66 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 26, 1901. 
Africa during the first half of the nineteenth century 
used smooth bores for shooting big game. They shot 
elephants with ten bores and eight bores. Sir Samuel 
Baker was. I believe, the man who first introduced rifles 
into these African sports. ■ - 
An ordinary smooth bore, firing a bullet, h^s Very 
little accuracy beyond sixty yards. But I would be willing 
to go a little further and allow the use of those paradox 
.smooth bores which have been invented of recent years 
and which are accurate, they tell me, up to 100 yards. 
If everybody else will do the same, I am pei-fectly willing 
to go into the Maine woods and take my chances with 
a smooth bore; and I think in a forest country any man 
ought to be entirely content with the game he can kill 
inside of 100 yards. A great deal of shooting in forest 
couiitries is done at night with a jack, in spite of the law 
against it. In this sort of shooting, which is at very 
close range, a smooth bore is just as ef¥ective as a rifle 
and rather more so. 
I think a law forbidding the use of rifles in the large 
game counties of Maine and New York could be very 
easily enforced. No man should be allowed to start on 
a camping tour with a rifle or to carry one under any 
circumstances. If he has a rifle with him, it should be 
taken away from him and kept by some official until he 
returns from his trip and is ready to go home again, and 
then it should be returned to him. I believe this system 
would tend to the increase of game. Not so many would 
be shot and we should all enjoy what is to me, and I 
think to every one, the great pleasure of being in the 
presence of large quantities of wild animals which are 
difficult to secure. 
There would, of course, still be certain classes of acci- 
dents, the same accidents which occur with shotguns. 
These can never be eliminated. They are the necessary 
accompaniments of dangerous weapons and human care- 
lessness. But I think several classes of accidents which 
are numerous and distressing and shock everybody when 
they occur, would be entirely eliminated. 
Sydney G. Fisher. 
Spring Shooting. 
VVatertown, N. Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: I in- 
close an article I have published in the Watertown Times 
in relation to spring shooting. The sportsmen of Jef- 
ferson county are making a determined efTort to stop 
spring shooting of wild fowl in this county, and I believe 
we shall succeed. If the sportsmen of this Stat would 
use the local newspapers, and let the public know their 
wishes in the matter of better game protection, I think 
it would go a long awy toward creating a public senti- 
ment in our favor, and unless we have the people with 
us our laws cannot be enforced. 
* W. H. Tallett, 
President Jefferson Coitnty Sportsmen's Association. 
There is a growing public sentiment in favor of more 
stringent game laws and their more rigid enforcement. 
Nearly every State in the Union has a law forbidding 
the export of game, and last winter the Lacey bill, making 
it possible to enforce these laws, was passed by Congress 
and signed by President McKinley. The sale of game 
is forbidden at any time in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Vermont. Oregon, Iowa and South Carolina. The 
spring shooting of wild fowl is forbidden in Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, North Dakota, Vermont, Rhode Island, Utah, 
Idaho and Washington. Michigan forbids the killing 
©f mallard, black duck, wood duck and teal in the spring. 
The great State of New York, which should stand in the 
front rank of this grand movement toward better pro- 
tection for game birds, is a long way in the rear. Why? 
For the simple reason that the sportsmen, the men who 
believe in these things, are not united. These men who 
shoot and snare our birds for the market, these men who 
kill and drive from our waters the wild fowl that should 
be permitted to remain and breed here — these men are 
comparatively ■ few in number. The time is coming, 
brother sportsmen, when one of two things must happen : 
Shooting for the market and the spring shooting of game 
birds must cease or our game birds will be exterminated. 
There is only one way to stop the market- shooter, and 
that is to forbid the sale of game at any time of the year, 
and there is only one way to stop the spring shooter, and 
that is tO' prohibit spring shooting. 
It ought not to be necessary to have to pass such laws, 
and for the true sportsman it is not, but there are a 
few men in every community who for the few cents they 
receive, or for the mere pleasure of killing, will kill any 
bird or animal, at any time of the year, unless it is pro- 
tected by law. The sportsmen of this State have been 
trying for years to secure the passage of a law prohibiting 
the spring shooting of wild fowl, and year after year have 
met defeat at the hands of Oswego county', whose mem- 
bers go to Albany pledged to oppose any bill of this 
nature, and if I am rightly informed one man controls 
the action of these members, and that one does his spring 
shooting in Jefferson county. Last spring a bill was in- 
troduced covering Jeft'erson county. You all know what 
happened to it. 
