230 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 10, 1890. 



THE WYOMING GAME LAW. 



THE following act was passed by the "Wyoming Legis- 

 lature on March 14, 1890: 



An act for the protection of wild game and insectivorous birds, 

 find repealing inconsistent acts. 



Be it. enacted by tie Council and House of Representatives of the 

 Territory of Wyorniog: 



Section 1. No person shall kill, net or trap, within tin's Terri- 

 tory, any snipe, green shank, tatler, godwit, curlew, avoeet or 

 other wader or plover, nor quail, lark, whippoorwill, finch, thrush, 

 snowbird, turkey, buzzard, robin or other insectivorous birds, ex- 

 cept that partridge, pheasant, prairie chicken, prairie hen or 

 grouse, may be shot from Aug. 15 to Nov. 1 of each year, and sage 

 chicken may be shot from July 15 to Sept. 15 of each year, and if 

 at any time any person shall be found in possession of any part- 

 tridge, pheasant, prairie hen, prairie chicken or grouse, or sage 

 ehicKen at any other time than between the dates above men- 

 tioned, or any other of the fowls or birds mentioned in t his sec- 

 tion at any time, it shall be prima facie evidence that the same 

 was killed, netted, ensnared or trapped by such person in viola- 

 tion of the provisions of this act; Provided, That t uis section shall 

 not be construed to prohibit any person from importing or deal- 

 ing in quail, partridge, prairie hen, prairie chicken, sage chicken, 

 pheasant or grouse imported into this Territory from any other 

 State or Territory. Any person who shall violate any of the pro- 

 visions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 

 conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not less than $5 nor 

 more than $50, with costs of suit, and shall be prosecuted and 

 punished in the same manner as in other cases ot misdemeanor. 

 One-half of the fine in such cases shall he paid to the person in- 

 forming against such offender, and the other half to the treasurer 

 of the county in which the offense was committed, and become a 

 part of the school fund; Provided, That if such informant shall 

 not. demand the same within thirty days such fine shall be paid 

 and collected, the whole of such fine shall be paid to such treas- 

 urer and applied to such school fund. 



Sec. 2. No person shall kill within this Territory any wild duck, 

 except from the first day of August to the first dav of May of 

 each year, or at any time trap, net or ensnare any of the birds 

 mentioned in this section. Anv person violating the provisions 

 of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con- 

 viction thereof be fined as provided in Section I of this act. 



Sec. 3. It shall be unlawful to pursue, hunt or kill any deer, elk, 

 moose, mountain sheep, mountain goat, or antelope for any pur- 

 pose whatever, and it shall be unlawful to kill or capture by anv 

 pit, pitfalL or trap any of the above named animals, male or 

 female, at any time of the year. No non-resident of this Territory 

 shall pursue, hunt or kill any of tne above named animals by any 

 means whatever; Provided, however, Any actual and bona Me 

 resident of the Territory may at anytime pursue, hunt and kill 

 any of said animals for the purpose of supplying himself and his 

 family with food in reasonable quantities; but it shall be unlaw- 

 ful to sell dirfectly or indirectly, or offer for sale the carcass of 

 any such animal, or the head, horns or any part thereof. 



Sec. 4. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to pursue, 

 hunt or kill, by any means, any bison or buffalo for the period of 

 ten years from the fifteen! h day of March, eighteen hundred and 

 ninety. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall 

 be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be 

 subjected to a fine of not less than one hundred dnllars nor more 

 than two hundred and fifty dollars for each offense, or to imprison- 

 ment in the county iail for a period of not less than ninetv days, 

 or to both fine and imprisonment. 



See. 5. ft shall be unlawful for any person or persons to pur- 

 chase or obtain by barter any green, tanned or untanned hide or 

 hides or horns of any of the animals mentioned in section three, 

 and, furthermore, it shall be unlawful for any corporation, com- 

 pany, person or persons to transport or have in their possession 

 tor transportation, any green, tanned or untanned hides bide or 

 hides or horns of any of the animals mentioned in said section 

 three after the expiration of thirty days from the passage of this 

 act. Provided, That none of the provisions of this section shall 

 apply to hides or homes in transit: through this Territory from 

 other States or Territories. 



