486 
most of the time with from 400 to 500 pounds of baggage. 
While not so fast as the wooden canoes, it will stand 
more rough usage, and a piece of canvas, a small box of 
■waterproofing and a few minutes' time will repair a punc- 
ture which in a wooden boat on such a trip would be a 
very serious matter, 
Ihe Dadquame, or, as it is commonly called, the Qualm, 
tor the first fifteen miles of its course from the point 
where we embarked upon it, is a sluggish stream, and 
winds about in its serpentine course through alder thickets 
and beaver meadows as though it were undecided as to 
whether it had better go ahead or return to the point from 
whence it started, but suddenly it awakens from its 
lethargy and commences to roar and plunge forward OA'er 
the rocks and down rapids, as though it were in a hurry, 
like ourselves, to get where the lordly moose stalks 
through its cold, clear waters, or browses upon its banks. 
After two days of constant paddling, poling and wading, 
we were glad to pull our canoes out of the water and go 
into camp. I wish I were at liberty to say just where this 
camp was located, but a solemn pledge prevents me from 
giving the secret away. Moose were everjnvhere about 
us. Their fresh tracks were found wherever we went. 
The first morning after our arrival we found the fresh 
track of a big bull within six rods of our tent. Heavens ! 
I wonder what our sensations would have been had he 
stepped upon us while we slept. 
As we had reached the grounds a few days before the 
open season commenced, we took things easy in camp, well 
knowing from the signs about us that a few days' hunting 
in such a country would give us each a head, even if we 
were a little particular in regard to the sort of head 
we would take out with us. I5ut at last the time came 
when we could take the war path, and after carefully in- 
specting our tried and trusty Marlins, we sallied forth to 
the slaughter. It was an ideal day for stalking moose. 
There had been a rain the afternoon previous which had 
softened everythingf which we w-ere obliged to tread upon. 
The rain had ceased during the night and a wind had 
sprung up, and was now roaring through the tops of the 
slender spruce and balsams, causing them to writhe as if 
in mortal agony, and completely drowning the sound of 
our stealthy footfalls, while it drove our scent directly 
back in the direction from whence we came, thus robbing 
the moose of the protection of their nose and ears, which 
are their greatest safeguards. I had worked my way care- 
fully some three or four miles from camp when the crack 
of Kipp's rifle rang through the forest from a point not 
more than a half-mile from me. Three more shots fol- 
lowed the first in rapid succession, and then I heard 
shouts of victory, which told the whole story to me. Kipp 
had got the big one he was looking for. Nothing but the 
biggest of the big ones could make the phlegmatic and 
taciturn Charlej'^ yell like that, and turning from my 
course I walked rapidly to where two excited men were 
waltzing insanely about a moose, the sight of which fairly 
took my breath away. Twenty-two long points on the per- 
fectly mated and nicely formed antlers which have a 
spread of 60 inches. Seven feet high at the shoulder, and 
a weight which required our united strength to just move, 
and either of us good for 400 pounds, ordinarily, while 
in the excitement which we were then laboring un- 
der we felt like lifting a ton each. Now I don't want it 
to be inferred from this that I think that moose weighed 
three tons, though he looked big enough to us then to. 
weigh about that, but I do wish to say that those who 
assert that moose rarely reach 1,000 pounds in weight 
either have a very defective judgment in regard to weights, 
or they have never seen very big moose. The work of the 
camera gives an incorrect idea of the size of this moose as 
he lies partly imbedded in the moss of the bog on which 
he fell. 
The stalking of this moose gave a very fine illustration 
of the remarkable vision of the guide Stafford. The 
hunters were crossing a small bog, Stafford in front and 
Kipp close in the rear, when the guide stopped suddenly 
and pointing ahead, whispered one thrilling word, 
"Moose !" Kipp looked everywhere, but could see nothing 
which looked like a moose. In cautious whispers the 
guide called his attention to some little objects about 40 
yards ahead which looked like the dead stubs on a fallen 
tree. Even then Kipp could hardly believe that those 
little stubs were the points on the antler of a gigantic 
moose which lay hidden in the moss of the bog. A slight 
movement of the moose, however, revealed the broad 
palmation of one antler and removed all doubts, The 
first shot was fired to start him from his bed. The second 
went squarely through him just back of the shoulders as 
he sprang to his feet, and the others struck him length- 
wise, going almost the entire length of his huge carcass. 
