Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



14 A Year. 10 Cts. a Copy, i 

 Six Months, S2- ( 



NEW YORK, JANUARY 19, 1893. 



) VOL. XL.— No. 8. 



1 No. 318 Broadway, New York. 



SNAP SHOTS. 



Senator John Sherman, chairman of the Senate Com- 

 mittee on Foreign Relations, introduced a bill on Dec. 20, 

 1892, to extend to the North Pacific Ocean the provisions 

 of the statutes for the protection of fvir seals and other 

 fur- bearing animals. The bill was referred to his com- 

 mittee, and was by him reported back to the Senate on 

 Jan. 12, and was passed without debate after a brief ex- 

 planation. "'Mr. Sherman said that in view of any judg- 

 ment which may be made by the tribunal of arbitration 

 next summer in respect to the fur seal fisheries it would 

 be uecessa,ry to authorize the President of the United 

 States to extend the present law (which apphed only to 

 Bering Sea) to the North Pacific Ocean. That was the 

 'judgment of all who knew anything about the subject 

 matter, The real trouble, he said, about the seal fisheries 

 was in the North Pacific. The bill had been recom- 

 mended very clearly and forcibly in the message from the 

 President. It had been prepared by the Secretary of 

 State, had met the approval of every member of the 

 Committee on Foi-eign Relations, and the necessity of its 

 passage was obvious to everybody.'' 



Pelagic sealing has caused greater destruction of fur 

 seals than all other modes of capture combined, and it 

 Avill soon settle the entire controversy over Bering Sea by 

 exterminating the subject of contention. We have fre- 

 quently called attention to the accepted fact that 50,000 

 females with their unborn young are thus secured during 

 a season of aA^erage prosperity, and there is no room for 

 doubt that twice as many more are killed and afterward 

 lost. The Government cannot act too promptly for tlie 

 protection of these -s^aluable animals whose very existence 

 is serioush^ threatened. 



TVie night was atrf)ciously cold. The elevated railroad 

 car was as frigid as a. Washington Market cold storage 

 game vault, the passengers rapidly A^erging toward the 

 condition of refrigerated game. The train had (•onsunied 

 an honr and seventeen minutes ingoing a mile and a half. 

 Most of the unfortunate Harlem bound passengers had 

 made tlieir escape at the A\ a,v stations and taken to the 

 horse cars; otliers had cliinbed down (lie posts to tlie 

 street. Only Lliree (les|n-r-atc men remained. Oni' of 

 them lifoke nut into sweai uiK Innd and x'Ikoi'uiisI y, ajiit 

 'then lie delivercil an oi al ioji U) llie two oilier caiitivvs and 

 the train giinnl. ■■ We've got a t^egislatnre tliis year that 

 won't stand this kijid of business,'' he si touted. " It's an 

 outrage on tlie public, that's wliat it is; lianging a man 

 up here in the air to free/.e to death. We'll pass a law to 

 sto]! it; that's w hat well do. ^Vexe got a Legislature 

 this year thafU fix. things.'' 



■•What's the cause of the delay'?" asked the second 

 man, for the four hundredth time. 



" Engineer let his train slide back on the down grade; 

 it crashed into the train behind and blockaded the whole 

 road,'" explained the guard. 



"Humph! " said the third man, " it is not a new law we 

 need; it's a nev,- superintendent and an engineer with 

 brains in his noddle." And there came a jerk and a bump 

 and then a stand-still, to give force to his remarks. 



Which little incident of railroad travel in New York in 

 a cold snap is commended to the attention, consideration, 

 reflection, instruction and moralizing of those good people 

 who think tliat if the deer, and the quail, and the grouse, 

 and the trout, and the bass are not protected, the panacea 

 is to be found in a simple change of la^v. 



The winter convention of the New York Association in 

 Syracuse last Thursday brought together a body of earnest 

 and enthusiastic men who constituted an assemblege ad- 

 mirably typical of the sportsmen of the State. The sub- 

 ject of most import coming before the convention was 

 that of game law amendments. In view of the fact that 

 the present code has been in force for so brief a period, 

 that on the whole its working is proving satisfactory, and 

 that the statute will be attacked by a multitude of pro- 

 posed changes, commg from friends and enemies of pro- 

 tection, it was determined by the convention to pursue 

 for the present the policy of hands ofi'. A resolution was 

 adopted lu-ging the Legislature to forego changing the 

 law, and to refer jjroposed amendments to a committee 

 for report in 1894. This action will appeal to sober reason 

 as the wisest that could have been taken. After long con- 

 sideration by a special codification commission the Gould 

 bill was submitted ;nid adopted. It has imperfections, 

 bur the pr.-icti' al «-<-.rkin2 of the law. Chief Protector 

 Pond and the live protective societies declare, is efiicient. 