Sec. 6. It shall be unlawful tor any railroad company, express 

 company or common carrier or any of their agents or employes, 

 or other person or persons, to receive or have in their possession 

 for transportation, any carcasses or part of carcasses or horns of 

 any of the animals named in section three of this apt, or to trans- 

 port the same, after the passage of this bill; Provided, That none 

 of the provision of this section shall apply to game in transit 

 through this Territory from other States or Territories; Prodded, 

 further. That this section shall not be construed to prohibit the 

 shipping by bona tide, residents of this Territory of the head or 

 heads of such animals for the purpose of ha ving the same mounted 

 by a taxidermist. 



Sec. 7. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to kill 

 more than three in any one week of any of the animals mentioned 

 in Section:!. Having in possession, killed in any one week, more 

 than three of the animals mentioned in said section, shall be 

 prima facie evidence of a violation of the provisions of tin's sec- 

 tion. 



Sec. 8. Any corporation, company, person or persons violating 

 any of the provisions of Sections 3, ft, 6 and 7 of this act shall be 

 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall 

 be fined in any sum not less than $20 nor more than $100 for each 

 offense, or in case of a person or persons be imprisoned in the 

 county jail for a period of not more t ban ninety days, or both such 

 fine ana imprisonment in the discretion of the court. 



Sec. 9. Any person or persons giving information of any viola- 

 tion of the provisions of this act to the prosecuting attorney, or 

 any justice of the peace of the county in wbich such violation oc- 

 curred, shall be entitled to one-half of all such flues, the ot her 

 one-half of such fines, after deducting costs of prosecution, shall 

 be paid into the county school fund, and in case said informer 

 shall not demand one-half of said fine within thirty days, then 

 the whole of said fine so received (deducting costs) shall be paid 

 into the said school fund. 



Sec. 10. It shall be unlawful for any person to pursue, trap, hunt 

 or kill any beaver for the period of ten years from Ma^'ch 15, 

 1890. Any person violating the provision of this section shall be 

 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall 

 be subjected to a fine not greater than $25 tor each offense. The 

 having in his possession the hide of any such animal shall be 

 -prima facie evidence of a violation of the provision of this section. 



Sec. II. Justices of the peace are hereby empowered to appoint 

 special constables, who of their own knowledge, or upon the in- 

 formation of a reputable citizen of the county, may arrest with- 

 out warrant any person or persons violating the provisions of this 

 act, and take him or them before any justice of the peace for 

 trial as in case of any other misdemeanor. 



Sec. 12. Hereafter any person bringing into this Territory any 

 deer, elk, antelope or mountain sheep for the purpose of shipping 

 through this Territory or selling or offering for sale any of the 

 animals mentioned, or their horns or hides, claiming that such 

 animals were killed in another Territory or State, shall, before 

 offering for sale or giving away or shipping to any point in this 

 Territory or out of this Territory any such wild animals or their 

 heads or hides, make affidavit before any officer qualified to ad- 

 minister oaths in this Territory, setting forth that the game or 

 hides or horns so offered for sale or to be shipped were not to his 

 knowledge killed in the Territory of Wyoming; and further, that 

 such animals or their hides or horns were not killed in any other 

 State or Territory in violation of the laws of such State or Terri- 

 tory, and said person shall further name the place and State or 

 Territory where the same were killed; such affidavit shall here- 

 recorded in the office of the county clerk and recorder of the 

 county wherein such animals or their heads or hides are offered 

 for saie or shipment. Any corporation, company, person or per- 

 sons violating any of the provisions of this section shall be 

 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall 

 be fined in any sum not less than fifty nor more than one hundred 

 dollars for each offense. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, con- 

 stables, or other peace officers to see that none of the provisions 

 of this act are violated. Whenever the attention of any such 

 sheriff, constable or other peace officer is called to any violation 

 of any of the provisions of this act and they shall fail to take the 

 proper steps for the arrest and conviction of any person or per- 

 sons or corporation charged with violating any of the provisions 

 of this act, they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on convic- 

 tion thereof shall be fined in any sum not greater than one hun- 

 dred dollars. 



Sec. 13. This act shall take effect from and after its passage, 

 and all acts or parts of acts in conflic t with this act are bereby 

 repealed. 



Approved March 14, 1890. 



