April 15, 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
287 
venison, sending generous portions to those of our friends 
who we knew would appreciate it. 
On the eve of our departure we were bewailing our 
hard fate that dragged us back to work, arranging for 
the next expedition, and assuring each other that noth- 
ing short of glue on the seat of our stools or the death 
of some distant relative with a will in our favor attached 
would keep us in our offices when the time came for it, 
when Josh broke out with 
"Ch, it's lots of fun to camp 
In a climate free from damp, 
Where the sun shines all the summer. 
And every city bummer 
Can rusticate and busticate 
His last year's Sunday pants. 
There's nary rain to wet you through 
Or make you feel so cussed blue; 
And the only things you veto 
Are the bills of the mosquito, 
(The birds that bite both day and night). 
And those pesky little ants." 
Here we caught him, gagged him and tied him to a 
tree till he promised not to inflict any more of this stuff 
upon us — until next time. Jay Em. 
American Game Parks. 
The "Forest and StreamV Fifth Annual Report oa Game 
ia Presetvcs, 
{Continued /row page 265.) 
The Sapelo Rod and Gun Club. 
The Sapelo Rod and Gun Club was incorporated under 
the laws of New York, Jan. 8, 1898. The following par- 
ticulars with regard to the club preserve are taken from 
the New York Evening Post: 
The preserve covers an area of about 10,000 acres, or 
some twelve square miles. It faces directly on Sapelo 
Sound, and is bounded on the north by White Chimney 
River and on the south hy Sapelo River, so that in all it 
has a water front of about fifteen miles. This tract of 
land was originally made of four old plantations, and 
during the war was the scene of many stirring encoun- 
ters. Since that time it has been practically abandoned, 
and most of it is to-day in a state of wildness that, to- 
gether with its peculiar position between the two rivers, 
makes it an almost ideal natural game preserve. Unlike 
much of the surrounding country, the land is high, and 
covered with a heavy growth of Georgia pine. Here and 
there are open stretches and clearings that mark the once 
cultivated fields, covered in some instances by a scrub 
palmetto growth. North, south, east, and west it is one 
mass of verdure, and semi-tropical plants; palms and 
flowers are found in great profusion. 
Topographically the land is high in the middle, sloping 
gradually to the shores of the rivers that bound it on 
either side. The heavy pine forests are surprisingly free 
from underbrush, thus affording better chances for a shot 
when the game is flushed. At the same time the quail 
meadows and the natural growth in the clearings furnish 
an excellent cover for the birds, so that it necessitates 
careful and thorough hunting, a fact that usually invites 
the prowess of the true sportsman. 
Along the shores of the Sapelo River for some three 
and one-half miles is a bluff that rises from 30 to Soft, 
almost sheer from a white and sandy beach. It is along 
this bluff that the headquarters of the club have been 
established. The white, sandy beach offers- facilities for 
excellent bathing, and the view from the top of the bluff 
is charming. A temporary house, that will accommodate 
about twenty members, can be used at once, and no bet- 
ter place could be selected for the permanent home, look- 
ing out as it does across the sound, past the islands that 
fringe the Georgia coast line, and out upon the wide ex- 
panse of the Atlantic Ocean. Back of it are the heavy 
pine woods, and fish and game in abundance almost within 
reach. Lob cabins or lodges will be scattered through 
the preserve to serve as temporary camps for those who 
wish to rough it to the fullest extent, or who, in search 
of game, are led too far away from the house to return 
the same day. They will be built on the same' order as 
the log camps in the Adirondack region that are so attrac- 
tive to any who have spent a day in the Northern Woods. 
A double wire fence will be built across the westward 
boundary from river to river, preventing the game from 
straying off the preserve, and affording a slight protec- 
tion" from poachers. Of the game, quail abound, perhaps, 
in the largest number, the field making easy ground, 
wihle there is also plentj-- of excellent cover. Game and 
fish of infinite variety are plentiful, and will repay the 
most exacting angler or most ardent hunter for his trouble. 
