616 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 16, 1891. 



IN MEXICO. 



OUR corregpondent has been hunting in company with 

 Mrs. Aztec, and thus discourse of it to his brother 

 in "the States": 



We started, J. and I, on a midnight train the night of 

 May 25, We got to our station at daylight, and found the 

 hacienda coach in waiting for us. We had a lovely ride 

 of nearly ten miles in the dewy morning, and w^re 

 cordially received by the young host. Prom then till 

 Saturday the place belonged to us. The weather was too 

 warm to save game any length of time, so we didnot exert 

 ourselves much in hunting. Besides the boss clerk was 

 absent, and Don Luis had all the business to attend to, 

 and so could not get out very often. On Wednesday he 

 and I took a turkey hunt. He had a place baited in a 

 cedar brake about twelve miles from the house, and we 

 got up early and struck out, reaching the ground about 

 half after seven. The turkeys were gobbling all around, 

 but we sat down in the blinds and waited for them. Don 

 Luis got an old gobbler about nine o'clock, and as we came 

 back frotu our lunch where the horses were tied, at noon, 

 there was a fine old fellow just showing up at my place, 

 but he saw us too far and got away. About the middle of 

 the afternoon two hens made their'appearance at my corn 

 pile. I made up my mind to get them both, but was so 

 well hid that I did not have good use of myself. Don Luis 

 is in the habit of shooting with a rifle, and had put me in 

 a blind all shut in by trees. At my first movement one of 

 them said put and I jumped up. As they started to run 

 I rolled oue over with the first barrel, and just as quick as 

 I knew how, took a bead on the other as slie rose to fly. 

 But I didn't have elbow room enough and banged the 

 whole load into a tree j ust as she went behind it. She 

 flew up to Don Luis'a stand and he clipped her under the 

 throat with his rifle, but she managed to get into the 

 thicket. The woods were full of them, but the day before 

 the man had left so much corn that they were not hungry. 



The next day we rode around in the coach, saw sights, 

 and in the evening had a lot of fun shooting doves near 

 an old barn. Friday I decided I would try for a deer, as 

 I thought I could get it home the next day. Don Luis 

 was very busy, so I got up early and struck out with one 

 of the men. We went about three miles from the house, 

 and had a fine little still-hunt on the side of a mountain. 

 It was pretty brushy and rocky, so a fellow had to be extra 

 careful. I found fresh signs of two deer up on the moun- 

 tainside and commenced to sneak around for I couldn't tell 

 which way they had gone. They either saw or heard me, 

 and slipped off down the hill about a hundred yards. 

 Pretty soon I stepped out into an open place and they 

 began to snort and jump over the bushes. The sun was 

 about half an hour nigh and they were between me and 

 below it. When they moved in the chaparal I could see 

 them, but as soon as they stopped I could not make them 

 out. The ground between us was perfectly open, so that 

 there was no chance to creep up. So I lost them. 

 They were not wild, and under the same circumstances 

 ordinarily I should have been sure to get one of them. It 

 was a mere accident that I did not see them sooner. 



In the afternoon we went in the coach to a cane field 

 where Don Luis had seen them come out often to feed on 

 the cane. The sun was still two hours high, but when we 

 reached the place there were three already out and saw 

 us. We tried to get on them, but they were suspicious 

 of the coach which had stopped in view, and besides, a 

 plow-boy over in a neighboring field began to whistle at 

 them. So we had to take a hurried shot at long range, 

 not knowing the distance. Neither of us scored. Follow- 

 ing them into the bushes we found them again, but got 

 no shot, and Don Luis found a big buck which he could 

 easily have killed but thought it was a donkey. Even 

 a veteran hunter will get fooled sometimes. 



Next day was our last and we were bound to have some 

 meat to bring home to save our reputation. So we went 

 for the turkeys again. I had found a caller, and told Don 

 Luis that if they gobbled around so much again I was 

 going to try my hand at calling one up. J. went along 

 and stayed in the blind with me. I had loaded her little 

 30-gauge with No. 2 shot, and was sure that she would 

 get her turkey if one came out. But Don Luis had all 

 the luck. Nothing showed itself at our blind, and I didnc 

 even hear one gobble. But at different times during the 

 day three old fellows came to his stand and paid the 

 penalty of then- rashness. He has a fine .32-40 Ballard 

 that is sure death to anything that comes in range. 



From the woods we went to the station and found that 

 we had to wait all night for the train. The boss of the 

 ranch gave us a bed, and we got along finely. Our only 

 mishap was that it was eight o'clock Sunday morning 

 before we got home. 



SIX YEARS UNDER MAINE GAME LAWS. 



