Feb. 8, 1896.] 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
A Minnesota Decision. 
Chicago, 111., Feb. 1.— There is at hand information 
from St. Paul, Minn., in the shape of a decision of the 
Supreme Court of that State, handed down Jan, 28, which 
at first sight appears to record a serious blow to the game 
law of the State of Minnesota. Closer scrutiny than a 
first glance will show it to be not so serious as one might 
suppose. It is a blow at the law, but not a blow which 
will damage the situation of protection in Minnesota very 
much or very long, unpleasant as the latter reflection may 
be to the dealers who just now are so jubilant. In brief, 
the Supreme Court of Minnesota confirms the Minnesota 
statutes on game only so far as Minnesota game is con- 
cerned, but says the law is not valid so far as it forbids 
importing game from other States. This again would 
seem to be contrary to the decisions of Illinois, Ohio and 
Michigan, which take opposite ground; but a cloBe study 
of the Minnesota decision will show that the opinion of 
the court is rendered on a technicality, namely, that the 
title of the law does not cover all that the law itself 
covers. Even in the wording of the opinion, which is 
written by Justice Start, there may be seen a very plain 
and friendly tip that there should be another law enacted 
at the next session of the Legislature, governing explicitly 
the shipment of game into the State. The law is held 
unconstitutional, but only technically unconstitutional. 
It is too early for the game dealers to begin to crow. The 
proceedings in this case are as below: 
One Edwin O. Keith had in possession a prairie chicken 
which he admitted to have imported from Dakota. He 
had himself arrested, and then asked for a writ of habeas 
corpus, which was denied. He appealed to the Supreme 
Court and was ordered released. 
The syllabus, handed down by Chief Justice Start, is as 
follows: 
State of Minnesota, ex rel; Edwin O, Keith, appellant, vs. Charles E 
Chapel, Sheriff, respondent. 
Syllabus- Section 2171, General Statutes, 1894, making it a misde- 
meanor for any person to have in his possession within this State any 
game or fish which has been captured in or shipped out of any other 
State or county in violation of the Jaws thereof, is unconstitutional, 
because its subject matter is not expressed in the title of Dhe act 
whereof it is a part, as required by Article 4, Section 27, of the State 
Constitution. 
Order reversed. —Start, C. J. 
In the opinion accompanying, the chief justice relates 
the facts of Keith's arrest and imprisonment and the de- 
nial of the writ by the lower court, and adds that the 
only question before the court is the validity of the stat- 
ute rei erred to, which is aB follows: 
"No person at any time shall have in possession or under control 
any bird, animal or fish which has been caught, taken or' killed at a 
time, in a manner or for a purpose forbidden by the laws of the State, 
Territory or county where the same was caught, taken or killed, or 
which was shipped out of said State, Territory or county in violation 
of the laws thereof." 
It is claimed by the relator, the opinion continues, that 
this statute does not comply with the provision of the con- 
stitution that "no law shall have more than one subject, 
which shall be expressed in its title." 
"This constitutional provision must he liberally construed," says 
the opinion. 
"In Stuart vs. Kensella, 14 Minn., 524, the insertion in a law of matters 
which may not be verbally indicated by the title, if suggested by it, 
or concluded with, or proper to the more full accomplishment of the 
object so indicated, is held to be in accordance with its spirit : but a 
more liberal construction cannot be given without letting' in the evils 
which the provision was intended to exclude. 
"This rule has been repeatedly approved by this court. The question 
is therefore: 'Do the provisions of the statute in question tend in 
any reasonable manner to the accomplishment of the purposes of '-an 
act for the preservation, propagation and protection of the game and 
flsh of the State of Minnesota?" If so, it is germane to the title and is 
valid, for the necessity or propriety of such a regulation is a question 
within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Legislature.' 
"Do the provisions of the statute tend in any degree to preserve the 
game and fish of this State? Does the statute on its face Indicate any 
such purpose? We answer these questions in the negative. Its object, 
unequivocally expressed, is to protect the gams and fi3h of other 
States by refusing to the violators of the laws of those States a cover 
and market for game secured by such violation. 
"This statute relates exclusively to foreign game, while the subject 
with which its title deals is the protection of the game of Minnesota 
No lawyer or layman can placs the statute and its title side by side 
without being at once struck by the radical discrepancy between 
them. 
"It is, however, claimed by counsel for respondent that the pro- 
visions of the statute prevent evasions of our game laws and facilitate 
the detection and punishment of persons violating such laws, and, 
therefore, the statute tends in a greater or less degree to protect the 
game of Minnesota. 
"If the premise of the argument is correct^ the conclusion is also. 
