Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1899, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Vxlo^Hi^^"^^"''"} NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1899. {no. 84«™;dwI;:Sw vW. 
I used to fancy that everybody would like 
clouds and rocks as well as I didf if once told to 
look at them; whereas^ after fifty years of trials I 
find that is not so. John Ruskin. 
PRESERVE THE NEARBY WATERS. 
Mm. Wm. H. Avis, whose pleasant story of angling in 
nearby streams was told in last week's issue, writes that he 
manages to find some trout every spring, for while the 
brooks do not yield so abundantly as they used to, a 
supply giving fair returns is maintained by constant and 
systematic restocking. This success in what may be 
termed the rational exploiting of small streams near a 
great city illustrates what is perfectly practicable with 
very many streams throughout the country. At an ex- 
pense of time and money and trouble so slight as almost 
to count for nothing, waters near home by restocking with 
3'earlings annually might be kept in a condition to afford 
a constant supply for moderate desires. 
The usual rule has been in operation so long, to take 
with never a thought of replacing, that hundreds and 
thousands of streams have been ruined, when, by a wiser 
policy the fishing in them might have been preserved for 
all time. There are numerous conditions, such as the 
clearing of forests, the draining of swamps, and other 
destruction of water supply and of cover, which in- 
evitably involve the ruin of the fishing. But in quite as 
many and perhaps in more cases the conditions are such 
that the passing of the fish is caused by unreasoning, im- 
provident and therefore foolish overfishing. As we have 
often pointed out, the angler of limited means, or who 
is closely confined to his worlc with stinted leisure at the 
best, is the one who is most directly interested in caring 
for the near home Avaters, where he may find opportunity 
for his recreation without large expenditure of cash for 
railroad fares and hotel bills and guide and boat hire, and 
of time in traveling to distant water regions. 
In the claims of the local fisherman also is frequently 
found a quite sufficient justification for the trespass sign, 
which the angler coming from afar finds confronting him 
on coveted territory. The warning notice means simply, 
"No fishing here for you. It is for us." We are accus- 
tomed to hear frequent and very natural denunciations of 
this no-fishing sign, and to have expression of the feeling 
of chagrin and resentment engendered by it in the heart 
of the man who is on the outside and looking in; but of 
course there is another aspect, that which is presented to 
one who looks at the sign from the back of it, the man 
who is in and looking out. 
A HOME ANIMAL. 
If it is not so long ago that you have forgotten all 
about it— although indeed the further back it is in the 
years the more vividly it is recalled, as if happening yes- 
terday — you may remember how when as a youngster 
you caught your first fish in the creek or the pond, the 
immediate impulse was to rush home with it to show it 
to your mother. This trait, manifested in the youngest 
fisherman of us all, is one which persists through life. 
It is as natural for the angler or the sportsman to take 
his fish and game to his home as it is for the eagle to. 
fly 'with its prey to its eyrie. 
The sportsman is a home animal. He lives in a home, 
goes afield from a home, returns to a home. Home he 
brings his report of success or failure; home he brings 
his trophies or would bring them if he could; and at 
home he finds the gratulation which doubles the day's 
winnings, or the sympathetic word which dulls the edge 
of chagrin. 
This aspect of the sportsman in his home relations is 
one of which we read little in print; but it is existent al- 
ways and is an ever potent element of our lives as sports- 
men. Some of our most pleasant and dearest recollec- 
tions of the days afield have to do with the home coming 
— the elation with which the creel of trout was given 
over for the inspection of loving eyes, the quiet satisfac- 
tion and exultation with which we saw revealed at length 
the "big one" purposely put in first that it might come 
out last and so give climax to the exclamations of de- 
light with which the home folks received the trophies of 
the day. 
Moreover, the sportsman, if we may believe half the 
good things we hear about him, is a fellow of generous 
impulse; and one-of the chief elements of the gratification 
he finds in his outings is the sharing of his fish »nd his 
game with others, perhaps those of one's family circle, or 
some fishing friend unable to get away, or some sick one 
whose fickle appetite is tempted with fish or bird. 
For many reasons, and for very good reasons, too, we 
like the privilege of taking our game and fish home with 
us; and for these same reasons we resent the laws which 
absolutely forbid transportation. Such statutes effect- 
ually cut off a very considerable factor in the composite 
elements which make our outings so pleasurable. 
The purpose of non-transport laws is most commenda- 
ble. They are designed to prevent the killing of game for 
market, and when enforced by an honest and vigorous 
administration are very efficacious in fulfilling this pur- 
pose. They are among the most useful and effective 
laws we have, and an universal adoption of them would 
go far toward solving the problem of game and fish pro- 
tection. 
But it has been found perfectly practicable to frame and 
administer these laws in such a way as to cut off the ship- 
ment of game to market, and yet to permit the individ- 
ual owner of game killed by him to take it home in cer- 
tain limited prescribed amounts. 
ANCIENT HUNTING KNIVES. 
The two figures of primitive bunting knives on an- 
other page represent two common types of those once 
in use among the Indians. The one of stone is shaped, 
as will be seen, somewhat like a spear head, but has a 
cutting edge, sti'ong and keen enough to work its way 
slowly through a buffalo's hide and easily to sever the 
flesh. It is one of the old stone knives, lost perhaps 
a century or two ago during the butchering of the 
buffalo in an Indian slaughter pen, covered up by dust 
and dirt, and only unearthed in recent days by one who 
was exploring the curious antiquities of this ancient 
killing ground. When in use, the knife was fitted with 
a wooden handle, lashed to the blade with strings of 
green rawhide, as shown in the illustration, but the 
snows and the rains of many winters and summers had 
destroyed all this perishable material long before the 
knife was found again. 
