286 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Apkil 10, 1897 
THE MAINE GUIDE LAW. 
Full Text of Chap. 26, Laws 1 897. 
Sec. 1. No person shall engage in the business of guiding, 
as the term is commonly understood, before he has caused 
bis name, age and residence to be recorded in a book kept for 
that purpose by the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries and 
Game, and procured a certificate from said Commissioners 
setting forth in substance that he is deemed suitable to act as 
a guide either for inland fishing or forest hunting, or both, 
as the case may be. Whoever engages in the business of 
guiding without having complied with the provisions of this 
section forfeits $50 and costs of prosecution. 
Sec, 2. Each registered guide shall from time to time, as 
often as requested by the Commissioners, on blanks furnished 
him by the Commissioners, forward a statement to them of 
the number of persons he has guided in inland fishing and 
forest hunting during the time called for in said statement, 
the number of days he has been employed as a guide, and 
such other useful information relative to the inland fish and 
game, forest fires and the preservation of the forests in the 
localities where he has guided, as the Commissioners may 
deem of importance to the State. 
Sec. 3. Such registration as is herein required shall take 
place annually on or before July 1 ; but nothing herein shall 
be construed to debar the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries 
and Game of the right, in their discretion, to register guides 
at any time. 
Sec. 4. Whenever any guide, registered as aforesaid, is 
convicted of any violation of the inland fish and game laws, 
he shall forfeit hds certificate and be debarred from further 
engaging in the business of guiding for one year thereafter. 
Sec. 5. This act shall not be construed to apply to any 
person who does not directly or indirectly hold bimself out 
to the public as a guide, or directly or indirectly solicit em- 
ployment as such. 
Sec. 6. A fee of $1 shall be paid by each person registered 
in accordance with the provisions of this act, and all money 
thus received shall be and become part of the fund for the 
protection of inland fish and game. 
Sec. 7. Any person desiring to be registered as a guide, 
in accordance with the provisions of this act, may make 
application for such registration either in person or by writ- 
ten application to the Commissioners. (Approved March 
23) 
[The moose season is made Oct. 15 to Dec, 1, cows pro- 
tected; deer season remains the same; lawful number In a 
season, one bull moose, one caribou, two deer.] 
THE PENNSYLVANIA GAME LAW. 
Stromsville, Pa., March. 28. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have neither the time, talent, nor inclination to enter 
into a public controversy; and were it not for the rancor- 
ous articles and gross misstatements of your correspond- 
ents Mazurie and Bon Ami in the last issue of Forest 
AND Stream, I should pass by your own captious but con- 
siderate article in issue of March 13, as I know Forest 
AND Stream has an honesty of purpose, and exerts a 
wholesome, healthy influence on the public mind which 
should command the respect of its readers, even though 
their opinions may be at variance. 
I have always taken a deep interest in our furred and 
feathered friends, and for forty years have been familiar 
with our game, its haunts and its habits; and in my love of 
legitimate field sports and interest in honest, earnest, con- 
sistent "game protection," I yield to none; but protecting 
for a few to the exclusion of the many is not honest, is not 
earnest, is not consistent, is not American. 
Taking first Forest and Stream's instructive exposition 
of "rights and privileges," with due deference to its high 
position and unlimited resources for information, yet I can 
see no parallel — no ground for comparison— between the 
healthy game legally possessed and the diseased cattle 
condemned by the State veterinarian. The one adds to the 
wholesome food supply and furnishes a luxury to that class 
of indoor workers who lack the time, the skill or the ple- 
thoric pocketbook of the "gentleman of leisure," but who 
nevertheless might enjoy from the market that which his 
more fortunate neighbor had the means, the time, the op- 
portunity and the skill to obtain. The other endangers 
the public health and is justly condemned. The farmer's 
"rye, his corn and his potatoes" are taxed to raise a neces- 
sary revenue and p.bate a public nuisance. Can you put 
game in the same catalogue, and subject it to the same re- 
strictions for like reasons? 
Certain plans, forms and specifications must be submit- 
ted befote the granting of building permits in our cities, as 
otherwise the rights, privileges, pursuits and pleasures of 
others would be interfered with and the public safety en- 
dangered. Will the public health or individual rights and 
privileges be endangered to a greater extent from the sale 
of the legally possessed game by the needy pot-hunter 
than by its gift by the more fortunate wealthy sportsman? 
Will the game eupply sufier more from the sale of twenty 
than from the gift of twenty times twenty? 