X. — THE ONE BEFORE THE LAST. 



THE time has come to close this series of papers. Un- 

 foreseen circumstances have delayed their prepara- 

 tion, and other causes equally unforeseen have altered 

 their original plan, so that they are widely different from 

 the fijst design. It is therefore impossible to draw con- 

 clusions or to sum up in any orderly fashion what has 

 been said. But there are a few additional points to be 

 touched upon and some probable consequences— which 

 may a better ordering of affairs avert!— that need to be 

 set forth; and just a word maybe said of what was in- 

 tended but was not accomplished. 



In the beginning a state of feeling was described in 

 which a bitter and unreasoning resentment must have 

 seemed predominant. It was planned to account for this, 

 to show how it arose and why, and what were the prin- 

 cipal local modifications of it with their local causes. The 

 plan has been carried out only in part. What was said 

 of the waste of game and non-transportation in open 

 season applied with varying force to all the counties and 

 has been influential in all to produce the present state of 

 dissatisfaction. But what has been said of deer hounding 

 and killing dogs pertains only to the southeastern coun- 

 ties of the State. Nothing has been said of Piscataquis 

 and its interests, nor of Aroostook and Aroostook affairs, 

 although the i)lan was to illustrate and explain the causes 

 which had operated in these to produce a feeling substan- 

 tially the same but differing in its degree. A change 

 made last March in the law permitting the destruction of 

 dogs, bringing new and unexpected dangers close upon 

 us, as it was feared, caused the abandonment of the 

 original design and a fuller treatment of topics relating 

 to deer hounding than was at first intended or deemed 



desirable, while in consequence the otter aections had to 

 be slighted. 



I have said that it was not the intention to speak of 

 deer hounding at such length. There were other topics 

 equally interesting which aid not have the peculiar dis- 

 aavantages of this, nw»^, that whoever would speak of 

 abuses connected with its suppression must consent to 

 be accused of favoring the practice. Novv, the practice 

 cannot be defended in this State. As a method deer 

 hounding may he the best or the worst, the most humane 

 or the most cruel way of gftting a (ienr— that is a matter 

 of opinion; as a practice, it is illegal and should be 

 stopped. Yet it is of supreme importance that the means 

 of suppression shall be such that those who wish to see 

 the law enforced can honestly defend the means taken 

 to enforce it. Who could do this of the poisoning and 

 dog killing of years past? The extraordinary abuses 

 connected with these methods of procedure have put 

 them into such disrepute that neither of them can ever 

 gain any measure of popular support. Yet this spring 

 the law has been changed so that the killing of dogs is 

 encouraged by the new license granted, even if it is not 

 intended, as has been feared, to make it an official fea- 

 ture of the campaign this fall. Nothing could be more 

 fatal than this. These practices may be legalized, but 

 such is the odium attaching that they will injure the 

 cause in which they are employed. The reaction against 

 the last attempts has been very strong. Nearly, if not 

 quite twice as much deer hounding was carried on last 

 tall on Penobscot and Union RiverWaters as ever before. 

 Deer were dogged more or less regularly on some thirty 

 ponds and lakes which I could name, and at Chemo 

 Lake, only about fifteen miles from Bangor, they were 

 run all the fall. Hounds used to run deer are openly 

 kept in Bangor and vicinity. Men go from Bangor and 

 surrounding towns to places where deer are dogged, the 

 papers tell where they have gone, and what they bring 

 back, and the deer, shot in the back of the head, are 

 openly exhibited. There is no secret made of it. What 

 is more, men who a few years ago stronglj disapproved 

 the practice, now favor it more or less openly. Wnoever 

 would stop hounding must overcome an opposition which 

 did not exist a few years ago, and this can be done only 

 by the use of fair and legal methods. Fine the men who 

 engage in it, but give us no more Darling cases and no 

 more dog killing. To repeat the proceedmgs of the few 

 years past would give us not only more murders, but 

 would be the speediest way of creating a general demand 

 from this section to have a law permitting hounding. 



It was planned, among other things, to speak at some 

 length of the illegal sale of fish and game, of the number 

 of prosecutions brought and fines cjllected, of certain 

 cases tried and minor untenable interpretations of tUe 

 laws, of the character and efficiency of the wardens now 

 in the service; and facts were c jllected for this purpose, 

 which the change of plan already spoken of has made it 

 necessary to set aside. 



However, that the case may not seem to go by default, 

 we will have a word upon some of these points. 