The bone knife was equally useful. We may imagine 
it to have been especially efficient in the operations 
of skinning and of dividing the meat, though of course 
it was much more perishable than one of stone. On 
the other hand, it took a smooth edge, which could 
easily be renewed by whetting it on a smooth stone. As 
already remarked, the first metal knives acquired by the 
Indians consisted of these bone implements with a strip 
of tin or hoop iron inlaid along the edge. 
From the knife of stone or bone to that of the tough- 
est keenest steel is not a long step. The implement is 
the same, -its uses are the same, only the material is 
different. We can imagine, however, the time and labor 
that must have been required — ^judged by our standard — ■ 
to skin and cut up a large animal with one of these 
early knives. 
SNAP SHOTS. 
Toledo, Ohio, is planning for a centennial exposition 
in 1902 or 1903, and the projectors of tie enterprise have 
shown praiseworthy sagacity in making Mr. John E. 
Gunckel the president of the commission for carrying 
out the scheme. Mr. Gunckel is widely known as an al- 
ways enthusiastic if not always truthful fisherman, and 
it was quite a matter of course that one who combines 
angling and business so systematically as he does should 
look to his fishing for an inspiration in devising novel- 
ties for the great show. President Gunckel proposes to 
have an attractive fish exhibit, and to install it in a build- 
ing planned in semblance of a monster fish. Local 
preference is that the construction shall in its lines fol- 
low those of the black bass, the favorite fish affected by 
Toledo anglers; but Mr. Gunckel tells us that there is a 
distinct demand from Massachusetts for the whale or at 
least the codfish, while California is contentious for the 
leaping tuna, Florida has put in its plea for the tarpon, 
and New York salt water fishermen have suggested the 
sea robin; there is a well defined demand from Danvis, 
Vermont, for the mudfish; and the anglers of Little Rock, 
Arkansas, through their spokesman, Jno. M. Rose, Esq., 
insist upon the Mississippi shovel-nose catfish. Perhaps a 
gigantic, monstrous hitherto unheard-of and un- 
dreamt-of fish freak embodying the picturesque charac-t 
teristics of all these several species may be adopted by 
\ir. Gunckel as an expedient to allay sectional jealousies, 
preserve his own popularity and assure the triumphant 
success of the fishery features of the centennial. 
Deputy Controller Gilman has displayed his customary 
pernicious activity this year, invading the rooms of the 
Legislative committees and endeavoring to put through 
his pet measure to permit the sale of game in close season 
in New York City. The measure this year was fathered 
by Mr. Mazet, and as last year had the personal support 
of Senator T. C. Piatt. In vigorous and alert opposition 
was Assemblyman H. M. Sage, to whose activity and 
vigilance the final defeat of the bill was largely due. 
This Mazet cold storage bill would have practically 
opened the New York markets to game throughout the 
year, and so by putting a premium on illegal killing in 
New York and in neighboring States, would have done 
great harm. The bill passed the Assembly with flying 
colors, but that fortunately was the last heard of it, for 
it was "put into cold storage" by the Senate Committee. 
Even if that body had acted favorably on.it, however, the 
danger of its becoming a law would have been small, for 
it would undoubtedly either have received the Executive 
disapproval or would have been allowed to die without 
action. The State of New York is fortunate at present in 
having a Governor who is not only deeply interested in 
all matters of game fish and forest preservation, but also 
has so clear an acquaintance with these subjects that he 
can always be depended upon to act on them for the public 
good. This he wil 
of the matter in h 
cate points, about 
sufficiently familiar 
self expert adviser 
questions at issue. *o .>,viujic3 a. luug memory to recall a 
Governor of New York who has taken any active and in- 
telligent interest in these subjects. Governor Roosevelt, 
being himself a thorough sportsman, does feel a deep in- 
terest in them. Moreover, he possesses one quality which 
above all others has endeared him to the American, .peo- 
ple, and that is courage. It is a satisfaction and a security 
to the sportsmen of the State — and of every State which 
is interested in having the New York game market re- 
stricted — to know that in Governor Roosevelt they have 
a champion who will stand intelligently and firmly against 
any endeavor by open or covert legislation to relax the 
legal safeguards now existing for the game and fish. 
Kansas is prolific of notions and projects, and is for- 
ever giving the rest of the world something to think 
about. The latest creation is an artificial lake in the Chey- 
enne Bottoms. It all comes of a cloud-burst which filled 
a great natural depression fourteen miles long and from 
three to four miles wide with water to the depth of seven 
feet. And when the waters were abroad upon the earth 
and the flood covered the land, it set the Kansas folks to 
thinking; and as they stood on the shore and Jooked 
across the' waters they reflected that the bottoms must 
have been the bed of an ancient lake, and then they 
thought of a way to bring a permanent water supply by 
a thirteen-mile ditch from the Arkansas River; and there 
you have it, a genuine lake in Kansas, such as has not 
existed in the State before since the days when the mas- 
todon roamed the prairies, long, long before Kansas 
bled. It is something the untraveled resident has never 
seen in all his life. A summer resort is to be created, 
with launches and sailing craft; and what is more — and 
of course most important of all — there will be a new 
ducking ground if the wildfowl shall appreciate it and 
tarry, as they are expected to do. 
The membership of the League of American Wheel- 
men continues to decline at a rate which is alarming the 
friends of the organization. As wa have suggested before, 
one alienating agency is the weekly consignment of silly 
puns which is sent to the members in the L. A. W. Bul- 
letin, These off-puttings of a diseased mind at the rate 
of a thousand or more a year weary and disgust sane 
people; and numberless lapses from membership may be 
attributed to this one cause. As it is an evil for which 
simple and summary remedy may be found, the officers 
of the League should give it attention. 
