Jan. 15, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
sentence according to circumstances. At tifties a prrson 
sentence maj' bring about the best results, while at other 
times a fine would be better justice than an arbitrary 
sentence. 
"You give your judges discretionary powers in impos- 
ing sentence in cases of manslaughter, where a man, 
woman or child is killed, but you make the sentence 
arbitrary in cases of moose slaughter, 
"The next topic to be discussed is, 'Should the Guide 
Law be Repealed?' As it is a new law, it should cer- 
tainly remain in force for a sufficient length of time to 
test its value, and even if it is not perfect in all its de- 
tails, I should say let it remain as it is at least two years 
or more, so that if it is necessarv to make any changes, 
you will be in a position to speak with experience; but I 
will say just a word to the commissioners. Be sure and 
remain broad and generous, so as not to create cliques 
and factions, and, above all, look oul for and grant li- 
censes to the humble as well as to the influential. 
"The next subject we are to take up is, 'Should Non- 
Residents Pay a License for Hunting Maine Game?' My 
answer is most emphatically, 'No.' I have spoken upon 
the same subject once before in this room, and since 
then have examined into it very carefully, and am 
stronger in my opinion to-day than ever before. 
"It seems to me, without going over the same ground 
again, that the visitor from outside the State already 
pays a license under a different name, for, from the time 
he conies into our territory until he leaves, he pays it; 
first to the railroad; then to the hotels, to the merchant, 
to. the guides, and all we give him in return is a few 
fish, which, at a close estimate, cost him $5 each; pos- 
sibly two deer at $50 each, and perhaps a moose at $500, 
good prices for all. As a matter of fact, the most our 
State furnishes is scenery, and we have lots of it, and the 
more contracts we can receive for this kind of merchan- 
dise the better ofi we will be, for we have had it for 
centuries, and will continue to have it for centuries 
more. 
■'Finally, we are confronted with the question, 'Shall 
the State continue to improve its fish and game supply?' 
What better investment can our commonwealth make 
than this? From what source 'can more speedy returns 
be obtained? If the arguments I have advanced are in 
any respect correct, then the answer must be in the 
affirmative. The object of any government, whether lo- 
cal or State, is to make appropriations with benefit in 
the greatest degree to the largest number of people, and 
I have indicated how substantially our citizens are bene- 
fited by the aid the State has given these interests. I 
say, let the good work continue." 
Capt. H. N. Fairbanks believed that the guides' biU 
was a good thing, and thought that the guides liked it. 
He believed that the sportsmen coming into Maine 
should be taxed for taking away the State's property. 
He did not agree with Senator Engel that the sportsmen 
who come here are "squeezed." Tiiey pay che same 
railroad fares and same hotel rates as t'ne resident, and 
he thought they received full value for everything thej' 
paid out. 
Game Commissioner Carleton made some interesting 
remarks on the guides' bill. He said that it took $15,000 
to run the hatcheries, and $10,000 was left for warden 
service. This sum did not begin to pay the wages and 
other bills of the ten wardens employed by the commis- 
sion. 
Mr. Carleton said he did not believe it was possible to 
get an appropriation larger than $25,000. He said that 
the guides during the past year had guided 7,000 non- 
residents and 3,000 residents. At $3 per day they have 
received $117,000 in wages, or an average of $88 to each 
man. According to the guides' report, it shows that 
10,000 deer have been killed in Maine in 1897. There 
were at least 250 moose, 150 caribou and 150 bears killed 
during the three hunting months. The sportsmen who 
have been in Maine this year hunting have spent in round 
numbers about $1,500,000. The guides registered num- 
bered 1,316. Sixty-two persons were refused because 
they were non-residents, but there are some non-resi- 
dents who have licenses that lied to the comruicsion in 
order to get them. 
Mr. Carleton said he believed that every sportsman 
who comes here should be obliged to hire registered 
guides. He said that the game question was held by the 
guides in the palm of their hand. They should let the 
people of Maine as a whole know that they were in- 
terested, and help the commission in carrying out their 
plans. Some guides have written the commission, said 
Mr. Carleton, who were opposed to the measure at first, 
but they were heartily in favor of the bill now. 
Mr. Vickery said that he had heard a good deal about 
the students' case, and he had just a few words to say. 
