Oct. 27, 1894.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
SB7 
hread in his pockets with which he fed the dogs who 
always were waiting his appearance. He generally threw 
a few crumbs on the floor of the porch for the chipping 
sparrows, and they soon learned to expect his coming. 
Setting to work in a methodical way he soon had one of 
the little birds so tame that it would perch on his hand 
and pick crumbs from his palm, and in a short while it 
became so familiar as to go to any one of the household 
in the same way. (I send with this three photographs 
which show the bird perched on and feeding from the 
hand of different members of the family.) 
In the fall the bird left with the other, migrants, but, to 
our surprise, returned in the spring without any symp- 
toms of shyness, evidently remembering us all. It re- 
turned for three successive years, and each time raised 
two broods of young. Last year it failed to appear, so I 
suppose has lived out its little life. — Wirt Robinson inthe 
October Auk. 
"Danvis Folks." 
Life In a Corner of Yankeeland. By Rowland E. Robinson, author 
of "Uncle Lisha's Shop" and "Sam Lovel's Camps." Price $1.25, 
Sent postpaid by Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 
mt\£ ntjd gum 
NEW JERSEY SQUIRREL LAW. 
According to the Game Laws in Brief there is no 
close season for gray squirrels in New Jersey. And the 
Brief is correct. The New Jersey game law now in force 
makes no mention of gray squirrels. In view of this fact 
it is interesting to note that many well-meaning people 
in New Jersey are trying to make out that gray squirrels 
are protected by law. The Newark Call recently printed 
a table of New Jersey open game seasons, in which it 
named the period between Sept. 14 and Dec. 16 as the 
open time for gray squirrels. This was an error, as we 
pointed out to the Call at the time. Secretary H. P. 
Frothingham sends us this:^ 
State of New Jersey. Cdmmissioners of Fisheries, Mt. Arlington, 
Oct. 16.— Editor Forest and Stream: I take pleasure in sending you 
a copy of the fish and game laws of New Jersey. I have been annoyed 
by parties claiming to have information from you that there is no 
law on gray squirrels. I respectfully call your attention to the fact 
that it is unlawful to kill gray squirrels except from Sept. 14 to Deo. 
16, and I hope that your valuable paper will correct this error. 
H. P. Frothingham, Sec^y. 
The copy of laws sent bears the seal of the State and 
the authority of the Commission. In it. under Sec. 2 
of Chap. 271, Laws 1893, as amended in 1894, we find a 
paragraph reading: » 
Unlawful to kill gray squirrel except from September fourteenth to 
December sixteenth. 
But this statement is not a part of the law; it was simply 
chucked in there by the compiler, has no business there, 
and gives the official sanction of the Commission to an 
incorrect statement of the game law. The statute pre- 
scribes no such season, and the Legislature has not dele- 
gated to the Commissioners authority to designate and 
promulgate a season not named by law. 
A correspondent writes from South Jersey, to set us 
straight, thus: 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your recent statement in regard to the laws of New Jersey relat- 
ing to gray squirrels is incorrect and misleading. The legislation is 
as follows: 
Act of 18S0 (Sup. Rev. § 12). — No gray, black or fox squirrel can be 
killed or had unlawfully in possession, between Jan. 1 and Sept. 1, 
Penalty $5 for each squirrel. 
A.ct of 1886 (Sup. Rev. § 68).— No person shall kill or take any gray 
squirrel, except during the months of October, November and Decem- 
ber. Penalty $15 for each squirrel. This law is in force. 
Act of 1894 (Pamph. L., 471).— Unlawful to kill or take any black or 
fox squirrel, except only between Oct. 31 and Dec. 16. Penalty $20 
for each squirrel. F. S. J. C. 
But our correspondent gives a very incomplete resume 
of New Jersey squirrel legislation since 1880. As a matter 
of fact the law of 18S6, which he says is now in force, 
lived only two years, and was repealed in 1888, when the 
Legislature divided the State into two game districts, and 
named as the open seasons for gray squirrel in the 
"northern game section," Nov. 1 to Dec. 15, and in the 
"southern game section," Nov. 15 to Dec. 25. 