Three .45-caliber 400-graiti split-nosed bullets ploughing 
their way through his vitals from different directions, each 
tearing a hole as big as a man's first, speedily reduced him 
to a harmless condition. 
In regard to the eyesight of this guide, I have known 
him to call attention to a deer standing among the 
trunks of trees and brush in such a way that nothing but 
one ear of the animal was visible, and this too at a 
distance of fifteen rods, and while he was poling his canoe 
up through the rocky rapids of the Qualm, when one 
would naturally think he had enough for his eyes to at- 
tend to in piloting the canoe safely. It seemed as if 
absolutely nothing within range of his vision escaped his 
notice. 
To show how plenty the moose were, and how well 
founded were our expectations of getting good heads, I 
will say that the very next day after Charley got his big 
one I got one even larger, though the antlers, _ which 
Avere very handsome and nicely mated, had but eighteen 
points and a spread of 49 inches. The killing of thi.s 
moose afforded m.e an opportunity to show that the .45-90 
cartridge is not so inaccurate as some would have us 
believe. In this connection I will also say that I have 
made groups of shots with my .45-90 Marlin at distances 
of 100 to 300 yards that compare very favorably with 
work done by the best match rifles. Shortly after daylight 
on the morning of the day in question I was watching a 
bog. No use trying to get a shot tramping in the woods 
on such a day as that. There was not a breath of air 
stirring. The rapping of a woodoecker came distinctlv to 
my ear from across the bog nearly a half-mile away. The 
noisy jay and the soft notes of the moose bird could also 
be heard from great distances. A lieht frost lay upon the 
bog and glistened on the trees. The rising sun shone 
FOREST AND _ STREAM. 
dimly tlirough the yellow haze of a perfect October morn- 
ing, a mornmg which makes us glad that we live and 
breathe the pure air, and especiaily glad that we are 
here in this wilderness, afar from tne habitations of 
man, looking over the broad expanse of this bog, expect- 
ing, 3'et half-dreading, the appearance of the noblest 
animal which God has created and given us dominion 
over, when, hold ! there he comes now. And shades of 
all the departed Nimrods ! what a monster. On the west- 
ern side of the bog, a hundred rods away, the majestic 
creature broke through the screening cedars and bal- 
sams, cutting short my reveries as he stalked out on the 
bog toward me with his long powerful stride. I then had 
the best opportunity of my life to study this interesting 
animal. I am not wealthy, yet I would give a large sum of 
money for a picture to look at occasionally like the one 
then spread out before mc. Occasionally the moose would 
stop and turn his head about as though listening intently, 
the ears playing backward and forward, and the great 
mufiie twisting about as though he were trying to catch 
some floating odor which would give him timely warning 
of a lurking foe. I was so absorbed in my study of 
him that I did not notice that he had changed his course 
until the distance between us had been sensibly increased, 
and which was now fully 200 yards. But I suddenly re- 
membered that I was there to kill a moose as well as to 
study them. I first tried to worm my way through the 
moss so as to get near to him, but the instant I tried 
to do this he stopped and looked toward me. When he 
moved on again I tried once more to crawl toward him, 
but the instant I did so he whirled about and looked 
steadily in my direction, showing plainly that he heard me, 
though I made no noise which I could hear myself. 
Bringing the rifle to my shoulder I found I was steady 
enough to risk a shot, and holding carefully about a foot 
above the mane of his shoulder I pressed the trigger 
steadily until the oppressive stillness in the air was broken 
by the ringing crack of the rifle. Yes, that shot went 
home, for the smokeless powder permitted me to see the 
spasmodic lurch of the huge frame, and the tuft of hair 
which jumped from the center of his shoulder. Springing 
to my feet I fired four more shots at the plunging animal 
as rapidly as I could work the lever of the rifle. The 
last shot struck him just as he was disappearing over a 
windfall, and he dropped with a crash among the dry 
limbs, stone dead. We found when we skinned him that 
all of the bullets had struck him in vital places. The first 
and last were excellent shoulder shots. Owing to his 
rapid motion the others had struck him about in the center 
of his body, too far back to give the paralyzing shock of a 
shoulder shot. 
I fear this yarn has already reached a tiresome length, 
and so I will not attempt to tell how the guide killed a 
moose : how we loitered about several more days, loath to 
leave the scene of our conquests; how we saw moose 
nearly every day, one, two and even three at a time, with- 
out trying to kill them, or how we got back to civilization 
with our trophies. 
