190 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
March 9, 1895. 
The Megantic Club. 
' ! Durng the season of 1894 the Megantic Fish and Game 
Club entered on a new system in the management of its 
supply or catering department. Previous to 1894 the 
club has hired a steward, under whose direction the 
wants of visiting members and their friends have been 
provided for. The steward bought quite all the sup- 
plies, and to him went the profit accruing from their 
sale. Under the new system the club paid for all sup- 
plies, and covered the profits into its treasury. The 
result has been highly satisfactory. Mr. Fred M. Viles, 
a brother of Julian K. Viles of Tim Pond fame, was put 
in charge, with headquarters at the clubhouse at Spider 
Lake. The superintendent, Mr. Robert Philips, attended 
to the several camps, assisted by Samuel Henderson at 
North West, Mr. and Mrs. Weeks at Big Island, and 
Mr. and Mrs. Blacwkell at Chain of Ponds. The same 
methods will be adopted the coming season of 1895, and 
Mr. Viles, together with all his assistants mentioned 
above, have been re-engaged for this season. 
Another departure made necessary during 1894 was 
the purchase of land on the shore of Spider Lake. This 
was found needful to protect the club interests. It was 
to be sold under foreclosure proceedings, and the club 
felt that it might come into the hands of those who 
would have cut it up into farms, thereby in a measure 
destroying the value of the site of the clubhouse. The 
land purchased ( with the exception of a few small lots) 
includes the entire shore line of the lake for one and 
one-half miles each side of the clubhouse running from 
Thomas Point to the Spider Eiver. In addition to this 
land purchased last season the club has within the past 
two weeks bought 1,000 acres of land right in the center 
of the preserve in Maine. This tract is a mile and one- 
quarter square and includes the land on which are 
located the camps at Chain of Ponds. It is in the south- 
west corner of Chain of Ponds township and borders on 
the northeast, shore of Big Island Pond. Rock Pond is 
included in the tract. 
The fish hatchery of the club is also in good condition 
and "bids fair to be of great benefit in restocking the 
waters. Six thousands eggs were obtained from L. Pond 
and 24, 000 from Northwest Pond. These eggs have been 
during the past winter in the care of Isaac Tibbets of 
Rangely, and his reports on their condition have been 
very gratifying. One thousand land-locked salmon, 
wnich had attained a growth of %% to 4 inches, were 
liberated in the brooks flowing into" Big Island Pond. 
Of this lot about 20 have been caught 5 or 6 inches in 
length, showing conclusively that they have obtained a 
good start. Undoubtedly the future of the Megantic 
Club is bright indeed. Fish and game, which are the 
chief objects of the organization, are on the increase, 
and everything points to a long continued career of 
prosperity. 
Mr. Edward A. Samuels, formerly president of the 
Massachusetts Fish and Game Association, will again 
locate in Boston, after quite a lengthy residence in 
Nova Scotia. No truer sportsman can be found, and 
his scores of friends will be pleased indeed to see his 
familiar face. HACKLE. 
Boston. 
Senasqua Rod and Reel Club. 
Sing Sing, Feb. 20— One year ago on Feb. 17 the Senas- 
qua Rod and Reel Club was organized, so on Monday 
evening the occasion was celebrated with due and proper 
ceremonies, the main attraction, as it were, being a ban- 
quet given to the members by President A. Fred Car- 
penter. The Senasquas are a kindred lot of sportsmen, 
not sporting men, mind you, who delight to lure game 
fish from the water with rod and line. 
First the organization had a j business meeting, during 
which the following officers were chosen for the ensuing 
year: President, A. Fred Carpenter; Vice-President, An- 
thony B. Murray; Secretary, George W. Kipp; Treas- 
urer, William M. Carpenter; Weigher, B.^Frank Kipp. 