That law held three years, when it was repealed by 
Chap. 193, Laws 1891, which made the open season on 
gray or black squirrels between Sept. 14 and Dec. 16. 
Two years afterward the law of 1891 was repealed by 
Chap. 37, Laws 1893, approved Feb. 28, which read as 
follows: 
2. And be it enacted, that hereafter it shall not- be lawful for any 
person or persons to capture, kill, or have unlawfully in possession 
after the same has been taken or killed, any gray, black or fox squir- 
rel, except only between Sept. 14 and Dec. 16 in any year, under a pen- 
alty of $20 for each gray, black or fox squirrel so taken, killed or had 
unlawfully in possession. 
This Chap. 74, of 1893, repealed the law of 1891 by 
specific mention, and also repealed all other laws con- 
flicting with itself. This Sec. 2 then was in that year the 
only squirrel law on the New Jersey statute books. It 
was in force for little more than a year. On May 22, 
1894, it was amended by Chap. 314 to read as follows: 
CHAPTER CCCXIV. 
Supplement to an act entitled "An act for the protection of certain 
kinds of birds, animals and fish, and to provide a procedure to 
recover penalties for the violation hereof," approved February 
twenty-eighth, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three. 
1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of 
New Jersey, that the second section of the act to which this is a sup- 
plement be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 
2. And be it enacted, That hereafter it shall not be lawful for any 
person or persons to capture, kill or have unlawfully in possession 
after the same has been taken or killed, any black or fox squirrel, ex- 
cept only between the thirty-first day of October and the sixteenth 
day of December in any year, under a penalty of twenty dollars for 
each black or fox squirrel so taken, killed or had unlawfully in posses- 
sion. 
Thus Sec. 2 of the act approved Feb. 28, 1893, as it 
was amended last May and now in force, makes no men- 
tion of gray squirrels. The only squirrel law in New 
Jersey is this Sec. 2 in its amended form; and the Brief, 
shearing off the verbiage, states it as follows: 
Squirrels.— Sko. 2. It shall not be lawful to kill any bl ick or fox 
squirrel, except only between the 31st day of October and the 16th day 
o£ December. 
"If the Brief says so you may depend on it." 
However, there ought to be a law on gray squirrels in 
New Jersey, and we have no doubt that the next Legisla- 
ture will provide one. 
UTAH GAME NOTES. 
The tourist who comes into Utah over the Eio Grande 
Western will notice on his right, just befnrp he emerges 
from Spanish Fork Cafion upon the well-tilled valley of 
Utah Lake, a hotel-like structure bearing the title "Castilla 
Springs." In the cool of these autumn mornings and 
evenings the pools surrounding the hotel are covered with 
vapor and the sulphurous odor penetrates even the car 
windows. I enjoy a Sunday at Castilla Hot Springs at 
any season of the year — in the winter because two hours 
in the almost boiling water invariably relieves me of a 
threatened attack of inflammatory rheumatism, and in 
summer I can get what Fport I want with rod. gun or 
rifle almost at the very doors of the hostelry. This par- 
ticular mid-October day finds me awaiting the arrival of 
a party of Salt Lake friends who are partial to chicken 
shooting. On the hills within five miles in any direction 
deer maybe started, and the hunter will be almost certain 
to find fresh signs of bear or mountain lions. Twenty 
yards in front of the platform flows Spanish Fork River, 
where trout do hide, but Diamond Fork, three miles up 
from the Springs, is the banner trout stream of this por- 
tion of Utah. I know of one party of six Salt Lakers 
that, in June, took 300 trout from Diamond Fork in one 
day. Twelve miles below, Spanish Fork River empties 
into Utah Lake, where duck shooting and bass fishing are 
unexcelled. So you see that my partiality for Castilla is 
very reasonable and I don't know but I shall hire a room 
where I can permanently store my firearms and tackle to 
be used as occasion may require. 
