6 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jx-ly M, 1888. 



THE UTICA ASSOCIATION. 



UTICA, N. Y., July 21. -Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Apropos your articles on violations of game laws 

 in the Adirondaeks, it is kindly suggested that there is a 

 means at hand which, if availed by the sportsmen over 

 the whole State, will practically end the evils you men- 

 tion. The Utica Game and Fish Protective Association 

 was expressly organized to meet this want, when it was 

 found that the State Association had lost sight of protec- 

 tion and degenerated into a mere prize tournament. It 

 is intended to cover the whole State, most especially the 

 Adirondaeks; and if those interested in pure protection 

 and good laws will join and contribute a moderate fund, 

 say a membership of 1,000 at $1 each, there will be no 

 difficulty in accomplishing the desired end. 



This association was incorporated in 1880 solely for 

 detective purposes in protection of fish and game. It is 

 purely a legal organization, composed of our most mature 

 and influential citizens, among whom are a majority of 

 our most eminent lawyers, skilled in the management 

 and conduct of legal matters. All festivities, prize tour- 

 naments, and the like, are expressly discarded. It is in 

 no sense a holiday affair, as you will see by copy of by- 

 laws sent herewith. 



In detective matters, special secret agents are sent out; 

 employed and paid for special work in special cases under 

 the supervision of its officers. "When necessary, rewards 

 are offered. The cases when worked up are handed over 

 to the protectors and district attorneys for prosecution 

 with a success very gratifying. It is not boasting to say 

 that it has accomplished more, even with a most limited 

 amount of means, than all the glass ball clubs and State 

 associations put together in the way of better laws, better 

 enforcement, and better observance in the matter of fish 

 and game. This is because we have made it a business, 

 by business men, instead of pastime. If it had more 

 funds its operations could cover more territory, and with 

 more completeness and dispatch. Its operations have 

 been over the whole State as far as resources will admit, 

 especially in regions where we have a membership, and in 

 many cases where we have none. Thus far it has been 

 limited to about $100 or $200 a year; but it is thought that 

 if its merits were better known the sportsmen of the State 

 would interest themselves to see that it would be to their 

 own. as well as to our advantage, to increase it to a fund 

 of $1 ,000. Such a fund under such management would 

 be ample to clear the Adirondaeks of the existing game 

 pests. With this amount, secret expert detectives could 

 be placed at all the points with such effect that there 

 scarcely could be a violation of game laws without detec- 

 tion and prosecution. This certainty of detection would 

 at once of its own force command a most general observ- 

 ance and respect of law, where now observance is the 

 exception. 



As you will notice, its membership dues are $1 for each 

 current year, which commences in April, with privilege 

 to any one of taking as many memberships as may be 

 afforded. It would seem as if there are at least one 

 thousand sportsmen in the State who would cheerfully 

 take interest in the matter and contribute $1 each per 

 year toward protection, especially wnen they would in- 

 vest ten times as much in outfit for a day off. 



It will be noticed that our treasury is fully guarded 

 against any but proper expenditures. There are no 

 salaried officers except the detectives, and there are no 

 honorary members in this business matter. To become a 

 member it is only necessary to remit the dues to the sec- 

 retary with name and address. In some cases parties 

 contribute without becoming members. The members 

 are then bound under the by-laws to observe all game 

 laws and report violations when they come under notice. 

 There is no election of members. More properly the 

 membership is a contribution of funds to be managed by 

 the board of directors, who render an annual account of 

 stewardship. In remote regions where there is member- 

 ship, special executive committees of members there are 

 appointed by the directors to look after and supervise the 

 general affairs of that region. Records are kept of vio- 

 lations and of the violators, of how the law works, what 

 their defects, and how evaded. 