The above law, a consolidation of the best parts of former laws, 

 with such additions as experience has dictated, has just been 

 enacted. If it is not enforced, the big game of Wyoming will 

 soon become exterminated as is virtually the. case in neighboring 

 States and Territories. Avery little observation shows that in 

 spite of strict laws, either badly enforced or not enforced at all, 

 Wyoming's big game has been gradually and rapidly disappear- 

 ing for several years past. If this law is properly enforced, the 

 districts of country where the game was so abundant a few' years 



since, will, from its natural increase, again become abundant and 

 afford valuable food for the people. Attention is especially 

 directed to Sec. 3 m regard to non-resident hunters. Sec. 5, as to 

 trade m green, tanned or untanned hides, as also to the new 

 Sections 7, 11 and 12. 



Every neighborhood', where there is a remnant of game left 

 should organize game protective associations at once," and raise 

 funds to pay special constables as provided for in Sec. 11, whose 

 duty should be to follow hunting parties, and arrest and bring all 

 its violators face to face with the law. A resolute man employed 

 a few months in the fall season will accomplish wonderful results, 

 as has been the experience iu Northwest Wyoming for two years 

 past, and with comparatively little cost. 



This game should be considered the common property of the 

 people, in which every citizen is individually interested, and 

 whose duty it should ba to promptly and without fear or favor, 

 report every violation of this act. 



W. P. Pickett, 

 Chairman of Game and Fisheries Committee of the House. 



AUGUSTUS TrABING, 



Chairman ot Came and Fisheries Committee of the Council. 

 Cheyenne, Wyoming, March 15. 



SIGNS OF SPRINGTIME. 



Going north. 



—Hennesy (Kan.) Courier. 



The Flight in Wisconsin. — Milwaukee, April 4.— 

 The high winds of last week, together with the heavy 

 rains of the 3d inst. have effectually cleared the lakes of 

 ice. Sportsmen are elated with the rainfall, the water 

 being higher now than at any time since the fall of 1887. 

 The flight of ducks and geese has been unusually good, 

 and they are here in large numbers. Last Sunday two 

 farmer boys returning home from the capture of an owl, 

 passed through a cornfield where last fall's crop had been 

 picked, leaving the bare stalks standing. When in the 

 center of the patch, with a rush of wings and vociferous 

 honkings there arose a large flock of Canada geese. But 

 the gun wasn't loaded. Last Monday morning, all along 

 the line of the C, M. & St. P. Ry. for 30 miles west of 

 here, the lakes were fast opening, and wherever there 

 was sufficient water to tempt them down, there fed blue- 

 bills, whistlewings and butterballs. Especially was this 

 the case on Pewaukee Lake, where hundreds of birds sat 

 within double gun shot of the train as it thundered by 

 the big Armour icehouses. Milwaukee Bay sheltered 

 many birds last Sunday, and Mr. Hutchings, of the North- 

 western Mutual Life Insurance Company, who is an ex- 

 pert non-professional photographer, took several views 

 which it is expected will prove very interesting. The 

 day was a beautiful one; clear, calm and mild. So much 

 for spring protection; but the boys, while protecting the 

 ducks this spring, are beginning to grumble at the tardi- 

 ness of adjoining States, where ten ducks are now being 

 killed for every one that meets a similar fate in Wiscon- 

 sin during the fall season. Wake up ye laggards before 

 it is too late, and extend to the persecuted wildfowl the 

 protection they so richly deserve. — Greenhead, 



Pennsylvania Bird Legislation.— We have received 

 from Dr. B. H. Warren a pamphlet entitled "Bird Legis- 

 lation,'' by G. B. Ssnnett and B. H. Warren, extracted 

 from report of Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture for 

 1890. Mr. Sennett's address is a valuable paper, treating 

 of the usefulness of birds to the agriculturist and taking 

 up also the English sparrow question and the best means 

 of getting rid of this pest. Mr. Sennett desires protection 

 for all non-game birds except the English or house spar- 

 row, and recommends the destruction of this latter bird. 

 He also advises the enactment in Pennsylvania of a law 

 for the better protection of song and insectivorous birds, 

 the bill which he suggests being based on the one pre- 

 pared by a committee of the American Ornithologists' 

 Union for submission to the New York State Legislature, 

 and which is now a law of this State. Dr. Warren's re- 

 port of the Committee on Birds and Mammals gives the 

 act of the Pennsylvania Assembly of May 14, 1889, and 

 also the history of the so-called scalp act which was 

 passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1887. 



