154 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 17, 1887. 



\mm Jf#ij und @>wp 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



THE MAINE COMMISSIONER CHARGES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In the Boston Herald's report of the Harmon June 

 Sunday deer killing ease, as copied in your issue of 

 March 10, the statement is made that Harmon and his 

 guide, having each paid a fine of $40, the State "had thus 

 received pay twice for the same deer." 



I venture no opinion as to the magnitude of the offense 

 being enhanced by its committal on Sunday — to my 

 mind it is far greater from the fact that it was commit- 

 ted on a June day than that it was committed on a Sun- 

 day, but the other part of the pleading barely needs 

 answering. Two men conspire to commit an offense, 

 and commit it. Both take part. At the end one directs 

 the other how to apply the knife and the other obeys the 

 order. They are, in legal parlance, particeps eriminis, 

 and it is a good defense neither in law nor in equity, that 

 because the leader has paid the penalty for his confeder- 

 ate he should be held innocent himself. The State of 

 Maine does not advertise to sell deer on June Sundays to 

 Connecticut generals at $40 per head in the water. I 

 venture the opinion that if there had been a dozen 

 generals in the same boat, and only one expert oarsman, 

 hunter and guide, and the thirteen contributed, by their 

 efforts, to the death of the deer, each individual general 

 would have been liable to the fine of $40, while the three 

 experts, in one, would have been liable to but one fine of 

 $40 among them. I may be all wrong in this, but I 

 think (not having the law before me) that the statutes of 

 Maine prohibit the killing of deer on June Sundays and 

 other June days, and they do not license the killing of 

 deer at $40 per deer. 



Now a word in regard to Mr. Stillwell, who is evidently 

 the point of attack in this widespread newspaper tirade. 

 Mr. Stillwell is an enthusiast on the subject of fish pro- 

 tection and propagation, and has given his time and 

 thought and energy — his whole heart and soul to it, for 

 many years. No one who knows him will doubt his sin- 

 cerity and enthusiasm in the matter. He originally took 

 comparatively little interest in game protection, and 

 many years since, when I took up "the latter, I had many 

 long talks with him trying to induce him to take hold of 

 game as he had of fish. He said that he did not care 

 personally for it as he did for fish, and was half afraid to 

 openly urge the game laws that I was urging upon the 

 Legislature, for fear that they would prejudice the fish 

 laws. I think he would bear witness that it was largely 

 through my arguments to him and urgent requests that 

 he concluded to help unite the two interests of fish and 

 game protection. He will remember that he advised me 

 to start a movement for a separate commission on game. 

 It was with great difficulty and after many long talks 

 that I succeeded in enlisting him in the cause. 1 think 

 that "the fly that he rose to" first was the suggestion 

 that, if the fishermen joined forces with the gunners we 

 could, together, far better protect both woods and waters, 

 and that while we could not hope for some years to get 

 paid game protectors alone, if we joined hands and made 

 our fish wardens game wardens also, we could get better 

 wardens and better pay. The Legislature passed a general 

 bill putting upon the Commissioners of Fisheries the 

 duties of game commissioners with double work and no 

 increase of salary. The results of the game law have 

 been far beyond even my o vn expectation, and many 

 thought me extravagant at the time in my prophecies of 

 the results to be hoped for. 



Moose were almost extinct in Maine when the bill pro- 

 hibiting killing for five years was passed, and many of 

 the best informed hunters with whom I talked said "Yes, 

 you are right, but you are too late." Two or three years 

 ago I had the pleasure, for the first time, of meeting Mr. 

 J. G-. Rich, the famous trapper and hunter of the Range- 

 ley Lake region, a man who has probably killed more 

 moose than any other man now living in Maine, and I 

 was more than pleased to hear him say that moose were 

 more numerous than they had been for twenty years; and 

 if I remember rightly, that there were more deer in the 

 State than there had been for thirty years. You know 

 him well, as he writes short and pithy articles for your 

 paper. The best "signs of the times" "in Maine are that 

 our people generally have been educated up to a true re- 

 alization of the value of our fish and game productions, 

 and our railroads, hotels, merchants, all classes, in fact, 

 recognize the purely commercial principle that it pays 

 the whole community better to keep our trout and deer 

 at home, and sell them "on the fin" and "on the hoof" to 

 those who like them served that way rather than to turn 

 them over to a few market-hunters and exterminators. I 

 think the battle has been won in Maine. The railroads 

 and hotels realize that they can make more money by 

 having wealthy men come in here for fish and game than 

 they can by sending it to Parker's, in Boston, or Delmoni- 

 co's, in New York, and our best guides, hunters and fish- 

 ers are beginning to see that they can sell a moose, deer 

 or trout for more money to a city sportsman in Maine 

 than they can to a city restaurant in Boston or New York; 

 and the same game more times over. They tell a very 

 good story of a famous old guide at Moosehead Lake who, 

 instead of charging the regular price of hunters (& e., so 

 much for shooting a moose and swearing that "the gen- 

 tleman who was taken out killed it himself sure), devel- 

 oped the idea of charging so much for putting the gen- 

 tleman within 40yds. of a moose. I do not believe the 

 stories told that some have made as high as $400 per 

 month on one moose hide as capital. Mac. 