Now if upon investigation you think well of our opera- 

 tions, you may lay the subject before your readers as an 

 honest, economical, and efficient method of preserving 

 the Adirondaeks. It is found that $1, in such a combined 

 and systematic effort, is worth more than $10, or even 

 $50 in a scattering way. A spasmodic effort, with here 

 and there a conviction, is of little avad, and soon forgot- 

 ten as an object lesson. Certainty and persistence alone 

 command observance and respect. Practically and so fat- 

 as consistent all members are detectives and reporters. 

 The list of members entire is only known to the secretary 

 and directors. Members are scarcely known to each 

 other. 



The home office is located here at the very gates of the 

 Adirondaeks, and it has records and information of about 

 all that happens in that whole region, although unable in 

 many cases to work up the evidence to convict, for want 

 of resources. It accomplishes what in many cases game 

 protectors cannot, because it employs secret detectives in 

 cases where the protectors are known and avoided. There 

 is no other association like it in the whole State. Its 

 completeness and efficiency would entitle it to a hearty 

 and generous support from the whole sporting public in 

 this combined effort to clean out the game destroyers, 

 the worst of whom come here from other States. 



John D. Collins, Secretary. 



New York Protectors.— The report in some of last 

 week's papers, that Mr. Francis Endicott had been ap- 

 pointed game and fish protector for Long Island and 

 Staten Island, was incorrect. The appointments pub- 

 lished in the Forest and Stream of July 12 are all that 

 have been made up to this date, July 23. The districts 

 have not been laid as yet; they will be determined when 

 the chief protector is appointed. 



s 



THE NEW YORK DEER LAW. 



ECTION 1. Section one of chapter five hundred and thirty- 

 «m l ^ of ft 6 of ei e*teen hundred and seventy-nine, en- 



titled An act for the preservation of moose, wild deer, birds, fish 

 and other game," as amended by chapter one hundred and ninety- 

 four of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-six, is hereby 

 amended so as to read as follows: 