To those who have tired of the tamer sport to be 
found near centers of population, who desire a trophy 
which shall remind them of pleasant days when they were 
closeted, as it were, with nature, or who desire a decora- 
tion for hall or dining room which far excels the finest 
painting, I would say, go as Ave did, and try "moose 
hunting in Maine." 
Gansevoort, N. y., 1900. 
The Massachusetts Law. 
5 Park Square, Boston.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
As jfou would naturalljr expect, letters of congratulation 
are coming in. I desire in behalf of the Executive Com- 
mittee to extend thanks for the valuable assistance ren- 
dered by your paper and the excellent editorials that have 
appeared from time to time in your issues. 
Our success is another illustration of the motto, 'Tn 
union there is strength." J. M. Stevenson, ex-president 
of the Pittsfield Rod and Gun Club, and member at one 
time of the Legislative Committee on Fisheries and 
Game, writes that he was in receipt of a letter from Gov- 
ernor Crane informing him that the bill had been signed. 
He saj'^s, "Of course, as you would naturally think, I am 
very much pleased with the result, and we all have reason 
to consider that it is the ending of a very successful and 
hard campaign. You may also judge that I feel quite a 
good deal of personal satisfaction in the result, as it has 
been accomplished by carrying out what I argued at one 
of your meetings two or three years ago, 'that sportsmen 
should act together.' 
"That has been the keynote of your Association since 
then, and it has been so spread throughout the State that 
it resulted in joining so many different elements to work 
for one end that we have accomplished finally some- 
thing I did not dream could be done so soon." 
The speech of Mr. Stevenson to which he alludes was 
made at the annual dinner of the Massachusetts Fish and 
Game Protective Association in 1897, and it is a fact that 
his speech set forth so clearly the absurdity of sportsmen 
of one section asking for one thing and those of another 
section for other and entirely different things before the 
Legislative Corhmittee that the officers of our Association 
determined to call a conference of sportsmen and farmers 
from different sections of the State for an interchange of 
views. That conference, as your readers will remember, 
was held at the Copley Square Hotel on Nov. 16, 1898. 
The remarks of Mr. Stevenson to which he alludes in his 
letter were the good seed that has at last begun to bring 
fruit. 
Mr. A. B. F. Kinney, the chairman of our Executive 
Committee, left Boston Friday evening for Moosehead, to 
be gone a few days. 
Our counsel, Hon. J. Russell Reed, has gone to his cot- 
tage at Sandwich, Mass., to remain for "a short time. 
Some of us have to "keep our noses to the grindstone," 
as the saying is, for a. few weeks longer before we can 
taste the sweets of rural enioyment. 
Henry H, Kimball, Sec'y- 
Game Laws in Brief. 
The new number of the Game Laws in Brief and Woodcraft 
Magazine contains an attractive list of contents and several hours 
ol gfood reading. See advertisement elsewhere. 
The Marin County Case and the 
Law of Game Protection. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The editorial comment in the issue of the i6th inst. on 
the decision of Judge E, M. Ross, in the above case, pos- 
sesses much interest to sportsmen; and as the decision, if 
sustained, would seem to strike at the very foundation 
of all laws on the subject of game protection, it may not 
be without interest to add some observations as they occur 
to a lawyer on the same subject. What will be said re- 
lates principally to the position taken by the United States 
Supreme Court 011 the questions discussed by the learned 
judge; there will be little difficulty in showing that the 
decision in question is not only not sustained by the rulings 
of the higher court, but that it is in direct opposition there- 
to. The court, it would seem, bases its decision on two 
grounds, both claimed to arise from the language of the 
fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States — i. e., the claim relating to "equal protection of 
the laws" and the other prohibiting the States to pass any 
law depriving any citizen of his property without due 
process of law. 
It has been repeatedly held by the United States Su- 
preme Court that the provisions of the fourteenth amend- 
ment were not designed to interfere with the powers of the 
State, sometimes termed the police power, to prescribe 
regulations to promote health, peace, morals, education 
and good order of the people. Barhier vs. Connelly, 113 
U. S., 27. And it has also been held that the privileges 
and immunities referred to in that amendment are only 
such as arise out of the nature and essential character of 
the national Government, the provisions of its constitution 
and the treaties made in pursuance thereof; and that 
privileges and immunities belonging to the citizens of a 
State as such are not embraced by that amendment. 