When the session had adjourned, Secretary Kipp, on be- 
half of the members of the organization, bestowed upon 
President Carpenter a handsome gum wood cane, with 
a colored ivory handle, a silver band encircling the stick 
bearing an appropriate inscription. The cane was given 
as a token of the appreciation of President Carpenter's 
loyal interest in the organization, which his efforts have 
done much to establish. President Carpenter acknowl- 
edged the gift in as pretty a style as a surprised person 
can do. 
Rail's orchestra played a selection, and the guests 
sought their places at the banquet board, President Car- 
penter beiing at one end and Vice-President Murray at the 
other end of the long table, which was attractive alone 
in its decorations and surroundings. These whose pres- 
ence graced the occasion were Superintendent Henry G. 
Fithian, of the Broadway Mission, who offered the bless- 
ing; Supervisor Gilbert M. Todd, Assessor Robert Smith, 
Village Trustee Edwin T. James, School Trustee Thomas 
E. Hopgood, Dr. Joel D, Madden, ex- Village Trustee 
Randolph Acker, George W. Kipp, William A. Duke, 
Winfield S. Smith, Leonard Porter Kipp,George W. Lyon, 
Edgar Storms, Gilbert H. Davis, B. Frank Kipp, Harry 
M. Carpenter, J. Herbert Carpenter, William M. Carpen- 
ter, T. Henry Calam, William Mattocks, Benjamin C. 
Acker, Paul M Pierson, Ralph Baker, John V. Cockcroft, 
ex-Village President Wm. Clinton Mead and Town Clerk 
Robert T. Dennis, Mr. Cockcroft being an honorar3 r mem- 
ber of the Senasquas, and Messrs. Mead and Dennis in- 
vited guests. 
That Fly-RodjfiMuskrat Dilemma. 
Granby, P. Q — Replying to your inquiry as to howl 
got out of that scrape, told in your issue of Feb. 23, when 
I went into a deep hole with a muskrat on the other end 
of the line, my first thought was to hang on to the pole, 
which I did. But in coming up I w r as so weighted down 
with my clothes that I had to use both hands to swim; 
and in making the strokes the rod cut the water in such 
a way, and bent so much that I was afraid it w r ould 
break, so giving it a push toward the rat I let go and 
swam back to the canoe. I gathered in the paddle, 
pushed the canoe ashore, took off my w^aders and emptied 
out the water and then had a picnic to get them on 
again. I cut a forked stick, went out with the canoe 
and fished up my pole, winding in the line with the reel. 
It finally came up, with the hook and I should judge a 
couple of feet of line gone. I rowed across to the other 
shore, but could find no trace of the rat, nor even where 
he landed; and came to the conclusion that he had gone 
into a hole in the bank and either bitten the line off or it 
had caught on the edge of a clam-shell and been cut 
J. B. P. 
Adirondack Guides- 
The second annual meeting of the Adirondack Guides' 
Association was held at Saranac Lake Feb. 27, with a 
banquet a^d camp-fire in the town hall. An address was 
delivered by Mr. A. N. Cheney, on fish culture. The ob- 
ject of the Association, as set forth in the constitution, is 
"to promote and facilitate travel in the Adirondacks; to 
secure to the public competent and reliable guides, thus 
assuring the welfare of tourists and sportsmen; to aid in 
the enforcement of the forest and game law of the State; 
to secure wise and practical legislation on all subjects 
affecting the Adirondack region; to maintain a uniform 
rate of w T ages of guides, and to render financial assistance 
to its members in case of sickness or other disability, or 
to their families in case of the death of such members." 
The rate of wages fixed for Association members is $3, 
and the ordinary expenses. It is made the duty of mem- 
bers to assist each other in obtaining employment in pre- 
ference to others who are not members. The member- 
ship fee is S3, dues $1. g 
mt[t mid tgish grotitction. 
The South Dakota Gun Tax Bill. 
A bill for an act to provide for the levy and collection of a 
tax on shot guns and rifles, for the purpose of creating a fund 
to pay game wardens and protecting game. 
