noteworthy one, and attracts widespread 

 attention and interest in Maine. The suit is one of quite 

 a series of suits out of which, primarily, the whole move- 

 ment against the Commissioners grows. A statement of 

 its salient point may not be unimportant. Gen. George 

 M. Harmon of New Haven, Conn., is one of a party of 

 gentlemen who own the noted Lake Point Cottage in the 

 Rangeley Lake region. This party, widely known as the 

 Tuttle party, has done more to develop that sporting 

 region, perhaps, than any other out of Maine influence. 

 Its members are men of high reputation and standing, 

 and are law-abiding citizens. On Sunday morning, June 

 15, 1884, Gen. Harmon was sitting on the veranda of the 

 Mountain View House, Rangeley Lake, in company with 

 fifteeen or twenty other gentlemen, when a deer was 

 noticed swimming* in the lake, which stretches up almost 

 to the very doors of the hotel. Although the month of 

 June is close time, and in addition to June every Sunday 

 in the year, yet the temptation was too great, and im- 

 mediately a large part of the gentlemen present took 

 their boats and started in pursuit of the deer. Gen, 

 Harmon was rowed by an exjiert oarsman, hunter and 

 guide, George Thrasher, of Rangeley, and thus was able 

 first to overtake the deer. It was their purpose, as well 

 as the purpose of all the gentlemen, so it is claimed, 

 simply to capture the deer alive, but, intoxicated with 

 the delight of the chase, Thrasher raised his oar and dealt 

 the animal a stunning blow. Seeing that the deer was 

 crippled, stunned and wounded, Gen. Harmon directed 

 Thrasher to cut its throat, which he did. The General at 

 once forwarded $40 to Game Warden George D. Huntoon 

 of Rangeley, with the statement that it was to pay the 

 fine for killing a deer. Huntoon came out at once to 

 Lake Point Cottage, and the General states that he fully 

 explained to him the circumstances, and said that he was 

 willing to do whatever might be necessary to satisfy the 

 law. Huntoon had him arraigned before Trial Justice 

 James W. Butterfield of Phillips, and in answer to the 

 usual interrogatory the General replied that he did not 

 kill the deer, but that he was settling for the guide, and, 

 if necessary, he pleaded guilty. Game Warden Huntoon 

 reported the case immediately to his superior officers, 

 and they directed the prosecution of Harmon for having 

 killed the deer on Sunday, that, too, being close time. 

 This prosecution utterly failed, the court ruling that the 

 law had been fully satisfied in the prosecution for the 

 month of June, which includes every day in the month, 

 Sundays not excepted. Thrasher was then prosecuted 

 for killing the same deer, and, as he was really the party 

 that did kill the animal, was easily convicted, " The State 

 thus received pay twice for the same animal. Now, Gen. 

 Harmon sues to recover §40, and this is the case to be 

 tried in Farmington next week. Last year Gen. Harmon 

 brought suit against the officials for maliciously prose- 

 cuting him. The case was tried in Bangor, arid Gen. 

 Harmon won. Feeling that he has been ill-treated by 

 the Commissioners, Gen. Harmon signs these charges 

 that have been filed with the Secretary of State. The 

 movement is making much excitement and deep feeling 

 in Franklin county. 



The principal topic of interest in fish and game circles 

 this week is the proposed impeachment of the Fish and 

 Game Commissioners of Maine. The Commissioners are 

 charged with an ''improper and mi just enforcement," etc. 

 The facts of the matter are that it has been impossible to 

 properly enforce the laws in northern Franklin county, 

 from the fact that the hotel and summer travel interest 

 has given the Conomissioners all the trouble possible. 



Commissioner Stillwell himself, on one occasion, stopping 

 at a hotel at Phillips, on Sunday morning saw the propri- 

 etor set off, in one of his teams, a limiting party, armed 

 to the teeth, though it was in mid-summer and close time 

 on every class of game. Mr. Stillwell objected and made 

 an enemy of that hotel keeper. 



They are charged with "maliciously prosecuting Gen. 

