Feb. 33, 1S93.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



189 



kill." Surely a splendid animal with whieli to flood the 



couufcry I'ot tlie preservation of rabbits. 



I ;ini in receijit of a personal letter from Mr. Decker 

 thanking me for the publicity given him, statiug that it 

 has been worth more to him than a paid atb. erfciaement in 

 FOrept and Stream, thereby verifj^ing mj conjecture 

 that ndvertising was his object in provoking the dis- 

 cussion and not a better understanding of the habits of 

 game and its preservation.. Bon Ami. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[JProm a Staff Con-eapondent.} 

 Feed the Birds. 



Mr. A. B. Gill, of Surry C'oiu-t House, Va,., writes me 

 imder date of Jan. 25 as follows: 



•'Tliere seems to be a plenty of deer down here. The 

 season closed on the 15th inst^ I saw a herd of five a few 

 days since. The extreme cold weather caused our birds 

 to suffer, but the mogt of the farmers strewed grain 

 around in clean places, so that they saved some from star- 

 vation." 



The action of the farmers of Mr GUI's section shoid-d be 

 emula,ted by farmers and othei'S all over the country as 

 far as possible. This winter has been a horriljle one^ even 

 in the Far South, and the birds are suffering badly. Many 

 a bevy has frozen outright, and many another is weak 

 and feel)le to the last degree. All over Illinois, Iowa, In- 

 diana and Ohio the loss among the quad wiU. be extreme. 

 This is the worse in f)laces where sleet or ice has formed 

 so that the birds are prcA-ented from getting at their feed. 

 Let tlie charitable ones who have the chance throw down 

 a httle brush and straw, and put out some wheat screen- 

 ings or other feed, so that the plucky little fellows can 

 have a fair chance at least in thek fight with the unkind 

 elements. Their fight is hard enough, even when the 

 elements are kind. 



Spring- Sliootingr. 



Horicon Marsh is the greatest argument I know of in 

 favor of the abolishment of spring shooting. Some of us 

 may like to shoot in the spring, but no matter what we 

 may believe or try to beheve about it, this argument lies 

 open and unanswerable. There are thousands of ducks 

 every fall on Horicon Marsh, where spring shooting is not 

 permitted. Nowhere else in this State, which has other 

 marshes once equally good, is this the case where spring 

 shooting has been practiced. It is plain as t^vo and two 

 make f om-. 



When I was at Galveston, Tex. , last month, I shot with 

 Billy Griggs, whose home is at Browning, 111. , who follows 

 the flight of wildfowl from Dakota to the Gulf, who was 

 the first man toshootin the once great New Madrid marsh, 

 and whose opinions on wildfowl matters are worth more 

 than those of any man now shooting for the market. I 

 wish that every man I ever shot with had been as gentle- 

 itianly as BiUy Griggs, and as considerate of game. I will 

 just say that much in the matter of market-hunters and 

 "gentleman" shooters. Griggs told me that there was no 

 evasion of the fact that the ducks were growing scarcer 

 eveiy year, noi-th, south, and at points between. He told 

 rae also that in his opinion a general stopping of spring- 

 shooting would make the wildfowl again abundant. He 

 spoke with unqualified disgust of the tiseless slaughter he 

 h ad seen among the weakand worthless ducks flying north 

 in the icy days of early spring. His opinion is the second 

 test argument I knoAv of for abohsliing spring shooting. 

 These two arguments are enough to cause any fair man to 

 do some serious thinking. 



A Wisconsin Game Bill. 

 Among the divers game bills introduced in the Wis- 

 consin Legislature this winter is one which has passed its 

 second reading and reach the committee on fish and 

 game and which it is hoped will eventually become a 

 law. In nearly all its features it is excellent, and it is 

 moreoTcr simple and clear in its wording. This bill abol- 

 ishes spring shooting of all game birds absolutely and 

 make the uniform open season on all game birds extend 

 from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1. It provides an open season of 

 thirtj'- days, Nov. 1 to Dec. 1, on deer, forbids dogging 

 and night-hmiting, and forbids rabbit-hunting with dogs 

 in the deer season. It forbids the export of game and 

 forbids the sale of any kind of game, no matter where 

 killed, du^ring the close season. Trespass on posted 

 grounds it makes a misdemeanor. It forbids all netting 

 or trapping of game, forbids sneak boxes, swveLs and 

 night-shooting of wild fowl. Moreover, it gives the 

 wardens police powers and instructs "any oflicer of the 

 law'" to arrest, "at anj^ time," when a violation of it is 

 .suspected. This law would bo a good one for lUinois, 

 though it is tlurty days early on quail. I would rather 

 see Oct. 1 the opening date for all birds in both States, 

 but it seems to me that a liberal give or take might be 

 allowable if so might be reached a law identical for the 

 two States. 



