i\w 13, 1891.] FOREST AND STREAM. 14 9 



under such conditions of freedom as would leave them 

 with all their natural characteristics. A pet deer was 

 beautifu], but it was not the deer of the wild woods after 

 all. A pure-bred buffalo in a barnyard was, in fact, a 

 buffalo, but he was too much like a Durham bull to be 

 perfectly satisfactory. On the Long Island farm the ani- 

 mals could scarcely become anything more than pets. 



So the thoughts of the elder Corbin went back to the 

 days of his youth and the foothills of the White Mountains. 

 As most of the readers know, there is plenty of land in 

 New Hampshire that is just as wild now as ft was wlien 

 Hudson first looked on the ground where the Statue of 

 Liberty now stands. There was a deal of it in Sullivan 

 county — perhaps not the wildest in the State, but oertaiuly 

 a plenty of unbroken forest that covered hills and valleys 

 and surrounded little lakes— forests of birch and beech 

 and maple and pine and spruce and hemlock andbalsam — 

 forests beautiful and fragrant enough to give a city man 

 the heart ache when he thinks of them, Mr. Corbin 

 determined to buy from 20,000 to 80,000 acres of these 

 hills and valleys and there establish a park for his new 

 found four-footed friends in which they would find the 

 conditions as near as possible to which they were best 

 suited. 



Everybody knows that New Hampshire farms in the 

 back country will not bring the price of the buildings at 

 ordinary sale, but Mr. Corbin could not buy all that land 

 without people learning that much land was wanted. 

 Thereat prices rose amazingly and soil that wouldn't raise 

 oats brought the prices of truck farms in Jersey. It takes 

 a stack of money to buy a game park where oOO different 

 people hold the titles to the tract. Still, the location was 

 suitable for the purpose, and moreover, there was the old 

 home. Mr. Corbin had to have it at any price, and he 

 eventually got 22,000 acres in one tract, 



The next thing was to fence it, and only those who 

 have tried building elk tight fences can appreciate the 

 job. Here was a tract of over thirty-five square miles of 

 land to inclose. They started out with a wire net 6ft. 

 high secured to stout posts lOlt. apart. Above the net 

 they strung ten lines of barbed wiie, and that made a 

 right good fence. But when eighteen miles had been 

 erected they abandoned the wire net and used barbed 

 wire only for the rest of the way. That was cheaper and 

 just as good. It is not uninteresting to note that the 

 fencing cost $74,000. 



In all nine gates are to be placed in this fence, with a 

 keeper's lodge at each gate, something made necessary hj 

 the presence in every community of the skulking lout 

 who will steal or destroy the jjroperty of the well-to do 

 and especial ly tuch property as this fence will inclose. 

 Mr. Cjrbin is sure his park will not in any way interfere 

 with the rights of legitimate sportsmen. 



Here in this tract of woodland with only enough 

 cleared land on it to afford meadows over which the 

 animals would like to wander at times, are gathered 

 twenty-five buffalo, sixty elk, over seventy deer, half a 

 dozen each of caribou and antelope, eighteen wild boars 

 imported from Germany, and an unknown number of 

 moose — ptrhaps a dozen. He had four reindeer brought 

 from Labrador, but all died. He expects to have a com- 

 munity of beavers, for the lakes and streams of the park 

 are admirably adapted for these beautiful animals. 



Quite as interesting as any description of the park and 

 its inhabitants is the story of the gathering of the speci- 

 mens. It is too long to tell in full, but room remains for 

 enough. The agent employed to gather a large part of 

 the animals from Canada was Thomas H. Eyan, who has 

 served Mr. Corbin in a number of capacities' for the past 

 twelve years. Along in October last Mr. Eyan was com- 

 missioned to go to Canada to see what could be done 

 about getting "any wild animals there except bears, 

 panthers, wolves and foxes." 



Without knowing exactly where he ought to go he got 

 a letter from Mr. Erastus Wiman introdacing him to Mr. 

