Forest and Stream 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



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NEW YORK, JANUARY 31, 1889. 



1 VOL. XXXII.-No. 2. 



1 No 318 Broadway, New York. 





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CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 



Protect the Fur Seals. 



The Nation's Forests. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



A First Hunt in Mexico. 

 N a tuha i. History. 



Shore Birds of Central New 

 York. 



Buffalo Transportation. 



Pennsylvania Birds. 



Habits of the Beaver. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



The Diminution of Game. 



The Game Laws of Maine. 



Shooting Clubs of Chicago. 



Megantic Club Dinner. 



Massachusetts Association 

 Dinner. » 

 Camp-Fire Flickerings. 

 Sea and River Fishing. 



Fish and Pishing in Aiaska.-i. 



My First Tarpon. 



Black Bass Seasons. 



Steel Rod Experience. 



Massachusetts Carp and Trout 

 Fishcuxture. 



Preparing Salmon Eggs for 

 Shipment. 



Sawdust and Trout. 



FlSHCULTURE. 



Oysters Killed by Starfish. 

 The Kenned. 



Pacific Coast Field Trials. 



An Illinois Fox Drive. 



New York Dog Show. 



New England Fox Hunting. 



Mentality in Dogs. 



Chorea. 



Dog Talk. 



Kennel Notes. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



Range and Gallerv. 



Shooting at Pine Brook. 



The Trap. 



Canadian Trap Notes. 

 Yachting. 



Regulation and Direction 

 Yacht Racing. 



An Ocean Race of Small Craft 



Cruising in Small Launches. 



Building Notes. 

 Canoeing. 



A Left-Hander Not from a 

 Coward. 



Some Cruising Experiences. 



The Royal C. C. of England. 



Atlantic Division, A. C. A. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



of 



PROTECT THE FUR SEALS. 



ON Tuesday last, Jan. 29, Representative Dunn from 

 the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fish- 

 eries presented to Congress the results of the investiga- 

 tion by the committee into the fur seal fisheries of 

 Alaska, with special reference as to whether the contract 

 giving the Alaska Commercial Company the right to take 

 fur seals had been violated. The conclusions of the com- 

 mittee are as follows : 



In conclusion your committee finds the following facts: First, 

 that, if the law protecting seal life is enforced, the preservation 

 of the seal rookeries will be assured, the revenue continued and 

 increased, and the native inhabitants of the Seal Islands main- 

 tained without cost to the Government. Second, that the Alaska 

 Commercial Company has fully performed its contract with the 

 Government, and has contributed liberally to the support, main- 

 tenance, comfort and civilization of the inhabitants of not only 

 the Seal Islands, but to those of the Aleutian Islands. Kodiac and 

 the mainland. Third, that the fur-seal industry will have paid 

 into the Treasury over $8,000,000 during the period of the present 

 lease. Fourth, that the chief object of the purchase of Alaska 

 was the acquisition of the valuable products of Behring Sea. 

 Fifth, that, at the date of the cession of Alaska to the United 

 States, the Russian title to the Behring Sea was perfect and un- 

 disputed. Sixth, that by virtue of the treaty of cession the United 

 States acquired complete title of all that portion of Behring Sea 

 situate within the limits prescribed by treaty. 



This is one of the most vital topics now under consid- 

 eration at Washington, and it is high time that the 

 question received the attention its importance demands. 



The fur seal "fishery" has always been, and still is, 

 Alaska's most important industry, and, up to within a 

 year or two, has been absolutely the only thing that 

 gave that distant Territory any value whatsoever. For 

 nearly twenty years the lease of the Pribyloff Islands 

 has paid the United States Government more than four 

 per cent, annually on the purchase money paid the Rus- 

 sian Government for Alaska. Now at last the Territory 

 is being developed. It is becoming a resort for tourists; 

 it is known to contain rich deposits of gold; marine fish- 

 eries are being explored. Its fur seals, however, are still 

 its richest resource. As a matter of self interest the seals, 



while they are upon the islands to which they resort for 

 six months of the year to breed, have been rigidly pro- 

 tected by the Alaska Commercial Company, which leases 

 these islands. For fifty years the habits of these animals 

 have been studied, in order thatthe most economical and 

 profitable method of taking them might be discovered, 

 the object being to keep up the supply of breeding ani- 

 mals to the highest point possible. The present lessees 

 continued the studies inaugurated in old Russian days, 

 and have the benefit of all these investigations. They 

 have handled the seals so wisely that there are probably 

 now on the islands in summer as many as there have ever 

 been since the early days of occupation. 