It will protect the game and the fish if only the Legisla- 

 ture will let it stand as it is. The Association may with 

 reason ask the sportsmen of the State, whether afliliated 

 with it or not, to indorse and support by eveiy available 

 influence and expedient the jjolicy of "hands off." 



We print to-day the portrait of Mr. Alex. Starbuck, 

 whose relations of angling experiences on the North 

 Shore of Lake Superior have constituted so pleasant a 

 feature of our angling columns. When not off fishing, 

 he is a resident of Cincinnati. He is a trustee of the 

 famous Cuvier Club of that city — an institution which 

 was established originally by a few enthusiasts as a fish 

 and game protective association, and now owns property 

 valued at more than l|!82,000. Mr. Starbuck is an accom- 

 plished fly-fisherman and a collector of works on angling. 

 He is possessed in generous measure of that sound and 

 practical philosophy that accepts the good things of an 

 angler's life as they come, and endures the ills with forti- 

 tude. He delights in mild adventure, and no less in the 

 telling of it; he has an iridescent and scintillating 

 aurora borealis vocabulaiy, and of all men, who are 

 fishing and writing at the close of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, is the one who can write the most about a trout 

 without ever once alluding to it as a trout. Mr. Star- 

 buck enjoys a wide acquaintance and warm friendships 

 among anglers. The companion of his North Shore 

 excursions, known to our readers as Ned, is Mr. P. 

 E. Roach, of Cincinnati, Third Vice-President of the 

 Cuvier Club. 



It will be remembered by tliose who were most inter- 

 ested in the writings and life of "Nessmuk" that .shortly 

 after his death a hint was given in these colnnins that 

 some of his friends might be invited to conti-ibute toward 

 a fund to provide a stone for his grave. In his lifetime 

 "Nessmuk"' had designated a certain loved spot "under 

 the hemlocks'" as the site where he desired that his grave 

 juight be. When the proposition respecting the monu- 

 ment fund was liroached there existed some doubt 

 wliether this selected piei i- of giound where the grave 

 tlien was could lie rctaineil permanently for cemetery 

 |iui |)oses. anil pending the <]ecisjou of that qiie.stioa the 

 fund conti ibiitton was [lostponed. A removal has been 

 made to the village ivmetei v of Wellsboro (Pa.), and there 

 is no longer any reason wby tlic nnonuinent may not be 

 provided and put in place, wdiere it will Ije cared for 

 permanently. AVith this preliminaiy announcement we 

 shall .next Aveek state definitely just what is propo.sed, 

 and we trust that the undertaking \\\]\ have the generous 

 support of -those who through his Avritings in FOREST AND 

 Stream learned to admire ■■Nessmuk" and to respect and 

 love him. 



The death of Senator John E. Kenna, of West Virghiia, 

 has removed from ijublic life a character of many admir- 

 able qualities. A man of recognized ability and many 

 varied accomplishments, Mr. Kenna was to be counted 

 among a score of Senators and Congressmen who have 

 found in the woods and on the trout streams physical up- 

 building, re-creation and clarifying of the intellect for 

 taking up anew the labor of their liA^es. Mr. Kenna was 

 an accomplished all-round sportsman. He loved to foUow 

 the hounds, to pursue the deer, to lure the trout, in the 

 wild surroundings of his own West Virginia. We repro- 

 duce to-day a charming amateiu- photograph made by 

 him, not long ago. of a group, including two conqaanions 

 and himself, Avhile on a fishing trip on Howard's Creek, 

 in Greenbrier county. West Virginia. And we reprint 

 from an earher number of Forest and Stream an admir- 

 able bit of verse, which he once sent us, in praise of a 

 favorite dog. 



It has generally been understood that something was 

 " going to be done " in Pennsylvania by the State Sports. 

 men"s Association, but the report sent us by President 

 Brelsford comes as a gennine surprise. The sportsmen 

 of the State have gathered in convention, 'stated their 

 views, adopted their findings, put their conclusions in 

 the form of a biU, radical. comprehensiAC and liold iu 

 its character, gained the attention of the Legislature, 

 secured the apj)ointment of a special Legislative com- 

 mittee, and have done all this so expeditiously and 

 with such spitit that the attainment of their Avishes 

 appears to be a foregone conclusion. The sportsmen of 

 Pennsylvania may AveE be congratulated that their inter- 

 ests are in such efiicient hands. 



