374 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Mat 19, 1887. 



MAINE WATERS, 



INHERE is stiF a shade of justice left, even in Maine, 

 . and when the murderers of game wardens get before 

 the judges of the Supreme Court in that State they get 

 their deserts, even though a sentimental jury, made up 

 of the citizens of a district not in love with game protec- 

 tion, gives such a murderer only conviction in the second 

 degree. That notorious game warden slayer— Graves — 

 was tried at Calais last week, and though there was not a 

 mitigating circumstance that his counsel could produce, 

 yet the jury, for the simple reason that the crime had 

 had six months to cool, found him guilty of murder in 

 the second degree -one of the mos*; cold-blooded deeds in 

 the history of crime, where not only one man was shot 

 dowii without a warning, and almost without provoca- 

 tion beyond a diabolical hatred of game wardens, but the 

 gun w as also turned, with fatal effect, upon a poor, one- 

 armed soldier. But the judge saw the crime in a differ- 

 ent light, the true one, and gave the murderer all the law 

 would allow— imprisonment for life. It is curious to 

 note that this punishment is the extreme that the statutes 

 of that State could have given him, even had the jury 

 found the murderer guilty in the first degree. The Legis- 

 lature, during the absence of Graves in California, where 

 he had fled to escape arrest for his crime, had changed 

 the punishment for murder in that State from hanging 

 to imprisonment for life. Hence, in spite of the unjust 

 sentiment of the jury, Graves gets the full penalty of the 

 la\v\ Thanks are due the wisdom and good sense of Judge 

 Enoch Foster — it is not a crime to commend a judge — for 

 his just sentence. He might have given him only a dozen 

 years in prison. Graves is safe now, till a sentimental 

 governor pardons him out. 



The telegraph this morning said that the ice had left 

 the Androscoggin Lakes, the last one having cleared Sun- 

 day — eleven days later than last year. But the fisher- 

 man's cup of happiness is not yet full, for the ice has 

 .gone out leaving the lakes remarkably high, with but lit- 

 tle chance of taking trout till the water falls. Indeed, so 

 high has been the' water that the dam at Errol. N. H. — 

 the dam which controls the flowage of Umbagog, the 

 lowest of the chain — has been carried, away, and the An- 

 droscoggin River has run wild over farms and roads, to 

 the utter exclusion of travel on some of the routes to the 

 lakes. One or two early fishing parties have been delayed 

 by the flood. But this has not been near enough to 

 dampen the ardor of Boston sportsmen, and they are now 

 leaving by nearly every train. Mr. Wardsworth, of the 

 grain trade, Eugene Ciapp and Mr. Haskins lef t on Satur- 

 day. They are old timers at Rangeley, but they are a 

 little ear y this year. The Tuttle party has gone — started 

 last week. The Vine Vale party will not leave till next 

 Saturday, Mr. C. P. Stevens being hindered by a case in 

 court. The ice left Moosehead Lake last week, but the 

 water is reported the highest ever known. The vast 

 quantity of snow, still back in the woods, is likely to keep 

 the water up for a long time this spring. But the later 

 sportsman has one idea to console him, high water always 

 means good fishing for him that has patience to wait its 

 departure. The loss of the Errol dam will greatly hinder 

 the navigation of the little steamers on the Umbagog, as 

 soon as the water begins to fall, aud it will be likely to 

 ruin the fishing in that lake till the dam is rebuilt and 

 the usual pitch of the w ter once more restored. Besides, 

 that route to the other lakes will have to be considerably 

 modified, for it is d'ubtful if the steamer can come down 

 as far as Upton at all. The Union Waterpower Co. will 

 probably commence the work of rebuilding as soon as 

 possible', but there is probably a whole season's work 

 there. 



It begins to be rather singular that no salmon of any 

 consequence have yet been taken in the Penobscot. Th ere 

 are reports of one or two being taken at Bucksport, with 

 the suggestion that the fish are working up the river. 

 But the salmon fishing at Bangor is late, to say the least. 