It might be interesting to you to know how ".he States 
of Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Michigan 
were induced to pass such a law. Three years ago the 
Horicon Club, composed of members in Chicago and 
Wisconsin, which owned a game preserve in Wisconsin, 
stopped the spring shooting of wild foWl on their pre- 
serve. Not only did the mallard, black duck, wood duck 
and teal stay there and nest, but the bluebill, canvasback 
and redhead, ducks that were supposed to breed in the 
far North, stayed and reared their young and on the 
opening day the birds were there in thousands, and in- 
stead of having to wait for the cold weather to drive them 
down from the North the members of this club had good 
shooting from Sept. i to the end of the season. The 
result of this experiment was the stopping of spring 
Shooting Jan. i in four States, and this winter the 
sportsmen of Illinois are trying to pass the same law. 
I wonder what would have happened in this State in a 
year or two if our law had passed last winter? Is there 
another county in the State better situated for a game 
preserve? The St, Lawrence River on the north, with 
no spring shooting on the Canadian side, closes Dec. 15, 
our lake front with its bays and feeding grounds from 
Cape Vincent to Big Sandy, and the little lakes, ponds 
and creeks scattered through the interior. Suppose that 
instead of drjving those birds into Canada in the spring 
we should sow wild rice in our shallow bays, and it will 
grow on any soft m^d bottom in from one inch to eight 
feet of water. Suppose you owned a game preserve, not 
a big one such as Jefferson county would be, but a little 
one, and that next spring a few pairs of ducks should 
come and want to stay and nest there, you'd get your 
gun and go out and kill all you could and dirve the rest 
of them over in your neighbor's preserve, wouldn't you? 
Of course you would, and next fall you'd kick because 
he asked you to pay hira twenty-five dollars if you wanted 
to come over and get a mess. I don't suppose there is 
any use of trying to make a game preserve of this county; 
the boys don't want it, and we'll have to go on shooting 
mud hen? and wait till our neighbor's preserve freezes 
over and try and get a few as they fly over, but I would 
like to trv it for, sav, three vears. 
W. H. T.\I.LETT, 
President Jefferson County Sportsmen's Association. 
The Massachusetts Association. 
Boston, Jan. 18. — Editor Forest and Stream: The n?w 
Board of Government of the Massachuse ts Fish and 
Game Association within less than a week of their election 
have got right down to business. At the call of Presi- 
dent Reed twenty members of the Board met at the 
Copley Square Hotel last Monday evening, and after a 
full and free interchange of opinion, the following com- 
mittees were made up and agreed upon : 
On Publication— Arthur W. Robinson, Edward W. 
Branigan. Henry H. Kimball. A. C. Risteen N. Le Rov. 
On Enforcement of the Laws — W. S. Hinman, B. N. 
Howe, Charles M. Bryant. William B. Smart. Charles 
Stewart, Dr. M. H. Richardson, George H. Moore. 
On Legislation— J. Russell Reed, B. C. Clark. HTrac? 
T. Rockwell, George H. Payne, A. B. F. Kinney. Rollin 
Jones, Loring Crocker, George W. Wiggin, C. H. Moul- 
ton. 
On Finance— W. B. Hastings, J. N. Roberts, R. N. 
Joyce, A. T. Thayer. 
On Entertainments — Heber Bishop, Thomas Hall, E. 
J. Brown, W. S. Hinman, A. R. Brown, E. W. Branigan. 
Counsel — ^James E. Young. 
A discussion ensued upon various matters that were 
proper subjects for legislation, notably the lobster law. 
Col. Rockwell said there would no donbt be an effort 
made t© repeal the present ioj4-inch law and urged that 
every effort be made to prevent such action. It was of 
the utmost importance to keep the laws of this State and 
Maine identical as to the size of the lobster, as they 
now are, and it was voted to support the State Comrnis- 
sion in their efforts to keep the present law or something 
better. President Reed called attention to the shooting of 
gulls and terns, and it was voted to have presented a bill 
to the Legislature to prohibit the killing of these birds at 
any time. The subject of taking clams from the Charles 
River Flats, whose waters are more or less polluted by 
sewage, was brought up by President 'Reed and Dr. 