This antiquated cry of "75,000 strong" and threats of 
"political slaughter" because a public servant uses his pre- 
rogative for the public good is sickening to the senses, and 
should have died at birth. From a slight personal ac- 
quaintance with our Governor, I believe him fully compe- 
tent to defend his own jjosition, and further, that outside 
of the wealthy organizations he has the hearty indorse- 
ment of the great majority of the people of the State. In 
their zeal and interest in the great, much-talked-of 75,000, 
Mazurie and Bon Ami forget the great millions in the 
State who are as much entitled to consideration as the 
little thousands who are asking for "special rights and 
privileges." Which is the better gportsman and the more 
considerate, consistent game protector— the poor pot- 
hunter (?) who legally kills 100 ducks, grouse or woodcock 
in a whole season's shooting, and from sheer necessity sells 
them to supply his family with the necessaries of life, or 
the wealthy club member or yacht owner who kills five 
times as many in a morning's shoot and gives them to his 
friends and companions? I have spent many months, and 
even years, afield with all classes of gunners, from the 
"yallerdorg" biped to the kid-gloved gentry, and find 
human nature much the same whether encased in home- 
spun or corduroy, and have found men of noble character 
and generous impulses and big bank balances to their 
credit, but as many such among the lowly who were com- 
pelled to sell their game to pay for the luxury of a day in 
forest and field. I have met an occasional game hog, but 
never the "pot-hunter and his yellow dog, that gets ahead 
of the town sportsman and pot-pies whole coveys on the 
ground." But if I ever am so unfortunate as to meet him I 
shall expect to find him encased in a dude suit of cordu- 
roy and find his game hanging in the city market soon 
after he reaches home. 
That "field sports were made for a gentleman's recrea- 
tion" is a revelation to me. I had always supposed that 
they were made for high and low, rich and poor, all alike; 
but if they were made for the gentlemen, then I cannot 
blame the gentlemen for asking special legislation for 
what they claim as their own. 
Bon Ami infers that because in the legal season I handle 
legitimate game, I am therefore a "game dealer" and not a 
merchant. Bon Ami in the course of legitimate farming 
buys, sells and exchanges ducks, geese and chickens. Is 
he then a poultry dealer in the sense that the term would 
imply? I am "not pleading ignorance in justification" of 
the grounds I have taken, but I like to see a subject treated 
fairly, and since Bon Ami professes such an intimate 
knowledge of my business life, I will ask him if he remem- 
bers, during the time we could almost claim to be neigh- 
bors, the fish and the game I introduced, fed and liberated, 
almost wholly at my own time, trouble and expense, and 
whether he at the time or since has lent a "helping hand" 
in the same direction? His deductions as to my estimation 
of the "farmer's boy" are irrelevant, as I have nothing but 
kindly feelings and words of praise for the sturdy sons Oif 
nay early associates; but still I am bigoted enough to be- 
lieve that not all the good comes from the woods and the 
fields, and that there may be other boys their equal in 
everything that goes to form the foundation of manly 
men. 
The fortunate class who can enjoy shooting privileges at 
their pleasure, who invest small fortunes in club member- 
ships and shooting preserves, are continually deriding the 
poor and less fortunate class of gunners, who from grim 
necessity must occupy a lower sphere. 
Oh, consistency, thou art a jewel! but "market-hunters," 
"pot-hunters," "true sportsman," who are thy possessors? 
W. W. McCain. 
Delaware County Fish and Game Feotectite A.ssoci- 
ATioN, Chester, Pa., March 19. — Editor Forest and ISiream: 
I read with much interest the manner in which the "Baldwin 
bill for the appointment of a game and fish warden" in the 
State of Pennsylvania was championed in your last issue. 
Tbe writer is anxious for extended publicity of the bill, and 
1 hope his wish will be complied with and its readers dissect 
the measure with ease. 
My opinion of a warden is that he should be an ofiicer that 
must give his entire time and attention to his work, patrol 
the streams and forest in the same manner as a policeman on 
the street. His place of duty should be in the locality where 
the violations take place, and not sitting in an easy office 
100 miles away. To successfully prosecute violations of the 
fish and game laws, and have the proper evidence, is to arrest 
the violator while committing the act, and not wait for some 
citizen to inform the high chief, who sits in Harrisburg, 100 
miles away, that such and such offense was committed in Del- 
aware county. He thinks it over, and may send some cne to 
Delaware county to look the case up. Time passes on ; the 
violator does away with all forms of evidence that could be 
used against him, and defies any one to prove that he vio- 
lated the law. 