Slaughter House Cases, 16 Wall., 36. The latter are 
some of the cases cited and relied upon by Judge Ross to 
sustain his decision; and yet a reading of the opinion of 
the court in those cases clearly shows that they are in 
theory and reasoning opposed to the position taken in the 
Marin countj'- case. The Constitutional amendment in 
question does not, nor was it designed to, limit the sub- 
jects upon which the police power of a State may be law- 
fully exercised. Jones vs. Brim, 165 U. S., 180; Min- 
neapolis & St. P. R. R. vs. Beckwith, 129 U. S., 29. And 
the requirements of the Constitution are satisfied in such 
cases if such law when passed, with its benefits and obliga- 
tions, is impartially administered. Eldridge vs. Tresevant, 
16 U. S., 452, And equal protection of the law is not 
denied by any law or course of procedure which would 
have been applied to any other person under similar cir- 
cumstances and conditions. Tinsley vs. Andrews, 171 
U, S., loi ; Lotve vs. Kansas, 163 U. S., 81. The precise 
meaning of this may not be so clear to a layman, but its 
rneaning is well illustrated by the case of Jones vs. Brim, 
above referred to. That was a case where a law of the 
State of Utah provided that any person who drives a herd 
of certain animals over a public highway constructed on a 
hillside was liable for all damages done by such animals in 
destroying the banks, or rolling rocks into or upon such 
highway; and it was claimed that this denied to such 
persons the equal protection of the laws and unjustly dis- 
criminated against them; but the court, holding that the 
control of highways was within the police power of the 
State, and that because it was general in its application to 
all persons placing themselves in the situation referred to 
in the statute, such persons could not complain— that is, 
that while it might not apply to all persons driving live 
stock over a highway, or to persons using such highways 
in other ways, if such persons placed themselves in like 
circumstances they then came within its provisions ; and 
the fact that it provided a punishment only for those who 
violated it did not render it invalid. So in the Marshall 
case : the ordinance in question does not make it unlawful 
to have or use this gun, but only to use it in a particular 
way, and applies equally to all persons under like circum- 
stances; and as the regulation of such use, as has been 
repeatedly held, is within the police power of the State 
(see Geer vs. Connecticut, 161, U. S., 534) the courts will 
not interfere so long as the law, when passed, applies to all 
persons who bring themselves within its terms. 
It will be seen, therefore, that the ordinance in question 
does not come within the provisions of the fourteenth 
amendment at all, and that whatever is said by the court 
on the qtiestion has no real bearing on the case. It 
seems somewhat strange that the court in fortifying its 
decision should apparently have relied on cases not directly 
in point — that is, cases not involving the validity of game 
laws, but cases wdiich would, at most, have a bearing 
merely by analogj^ 
Of all the cases cited by the learned judge, only two, it 
seems, are game law cases, these being Ex parte Knap.p, 
59 Pac. R., 315, a California case, and Geer vs. Connec- 
ticut, already referred to. All the other cases are on 
entirely different questions not involving the exercise of 
the police power. The Knapp case is not good law, and is 
opposed by decisions of Other States on the same point; 
and is directly opposed by the doctrine laid down in the 
Geer case, which latter is of controlling authority on the 
question. Besides, the Knapp case was on a different 
ordinance and a different state of facts. 
Most sportsmen were pleased with the decision in the 
Geer case, because it was the deliberate expression of 
opinion by the highest court of the land on questions 
which had been in dispute in regard to the power of a 
State to pass game law; and it was supposed that it 
forever disposed of most of the questions arising in re- 
gard thereto. It seems, therefore, somewhat reinarkable 
that Judge Ross should have used that case to sustain his 
position, when, as already stated, its holdings are directly 
opposed to the conclusion reached by him. It is true that 
the Geer case was a case involving the power of a State 
to pass and enforce a law preventing the transportation 
beyond the limits of a State of game killed in the State; 
but in reaching a conclusion sustaining the lavv^, the 
court entered into a most learned and able discussion of 
the origin of such laws and the right and property in game 
generally, and held that game belonged to all the people of, 
a State in common, and that the Government of the State 
exercised a trust for its people in protecting such game, 
and that it could make such regulations in regard thereto 
