186 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March s, 1898^ 
Massachusetts Rod and Gun Club, 
The Secretary's BuDetin. 
Boston, Feb; 10. — The last bulletin was dated Oct. 6; 
but although there are many things to tell, this one 
will be cut as close as possible, that members may read 
it through. 
As was stated in our last report, the trial of Everett 
Horton came off Oct. 12, and his fine of $40 and costs 
probably cut his net profits for the season considerably. 
He entered an appeal, but afterward paid his fine; we 
think he saved money thereb}^ 
- At North Easton last year's experience was not suffi- 
cient. Mr. Mackay has different ideas about game war- 
dens who use the Wood roads now, and it cost him $20 
besides court expenses. 
We had hoped to write of another party, but can only 
say that we met our match. It was a drawn game, how- 
ever, as they abandoned their snares. 
Since the annual meeting the cold weather and snow 
closed the time when snaring could be done, and your 
warden, although constantlj'^ on duty, had no special 
work to do until Jan. 12, Avhen, in response to three 
appeals from different persons to stop the killing ille- 
gally of black duck in Plymouth Bay, he started for a 
trip among the ice cakes. Jan. 18 was cold on the 
bay, but Shute and Caswell found it colder and more 
chilly than their native New Hampshire hills on Thurs- 
day, the 27th, for $10 each and costs was the verdict. 
The annual meeting of the club was held on Thurs- 
day, Dec. 2, at Young's Hotel, President William Minot 
presiding. The treasurer reported: Balance on hand 
Jan. I, 1897, $441.02; received from assessments, $900; 
received from Medfbrd Shooting Club, $26.39; total re- 
ceipts, $1,367.41. Disbursements: Printing, stationery, 
etc., $25,89; legal expenses, $69,50; railroad tickets, 
two at $20, $40; warden's wages, $675; total, $810.39. 
Balance Nov, 28, 1897, $557,02, The secretary reported 
the past year has been one of prosperity, encouragement, 
work and success. Our membership is now 116. 
During the year we have added thirty-seven new mem- 
bers, and nine have resigned. 
Our club has lost,- through death, Mr, Francis Tuck- 
erman, Mr, Thomas Nelson and Col. William H, Forbes 
— all true sportsmen who joined our cKtb to help on a 
good work. 
We have been interested in five cases of violation of 
the fish and game laws, and conviction has followed in 
every case, with a total of fines of $510. 
Besides the above, in two cases it seemed best 
not to press law beyond true justice. The first was a 
case of partridges after Jan. i, it being plainly shown that 
they were sliot in open season in another State and taken 
home by a sportsman for personal use; the other, of 
one quail shot by a boy in the summer. Probably they 
will be more careful of the law in the future. 
Also, over forty men found in the country with rods 
or guns have been cautioned and followed till they left 
for home. 
In addition to members' subscriptions, our club has 
been honored by gifts of $23.69 from the Medford Sport- 
ing Club, and $10 from Plon. E. D. Buffington, Com- 
missioner of Inland Fisheries and Game. We hope to 
appreciate and use these well; also to deserve and re- 
ceive others still. 
Our warden has worked hard and well, and has ac- 
complished much, only a very small portion of which 
can be shown by bare recital of results. He has been 
at work constantly, has visited almost every township 
in the State east of Worcester, besides many others west 
of that city, and has dealt a blow to professional snar- 
ing which will show for years. If the work is continued 
and our stand of the past two years maintained, in a 
couple of years wholesale professional snaring will be 
dead. 
We have run the club on "business principles; " we 
are respected both b}^ sportsmen and by law-breakers; 
and the support given us by members and the public 
show plainly that our methods and work are appreci- 
ated. We entered our work with the promise that we 
would work first, talk afterward. I believe we have kept 
our first promise, and will leave the rest for others. 
The following list of officers was tmanimously elect- 
ed: President, C. P. Curtis, Jr.; Vice-Presidents, Wil- 
liam Minot, John Fottler, Jr., Henry J. Thayer; Secre- 
tary, Walter C. Baylies; Treasurer, William N. Lock- 
wood; Membership Committee, Edw. M. Weld, Wil- 
liam C. Thairlwall, William H. Aspinwall. 