Maine. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The enemies of the Maine Fish and Game Commissioners 

 have already received one serious setback. It is evident 

 that they have pinned their colors to the skirts of Gen. 

 Harmon, and that they hope to overthrow the Commission 

 through him and his troubles on the question of killing 

 the deer at Rangeley on that June Sunday, about which 

 so much has been said and written. Gen. Harmon brought 

 suit at Farmington, on Wednesday last, nearly two years 

 after the affair, to recover the $40 he paid Geo. D. Hun- 

 toon, supposing him to be a game warden, when, as a 



matter of fact, Huntoon's commission had run out. Har- 

 mon was not content with bringing suit against Huntoon, 

 the only person who knew anything about the affair at 

 the time, but has tried to draw Commissioner Stillwell 

 into the affair deeper than he could possibly have been 

 guilty of, since he was not present at the time, nor did he 

 know of it till afterward, when Huntoon came to him to 

 have his commission renewed. The writ sets forth: 



First— That the plaintiff paid George D. Huntoon and E. 

 M. Stillwell forty dollars under a mistake of fact in June, 

 1884. Second— That the plaintiff paid the sum by reason of 

 the fraud and deceit of the defendants, Third— That the 

 sum was paid as due on a complaint before a trial justice, 

 when in fact no legal judgment was ever entered against 

 the plaintiff, and that the sum came into the hands of the 

 defendants in this action. Fourth— That the sum was paid 

 by the plaintiff to the defendants on an agreement that it 

 was to be used to pay the fine in the case, and that no judg- 

 ment has ever been entered in the proceedings, and that the 

 money has not been applied according to the agreement. 

 Fifth — That the sum was paid by the plaintiff to the defend- 

 ants, under an agreement in which the consideration has 

 failed. Sixth— That the plaintiff paid the sum to the de- 

 fendants, believing Geo. D. Huntoon was a fish and game 

 warden, when in truth and in fact he was not. Seventh — 

 That proceedings were commenced against the plaintiff 

 before a trial justice, in which judgment was entered, and 

 under proceedings that were illegal and void; that under a 

 mistake of the facts the plaintiff parted with his money, 

 which has come to the hands and possession of the defend- 

 ants. Eighth— The defendants wilfully and falsely repre- 

 sented to the plaintiff that they were lawfully and properly 

 entitled to the money, thereby "deceiving and defrauding' the 

 plaintiff and inducing him to part with his money. 



Gen. Harmon testified that he took no part in the kill- 

 ing of the deer, but that he plead guilty in order to settle 

 the case. When he paid Huntoon the money he believed 

 him to be a game warden and entitled to receive it. Just 

 here, it may be remarked , that the Maine Commissioners 

 have repeatedly tried to prevent this killing of game out 

 of season by rich men, and then of complaining of them- 

 selves, and paying the simple nominal fine; that in this 

 particular case the further prosecution of Harmon was 

 ordered by the Commissioners with that end in view, 

 though they did not even know the name of the guilty 

 party, never having seen him. The commission of Hun- 

 toon was offered as evidence by the plaintiff that it had 

 expired at the time, and that he had no authority to take 

 the money. 



The first witness for the defense was Commissioner 

 Stanley. He testified to receiving the money from Hun- 

 toon, and that he paid it over to Commissioner Stillwell 

 on July 4, some time afterward. It also appears that 

 Mr. Stillwell immediately paid over the money to the 

 State at Augusta. A receipt from the State Treasurer 

 was introduced in evidence. Lengthy arguments were 

 made by the attorneys on both sides, but the discomfort 

 of Harmon and his north Franklin allies began when, in 

 his charge to the jury, his Honor, Judge Emery, ruled 

 that no evidence had been introduced implicating Mr, 

 Stillwell, and directed them so to find. The jury, after 

 being out a few minutes, brought in a verdict "against 

 Huntoon of $41, Counsel for Harmon takes exceptions 

 against the ruling of the Judge in regard to Commissioner 

 Stillwell, and so far as he is concerned, the case goes to 

 the law court. 