 H. P. D wight, general manager of a great telegraph 

 system in the Dominion, witb headquarters at Toronto, 

 and then went up to Sherbrooke, m the Province of 

 Quebec. He had a notion that some deer might be found 

 down near the United States line thereabouts. At Stier- 

 brooke a friendly newspaper man said one Dan Bull, of 

 Megan tic, knew all about the deer of that country, and 

 so to M»^gantic posted Mr. Eyan. He met Ball and"f ound 

 him able and willing to get the deer, but Bill was a little 

 doubtful about the law. He knew that the law prohib- 

 ited the transportation of a carcass of a deer or any part 

 thereof out of the Queen's domain, and he thought Mr. 

 Eyan should look up the point. Mr. Eyan found that 

 the open season in Ontario was from Oct. 15 to Nov. 20, 

 while that in Quebec was from Oct. 1 to Jan. 1. That was 

 good as far as it went. The nexD thing was to see about 

 the meaning of the word carcass. 



At Montreal Deputy Collector of Customs Eiley thought 

 the word meant the dead body of a deer, and that no 

 one in framing the law had contemplated the possibility 

 of live deer being exported, neverthelets he would not 

 give a permit passing the deer. Tbereat Mr. Eyan went 

 to Ottawa and saw Su- John MacDonald hitnse f. Sir 

 John considered the matter and said he thought Mr. 

 Evan's interpretation of the law good. From Sir John 

 Mr. Eyan had to go to the Minister of Customs, whom he 

 had no difficulty in seeing, and his coincidf d with the 

 views of Sir John. Thereat Mr. Ryan addressed a letter 

 to the Minister, and next day received the following 

 reply; 



Customs Depaktmbnt, Canada. i 

 Ottawa, Oct. 14, 1800. f 

 [In reply refer to file No. 4292.] 

 T. H. Buan. Esq., Ottawa, Ont.: 



Sir— 1 kave me nonor lo auUnowledge receipt of your letter of 

 tbe 13rh mat., addressed to the Hon. tlie Minister of Customs re- 

 specting the exportation of live dear, moose aod caribou to'the 

 United States. 



In replv, I am directed to infrirni you that there is nothing in 

 the Canadian law to prolnbit exportation of tliese animals alive- 

 the law now in forcfi prohibits tbe exportation of tliese animals 

 m the carcass. I have tbe honor to be, sir. your obedient servant 

 ■J. Johnson, Commissioner of Customs. ' 



With this in hand Mr. Eyan wrote to Dan Ball to go 

 ahead with his deer catching. Then he went to Toronto 

 and met Mr. D wight. Mr. D wight is a sportsman and 

 was just ready to start with three others for a hunt in 

 the Mu-cogee region. Mr. Eyan on invitation joined the 

 party, and that night took train for Huntsville. How 

 they arrived at Huntsville at night, how the rain fell, how 

 they walked to the hotel, how they couldn't eat breakfast, 

 how they waded to a steamer, how they crossed portages 

 in farm wagons to other boats, how they at last reached 

 a comfortable carnp with comforting fire and grub on 

 a poiat in Loog LaJ^e, le a tale wbich Mr. Ilyaa tflU? 



picturesquely. Here he remained two days but got no 

 deer, and then went fifty miles to North Bay, 200 miles 

 west, and from there to Mattawa on the verge of a region 

 where moose abound, deer are plentiful, and beaver pos- 

 sible to obtain alive. A contract was made with a trap- 

 per, whose name Mr. Eyan does not wish to mention, for 

 a supply of all of these animals — at least twenty of each 

 if that number be possible. 



Jleantime Dan Ball had gone to work at Megantic by 

 selecting a few friends and looking over the woods to see 

 where the deer were yarding. Along in December the 

 snow became five feet deep in the woods, and Dan knew 

 of one yard where at least 300 deer were gathered together. 



Then he and six others went on snowshoes with buck- 

 skin thongs and one gun loaded ^vith powder only. Lo- 

 cating a bunch of deer in a thicket, six of the men crept 

 up as near as possible to leeward without alarming them. 

