Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1898, 
erms, $+ a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. ) 
Six Months, $2. f 
I 
VOL. LI.-No. 8. 
No. 846 Broadway, Nbw York, 
PRIZES FOR AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHS. 
The Forest and Stream offers prizes for meritorious 
work with the camera, under conditions which follow: 
The prizes will be divided into three series: (i) for 
live wild game; (2) for game in parks; (3) for other sub- 
jects relating to shooting and fishing. 
(1) For live game photographs three prizes are of- 
fered, the first of $50, the second of $25, and the third of 
$10. 
(2) For live game in parks, for the best picture, a 
prize of $10. 
(3) For the best pictures relating to Forest and 
Stream's field — shooting and fishing, the camp, camp- 
ers and camp life, sportsman travel by land and water, 
incidents of field and stream— a first prize of $20, a sec- 
ond of $15, a third of $10, and for fourth place two prizes 
of $5 each. 
There is no restriction as to the time nor as to where 
the pictures have been made or may be made. 
Pictures will be received up to Dec. 31 this year. 
All work must be original; that is to say, it must not 
have been submitted to any other competition or have 
been published. 
There are no restrictions as to the make or style of 
camera, nor as to size of plate. 
A competitor need not be a subscriber to the Forest 
and Stream. • 
All work must be that of amateurs. 
The photographs will be submitted to a committee, 
who, in making their award, will be instructed to take 
into consideration the technical merits of the work as 
a photograph, its artistic qualities, and other things be- 
,mg equal, the unique and difficult nature of the subject. 
Photographs should be marked for identification with 
initials or a pseudonym only, and with each photograph 
should be given, answering to the initials, the name of 
sender, title of view, locality, date and names of camera, 
and plate or film. 
numbers have not been overstated in the note referred 
to, and that it may continue to increase. If the numbers 
of her buffalo have been correctly stated, Colorado to- 
day has very likely more wild buffalo than any State in 
the Union. 
THE COLORADO BUFFALO. 
If any State or county or township within the United 
States had ranging within its borders a small herd of 
mastodons, we can imagine that the residents of that 
■section would be immensely proud of their unique pos- 
session. Everything possible would be done to foster 
and care for this herd, every attempt to injure it, or any 
of its individuals, would call forth a burst of indignation 
from the whole community, and all the machinery of the 
law would be set in motion to punish the individual who 
had thus flown in the face of public sentiment. Every 
increase of the herd would be an occasion for rejoicing. 
It would be guarded with the same care that is given to 
the collection of animals and birds in our public parks 
and zoological gardens. 
In two or three places in this country there are small 
groups of mammals which are nearly extinct, and whose 
p'ossession ought to be to any State a matter of the 
greatest pride. One would imagine that to these buffalo 
found in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana there 
would be no more danger from residents of the State in 
which they are found than there is to the animals in 
the Philadelphia Zoo from the policemen employed 
there; that local pride and regard for the good name of 
their State would be sufficient safeguards from all hunt- 
ers at home, and that the only possible danger to these 
little herds would be from outside marauder's, jealous of 
the eminence of the State distinguished by such a posses- 
sion. The buffalo herd mentioned by Mr. Byers should 
be as safe from dwellers in the State of Colorado as is 
;he great bull in the Denver Park, and no effort should 
be spared by the State authorities to protect it. The pub- 
lic sentiment of the State is strong for such protection, 
and we can well imagine that active efforts by the 
authorities to enforce the law will not be wanting. Even 
more effective than these efforts should be the co-opera- 
tion of the residents of the section where the buffalo 
roam. If these settlers can be made to feel that these 
buffalo are theirs, to be cared for and protected, he will 
be a bold man who shall try to kill one. A feeling 
of local pride and proprietorship in this little herd will 
ao more for its increase than anything we can think 
h 
It is almost twenty years since we have seen this little 
herd of buffalo, and as shown by Mr. Byers, it has had 
its ups since then, and its downs, We hope that its 
JERSEY MERCY. 
"Jersey justice" is a proverbial term expressive of 
hard and bitter punishment. Jersey mercy then might 
be taken to mean mercy of that brand whose quality 
is not strained, and "blesseth him that gives and him 
that takes, " provided he gives and takes honestly. 
The monthly reports of Fish and Game Protector 
Shriner are chiefly records of Jersey justice, giving 
long lists of arrests, prosecutions, fines and incar- 
cerations for Sunday gunning, killing song birds, 
net and set-line fishing, robbing birds' nests and 
the like; but the story is hardly ever devoid of an admix- 
ture of merciful dispensations, such as the remission of 
fines, suspension of sentence, or return of confiscated 
apparatus to guilty defendants. One noteworthy record 
of a magistrate's kindness of heart is contained in Mr. 
Shriner's current report. It was in the cases of An- 
drew Fitzman and two Italians, who were brought up 
before a Passaic justice for violating the game 
laws. Their guilt was established and they were 
fined; but the justice subsequently reported to the com- 
mission that he had been unable to collect the fines, and 
the men being desperately poor, and having large 
families dependent on them, he had deemed it inexpedi- 
ent to jail them, and had set them at liberty with an in- 
junction to sin no more. This was manifestly a credit- 
able entry on the commission records, and the course 
of the Passaic magistrate was approved by those who 
believe that justice, even Jersey justice, should be 
tempered with mercy. The only individual dissatisfied 
appears to have been the deputy game garden; and he 
having instituted an investigation, succeeded in demon- 
strating that Passaic official mercy is of a very unique 
and peculiar character when manifested in game cases. 
It turned out that the Passaic justice had actually col- 
lected the fines from the poor men with large families, 
had put the funds so accumulated where they would 
do him the most good, and had made a lying report to 
the commission. His pretense of mercy was a cover to 
thievery. Indictment, a fine of $200 and costs, and resti- 
tution of the moneys belonging to the commission fol- 
lowed in due order; and the facts arc set forth in Mr. 