This fifing of exceptions throws a flood of light 

 on the motives of Gen. Harmon. It is as plain as day 

 that it was not the recovery of the money paid that he 

 was after, for he gets that in the verdict against Huntoon, 

 but that it is the prosecution of Mr. Stillwell he most de- 

 sires, and that in this revenge he is being used as a tool 

 by those people of north Franklin who desire the over- 

 throw of the present able Commission. Curiously enough 

 these friends of Harmon claim that he has won a victory 

 in the case. One of the enemies of Mr. Stillwell tele- 

 graphed immediately to a Maine paper that Harmon had 

 won a victory. But in all honesty, let us ask if the vic- 

 torious party in a suit usually appeals a case? Indeed I 

 am informed by an able Massachusetts lawyer that there 

 is not the least chance that the full bench of Maine will 

 for a moment entertain the appeal of the counsel of Gen. 

 Harmon, but that they will at once throw it out of court. 

 Harmon has recovered his $40 from the man to whom he 

 paid it and there the case ends. 



This is one victory for Commissioner Stillwell, than 

 whom no man in the country has done more for the cause 

 of fish and game protection, and it is to be hoped that it 

 is but the beginning of a series of victories; the second to 

 be at Augusta on the 28th of March, when that worthy 

 man is to be charged by those disgruntled people of north 

 Franklin, aided by the Jack Darling element, accused of 

 a laxity of duty in enforcing of the game laws, and at the 

 same time by Gen. Harmon of enforcing them too much. 

 Gen. Hannon is not a resident of Maine, unless he claims 

 a residence from the fact of Ms interest in the cottage 

 where he spent considerable time at Rangeley Lake. He 

 killed a deer in that State in close time, or rather he was 

 particeps eriminis to the killing of it; and it is a familiar 

 legal principle that even if there had been ten men in the 

 boat at the time, each one could have been made to pay 

 the fine, under the law; it is also a fact that the hunting 

 of a deer, even with the intention of taking it alive in 

 close time, is punishable. Besides, I have it from good 

 authority, that the venison was spirited away, out of the 

 State, although contrary to law to transport it at any 

 time. Mr. Harmon may seem liigh and mighty to those 

 people in north Franklin, to whom he pays money, but 

 he should rather have considered himself lucky to get off 

 so easily as he did, for having killed a deer under circum- 

 stances so exasperating to a Commission trying to do its 

 duty. Commissioner Stillwell gave me an account of this 

 case before he had ever seen the man, indeed did not have 

 his right name, and I shall not soon forget the sorrow 

 and disgust he expressed at the outrage, as we both then 

 agreed it was. A full account was given in Fokest and 

 Stream a few weeks after. And now, lest some may ac- 

 cuse me of desiring to do Gen. Harmon an injustice, per- 

 mit me to add that I have never met that gentleman, and 

 have nothing in the world against him, except that he 

 took part in killing the deer as mentioned above, and that 

 since, instead of thanking the good laws and their earnest 

 enforcement that there are deer in Maine to be lawfully 

 killed in open season, he appears, to the eye of one deeply 

 interested in the welfare of fish and game in that State, 

 to be willing to work out revenge on the Commissioners 

 for trying to do their duty with an impartial hand. 



Special. 



DAYS ON THE DOLORES. 



LEAVING the cars of the Denver and Rio Grande 

 Railroad at Montrose, Col. , one morning early in the 

 fall, B. and myself hoarded a four-in-hand stage, and 

 settled ourselves for a long ride into the wilds of the 

 southwestern part of the State. For three days we 

 pushed on into the mountains, fording rivers, and thread- 

 ing narrow canons, being always in the midst of the 

 grandest of scenery. With every mile that we advanced 

 the road became worse, until finally it surpassed any- 

 thing we had ever seen. It was a sort of imaginary 

 thing that we were only made conscious of by tremen- 

 dous jobs and jars which threatened to dislocate our 

 livers and fracture our spinal vertebra?.. This unpleasant- 

 ness was owing to the superabundance of boulders spread 

 along the road to give it the appearance of an eastern 

 turn-pike, I suppose. However, about nightfall on the 

 third day, we reached our destination, a spacious and 

 comfortable log-house, on the banks of the beautiful 

 Dolores River, 110 miles from Montrose. Here we re- 

 ceived a hearty welcome from our host and his family. 



After a day spent in recuperating our mangled forms, 

 we started out on a hunt, traveling in a wagon drawn by 

 a pah* of mules and driven by our host. Seven miles 

 from the river, we went into camp, near a depression in 

 the ground, containing a small amount of diity water 

 which had drained into it, and this constituted our water 

 supply for the next three clays. We had scarcely left our 

 seats in the wagon, intending to unhitch and water the 

 tired-looking mules, when they suddenly became thor- 

 oughly resuscitated, and dashed away through the woods 

 with the wagon, sprinkling its contents generously along 

 in the tall grass; and it was only after a considerable rim 

 that the recreant team was recovered. The remainder of 

 that day was spent in looking for game on the north side 

 of the camp, but none was discovered, and we had to 

 content ourselves with bacon, bread and coffee for 

 supplies. 



