Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal OF THE Rod AND Gun. 
COPYKIGHT, 1900, BY FOREST AND STREAM POBLISHINO Co.. 
Tbrms, f4 A Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. | 
Six Months, ) 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1900, 
] No. 
VOL. LV.— No. 28. 
846 Broadway, New York^ 
Our^Cbristmas number. 
The Forest and Stream of Dec. 22 will be the Christ- 
mas Number; and this year, as in other years, the pages 
will contain an admirable store of good reading. Here 
are some of the contents : 
"Reminiscences." By Rowland E. Robinson. 
"Christmas Under the Palms." By Llewella Pierce 
Churchill, 
"A Voice from a Farm," ^ By W. W. Hastings. 
"Old Hogarth." By Fayette Durlin, Jr. 
"Out of Commission." By N. N. West. 
"The Christmas Dinner Father Josef Cooked." By J. H. 
Connelly, 
"How We Obtained Our Gun Rack." By A. C. Thatcher. 
•That Christmas Turkey." By Edward Banks. 
"My Grandmother's Kitchen." By Egbert L. Bangs. 
LAY DAYS FOR LONG ISLAND DUCKS. 
In another column attention is called to the continual 
shooting to which the wild fowl now gathered on the 
Great South Bay are exposed and to the fact that this 
shooting has led them to desert the waters of the bay 
during the dayl'ght hours, and to rest in the ocean beyond 
the outer beach, where they are free from molestation by 
their twin enemies, the gunner and the sailboat. In the 
Great South Bay, as on many other waters where ducks 
are abundant, the gunner and the sailboat are in partner- 
ship, and while the baiteryman or the point shooter lies 
hidden near his decoys, the skipper of the sailboat passes 
to and fro over the water, sailing up to everj' bunch of 
ducks that can be seen, and forcing them to take wing, 
in the hope that some of them may fly near enough to his 
man to give him a shot. 
Ducks are simple birds, to be sure, but they possess 
wings, and after having been chased about in this way 
for a longer or shorter period they weary of it and are 
certain to depart to some place where they will be free 
from this annoyance. This place in the Great South 
Bay — and also in many other waters along our coast — is 
the ocean. 
We are told that the birds now seem hardly less nu- 
merous than they were when they first came on from the 
north but that the shooting is no longer good, for the 
reason that the b'rds feed only at night, coming in late 
in the afternoon and going out in the morning when first 
disturbed. 
Now there ought to be some way of protecting the birds 
from this continual harassment, even if the season is 
open, and yet it is impossible to expect one man to stop 
shooting while another keeps it up, and the establishing 
of a common sentiment wh'ch should agree that the birds 
should be let alone at certain times and certain seasons 
is, of course, not to be hoped for. Yet there is a method 
practiced in certain States, which New Yorkers are verj' 
apt to th'nk far behind them in energy, push and gen- 
eral business sense, by which the ducks have during 
each week two days of rest besides Sunday. 
In Maryland and in North Carolina — States where the 
duck shooting is probably better than anywhere else on 
this continent — long experience has taught gunners — 
whether they shoot for the mere sport of the thing or to 
sell their birds and so to make a livelihood — that it is 
wise to give the birds a certain amount of rest from the 
gunning ; that in this way they continue to be gentle, and 
willing to come up to the decoys; that in the four days of 
shooting had under the operation of such an arrange- 
ment more birds are killed and with less effort than 
where the shooting lasts from Monday morning to 
Saturday night. 
In these States the lay daj'-s are generally observed ; 
far more so than is the prohibition against night shooting, 
which in certain places has become a great abuse. 
It is late in August or early in September when the 
first ducks begin to make their appearance in the Great 
South Bay, and now in the opening days of December they 
are still there in great numbers, but are not accessible. 
It is entirely conceivable that an amendment of the game 
law to apply to the whole State of Ne-w York which 
should forbid the putting out of decoys or the shootinf 
at wild fowl on Monday or Thursday of any week might 
result in greatly bettering the shooting for those who 
visit Long Island waters or those of the Hudson River, 
and at the same time might keep the ducks about instead 
of driving them off the bay into the ocean. 
People who commonly shoot on Chesapeake Bay and 
on Currituck and Albemarle sounds declare that on the 
days following lay days the birds are noticeably less sus- 
picious than on other days, and that the shooting on Mon- 
day, after they have had two days' rest, is almost sure to 
be good, provided there is any weather at all. 
The Great South Bay is a body of water which . with 
reasonable protection should furnish good shooting during 
the whole of the season while it is open, but for m^my 
years the residents and visitors there have seemed to 
act as if they did not wish to have any ducks with them, 
for from the time the birds come until the time they go, 
they are constantly chased about. In these days of in- 
creasing game scarcity it is worth our while to do every- 
thing in our power to make the most of the natural ad- 
vantages that we have. Public shooting grounds where 
to-day a man can go to have anything like good shooting 
are few and far between, and far away and usually much 
crowded. It would be an enormous boon to many Eastern 
sportsmen if the Great South Bay and its adjacent bodies 
of water could be treated in an intell'gent way; so as to 
protect the fowl and make the shooting constantly good. 
Some time this will probably be done ; but when ? 
THE M-ASSACHUSETTS FISH COMMISSION. 
On Nov. 28 Governor W. Murray Crane, of Massachu- 
setts, nominated Mr. John W. Delano, of Marion, as Com- 
missioner of Fish and Game, to fill the unexpired term 
of the late Elisha D. Buffington, whose death was recently 
announced, 
Mr. Delano has had about ten years' service as a sub- 
ordinate in the work of the Massachusetts Fish and Game 
Commission, and 'therefore will bring toi his new position 
a ripe experience and a coihprehensive knowledge of all 
phases of the various activities in which the Commission 
is engaged. 