Sec. 1. No person shall hunt, kill, chase or take alive anv wild 

 deer m any part of the State, save only from the fifteenth day of 

 August to the first day ot November in any year, nor shall anv 

 one person during such time, kill or take aliVe more than three 

 deer. No person, corporation, association or company shall have 



in his or its possession in this State, after the same has been 

 killed, any wild deer or venison, save only from the fifteenth day 

 of August to the fifteenth day of November in each year. No per- 

 son, corporation, association or company shall sell, or expose for 

 sale after the same has been killed, any wild deer or venison, save 

 only from the fifteenth day of August to the fifteenth day of 

 November in each year. No person shall, at any time, in this 

 State, kill any fawn, or have in possession the carcass or skin of 

 any such fawn after the same shall have been killed. No person 

 shall, in any part, of this State, set. auy t rap, spring gun or other 

 device at any artificial salt lick or other place for the purpose of 

 trapping or killing wild deer. It shall not be lawful to hunt or 

 pursue deer with dogs in any county of this State, exceptfrom the 

 first day of September to the twentieth day of October in each 

 year, except in the counties of Queens and Suffolk, when it shall 

 be lawful during the first ten days of October each year, exclusive 

 of Sunday. It shall not be lawful to pursue deer with dogs in the 

 counties of St. Lawrence and Delaware at any time. It shall be law- 

 ful for any person to shoot or kill any dog w hile in act ual pursuit of 

 any deer in violation of the provisions of this act. No person, 

 common carrier, corporation, association or company shall at any 

 time carry or transport in this State, or have in possession for the 

 purpose of transportation, any wild deed* or venison, taken, 

 caught, killed or captured in the counties of this State, or in 

 either of them, except the counties of Queens and Suffolk, and 

 any person, common carrier, corporation, association or com- 

 pany which has in his or its possession any such wild deer or 

 venison, taken, caught, killed or captured in any of the said 

 counties of this State as aforesaid, or in either of them, except 

 the counties of Queens and Suffolk, shall be deemed to have them 

 in possession in violation of this act, except, however, that they 

 may transport, or have iu possession for the purpose of transpor- 

 tation from the fifteenth day of August to the fifth day of No- 

 vember, not more than one carcass of wild deer or venison, taken, 

 caugbt, killed or captured in said counties as aforesaid, or either 

 of them, for each owner of said carcass as aforesaid, provided 

 that such carcass he accompanied by the owner. This section 

 shall not apply to the head or feet of wild deer when severed 

 from the carcass. Any person offending against any of the pre- 

 ceding provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of amis- 

 demeanor, and in addition thereto shall be liable to a penalty of 

 one hundred dollars for each wild deer or fawn so killed, hunted, 

 pursued or trapped, or for each carcass or part thereof trans- 

 ported or had in possession for transportation in violation of this 

 act, and for every spring gun so set, or wild deer or fawn skin, or 

 venison, had in possession, and may be proceeded against there- 

 for in any county of this State in which the offanse was commit- 

 ted, or in which the offender or prosecutor may reside, or have 

 an office for the transaction of business. 



8 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 



(Approved June 4, 1888). 



' So in the. original. 



HOT WEATHER STORIES. 



From the Town Falls Register. 



ME. THOMAS had a large farm on the Missouri bot- 

 toms near Sioux City. It was all fenced with 

 barbed wire, there being two miles of such fence on the 

 place. He happened in Sioux City just about the time 

 that the gorge up the river had dammed the water to 

 such a prodigious height. Foreseeing that when the gorge 

 broke it would be likely to raise the water to such an ex- 

 tent as to flood the farm, he rode hastily home and made 

 preparations accordingly. His stock and all that was 

 movable was transferred to higher ground. Then he and 

 his hired men proceeded to impale small chunks of meat 

 on every barb of that wire fence. It was a big job, but 

 it was finished just as the river began to cover the low 

 pasture lot. For 26 hours the water stood five feet above 

 the top of the highest post fence, and when it receded 

 the most remarkable sight was revealed. From every 

 barb, except three of that two miles of fencing, hung a 

 fish. There were pickerel, bass, pike, suckers and every 

 other imaginable variety. A simple calculation will show 

 precisely the size of the haul. It was a five- wire fence, 

 each wire having 36 barbs to the rod, making, as any 

 schoolboy can tell you, a total of 115,200 barbs to the two 

 miles of fencing. There were three barbs that had 

 caught nothing, so that there were only 115,197 fish. 

 Perhaps the most remarkable part of the story is to come. 

 From that day to this in all parts of the Missouri River 

 there have beeu caught just three fish, the exact number 

 that didn't get caught on our friend's barbed wire fence. 



From the St. Louis Glohc-Democrat.. 

 On the farm of Jacob Groff, who lives near Zodiac 

 Springs, in the southern part of this township, is a large 

 pond where cows are in the habit of standing during the 

 day. One of the cows acted so strangely when at the 

 pond that she attracted the attention of Mr. Groff and the 

 farm hands. She would go into the water an hour or so 

 before the other cows, and, after wading out a certain 

 depth, would stop and commence lowing, as though 

 calling to a calf. Immediately after she would remain 

 perfectly quiet and seem contented. No cause could be 

 assigned for her strange conduct, although on several 

 occasions she was closely watched. Eecently the water 

 in the pond hex *ame low, scarcely reaching to the cow's 

 knees. She made her usual daily trip, however, and took 

 up her old position. One day last week she was watched 

 very closely, and it was discovered that when she ceased 

 calling a large catfish would come to the surface of the 

 water, and suck milk until its appetite was satisfied. The 

 fish was caught by Mr. Groff in the Sac River a year 

 ago, and was thrown into the pond. 



\ttswers to ^amBpcndeni^ 



tag?" No Notice Taken of Anonymous Correspondents. 



V, F., New York.— See the game seasons in our issue of July 5. 



W., New York.— Try Good Ground, Long Island,aud its vicinity. 



A. P. Van Buren — Woodcock shooting iu most of the counties 

 of New York opens August 1 . 