But to be logical in demonstrating the necessity for a 
change of game wardens throughout the entire Territory, 
I shall have to go back four months to the opening of the 
trout season. I had long planned a trip to Fish Lake, an 
icy sheet, formed at the very summit of the Wasatch 
plateau by the terminal moraine of an ancient glacier, 
surrounded by snowbanks and almost as cold as Green- 
land. Fish Lake drains into Dirty Devil River and thence 
into the Colorado. Its trout are larger than any found in 
the Basin province, but it is said that in the lake they 
will_ take neither fly nor bait. However, in the Dirty 
Devil and its tributaries, notably in Seven Mile Creek, 
they are as gamy as can be desired. 
Taking a buerery at Provo, we drove southward by easy 
stages through Utah, Sanpete and Sevier counties. At 
Elsinore and Monroe our party was completed, wagons 
and camp equipment were provided, and we were ready 
for an all-day climb. It was our intention to reach the 
lake early on the morning of the 15th. For a week before 
that time trout had been abundant in the settlements of 
Sevier Valley, and it was evident that no attempt was 
made to enforce the law. Indeed, those who were remon- 
strated with said that the local game commissioner was 
such a violator of the law and made so much .out of the 
business, that he dare not make arrests for violation of 
the game statute. I afterward found that fish traps 
were in common use among fish peddlers as well as 
by the Indians, and that large trout were speared 
and pitchforked by the wagonload as they ascended 
the shallow creeks to spawn. But the easiest and most 
profitable way of catching fish was to go to the gate at 
the lower end of the lake, take out the top board and hold 
a seine or wool sack so as to catch the trout that go down 
stream. The water of the lake is reservoired for irrigat- 
ing purposes and the removal of a 6in. plank makes a 
powerful current. It is no exaggeration to say that on 
some nights a to"n of fish were caught in this nefarious 
way. Three times in one day I surprised different parties 
at the gate, each time with a seine, which they made no 
effort to conceal. They did not, however, make any 
hauls while I was present because my inquinitiveness 
made them suspicious. It was a common expression 
among them that Ben Carter (the Fish Commissioner) 
was as deep in the mud as they were in the mire. But 
again I am getting ahead of my story. 
At noon of June 14 our party, three men, four ladies 
and three children, left Elsinore for Fish Lake. The 
route lay through Richfield and Glenwood to the foot of 
the Wasatch plateau, then a four hours' climb brought us 
to Oak Springs, our first camp. The next morning we 
crossed the head of Grass Valley and climbed Fish Lake 
Mountain, sighting the beautiful sheet of water at noon. 
Although there had been but six hours of daylight since 
the expiration of the law we met a wagon descending 
the hill, having the bed brim full of trout, and I saw 
three similarly loaded wagons leave the lake on the 
same day. 
Our camp was made at the mouth of Twin Creek, and 
fish heads and roe that we passed showed that an indis- 
criminate slaughter had been going on for many days. 
My comrades had brought pitchforks instead of rods, and 
now watched the mouth of the creek as the ladies pre- 
pared dinner. The result was three large fish. After 
dinner we rode four miles further to the foot of the lake. 
Here, near one of the largest tributaries of the lake, we 
made a permanent camp. There were five other parties 
camped on the same creek, and a "run" was made on an 
average every two hours during the three days that we 
remained there. Against spears, pitchforks, traps and 
seines the trout had little chance of escaping. Walking 
down the creek on Sunday morning I found a place about 
a quarter of a mile below our camp, where a trap had 
been put in the night before, and over two bushels of roes 
showed the work that had been done. I found a similar 
deposit a short distance above our camp, but was told that 
this was the work of Indians. 
Our next move was to the mouth of Seven Mile Creek. 