 Then the seventh came tearing down with the wind and 

 with a wild yell and the discharge of the gun scattered the 

 bunch like a flock of quails before a cur pnp. Some of 

 the fleeing beauties plumped into the snow that was so 

 deep and so fluffy that they sank out of sight at the first 

 struggle, nor could they escape till Dan and his friends 

 kindly lent a hand. In "all a dozen were captured thus, 

 and with legs bound with the soft leather thongs were 

 carried to an old shanty in the woods some distance from 

 Megantic, 



So word was sent to Eyan, and along in January he 

 went away to bring the deer to the park in New Hamp- 

 shire. Megantic is on the Canadian Pacific road. A box 

 car was sent to a siding formerly used by a lumber mill, 

 and there carpeted with hay, straw and no end of browse. 

 The ends were then partitioned off from the space between 

 the doors by means of poles and within the spaces thus 

 formed the deer were placed — simply lifted in. They 

 had been kept in the meantime in the old mill unbound. 



With Dan Ball to look after and especially to water the 

 deer, the car was hauled to Newport, Vt , the location of 

 the United States Customs Ofiice. Mr. Eyan found he 

 would have to go back to a Canadian customs officer for 

 certain documents, and as trains do not run very often 

 he drove in a sleigh. It cost him $1.50 to drive 28 miles 

 in a cutter behind a team that the owner refused |450for. 

 The deer were passed duty free, and were sent on to New- 

 port, N. H., by the way of Concord; nearly 100 miles 

 further than necessai-y. The extra ride proved disastrous, 

 for one deer died en route and two after arrival. The nine 

 ar« now as well and frisky as when in their native 

 forests. 



The importing of these animals has made a stir that has 

 reached Boston, and perhaps New York, for there is a 

 Megantic Club of American sportsmen there, and its mem- 

 bers do not like to have the woods round about their 

 haunts depleted even by a score or two of deer, and what 

 the outcome will be no one can tell now. 



The buffalo in the park came originally from Montana, 

 but were purchased of a Minnesota man.' The moose, elk 

 and caribou came from Minnesota also, and were cap- 

 tured along the Canadian border. 



Among the interesting experiences in the transportation 

 of the animals for this pirk maybe mentioned these: 

 Moose have been carried 2,000 miles in four days without 

 apparent injury. The last consignment included 16 moose, 



3 deer and 1 caribou. All arrived in good condition, but 

 8 moose died afterward, because, it is thought, of the 

 change in their diet or water, or both. On one occasion 

 when 30 deer were en route over the Nickel Plate a col- 

 lision with another train killed 23 of them outright, and 



4 more died afterward. 



It is noticed that the largest deer most easily succumb 

 to railroad travel. None of the animals ever eat or 

 sleep while the car is in motion. On a side track they 

 will eat a little. There seems to be more danger of then- 

 suffering from heat in a box car than from cold, but the 

 worst trouble is in the jerking to and fro of the car when 

 the train is stopping or starting. They are fed barley, 

 corn, bran and hay. In the woods they are expected to 

 live as they would nattirally, bud places will be estab- 

 lished where feed will be left for them so that none shall 

 lack. 



Beginning with a few pet deer in a paddock, the Cor- 

 bins now have a private zoological garden, where, if at 

 any such place in the world, the animals on hand can be 

 seen and studied under natural conditions. What it will 

 be in the future Mr. Corbin cannot say, but that he will, 

 as fast as convenient to do so, add aU the animals of the 

 world that can live tbere harmoniously need not be 

 doubted. His outlay up to the completing of the park is 

 not far from ,f400,0u0. Some of his friends say he is 

 likely to spend half as much more on it and make of it a 

 place to fairly delight the naturalist. They say that the 

 work of Judge Caton will be supplemented and added to 

 by that to be done at the Corbin park to the great benefit 

 of all investigators into the habits of wild animals. 



John E. Spears. 