It was voted that at present the club consider that its 
work is in the field and not in the State House; that 
we use the tools provided for us, only hoping that the 
Legislature in its wisdom may give us better laws to 
work with and to enforce. 
Henry J, Thayer, Sec'y pro tem. 
That Denver Barbecue. 
Editor Forest- and Stream: 
In your issue of Feb. 5 it was stated that the National 
Stock Growers' Association at its recent barbecue in 
Denver advertised to serve buffalo, elk, antelope, moun- 
tain sheep and quail, and that the press dispatcbes said 
that such game was served in large quantities. 
This statement is erroneous, so far as the previous 
advertisement by the Association is concerned. The 
newspaper reporters so advertised, but without author- 
ity. They are also responsible for the subsequent asser- 
tion that the game was served. The fact is that several 
half-breed buffalo, a bear and some "possums" were 
served, which was as near to -serving "game" as they 
came. 
We have some very active reporters in Denver, who 
do not always hesitate to elongate facts when they can 
make a sensation by so doing. They did this both in 
regard to the serving of game and as to the rush at the 
barbecue when one of the tables broke down; an af- 
fair which was not only greatly magnified here, but 
grew in magnitude, as it traveled eastward. 
'These reporters are mostly young men from the East, 
and are at first so affected by the altitude that it is 
doubtful if any of them would be able to detect the 
difference between a Fort Collins lamb and a moun- 
tain sheep, if properly dressed and cooked. 
The game law has been better enforced in Colorado 
during the past season than ever before, and it is quite 
certain that if it had been violated at the barbecue the 
Commissioner would not have overlooked it. There has 
been no game in the market this past season, and the 
small quantity served at the hotels, and which was im- 
ported by them direct, has got them into trouble. 
If the hotel keepers could look ahead a little bit, they 
would see that if the game is protected until it in- 
creases there may come a time when it will be plenty 
enough to serve occasionally in hotels, whereas if the 
extermination for market continues it will be a very 
few years only when the annihilation will be complete, 
and it will not again be seen either at hotels or on 
private tables. D. C. Beaman, 
Dknver, Col., Feb, 22, 
United States Fish Commission and Game. 
The House Committee on Marine and Fisheries has 
reported favorably on the measure introduced by Mr, 
Lacey, of Iowa, to add to the scope of the Fish Com- 
mission by authorizing it to introduce and propagate 
game in the several States. The report, which was 
presented on Feb. 23, reads: 
The Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fish- 
eries, having had under consideration House Bill No, 
3,589, recommend tliat it do pass without amendment. 
The Commission of Fish and Fisheries has been in 
existence for many years, and its operations have been 
in a high degree successful and to the great advantage 
of the people, Manj'- streams that formerl}^ teemed 
with fish had become almost or quite barren. New 
stock has been introduced, and the various States, rec- 
ognizing the mistakes of the past, have enacted suitable 
laws for the protection of fish, and a healthy public sen- 
timent has been created for their preservation and propa- 
gation. 
The destruction among the game and other useful 
birds has been even more ruinous than that which has 
overtaken our fishes, and State laws for their further 
protection have been very generally enacted. The de- 
sire for restocking fields and forests is quite general, 
and with the machinery now in the control of the Fish 
Commission great good could be done with but a 
moderate expenditure of money. The bill has been 
submitted to the late Fish Commissioner, and he has 
expressed his warm approA'al of its provisions. 
It is believed that birds may be successfully trans- 
ferred from one part of the country to another, and there 
propagated and extinction of valuable species retarded or 
prevented. The beautiful and valuable grouse, no-vv so 
plentiful in Oregon, could no doubt be successfully in- 
troduced into North Carolina and Virginia. The 
prairie chicken, which is becoming very scarce in the 
Northwest, would be welcomed with friendly enthusi- 
asm in Eastern States, where it is now wholly unknown. 