 But few landlocked salmon have yet been taken in the 

 Sebago waters; it is evident that the smelts are not yet 

 running. The fishing for landlocks is already reported 

 good in Weld Pond, while some good ones have been 

 taken from Wilson's Pond in Auburn. Brook trout fish- 

 ing has not yet amounted to anything in Maine waters, 

 the freshets having been too great. But from the iak s 

 and ponds some trout have been taken, from the shores 

 where the ice had moved down. It must take another 

 week longer to settle the troubled waters, and make the 

 life of the rod and line sportsaian anything but a burden, 

 if he dares to venture into the regions of Maine and the 

 Granite State. But the patient waiter will this time be 

 no loser, for the fishing is bound to be good when the 

 waters have gone down to a reasonable pitch. 



Special. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co 



SALMON IN THE HUDSON.— The spring run of salmon 

 in the Hudson River has begun, and in a few weeks we ex- 

 pect to hear of captures of these lish in the upper river. In 

 our last issue we recorded the capture of a 15-poutider at 

 Stapleton, Staten Island, and now have notice of one which 

 weighed 121 bs. and was taken at Coney Island on Friday 

 last. These places are at the mouth of the river, and are no 

 doubt the advance guard of the plantings by the U. S. Fish 

 Commission from Cold Spring Harbor. Last year so many 

 fish were taken in the upper river that their appearance can- 

 not be attributed to accident; over twentj r were recorded, aud 

 the numbers taken must have exceeded that. We hope that 

 the experiment of restocking the Connecticut will not be 

 repeated, and the original plant be sent to market and the 

 parent fish be killed without having a chance to reproduce 

 their kind. Two things are necessary, an intelligent sys- 

 tem of fishways and protective laws, and then we may hope 

 to see this valuable fish firmly established in a river to which 

 it was not native because of mechanical obstructions to 

 proper breeding grounds. 



SHAD FOR THE HUDSON. — Last week Col. McDonald, 

 Superintendent of Distribution of the U, S, Fish Commis- 

 sion, seut 2,500,000 shad eggs from the central hatching 

 station, Washington, D. C, to Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y., 

 where they were hatched and 850,000 fry were sent to Albany 

 on. Monday last, and 300,000 to the Nissequoque River at 

 Smith town, Long Island. On Sunday Col. McDonald sent 

 car No. 3, in charge of Mr. Ellis, with the following: 1.500,000 

 fry for the Hudson at Albany, 1,000,000 eggs to be hatched on 

 the way and 1,000,000 eggs to Cold Spring Harbor to be 

 hatched and distributed as the N. Y. Fish Commission may 

 direct. The car is ordered to remain at Albany until the fish 

 are hatched and ready for planting, and will be visited by 

 those who are interested in these matters, 



F I XT U RES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



May 24 to 27.— Inaugural Dog Show of the Michigan Kennel 

 Club, at Detroit, Mi eh. Ohas. Weil, Secretary, Newberry and Mc- 

 Millan Building, .Detroit, Mich, Entries clcse May 10. 



Sept. 1 to 3.— Inaugural Dog Show of the Pacific Kennel Club, at 

 San Francisco, Cal. J. E. Watson, Secretary, 516 Sacramento 

 street. San Francisco, Cal. 



Sept, 12 to 17 —First Show St. Paul and Minnesota Kennel Club, 

 St. Pa ul. Minn. W G. Whitehead. Secretary. 



Oct. 12 and 13.— Stafford Kennel Club Show, Stafford Springs, 

 Conn. It. S. Hicks, Secretary. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Nov. 7— Third Annual Field Trials of the_ Western Field Trials 

 Association. R. C. Van Horn, Secretary, Kansas City, Mo. 



Nov, 21.— Ninth Annual Field Trials of the Eastern Field Trials 

 Club, at High Point, N. C. W. A. Coster, Secretary, Flatbush, 

 Kings County, N. Y. 



December.— First Annual Field Trials of the American Field 

 Trials Club, at Florence, Ala. C. W. Paris, Secretary, Cincinnati, 

 O. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 

 rpHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

 of pedigrees, etc. (with prize lists of all shows and trials), is 

 published every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should be in 

 early. Entry blanks sent on receipt of stamped and addressed 

 envelope. Registration fee (50 cents) must accompany each entry. 

 No entries Inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription 

 B1.50. Address "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2833, New 

 Vork. Number of entries already printed 5036. 



AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB METHODS. 