An occasional bear, quantities of deer, and some wildcats 
make up the larger game, while "wild turkey, water fowl 
of all kinds, quail, ruffed grouse, woodcock and pheasants 
are plentiful. The pheasants are of the English variety, 
and rather scarce, having strayed there from other pre- 
serves, but once the club is established, it is intended to 
have a pheasantry, where the young birds can be reared 
and properly cared for till ready to be released. This will 
insure plenty of this game bird, that is such a favorite 
with all sportsmen. The rivers and sound swarm with 
fish ; the salt-water trout that closely resembles our weak- 
fish furnishing, perhaps, the best sport. Add to these in- 
numerable turtle, terrapin, oysters, crabs and shrimps, 
and every table delicacy known to best hotels is ready to 
be taken for the trouble. 
The Country Club. 
On March 13. 1890, thirty-seven members of the Pacific- 
Union Club, of San Francisco, interested in field sports 
and country life, organized a club, which was called the 
Country Club. In September of the same year this club 
leased, with privilege of purchase, from Mr. Payne J. 
Shatter, 1,000 acres of land in what is known as Bear 
"Valley, on the Shafter Ranch in Marin county, California ; 
and at the same time they obtained from Mr. Charles 
Webb Howard and the owners of the Shafter ranches, 
leases for shooting and fishing privileges of a large tract 
of land containing about 76,000 acres. 
The membership of thJF club is litnited to 125, men^- 
bers, and no one, by its constitution, is eligible to mem- 
bership unless he is a member of the Pacific-Union 
Club. 
Shortly after the leases before mentioned were ob- 
tained, the club set to work to provide accommodations 
for its members, and it has constructed upon its grounds 
in Bear Valley, a club house, stables, barns, dog kennels, 
shooting box, and all of the appliances and accessories 
incident to club life in the country, and has expended 
in the neighborhood of $25,000 for these improvements. 
The presait leases expire in September, 1900. 
Nittany Rod and Gun Club. 
The club was organized at a meeting of subscribers held 
at Williamsport, Pa., April 30, 1897, with the following 
objects in view: First, to procure a modern country 
club house where its members could find a suitable and 
attractive retreat from business cares and a place for 
the entertainment of their families and friends. Second, 
to establish a quail preserve of sufiicient area to provide 
ample shooting for members and their friends, and third, 
to secure a trout preserve that can be yearly stocked with 
large fish, and at the same time enjoy immunity from 
the market fishermen, whose wholesale slaughter has for 
years depleted the streams of the State. How well these 
objects have been carried out may be seen from the 
following facts taken from the club prospectus : 
"The quail preserve is composed of about too farms, 
with an area of 20,000 acres, located in Walker and 
Marion townships, extending from the Bald Eagle Moun- 
tains on the north to the Nittany Mountains on the south, 
thence through Nittany Valley for a distance of ten miles, 
or in the neighborhood of thirty square miles of territory. 
The exclusive game rights on these properties are under 
lease to the club for a term of years. 
"During the fall of 1897 and spring of 1898, 4,000 mated 
quail from Western ~States were planted on the preserve 
for breeding purposes. Based on an average yield of 
eight young birds to the pair, it was estimated there would 
be 20,000 quail for the shooting season of 1898, but from 
inquiries made after the spring nesting, it has been 
learned that nests found contained from fourteen to twen- 
ty-eight eggs. As many of these birds nest twice in the 
same season, the success of this feature of the club would 
seem to be assured. In all probability no further stock- 
ing will be necessary for several years. 
"For the purpose of a trout preserve, the club has 
leased for a term of years. Little Fishing Creek and 
Green Valley, through which it flows from its source to 
the club house, a distance of eight and one-half miles. 
The stream heads at the western extremity of this valley, 
and its course to the club house has a fall of about 700ft. 
During the summer of 1897, sixty-three tight dams were 
constructed on the stream, and in November of that year 
7,000 trout, ranging in size from i lA to 9in. in length, were 
placed in these dams. It is the purpose of the club, so 
long as it inay be necessary, to each year restock the 
stream with large fish. 
"As already stated Green Valley is about eight and 
one-half miles in width. No part of this territory is un- 
der cultivation ; in fact, there is nothing more wild or 
picturesque to be found in the Allegheny Mountains. For 
many years these have been favorite grounds for pheasant 
and w'ild turkey shooting. These birds will, doubtless, 
rapidly increase under the fostering care and protection 
of the club. 
