468 
POOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 14, 1901. 
to notify the game wardens, Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Jones, 
who promised to set forth immediately, and who prob- 
ably did their best, but a severe snow storm developed 
which must have hampered them considerably, and which 
drove us out of the mountainb. Our guides were bent 
on arresting these teeth hunters, and as we parted from 
them, homeward bound, they promised us to go out 
immediately, which, of course, met with our hearty ap- 
proval. The subsequent developments were written us. 
With a small pack train, Nelson Yarnall, Silas and 
Jack McCabe, our efficient cook, started up the Wind 
River, and the first day, near the Rams Horn, met the 
teeth hunters. Passing by and giving the impression 
tkat they were hunting for a bunch of strayed horses, 
the Yarnalls and Jack back-tracked at night, held up the 
law-breakers at the rifie's muzzle, searched them and 
their camp, and found twenty-six pairs of elk teeth, 
representing, of course, twenty-six elks, mostly bulls. 
The criminals were taken to the nearest justice of the 
peace, Richard Green, at Dubois, where one of them, 
Rudolph Rosencrans, pleaded guilty, and was fined $25 
and costs, the total being $38.30. That is to say, this 
wholesale infraction of Wyoming's law protecting one of 
its most valuable possessions, its big game, was pun- 
ishedbythe infliction of the minimum penalty — the maxi- 
mum being a fine of $100 and imprisonment for six 
months — and even this maximum, under the administra- 
tion of a right-minded judge, would seem, in the present 
case, to err on the side of leniency. 
Think of it, O ye game lovers, $38.80 for twenty-six 
elk. Less than the sum you or I pay for the mere 
privilege of killing two, and less than our combined ex- 
penses for our guides and outfit in waiting over the two 
days to notify the game wardens. 
As no defense was attempted, it is a fair presumption 
that the teeth hunters were glad enough to get off with 
the slaughter of only twenty-six elk charged against 
them; but how many these two men really killed will 
never be known, for they were in the mountains nearly 
all summer and made several trips to the nearest settle- 
ments, from which shipments of teeth were probably 
made. . . 
Was there* ever such a travesty upon justice as this? 
Was there ever such a reward for the honest endeavor 
of honest men who had done their duty so well as the 
Yarnalls and McCabe? They and we are filled with dis- 
gust and bitter disappointment at this mal-administra- 
tion of the law, but in the hope that publicity may en- 
hance its better application in the future, we have ven- 
tured to take so much of your space. 
• For the enlightenment of those not informed, be it 
known that what are referred to as "teeth" are the 
canine teeth chiefly of the bull elk. They are carried in 
the upper jaw, one on each side, and immediately back 
of the incisors. These tusks are only valuable for the 
reason that a secret society of the "Elks" has adopted 
them as its insignia or emblem. It is to be regretted 
that this is the case, as it is conducive to the destruction 
of one of our most noble of animals. 
W. Worrell Wagner, 
Shereourne W. Dougherty, M. D. 
Philadelphia, 1901. 
The Forest Reserves. 
from President Roosevelt^ s Message. 
Public opinion throughout the United States has 
moved steadily toward a just appreciation of the value 
of forests, whether planted or of natural growth. The 
great part played by them in the creation and main- 
tenance of the National wealth is now more fully realized 
than ever before. 
Wise forest protection does not mean the withdrawal 
of forest resources, whether of wood, water, or grass, 
from contributing their full share to the welfare of the 
people, but, on the contraiy, gives the assurance of 
larger and more certain supplies: The fundamental idea 
of forestry is the perpetuation of forests by use. Forest 
protection is not an end of itself; it is a means to in- 
crease and sustain the resources of our country and the 
industries which depend upon them. The preservati6n 
of our forests is an imperative business necessity. We 
have come to see clearly that whatever destroys the 
forest, except to make way for agriculture, threatens our 
well-being.. 
The practical usefulness of the National forest reserves 
to the mining, grazing, irrigation, and other interests of 
the regions in which the reserves lie has led to a wide- 
spread demand by the people of the West for their pro- 
tection and extension. The forest reserves will inevit- 
ably be of still greater use in the future than in the 
past. Additions should be made to them whenever prac- 
ticable, and their usefulness should be increased by a 
thoroughly businesslike management. 
At present the protection of the forest reserves rests 
with the General Land Office, the mapping and descrip- 
tion of their timber with the L'nited States Geological 
Survey, and the preparation of plans for their conserva- 
tive use with the Bureau of Forestry, which is also 
charged with the general advancement of practical for- 
estry in the United States These various functions 
should be united in the Bureau of Forestry, to which 
they properly belong. The present diffusion of responsi- 
bility is bad from every standpoint. It prevents that 
effective co-operation between the Government and the 
men who utilize the resources of the reserves, without 
which the interests of both must suffer. The scientific 
bureaus generally should be put under the Departmeiit 
of Agriculture. The President should l^ave by law the 
power of transferring lands for use as forest reserves to 
the Department cSf Agriculture. He already has such 
power in the case of lands needed by the Departments of 
War and the Navy. 
The wise administration of the fcirest reserves will be 
not less helpful to the interests which depend on water 
than to those which depend on wood and grass. The 
watef supply itself depends upon the forest. In the arid 
regidii it is water, not land, which measures production. 