The wagon cover was then stretched across a pole sup- 

 ported at both ends by crotched sticks, and under tins 

 shelter we spread our blankets and slept soundly till early 

 morning. Before the sun rose we were off to the south 

 side of the camp to hunt, taking with us our host's fine 

 hound, to follow up any fresh trails we should strike. 

 Carl thoroughly understands his business. He never runs 

 a deer except when bidden to follow a wounded one, and 

 he is never known to bark or make the slightest unneces- 

 sary noise when hunting, and he can folloAv up the most 

 difficult trails. We had tramped for two hours without 

 finding any game, and had turned about and were return- 

 ing to camp when Carl struck a fresh trail, and in a few 

 minutes a yearling doe bounded out in front of us and 

 ran behind a bush 75yds. away. B, and I both fired 

 quickly; I missed but his bullet broke its neck, killing the 

 game almost instantly. Our host threw it over his 

 shoulder as if it had been a rabbit, and carried it for two 

 miles into camp. 



The next two days it rained almost incessantly, so we 

 concluded to £0 back to the ranch before our meat spoiled. 

 Two days afterward we set out up the west branch of the 

 Dolores with two wagons, one of them belonging to hunter 

 and trapper Rogers, who kindly offered to guide us to a 

 good camping place near the besthunting ground. Twelve 

 miles down the Dolores valley we struck off into the val- 

 ley of the west branch of the Dolores, up which we con- 

 tinued about five miles, fording the river at least twenty 

 times, and then went into camp in a grove of beautiful 

 silver spruces, on the banks of the little mountain torrent, 

 famed for the abundance of trout in its waters. Our 

 friend, Mr. Rogers, caught a nice siring of these gamy 

 fish, which were duly enjoyed for suppor. Long before 

 daylight the next morning, our host and myself should- 

 ered our rifles and began the ascent of a mountain near 

 the camp, intent on gaining the almost level country, 

 called a mesa, on the summit. For two hours we toiled 

 up the steep and densely wooded side, and at last reached 

 the summit just as day was dawning, and obtained a 

 splendid view of the surrounding country. 



We entered the woods, and for two hours saw nothing 

 to shoot at except a flock of spruce grouse, of which we 

 killed a couple of brace. Entering an open space or 

 park, we saw three deer a long distance away. Down 

 we dropped on our stomachs, and crawled up to within 

 range. The deer proved to be an old doe and two fawns. 

 These we had no intention of killing, as it was the big 

 bucks we were looking for. However, my friend pro- 

 posed that we watch the movements of the animals, and 

 then try a little game that he had used to decoy deer 

 within shooting distance on the plains. When the old 

 doe was feeding, we stood up gently and kept as still as 

 possible; but we must have made a slight noise, for she 

 raised her head and eyed us intently, then trotted a few 

 yards toward us, stopped and regarded us again, and 

 continued the same tactics until she was within 50 feet of 

 us, when, having satisfied her curiosity, she uttered a 

 snort and all three turned and disappeared in the bushes. 

 Not long after this we entered another park, and saw at 

 the other end, about two hundred yards away, what my 

 companion said was a fine large buck, with his head in 

 the bushes; and, as there was little chance of our getting 

 any closer without being observed, I concluded to try a 

 shot. Dropping on one knee, I raised my rifle, took a 

 careful aim, and fired, and was delighted to see the deer 

 fall in its tracks. On my going up I found that the ball 

 had broken its back, close behind the shoulder; and as 

 this was the first deer I killed, I was consequently much 

 elated. After dressing the game, my friend carried it 

 back to the edge of the mesa, where we left it, and then 

 started back into the woods to get another shot; and be- 

 fore we had gone a mile, he killed a fine doe in mistake 

 for a buck. 



Then came the business of getting the deer down the 

 mountain, which, with our rifles, belts, grouse and heavy 

 rubber coats (or slickers, in Western phraseology), was 

 no easy matter. The only practicable way was to drag 

 the game. A rope was tied to the hindlegs of each of 

 the deer, and in that way we started. The descent was 

 so steep that the animals were continually getting fast 

 under logs and rocks, or would roll down upon us, and 

 more than once did my pantaloons come in contact with 

 the ground; then, to make matters more cheerful, a 

 heavy thunder storm came up and drenched us. But 

 finally we reached the foot of the mountain and were 

 soon in camp and under the shelter of our tent, as tired 

 and hungry as it is possible to be after having tramped 

 all day without having anything to eat or drink. 