Commissioner E. M. StilAvell, for many years at the 

 head of the Maine Commissioners of Fisheries and Game, 

 died'at Bangor, last Sunday night, Jan. 15, aged 83 yea,rs. 

 He was born in Massachusetts, but early went to Maine. 

 Mr. Stilwell was a great lover of animal life, and of the 

 woods and waters; he Avas the controlling spirit in building 

 up Maine's fish and game protective system. Assuming 

 the responsibilities of that work when it was of necessity 

 in large measure tentative, he was beset AAdth untold diffi- 

 culties, and subjected to maiiy perplexities. A man of 

 strong convictions, and exceedingly frank in giving them 

 expression, he won for himself and his measures bitter 

 opposition among some classes, and among others the 

 most cordial approbation, with heartiest confidence and 

 support. With the people of Maine, and with the people of 

 this country and of Canada, wherever indeed an intelligent 

 interest in the subject has been aroused, Mr. Stilwell's 

 name was synonymous with fish and game protection. 



The findings of the committee in' the Forest and 

 Stream's Amatetu- Photogi-aphy Competition will shortly 

 be announced. The committee consists of the foUoAving 

 gentlemen: Mr. Edward Bierstadt, Hon. Theodore Roose- 

 velt and Mr. Wilmot ToAvnsend. 3Ir. Bierstadt is Avidely 

 knoAvn in photography circles. Mv. RooscA'elt's name is fam- 

 iliar as that of a, public man Avho is also an accomplished 

 sportsinati, and Mr. ToA^'iisend has Avon well-deserved 

 piraise for his Avild f oavI drawings, wdiich haA'e been prmted 

 m this journal. It is an occasion of honest pride that 

 tliese gentlemen have kindly consented to serA^e the Forest 

 AND Stream and its friends by assuming this delicate task 

 of rendering a decision where the average quality of work 

 is so hii-h. 



■•Buffalo" .Jones, of Kansas, has just delivered to the 

 C'oi biu game preseiwe in Ncav Hampshire ten more buffalo, 

 which, with the original stock and its increase, now make 

 thii-ty-thi'ee head on Mr. Ciorbin's tract. Mr. Jones reports 

 that the liuft'alo appear to be thriAnng, and if the stock 

 shall not lie affected by the moist climate he anticipates 

 for the undertaking a most complete success. Because of 

 their being so much in the tindier and sheltered from the 

 sun the Corbin burt'alo ha ve (;i,ken on a coat distinctively 

 darker than that of tlic plains buffalo, a.nd assimilat- 

 ing ( lie hue of the wftoils buffalo. 



The aA'erage man will be inclined to sympathize in the 

 view e.\i>resse(_l bv a. Pennsyh'ania. correspondent last 

 week that the proposition to giA-e game Avardens authority 

 to search the person of suspected jioachers AA'ould be going 

 a step too far in violation of personal rights. On the 

 other hand, the average man who reads Mr. Hague's note 

 of a specific instance where such a search proved rich in 

 results will probably assent to the plea that in aggravated 

 cases personal rights maj'^ be violated AAdthout arousing a 

 very violent storm of public indignation. 



The SttperAisors of counties in this State are authorized 

 under the new^ game code to enact local game and fish 

 ordinances extending protection, but none of the county 

 laws can take effect until the first day of May next suc- 

 ceeduig their adoption. The State code approved May 5, 

 1892, repealed all existing county laAA^s. It foUovs^s that 

 no local laAA^s can be in effect prior to next May. As there 

 is no State laAv on rabbits (hares), the January shooter 

 may this year scour the covers, pot his birds, and inno- 

 cently aver that lie is rabbit hunting. 



That report of the Massachusetts Association Committee 

 on Acclmiatization is a record in which every citizen of 

 the Bay State should take pride. It deserves, too, the 

 widest proclamation as an instance of generous, pubMc- 

 spirited and far seeing entei^prise. WhateA^er shall be the 

 ultimate success or want of success attending this enter- 

 prise, those AA'ho have suggested, supported and achieA-ed 

 so much already haA^e manifested a spirit worthy the emu- 

 lation of kindred societies every Avhere, 



Dr. .James A. Henshall has resigned his position of 

 Special Agent, in charge of the Angling Exhibit in the 

 Government Building, at the World's Fair, in order to de- 

 vote his entire time to the Anghng department of the 

 Fisheries Budding for the Columbian Exposition Company. 



Perhaps those who believe that wolves are always lean 

 and htmgrA^ never saw the wolf^ of the plains in buffalo 

 days. In it-j winter coat, too, a lean wolf could not be 

 readily distinguished from a fat one. 