Within the past few years, however, a new method of 

 taking the fur seals has come into practice on the north- 

 west coast, which, if pursued for many years, threatens 

 to actually exterminate the fur seals on the Alaskan 

 coast. This is water sealing as pursued by American and 

 Canadian vessels in the Behring Sea. 



It is not our purpose at present to discuss the rights of 

 the United States nor of any other government in the 

 Behring Sea. The subject is an intricate one, and states- 

 men of eminence have expressed diametrically opposite 

 views on the claims advanced by the United States as to 

 its powei - s in those waters. Whatever these rights or 

 whatever these powers, the fact that water sealing, if 

 permitted to go on unchecked, will ultimately destroy 

 the fur seal "fisheries" of the North Pacific Ocean, can- 

 not be disputed. 



The fur seals, after remaining six months or more on 

 their breeding grounds, leave these islands in October and 

 November, and disappear in the North pacific Ocean, 

 Where they go, or what they do during the period of 

 their absence is unknown, but it seems probable that they 

 spend all this time at sea, where they are quite as much 

 at home as the fishes on which they prey. One thing is 

 certain: they are found off the coast of California late in 

 December, and from that time until the first of April are 

 scattered in greater or less abundance all along the north- 

 west coast of America. In these waters at this time they 

 are taken in great numbers by the sealers, who, in small 

 boats, sent out from the sealing schooners, approach 

 them when asleep, and shoot them. Early in April the 

 vessels leave the sealing ground and return to port, where 

 they refit, and soon after set sail for the Behring Sea . 

 There they cruise about, often far out of sight of land, 

 and, keeping as nearly as possible on the feeding grounds 

 of the seals, which may be from 60 to 125 miles from 

 their breeding grounds, they kill what they can. The 

 Canadian vessels seized by the United States Govern, 

 ment in 1887 were occupied in this way when captured. 

 When the fall storms set in the sealing vessels return 

 with their catch to port. In this way the British Colum- 

 bian sealing fleet took in 1887 no less than 33,800 seals, 

 and the American fleet probably as many more, so that in 

 all not less than 68,000 or 70,000 seals were killed on the 

 water. 



This seems a large number, but on the other hand the 

 seals breeding on the islands of St. Paul and St. George 

 are estimated to number not far from 5,000,000, and it 

 might be inferred that the stock could easily stand this 

 drain, in addition to that caused by the annual slaughter 

 of the lessees, which amounts to about 100,000. 



There is a difference, however. The Alaska Commer- 

 cial Company kills only the young non-breeding males 

 of two, three and four years, and under no circum- 

 stances are the female seals ever killed or even disturbed. 

 Experience shows that in water sealing, on the other 

 hand; a great majority of the seals killed are females, 

 and sealing captains of large experience have assured us 

 that on an average cow seals constituted 75 per cent, of 

 their catch. On this basis, if 68,000 seals were taken in 

 the season of 1887, over 50,000 of them would have been 

 females, wmich would be a serious drain on the breeding 

 stock. 



But this is not all. The females killed in winter and 

 spring are pregnant, and each one would produce a pup 

 on reaching the islands in the following June. Each 

 female which is killed near the seal islands during the 

 summer is the mother of a pup, which depends on her 

 for nourishment, and which must starve if she is de- 

 stroyed. The killing of these .50,000 females therefore 

 really represents a destruction of 100,000 seals, of which 

 75,000 are females. Such a slaughter of breeding stock 

 cannot but be viewed with alarm by every one who 

 realizes the value to the United States of the seals of 

 Alaska, and who has studied the history of the fur seal 



enough to comprehend how readily this animal may be 

 exterminated . 



