Oct. 26, 1901.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
827 
CHICAGO* AND THE WEST. 
Chicago IMea^inlMionesotal Tolls. ~~ ' 
Chicago, 111., Oct. 19. — One of the most interesting and 
in some of its bearings one of the most important arrests 
made under the game laws for a long time was that which 
took place within the past week at St. Paul, Minn. The 
facts are these : Messrs. Harry B. Clow and A. B. Eaton, 
both of Chicago, went out to Bradley, S. D., for some 
prairie chicken shooting. It is understood, or supposed, 
that they complied fully with the laws of South Dakota 
with i-eference to license, licensed guides, etc. They 
packed fifty-six prairie chickens in two trunks, inclosing 
in one of the trunks their two shotguns, one of which, 
owned by Mr. Clow, is a Greener gun valued at $400. 
They checked their trunks straight through Minneapolis, 
not tagging their packages as containing game, and not 
acocmpanj'ing the same, but apparently leaving them to 
take their course in the hands of the railway authorities 
at Minneapolis transfer station. At Minneapolis, in some 
way best understood by himself, Deputy Warden S. E. 
Johnson gained a suspicion that the trunks contained 
game, and", as they were not openly tagged in accordance 
with the requirement.s of the Eacey act, he felt himself at 
liberty to open the trunks by force, and did so, breaking 
the lock of one trunk, the other lock being sprung by a 
locksmith. He. found in the two trunks fifty-six prairie 
chickens. There Avas no name attached to the baggage in 
any way, and no one to aid in the seizure of the game. 
Later, after the game had been sent to cold storage and 
the trunks and their contents taken to the office of State 
.Vgent S. F. Fullerton, friends of the travelers gave their 
names, after the name of Mr. Clow had been discovered 
printed upon his gun case. As soon as the shooters dis- 
covered what had become of their goods and chattels, they 
raised a considerable outcry, and enlisted the services of 
local friends in securing possession of their property. 
Had it not been for the officious nature of the local 
friends, Mr. Fullerton might have been willing to let the 
property go through, on the supposition that the violation 
of the law was through ignorance, although that itself 
is no excuse for a violation of the law. However, the 
Chicago gentlemen seem to have placed their case in the 
hands of Mr. S. H. Findlay, of Minneapolis. Mr. Find- 
lay went to the father of Mr. F. C. Hale, the attorney of 
the Fish Commission. He did not see Mr. F. C. Hale 
himself, but consulted with his father, who is also an 
attorney. The latter gentleman, however, volunteered the 
information that the trunks could not be held under the 
law. At once Mr. Findlay wrote rather an impertinent 
letter to Agent Fullerton, stating that he had been so 
advised by Mr. Hale. This aroused the fighting blood in 
Fullerton, and he decided to fire attorney, friends and 
all if the facts were as stated to him in regard to the 
opinion. Mr. F. C. Hale finally discovered the real fact, 
namely, that he had not expressed any opinion to the 
effect that the seizure was illegal. 
The whole matter was unfortunate, so far as the in- 
terests of the Chicago men were concerned, for Agent 
Fullerton thereafter stood strictly on the letter of the law, 
and also stood on the trunks. Meantime the two Chicago 
men, who seemed very much aggrieved, began to move 
heaven and earth and to bring all kinds of pressure to 
bear upon the energetic hustler who is handling the pro- 
tective matters in Minnesota. On Tuesday the writer 
saw the confiscated articles of these gentlemen among 
other interesting outfits collected by the State Game Com- 
mission of Minnesota. Mr. Clow's gun is a very good 
one — too good to inclose carelessly in a shipment of game 
through so dangerous a territory as that of St. Paul or 
Minneapolis. 
Deputy Johnson, who made this important seizure, at 
first thought the trunks contained Minnesota game. He 
then looked up the Dakota law, and held the game by 
virtue of the Lacey act. Mr. Clow is quoted in a Chicago 
paper to have stated that one trunk contained twenty-two 
birds and the other twenty-three. They would seem to 
have multiplied, at least, to some extent, for there were 
fifty-six in the two trunks, most of them being packed in 
one trunk. It is stated by Mr. Clow and Mr. Eaton that 
Deputy Warden Lewis, of Bradley, checked the trunks 
through to Chicago himself. It was stated by the clerical 
force of Executive Agent FuUerton's office last Tuesday 
to the writer that the birds would probably be sold and 
the proceeds of the sale returned to the Game Commission 
of South Dakota. The disposal of the guns and other 
material will be a matter for later consideration. 