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota: 
Section 1. That each and every assessor iu this State, when 
making the assessment, shall annually make a list of the n tmes 
of all persons who own or keep a shot gun or rifle, or more than 
one of either of said guns, and set opposite the name of such 
owner or keeper, the number of either or both of such shot guns 
or rifles, he or she has in his or her possession or that is or are 
kept on his or her premises, which list shall be returned by such 
assessor to the County Clerk or Auditor of the County iu which 
said list is taken with the assessment roll. 
Provided; however, that no such list shall be made of any 
shot gun or rifle kept in stock for sale only, or had in possession 
for the purpose of being repaired; but all such shot guns and 
rifles so held for repair, or after the same are repaired, shall be 
assessed to their respective owners. 
Section 2. That the County Clerk or Auditor of each County, 
shall charge upon the tax list against the name of each person 
reported and returned as the owner or keeper of a shot gun or 
rifle, or of more than one of either of said guns, the sum of fifty 
cents for each gun or rifle owned or kept by such person, which 
tax shall be collected at the same time, and iu the same manner 
as other taxes upon personal property. 
Section 3. The money secured and collected under the pro- 
visions of this act shall be paid into the State Treasury and 
credited by the State Treasurer, to the-Ktate Game Protective 
Fund. 
Section 4. That all acts or parts of acts in conflict with this 
act are hereby repealed. 
Section 5. Emergency: An emergency is hereby declared to 
exist and this act shall take effect and be in force from and 
after its passage and approval. 
The Maryland Game Laws. 
Baltimore, Feb. 24.— On March 6 a meeting will be held at 
the Carrolton Hotel, that has excited a great deal of interest 
among the sportsmen throughout the entire State. The object 
of the gathering will be, to try and draw up a uniform State 
game law, for the protection of game birds. As matters now 
stand it would take a Philadelphia lawyer, with a North Caro- 
lina search warrant, 1o tell when and where a sportsman could 
gun without being in danger of arrest. There is now a general 
game law, while each and every county has its own separate 
law. in many cases new laws have been passed without going 
to the trouble of repealing the old ones. In fact everything is 
in such a jumbled state that a leading daily in making up the 
annual publication of the laws, mixed up such a cocktail, that 
had one swallowed it they would have landed in jail. Dr. 
Massamore, one of the leading sportsmen, is the instigator of 
the present movement, and is meeting with the hearty support 
of all the lovers of gun and dog. Each county is expected to 
send on three delegates, while Baltimore city will be repre- 
sented. All those that desire can express their views, and sub- 
mit in writing anything that they think will help disentangle 
the present muddle. When a suitable law has been drawn up, 
it,will be presented to the Legislature. Among those who will 
be present will be the present Governor of the State, Hon. 
Frank Brown, Mayor Latrohe, Johu H. Keene, E. D. Mallory 
and many other leading citizens of the State. 
WM. L. STILES. 
The New York Game Bill. 
Lyons, ft Y., March 2, 1895.— Editor Forest and Stream: The 
Senate bill has just come to hand. Commenting upon it I 
desire to call the attention of all true sportsmen throughout the 
State to several sections which appear extremely detrimental to 
the interests of fish and game protection and which are in 
direct contradiction to the recommendations of both my own 
association and the New York State Association, which we 
adopted last January. I am not fully advised of the merit con- 
tained in the bill as affects other localities, but Section 141, 
which permits spearing for certain kind of fish in all waters of 
the State not inhabitated by trout, would work great injury to 
this section. Now, if the spearing for suckers, etc.. is good, why 
not allow it .in ;the trout waters of the State? Are the trout 
the only game fish to be protected? The fact of it is that when 
spearing for certain kinds of fish is allowable it is impossible to 
detect and convict any offender who may succeed in spearing 
game fish. 