Game and fish have been illegally sold this winter, and 

 not by any means in lone and sequestered spots. It has 

 been done in our largest cities and in the markets, so 

 openly that strangers have commented on it. Not to speak 

 of what has been done nearer home, in Augusta game 

 and fish both were sold contrary to law; and at the very 

 time that new trout laws were under discussion, togue 

 were openly sold in the city and were seiwed under the 

 name of trout on the table of the hotel where many of 

 the senators and representatives boai'ded. Complaint 

 was made but no prosecutions followed. Without dis- 

 cussing where these fish were taken, it was dirt-ctly con- 

 trary to law to sell them, and yet while the sale was per- 

 mitted in Augusta, in the eastern part of the State Pete 

 Newell, an Indian, poor undoubtedly, ignorant very 

 likely, was fined for selling trout. 



Regarding the collection of fines and their disposition, 

 little can be said in little space. But the aggregate of 

 fines paid in to the treasm-ies is not what might be ex- 

 pected. In Penobscot it is too small to make any account 

 of. From Jan. 1 to the middle of April of this year only 

 $40 was paid in from nearly ninety towns and townships 

 which are included in this county. The sum for any 

 year is very small. This would not be a disadvantage if 

 the violations of the law were few, but they are numer- 

 ous and open. Some cases come up in the higher com'ts 

 of Penobscot, but very few appear in the lower courts of 

 Bangor. The clerk of the municipal court who has been 

 in the ofiice many years could show me papers pertain- 

 ing to only two cases, which he said were all that he dis- 

 tinctly remembered. One was the voluntary complaint 

 against himself of a gentleman wno killed a moose last 

 September; the other a case against a man for netting 

 fisn last October, ending in an appeal. Some cases come 

 before trial justices outside the city. There ai'e a few 

 justices in this and other counties to" whom game cases 

 are frequently carried, or who are carried to the cises, 

 whence the nickname of "pocket jut^tices" sometimes 

 applied to them ; and there is some particularly edifying 

 hiatory connected with the cases which come up before 

 these men. The aggregate of game cases in eastern 

 Maine for the past few years has been small when we ex- 

 cept the seizures illegally made under the transportation 

 fiasco and what has been done on the seashore. 



Concerning wardens, we will say as little as possible. 

 It is not fair to speak disparagingly of a whole class with- 

 out bringing forward the jJroofs. Yet it is true that after 

 much inquiry I h.xve found many poor wardens and only 

 two that could by called good' ones. Good men there 

 may be, undoubtedly are, among the hundred and fifty 

 who are employed as wardens, but unless they live in the 

 western part of the State or upon the seaohore, they must 

 be scarce. The majority of the more prominent wardens 

 of eastern Maine are not only bad wardens but bad men. 

 There is full proof of their unfitness for the place, I was 

 intending to bring forward enough to show the kind of 

 men into whose hands the execution of our game laws 

 has fallen, but it would take too long to do the subject 

 justice, and we may leave it with Charley Utter's bene- 

 diction, "May the Lord think well of you' — audits logical 

 inference. 