Fox Lake Last Fall. — Last fall was a good one here 

 for chickens and ducks. Our little Fox Lake can show 

 as many clucks for its size as the best of them, and so far 

 is not controlled by any club. My biggest bags last fall 

 were made from off the marshy shores with decoys. 

 There is also good shooting night and morning as they 

 fly between the islands. Strangers coming here will find 

 a cozy little hotel on Morrison's Island; low rates, plenty 

 of boats, and as nice a lot of country boys as there are 

 anywhere. But don't try to buy the shores or there will 

 be trouble. Our Legislature or printers made a great 

 blunder last year in allowing prairie chickens to be shot 

 Aug. 1; they were then about the size of quail. The law 

 can't make shooting that kind of game right in my opin- 

 ion.— W. E. W. (Fox Lake, Wis.). 



First Snipe.— Buffalo, N. Y.. April 1.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream: The first English snipe for the season is 

 now strung up in the show window of Le Valley's gun 

 store. It was shot at Angola. Erie county, March 27, by 

 Ralph West. Last year a West Seneca sportsman brought 

 in the first bird on the 19th of March to Mr. Le Valley. 

 "Salem" always gets the early bird.— E. P. D. 



Spring in the North Woods.— Reports from Jock's 

 Lake in the Adirondaks, received last week, state that the 

 snow is over 2ft. in depth and the ice on the lake is 18in. 

 thick. It is probable, however, that the mild weather of 

 the past few days has reduced the quantity of snow and 

 ice considerably. 



Deer for Catskjll Park.— The State Forest Com- 

 mission has obtained four deer from the State of Maine 

 to place in the Catskill State park. 



Names and Portraits or Birds* by Gurdon Tranibuu. a 

 book particularly interesting to gunners, for by its use they can 

 identify without question all the American game birds which 

 they may kill. Cloth, 820 pages, price $2.50, For sale by Forest 

 and Stream. 



m\d §ivqr fishing. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



THE appearance of the weather on the morning of th? 

 first of April was not very suggestive of spring oil 

 trout fishing either, but rather gave one the idea thai! 

 snowshoes might be of some service to the angler. Snow 

 covered the ground to a depth of from two to four inches^ 

 every tree, shrub and bramble bush was draped in fleecy 

 white, and when lit up by the first rays of the morning 

 sun was a sight long to be remembered. Fortunately foil 

 the anglers the sun took pity on them; it stopped snowing 

 just before sunrise, and cleared off bright and pleasant. 

 In a few hours the snow had disappeared and everything 

 looked fresh and smiling. The birds sang their best anc 

 seemed as delighted as the fishermen at the chang 

 There was quite a crowd of anglers at Smithtown. L. L. 

 one of the few public waters left, and they did remark 

 a,bly well. Mr. D. W. James, Jr. carried off the honon 

 with a catch of nine superb trout that filled his creel t< 

 the brim. The largest weighed 21bs. 8oz and the smallest 

 l2oz. Mr. Jas. L. Livingston killed only three trout, bu' ; 

 they were beauties and weighed together 4lbs. 9oz. Mr 

 Alfred Roe killed five, and almost every one had some 

 thing to show for their trouble. These fish were taken 

 with worm bait. 



At the South Side Sportsmen's Club the trout did not 

 rise well to the fly until afternoon, then the sun seemecS 

 to put a little life in them and they began to take. They 

 were unusually large, most of them averaging over « 

 pound each in weight and were in fine condition. 



The largest trout killed at the Amityville club so far as- 

 we have heard weighed lib. loz., and was taken by Mr: 

 Robt. B. Lawrence. 



The Ontario & Western R. R, Co. is building a special 

 car for the transportation and distribution of live fish, tt 

 be used in stocking the streams along the line of then 

 road. This company deserves great credit for the troubh 

 they are taking to keep up the supply of trout and bass 

 for the benefit of their patrons. 



Reports from Orange county, N. Y.. show that the 

 trout streams in that section furnished an unusually 

 large supply of trout on the first, and of excellent size 

 and weight. These streams were stocked by Mr. Oi 

 Green three years ago, and the result is very satisfactory 

 and encouraging. 