 Harmon, when they knew him to be innocent." That is 

 an old story. They knew he had been an accomplice in 

 the killing of a deer in the month of June on a Sabbath 

 morning. They have long known him to be a rich man 

 with the determination to hunt and fish to Ins own liking, 

 and they proposed to make him pay roundly for the of- 

 fense he had committed. For this Mr. Harmon has taken 

 upon himself the business of prosecuting the innocent 

 commissioners. Mr. Harmon is not a citizen of the State, 

 but the people of north Franklin bow to his dollars. Some 

 peculiar facts will come up in the hearing concerning this 

 man's connection with the deer case anil the persecution 

 of the Commissioners since. A third count is "having 

 used funds provided by the State," etc. Nobody ever 

 heard before that the State had appropriated any funds 

 beyond the meanest pittance. 



Fourth — with "having through prejudice, failed to 

 properly protect and propagate fish in the great Rangeley 

 Lake region." Great! Great! Oh how grea.t! Phillips 

 and Rangeley, you should be rocked in the cradle of the 

 State. Your little railroads and giant hotels should be 

 patronized by all the earth. Your guides and landlords 

 who have been in the habit of approaching the stranger 

 in that region with the whispered announcement that he 

 could kill deer in close time, "and damn the Commis- 

 sioners," have not been to blame for some little feeling 

 on the part of the game officers that they had few friends 

 with you, have they? 



Fifth and sixth— that "they have taken fish and that 

 they have taken spawn." So they have, but never con- 

 trary to law. All there is to the law is very plain upon 

 that question, and the acts of the Commission will bear 

 investigation. 



Seventh — that "one of the Commissioners has under- 

 taken to influence a witness," etc. This is a grave charge. 

 If it is sustained, it might have been sustained against 

 mild old Izaak Walton himself. There are not two truer 

 men walking the earth to-day. I say this from years of 

 acquaintance with one of them and from a thorough ac- 

 quaintance of the family of the other. 



The Bangor Maine Industrial Journal, long recognized 

 by the Commissioners as their worst enemy in the press 

 of Maine, assures us that "This movement did not origin- 

 ate among the 'poachers,', as the names attached to the 

 petition show. " ' 'Did not originate among the poachers," 

 oh no? But are they not all stockholders in those railroads, 

 the very existence of which depends upon the patronage 

 of sportsmen? How many of them are hotel keepers and 

 stage and steamboat owners? Now County Attorney 

 Timberlake, did you not arrange for the hearing befoi-e 

 the Governor and Council to come off on the same dav 

 that the case of Harmon vs. Stillwell was to be tried at 

 Farmington? Was there no other day on the calendar 

 but the 8th of March, the day set down for that trial? 

 Did it not look as though you could be more likely to beat 

 Mr. Stillwell if you could have him on trial at two places 

 at once? But the good Governor of the State has proved 

 too much for you, and on learning the circumstances, has 

 put off the hearing to a day not yet established. Perhaps 

 it may never come. It surely would never come if the 

 Governor, with the full knowledge of the great struggle 

 those Commissioners have been through, the good they 

 have done, had it in his power to stave it off forever. 

 Lawyer Timberlake, our regards to you. You have under- 

 taken a big job. If you win, you will have clone your 

 State an incalculable damage. Present our compliments 

 to all the host of poachers that come up from Boston 

 every year with the desire to kill moose and deer in close 

 time. Remember us to those rascals who stopped at one 

 of the celebrated camps in your region and killed a wet 

 doe the last days of June, 1886, and then there followed 

 the bleating of two little fawns, heard plainly at that 

 camp, but growing fainter and fainter night after night 

 till they ceased altogether. Just mention us to that law- 

 less "vacationist" who killed a deer up in your region last 

 August, and then made his brags of it in the Boston 

 Sunday Times with the casual remark that the fish and 

 game laws were exceedingly unpopular in all north Frank- 

 lin county. Commend us to those polite hotel keepers in 

 your region who have been in the habit of serving "moun- 

 tain mutton" on their tables in June and July. Then, 

 last of all, as a particular favor, will you be kind enough 

 to mention us to Jack Darling, with all his host of signers 

 he brings from other parts of the State to that petition. 