We had suffered from snow and ice froze half an inch 
thick every night, so the ladies were quite as ready to 
return home as was I. Seven Mile, too, was covered with 
campers. Here every opportunity was afforded for turn- 
ing the creek, and the campers agreed to turn three times 
daily and divide pro rata. Thence we journeyed to the 
head of Seven Mile and I enjoyed one day of excellent 
fly-fishing; but by the moonlight the creek was turned 
and seined, so I gave my vote for a speedy return home- 
ward, and the trip that had been planned for a month 
occupied just a week. 
On my return home I had little time for sporting, an 
occasional run up Provo River and to Diamond Creek 
being all I could afford. Fortunately Utah Lake is enjoy- 
ing for the first time a season of black bass fishing, and 
sportsmen have a new field for enjoyment. Carp" have 
proved a nuisance, and the ease with which the bass take 
to their new habitat and the rapidity with which they 
increase is most encouraging. Those caught weight from 
1 to 31bs. The principal event of August I quote from a 
local paper: 
The organization of the Provo Sportsman's Club w*« comnle'-ed to- 
day with the following officers: R A. BaniPv p rP c;,ient-: M M Kel- 
logg. Vice-President: Joseph E Daniels. Soc'-eta'-v Executive B-iard: 
A. W. McOiirfain, George E. Howe, Samuel Jepperson, Dr. F. W. 
Taylor. S K. Km sr. 1 r 
The nhject of the above association is to build a boat house at what 
is known as the Jepperson landing at the southwestern part, of the 
city, on Spring Lake, for the accommodation of eighteen boats. 
The society will strictly adhere to the enforcement of the fish and 
game laws. It is organized for mutual pleasure and recreation. 
Since the above was printed a boat house has been 
erected and the mpmhership has inerea°pd to twpnty. I 
understand that if a member is caueht violating- t^e eame 
law the flub fines him $5. All others caught in flagrante 
delicto, are legally prosecuted. 
The early part of Septombpr will bp rpmpmb Q rpd for a 
feeble and ineffectual (I believe voluntarily ineffectual) 
effort to enforce thp law regarding the seining of trout. 
I quote from an evening paper: 
Deputy Sheriff Hall arrested Brig Madsen an<1 Levi Carpenter this 
morning, on a complaint charging unlawfuUv taking fish This cass 
grows out of the arrest and conviction of Parley P. Hindmarsh for 
unlawfully having in his possession certain fish. Madsen and Car- 
penter were the seiners who took the trout out of their nets they 
claim, after the fish was dead, having tieen gilled by the meshes of the 
net. The boys bold that they had the commissioner's consent to take 
trout thus caught and killed. They appear before Justice Wedgwood 
for trial at 4 o'clock this afternoon. 
A few days later appears the following: 
The case against Brig. Madsen and Levi Carpenter, accused of un- 
lawfully taking trout from Utah Lake, was tried by a jury before 
Commissioner Dudley this forenoon. The defence admitted having 
had on Aug. 20. about SOlbs. of trout in tbeir possession, and that they 
took them out of Utah Lake with seine. They proved, however, that 
the seine they use is a licensed one and that they made their haul 
strictly in accordance with law and in the presence of "Frank Newell. 
Deputy Fish and Game Commissioner for Utah county. They proved 
further that in making each haul that, day (they made two), there 
were some 6001bs. of trout came into the seine with other fish. Bv the 
time that the trout were gotten some dozen or fifteen had unavoidably 
gotten their heads into the meshes of the seine, were gilled and com- 
pletely dead. These are the fish they had in their possession and for 
which they were arrested. The commissioner at every haul when this 
occurred has consented that the seiners take these dead trout, deem- 
ing it better for them to take the fish than to throw the speckled 
beauties into the water only to rot. The prosecution held persist- 
ently that the law prohibits the taking of trout of the waters dead or 
alive in any wav, except with a hook and line, and that persons who 
take them as these men had done, had violated the law. The jury 
held, however, that there had been no intent to violate the law 
proven and no harm done and so acquitted the boys. 