Birds introduced by the National Government, it is 
believed, would be protected by quite a different state 
of public opinion from that which has prevailed as to 
birds introduced by private individuals or shooting- 
clubs. The wild pigeon, once so abundant, has been 
practically if not totally exterminated, and many of our 
most valued feathered friends are becoming so scarce 
as to lead to fears of their early extinction. Interest 
manifested by the Federal Government in the further 
preservation and propagation of birds will go very far 
toward a creation of that healthy public sentiment with- 
out which all protective laws are inoperative. 
The farmers generally have become earnestly inter- 
ested in bird protection, and the interest in the subject 
is no longer confined to sporting clubs, but the general 
usefulness of bird-life has become more fully under- 
stood by all people. 
The proposition of the bill does not involve the crea- 
tion of new officials nor large expenditures, but only au- 
thorizes an existing commission to perform additional 
duties, and the question as to the amount of expendi- 
tures for such purpose will always be iinder the direct 
control of Congress. 
The future continuance of the efforts contemplated by 
the bill will depend upon the annual appropriations, 
which may be larger or smaller, as experience shall 
demonstrate to be wise. 
Your committee heartily concur in recommending the 
passage of the bill. 
Nigkt Gunners in Maryland and Virgima 
Waters. 
Stockton, Worcester County, Md., Feb. 21. — Editor 
Forest and Stream: I inclose 3'ou a clipping from the 
Virginia Enterprise, the county paper of Accomac 
county, Va. ; this county joins our county, Worces- 
ter, which is the last on the eastern shore of Maryland; 
"Wild geese and redhead ducks never were so plen- 
tiful as this year in our waters. Our sportsmen are 
making from $20 to $30 in a day and night. We do 
not say how they are doing it." 
In last week's issue of Forest and Stream was an 
article on the fine shooting in Chincoteague Bay, dated 
Jan. 31 of this year. It, has about the same news as the 
Enterprise item, but fails tp end with the same honest 
statement. 
Now, for the benefit of the readers of Forest and 
Stream, and also the vigilant game wardens, whose 
meetings we hear so much of in our paper, I will state 
that nearly all the ducks, geese and brant are shot at 
night with the use of lights of various kinds. The 
gunners themselves make no secret of it. Any of them 
will tell you how many shots they had, and the largest 
kill at one shot. During the full moon of the first two 
weeks of this month you could stand on my porch and 
count four, five, six, and even as high as nine, lights 
at one time. So anxious were they to get to work that 
the sun would hardly be down before the twinkle of 
lights could be seen; and this was kept up all night, 
as long as a duck could be found on the water. Night 
after night this goes on, not only this year, but every 
year; although I must say I never saw so much of it, or 
such open work, as this spring. I am told that there 
is a game warden on Chincoteague Island, where the 
most of the ducks are sold; but I cannot think this is 
true, for the shooting is done so near the island that 
even with cotton in his ears he could not shut out the 
roar of the guns. Nor is this the only place, for the 
captains of our oyster boats tell of this night shoot- 
ing all up and down the coast; yet I never heard of an 
arrest. 
You cannot say in this case, inform on them, like 
illegal quail shooters. This needs no information; every 
one who has eyes to see, and ears to hear, knows of it. 
The ducks are brought in and sold, and the trip is 
talked ol openly and without reserve; and as you see, 
even the papers write about it. 
As for the fowl laws of the Eastern Shore coast of 
Maryland and Virginia, they are a farce, and the local 
game wardens are either wooden men or are in it them- 
selves. I have always been a law-abiding _citizen, obey- 
ing our game laws to the letter. With one exception 
I am the only one here who has always stood out firm; 
but I am tired of it. Last fall I saw the quail slaught- 
ered for three weeks before the law opened, and never 
fired a shot. Last summer I saw the black ducks shot 
in August and September, and now I see the fowl all 
driven away, or so wild you cannot get a shot over de- 
coys. Now mark my word, if this goes on next year, 
with no hindrance from State or county, you can just 
depend that fellow Foulks has a lantern, and is work- 
ing it for all it is worth. O. D. Foulks. 
Maine Snows and Maine Deer. 