The trouble with our Fish and Game Commissioners has' 
been that they never could get an appropriation large enough 
to successfully carry out the warden service. They have 
bad to depend entirely on men who served without pay, con- 
sequently the men appointed were wardens in name only. 
"The "Baldwin bill" proposes to successfully prosecute all 
violations of the fish and game laws with an outlay of $6,000. 
If they would tell me that they were going to dethrone the 
Qaeen of England with that amount of money I would have 
just as much faith in their doctrine. 
The bill provides for three deputies in each county, who' 
are to be paid by the county Commissioners, but fails to, 
state what they are to receive or how they are to receive it.' 
It also fails to make the Commissioners provide compensa- 
tion to pay them with. 
" From the fact that the local wardens are supposed to chase 
up the violators, arrest, and secure evidence for their convic- 
tion, it seems to me that they are the most essential part of a 
successful warden service, and should be provided for in the 
bill in terms that would insure them a just compensation for 
the services rendered. Until local wardens can secure com- 
pensation that will permit them to devote their time and 
attention to the work our condition will not improve. 
It does provide $1,800 for the main warden and $3 per 
day for ten deputies. I would Uke to ask every fair-minded 
man what use ten deputy wardens would be in securing the 
conviction of the fish and game violators in this great State 
of Pennsylvania? I never like to make a statement that is 
hot based on facts, but feel that 1 am safe in saying that I 
believe this bill is for the sole purpose of furnishing protec- 
tion to some secluded spot in our State which is controlled 
by either an individual or an organization. It has the ap- 
pearance of a deeply-laid scheme to protect some particular 
stream or game reserve at the expense of the whole State, 
while the balance of the State must suffer. 
How easy it will be for this chief warden to sit in his cosy 
office at Harrisburg and appoint ten deputies at a salary of 
$3 per day to go sit along the banks of a certain stream 
located in a certain place. 
This bill should be defeated unless some means are pro- 
vided to maintain local wardens at a compensation which 
will be a fair return for the services rendered. No man is 
going to lose time, sit up at night, take rebuffs, abuse, etc., 
which be would receive in the performance of his duty, uoless 
he is compensated for it. As I stated before, the successful 
operation of a warden service depends entirely upon the faith- 
fulness of the local men, who are on the ground and can 
make arrests when the violations are committed. I would 
much rather see a bill appropriating $1,800 for warden ser- 
vice, to give eighteen men $100 each, than to see the Baldwin 
bill become a law. W. Levis Burk. 
The Platform Plank. 
New Hampshiee. — The Platform Plank of Forest xan 
Stream seems to be growing in favor in different pai-ts of 
the country. I am so situated here that I have a good chance 
to note the supply of birds, particularly grouse, in this sec- 
tion, and I do not remember a winter when I have seen so 
few birds as during the past. There is plenty of good cover 
and abundance of food, but the birds are gone, and I am 
confident that we want such a law as proposed by Forest 
AND Stream. C. M. Stark, 
Experience with MonKolian Pheasants. 
Seattle, Wash, —The oddest result of a, shot that I ever 
made was under the following ckcumstances : My friend 
Mr. Thomas H. Downing, of the well-known firm of custom- 
house brokers in New York, was shooting with me on Pro- 
tection Island in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. The is- 
land is stocked with Mongolian and golden pheasants, eon- 
tains about 300 acres, and is preserved. We had been 
shooting a couple of days, no one else having shot there for 
some weeks, and were going home through a point of woods 
on the edge of a high bluff just about dusk, when a Mongo- 
lian cock rose at my left at "the edge of the bluff, and about a 
dozen yards off. I gave him one barrel and saw him fall on 
his back, flutter a moment, and that was his end. As there 
was a barbed wire fence and a dead pine thicket between the 
bird and us, and as the dog had gone on some distance ahead, 
I handed my gun to Mr. Downing, marking with it where 
the bird fell, and went around the thicket to pick up the 
bird. When there where I had marked the spot, I found 
not a Mongolian cock, but a golden cock pheasant shot dead,, 
but stone cold, though evidently killed that day, as his bright 
yellow eye shone clear! Beating the brush thoroughly, 1 
could find no trace of the Mongolian that I knew I had shot, 
and after a long search I was giving it up and coming out, 
when at my feet I saw a bronzed liog-neck shot dead, and 
also stoce cold and stiff! To shoot at one bird and bag two 
others in this manner I guess must "beat the record." 