ADIRONDACK DEER KILLING METHODS 



Editor Forest and Strea7n: 



Kindly grant me space to answer the criticism of 

 '•Saint Lawrence" and define my own position more 

 clearly. I did not intend to express disapproval of the 

 prohibition against floating except as taken in connection 

 with hounding. The last sentence of my former letter 

 reads, ' Treat all alike, and to do it you must give St. 

 Lawrence more or the rest of the State less than there is 

 in the proposed law." There is the point. It was pro- 

 posed to give the rest of the State forty days' hounding 

 and St. Lawrence nothing. I asked that St. Lawrence 

 have floating in place of hounding. (It is the less destruc- 

 tive of the two.) Now, instead of giving St. Lawrence 

 floating in place of hounding, they give us floating, but 

 also give it to the rest of the State' in addition to hound- 

 ing. 



'•Saint LawTrence" detests floating. If I mistake not, 

 'Saint Lawrence" has eaten salt pork many a time in 

 honor to his convictions, and while others less scrupulous 

 have feasted on venison; also, that he has not camped in 

 the wilderness for several years. He says. "Its horrors 

 (floating) have been too often dwelt upon." Yes. and 1 

 will add, exaggerated; and it is because I have never seen 

 its ■■horrors" that I do not condemn it. I have been a 

 "floater" over thirty years: I have also kflled deer by still- 

 hunting, and by watching a pond. I never killed a deer 

 in winter or early spring, nor wasted a pound of the 

 meat. The first deer I ever floated jqmped twice after 

 the riipe eraoked-c-the last ran perhaps tiwenty yards, 



Will "Saint 'Lawrence" tell me what "horror" there was 

 in that kind of killing? "Saint Lawrence" will ask, 

 "Were all shots as successful?" and I will answer, no, I 

 can now recall but one deer wounded that escaped, but I 

 am wilUn^ to grant that there were more. But are not deer 

 wounded m all kinds of hunting and do not some escape? 

 As regards tbe killing of does by floating — if the law says 

 we must not kill does, I for one will not pull trigger until 

 I see horns. Easy enough to fix that. 



I asked "How are we to get venison" and "Saint Law- 

 rence" says, "Hunt and kill it like a sportsma^n and a 

 man," and then suggests watching where deei- come to 

 water. Let us see. '"Saint Lawrence" watches a pond 

 where he feels sure a deer will come, and when it does 

 come he draws a bead and fires — ^he may only wound it. 

 I am paddled up to a deer on the same pond'a couple of 

 hours later and I only wound it. Are we not quits? 



Now in regard to does. The proposed law will not pro- 

 tect them becaiise it is so easy to destroy proof of sex. 

 Mr. Editor, as proof that this section of St. Lawrence is 

 not "retrogressing in protection sentiment" I will propose 

 the following enactment: 



>Jo deer except it have horns shall be killed at any time. No 

 deer shall be killed save between the ]5th day of August and the 

 1st day of November of any year. No deer shaJl be killed while 

 swirnm-ng in any water of the .State of New York. No deer shall 

 be killed from any boat or other device floating upon ihe waters 

 of any stream, pond or lake. 



This will stop floating, this will protect does, this will 

 stop club hunting. Give the whole State (tf you please) 

 the privilege of hounding, but let the hunter stand on the 

 runways and take his chances — once the deer is in the 

 water let it be safe. 



Under such a law, enforced, deer would increase, I 

 know "Saint Lawrence" will only too gladly agree to 

 such a law. Will the bounders? I can answer the 

 question, no. Then, while they ask and receive forty 

 Clays privilege to hunt by the most destructive method 

 known, I ask for myself, and I think many more, that 

 St. Lawrence be given something. J. H. E. 



Canxon, N. Y., March 7. 



THE MAINE GAME LAWS. 



THE committee on fisheries and game of the Maine 

 Legislature has voted to report a bill containing 

 substantially the amendments proposed by the Commis- 

 sioners, already given in detail in the Forest aIs^d Stbeaiu. 