Now that shows what kind of game commissioners we 
are afflicted with ! I do not know how much of a per- 
centage Mr. Newell gets for allowing these men, who for 
years have had an unenviable reputation for poaching, 
to seine trout and sell them, but the law is still violated 
and Carpenter and Madsen still swear their licensed seine 
kills the trout that accidentally get entangled in its meshes. 
There are other violators of the law about Utah Lake and 
it is a wonder to me that the lake is not entirely depopu- 
lated of game fishes. 
Oct. 1 was the day of duck hunter's joy, and it was a 
day when the effpct of the new game law was first felt by 
the legitimate sportsman as well as by the pot-hunter. It 
has been the custom on Utah Lake to hunt ducks at all 
hours of the day and night, and the best time has been 
between sunset and dark. Under the new law all duck 
shooting is prohibited from sunset until one hour before 
sunrise. By the constant booming of the guns, which 
wakes me every morning and which even disturbs my 
slumbers now that the moon is brightest, I judge that a 
few of our citizens have forgotten all about the last 
session of the Legislature. Again I find myself quoting 
from to-day's paper: 
Fish and Game Commissioner Newell has sworn out complaints 
before Justice Wedgwood against Niels Hansen. John Doe Atherly 
and Walter Smith for shooting dueVs between the hours of sunset 
and sunrise, and against Hyrum Jarman and Parley Swinson for 
shooting sea gulls. 
I have spent some most enjoyable hours on the lake 
during the past week, rowing out a mile or two to the 
tule islands and catching the flocks that fly from the 
blinds along shore. To be successful, however, decoys 
mu3t be used. The ducks as yet are those that have 
remained about the lake all summer— teal, redheads and 
a few mallards. The weather is mild and the autumnal 
flight has not yet commenced. 
When I have poor luck with ducks T fix a spoon where 
I generally have a fly, and a few caste along the edee of 
the tules reward me with fine biss. The best bass fishing 
is found where the mountain streams force little channels 
among the thick growth of alga?, duck wppd, etc , striving 
to reach the'clear, deep water at the middle of the lake. 
As the boat moves along, the oars festooned with green 
streamers that make rowing almost an impossibility, 
great, lazy carp move sluggishlv out of the way; but the 
bass jump at the glittering 1 bait, and the fisher is out of 
luck if he once let the fighting bpauties carry the line 
into the weed mat whence they darted. 
This is an unusually good season for grouse. The 
pheasant (Western ruffed grousp) is common in the 
canons, and in the stubble fields of southern Utah county 
Western sharptails (willow grouse) have never been as 
abundant as they are this year. Hark! The whistle of 
No. 2! The dogs are ready. So am I; and of the chicken 
hunt more hereafter. Shoshone. 
Castilla Sphings, Utah, Oct. 13. 
South Dakota Prairie Game. 
Fort Sully, S. D., Oct. 15.— The chicken shooting in 
this section is very poor this season. The birds were 
plentiful in the river bottoms this time last year, and 
they stayed there through the winter and up to March. 
Then they left and now there are none there. I have 
hunted a good deal lately, but have seen none at all. 
I have seen large bags of geese and ducks and some 
sandhill crane brought in from the wheat fields. 
Do you know of any reason why chickens should be so 
scarce? The summer was very dry, but it was dry and 
hot in places where they are now reported plentiful. 
There are lots of the "buffalo" berries, which seemed to 
be their chief food last year. P. A. B. 
JWill not market trapping account for the lack of 
game?] 
Prairie Chickens. 
Recent reports received by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- 
way from stations in the prairie chicken country of Minnesota and 
South Dakota all indicate a prospect of the best hunting for years 
Chickens are very plentiful and in fine condition. Duck shooting 
prospects are also good. Full information can be had by addressing 
Ticket Agent, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway 307 Clark street, 
Chicago.— Adv. ' 
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