"The home of the club is particularly fortunate in its 
location at the base of Nittany Mountains near Hecla 
Park (Mingoville Post-Office), Centre county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and within five minutes' walk from the station of 
that name, on the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania. The 
house contains twenty-five rooms, including a sitting 
room, 20 to 38ft. ; a dining room, 20 by 24ft. ; each of 
which have two large, open fire-places; ladies' parlor, also 
with an open fire-place; large well-ventilated sleeping 
apartments, card room, bath rooms and buffet, all heated 
by steamj and supplied with spring water piped from the 
mountain near by. Doubje-deck porches, i6ft. in width, 
surround three sides of the house, having a floor surface 
of about 5,000 square feet. By means of a long-distance 
telephone in the house, members can be in easy communi- 
cation with their homes and business offices. 
"The club has now in contemplation the erection of 
additional buildings for a bowling alley, billiard and pool 
rooms ; also a dog kennel of ample proportions, to be un- 
der the care of an experienced and competent dog trainer. 
"The club house grounds proper include a lawn of 30,- 
000 square feet, appropriately laid out with limestone 
screening walks, an athletic field of eight acres for trap- 
shooting and other field sports, and an apple orchard of 
seven acres." 
Santa Clara Preserve. 
Darwin J. Day is superintendent of the Santa Clara pre- 
serve, Brandon, Franklin county, N. Y. This includes an 
area of about 44,000 acres, of which 1.600 acres are 
burnt land. The I^urnt land is a great resort for deer, and 
an excellent place for still-hunting. Mr. Day writes that 
last season sixty-two deer and one bear were killed. He 
adds : "With the experience I have had within the past 
four years regarding the game, I am satisfied that the deer 
are increasing very rapidly under the present law, and 
wish also to say I do think that we ought to have a 
bounty on foxes and otter, as otter destroy so many 
trout and foxes so many birds. Aside from that, I think 
the law as it is is as near right as to suit all classes of 
sportsmen as it can be." 
The Magaguadavic Fish and Game Corporation. 
The Magaguadavic Fish and Game Corporation was 
incorporated under the laws of New Brunswick in the 
year 1892, with a capital stock of $20,000 divided into 400 
shares at $50 per share. The preserve of the corporation 
consists of a tract of land 5,000 acres in area, known as the 
Stanus Grant, situated in Charlotte county in the south- 
eastern part of the Province of New Brunswick, and is 
practically an unbroken wilderness. The property is 
covered by a dense forest, interspersed by more than a 
score of lakes and ponds and traversed from end to end 
by the beautiful and picturesque Magaguadavic River, 
from which the corporation derives its name, which, with 
its n.um.erous tributaries, furnishes opportunities for some 
of the most delightful and exciting canoe trips in the 
Province, a region noted for this sport. It is unsurpassed 
as a shooting and fishing country. It seems to have 
escaped the notice of the sportsman until recently, and its 
denizens on the land and in its waters have been allowed 
to increase in a primitive manner. When the pioneer 
sportsmen came here from the overcrowded and more 
famous resorts they were hoth surprised and delighted with 
the abundance of game, fur, fin and feather, and came away 
enthusiastic in its praise, with a determination to return. 
The formation of the above named corporation soon fol- 
lowed, and for a time flourished, increased in member- 
ship and seemed assured of a prosperous future; but at 
the height of its prosperity, for various reasons, it be- 
gan to lose ground until the year 1895, when a partial 
reorganization took place; new blood was infused into its 
management, and a new era of the brightest promise 
seems to have dawned on its affairs. 
Shocco Game Association. 
The Shocco Game Association, of Baltimore, _ Md., 
controls 19,000 acres of land in North Carolina, which is 
strictly preserved for the benefit of members. A part of 
the land is leased and part purchased outriglit. The head- 
quarters of the club is the fine old mansion known as 
"Montmorenci," built by the late Gen. William Williams 
at a cost of $33,000. 
Maple Lake Club. 