Mr. Thos. Allen, the fish warden at Bangor, Me., re- 

 ports that salmon have appeared in the pools, though 

 none have been taken as yet. 



The ice is going out of the Penobscot River verj 

 rapidly. 



POLLUTION OF OUR RIVERS. 



^pHE letter which we print below, taken from the Troy 

 X Budget, deals with a subject of ever-increasing in 

 terest. It bears the initials of one of the State Fish Com 

 missioners, and ought to receive attention from the LegiB* 

 lature of the State. No man nor no company ought tc 

 be permitted to convert any stream into a sewer in ordei 

 to make or save money for himself. The manufacturer 

 should be compelled to care for his own refuse, and if ht! 

 cannot do that without loss he should go out of business,' 

 An especial interest attaches to the pollution of the 

 Hudson River. After years of patient and persistent 

 effort on the part of a certain State official, this stream 

 has been made a salmon river. The good results of thia 

 work will be undone unless provision shall be made foi 

 keeping its waters pure. The letter in the Budget reads 

 as follows: 



Last summer the Budget called attention of the public to the 

 large amount of pollution the Mechanic ville pulp mill was dailj 

 discharging info tne rivef. We were informed at the time that 

 the fish commission were trying to get the mill company to re-: 

 move the nuisance without resort to a suit. We are happy t< 

 say, after numerous delays, that the pulp company have how 

 made arrangements with Mr. Bunderlin of the Capital Lime A 

 Cement Company. West Troy, to purchase the refuse. Th< 

 material turned into the river was powdered lime mixed witf 

 water, and would amount, when dried, to some twenty tons pel 

 day. Mr. Sunderlin has made a contract with the mill companj 

 to save this waste at his own expense, besides paying theca t 

 small amount per ton iu addition. He immediately commencec 

 the erection of a building with settling pits and gr ndinf. 

 machinery to make, the lime still finer. Wo are informed thai 

 the plant is now in working order, and the material is being used 1 

 principally for making paris green. Thus a waste product, whict 

 had been illegally turned into the river for years, polluting and 

 filling up the same, as well as killing many of the fish, has at lasi 

 been turned to profitable use. The sawdust and i ef use from th<' 

 saw mills is another evil on the Hudson and other important 

 streams which we hope the fish commission may be as successful 

 iu having removed. Any one who has visited the locality o: 

 the water power saw mills cannot but have noticed the elTentf 

 of the nuisance for miles below on the stream. The enormout 

 quantities deposited year after year not only fills up the bee 

 of the stream but it would decompose or ferment under water, 

 driving the fish from the. locality and of course destroys any 

 spawning beds upon which it may settle. The owners of these 

 water powers have received valuable franchises from the people 

 free of cost and not being satisfied with building the dam, which 

 in absence of a fish way prevents many rlsh from reaching the 

 people above, they add insult to injury by dumping their refuse 

 into tne waters, filling up the stream and destroying all life in the 

 same. We are pleased to notice a few days ago that the Electrifl 

 Light Company at Plattsburgh, who use water power on tht 

 Saranac river, are about to commence suits against some of the 

 sawmills above for turning their refuse into the stream. The 

 sawdust thickens the water so much that anchor ice forms where 

 it otherwise would not, compelling the Electric Light Compauy 

 to use steam for power. There is a field for inventors to devise 

 some cheap way of compressing sawdust in shape for fuel ortfi 

 put it to some other profitable use so that it would pay to save it, 

 liven if no profitable use can be found for it the owners- of milli 

 have no more right, to dump it into the rivers than the owners oi! 

 iron works would have to put their reiuse ashes and cinders iritt 

 the same waters. Sawdust can be burned at the mills without 

 great expense, and many sawmills that run by steam power and 

 have no stream to float away their refuse are obliged to resort to' 

 this plan. It may be that the laws are defective to stop these 

 abuses, if so it is time some were enacted to protect the public 

 interests before it is too late, and there is nothing left to protect. 



Netting Trout.— A fishery inspector at St. Johns, 

 Newfoundland, has seized a lot of trout, which were 

 packed among smelts and had evidently been taken 

 nets. Even Newfoundland, with its wealth of trout, ha 

 none to spare for this destructive method of capture. 



Attention is called to the changed form of the advertisement] 

 of the oobn Wilkinson Company, who make a specialty of camp' 

 Ing outfits.— Adv. 



