S08 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[March j6, 190%, 
■little saw-bill, swamp sheldrake, spike-bill and cock- 
robin are the most familiar. 
Note. 
The smew (Mergus albellus) was reported by Audubon 
to have been taken in Louisiana, near New Orleans, in 
1817. The bird was a female. Since that date no speci- 
mens have been reported as taken within the United 
States. If the bird ever occurs on this continent it is 
only an accidental straggler. It is perhaps more likely 
that in the case of the specimen taken by Audubon there 
was some mistake of identification. However, the de- 
scription is given here, taken from Dr. Elliot's "Wild 
Fowl": "Adult male: General plumage white. A large 
patch at base of the bill, including the lores and eyes, 
lower portion of nuchal crest, middle of back and two 
crescentic narrow lines on side of breast, outer edge of 
scapulars and rump jet black. Upper tail coverts gray, 
edges lighter. Middle wing coverts white, greater coverts 
and secondaries black, tipped with white. Primaries 
blackish brown. Tail dark gray. Sides and flanks un- 
dulated with fine black lines on a gray ground. Bill 
bluish, nail lighter. Iris bluish white. Legs and feet 
bluish lead color; webs darker. Total length about 16^ 
inches; wing 76-10; culmen tarsus i^. 
"Adult female: Head and nape chestnut brown, lores 
and cheeks brownish black. Throat and sides of neck 
white. Upper parts brownish gray, darkest on the 
rump; some feathers on back, tipped with ashy gray. 
Sides and flanks brownish gray. Under parts white. Tail 
brown gray." 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Threatening ladiaaa Law. 
Chicago, 111. — ^There is a large threat against Chicago 
sportsmen, and against reasonable game protection, in a 
certain Indiana game bill, which bids fair to become a 
law at this session of the Indiana Legislature. This is 
the! Layman bill, Senate Bill No. 73. It has passed the 
Senate and has been referred to the committee in the 
House, and has passed that committee. The Indiana 
Legislature adjourns a week from to-day, so there is a 
very good chance that the bill may go up on the statute 
books. A few of its startling measures may be men- 
tioned: 
It opens the chicken season Oct. i, and closes it 
Nov. 10, and it carries the apparently contradictory 
clause that no dog may be used on chickens from Oct. i 
to Nov. 10. It brings forward the wise limitation of the 
daily bag to 24 quail or 24 ducks daily. It also wisely 
prohibits altogether the sale of quail. It opens the 
duck season Oct. i, and closes it April 15. It proposes 
no restriction whatever on snipe shooting. 
So far as the above clauses are concerned it might be 
tolerable, but this is but a part. No man may go upon 
another man's farm with gun and dog without the con- 
sent of the owner. Yet he may go upon any swamp land 
without asking the consent of the owner. Hence it may 
be seen that a Chicago man cannot hunt on a farm with- 
out permission, yet the farmer may hunt upon the Chicago 
man's duck preserve without any hindrance. This clause, 
abolishing the common law of trespass, will perhaps 
eventually knock out the law. 
A $25 shooting Ucense is to be required of non-resi- 
dents, though none of residents, and every hunter must 
have his license on his person. A railroad company 
carrying game out of the State can be fined $50 to $200. 
No shooter can go out with his gun on Sunday. Lastly, 
there are stiff fines and imprisonments provided for each 
violation of the law, and on top of this fine, and assessable 
upon the defendant, there is to be an additional fine, or 
blood money, of $20 for each conviction, which $20 goes 
to the State Game and Fi.sh Commission. Thus it may 
be seen that Indiana also has caught the idea of "raising 
a fund for game protection." Indiana will at least raise 
a disturbance, if she does not raise a fund. with this law. 
An emergency clause is attached to this bill, so the 
law will go into effect in ten days, if It be passed. 
Hearing of this sweeping measure and seeing its 
evident animus, a number of sportsmen have altered 
their plans in regard to Indiana game clubs. Several 
members of the Tolleston club have given up their mem- 
bership. Should the law actually be passed and enforced 
it would make game abundant in Indiana. No one 
dreams that it would be enforced against the local men. 
It would porbably be enforced to some extent against the 
city shooters who visit Indiana. 
Chicago, 111., March 9— A telegram from the Secretary 
of State of Indiana, bearing date of March 7, reads: 
"Game bill has passed and now in the hands of Governor." 
At this date the bill still remains in the hands of the 
Governor of Indiana, though little doubt exists that it will 
become a law. This law 'more nearly affects the shooters 
of Chicago than any game law which has ever been passed 
by any State adjoining Illinois. The test of these things 
is the popular interest which they create, and every shooter 
in Chicago is discussing this Indiana measure. It 'will 
exact a $25 license from every member of the Tolleston, 
Calumet Heights, Maksawba, English Lake, Cumberland, 
Nickel Plate, Pittsburg, Lake George and many other 
minor shooting clubs, whose membership is made up 
mostly of non-residents. It will ask the same sum from 
every one of the 300 or 400 Chicago shooters who each 
week during the shooting season throng down to such 
points as Shelby and Water Valley. There is going to 
be trouble over this law just as sure as the^ world. It 
may stick and it may not. None the less it will advertise 
the question of game protection in a country where there 
has been little enough protection. Some features of the 
law are good. 