For several years past he has been superintendent of 
hatcheries, and in this capacity has given special atten- 
tion to the fislicultural work under his charge. . He has 
also designed and superintended the construction of some 
of the best hatcheries in the State; has compiled the 
statistics of fisheries published by the Commission, and at 
various times has performed with zeal and rare good 
judgment the duties of a deputy in the enforcement of 
the fish and game laws. 
It is evident that this appointment was made for merit 
alone, and Governor Crane deserves the commendation of 
all interested in fishculture and the protection and preser- 
vation of fish and game for his action in this case, which 
indicates clearly his keen business instincts and his high 
regard for the public welfare, 
MR. WOODRUFF'S DEER. . 
The civic pride of the people of New York is not 
strengthened in any very considerable measure by the 
spectacle of the Lieutenant-Governor of the State brought 
to book for killing deer out of season, . A press dispatch 
from Old Forge in the Adirondacks announces that as a 
result of prosecution by the Brown's Tract Guides' Asso- 
ciation, Lieutenant-Governor Timothy L. Woodruff has 
paid a fine of $250 for violating the game laws in hunting 
before the opening of the season. In the absence of in- 
formation to the contrary, it would be charitable to assume 
that Lieutenant-Governor Woodruff killed his game out 
of season unwittingly, although it must be confessed that 
this would be a mighty poor excuse if not worse than none 
at all. In these days no shooter of game may plead 
ignorance of the game laws, for it is his business before 
he shoots to find out what the laws are. It is in particur 
lar the duty of a public executive officer so to inform 
himself, to the end that he who by virtue of his position 
should be an example to all men, may not disgrace him- 
self and the citizens of his State by being haled before 
a court and punished for a misdemeanor. Moreover, if 
Mr. Woodruff did violate the law unwittingly, it was his 
duty as a citizen, a sportsman and a Lieutenant-Governor 
to come forward at once and pay the penalty volun- 
tarily, without waiting for prosecution. Had ihis course 
been taken, it would have been to make the beM: of a bad 
matter, and would have relieved the citizens of the State 
of a portion of the obloquy they must share, with their 
oflScial representative. If, on the other hand, we' assume 
that Mr. Woodruff knew what he was about and violated 
the law deliberately, then this is only one of a long list of 
incidents which indicate a tendency on the part of public 
officials to regard themselves as being outside of the ap- 
plication of a statute which interferes with their will. We 
have had in the past fish commissioners who by virtue of 
their office and in the exercise of official self-indulgence 
have systematically fished in waters closed by law; and 
they have done this as an unquestioned right, assuming 
that they were for some reason exempt from the opera- 
tion of the" law. If Mr. Woodruff entertained any such 
foolish notion with respect to the Adirondack deer law 
he knows now that he was mistaken. 
"PUBLIC WATERS." 
In his communication on the stocking of public waters 
Mr, J, S, Van Cleef discusses a subject of much per- 
plexity. He represents that the public waters are re- 
stricted, and that as a matter of fact most of the fish 
which are distribtited from State hatcheries to be placed 
in public waters actually are deposited in private waters. 
A consideration of the development of fish stocking and 
of the growth of angling explains in what manner the 
usage of the fish commissions of the several States re- 
specting the stocking of public and private waters has 
come about. The artificial breeding and the distribution 
of fish originated at a time when fishing streams were 
for the most part free to all; and when, although not 
technically public waters in the strict sense employed by 
Mr. Van Cleef. they were to all intents and purposes pub- 
lic, in that the public had unrestrained access to them 
for fishing. 'VNHien fish were planted in such streams the 
public had the benefit of the stocking. Then as fishermen 
increased and fishing privileges grew more valued, these 
same waters which had been thus free to the public were 
posted by their owners, and became in fact, as they had 
always been technically, private waters. When this change 
came, the commissions in many instances continued to 
supply fish for the streams, though in so doing they were 
now stocking private waters. As a rule there remains 
very little open fishing that amounts to anything. All 
waters which afford fishing are now posted or soon will 
be. There remain, then, as Mr. Van Cleef points out, 
practically no public streams to be stocked. 
Some States have a provision that waters stocked from 
the public hatcheries shall be open to public fishing, but 
this does not solve the difficulty, because the right in- 
hering in the ownership of the fee cannot be thus abro- 
gated by legislative enactment. 
The conclusion to which we have already come, or to 
which we are coming, in many parts of the country is 
this, that if the fish commissions go on stocking the waters 
they must conlimje to stock private waters; or on the 
other hand, if the owners of private waters desire fish 
for stocking purposes, they must look for them not to the 
fish commissions but to private breeders. 
THE FEAR OF SNAKES. 
' Coahoma and others of the kindness to serpents cult, 
who would put man and snake on a peace footing, without 
waiting for the lion to lie down with the lamb, have set 
themselves to a gigantic task. If the fear of snakes is not 
implanted in human nature, it certainly is manifested at 
an early age, and is practically universal. The United 
States Bureau of Education has just completed an ex- 
tended inquiry into the subject of fear among children. 
By means of lists of objects of fear, which lists were dis- 
tributed to teachers, parents and others for the ques- 
tioning of children, the facts were collected covering 
15,000,000 cases. The figures show that thunder storms 
are more generally the object of fear than any qther one 
thing, and next come reptiles. Then w order follow 
strangers. d,arknes% fire, death, domeslac ariirnals, disease, 
wild animals, M'ater, insects, ghosts. Som'^ uf these, fear 
as that of thunder storms, may be dassiiSed as natural 4 
others, as of ghosts, are the result of teach iti^. WJ»e^ 
does the fear of reptiles belong? 