Maurice H. Richardson. The eminent surgeon gave a 
very interesting talk upon the habits of shell fish, and 
this and other matters were left to the Committee on 
Legislation, which committee will doubtless have con- 
siderable business on hand during the present session of 
■ the Legislature. Wm. B. Smart. 
The Legislative Canipaign of J 900 and Events Which 
Led Up to It. 
Mr. President and Members of the Association: 
The annual meeting of our Association is an occasion 
of more than ordinary interest to all our members and 
a fitting time for those on whom you have placed the 
responsibilities of official positions to give an account 
of their stewardship. 
Mr. President, the year 1900 will ever be a memorable 
one in the history of the State Association. As you all 
know, the crowning achievement of the year is the pas- 
sage of the new bird law, which was secured by the 
united efforts of the sportsmen and lovers of birds in 
our State. Another important enactment in which we 
were interested is the Fishway law. For a full under- 
standing of the means by which these salutary measures 
were carried through, it is necessary to revert to events 
which transpired prior to the opening of the campaign 
of 1900. I trust a brief outline of occurrences leading 
up to the final result will be of sufficient interest to com- 
mand your attention for a few minutes. 
To commence at the beginning: The keynote of the 
movement was struck at the annual banquet of the Asso- 
ciation held on Feb. 8, 1898, by Mr. Stevenson, of Pitts- 
field. I quote from the report of the meeting printed 
in the Boston Herald of Feb. 9, as follows: "Mr. J. 
M. Stevenson, or the Legislature, responded for the State 
and assured the members that Legislators were far more 
in accord with the hopes of the true sportsman than was 
generally supposed, the difficulty of promoting suitable 
legislation lying largely in the great divergence of views 
among the sportsmen themselves." This declaration, 
coming as it did from a brother sportsman who had been 
a member of the Legislative Committee on Fisheries 
and Game for two years, produced a profound impression, 
and was the subject of discussion at the next meeting 
of the Board of Management, on March 16 following, 
when on motion of ex-President Samuels the Board 
voted — "That the Secretary correspond with officers of 
the various fish and game and farmers' clubs of the State 
and invite them to meet us yearly in convention to dis- 
cuss changes in game laws, etc." 
During the following months till late autumn the Secre- 
tary sought in various ways to obtain a list of the differ- 
ent clubs and their officers. The only list of game asso- 
ciations and gun clubs available was one published many 
years before, vid it is not strange under the circumstances 
that the severity or more invitations sent out brought 
together only abotit a dozen representative delegates, 
who met with our officers in the afternoon of Nov. 16, 
1898. 
In opening the meeting President Rockwell stated that 
the Association had no plan or scheme that it desired to 
carry out, but had called the conference for an inter- 
change of views, in the hope that united action might 
result in the advancement of the fish and game interests 
of the State. 
Prof. William H. Niles assured those present -that-one 
thousand members of the Appalachian Mountain Club 
were a unit in favor of the purposes and work of the 
Association. Mr. George H, Mackey spoke for the 
Ornithologists' Union; George H. Palmer, Esq:, for the 
Southern Massachusetts Fish and Game League; Mr. 
William B. Phinney for the Lynn Fish and Game Pro- 
tective Association; Dr. C. H. Raymond for the Reho- 
both Farmers' Club, and several others for their respec- 
tive organizations. Mr. C. C. Peck, of North Attleboro, 
presented a carefully prepared paper, in which he urged 
the great need of more efficient wardens and more vigor- 
ous efforts in the care of fish and game. 
The sentiment of all the speakers was strongly in favor 
of stringent restrictions on the sale of game and a rigid! 
enforcement of game laws. The discussion was continued! 
after the dinner by several speakers, but no definite action 
was taken at that time. While the meeting was not large 
in numbers, it was characterized hy great earnestness 
on the part of the speakers, all of whom expressed a 
desire to co-operate in any plans that might be formed 
caluculated to improve the existing conditions. 
I have gone somewhat into details with reference to 
this convention, for two reasons. First: Because it was 
the beginning of a movement by us that has resulted in 
arousing widespread interest throughout the State, and 
the consequent improvement in game laws. Second: 
Because it was the first conference of clubs interested in 
fish and game ever held in the State of Massachusetts, 
and the credit of inaugurating the movement is due our 
Association, 
To resume. At a meeting of the Board of Manage- 
ment, on Dec, i, it was moved that the Massachusetts 
Fish and Game Association extend its thanks to all the 
clubs and associations represented in the convention of 
Nov. 16, and hopes the occasion may be made an annual 
one in which every association in the State may be 
represented. This was voted, and the Secretary was in- 
structed to communicate the same to the various clubs. 