An Illlhbis Bill. 



The Chicago Evenmg]Post of Feb. 14 contained in its tele- 

 rgraphic news from the State capital an article showing a 

 .cheerful ignorance of almost everything in connection 

 with the subject treated. It seems that the lUinois River 

 market-fishermen want everything aboUshed but them- 

 selves. The gist of the article is below, and it is so full of 

 aelf-evident, rotten foolishness that sportsmen will not 

 need comment on it. It says: 



An efloi-t will lie made lu the present Legislature to abolish the 

 ■rtfllce oE State, fish and game warden and secure an abridgment of the 

 game laws. Tn-moi row Senator Barnes, ot Lacon, will introduce a 

 hill tibolishmp: the wardeuship and amenrlmg the statutes regarding 

 tiie protection ot game so that they will not be so Severe m the 

 •woodsmen ot lllmois. who depend larcrelv upon the truits of tlieir 

 huutin-s px]ie.'lmnns tor food. The movement beean to-day when 

 Senator Bnin - - i . i r . r . 1 .leed in the aenafce a petition signed by numcr- 

 luis <:iii/-.'i i , . ; : ! i county complainuig bitterly ot the hardships 

 imposed i ■ ii . ..o .-f arden and the laws under whidi he acts-. 



The siu-neis thij pi-tition declare that while the fashionable md 

 and gun clubs can at certain periods ot the year wantonly destroy all 

 the fish and iraine they can reach without mtertei'enoe ot the law^, the 

 poormeu. as they call themselyes. are punished tor taiung a fish or 

 two out of season It It is only for tood ijurposes. The petition de- 

 nounee.s the way ni w-hich sportsmen are protected while the class of 

 citizens who depen.l on natures gitts tor a livelihood are hedged 

 ai'ound wit1i .1 lot ot ):irohibitor\- laws. 



Omcei ning the la\\'s under \\-mch the fish and ^ame wai'den has 

 operated- the iietitiona-s declare tuat they haye miured rather than 

 protected game. The prohibition ot seinmc has :u!o wed the voracious 

 dogfish and sar to multiply, and tii-^- i , - ■ : ■ ii^iit, great havoc 

 among the better members or the tinn - L . ' I hts of the aristo- 



cratic Cthe petition says they are li:: : _!,no- organb;ations 



thr<mtrh>iur(li^^tiK hne m^lit I , n ii mst ti i sport 



aud left tliem 14 iv.u ihe 1 laiiks 'M" 1 he scr,-.-, ,n.s i if all the spawn 

 llUHlii ,1 > lu 1 , -.1 IMirj I'- 1 \ cli 1 w)i ' I 111 n SI a th. I ►-tition 

 claims, only tlie Uermau carp reinam, aud- tiie tierman carp, the sign- 

 ers tlci-Uu-e. arc not so good as the native biiftalo hsli which they have 



caught for the last forty years, but which is now protected by the 

 game laws during most of the year. The natives of Putnam declare 

 that the game warden and his German carj) should be talien away, and 

 the good old times and customs restored. 



In connection with the recent report that Gov. Altgelt 

 intended to abolish the State Fish Commission, tlris is 

 pleasant reading. It is so absurd, however, that it can 

 cause small trouble. In the first place, there isn't any 

 such officer as ' - State Fish and Game Warden" in Illinois, 

 and then again there isn't any "woodsman" who depends 

 on his hunting expeditions for food. But there are a lot 

 of irresponsible river men who live the laziest way they 

 can, and who don't care how much, how often, or how 

 publicly they violate the common truth, or how ridiculous 

 they make themselves before the world. This bill wiU 

 never pass. It's too funny. 