While one cannot blame the Chicago sportsmen for dis- 
lildng to lose their personal outfit, yet there cannot fail 
the warning that the laws are planned for every one and 
are plain to all, and that it is no longer safe to take 
chances in the hope that everything will go through all 
right. Warden Fullerton is a man who knows the law 
perfectly well, and he is the best warden that stands on 
leather to-day. It is no use trying bluff him or scare him. 
The way to do with him is to do what is right — that is to 
say, to observe the game laws strictly. This is not the 
.first instance in which game coming through from Dakota 
has been seized, nor is it the first instance in which the 
Minnesota Commission has confiscated outfits employed 
or connected with the illegal handling of game. Chicago 
papers did not in all regards report this matter correctly, 
but the facts given herewith are taken from the office of 
the Executive Agent of the State of Minnesota in person. 
Auction of Confiscated Goods. 
The auction held last week by Agent Fullerton at St. 
Paul, offering for sale a lot of material confiscated from 
lawbreakers of the State of Minnesota, did not prove to 
be much of a success so far as the disposition of the col- 
lection of moose heads was concerned. There was a 
job lot of firearms of all sorts, some twenty-five or thirty 
kinds in all, and, strange to say,.tliese bi^ought better prices 
st auction than they would' have, cornmahded af first hand 
in sporting goods storesl There was one old, single-barrel 
Zulu gun which sold for -$^— doiible what it would have 
cost new. In the collection there was one flintlock musket 
—something of a curiosity in its way and worthy of pres- 
ervation.. The mpose heads, some of vvhich were good 
specimens, were held for prices, ranging from $40 to $156,. 
and the .Commission. saw fit to retain these, pending better 
propositions. 
The Minnesota Fish and Game Commission has secured 
between sixty and seventy, convictions this season, has 
confiscated some thirty guns, six or eight dogs (few of 
them good ones), and some hundreds of dozens of birds, 
not to mention considerable amounts of moose meat and 
venison. They have pulled pretty much all the swell 
restaurants of St. Paul, including Carling, Newman, .Ma- 
gee, etc. Mr. J. E. Piatt, a big commission dealer of 
Minneapolis, is up now for a big case. The State Com- 
mission is prosecuting him for alleged violations of the 
law. the fines connected with which would amount to 
several thousands of dollars if inflicted as permissible by 
the statute. 
The Non-Resident License. 
One feature of the game laws of our Northwestern 
States deserving of special attention is that of the non- 
resident license. Here is an instance: A well-known 
.shooter of Chicago, in company with certain friends, went 
out to Ortonville, Minn., for a prairie chicken trip last 
month. They had very good success, and to-day the 
Chicago man was very enthusiastic over that section of 
the country. I asked him if he had' taken out a non-resi- 
dent license, and he said, "No. it was not necessary. We 
owned the town. The town marshal and the leading 
citizens went out with us." When told that since he was 
a resident of Illinois the non-resident law of Minnesota 
would apply against him, he said that had he been caught 
up by any of the authorities he would have at once pur- 
chased his .shooting license. Now' this is a little error 
which might as well be corrected here as anyTvhere else. 
It is not enough to get your license after you find you 
have need for it. The license must be with the shooter 
and should be taken out before he begins his shooting trip. 
Had things not gone fortunately for him — perhaps they 
would not have been so fortunate had Agent Fullerton got 
wind of it — he might have been subjected to an expense 
greater than that of the original $25. We might all just 
ajS well make up our minds to it. This non-resident 
license has come to stay. It is a game law, and one which 
in many ways is a good one, and as such it should be 
observed by all of us. This is the second party of whom 
I have heard who went into Minnesota and who did not 
pay any non-resident license. I do not doubt there were 
many others, as Minnesota is a big State. Yet the experi- 
ence of the two Chicago men who lost their trunks so un- 
expectedly may serve as a gentle hint to others who per- 
haps ignore, or evade, or compromise with the laws on the 
dangerous ground of Minnesota. 
The "Warden and the License. 