He was glad that there was humanity enough in the Fish 
and Game Commission not to brand the boys with a 
jail sentence. 
Game Commissioner Oak was not in favor of making 
the sportsman pay a license fee. He thought they paid 
enough for everything they carried away. It was about 
time, too, that this matter died out, and he believed that 
the association should let it drop. 
Ml". Spear said that the gentlemen who made up the 
next Legislature would come pretty near passing a bill 
to make sportsmen pay for the privilege of hunting here. 
The last Legislature came very near passing such a law, 
and it would take some argument besides nonsense to 
make the next Legislature believe that such a bill should 
not be passed. 
Mr. S. L. Crosby of Bangor said that Mr. Spear was 
all right when it came to an argument, but he was on 
the wrong track. Mr. Crosby believed the sportsmen 
paid money enough for what they secured in Maine. He 
thought the guides' bill had been a snccess, and he hoped 
it would be a greater one next season. 
Mr. W. L. Miller believed that if the slaughter of game 
continued the State would be without its game in a few 
years. 
Mr. A. J. Darling of Enfield thought that the increase 
could not be killed in any year. 
Mr. J. S. Rowe was not in favor of making sportsmen 
pay a license fee for hunting in Maine. 
The plural of quail is quail. 
The Game of Alaska* 
Juneau, Dec. 13. — While all eyes arc now turned on 
;\laska it is well to remember that there is more that glit- 
ters besides gold, for, aside from the brilliant metal that 
lies buried beneath its surface, there exists a rich field 
for the nauralists, a host of sport for the hunter, ganty 
fish for the angler and a variety of fur-bearing animals 
that for numbers and quality far surpass that of any 
other country. 
It may not be generally understood that Alaska, as 
well as being the home of myriads of water fowl, is teem- 
ing during the summer months with all the bird life of 
the midland region. Thrushes, robins, swallows, spar- 
rows and humming birds abound in all suitable places. 
In addition to these are the native species, the rock and 
willow ptarmigans and sooty grouse. 
In the interior are found the black spi-ucc partridge 
and in a few localities the ruffed grouse, but no quail 
of any kind. Ducks are abundant in all the waters, both 
iresh and salt. The rare emperor goose is found on the 
fiats of the great Yukon, while further up the stream 
is the breeding place of countless geese of other va- 
rieties as well as swan. Bald eagles are everywhere nu- 
merous along the coast. Their hu.ge nests are a promi- 
nent feature of many of the little islands scattered about. 
The Alaska bird has just been separated into a new 
variety by the scientists at Wasliington, and is now 
known as the Alaska bald eagle owing to a difference 
in the shape and size of the bill and legs and the amount 
of white on the head. Owing to the bird not assuming 
the white head and tail till after three years of age many 
people believe the young black birds to be of a different 
species, even declaring that they have seen young eagles 
in the nest with white heads. Others maintain that the 
head of a bald eagle is "bald" of all feathers. I found it 
difficult to convince them to the contrary, even with 
specimens, they maintaining that "'in the East they are 
bald anyway." Such people also believe that porcupines 
throw their quills. 
The great stretch of country comprising Alaska har- 
bors much game; many kinds abundant at some places 
are unknown in other places. For instance, no deer are 
found on the mainland owing to the many wolves that 
drive them to the smaller islands, and even then they 
are of peculiar distribution, some sections having no deer 
whatever. Probably the best deer country in Alaska is 
the Prince of Wales archipelago. They are also plentiful 
near Sitka, not so in the vicinity of Juneau, and a few 
about Wrangel. They remain high up in the mountains 
the year round, reaching the beach only in case ex- 
cessive snow falls in the woods. The bucks drop their 
horns about the last 0f the year. 
Mountain goats are found most everywhere on the 
main, and where the mountains are high and bare- — the 
vicinity of a glacier is a favorite ground of theirs. The 
meat of the old "Billys" and "Nannies" is strong and 
seldom eaten; the flesh of the kids is better, with a flavor 
like mutton. 
Mountain sheep are found only far in the interior 
among the rocky canyons of the large rivers. Three va- 
rieties exist in this country, the ordinary species of the 
Rocky Mountains, a new variety known as Stone's moun- 
tain sheep, that inhabit the Stickeen River country, dif- 
fering from the former in' the much darker coloration 
and with a difference in the curvature of the horns, and 
another very rare form, a light colored sheep from the 
headwaters of the Kenni River, in the Cook Inlet coun- 
try. 