Shriner's current report. 
CANADLAN SALMON RIVERS. 
In another column, is published a letter addressed by 
Mr. Chas. Stewart Davison, of this city, to the Depart- 
ment of Crown Lands at Quebec, respecting the condi- 
tion of the salmon fisheries of the Province. We invite 
careful reading of the communication. It is a compre- 
hensive review of the past and present of Canadian sal- 
mon fishing, an intelligent consideration of the causes 
which have effected existing conditions; and a clear 
statement of the remedies which, and only which, can 
restore the fisheries and preserve their value. 
Mr. Davison's prime purpose in printing his letter in 
Forest and Stream is to elicit from other salmon 
fishermen of experience on Canadian streams such ex- 
perience and testimony as in addition to his own may 
enforce the argument here made for a new system of con- 
servation on the part of the Provincial authorities. The 
interests at stake are of such magnitude that the duty 
of contributing to the information of the Department 
should be recognized and met. We trust that Mr. Davi- 
son's public spirited efforts may thus be seconded. 
SNAP SHOTS. 
The summer weekly half-holiday idea is gaining 
ground. From the larger cities, where Saturday after- 
noon is commonly observed as a half-day "off," the cus- 
tom is extending to smaller towns. Here one obstruc- 
tive factor to be reckoned with, reasoned with, argued 
with, cajoled and won over, is the tradesman who re- 
fuses to shut up shop when the rest do. Manifestly in 
a small town the merchants must all act together, that 
one by keeping his shop open may not take unfair ad- 
vantage of the rest, who close. This, however, is some- 
thing that will adjust itself as the holiday principle takes 
stronger hold. 
City people realize the advantages of holidays and vaca- 
tions more than do country dwellers; yet it is a mistake to 
assume that town folks require change more than their 
country cousins. Life on the farm would be fuller,' 
richer, and more attractive, if the year-around routine 
were 1 more frequently broken by holidays and vacations. 
In large part farmers do not get the good even of such 
established holidays as Fouth qf July; for, in- 
stead of taking a day off and going fishing, the chances 
are that all hands, including the boy, get in hay or give 
themselves up to some such joyous pursuit. The true 
principle is to get all the good we can out of life as we go 
along; and that means a holiday now and then, even for 
farmer and farmer's bov. 
Mr. Titcomb's account of the organization and 
methods of the Vermont Fish and Game League is a 
valuable contribution to the ways and means of game and 
fish protection. It is a story of successful effort; and the 
success has been attained by hard work. It may be said 
here, as the modesty of the author of the paper natural- 
ly prevented being said there, that the one man was 
Mr. John E. Titcomb. The conception of the League 
was his; his were the methods of its establishing and 
direction; and to him in generous measure belongs the 
credit of its achievements. 
A Western fish commissioner who is preparing his 
biennial report, and wishes to impress the people of his 
State with the value of the fisheries, asks if there are any 
reliable data as to the commercial value of an acre of 
water. It is stated by some authorities, he says, that an 
average area of water will produce five times as much 
as an average area of land; and again, that an acre of 
water will produce a ton of fish per annum. We have all 
seen these statements, or variations of them; but they 
amount to no more than many other loose assertions 
made by people who talk at random and without much 
thought as to what such a declaration actually means. 
Are there any reliable statistics showing the value of 
an acre of water devoted to fishculture? Is it a proposi- 
tion admitting of definite statements? 
Following their beautiful volume of the report of 
1895, issued last year, the New York Commissioners of 
Fisheries, Game and Forests now send out the report 
for the fiscal year ending Sept. 31, 1896. In proportions, 
style and illustration the present volume ably maintains 
the high character set by its predecessor. Opinions may 
differ respecting the advisability of appropriating such 
sums as must be involved in the publication of these pub- 
lic documents; but that is something for the Legislature 
to determine, and if they vote to have fish and game and 
forestry reports which are fine examples of book making 
as well as series of statistics and intelligent papers de- 
scriptive of intelligent work, the fortunate recipients of 
the book will be unlikely to do otherwise than congratu- 
late the commission on its privileges. 
It is unfortunate that so great an interval should 
elapse between the period concerned with the report and 
its issue; but this appears to be a condition inseparable 
from public documents, A noticeable fact in this connec- 
tion is that certain recommendations contained in the 
report have already been adopted and acted on by the 
Legislature, notably Chief Protector Pond's declara- 
tion of a change of conviction respecting the hounding 
of deer in the Adirondacks,. and his recommendation 
that the practice should be abolished — as it has been by 
the law now in operation. 
Aside from the report proper, the volume contains 
some papers of interest and value, among them: "The 
Black Bass and its Distribution in the Waters of the 
State," by Mr. A. N. Cheney, who writes also of "Brook 
Trout and the Conditions Favorable to Their Propa- 
gation," and "The Pike Perch." "The American Saib- 
ling," by Prof. John D. Quackenbos; "Oysters and Oys- 
ter Culture," by Commissioner Edward Thompson; 
"Notes on New York Fishes Received at the New York 
Aquarium," by Dr. T. A. Bean; "Ruffed Grouse, Wood- 
cock and Quail," by H. A. Surface, of Cornell; "A 
Forestry Experiment Station," by Wm. F. Fox, and 
"Stream Flow in Relation to Forests," by Geo. W. Raf- 
ter. There are colored plates by Denton of Sunapee 
trout, male and female; brook trout, male and female; 
pike, perch, landlocked salmon or. ouananiche, and lake 
trout. There are numerous other views of the Adiron 
clacks and fishing and hunting incidents. 