 In the committee there was not much opposition to the 

 amendments, as I am informed, in spite of the force 

 brought to bear by the enemies of wholesome fish and 

 game legislation. Mr. Darling and others were given a 

 respectful hearing, but their demands for greater license 

 in the killing of game have not been heeded in the com- 

 mittee. The result, when the measure comes before the 

 full bodies of both branches of the Legislature, is of course 

 still in doubt, but the case is more hopeful than appear- 

 ances indicated early in the session. A letter from a 

 gentleman well informed in fish and game matters in that 

 State says that there is rather a growth of better senti- 

 ment within a few -weeks in some parts of Maine, and that 

 it is having its influence upon the Legislature, even if 

 that body, in its majority, was not already favorable to 

 the wholesome amendments asked for by the able Com- 

 missioners. The deer-hounding element is receiving a set- 

 back from a force of its own nature that is striking 

 stronger blows than its advocates are aware of. 



The Maine newspapers are giving a good deal of atten- 

 tion to game matters, and it has been made plain to the 

 people of the State, and to members of the Legislature, 

 that a number of hounds are owned in the State for the 

 purpose of dogging deer. The newspapers have done 

 much of late in disseminating this information, and the 

 spreading of the news has come in a form that is not 

 doing the cause of the deer bounders any good. A num- 

 ber of items like the following, besides those already pub- 

 lished in the Forest a??d Stream, have lately appeared 

 in the Maine papers: "L. O. Dudley and his wife w-ere 

 crossing Upper Jackson Lake in a sleigh the other day. 

 Suddenly a deer bounded out of the thicket on the 

 opposite shore, closely followed by a hound. At the 

 urgent request of his wife Mr. 'Dudley turned his 

 horse, and with all possible speed followed the chase, 

 hoping to save the life of the deer. Gyp, the mare, 

 ti-oited nobly, considering that there were" Sin. of water 

 on the ice, and the chase was a very exciting one for the 

 lady. But the deer seemed exhausted, and the dog soon 

 brought down his game, and had its throat bleeding be- 

 fore they reached the spot. The sight of the deer flound- 

 ering in the water on the ice, which was crimsoned with 

 its blood, frightened the horse, and Mr. Dudley was 

 obliged to hold her, while his wife got out of the'sleigh 

 and drove off the dog, which went sneaking toward shore 

 with the blood dripping from his jaws. A man working 

 in one of Mr. Dudley's logging cainps now came up and 

 the deer w.as left in his care. It was dotibtless killed by 

 the bite of the dog at its throat." Another Maine paper 

 says that Mrs. Dudley has written a strong letter to the 

 Legislature, against the cruelties of dogging deer. If she 

 has not, there is not the least doubt but what she desires 

 to, and when the women of Maine declare against a form 

 of cruelty, there is little danger but what legislation will 

 be pronounced in their favor. 



Game Warden French arrived at Calais the other morn- 

 ing and gave the substance of the following report: "I 

 have just got home from a trip up the lakes and I never 

 saw the game laws so grossly violated since I have held 

 my commission as they have been the last month . A 

 number of parties consisting of from two to four persons 

 hunting deer with dogs and making a wholesale slaughter 

 of them. While away I arrested Frank Graham and 

 Charles Gilpatrick, of Westoia , for the abovenamed off'ense. 

 They were arraigned before Justice Dresser, at Forrest 

 City, found guilty and fined .f40 each and costs. I also 

 arrested Charles Eaton and E. Tupper, of Princeton, for 

 dogging deer at Pleasant Lake. They were found guilty 

 and gave bonds to appear at the April term of the S. J. 

 Court. I found Pete Newell selling trout and fined him. 

 I also found two more men dogging deer but was unable 

 to catch them. I am familiar with their names and wiH 

 arrest them on my next trip up river." 



It is unfortunate for the cause of the deer doggers that 

 these items are being promulgated through ihe Maine 

 papers at this time. But the good often prevails through 

 the adverse action of evil itself and it is now to be hoped 

 that deer hounding will receive the worst setback it baa 

 ever bad at the present session of the Maine Legislature, 

 M^ROH 9, Speoi^aIv, 