W. D. H„ Fall River, Dak.— We will print the laws in the For- 

 est and Stream as soon as practicable, 



M. M. F., Foxburg, Pa.— Will some reader of Forest and 

 Stream who has hunted in Wisconsin kind! v report in its columns 

 favorable locations in that State for November hunting? 



T. S., New York— Will you please inform the writer if a brook 

 trout has ever been caught with a spear'/ Ann. Yes, hundreds 

 and thousands of them. The practice is in all civilized communi- 

 ties tabooed. 



J. M. A., Sandy Hill.— We are not aware of any systematic 

 attempts to raise frogs for the market. The New Jersey swamps 

 have been denuded of all marketable stock, and the New York 

 market is supplied with dressed frogs only, which come from 

 Canada, Michigan and elsewhere. We doubt the feasibility of 

 cultivating them profitably under other than favorable natural 

 conditions. Marketable frogs are worth about five cents apiece. 



The Sale of Fishing Tackle.— Thirty years ago the places 

 where fishing tackle was sold in New York city might be num- 

 bered on one's fingers, while to-day they are found on most of the 

 business streets. This, more than any other sign, points to the 

 fact that angling as a pastime is gaining in popularity. Even the 

 large dry goods firm of B. H. Maey & Co. has added fishing 

 tackle to their numerous departments, as will be seen bv their 

 advertisement in another column.— Adv. 



h» and Bit er 



Angling Talks. By George Daioson. Price 50 cents, Fly- 

 Rods and Fly-Taclde. By ^H. P. Wells. Price 82.50. Fly- 

 Fishing and Fly-Making for Trout. By J. R. Keene. 

 Price $1.50. American Angler's Book. By Thad. Norris. 

 Price $5.50. 



MASKINONGE AT BEAR LAKE. 



I WAS sitting on the side stoop of my Eoman villa 

 one breezy morning lately endeavoring to reorganize 

 a kite that I had been flying for my children's amuse- 

 ment and that had come to grief through the canting of 

 her bellyband to leeward. She had shifted her load, so 

 to speak, and pitched badly. She was a chromo issued 

 by Messrs. P. & G. in consideration of the purchase of 

 $ 11.50 worth of leather in the form of boots or shoes. It 

 was a sort of Americo- Japanese arrangement, with a tail 

 like nothing on earth, and a ball of string thrown in that 

 was stout enough to tie up a half-pound of cotton batting. 

 As I was deeply engaged in this entertainment, and 

 meanwhile recalling the sports and griefs of my child- 

 hood in connection with this particular amusement, my 

 friend Geo. M. loomed up suddenly in the foreground 

 with a cheery "Good morning!" and after a little explan- 

 ation on my part of my business in hand, he asked, "How 

 many chicks have you hatched?"' Now, George is what 

 is termed an "enthusiastic sportsman." He loves a gun 

 and rod with a love "passing that of woman," in which 

 respect he is much like some other people I wot of not 

 far from home. I didn't see what connection his ques- 

 tion concerning incubation had with fishing, but I replied, 

 "I haven't hatched any, but my old hens have. Come 

 and see them," So we walked to the hen yard and talked 

 hen awhile, viewing meanwhile forty or fifty little yellow 

 puffs in all the cuteness and animation of downy chicken- 

 hood. After we had discussed the question satisfactorily 

 and preferences in the matter of breeds had been named, 

 the conversation naturally drifted to the subject of fish- 

 ing. There didn't seem to be any abruptness in it. It 

 was easy enough, and perfectly agreeable. We talked 

 over Lake Erie and its bass and pike, and other resorts, 

 among them Bear Lake; for this among a thousand other 

 localities in this country has a Bear Lake. I had been to 

 Lake Erie several times for bass with my kind neighbor 

 H. H., with varying success and much enjoyment, but 

 neither of us had fished Bear Lake, quite a noted place 

 for muscallonge, or maskinonge, and bass. Of the former 

 several specimens have been taken within a year or two, 

 weighing 8 or lOlbs., and legends are not wanting of fish 

 weighing 201bs. and over having been brought to gaff. 