The statute is not limited to the closed season in this State. If it were 
and the prohibition applied to all foreign game, then the tendency 
would be to prevent evasions of our laws and protect Minnesota game: 
but by excluding foreign game during our open season, when it is per- 
fectly lawful to take, have and possess Minnesota game, only increases 
the demand for the latter and tends to its extinction rather than its- 
preservation. * * * Such being the case, the subject of the statute 
is not expressed in its title within the rule we have stated. 
"Order reversed and violator discharged." 
Executive Agent Fullerton, of the Fish and Game 
Commission, does not believe the above decision would 
prevent the Commission from seizing the game shipped 
illegally from other States, though it would prevent the 
prosecution of the offenders. The reason assigned for 
this is that if those who ship the game attempt to recover, 
they will have no standing in court, because they cannot 
go in with clean hands. To say that game illegally killed 
could not be seized outside the State would be like saying 
that the authorities could not seiz9 a stolen horse which 
had been brought to this State from some other. 
- Still Another Minnesota Case. 
There is yet another Minnesota case which has been 
argued and submitted before the Supreme Court, on whi^h 
a decision may be handed down any day now, and which 
will be an interesting thing to watch when the returns 
are all in. This is the case of the State of Minnesota, ex 
rd., Wm. Corcoran vs. Chas. E, Chapel. Corcoran was 
arrested in Ramsey county, Minn. , for shipping part of a 
deer "other than the head and horns" "to a commission 
merchant," the latter being the well-known dealer, R, E. 
Cobb, of St. Paul. Corcoran also asked habeas corpus 
and was denied, and appealed. It is not certain what will 
be the result on this case. The statute was well meant 
by the sportsmen, who wished to break up the traffic in 
venison, Corcoran's attorney, however, argues that such 
a law is class legislation and unconstitutional. It is a 
law at least frank and plain in its purposes, and let us 
hope it will stand. 
Interstate Commerce Law Amendments. 
In view of the above interesting news from Minnesota 
it is especially apropos to refer to the question of inter- 
state commerce law amendments. As was duly chron- 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
icled in Forest and Stream last week, an amendment 
has been proposed from Utah, which it was hoped could 
be passed by Congress. The attempt there was in effect 
simply that of regulating this same question of shipping 
game, but the bill as framed was asked to apply to only 
three States. It is not at first plain how the interstate act 
can apply to three States and not to all the States alike, 
and it would at first thought seem that this too might be 
called class legislation and so might be refused by Con- 
gress. In this connection comes up the bill to which I 
h L ve made earlier reference as drafted by Mr. F. S. Baird, 
of Chicago, for the National Association here, the text of 
which I offer below, as just completed by Mr. Baird. 
Senator Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois, has promised to in- 
troduce this bill in the Senate of the United States, and 
Mr. White, of Chicago, member of the House, has prom- 
ised his hearty assistance in the House, as have all the 
upper Illinois members yet approached. Is it too much 
to hope that we shall a,t length have a law which will 
effectually and permanently stop the conflicts of the State 
courts and give the sportsmen, in the powerful and re- 
spected federal courts, the opportunity they have long 
needed to stop the wrongful and shameful traffic in the 
game of such States as remain fortunate enough to have 
a little left? 
The provisions of the bill drafted by Mr. Baird appear 
to be simple and effective. If Congress will give us that 
law we promise to make an entirely different showing in 
protection in this Western country. The text reads: 
' A bill for an act to amend an act entitled An Act to Regulate Com- 
merce. 
Section 3. To regulate interstate traffic in wild game. Be it enacted 
by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
assembled in Congress, that it shall be unlawful for any railroad 
company, or express comp my, or other common carrier, or iis officers, 
agents or servants, to receive for shipment, or transport, or for any 
person or corporation to ship or offer to any common carrier for 
shipment, from any place within any of the States or Territories of 
the United States or District of Columbia to any place without any of 
the States or Territories of the United States or District of Columbia, 
or to any foreign country, for sale, for market or for storage, any 
moose, elk, deer, buffalo or bison, caribou, antelope, mountain sheep 
or mountain goats, or any parts of the same, or any -wild turkey, 
prairie chicken or pinnated grouse, sage hen, Mongolian or ringneck 
pheasant or partridge, quail, wild goose, duck, brant, swan, wood- 
cock, snipe, rail, plover, or any other waterfowl. 
Second— Provided that nothing herein contained shall prohibit the 
shipment of any -wild game animals or birds or parts of the fame that 
may be expressly authorized or permitted, by the laws of the State in 
and from which the shipment is made, if the same is conspicuously 
labeled "wild game," on which label shall be stated the kind and 
quantity of said wild game animals or birds or parts of the same, and 
the date and the place of shipment, and the name or names and ad- 
dress of both the consignor and the consignee, and a copy of which 
label shall be kept on file by the common carrier at the place from 
where said wild game animals or birds or parts of the same are 
shipped. 