We will not dwell upon the cruel method, as it may effect the 
game fish mentioned, but it is a well-known fact that only 
about one in three of the fish so killed is landed, and that after 
a spearing expedition the shores of lakes and streams are often 
well supplied with fish so mutilated and killed. If this measure 
becomes a law it will be ruinous to the best interests of fish and 
increase and protection throughout this entire section. It seems 
that no fair minded sportsman can ask for such a measure. 
The bill also provides for spring shooting throughout this 
entire section of the State which is in direct contradiction to 
the earnest work of our Association for many years. There 
will be no one so foolish as to argue that the killing of one 
female duck on her way to her place of nesting will not soon 
materially decrease the number- of those birds. 
The bill also provides for grouse and woodcock shooting, 
August 15 to January 1, which I am sure is not the wish of 
those interested. 
I trust that all sportsmen may Bee the necessity for immedi- 
ate action in getting these improper provisions amended. A 
prompt request from sportsmen throughout the State to their 
Assemblymen and Senators so to do will carry much weight 
with it, and be in full accord with the earnest efforts of the 
Associations striving for the betterment of our game laws. 
. W. S. GAVITT, 
President Central N. Y. G. and F. Prot. Asso. 
Pennsylvania Game Laws. 
Edi'or Forest and Stream: 
Of course you can't be expected to remember a frantic appeal 
which I sent you about two years ago, when an effort was being 
made to amend the Pennsylvania game law, to have the non- 
sale and transportation clause eliminated. I aslo wrote to our 
game committee in the same spirit, because I was so thoroughly 
convinced that no game act would pass our Legislature so long 
as such a clause remained. My conviction was inspired by a 
visit to a cold storage game house, and the con viucing state- 
ments of one of the firm. A view was courteously shown of 
thousands of dozens of quail, thousands of grouse of all kinds, 
hundreds of tons of the deer family, the house containing but a 
small amount of game in comparison with then- stock in various 
game States. I was told of the immense profit, and a positive 
assurance was given that the last item included sufficient money 
to defeat any law that would destroy their buisness. Certainly 
our legislators are all honorable men, not purchasable. No one 
who has any knowledge of legislatures will proclaim them 
actuated more by "what is in it," than by a conscientious desire 
for public benefit. But 1 venture to say that a season game 
law will fail this winter in the Pennsylvania Legislature, as 
it did two years ago unless your Plank (every real sportsmen's 
plank) is made a separate bill, a whole platform in itself, which 
cannot be defeated by innumerable amendments of woodcock 
shooting or sucker net fishing, dnd so delayed by procrastina- 
tion, but will have to be met upon a suuare'issue. 
My personal belief is that non-transportation and non-sale' 
would afford more protection for game and fish, than the season 
law. Both will do much. How shall we get them? 
THOMFSONTOWN, PA. JUNIATA. 
Sparrow Bounties. 
A hill introduced in Albany to add New York to the States offer 
ing bounties on the English sparrow has brought out this protest 
from Buffalo and vicinity, extensively signed by citizens of that 
community. 
Buffalo, N. Y., Feb. 20.-To the Committee on Game Laws. Gen- 
tlemen: We, the undersigned residents of Buffalo, N. Y., do re- 
spectfully petition your honorable body to report unfavorably 
upon the bill introduced in the Senate and Assembly respectively 
by Mr. Parsons and Mr. C. J. Smith, numbered iu the former 341 
and in the latter 668; the title of such act being: "An act to amend 
the Game Law by fixing a bounty on English sparrows and pro- 
viding for the payment therefor." 
We protest against such proposed amendment to the Game Law 
on the ground that the proposed bounty if made of force even 
during the winter months, would endanger the lives of the various 
insect eating birds now protected by law, and which iu many- 
respects resemblo the English sparrow (Passer domesticus) whose 
extermination the above act seeks to effect. 
We submit that as the present game law does not protect, the 
English sparrow, that bird is sufficiently discriminated against, 
and that nothing would be gained by its further proscription at 
the possible cost of killing many of those birds valuable to the 
great agricultural interests of this State. 
