Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
\ NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JANUARY IB, 1898 
Terms, $4 a Yeak. ro 
Six Months, 
Cts. a Copy. 
( VOL. L.-No. 3. 
1 No. 346 Broadway, New VokK. 
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might he interested in a current copy of the Forest and 
Steeam. We shall be glad to forward, a specimen numher 
to any person 'whose address may be furnished us for that 
purpose. 
Until within the present generation Americans 
only hunted higf game if they were frontier set- 
tlers^ professional trappers, Southern planters, army 
officers or explorers. The people of the cities of 
the old States were bred in the pleasingf faith that 
anything: unconnected with business was both a 
waste of time and presumably immoral* Those 
who traveled went to Europe instead of to the 
Rocky Mountains. Theodore Roosevelt. 
MAKING THE MOST OF IT. 
It is a wise and comfortable philosophy that teaches 
us to make the most of what we have, and be content 
therewith; to accept thankfully the small things that are 
at hand rather than weary our hearts with longing for the 
greater things which we cannot reach, 
If we cannot have the loaf, let us eat the crust, and be 
assured that with a healthy appetite we shall find it sweet 
and wholesome. 
If the land of large game and the rivers of the salmon 
are as far from us as the sunset and the sunrise, and 
there are many lions in the long paths that lead to them, 
there are pleasant, if narrower, fields and woods and 
bright waters nearer td us that we have overlooked 
when our eyes were on the glorified peaks and the gilded 
clouds. 
Let us school our desires to model ation, and learn to 
be satisfied with whatever these limited hunting grounds 
may give us, and they will surprise us with their bounty. 
We may study the book of Nature the closer when the 
pages are few and always at hand. 
Gilbert White found an ample field of observation in 
his own parish, and Thoreau discovered more in the 
fenced acres of Concord woodland and in its tamed river 
than in the vast forests and wild streams of Maine. 
In truth, a man may see much of nature without trav- 
eling far, for she will reveal herself, in some degree, to 
whoever approaches as a true lovei% for many of her 
charms need only the eye of love to see them, and to 
such an ear she gives the music of her voices. .She dis- 
plays charms that never grow old in all time nor stale 
with continual presentation — the budding and bursting 
of leaf and flower, their growth and change, the gorgeous 
ripening, the dun decay, the ghosts of , shrubs and trees — 
specters', but never repulsive, always graceful and virile 
with promise of resurrection, and over all these changes 
the sun, the blue sky and painted clouds, or the gray and 
somber canopy; through all, the perpetual shifting of 
light and shade. 
For him who listens, without far seeking, are the 
songs of the wind among the trees, of the rushing brooks, 
of ripples kissing pebbly shores, of birds that woo their 
mates, the shrilling and droning of innumerable insects, 
all in most harmonious discord. 
If we may not content ourselves with the gentle sports- 
<nanship which needs not blood to satisfy it, we may at 
least imitate it in our moderation. The skill to find game 
comes with a knowledge of its habits, and is a finer art 
than the skill required to kill it. The scarcer and warier 
the game, the subtiler must be the woodcraft, while a 
moderation in killing is enforced that, if practiced in the 
days of abundance, would have preserved it. 
One may have but little to show for his skill with 
tlie gun, and yet be the skillfullest of hunters. It is a 
greater achievement to see the partridge drum, or the 
woodcock probe the swamp mold, or to catch the wild 
duck asleep, each in its fancied seclusion, than to bring 
down game from its startled flight, as the mere marksman 
may by the score in a battue. One so finding his game 
may take home with him something sweeter and more 
enduring than its flesh, solHetlling' finer thati its pltiriiage, 
may take from the mink, the muskhit and the unseen 
otter a richer spoil than their fur, in some secret of their 
lives, and yet, if he will, leave them and the wild world 
no poorer fof all he takes. 
But if, after all such philosophising, we cannot be con- 
tent without tangible trophies, let us be assured that a 
little well earned is to be valued more than cheaply 
gained superfluity, and so be satisfied. 
If we may not have salmon nor trout nor grayling, nor 
so much as bass, there are pickerel and perch and bream 
in the streams we know. The fewer tliey are, the warier 
and the greater the skill that is needed to take them, and 
the greater the triumph of capture, and, between bites, 
the more time for contemplation, which is a part of the 
true angler's pastime. Let us be content if . it. is, the 
larger part, and so in all our recreations make the most 
and the best of what is vouchsafed us. 
WOLVES AND BOUNTIES. 
TuE practical results of offering bounties for the de- 
struction of noxious animals have often been discussed in 
Forest and Stream, and many facts bearing on this 
question have been given. It is evident, however, that 
the legislators of some of the Western States have still 
much to learn on this subject. In certain States the 
lesson on the bounty question has been thoroughly 
taught by the practical bankruptcy of more than one 
county treasury, while in others instruction is still go- 
ing on, and the taxpayers are footing the tuition bills, 
which are often heavy. 
For example. North Dakota has a wolf bounty law, 
which was passed at the earnest solicitation of the stock- 
men, whose herds had suffered seriously from depreda- 
tions by wolves. At the last session of the Legislature 
an appropriation of $12,000 was made, which, it was sup- 
posed, would suffice to pay all the bounties called for 
during the next two years, or until the Legislature 
should meet again. This expectation has not been fifl- 
fiUed, and it is stated that since the appropriation became 
available certificates amounting- to $18,000 in excess of 
the sum provided have been issued. This makes a total 
of $30,000 to be paid by the State, and at $3 per head 
would account for 10,000 wolves. Most of these certifi- 
cates are said to come from the western counties of the 
State, and after these the northern tier of counties fur- 
nishes the greatest number. It is said that in each of 
two or three counties more than 1,000 certificates have 
been issued, and that a single individual^ — said to be the 
champion wolf killer of the State — holds 300 certificates 
representing his OAvn captures. The most successful 
method of wolf killing practiced in North Dakota is by 
the use of dogs, and the bounty is said to be paid only 
on big wolves. 