 Said George, "How would Bear Lake suit you?" 



Quoth I, "I think it would be a fit, if we could go, 

 We can tell better after we try it on," and then the 

 question of ways and means came up, resulting, of 

 course, in a decision to go, and the following day was 

 selected and 5 A.M. the horn of departure, as we had an 

 eight mile drive before us and the weather it was hot. 

 George sauntered down town and I went to see how 

 much tackle I could muster that would be fit for the 

 monsters of the depths of Bear Lake. I didn't find 

 a very good assortment, for my big spoons had met 

 with disaster among the bass and bonnets of the Florida 

 waters, years gone by, but I managed to pick out enough 

 to amuse the bass with and possibly entertain a "lunker" 

 if I hooked him. H. H. loaned me a gaff, his son-in- 

 law a landing net, and my outfit was from fan to 

 middling. 



The alarm clock went to pieces next morning at sharp 

 four, raising me nearly to a perpendicular, with my hair 

 all over my head, (which latter is more than some folks 

 can say) and I got into my clothes in short order, went 

 out and viewed the heavens, which were clouded, and 

 promised rain, gave my horse his oats, brushed him off, 

 and then proceeded to search the pantry for something 

 to sustain and comfort my own physical organization. 

 This was not as hard a job as might be selected, and 

 by the dim light of early morn sifted through the blinds 

 I sampled the eddibles my wife had been so rash, as to leave 

 unhidden. This done I selected such few fragments as 

 remained for lunch, got my plunder together and before 

 I had hitched tip George walked into the barn. Now 

 that's the kind of business I like. Deliver me from a 

 man who when he agrees to be on hand at a certain time 

 will, as like as not, keep you waiting half an hour or 

 longer. This always upsets me completely. But there 

 have been occasions when by failure to keep appoint- 

 ment possible misfortune, not to say tragedy, has been 

 averted, and with your permission I will digress a little 

 and give an instance in point. 



After years of residence in Florida I had sold my home 

 and orange grove, possession to be given a month or so 

 hence. In the interim I took occasion to more frequently 

 than usual indulge my propensity for fishing and hunting, 

 and a day or two after the sale had gone over to a lake 

 some ten minutes walk from my house, where I kept a 

 boat, to catch some bass. As I pushed out from shore a 

 horseman rode out of the woods and hailed me. He was a 

 young Englishman who had recently settled in the neigh- 

 borhood, and who had bought my Maynard rifle only a 

 short time previous, and knowing that I hunted consider- 

 ably had come to my house and then folio wed me to make 

 arrangements to go turkey hunting in a hamak some few 

 miles away, where I had frequently bagged that kind of 

 feather. I agreed to go with him two days hence at 11 

 A. M. , so as to be in time for the evening hunt and then 

 camp out. At the horn- on the day I was ready and 

 swinging in my hammock on the verandah. Five, ten, 

 twenty minutes passed and no appearance. A half hour 

 passed. Three-quarters. I put my gun and traps away 

 and went to work, disgusted. In something more than 

 an hour from the time appointed he drove up and wanted 

 to know if I was ready. I told him I was, an hour ago, 

 but now I was not, and he must excuse me from going at 

 all. He drove off rather huffy. Shortly after my re- 

 moval from Florida a friend of mine, and neighbor to this 

 Englishman, sold his place, and was shortly afterward 

 robbed of a large sum and murdered near this English- 

 man's house, which he had left after taking supper with 

 him. The head and body, severed, were sunk in the 

 lake. The body rose and disclosed the crime. The Eng- 

 glishman was lavish with money about this time, though 

 usually short, and was arrested. Some of the effects of 

 the murdered man were found in his possession. Cir- 

 cumstantial evidence was as strong as it is ever likely to 