The next event I will mention is the announcement 
in the newspapers in March following that the Associa- 
tion was prepared to distribute fifty dozen quail, which 
-irnught many applications, some of which came from 
officers of clubs. 
At a meeting of the Association, on May 19, it was 
voted that posters of the game laws, suitably framed, be 
put in the post offices and railroad stations of the Com- 
monwealth, the expense to be defrayed from the sinking 
fund. Later the Secretary was uthorized by the Commit- 
tee on Publications to carry out this vote of the Asso- 
ciation. He was able to secure from Washington the 
sanction of the Post Office Department and the assistance 
of the General Superintendent, Mr. W.E. Chamberlain, of 
the N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R,, in performing this work. 
This was followed by the receipt of hundreds of letters 
from various parts of the State, evincing a sur- 
prising interest in the community at large, and was the 
means of adding several to the list of clubs. Then fol- 
lowed the preparation of suitable blanks for obtaining 
statistical information concerning each of the clubs, and 
in my efforts in this direction I desire to mention the 
great assistance received from our Vice-President, Mr. 
William S. Hinman. - . - 
All the work which I have gone over in this brief 
manner led up to the convention held in Boston on 
Dec. 14, 1899, in which more than eighty delegates, rep- 
representing about sixty different associations, clubs and 
societies, participaated. Among those present were rep- 
resentatives of the Massachusetts Forestry Association, 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Massachusetts 
Board of Agriculture. Massachusetts Board of Education, 
Massachusetts Board of Trade, Massachusetts Rifle As- 
sociation, New England Agricultural Society, Middlesex 
South Agricultural Society, Hampshire Agricultural So- 
ciety, several farmers' clubs, besides numerous fish and 
game associations, the Megantic Fish and Game Club, 
many gun clubs, etc. 
The committee appointed in the afternoon reported 
in the evening the following recommendations, viz. : 
1. That each association choose one delegate to serve 
upon a Central Committee, with full power to act in 
securing legislation, etc. 
2. That the open season on rabbits, squirrels, wood- 
cock, ruffed grouse and quail commence Oct. i and end 
Dec. I. 
3. That the sale of game birds be prohibited. 
4. That suitable fishways .be provided for food fish 
to reach their spawning bed, 
5. That this committee use means to secure funds 
needed to bring these measures before the Legislature 
and secure their passage. 
In accordance with the first recommendation, each as- 
sociation and club was invited to send a delegate as a 
member of the Central Committee, and the delegates 
met on Jan. 4, 1900, when the following Executive Com- 
mittee was chosen: Chairman. A. B. F. Kinney, Worces- 
ter; Sec'y-Treas., H. H. Kimball, Boston; George 
H. Palmer, North Bedford; Herman S. Fay, Marlbor- 
ough; Dr. J. T. Herrick, Springfield; William B. Phin- 
ney, Lynn; John S. Bleakie, Falmouth; H. A. Estabrook, 
Fitchburg; J. E. TAveedy, North Attleboro; Jos. H. 
Wood, Pittsfield; Herbert E. Tuck, Haverhill; Henry 
Hanson, Fall River. 
This committee met on Jan. 10, to lay out its 
work. As appears upon our records, at the an- 
nual meeting of the Association, on Jan. 10, 1900, 
the following preamble and resolution were adopted, viz.: 
Wheas, It has become known to this Association that the; game 
birds and animals of this Commonwealth have become, year after 
year, more and more scarce, and it is notorious that, unless some 
further protective legislation can be speedily had, the time is not 
far distant when they will become exterminated; therefore, be it 
Resolved, That this Association call upon our Senators and 
Representatives, and we do hereby call on them, to pass tnore 
restrictive laws for the greater protection of our game birds before 
it is too late and game of the State becomes exterminated. 
The Secretary was instructed to mail a copy of Ihie 
above to all members of the House and Senate. 
By this means the legislators were early notified of our 
opinions and wishes. 
The details with reference to what followed in the Ibng 
and arduous struggle at the State House you, have al- 
ready heard from Representative Harry D. Hunt, oi 