Editor Forest mid stream: 



The reports which from time to time appear of the Ameri- 

 can Kennel Club convey but scant information of the manner 

 in which the business is conducted. 1 have been a member 

 of a good many clubs and associations, but the whole series 

 of blunders and mistakes of the entire number don't equal 

 those made at almost every meeting of the American Kennel 

 Club. Such travesties on' justice would be amusing— were 

 they not deplorable — and such a continuous series of errors 

 in the rulings of President Elliot Smith betray either a 

 supreme contempt for the sense of the members of the ex- 

 ecutive committee or the most callow and lamentable 

 ignorance of the English language— perhaps it is a combina- 

 tion of both. To show that the very strongest terms of con- 

 demnation would be completely justified in speaking of 

 President Smith's rulings and actions I will tell the story of 

 last week's A. K. C. meeting at greater length than will be 

 found in the cut and dried official report; 



As usual, we had to wait patiently or impatiently for 

 President Smith's arrival. For him to be on hand at the 

 hour for which he calls the meeting is out of the question. 

 Sometimes we wait an hour or two and then convene with- 

 out him— no loss, certainly, except that of time. On this 

 occasion he burst smilingly into the room an hour late and 

 without a word of apology for the delay. The secretary pro- 

 ceeded with the calling of the roll, and this being an annual 

 meeting, 1 asked for the reading of the credentials of the 

 delegates. The request seemed to nonpluss the president, 

 for the rule specifying that delegates were to come provided 

 with them had to be read over to him three or four times. 

 Finally the secretary was asked to read the credentials, and 

 did read those of the gentlemen who had not hitherto been 

 delegates. A request for the reading of all the credentials 

 was refused and ruled out of order. The plea for refusal 

 was that the constitution specified that delegates were, to be 

 elected annually, and the president decided that the ''annu- 

 ally" referred to their own club electing them and had noth- 

 ing to do with the annual meeting of the A. K. C. A dele- 

 gate tried to assist him out of the mire by saying that the 

 constitution provided for officers retaining' their offices till 

 their successors were elected. This was eagerly snapped at 

 and pronounced conclusive for putting a stop to my request. 

 Of course a boy in the street could have told President Smith 

 that a delegate to an annual meeting is not an offioer, but 

 the omission of certain delegates to provide themselves with 

 credentials had to be bridged at all cost. 



Then we had the minutes of the last annual meeting read, 

 and President Smith stated that, although the constitution 

 provided that a certain form of proceeding should govern 

 "at all meetings of this Association," he should rule that 

 this did not apply to an annual meeting, and the election of 

 officers would be next in order. The reason for this, we may 

 presume, was that the new constitution was part of the regu- 

 lar order of business, and, not knowing exactly which way 

 the cat might jump, it would be advisable to get a hold on 

 the officers and then trust to possession being nine points of 

 the law. The election was a narrow one, the vote being: 

 Smith, 5; Child, 4; Terry, 1. The subsequent change of a 

 Child vote to Smith made it 6, 3, 1; but the first told the. tale 

 of popular feeling. With the election of two vice-presidents, 

 neither of whom is ever likely to be present at a meeting of 

 the Executive Committee, and the reelection of Secretary- 

 Treasurer Vredeuburgh, the annual meeting was adjourned. 



The delegates then convened as an executive committee 

 and proceeded to business. 



In the secretary's report of business transacted adinlcriv) 

 appeared the announcement that H. M, Perry, of the Sans 

 Souci Kennels, had been reinstated by a vote of 8 to 1. There 

 is unwritten history about this case. The president had 

 been appointed some time last fall as a committee of one to 

 procure and submit the testimony to the Association. His 

 failure to be present at or send the testimony to the Decem- 

 ber meeting of the Association prevented any action being 

 then taken. The president, under date ol Dec. 30, sent his 

 report to the Association. Considering that it was so shortly 

 after the Christmas festivities, it is perhaps hardly fair to 

 criticise the document. However, necessity compels a fair 

 statement of its contents. The instructions to the committee 

 of one were to collect and submit the testimony. The presi- 

 dent, as such committee, precedes the testimony with an 

 opiniou covering four pages of foolscap. The testimony 

 covers thirty-four additional pages and consists entirely of 

 letters, with a short extract from the Philadelphia Kennel 

 Club's minutes. 