Some efficient means should certainly be taken to pro- 

 tect these seals, at all times if possible; but if this cannot 

 be done, at least to protect them while they are in the 

 neighborhood of their breeding grounds in the Behring 

 Sea. The arrest and confiscation of sealers in these 

 waters seems to have had a good effect in reducing the 

 destruction of these animals at a time when they es- 

 pecially need protection, but it is by no means certain 

 Jthat the Government can establish the rights in these 

 waters which it has claimed. If it cannot, some agreement 

 should be entered into with other nations by which all water 

 sealing in the Behring Sea shall be held to be illegal. 



The matter is "one of great importance. 



THE NATION'S FORESTS. 

 f N an editorial in Garden and Forest of Jan. 30 it is 

 *- proposed to withdraw from sale all forest lands be- 

 longing to the nation, and to hold them intact pending a 

 thorough investigation of their condition and importance 

 to the agricultural interests of the country, and the 

 determination of the area which it may be held necessary 

 or desirable to conserve permanently. 



It is further proposed to commit the care-and guardian- 

 ship of all the forests belonging to the nation to the 

 United States army; to establish a Forest Commission, 

 appointed by the President, to appraise the forests, select 

 the areas to be held as permanent State reservations, and 

 to report a comprehensive plan for their preservation and. 

 management. Finally, it is proposed to establish a 

 National School of Forestry at a suitable place in one of. 

 the great mountain forests on the public lands. 



We have for many years been advocating the with- 

 drawal of all United States timber lands from the mar- 

 ket; the appointment of a qualified staff for their proper 

 conservation and administration, and the establishment 

 of schools of forestry, but the suggestion that pending 

 the organization of a suitable administration and execu- 

 tive forest staff the forests shall be placed in charge of 

 the Army, has a certain air of originality about it. 



It is true that the Yellowstone National Park is being 

 looked after by the military; laying all due stress upon 

 the contention of our contemporary, that the Army is 

 not wanted for any other purpose, that the Indians 

 being reduced to order, the timber thieves are the most 

 for midable enemies of the State remaining, and 

 that the Army is the only force capable of im- 

 posing an efficient check upon them, it must be ad-, 

 mitted that quite a strong case has been made out in 

 favor of the scheme, but it must be remembered that 

 the United States forests cover a wide range of territory, 

 not only on the slopes and crests of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, but also in the Pacific and Southern States, and in 

 Michigan, Wisconsin and other Western States, many of 

 which locations may prove very inconvenient for mili- 

 tary headquarters; and while we think it would be in 

 many respects desirable to find useful and suitable em- 

 ployment for our troops, we cannot regard the Govern- 

 ment as justified in locking up its forests, excepting as 

 a temporary measure, pending the inauguration of a 

 scheme of forest administration. 



There is no hope oLsuch a measure ever being initia-. 

 ated by United States legislators, until urged thereto by 

 the national outcry which will follow the utter exhaus- 

 tion of our forests, and in so far as the only issue at stake 

 is the exhaustion of our timber supply, the sooner that 

 little calamity overtakes us the sooner it is likely to be 

 remedied; but as regards the forests about the headwaters 

 of the streams rising in the Rocky Mountains, their con- 

 servation involves wide-spreading interests of such vast 

 importance that we should be glad if it could be arranged 

 to place them under efficient military control. 



Few outsiders have any notion of how multitudinous 

 and importunate are the appeals to manufacturers by 

 tournament managers. Applications for guns, for traps, 

 for targets, for shooting coats, loaders, powder, shot, and 

 everything else, pour in by the dozens, sent by enter- 

 prising managers bent on securing a generous tourna- 

 ment prize list at little cost. It is not always easy for 

 the firm to give, but nevertheless guns cost something 

 even to the makers, and the drain in the course of a year 

 amounts to something considerable. Perhaps the manu- 

 facturers would find it a satisfactory expedient to appro- 

 priate a given amount out and out for the proposed Asso- 

 ciation. 