 And just ask him how he succeeds with his notice, "No 

 wardens wanted here!" Special. 



Editor Forest and Stream: In response to your request 

 to forward any bills affecting the game laws likely to be 

 passed by the Maine Legislature, now in session, I can 

 say that no changes of much importance will be likely to 

 be made, as none have been reported by the fisheries and 

 game committee, with the exception of a bill now on its 

 passage, which provides that the open season for moose, 

 deer and caribou shall begin one month earlier and close 

 one month earlier, and prohibits the ldlling at any time 

 of any female moose, but leaving the present law in full 

 force in all other respects so far as the deer are concerned. 

 Parties in Portland and some other jibices, who have im- 

 ported quail and liberated quite a number last year and 

 will add to the number this coining spring, proposing to 

 care for them during deep snows, desire to have the close 

 time extended to Oct. 1 instead of Sept. 1, as previously, 

 and a bill is now pending to that effect. A vigorous drive 

 has been made at the anti-dogging and non-transportation 

 clauses of the law, but this is meeting with almost no 

 favor at all. The efficient working of the present law has 

 made for it hosts of friends, and the present legislative 

 body being remarkably level-headed, attempts of the law- 

 less elements to effect changes to suit themselves have 

 been met precisely as they should be. Our game and fish 

 are increasing, on the whole; the deer notably, and 

 remarkably so, which of itself is a knock-down argument 

 in favor of the laws as they stand. In the fishery laws, 

 all close time on black bass in waters where they have 

 been more than five years have been repealed. Wepeople 

 are not much in love with them. While all are willing to 

 admit their value in many places, they are a fish so pre- 

 datory in then - nature and so destructive to small fry, 

 that there is much fear that they may get into waters 



now frequented by trout, and that would be a tremendous 

 evil. A very great interest in the State of Maine, that of 

 the lobster, has received very exhaustive attention from 

 the committee, who have prepared a bill of great scope 

 and very carefully drawn, very sharply defined, and a 

 step in advance badly needed. These measures are all 

 that has been offered thus far relating to the general laws. 

 Much legislation on matters fishv of a purelv local nature 

 has been enacted, but it is a general feeling that the 

 Maine laws are very good, and had better be left alone. 



Nor' East. 



Augusta, Me., March 3. 



THE GEORGIA LAW. 



THE Augusta, Ga., Gun Club have provided for free 

 distribution the full text of the game law for Rich- 

 mond county, which they send out with these remarks: 



"The object of this statute is the protection of the 

 game, and it is hoped you will lend us your valuable aid 

 in making the provisions of the law known and respected. 



"The act prohibits the trapping of partridges, wild 

 turkey, summer ducks, doves, woodcock, or any game 

 bird, at any season of the year. Any person finding such 

 trap is legally authorized to destroy "it instanter. 



"The act also prohibits the hunting of wild turkevs or 

 partridges from April 1 to October lo; or of summer ducks 

 or doves from April 1 to August 15; or of woodcock from 

 January 1 to August 15, in each year. Any person buy- 

 ing or selling, or offering to sell, or having in his pos- 

 session any of these birds within the above prohibited 

 periods, is liable to the penalties of the statute. We may 

 here remark that it is no defence that the birds were 

 killed outside of Richmond county. The bare possession 

 of them in that county within the prohibited periods 

 constitutes the offense. 



"It is also made an offense to destroy the nest of any 

 partridge, wild turkey, summer duck, dove, or woodcock, 

 or to rob the same of its eggs or young; and any person 

 buying or selling, or offering to sell, or having in his pos- 

 session the eggs or young of said birds at any season of 

 the year, is liable to prosecution. 



"The law further provides that the possession of any 

 partridge, wild turkey, summer duck, dove or woodcock, 

 full fledged and alive, during the hunting season, shall be 

 prima facie proof that such possession was obtained by 

 trapping, and subjects the person having thpin in posses- 

 sion to prosecution. 



"For any violation of the act the penalty is a fine of not 

 less than twenty dollars ($20) nor more than one hundred 

 ($100), or imprisonment not to exceed one month, or by 

 both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. 