Is there a harder bird to kill than an old Mongolian cock 
pheasant? I have shot all sorts of birds, from hedge spar- 
rows to goshawks and from the least sandpiper to the tough 
old "honker," and my observation is that an old "ring-ntcK" 
will carry off more shot than any other bird. I have known 
one to take a full load of No. 5 shot, driven by 4drs. Schultze 
powder at iOyds. , set his wings and sail out of sight. I have 
seen a similar shot under similar circumstances apparently 
take effect and the bird lie dead till the dog reached him, 
when he flew, to be knocked down by a charge of BB and 
4drs. of Schultze, and even then he tried to get away. One 
cock that I killed had half a dozen No. 5 shot embedded and 
encysted in his breast close to the bone, which had been 
penetrated by one shot. As for running when wounded, I 
saw a hen run at least SOOyds, with broken leg and wing, 
and we found that she was running on a stump at that, the 
lower leg having been shot clean off. X. Y. Z. 
The Flooded Districts. 
OsKALOosA, la., March 39. — We are having high waters 
all over this part of the country and of course we are having 
a high old time with the ducks. While there are not so 
many as there were in days gone by, there have been a great 
many killed, and unless spring shooting is done away with 
the time will soon come when there will be no ducks. 
J. W. F. 
LtttI/E Rock, Ark., April 2 —The terrific flood in the 
Mississippi has played havoc with the game in the bottom. 
The negroes driven out by the flood are living on the deer 
and turkeys in the same fix, and much of the game has been 
drowned. It will take five years of dry weather in that bot- 
tom to overcome the effects of this flood. 
St. Lours, Mo., April 3. — The abnormally high waters 
continue and the great States of the Southwest are as w-"iter- 
soaked as a full sponge; every rain, and they seem without 
end, rapidly rushes to the rivers, which now are at flood stage 
all over this section Immense damage has been done, and ia 
the game regions of southeast Missouri and along the Missis- 
sippi Biver in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi the de- 
struction of game will be enormous. It was not an uncom- 
mon Bight for railroad engineers to find their tracks covered 
with game which had fled there to escape the flood, but even 
railroad embankments are now covered and the game will 
probably be destroyed. While the floods have been destruc- 
tive in this direction, they have put a stop to all fresh-water 
fishing, and there will probably be most excellent sport in 
this line when the floods subside, which will not be for some 
weeks to come. Every slough, lake and pond has been filled 
with water and fish have been able to ascend to all of them, 
Aberdeen. 
Decoy Stories.— V. 
Jersey City, N. J. — Hearing a noise among our decoys 
while duck shooting last all on Great South Bay, on looking 
we saw that one of om* decoys was missing. The guide and 
I started to investigate, and saw that what he called a sea 
toad had one of our decoys in its mouth; the peculiar 
feature was that the decoy was being swallowed head first. 
In trying to drag decoy, sea toad and all to the boat (for we 
were wading with hip boots, the water being shallow), we 
ran afoul of the other decoys, when the sea toad let go, after 
which there was much lively kicking by the guide, for the 
sea toad was mixed up between his legs. 
The guide said it was the largest one he ever saw, and 
judged it to weigh about loOlbs. He said that in all his 
forty years on the bay he hv.i never seen or heard of such an 
occurrence. 
He showed me a dead one that day as he was poling me 
through the thatches, as I did not get a good look at the one 
in the morning, for he cautioned me to keep clear of it; and 
if what he calls a toadflsh or sea toad is not a brother to the . 
octopus or devilfish, arms and all, then I wish some one 
would enlighten me on that subject. 
I would like to know if this is a common occurrence, for 
I don't think it is or can be without it happening more than , 
once in forty years to an old bayman aa Selah Baldwin, of . 
Seafords, L I., is. Otto Keim, | 
Mongolian Pheasants in Ohio. 
Chief Warden L. H. Reiftinger, of Ohio, writes as to 
Mongolian pheasants: We are having excellent luck with 
the propagation of these noble birds. In our pheasantry at 
Van Wert, 0 , we have several hundred that are now begin- 
ning to lay. l-ast November we distributed 300 of these? 
birds with the best results possible. We have just passed 
through a very rigorous winter without the loss of a single' 
bird; in fact, they are ia better condition than they were last 
fall, and if we have no bad luck we expect to distribute at 
least 800 birds next November. I find where we have liber- 
ated a few pairs of birds in this county in bad weather, or 
when the ground is covered with snow, they get into the 
barnyards of the farmers and feed with the chickens. A& 
the weather gets warmer they do not frequent the barnyard, j 
indicating that if they are liberated and treated properly they J 
will stay on the f ar.ra on wMch they are turned loose.. I 