Musk ox are not found in Alaska; they inhabit the 
barren grounds of Northwest Canada, and are a very 
rare animal. Moose are found in the interior, but not 
near the coast, except around Cook Inlet. 
Caribou are plentiful up the Stickeen River, in the flat 
barren countrj' of its headwaters. 
Bears of many kinds are found. Small black bears on 
the islands, keeping well in the thick woods, coming 
down to the beach and the fresh" water streams during 
the salmon run, living on the fish for a month or two, 
becoming very fat, but owing to their diet are unfit for 
food. Brown bears that attain a great size and are very 
formidable inhabit the mainland near the coast. Hunters 
have the utmost respect for this powerful brute, whose 
vitality is fully equal to that of the grizzly, and their 
capture should only be attempted with a gun of known 
killing qualities, a favorite weapon in this country being 
the .30cal. smokeless Marlin rifle. With one of these 
guns a man is fairly safe to tackle this animal, for the 
destructive power of this modern weapon is something 
marvelous. I have seen a small black bear shot in the 
side with a soft-nose bullet that, in passing out, carried 
the bone of the shoulder, together with the surround- 
ing flesh and skin, completely away. And I have fre- 
quently seen the effect on deer. In one instance a buck 
shot in the nose, as it faced the shooter, had the base 
of the skull, together w.ith both horns, blown out. Other 
deer shot in the head, the bullet striking no heavy 
bones, would so completely shatter everything inside as 
to leave the skin of the head hanging like a sack. 
On the Alaskan peninsulas and Kodiak Island is found 
the largest bear in existence — the huge fish-eating Ko- 
diak bear. And among the snow-clad mountains of the 
mainland is a bear of uniform bluish-gray, that is known 
to hunters, but not mentioned, I believe, in natural his- 
tories. 
Polar bears can hardly be said to inhabit Alaska,' al- 
though they are occasionally taken in the vicinity of 
Point Barrow, at the extreme north. 
Rabbits of any kind are unknown on the islands, while 
on the mainland they are uncertain, common at times 
and vanishing as if by a plague at others. They are 
mostly white hares with immense feet, known as snow- 
shoe jacks. 
Alaska salmon are famous. The life history of the 
fish has long been surrounded with mystery, however. 
That they should leave the stream of their birth and 
remain in the depths of the sea for two years and return 
to spawn and die, seems inconsistent, but this appears 
to be the conclusion at which fish men have arrived. 
Experiments have also been made at hatcheries, where 
yearling fish were liberated, bearing silver tags, that 
have returned two years later, fully grown, to the orig- 
inal stream. This interesting experiment has tempted 
many concerns to erect hatcheries near the works, where 
the constant drain on the supply has lessened the num- 
ber of fish caught each sea,son. Probably one of the 
most wasteful methods is the practice of putting up 
bellies, where two-thirds of the fish is thrown away. 
The fur-bearing animals are many. First in impor- 
tance, of course, is the fur seal, the protection of which 
has growu to be an international question, and while 
three governments wrangle over the matter the 'question 
is gradually being settled by the extermination of the 
seals themselves. That all the fur seals of the world 
should congregate at the little Pribyloff Islands to breed 
IS their misfortune, for even those that pass safely 
through the gauntlet of sealers and natives that line the 
route north from their summer sojourn in the warm 
seas are here still denied a place of refuge in which to 
rear their young. The latest move for their protection 
has been the branding of all female seals, in hopes of 
making the skins unsalable, thereby protecting her and 
her unborn young, a proceeding the worth of which is 
yet to be proven. 
Sea otter remain in the open sea the year round, but 
always have been a rare fur, and are growing scarcer 
every year. Government experts estimate that leSs than 
1,000 sea otter now exist in Alaskan waters. < 
Land otter and mink are plentiful on the islands and 
martens on the mainland. 
Beaver are found as a rtile on the mainland, in the 
headwaters cf the larger streams. 