Still another instance of the growing vigilance of the 
wardens of the Northwestern country is related to-day 
by Mr. C. E. Willard, who has been spending part of the 
summer at Oconomowoc and doing a little shooting at 
odd times this fall. He killed a few partridges and a 
few plover from daj' to day, and one day he was accosted 
by a pleasant-looking stranger, who asked him if he had , 
a shooting license. This was the first time that Charlie 
had ever thought of the license matter, but he realized 
how serious might be the situation. Evading the question 
and securing the promise of the stranger to call on him 
at the farmhouse later, Mr. Willard hastened to a Justice 
of the Peace and got a license as quickly as he could. A 
few days later, while shooting, he was accosted by the 
same stranger, who announced then that he was a game 
warden. One may imagine with what joy Mr. Willard 
was able to reach into his pocket and pull out the coveted 
slip of paper ! 
Fish Scales and Hickory Nuts, 
Now here is one more proof of the fact that this coun- 
try is no longer the land of the free, and that the game 
laws are becoming odiously active. Mr. Willard put up 
a box of hickory nuts which he wanted to send to the 
loved ones at home here in Chicago from his place near 
Oconomowoc. He had something like a bushel of the 
nuts in the only box he could find, and, as it chanced, 
could discover no board handy to make a top to the box, 
excepting a piece on which the hired man had been clean- 
ing fish. Thinking this would serve at a pinch, he nailed 
it on, clean side up, and shipped his hickory nuts by ex- 
press forthwith. The nuts got as far as Milwaukee Union 
Station, and then the vigilant eye or nose of some warden, 
perhaps Valentine ^.aeth. detected the ancient and fish-like 
smell. It would have been a pleasure to have seen the 
eagerness of the warden as he tore open this box, and per- 
haps as pleasurable to have witnessed his consternation 
when he pulled off the fishy board and discovered under- 
neath no illegal shipment of Wisconsin's finny wealth, but 
only a pailhxl or so of innocent hickory nuts, such as 
used to be known at the fireside in the days of our fore- 
fathers. 
Northwestern Game. 
Now all this business about supervigilant wardens and 
exacting game laws and un-American non-resident laws 
has one corollary, which is not in the least so unsatisfac- 
tor3-. The same shooter who this year went f rorn Chicago 
to OrtouAalle, Minn., has been going to that country for 
fifteen years, and he says that there were more chickens 
there this year than there were fifteen j'ears ago. The 
same story is repeated in regard to almost every game 
locality of the noble State of Minnesota. There are more 
ducks and more chickens, three or four to one as an aver- 
age all over that State, than there were ten years ago. To 
what should be attributed this increase of the game sup- 
ply? True, there are such things as good game years and 
b?.d game years, but, after all, is it not a possible thing 
that the watchfulness of the Minnesota wardens has had 
much to do with the increase in the game birds of that 
Commonwealth ? 
Specifying as to localities, the general tenor is that Hal- 
lock, Kittsort county. Minn., is one of the best localities 
for all-around shooting — geese, ducks, grouse and snipe. 
Thi.*; information was volunteered by employees of the 
State Warden's office. Mr. Fullerton-.himself is not only 
a warden, but a sportsman, and was absent four days this 
week on a scouting and hunting trip of - his own to a 
docality' which is not mentioned. 
One notable feature of the increased game supply in the 
upper part' of the Northwest is the great increase of quail. 
Everyone says that quail are very abundant all over lower 
Minnesota, and I was advised that the quail belt extends 
as far as 100 miles north of the Twin Cities. 
In Wisconsin the game supply seems to be at least up 
to the average this year so far as can be told, and we are 
going to have a good fall in Illinois. Telegrams to-day 
from the Hennepin Club to Mr. J. V. Clarke, of this city, 
state that the ducks are in on the Illinois River marshes, 
and request members to come promptly. Similar advices 
are at hand from Swan Lake Club, lower down on the 
Illinois River. 
As to the jacksnipe, there was a good body in two days 
ago at the lower end of Calumet Lake, just below Chicago. 
During the middle of this week, near Romeo, on the 
Desplaines Bottoms, Billy Cutler, of Evanston, had two 
very fine bags of snipe — seventy one day and forty the 
n'ext. There are a few snipe also to the north of us, 
around Fox Lake. 
"Western Men in the Hast. 
Dr. D. W. Greene and J. R, King, of Dayton, O.^ have 
returned from a successful hunt on the Miramichi River 
of New Brunswick. Dr. Greene killed a fine moose and a 
caribou, both in one day, and Mr. King also was fortu- 
nate enough to get a good moose. 
N. F. Depauw, of New Albany, Ind., is another Western 
man to make a trip to New Brunswick this fall. He 
got a good moose head. 
Quail. 
.\11 kinds of quail in Illinois this fall. Remember Neoga 
on the Illinois Central. Effingham, ju.st below Neoga, is 
another good point, 
E. Hough. 
TTartford Building, Chicago, 111. 