The Maple Lake Chib was incorporated July 29, 1892, 
with a membership limited to ten. The property of the 
club consists of Maple Lake and about 2,000 acres of 
woodland in the town of Wilmurt, Herkimer county, N. 
y, There is a substantial club house for the use of mem- 
bers. The lake has never been stocked, but it is a natural 
trout water, and is considered one of the best breeding 
grounds in the State. There is good partridge shooting 
in the club grounds, and some deer. Deer are increasing. 
Mr. John Cummings, Jr., writes that the fishing has im- 
proved each year, and that the club has become more 
popular with the members and their friends. 
Henry L. Smith. 
Mr. Henry L. Smith, of Albany, N. Y., is proprietor of 
a preserve in St. Lawrence county in the Adirondacks. 
The preserve includes four and one-half .miles of water 
and is ten miles from the nearest towri. There are good 
buildings in the tract, and as Mr. Smith writes, "lots of 
deer and the best of brook trout fishing." 
Page Fence Company. 
The Page Fence Company have lately made an addi- 
tion to their game park at Adrian, Mich. At the present 
time they have ten buffalo and about twenty elk and 
thirty deer. They also have eight black bears. It is un- 
derstood that all the animals are in good condition. 
Mat-a-mek Presetve. 
"Mat-a-mek preserve, my little place in the woods, is 
not large nor important enough to be classed among die 
American game parks. In our part of the woods we have 
managed to hold our OAvn so far as deer and partridge 
and trout are concerned, and we hope that next year will 
show a decided improvement. Ashbel P. Fitch." 
It is reported that Mr. E. B. Bailey, of Windsor Locks, 
Conn., has purchased the island in the Connecticut River 
just above the railroad bridge with the intention of stock- 
ing it as a game preserve. 
irhe Hull (Ontario) Electric Railway- Company has 
under contemplation the creation of a game p:^.^k to be 
stocked with American game animals. 
Boston Brantets* 
Boston, April 8. — The first party of Monomoy brant 
shooters got back to Boston the other day. The weather 
was very bad — only one or two days in the whole week of 
tlieir stay that it did not storm or blow a gale. But 
they secured thirty-two brant. This they consider a very 
good record for the first party of the season. They cal- 
culate that there was not a young bird in the lot; that 
they were all old birds that have staid around that section 
all winter. The man who has charge of the property of 
the Monomoy Brant Club, say that brant have been around 
all winter, and up to the time the first party left home, no 
larant had arrived from further south this season. There 
was some pretty fair black duck shooting, with now and 
then a sheldrake. The third shooting party is now in 
camp, and are reported to be having fine shooting, with 
more flight brant than the other parties saw. 
Mr. C. H. Alden, already mentioned as being at Homo- 
sassa, Florida, and greatly enjoying the sTiooting and fish- 
ing, has started for home. In his last letter to his friend 
Charlie Brown, he mentions taking thirty-four bass in a 
few hours' fishing. One day he had the good fortune to 
hook on to a "cavalarie," and fought him for hours, with 
a light rod. The fish was finally brought to the net, and 
weighed iSlbs. Mr. Alden writes that they are great 
fighters. He is much pleased with the place and^its 
surroundings. It is about three miles only from the Gulf 
coast, on the Homosassa River. There is great sport there 
in the winter season for both rod and line and shooting 
sportsmen. Special. 
Deei* m the Eastern Townships* 
Sutton, Province of Quebec, April 3. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: It will be of interest to many of your sports- 
men readers to learn the fact that deer are beginning to 
once again seek and breed in their old haunts in this sec- 
tion of the eastern townships. For years we have seen or 
heard of only an occasional deer having been seen in 
Sutton and the surrounding towns, but during the past 
season no less than nine fine deer were shot and secured 
during the open season on what is known as Sutton 
Mountains, lying between this village and_ Glen Sutton, 
and extending- its ranges toward the town of Potton, Que. 
Others of the surrounding towns — forming our famous 
eastern townships of the Province of Quebec— report the 
same gratifying conditions of increase. Now let our 
close season game laws be generafly observed, and wdthin 
a few years our native township sportsmen should not 
have to go 100 miles and more to Lake Megantic and 
Snider Lake and to Maine for their large game, but will 
be able to find it within easy reach. Wm. Brown, 