It is of more importance just now to know that some of 

 these men have been reappointed not once, but some- 

 times more than once, in spite of repeated protest. We 

 have been told that nobody was responsible for this. The 

 change of the law this year which requires the approval 

 of two of the Commissioners before a warden will be 

 given an appointment, is a great improvement. It makes 



the Commissioners personally responsible for the charac- 

 ter of the men employed, and the improvement of the 

 service by the substitution of better men for some of 

 those now in the service may be expected. We have 

 been told that heretofore mi^n had been selected for their 

 strength and ability to shoot quiickly. The authority for 

 the statement was high, yet this may not be the real 

 ground of selection. At any rate these would be merely 

 imaginary advantages for an active warden. Strength 

 may make an arrest, but it will not t^ke a man out of the 

 woods, and the ability to shoot quickly is merely a nega- 

 tive advantage, since an officer cannot use (irparms ex- 

 cept as a last resort. Pl an, old-fashioned honesty is the 

 best qualification a warden can have, and with it a man 

 can go safely, when without it he would run considerable 

 risk. The second best recommendation to the position 

 shoiild be a thorough knowledge of woodcraft and the 

 ability to go alone through the woods instead of along 

 highways and frequented routes, 



_ One change in the laws this year requires some atten- 

 tion. Henceforth wardens may make arrests without the 

 use of a warrant. This will be a great advantage in secur- 

 ing the arrest of offenders, but visitors and residents alike 

 will need to be on their guard against those who pretend 

 to be wardens and extort fines on false pretenses. In 

 years past this has bpen done more or less frequent y. I 

 know of three cases, one of them occurring this winter, 

 where the attempt has been made by men who were not 

 wardens, and 1 have been told on good authority of 

 another where a fine was paid only this winter to a man 

 who was not a warden, for fishing p'ckerel, which it is 

 legal to fish at any season. It is well for everv one to 

 carry a copy of the latest issue of the game laws^ so that 

 he can determine for himself just what the law is and 

 whether he is guilty. There are many points where by 

 rnistake or evil ijitention a person not perfectly sure of 

 his rights can be intimidated and made to pay blackmail 

 by those who are not ofiiGials and have no right to inter- 

 fere. How many who come here know that Sunday is 

 close time on game hut not on fish? or that until this 

 spring deer could be legally shipped from the State pro- 

 vided the legal number was not exceeded, while par- 

 tridges could not bt? or half a dozen other points on which 

 a case could be made or lost? The wise man, if detected 

 in an oft'ense against the laws, will, if porisible, stand 

 trial. He never will pay anything to settle a case, nor 

 pay a fine to any one without taking a receixit for it. If 

 in any case he should pay a fine to any one whom he does 

 not know personally, he will at the expiration of two 

 months write to the county treasurer of the cumty in 

 which it was paid, to find whether it has been paid to the 

 county, that being the limit of time which any justice or 

 receiver of fines can keep them without incurring heavy 

 fines. These are suggestions merely, but they are made 

 to the wise. Never pay anything to any one who may 

 not be an official. Never pay without taking a receipt in 

 full. Never fail to see whether that money was paid into 

 the treasury at the proper time unless there is no room 

 for doubt. 



The next paper, which will be the final one, will take 

 up some of the more general evils which will follow if 

 something is not done to improve the present conditions 

 here. They are too serious to be neglected and should 

 receive thoughtful consideration of both residents and 

 visitors who are interested in the welfare of this State. 

 It is not the game alone that makes a trip here pleasant 

 —the game and fish ai-e the least part of it to many who 

 come here, and certainly are not greatly esteemed by the 

 residents. There are other interests upon which both can 

 unite, which now, if not actually imperilled, are at that 

 point where the future danger can lie most easily averted. 

 It is for what will be said in this final paper, however 

 simply and unf mpbaticaJly it may be put forth, that this 

 whole series, with all the labor and unenviable notoriety 

 it involves, was undertaken. 



Fannie Pearson Hardy. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



C CHICAGO, — A recent incident will show still further 

 the necessity for some adequate protection of the 

 game birds along the Kankakee River. The incident is the 

 more deplorable in that the culpable party is a member of 

 one of our regular shooting clubs. I say, he is a member, 

 but "was a member" would probably be more correct, for 

 by this time he has probably been expelled from the club 

 or will be soon. The man's name is Roth, and he belonged 

 to the Diana Club. Lately he killed 5 young prairie 

 chickens, not bigger than one's fist, and put them on the 

 ice at the Diana Club House, where they were seen. Mr. 

 Henry Enters, a very worthy sportsman of the Diana 

 Club, and others of our sportsmen here, instituted a legal 

 investigation, though attorney Lnw told them no case 

 would hold, they being citizpns of Illinois, while the kill- 

 ing was done in Indiana. The matter was not allowed to 

 rest here, however, Messrs. Henry Ehlers and Juhn Press, 

 the latter president of the Diana Club, have gone duwn 

 to the grounds in Indiana to see if they cannot get evi- 

 dence good enough for a conviction even under the 

 absurd Indiana law. In any event, Roth will be promptly 

 jumped from the club, and ought to be debarred from the 

 company of gentlemen sportsmen. It is getting too late 

 in the nineteenth century to do such things as that and 

 still claim to be either a sportsman, a gentleman, or even 

 a half-decent sort of half-way citizen. 



A new club organizes to night, and will next week be 

 named and added to the galaxy of Chicago's bright partic- 

 ular stars. It will consist of 30 members, membership 

 fee ^10, and will be devoted to trap-shootine: solely. It 

 will hold 12 shoots annually, and at each shoot a p ize of 

 $35 will be shot for, and the contest settled then and there. 

 Club medals, annual championships and all that will be 

 abolished under this innovation, whose result is awaited 

 with some interest. Name and mpmbers cannot be 

 divulged now, but the latter are from our best, and the 

 new club will be a good one. E. Hough. 



Caribou in the Northwj'st.— New York, July 9 — 

 Editor Forest and Stream: In regard to caribou in the 

 far West, I can say that in 1887 we found caribou in con- 

 siderable numbers in northern Idaho, at the headwaters 

 of Kanusku Lake and the Kootnai Ri vpr. Eight were 

 killed by our party.— Wakejian Holberton. 



A Book About Indians.— The Fobkst and Strium will mail 

 treeon apphcattoQ a deseripcive circular of Mr. Grmneirs book, 

 "Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-tales," giving a <-able of conteW 

 and apeoimen lllnstratlons from the volume.— Adu . 