The Maine Season. 
Boston, Oct. 21.^— The Maine moose season is on. 
Fancuil Hall Market, this city, had a fine moose on exhi- 
bition Friday, though die season opened on Tuesday. It 
was said to have been killed by a fortunate hunter, who 
shot the animal near Greenville, about 6 o'clock Tuesday 
morning, the opening day] Thursday eight moose passed 
through Bangor. Moose are reported much more plenty 
in the Rangeley and Dead River regions than last year, 
while deer "are not as plenty. The record of the first 
sixteen days of the game season shows eight shooting 
accidents, of which five have proved fatal. Sportsmen are 
positively afraid to go into the Avoods this year. Hunting 
is growing more and more popular with women. Among 
those fortunate enough to secure deer may be noted Mrs. 
William McKay, of The Forks, Me., who shot a large, 
white deer in that section a few days ago. Mrs. Cole, of 
Boston, shot a deer in the Dead River region last week. 
Miss Eva Whittier, of Boston, is out of the woods in the 
country north of Sherman, Aroostook county, with a buck 
and a doe of her own shooting. Deer are very plenty in 
that country. Miss Tra.sk, of Boston, has shot a deer in 
the Moosehead region. Mrs. j. B. Garland, of Worcester, 
has shot a deer in the Roach River region, where she has 
been hunting with her husband. Mrs. P. H. Plaisted, of 
Waterville, has shot a fine buck deer in the Moxie region. 
E. S. Farmer and niece, of Arlington, have just returned 
from a hunting trip to the Milnocket region. They 
brought home two deer, one a particularly fine buck with 
a good head, which is to be mounted. A party of rail- 
road men from Lexington and vicinity have gone into the 
Maine woods after big game. In the party are W.. H. 
Green, of Lynn ; O. M. Gove, Dr. Gibbons and Thomas 
Anderson, of Lexington. They are in the Moosehead 
region. 
Really the hunting season is particularly a dangerous 
time in" Maine, even for those who do not go out with 
guns and have no idea of hunting. It is related that the 
other day a man, who had been to the hospital at Lewis- 
ton, to have a wound dressed, was returning to his home 
at Mechanic Falls. A piece of metal was included in his 
. bandages, to keep his wound in plcice, the wound being in 
his side. Sitting in a passenger car, at a station, he 
suddenly felt something strike the piece of metal. Ex- 
amination showed it to be a rifle bullet. It had passed 
completely through both sides of a freight car that stood 
by on a siding, before passing through the passenger 
car and hitting the metal in the bandage. It is suggested 
that the bullet must have killed the man but for the 
fact that its force was spent by going through the box car 
before it entered the passenger car. Hunters were known 
to be in the vicinity at' the time, and the stray bullet is 
attributed to their careless shooting. 
The coot shooters are having good sport along the 
.South Shore, at Scituate and Brant Rock. Last week was 
the best of the season. Gunners who are accustomed to 
the sport and know the ropes, find it easy to make bags of 
twenty and up to twenty-five and thirty birds in a day. 
There is considerable rivalry as to being high line among 
the coot shooters at this point. Annisquam gunners have 
been having good sport. Still, some better flights are 
looked for in November. At Biddeford Pool and further 
down the Maine coast the coot gunners are having good 
success. O. H. Smith, of Boston, is back from a week's 
trip after coot. Good bags of birds were made each day. 
They sailed down as far as Fort Popham some days and 
back in the evening. At Chatham birds have been plenty 
for the week, but there have been but few gunners, giv- 
ing those that were on hand an excellent chance. The 
late flight of yellowlegs came along early in the week, and 
some good scores were made. Duck shooting is expected 
to begin early at that point, and gunners for the present 
week should be prepared for that sport. 
There are still a few beaver left in Maine. Game War- 
den Houston, of Caribou, passed through Bangor on 
Thursday, with three live beaver. He was taking them 
to the Central Park, New York Zoo. 
Still the smelt fishermen are having good sport along 
the South Shore. At Hingham, Quincy, Weymouth and 
many other points the sport is good, with the smelt large. 
It is gratifying io those who have had the protection of 
smelt .in hand, td note the amount of wholesome rod and 
line.spori; that has grown up, whereas, formerly about all 
the smelt were netted, and the stock exhausted. F. A. 
Rein, of Boston, goes down almost every week, and his 
catches include from ten to forty dozen in a day. He 