Sec. 2. Any person or corporation guilty of violating the provision 
of this section shall upon conviction be punished as provided in Sec- 
tion 10 of this act, and the powers and duties of the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission shall apply to this section the same as they now 
apply to each and all other sections of this act. 
E. Hough. 
909 Security Building, Chicago. 
BALL IN CHOKE BORE, 
Friday, Jan. 31.— Editor Forest and Stream: Dear 
Sir — In your last issue I notice a request for information 
as to the effect of shooting solid ball through a choke 
bore, and having done so repeatedly possibly my expe- 
rience may be of use. 
My gun is a l<J-bore, 7flb3., 30in. barrels, right cylinder 
and left modified choke — at least that is what I ordered 
when I sent it back to the factory for a boring. 
The balls I use run twelve to the pound and pass through 
the right barrel without difficulty when pushed with the 
wiping rod, but in the left they begin to stick about half 
way down and jam so tight in the muzzle as to require 
half a dozen smash blows of the rod to force them through. 
When they come out they have a zone of about a fifth 
of an iF.ch in width where they have been compressed by 
the barrel. 
Nevertheless they do not seem to break the barrel and 
1 have fired a number through the choke, though I must 
confess I prefer to use the right and always do except 
when I need another shot immediately. 
I load with 3f drs. of powder, a thick pink edge wad, 
and then a pure lead ball, which I grease with tallow 
after placing in the shell. I use no wad over the ball, but 
crimp down on it bare, as this mode has the advantage 
that one can always feel the ball with one's finger when 
loading the gun, and thus not use small shot by mis- 
take when it is so dark that one could not possibly read 
the markings. 
I have used this cartridge on moose when calling at 
night and can recommend it for that purpose, as under 
those circumstances one is so near the game that the 
additional accuracy of a rifle is of no importance and the 
making of a big hole is, I have killed two moose this 
way, and one of them threw its head back and wilted im- 
mediately and the other jumped but twice. 
Horace Barnard, Jr. 
The Florida Quail Supply. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
One of your contributors says: "Quail are quite scarce 
here in Florida this season. Some attribute it to a wet 
spring and others to some disease." 
We can assure him that the disease is in the game ex- 
terminators, and that the only cure for such disease is a 
sensible law applied in heavy and disagreeable doses. 
Here is an extract from the correspondence of the 
Florida Citizen, from Tampa Bay, which proves that 
civilizjd ideas in regard to shooting do not count in that 
wild region: "Tampa Bay Hotel, Jan. 13.— Dr. and Mrs. 
Karsner, of Germantown, Pa., are among the arrivals at 
the hotel to-day. Dr. Karsner has been a regular visitor 
ever since the erection of the hotel, and for four successive 
seasons has held the game record, until last season, when 
he made the second best day's record with eighty-four 
quail killed, G. W. Bugner, of Philadelphia, winning the 
honors of the season with ninety-one quail killed in one 
day's shooting. The Doctor is here witn the intention of 
making a new record. The hotel guide went out to-day 
for a couple of hours to work the dogs, and returned with 
twenty-seven quail." 
These men are adopting a singular method if their object 
is to convince the world that they are sportsmen, for only 
idiots will see it in that light. A real sportsman will get 
far more enjoyment out of ten or twenty birds a day than 
a selfiah, small-souled record smasher will in slaughtering 
50 or 100. How long will the supply of quail hold out if 
such stupid work is allowed to go on? 
A few years ago Thomasville, Ga., was one of the best 
117 
stocked quail regions in the South and "game hogs" reveled 
in it for awhile, but some of the wiser ones woke up to the 
fact that killing 100 birds a day was not only making hard 
work of what ought to be a pleasure, but that their 
chance for future sport was being damaged, so it was 
agreed among them that only a reasonable number should 
be killed in a day; but I think the place is already pretty 
well cleaned out. 
Tampa is now an attractive place for sportsmen, but 
how long will it remain so? It would be very much to the 
interest of hotel keepers as well as sportsmen if a check 
could be put on these senseless exterminators, but it will 
probably go on till those who wish to gratify their tastes 
in that line will have to leave for other parts. 
St. Augustine is probably more thoroughly cleared of 
quail than any place in Florida, and for this there are two 
reasons: In the first place, not the slightest regard is paid 
to the game laws, and by the time an honorable sports- 
man will shoot a quail — Nov. 1 — there is scarcely one for 
him to shoot within five miles of the place. Secondly, 
there are scores of men who think it easier to spend a 
loafer's life in the woods, picking up an occasional dime, 
than doing any kind of work. 
Tallahassee keeps her legal eye wide open, and anyone 
who ventures to bag a feather before Nov. 1 will pay the 
penalty. If their game wardens are ever pining for lack 
of business they can find all they want to attend to by 
riding through the wood3 around St. Augustine any Sun- 
day during October, or even September. Didymus. 