The opinion which precedes and forms part of the report 

 is one ot the most remarkable productions I have ever come 

 across in sporting literature, To put it concisely and briefly 

 President Smith conclusively proves that with three aces in 

 your hand and the knowledge that the other is somewhere 

 about the table you can beat a full hand. The case, it will 

 be well to say, was that in which H. M. Perry had but four 

 dogs benched and the nri/.e conditions called for five to be 

 shown, Perry claimed that the absent dog was at the show 

 and President Smith's opinion seems to be that the dog was 

 there and produceable on demand. This he pronounces to 

 be the pivotal point of the case. On Oct. 2 he writes H. M. 

 Perry and says: "Should you prefer to submit the matter on 

 affidavits please to secure those of such as saw the fifth 

 animal (So-So, as I understand) within the building during 

 the time the award was made. The issue is a narrow one 

 and should be easily disposed of. It is asabove stated simply 

 a question whether she was there or not." Again on Oct. 11 



he writes: "Your favor of date received. I leave town to- 

 morrow or Wednesday for a fortnight, which will give you 

 ample time to prepare your statement, which I hope will be 

 as positive on the point at issue as possible, li you do not 

 know of your own knowledge that So-So was in the building 

 when the special was awarded you should produce the evi- 

 dence of any one who does." 



That is the question at issue as stated by President Smith 

 and here is the evidence. In a letter dated Nov. 27, H. M. 

 Perry says: "I wrote to the president or secretary of P. K. C , 

 asking them to reverse the judge's decision in that I had 

 found out that as my dog was not at the bench at the time 

 of the decision. I was not entitled to the prize." On Nov. 29 

 President Smith again comes to the point at issue and 

 writes: "Please inform me where So-So was at the time the 

 special was judged. Was she in the building or on the 

 grounds or absent from both?" To this plain inquiry the 

 answer is: "Had I desired it I could have had the decision of 

 the kennel prize postponed till next day or even an hour or 

 two. and So-So would have been in her place." 



That is the sum total of the evidence on the point at issue, 

 Bid upon it we are asked to believe that no deception was 

 practiced. I leave it to any of the eight voters for reinstate- 

 ment to prove to his own satisfaction that So-So was at the 

 show. The report dated Dec. 30 was mailed to the commit- 

 tee members early in February, and on Feb. 7 Mr. Peshall 

 proposed the reinstatement of Perry. This notice was sent 

 out by the se cretary Avith an urgent request for an immedi- 

 ate reply, and as f knew more about the case than appeared 

 in the alleged evidence, I offered an amendment to the effect 

 that the New England Kennel Club be sustainedin disquali- 

 fying Perry, but that the penalty be removed on March 1. 

 Mr. Seabury, of Providence, also offered as an amendment 

 that the matter be decided at a special meeting to be called 

 by the president. Mr. Seabury's amendment was burked by 

 the secretary, who does not seem to be aware that his duties 

 are purely clerical in such cases, and the next thing we know 

 is that along in April notice of H. M. Perry's reinstatement 

 is made public and the case buried in the archives of the A. 

 K. O, beyond all hope of bringing it up for a decision on its 

 merits. 



Another point worth noticing in the secretary's report was 

 that an application received on Feb. 3 from the Buffalo 

 Kennel Club for admission had never been acted upon by 

 the committee appointed to advise on the subject of member- 

 ship. Another case of burking, with no one responsible. 



The Pittsburgh pewter medal case was reported on by the 

 committee on discipline. Two members were of the opinion 

 that the club should be censured as the officers acknowledged 

 the deception. The depth of ignominy was reached, how- 

 ever, in a letter from a club official wherein it was given as 

 an excuse for calling pewter silver, that it had been done 

 when Mr. Wade was a delegate to the A. K. C. A mean, 

 dirty fling which only needs to be known to recoil upon the 

 writer aud his club. Of course nothing was done. It would 

 not be A. K. C. if anything had been done to reprimand an 

 associate member. 