The president and seA'^eral members of the executive 

 committee of the Illinois State Sportsmen's Association 

 wiU appear before the legislative committee on Fish and 

 Game at Springfield, next Thursday, the day of the com- 

 mittee session having been postponed. E. HouGH. 



175 Monroe Street, Chicago. 



Pennsylvania Game Laws. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have been interested in the several articles appearing 

 in the FOREST AND Stream the past few weeks concerning 

 tlie jiroposed change in our game laws, and I am in full 

 accord with "Penn," whose letter was printed in you issue 

 of the 9th inst. The open season should begin Sept. 1 on 

 woodcock, and liot later than Oct. 1 on grouse. If this 

 will not meet the approval of the sportsmen of the south- 

 ern piortion of otxr State, and the present law must be 

 changed, then divide the State, having the season open for 

 the northern portion on the above date. 



I shall earnestly oppose any move to make any portion 

 of October a close season, and I hope the sportsmen of 

 northern Pennsylvania will write their membei-s of our 

 State Legislature, setting forth their views and asking 

 their co-operation in the matter. 



The season is much too short now for the lover of dog 

 and gun, who goes into field and cover not for the large 

 bag, but for the pleasure and good health it brings. 



I inclose my mite for the "Nessmuk" memorial fund. 



^ MOBEAU. 



Connecticut Sportsmen, Attention. 



Haiitfoed, Conn., Feb. 18. — ^The Committee on Agri- 

 cultm-e has set next Friday (Feb. 24) afternoon as a special 

 for the considerjition of the various measures now pend- 

 ing for the amendment of the game laws. One measm-e 

 prohibits shooting rufi'ed grouse, quail and woodcock for 

 three years. Another measure prohibits shooting these 

 birds in December. The sportsmen of this State should be 

 at Room 50, Capitol, Hartford, Conn., Friday, Feb. 24, at 

 1 P. M. A. C. Collins, 



President Connecticut Association of Farmers and Spoiiis- 

 men for the Protection of Game and Fish. 



The Fish Laws of the United States and Canada, in the 

 "Game Laios in Brief," SS cents. Bi the "BooJi of the 

 " Game Laws" {full text), 50 cents. 



ICE-FISHING AT PUT-IN BAY. 



Fishing through the ice with hook and line is becoming 

 quite an industry in the archipelago at the upjaer end of 

 Lake Erie, wMch embraces the Bass Islands. In the main 

 it is pursued for profit, but there are quite a number who 

 are plea.sed to call themselves anglers who take keen de- 

 light in seeing a 15-pound pike-perch come up through 

 soft, of aqua pura, almost as clear as the proverbial 

 spring, and who fish for sport as persistently as do the 

 market fishermen; and the writer pleads guilty to the soft 

 impeachment that in the absence of better sport, and to 

 while away dull care in this isolated sohtude, he finds 

 much enjoyment in holding his two lines, working them 

 gently with the hope that the next fish wfil make things 

 hum when brought into the shanty. 



He has two fish houses, the Black Prince, which is 

 roomy, so that trwo or three can fish comfortably, while 

 they are kept Avarm by a small coal stove, the floor being- 

 placed on the runners and boards to slip down, to fill the 

 space at the ends; and the "three-ounce shanty," as the 

 fishnien call it — although it weighs o3lbs., including floor, 

 rtmners and end boards — the Arctic Queen. It is 3x3ift. 

 and 6ft. high. The frame is of 1-inch pine, covered with 

 common factory cloth, to which was applied two coats of 

 ironclad paint. Two can fish in it, but it is intended for 

 only one, and is warmed by a common kerosene lamp. 



As no fishes which are really classed as "game" in the 

 strict sense — althongh the trifiy royal pike-perch shordd 

 be — are caught through the ice, the angler cannot justly 

 object even if twenty to thirty barrels of fish a day are 

 shipped from this immediate vicinity, all caught with 

 hook and line. 



It is no uncommon thing to count one hundred fish 

 houses from one point of view. They are aU on runners, 

 and warmed by small stoves or gasoline burners, gener- 

 ally large enough for two or three jiersons — though 

 generally the market fisherman fishes alone — and some 

 are so commodious that the fishermen sleep and cook in 

 them, going ashore oifiy to dispose of their catch and 

 j)rocm-e provisions, coal and bait. 