As a general thing, foxes are not niimerous, a few reds 
on the mainland, the white fo.x in the extreme north 
and the rare black fox in the interior. — Geo. C. Canlwell 
in Taconta Ledger. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Chicago, Jan. 8. — It is stated that the United States 
agent sent to Norway for the purpose of securing rein - 
deer for a Klondike relief expedition has discovered that 
he cannot pack very many reindeer in a car unless he 
cuts off their horns. It was decided to use reindeer be- 
cause they can live on moss en route down to Yukon. 
If yoir cut off the nice frontal plow which the reindeer 
has been some thousands of years in developing, how 
is he going to dig out his moss from under a few feet 
of snow? But, meantime, the reports from Klondike 
seem to run to the effect that the men there do not need 
any rescuing. .So I presume this thing will be all right, 
although at first I was afraid the United States Govern- 
ment was going to be confronted with a lot of sore-nosed 
deer. 
The annual meeting of the National Game, Bird and 
Fish Protective Association will be held at St. Louis, 
Mo., Feb. 10. President Lakee hopes for a good at- 
tendance. 
The Interstate Convention of Wardens at Chicago, 
Feb. 7, still bids fair to prove of interest. The Fish Com- 
mission of Wisconsin have determined to be present. I 
have already mentioned the strong delegation chosen for 
Minnesota, and have stated that State Warden Bowers 
of North Dakota would be here. The interest seems of 
a quiet but very determined sort. A good meeting is 
expected. 
The State Game and Fish Commission of CaUfornia is 
purchasing Mongolian pheasants in numbers in Oregon 
for the purpose of stocking California. 
The Mongolian pheasants ttumed loose by Oshkosh, 
Wis., sportsmen. a year ago are doing well. Some of 
them have been seen near Omro. The present winter is 
mild, but even were it much more rigorous, it is thought 
the birds would hold their own very well. 
A blanket license law is one of the possibilities of the 
next session of the Wisconsin Legislature. I trust it 
will not cover up so great a. multitude of sins as the 
present non-resident deer license law. Let me again call 
attention to the striking fact that only thirty men from 
outside Wisconsin hunted deer there this fall! 
Lake Poygan Gun Club of Chicago held its annual 
meeting at the Sherman House, this city, last Thurs- 
day afternoon, and elected the following officers for the 
ensuing year: President, Sheriff James Pease; Vice-Presi- 
dent, R. R. Clark; Treasurer, S. A. Goss. The president, 
vice-president and Mr. E. W. Murphy will be the Board 
of Directors. The preserves of this club are located on 
Lake Poygan, one of the famous Wisconsin ducking 
regions, and the club holdings are some 8,000 acres. 
Judges Sears, Adams and Windes of the x\ppellate Court 
are among the membership of seventy prominent Sports- 
men. 
Messrs. C. A. Warner, William E. Noyes, R. M. Jes- 
sup and W. F. Lasker, hailing from New York, stopped 
at Chicago this week on their way west to Alaska, on a 
hunting expedition. They expect to sail from Seattle 
Jan. 9. They expect to be gone a 5^ear, but disclaim in- 
tention of hunting gold. They will return by the over- 
land route, east of the mountains, and via Edmonton. 
Qtiail. 
The big Flora quail case, by which Warden Loveday 
secured so heavy a conviction for illegal shipping of 
Illinois game, is being followed up in Jeft"erson county 
vigorously and successfully. The violations of the law 
there have been flagrant, A new device in game shipping 
was this week discovered at Mt. Vernon. A box of 
game, purporting to contain rabbits, was opened, and 
thirty-one rabbits were found. Each rabbit had had the 
entrails removed, and then been carefully stuffed with 
quail, ninety-one quail being found thus prepared for 
smuggling. This box was at the Adams Express Com- 
pany'^, but its shipper was not found. It is said that 
over 100 arrests will be made in that vicinity. Local 
express agents are accused of winking at the violations 
of the law. 
At Charleston, III., and vicinity the weather has been 
bad for quail, a coating 'of ice having covered up the 
food. Flundreds of quail have perished, and the stock 
will be cut down badly for some time. 
In Scioto county, Ohio, illegal quail shooting has been 
going on. Last week A. Glockner, of Fremont, went 
out and killed one bird. It cost him $25 and costs. 
At Cape Girardeau, 111., last week Warden Burford ar- 
rested H, C, Gillam, agent of the Western Poultry and 