The bill makes the close seasons as follows: Quatl, 
ruffed grouse, prairie chickens, pinnated grouse, Jan. I to 
Nov. 10. Squirrel, Jan. i to June i and Oct. i to Nov. 10. 
Wildfowl, April IS to Sept. i and Oct. i to Nov. 10. 
Dove, Jan. i to Jan. i and Oct. i to Nov. 10. Deer, wild 
turkeys, pheasants, protected entirely. Squirrels and wild- 
fowl may be killed from Oct. i to Nov. 10 by permit from 
the Game Commissioner. Hunting on inclosed land with- 
out written permission of owner forbidden, under penalty 
of $10 to $35. Export of game is forbidden, except that 
T|on-rf:sid.ent licensees may carry with then] tyv^ntj-foV^lf 
birds. Lawful number of quail in a day is twenty-four. 
Sale of quail is forbidden. The non-resident license: 
sections read: 
Sec. 13. It shall be unlawful for any person who is a non- 
resident of the State of Indiana to hunt, anywhere within the State 
of Indiana, any of the wild animals, fowls or birds that are pro- 
tected during any part of the year without procuring a license to 
do so, and then only during the respective periods of the year when 
it shall be lawful to do so. Said license shall be procured in the 
following manner, to wit: The applicant shall fill out a blank 
application, to be furnished by the clerk of the Circuit Court of 
any county of the State, stating the name, age, occupation and 
place of residence of the applicant, which application shall be sworn 
to before some person authorized to administer oaths in the State 
of Indiana or the State in which the applicant resides. Upon the 
presentation of such application to the clerk of the Circuit Court 
of any county in the State, such clerk shall issue to applicant a 
license to hunt anywhere in the State of Indiana. Such license 
shall be good for one ,year. Before the issuance of any such 
license the applicant shall pay to such clerk the sum of twenty- 
five dollars and fifty cents, twenty-five dollars of which shall be 
paid to the Treasurer of State as a part of the fish and game pro- 
tective fund, as hereinafter provided, and fifty cents of which shall 
be reserved by said clerk and disposed of as other fees of his office 
are disposed of. Any licensee under the provisions of this section 
hereby authorized to take from the State of Indiana twenty-four 
game birds of all kinds, killed by himself, which shall be carried 
openly for inspection, together with his or her license. 
Sec. 14. No person to whom a license is issued imder the pro- 
visions of the preceding section shall be entitled to hunt, pursue 
or kill game in this State without at the time of such hunting, 
pursuing or killing of game he has in his possession his license 
ready to exhibit the same to the Commissioner of Fisheries and 
Game or any of his deputies. 
Chicago, March 11. — Governor Mount, of Indiana, has 
vetoed the new game bill as too arbitrary and sweeping in 
nature. 
North Dakota Game Law. 
The House of the North Dakota Legislature has passed 
the bill prohibiting the sale of game — yet another West- 
ern State to swing in line. North Dakota will probably 
pass a wolf bounty law. 
Still another new thing for the sportsman is a paper 
fiber goose decoy. I saw it at Von Lengerke & An- 
toine's to-day for the first time, and the thing commends 
itself singularly to the goose hunter condemned to long 
voyages across country. In brief, this false goose is 
stamped out of a sheet of properly colored paper fiber. 
the Blackfoot country to kill a bear this spring, and he 
has sent out to his guide, J. W. Schultz, four bear traps. 
Log Cabins and How to Build Them. 
The log cabin reception room, which was one of the 
features at the show just closing here in Chicago, at- 
tracted considerable attention among sportsmen. Mr. 
George Schreiber, the executive artist at the show, and 
his able lieutenant, Charlie Norris, have taken orders for 
six of these cabins, to be put up in and around Chicago 
for sportsmen. Charlie Norris, by the way, was in charge 
of the timber operations which had so mtich to do with 
the success of the decoration scheme at the show. He 
got the pine here in time — nineteen car loads of it — and 
but for his ability as a hustler the decorations would 
have been up in the air. Charlie Burton, who had 
charge of the transportation facilities, was also mighty 
useful in getting these goods on the floor in time. 
Interesting Things at the Show. 
The trade features at the Sportsmen's Show in Chicago 
were, as earlier stated, made subordinate to the general 
scheme. The big ammunition houses did not put in 
booths, but were represented only by distributers. The 
Peters Cartridge Company, among others, made a good 
showing at the booth of their agents, Hibbard, Spencer, 
Bartlett & Co., and deserve great credit for the pains 
taken in the selection and arrangement of the goods. 