Boston, Feb, 28, — Reports continue to come in of 
terribly deep snows in Maine, and that the deer are suf- 
fering for want of food. One hunter writes from Pisca- 
taquis county that the snow is more than 5ft. deep. An- 
other report from the upper Kennebec says that the 
snow is the deepest for thirteen years, and that there is 
no chance for big game to exist. Then, worse than the 
deep snow, there is no doubt that a great many poach- 
ers are after the deer. A report says th^t the Commis- 
sioners have just sent out circular letters to the 1,490 
registered Maine guides, asking them to do all in their 
power to protect the game, which is entirely at the 
meixy of the poachers. I am inclined to believe that 
the reports of the destruction of deer by poachers is true, 
for I have come across several saddles of freshly killed 
venison in the places of receivers in the Boston markets. 
These receivers and marketmen will not disclose the 
names of the shippers of the deer, though admitting that 
they must have been illegally killed, and that "they came 
from down East by schooner." One receiver admitted 
to me that there were a good many more coming than 
I had seen; that "it is a shame to kill them when they 
are so thin and poor; they bring next to nothing," It 
is a shame that this illegal shipping of game to Boston 
by schooners and other small coasters cannot be stopped. 
No railroad or respectable express company, by water 
or otherwise, will forward game out of Maine illegally, 
I believe that the settlements along the coast, particu- 
larly in Washington county, are mainly responsible. 
I have seen a letter from a guide in the Rangeley re- 
gion, written a few days ago. He had just been into 
camp to put in wood and ice. He says: "Talk about 
deer! They have yarded right back of your camp; a 
lot of them. We saw them almost every day. They 
come right down around the camp and wood shed. The 
wire fence you had around the garden to keep the rab- 
bits out, the deer have broken all down." The owner 
of this camp got two fine deer last fall simply by being 
oitt with riflcf in hand in the morning; all he desired, 
even had the law allowed him a dozen. The remarkable 
feature is that a few years ago there were very few deer 
in that section. Special. 
Brewer, Me., Feb, 26. — Editor Forest and Stream: I 
suppose you may wish to know the truth about how our 
large game is faring in this deep snow. What one reads 
in the papers is no more reliable than the Cuban re- 
ports. The most who write for the papers have not 
been in the woods, and simply lie for the sake of seeing 
what people can be made to believe. I think that our 
large game has suffered very little, except from incon- 
venience in getting around. One correspondent writes 
terrible stories of great slaughter of deer and moose in 
Washington county. As there is record of only one soli- 
tary moose being seen in Washington county for several 
years, one can judge of the truth of the other part. The 
fact is, Maine people do not hunt in these deep snows 
for fun. The skins of good fall deer are utterly un- 
salable now. They cannot be sold here at 10 cents each. 
Winter skins could not be given away. Any fair hunter 
can kill deer much easier on light snow than in deep 
snow, unless he uses a dog. The moose are very well 
looked after, and there is no danger of any one killing 
caribou. 
There is simply no object in killing, except for meat to 
eat. Some will be killed for this purpose, as many back 
settlers are literally snowed in, and will suffer for food. 
'The only case I know surely of a deer being killed was 
that an Indian killed one for food. There were fifteen 
in the family, and very little to eat. The wardens ar- 
rested him, but he was not fined, as he ought not to have 
been, for the State would have had to feed the family. 
The amount of game killed this year has been greatly 
overstated — purposely. The railroad fall report gave as 
shipped deer 3,058, moose 100, caribou 64. A great many 
of these are counted twice- — two saddle counts, and then 
the head is counted. Also, New Brunswick moose are 
counted which pass this way, and New Brunswick, 
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland caribou heads which are 
received for mounting in Bangor all count. The rail- 
road shipment embraces about all the deer killed by 
guides and hunters near the railroad, and lots sent to 
market. Very few deer are eaten in the woods. The 
forequarters are eaten and saddles saved. 
There is one point overlooked — the wounded which 
die. I believe that 5,000 will more than cover every deer 
killed and secured in this State; I think it too large an 
estimate; but certainly t,ooo is low enough for the 
wounded, a large part of which die. The count of moose 
and caribou is plenty large enough. 
The snows will allow the lynx and fisher to kill many 
deer; but the excessive killing of wildcats for bounty 
will save hundreds of deer near the seashore. 
M. Hardy, 