The fishes caught are pike-perch (Stizostedion vitreum), 

 sauger or sand pike (Stizosfedwn canadense), fresh-water 

 herring {Coregomis artedi), yellow perch (Percafla ^-escens) 

 and lawyer or Ung {Lota macidosa). All except the her- 

 ring are caught near the bottom in 30ft. of water; the 

 bottom for himdreds of square miles, aside from reefs 

 and shoals, only varying a few inches in this part of the 

 lake. 



The bait used is the ordinary small lake minnow, which 

 is generaUy strung on the hook as one would an angle 

 worm, which is not the best way, imless the fish are 

 biting very freeh^ the writer always ha^sdng had better 

 success by keeping the minnows aliA^e a,nd hooking them 

 lightly through the lips. 



The main catch consists of gangers iind yellow perch, 

 both of which will average nearly a ponnd apiece, and 

 tlie ta,ke runs from a few to several himdred a clay per 

 man. Con qmratively few pike-perch are taken, and the 

 large ones are rare. If h ilshennan catches two or three 



which will weigh from 5 to lOlbs. each he is weU satis- 

 fied, for he gets about 10 cents a pound for these, while 

 the saugers bring him 5 cents and the perch but 3 cents, 

 whfie the market for the lawyer or ling, the only fresh 

 water representative of the codfish family, and an excel- 

 lent fish, owing to some of those unaccountahle prejudices 

 of the human animal, is of slow sale at low prices. 



The market fisherman often goes five or six miles to 

 reach his grounds, moving his house from time to time 

 as the fishes change their feeding grounds. He generally 

 goes on foot, drawing his hand sled; sometimes in sleigh 

 loads, paying a nickle for the ride each way; more fre- 

 quently on an ice boat, which covers the distance with 

 fair wind and good ice at the rate of a mile a minute, or 

 on skates, assisted by a three-cornered sail, which he 

 manipulates with much dexterity. 



Now I know your readers will laugh, but I have never 

 enjoyed more sport fishing— and I have whipped streams 

 for brook trout in nearly every State that claims them, 

 and angled for black bass and mascalonge in nearly as 

 many — ^than in "angling" for that grand little salmonoid, 

 he herring, thurough the ice, with a half-ounce rod 18ia. 

 ong, a line of the same length and a small pearl shirt 

 button for a "fly." "Pot-fishing," did you say, "with no 

 skifi reqiuredV" Well, hardly! It reqtures much skill 

 and a fine touch just at the right time, to the fraction of 

 a second, to be a successful herring angler. 



You sit in yoiu- shanty peering down into the blue 

 depths for sonietlring when aU at once along comes a 

 school of lake minnows close to the ice and going as if to 

 catch a train. Now get out your rod and be qtuck, for in 

 a moment the water under your shanty is alive with her- 

 ring, which, magnified by the water and ice, and your 

 eyes, look as large as whitefish. You drop them a but- 

 ton, land, or rather shanty, one, place a hook just for- 

 ward of his big dorsal and' let him down as a decoy. The 

 water as far as you can see is soon ahve with herring, 

 they are up in the hole in the ice so that their fins often 

 appear above the water. Now be careful about noise. 

 YOn have a suitable box, with a piece of old car- 

 peting ui the bottom so as to deaden the soimd, to 

 drop yoiu- fish into; keep your feet still and pray that 

 no ice boat will come within a mile of you. The button 

 goes in and out of many a herring's mouth before you 

 "catch on" and get the exact touch that brings success. 

 There, you hook a big one in the lip and let him drop into 

 the hole and then grab for him, and your more experi- 

 enced companion gets oft' some words to be found in the 

 good book, but not always applicable, and you, seeing the 

 school gone, ponder on the uncertaiaty of things mun- 

 dane and the idiocy of a fellow who cannot so far control 

 his emotions as to obey orders and wish for a machine 

 that wiU kick the first person singrdar, and that your heart 

 would not pound your ribs so when, "There they are 

 again !" and you go at it anew, very likely to repeat your 

 former experience. But jou finally become an expert, 

 and you say that aU depends on where we are and what 

 om- pi-evious education has been when it comes to the 

 definition of the word sport. 