In Kansas there is also a wolf bounty law, paid chiefly 
on coyotes, which are numerous there. It is reported 
that most of the bounties are collected in the southern 
counties, and that the animals on which the certificates 
are issued are for the most part killed in Oklahoma or 
in the Indian Territory. 
Setting aside altogether the question as to Avhether 
noxious animals can be exterminated b}' means of boun- 
ties — which has been pretty clearly shown to be more 
than doubtful — the examples from North Dakota and 
Kansas, just cited, very clearly show the futility of an ef- 
fort by a single State to rid itself of wolves in this way. 
Even if all men were honest and all the wolves in the 
State pa3dng the bounty should be killed, its territory 
would be constantly invaded b" wolves from adjacent 
States, and the work of keeping them down would never 
end. Besides, this method puts a premium on perjury, 
and for this reason alone it is against public policy. 
SNAP SHOTS. 
One would not need to go back more than a dozen 
years to find in these columns some pretty hard things 
written of Jonathan Darling, and if one were then to 
follow later references to him a change of tone 
might be discovered. This was due, not so much to any 
intended or conscious extenuation of his attitude, ab- 
stractly, toward the game laws, as it was to a better 
understanding of the man and his motives. Darling's 
life spanned a period of transition in the Maine woods. 
Born at a time and "lii a place where hunting moose for 
their skins- "Wis unrestrained, and with rto notion of the 
justice of any restraint, he found it difficult to adapt him- 
self in thought, conviction and conduct to the new order 
of things. For years the name of Jock Darling was 
synonymous in public repute with game law defiance 
and violation. His attitude was, mistaken, ill-advised 
and utterly wrong; that was plain, and it was easy for 
the world to censure it. But in time it came, to be un- 
derstood that Darling was no worse than many other 
people, not indeed so blameworthy as the men from 
the cities — clergymen, lawyers, society men and other§ — 
wliona he guided in their illicit expeditions. Darling had 
the courage of his convictions; he talked and wrote as 
he believed, and as he carried out his belief in action. 
There was no preaching one thing and practicing an- 
other with him; he might be an " oittlaw," but he was not 
a hypocrite. It was this phase of his character which made 
friends for him. People found much in him to admire and 
respect, and they liked him better the better they knew 
him. This was not to condone the lawlessness of the 
out-of-season market hunter; it was a recognition of 
sterling qualities of character and agreeable personal 
traits in the guide arid woods companion. That those 
who went into the Maine wilderness with . Jonathan 
Darling esteemed it a privilege if they might repeat the 
experience is as complete a tribute to his character as 
need be written. 
In spite of the exposure of the unfitness of. the West 
Virginia Senator's man for the place of United States 
Fish Commissioner, and notwithstanding that the statute 
expressly bars him, it is understood that President Mc- 
Kinley adheres to his determination of making the sur- 
prising nomination. Political expediency, we are told, 
prompts the act. It may explain, but it cannot justify, 
the gross betrayal of public interests, and the prostitution 
of an important office to subserve partisan plans. Presi- 
dent McKinley can plead ignorance neither of the re- 
quirements of the place he proposes to hand over to Mr. 
Elkins's man, nor of Mr. Elkins's man's want of qualifi- 
cation for the place. 
The Washington correspondent of the New York Mail 
and Express relates that the West Virginia aspirant re- 
cently went down to the Fish Commissioner's office, 
and, Commissioner Brice happening to be absent that 
day, the candidate walked into his office, took his seat in 
his chair, and began to survey his surroundings. His 
actions attracted attention, and when asked what he 
wanted, he replied that, as he was going to be appointed 
Commissioner, he wanted to see what kind of a place it 
was, and how he would like the office. 
This is, of course, grotesque, but there is another side 
to the humor of the situation. A public officer who 
receives such a place as his share of the political spoils 
will carry out the administration ol the office in the 
same spirit. Mr. Bowers has already promised his 
friends places in the Commission to supplant the pres- 
ent eflicient chiefs of departments. The demoralization 
of the Commission has already begun. 
Sevei-al of the State Fish Commissioners will be rep- 
resented at the Fishery Congress, which is to be held 
at Tampa, Fla., Jan. 19 to 26. Gov. Black has named 
as delegates from New York Mr. Warren N. God- 
dard and Dr. T. H. Bean, of this city; ex-Senator 
McArthur, of Troy; Commissioners C. H. Babcock, of 
Rochester, and Edward Thompson, of Northport, and 
State Fishculturist A. N. Cheney. A number of papers 
will be read, dealing largely with the sea fisheries. 
Wakeman Llolberton died suddenly of apoplexy, at 
his home in Hackensack, N. J., on Jan. /, aged fifty-eight. 
Mr. Holberton was one of the best known sportsmen 
and anglers in the country, and had traveled extensively 
over the United States and the British provinces in pur- 
suit of iiis favorite sports. He was an accomplished ar- 
tist, his work relating chiefly to game and fish, in the 
delineation of which he was so skillful as to win a high 
place of merit. Mr. Holberton was a member of the New 
York Association for the Protection of Fish and Game, 
and was always an earnest and active promoter of pro- 
tective interests. He was a frequent contributor to 
Forest and Stream arid other publications. He was an 
admirable companion and a charming person to listen, 
to as he related his rich reminiscences of field and 
" stream. 