Pot-Hunting Deer. 
And now, Mr. Editor, I would like very much to know 
what is meant by pot-hunting as applied to deer. I feel 
that I am entitled to some information on this subject. If 
I go out into the" forest with my rifle and by being sly see 
a deer lying down and kill it before it either hears,smells or 
sees me, am I a pot-hunter? If I wander around until 
wearied and take a position on a stump, log or hill, and 
standing motionless get a shot at a deer that, unconscious 
of my presence, comes my way, am I a pot-hunter? If, as 
is generally the case, a deer bounds from its bed and 
dashes off through the forest, and I turn, cock my rifle, 
catch a bead on him and drop him, am I a pot-hunter? 
In fine, has the term pot-hunter reference to the manner 
of hunting deer or to the hunter's place of residence? 
G. W. Cunningham. 
Ball and Shotgun. 
Salem, Mass., Jan, 23.— While working in the gun fac- 
tory during the last war I procured a pair of barrels and 
made as good a double gun as could be made. It carried 
a ball the size of the old Springfield rifle. I tried to make 
it do good shooting, using fine, Boft leather patches, and 
in fact all kinds of patches, but all to no purpose; the 
balls went where they would. At last an old backwoods- 
man came along and told me to trundle the ball into the 
gun and place a wad over it and try it that way, which I 
did, and found to my surprise that I could place a ball 
just where I chose to every time up to about 100yds. 
A better gun for both shot and ball could not be found. 
I have the gun yet. There was only one objection to it; 
I found it rather heavy. Although the barrels were re- 
duced in length, it insisted on weighing 91bs. 
The common shotgun cannot be depended upon for 
shooting with a ball, especially any gun having a bore as 
large as 12-gauge, for the reason that the ball is too heavy 
for the light, thin barrels; a 16 or 20 -gauge would be far 
better. 
I find a .40-65 Winchester with Lyman sights all any 
one can possibly desire. I find no trouble in placing balls 
in the space of my hand on a deer at 110 paces, and I 
secure partridges by removing their heads, which I find 
far better than killing them with shot. 
If there is a call for information on the art of boring 
guns I might give some points that may not be generally 
known, which would enable any one to bore a gun so it 
would shoot just as was desired. Brewin. 
Companion for a Southern Trip. 
New York,. Jan. SO.— Editor Forest and Stream: I ex- 
pect to make a horseback trip from Chattanooga, Tenn., 
to New York city, leaving April 30, going first to Mam- 
moth Cave, Ky. , then to Chattanooga by train ; the route for 
horseback takes in the following towns: Cleveland, Tenn.; 
Paint Rock, N. C. ; Asheville, N. C. ; Bakersville, N. C. ; 
Roanoke, Va. ; Natural Bridge, Va. ; Luray, Va ; Harper's 
Ferry, Md.; Gettysburg, Pa.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Phila- 
delphia, Pa,; Trenton, N. J. I should like to have a 
companion, and if you can help me in obtaining one 
would greatly appreciate it. If you hear of anyone who 
would like to go would be pleased to confer with him and 
furnish any information needed. 
Wendel Andreas. 
New York Association. 
The 1896 officers and committees of the New York State 
Association for the Protection of Fish and Game are: 
President, Frank J. Amsden, Rochester, N. Y. 
Vice-President, Robert B. Lawrence, New York City. 
Secretary, John B. Sage, Buffalo, N. Y, 
Treasurer, A. C. Cornwall, Alexandria Bay. 
Legislation and Law Committee: Cornelius W. Smith, 
Syracuse, Chairman; E. R. Brown, Watertown; Chas. B. 
Lapham, Canandaigua; Howard H Widener, Rochester; 
Z L. Parker, Bath. 
Auditing Committee: W. S. Gavitt, Lyons; H. S. Wood- 
worth, Rochester; Wm, H. Case, Lockport; Thos. C. 
Welch, Buffalo. 
Eheu. 
Shasta Mountains, CaI., Jan. 20.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I perceive thy correspondents, and even thou, 
ye editor, persevere in preserving that word eheu. If you 
intend to promulgate it further, either as a thing unique, 
antique or curious, I will quote ye from the journal of 
Lord Byron, written in 1813; "Give me a republic or a 
despotism of one, rather than the mixed government of 
one, two, three, A republic! look in the history of the 
earth — Rome, Greece, Venice, France, Holland, America, 
our short (eheu!) Commonwealth, and compare it with 
what they did under masters." 
Eheu! indeed. If it was worth preserving Byron would 
have rhymed to it. He found stronger materials without 
"making fritters of the King's English." When I have 
anything to say that I cannot express me if I will 
resort to eheu! ' R. 