We submit that to the average person there is no distinction in 
"sparrows," and the premium put upon tne head, nests and eggs 
of the imported bird would serve only to open another avenue of 
destruction for our native species of all families, already so re- 
duced in numbers. The small boy and the grown person alike, 
ignorant as to the identity of the birds would, through error or by 
intention, take their lives indiscriminately and probably receive a 
bounty order therefor at the hand of an equally uninformed alder- 
man or supervisor. 
We trust that your honorable committee will take these facts 
into consideration and allow the "bird" section of the Game Law 
Code to remain unaltered respecting the insect-eating birds (not 
game) unless change would afford further protection for these 
the winged wardens of your farms." 
he MenmL 
FIXTURES. 
BENCH SHOWS.; \ _ "' 
March 12 to 15— Denver.— Western K. C. Co., E. T. Weiant, Sec'y . 
April 10 to 13.— Pittsburgh— Duquesne K.C. W. E. Littel, Sec'y. 
April 16 to 19— Boston.— New England Kennel Club. 1). E. Love- 
land, Sec'y. 
April 17 to 20. Los Angeles— Southern Cal. Kennel Club. Dr. 
R. J. Withers, Sec. 
May 1 to 4.— Oakland, Cal.— Alameda County Sportsman's Asso- 
ciation. F. Boell, Sec'y., Oakland, Cal. 
May 6 to 11— San Francisco. Cal.— Pacific Kennel Club. Howard 
Vernon, Sec'y, San Francisco. 
Oct. 8 to 11.— Danburjv, Conn. — Danbury Agricultural Society 
G. L. Bundle, Sec'v. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Sept. 10— Morris, Man.— Manitoba F. T. C, John Wootton, 
Sec'y, Manitou. 
Nov. 5.— Chatham, Ont.— International F. T. Club. W. K.Wells 
Sec'y. 
Nov. 7 to 11.— Trials A. U. S. F. T. Club at West Point, Miss. 
W. B. Stafford, Sec'y, Trenton, Tenn. 
Nov. 18.— Eastern F. T. Club, at Newton, N. C. W. A. Coster, 
Sec'y, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 
The Detroit Dog Show. 
j.;A very pretty exhibition was the verdict of those who at- 
tended the third annual show given by the City of the Straits 
Kennel Club, in the Auditorium at Detroit last week. Al- 
though the bulk of the classes were not so well filled as at last 
year's event, yet the average quality was quite up to previous 
years. 
The money prizes offered are not such as would tempt the 
attendance of prominent kennels, still the fact that the Detroit 
fixture is a half way resting place between the New York 
show and the big Chicago event the week after, makes it con- 
venient for many crack dogs to occupy the benches. This will 
always be the case, if the same arrangement of dates remains in 
force. Next year, the club promises to increase its prize list, 
and profiting by the experience gained this year, expects to 
give a show that will be independently good and not so local in 
tone. A little more attention to preliminary kennel press 
notices will doubtless aid them to this end. 
The show was fairly well conducted, though there is room for 
a little improvement in the cleaning away of the inevitable 
litter which attends a dog show. The ventilation and light at 
the Auditorium are not all that could be desired, but as the 
arrangement of the benching, which as usual was in the hands 
of Spratts Co., was a great improvement on that of last year, 
and especially in regard to the judging ring, visitors this year 
had better opportunity to see the dogs. Last year the judging 
ring was on the satge, most inconvenient and dangerous 
arrangement, but this time, with less entries to bench, the ring 
was placed on the main floor in the centre of the hall. 
Judging commenecd promptly on Tuesday morning, and with 
the exception of a few specials was finished by.Tuesday evening. 
The judges — Messrs. Davidson and Mortimer — seem to have 
given almost complete satisfaction, though one or two upsets 
afforded material for discussion among the "talent," and ; 