Had the show continued a week longer the Peters target 
gallery would have made a hit, as its attendance increased 
daily. The arrangement furnished for this essential part 
of the Sportsmen's Show were the best obtainable, though 
not .so good as might be desired. 
Toboggans and Saowshoes. 
The New Brunswick cabin proved to be a very winning 
feature. A toboggan which they showed is the result of the 
genius and of the years of hard .study of Henry Braith- 
waite, and it surely would seem hard to improve upon 
it. The old flatbottom board is, of course, done away 
with, that being impractical, as I have myself discovered 
THE INDIAN CAMP AT THE CHICAGO SHOW. 
and is bent on a curve and fastened across the lower 
edge with a tin clip. The wooden neck and head are 
fastened by a simple clip at the front end of this curved 
body, which now presents the appearance not of a profile, 
but of the full body of the bird. Legs can be made of 
two clips of iron, which run up inside the hollow. The 
wind passes freely through the interior of the bird, so 
that it has no wobble. It has been tried by Western 
shooters, and works perfectly as a decoy. Now if you 
wish to pack your decoys, free the bottom clip, take off 
the head and neck, and pile the paper bodies out flat, one 
on top of the other. A dozen geese will not weigh a 
dozen pounds complete, and the problem of transporta- 
tion is solved at once. The only thing lacking in these 
days of abundant devices for taking game is a little more 
game to be taken. 
Sheep and Elk. 
Last night I met at the Sportsmen's Show my old 
friend Jones, of Sandwich. 111. He ought to be hired as a 
before-and-after sign betokening the virtues of sporting 
journalism. Six months ago he was a wreck. Forest 
AND Stream sent him out into the mountains, and to-day 
he is fat and talks bass. Mr. Jones tells me, by the way, 
that the elk- in the Jackson's Hole country seem to him 
in danger of extinction, not so much from hunters as 
from sheep. The sheepmen are threatening to invade the 
winter range of the elk below the Park, and if they once 
get in there it is good-by elk. The local men are trying 
to keep out the sheep herders, but the result is still to 
be determined. 
Game Laws in New Brtmswicfc. 
Arthur Pringle, of the New Brunswick guides , here at 
the show, tells me that the. New Brunswick. Guides' As- 
sociation has petitioned the Government to pass a law 
prohibiting night shooting of moose. . This ctits off the 
popular form of night calling^ for moose, but in the opinion 
of the guides it is a necessity. They are going to have 
game in New Brunswick after we have killed all of ours 
in the United States. 
Needs a Bear. 
Mr, pr^n ScQtteiJ, Qf Detroit; Mi^h,, js gQipg p^t mt<4 
long ago, in spite of the sporting pictures which show 
a sno.>vshoerj'aantily dragging behind him a moose on 
a toboggam- .Braithwaite's toboggan has thin wooden 
shoes about four inches wide, set about fifteen inches 
apart. ' The sideboards of the runners are made out of 
the .ro.ot end of the tree and retain the natural curve. 
The runners xise aboVe in a long graceftd curve about 
twenty inches from the foot of the sled to the top of the 
curve. Their ends are lashed back to the frarae_ of the 
sledge, which is made with light standards and cross bars, 
all firmly lashed together. This sledge is not rigid, but 
wiir twist; and give, though it cannot break. The curve 
of thelruhners carries it clear of any little obstacle, and 
big /'Adarn Moore proved to me last night that this 
toboggan would go over anything that a man could step 
over. Getting into the shafts, he stepped clear across the 
table and the railing of the exhibit out into the aisle. 
The toboggan rose by the leverage of the shafts, mounted 
the table and was steadied down across the railing by 
the same means of the shafts. This is the secret of the 
tractability of the sledge. It is all in the shafts. From 
the sides of the vertical runners, a little way back from,, 
the front of the sledge, projects a loop of hide. Now 
you have two long slender poles about as thick as the 
little end of a broomstick, one going on each side of the 
sledge. The ends of these poles are thrust through the 
loops from behind, the hide engaging in a groove cut 
around the lower end of the shaft. Now you throw the 
shafts forward, and assume the position of the horse 
between these shafts. A couple of feet from the front 
end of the shafts is a ring of hide, fastened tightly. Be- 
hind this ring you fasten the end of your neck strap. 
You pass this neck strap back of your neck and out under 
the arms, and you are hitched up. In front of you pro- 
jects a couple "of feet of shaft, by means of which yo.u 
rest your hands and guide your sledge. Now the wonder- 
ful parts of these shafts is that they do away entirely 
with all the side wabble, which makes a toboggan hard 
to pull. The lower ends of the shafts press tightly enough 
against the sides of the runners to be perfectly rigid so 
far as side motion is concerned. The pulling on the neck 
strsip binds the shafts against the side of the runners. 
T|^f tobp^gat) is just w|4e snoygli <^(?m ^lo"^ ^ 