You can now fish herring through the ice successfully. 

 Your decoy keeps your school until you have captured the 

 last biter, and the others will stay about until another 

 school comes along, and so the fun goes on. 



It has happened that one man in the bay in this place 

 has caught half a ton of herring in a day. 



The hen-tng never came in quantities imtil the latter 

 part of February or early part of March, and then they 

 are caught only in the bays, and never in the open lake. 



A hen-ing of about Uh. weight, caught through the ice, 

 has much the taste of a brook trout, and is nearly as fiLne . 

 in fla,vor. Ijet us not forget that he is a salmonoid and 

 cousin to the trout; let us remember that he is despised 

 by the more fortunate of mankind, only because he is so 

 abundant that he is a cheap food for those less favored; in 

 short, let us dispel all our foolish prejudices about fishes 

 and eat those which are palatable and wholesome and re- 

 ject the rest. The fresh- water sheepshead, whose scien- 

 tific name ought to kill him, Haploidonottis grunniens, 

 and the sturgeon {Adpenser rubicmidus), are both now 

 vahiable fishes, while a few years ago they were used only 

 for ofi, and thousands of tons of them were thrown out 

 on the beaches of the lakes to rot and pollute both air and 

 water. 



In conclusion, if any reader of the Forest and Stream 

 would like to try his hand at winter fishing, we extend to 

 him a most cordial imdtation to come and partake of our 

 rugged hosijitahty. He will find the market-fishermen 

 as kind-hearted and as generous a lot of men as he ever 

 met. who will do all they can, even to sharing their 

 shanties and take, and if need be their bed and board— 

 and a drop of snake-bite cure — to make his stay a pleas^' 

 ant milestone on his pilgrimage through life. 



With some ice yacht experience, running a mile a min- 

 ute, Put-in-Bay has the finest and fastest fieet of ice 

 yachts in the world, barring of course only the Hudson 

 River, and running more than one mile with only two 

 runners on the ice, the windward one not touching it for 

 miles at a stretch, we stake our reputation for truth and 

 veracitj^ (we have just read "Lorna Doone") that he will 

 agree that all the winter sport for the ardent angler is not 

 confined to tarpon and the glades of the beautiful but 

 miasmatic South. Come and see us. Fly-Fisher. 



The Mechanicville Case. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



Again please allow me to reply to Messrs. Cheney and Johnson ak 

 ing the points demanding answers seriatim: 



Sir. Cheney says, "the statement [my former etter] bears the ear 

 marks of having been drawn by a lawyer." assure the gentleman 

 that such is not a fact. I drew th" statement, aud[ am not a lawyer, 

 therefore he is wrong again. Way? It takes no legal training to 

 reply to Mr. Cheney. He states that during seventeen years "no one 

 has successfully qiiestioned any information that he has furnished 

 FoRE.ST ASD Stream." I wUl admit that few successfully cpiestion him 

 and I am provid of being one of the few. Mr. Cheney says that the 

 fishway at Thomson and Dix Mill is filled with driftwood. Who fills it 

 with driftwood? A reply to this question may be made public later, 

 if he does not know. Of course this subject, however, is by way of 

 riarenthesis. I assure ill-. Cheney, I am abundantly able to take care 

 of myself, consequently will safely guard my official head. 



I now come to "most reUable A. C. Johnson." Of course the men 

 win endeavor to agree with Mm, and their evidence is probably neither 

 lietter nor worse than the average. I am glad he concedes that I did 

 not misrepresent myself to him; that settles the main question. It, 

 1 Doks suspicious that the employes he refers to will "swear positively" 

 that the statement he makes is true, but on a cross esamination they 

 might be found wanting. I now repeat that my statement published 

 in Forest and Stream (edition of Jan. 12) is the only true one, and the 

 case so far, therefore, is at a deadlock. I am willing to give him one 

 point. I meant bleach and chemical refuse, not "dye stuff." He 

 may make all he can of that concession. In conclusion will say. I 

 have no time or inclination to split hairs with either Mr. Cheneny or 

 Mr. Johnson through Forest and Stream. 



Charles H. Barber, 

 Game and Fish Protector, irth District. 