Mr. PeshaU reported on the time-worn Sensation case, and 

 after President Smith acknowledged that at the time of the 

 show he was fully aware that Sensation had no business to 

 be entered as he was in the champion class, thereby admit- 

 ting that the various defenses which had been set up in the 

 case were without any foundation, I proposed that the 

 judge's decision be allowed to stand with the declaration of 

 the committee that the dog was not eligible. The boldness 

 of the admission was sufficiently gratifying t o wipe out all 

 recollection of the abuse of my position so prevalent a year 

 or more ago. 



After that we took up the report of the committee on con- 

 stitution and by-laws. My letter has already spread out to 

 too great a length, but I would like to draw atten tion to the 

 great wisdom of the president in deciding that it was not 

 the province of the association to frame its laws for the 

 guidance of the executive committee, hut the duty of the 

 executive committee. Fancy the State Legislature adjoin n- 

 ing and saying it was the duty of the Governor and other 

 officers charged with the execution of the laws to frame the 

 laws of the State. But that is hardly surprising' consider- 

 ing that a little later on President Smith decided that at a 

 special meeting of the A. K. C. the business to be transacted 

 was not necessarily confined to that specified in the call. 



Jas. Watson. 



BEAUFORT— FATl'I M. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The action of the A. K. C. on the above at their last meet 

 ing is most extraordinary. As I understand the matter, Mr, 

 Munhall protested Beaufort at Waverly, appealed to the 

 local delegate, then to the A. K. C. All decisions were 

 against him. Now, some live or six months after, the A. K, 

 C. takes up the case again and reverses itself ! Did mortal 

 man ever know such colossal stupidity before ? Remember 

 that the A. K. C. is the court of last appeal in dog matters. 

 Appeals lie to it from two lower courts, and who in the 

 world ever heard of a court of last resort reversi ng its de- 

 cision in the same case ? Such judgments are held final as 

 far as the particular case is concerned, the world over. Yet 

 the A. K. C. gives final judgments that are not final. Can 

 fatuity further go ? Did not Mr. Mason and the N. J. K. C. 

 have every earthly reason to conclude that the case as to 

 Beaufort and Patti' M. was closed ? Now suppose Mr. Mason 

 refuses to recognize this brilliant addition to supreme courts 

 (I earnestly hope he vrill), is the N. J. K. C. to pay the money 

 over again ? 



This is simply an enormous piece of asiuinity, no other 

 name will answer. When, where and how are we to be cer- 

 tain that anything is safe about clog show, if courts of last 

 resort can reverse themselves whenever they choose, and as 

 often as they choose, on one case ? 



Then the preposterous grounds you give as reason for a re- 

 consideration. An officer of the A, K. C. voted on a proxy. 

 Well, why in thunder shouldn't he ? Where is the rule 

 against it ? An officer has no vote unless as a regular dele- 

 gate from his club. Does not this imply that he can act as a 

 proxy for a regular delegate ? The qualification for a proxy 

 is, that he must be a member of a club, a member of the 

 Association; and failing to give any disqualification, his 

 oflicership in the A. K. 0. can be no bar, 



This is the first time the A. K. C. has disgraced itself. It 

 has blundered, failed in its duty, has been disgraced by its 

 officers (as in the " hole in the wall meeting " of " dearly be- 

 loved Roger and I," at Cincinnati, that enacted "construc- 

 tion"), but this time it has written itself down an insuffer- 

 able knave or fool. Then whence the singular report of this 

 proceeding in a western paper, eliminating all reference to 

 the vital fact that the A. K. C. had heard and decided this 

 very case before ? I believe the case was worked against 

 former rulings by working on the per.-onal animosity some 

 people have to Mr. Mason. Whether the case was rightlyor 

 wrongly decided before, sinks into insignificance in com- 

 parison with upsetting previous determinations long after 

 they had been final. 



Then another case, in which fortunately the A. K. C. 

 conies off without disgrace. I mean the Glenlivat case at 

 the late Newark show. Mr. Terry, before the A. K. O, 

 acted as we all would have, expected him to act, but the 

 management of the protest ' was just what we all are 

 sure he wouldn't do. Why was the consideration of the 

 protest pushed ahead of the judging, forcing a meeting of 

 the committee several hours ahead of the regular time ? 

 Then why was there the studied attempt to exclude Mr, 

 Watson and his clogs from the ring ?■ He had appealed the 

 decision against him to the next higher court. Why not 