 It is made the duty of the sheriff, deputy sheriffs and 

 constables of the county, and of all county and municipal 

 police in the county, to report forthwith all violations of 

 this act coming to their knowledge to the Solicitor Gen- 

 eral of the Circuit or to the Solicitor of Richmond City 

 Court. The prosecutor is entitled to one-half the fine, 

 and if the defendant be insolvent, is entitled to an order 

 for the amount on the Game Law Fund in the Countv 

 Treasury. 



"It is earnestly hoped that all persons interested in the 

 enforcement of the act will promptly report all violations 

 thereof to the officers of the law just mentioned, or to 

 any officer or member of the gun club. The names of the 

 officers of the gun club will be found at the head of this 

 circular, and any communication addressed them on this 

 subject will be kept striclly confidential. All that is 

 necessary to state is the name of the offender, date and 

 nature of the offense, and the names of the witnesses. 

 Communications may also be addressed to Hon. Boykin 

 Wright, Solicitor General; C. Henry Cohen, Esq., Solici- 

 tor City Court; Col. Wilberforce Daniel, Sheriff; Henrv 

 F. Campbell. Jr., A. M. Prather and Calvin C. Seago, 

 Deputy Sheriffs; E. B. Pureell, County Police; Capt. 

 Joseph A. Twiggs, Chief of Police, and Lieutenants Geo, 

 B. Hood and Wm. Desmond, all at Augusta, Ga., or any 

 county constable." 



The officers of the Augusta Gun Club are: J. J. Dicks, 

 President; Wm. H. Harison, Jr., Vice-President; John 

 H. Meyer, Secretary and Treasurer; D. Sancken, Ord- 

 nance Officer; Salem Dutcher, Counsel. This law publi- 

 cation is a very sensible piece of work on their part, and 

 one which may well be imitated by other clubs. 



CHEAT MOUNTAIN ASSOCIATION. 



C CHARLESTON, West Virginia, Feb. 28.— Editor Forest 

 I and Stream: Mr, A. H. "Winchester, of Chattanooga, 

 Tenn., has just made a gift to Mi-. William S. Edwards, 

 of West Virginia, and his friends, who have organized 

 themselves under the name of The Sportsmen's Associa- 

 tion of Cheat Mountain, of the exclusive hunting and 

 fishing rights, for the term of fifty years, over one of the 

 most remarkable forest regions of 'the South, the great 

 plateau and valley of the Shavers Fork of Cheat River in 

 Randolph county, West Virginia. The tract comprises 

 some sixty or seventy thousand acres of mountain, 

 plateau and valley covered with unbroken forest, stretch- 

 ing for some forty miles along the civer. There are no 

 clearings within the tract, except where stood the old 

 fort where General Wilder's forces held Lee and Jackson 

 at bav throughout the war. And it all lies at an altitude 

 of between 3,000 and 4,000ft. above the sea. 



The Association as organized is made up of Pittsburgh, 

 Ohio, and West Vh-ginia gentlemen. The Association is 

 of limited membersliip, A commodious club house and 

 accommodations for the club members will at once be 

 built upon the premises, gamekeepers employed to pro- 

 tect the abundant game already upon the estate and such 

 further game as may from time to time be added. 



The Association is to be congratulated on now possess- 

 ing, through the liberality of Mr. Winchester, the greatest 

 hunting park east of the Yellowstone. 



The officers are: President, Howard Hartley. Vice- 

 Presidents, D. McK. Lloyd, W. C. Shiras and R. G. Wood, 

 of Pittsburgh; A. H. Winchester and W. S. Edwards, of 

 West Vh-ginia. Secretary, Authar Kennedy. Treasurer, 

 D. P. Corwin. Directors — H. C. Bughman, C. A. Carpen- 

 ter, Tlios. M. King, David McCargo, C. C. Scaife, Theo- 

 dore Sproul and C. A. Painter. Wm S. Edwards. 



Canoe and Camp Cookery.— The days of outdoor 

 rambles, for canoe trips and camping excursions, are 

 approaching. The campers and canoeists who have not 

 yet read Seneca's little book should provide themselves 

 with it in good time. 