The western half of the United States would sustain a 
population greater than that of our whole country to- 
day if the w»ters that now run to waste were saved and 
jj§e<i for irrigation, Che fprest and water problem^ arf 
erhaps the most vital internal questions of the United 
tates, ~ , .j- . . ■ 
Certain of the forest resei-ves' should also be made 
preserves for the wild forest creatures. All of the re- 
serves should be better protected from fires. Many of 
them need special protection because of the great injury 
done by live stock, above all by sheep. The increase in 
deer, elk, and other animals in the Yellowstone Park 
shows what may be expected when other mountain for- 
ests are properly protected by law and properly guarded. 
Some of these areas have been so denuded of surface 
vegetation by overgrazing that the ground-breeding 
birds, including 'grouse and quail, and many mammals, 
including deer, have been exterminated or driven away. 
At the same time the water-storing capacity of the sur- 
face has been decreased or destroyed, thus promoting 
floods in times of rain and diminishing the flow of 
streams between rains. 
In cases where natural conditions have been restored 
for a few years vegetation has again carpeted the ground, 
birds and deer are coming back, and hundreds of per- 
sons, especially from the immediate neighborhood, come 
each summer to enjoy the privilege of camping. Some, 
at least, of the forest reserves should afford perpetual 
protection to the native fauna anf flora, safe havens of 
refuge to our rapidly diminishing wild animals of the 
larger kinds, and free camping grounds for the ever- 
increasing numbers of men and women who have 
learned to find rest, health, and recreation in the splen- 
did forests and flower-clad meadows of our mountains. 
The forest reserves should be set apart forever for the 
use and benefit of our people as a whole, and not sac- 
rificed to the shortsighted greed of a few. 
The forests are natural reservoirs. By restraining the 
streams in flood and replenishing them in drought, they 
make possible the use of waters otherwise wa.sted. They 
prevent the soil from washing, and so protect the stor- 
age reservoirs from filling up with silt. Forest conserva- 
tion is therefore an essential condition of water con- 
servation. 
Some Maine Deer Hunters. 
As A matter of fact, the term "deer hunters" applies 
to a pretty large percentage of the male population 
hereabouts this season, as not only has almost every- 
body^ generally classed as a sportsman directed his best 
efforts toward getting a shot at one of these wary fel- 
lows, but many who had thought their hunting days were 
over, as well as many more who hitherto had never 
thought of hunting at all, have had their sporting blood 
so roused by the popular craze that they have provided 
themselves with suitable arms and taken a zeal o as hand 
at the game, Naturally the result has been bad for the 
deer, as well as somewhat risky for the hunter, although, 
happily, no accidents have yet been reported in our im- 
mediate vicinity. The following, from the Oxford 
County Advertiser of Nov. 29, gives one an idea of the 
vigor of the campaign being conducted in that county: 
"Last week's Advertiser announced the killing of 8g 
different deer in this county. One or more deer have 
been killed in nearly every town in this county this fall, 
•including one moose. This shows conclusively that big 
game is on the increase." 
In the issue containing the above were accounts of 
the killing of perhaps ten or twelve more deer, and 
thus 'the work will go on to the end of the season. A 
paralleL state of affairs prevails in Cumberland county, 
which, after absolute protection for a period, has been 
open during October of the present year. One report 
states that sixteen deer were killed the first week on 
Standish Plains, a tract of 4,000 acres about ten miles 
east of us, on the Maine Central; but I am inclined to 
think the number overestimated, although it is certain 
the locality was literally thronged with hunters for a 
time. 
Among those who went from this way was W. E. 
Blake, one of our best hunters and rifle shots, who spent 
three days there, after the rush was over, but sighting 
only one deer. This his hunting companion might have 
shot but for fear of hitting Blake, who stood exactly in 
line. Edward Spencer, a celebrated trapper of Baldwin, 
spent a week on the plains without getting a shot, to 
be met on his return by the remark from liis wife that 
he was foolish to go away hunting, as she had seen 
several deer about the place during his absence. Thus 
warned, he kept his rifle handy, and soon got a shot at 
a fine buck that came into an orchard where he was at 
work. The fellow bounded away into the woods, though 
plainly hard hit, and the most persistent search by Spen- 
cer and his boy failed to disclose further trace of it, until, 
about a week later, the boy, in jumping a fence while 
out gunning, landed plump on its dead body — quite 
spoiled. Early in the season two other Baldwin sports- 
men came upon five deer in a clearing, upon which they 
opened promiscuously with buck shot. The deer all got 
away, but two of them were found dead and spoiled 
later on. For a few of the lucky ones, the Ward boys, 
living near the Hiram and Baldwin line, have shot three 
deer; in Hiram, after the first snow, three were shot in 
one day by Chas. Osgood, Chas. Clark, and Calvin 
Clemens, respectively; while three have been downed in 
our immediate vicinity, the' first by Harry L. Huntress, 
a farmer's boy; the second by Elmer Wyman, and the 
third, shot Nov. 25, near his home, by a young man 
nam.ed Bert Warren, living only about half a mile inside 
the county line. Several have also been killed in Porter, 
and Edward Ridlon, of that town, who went to Sand- 
wich, N. H., on a fox hunting trip, had the luck to bring 
down a big buck with buckshot near Squam Lake; as 
well as many more that I will not mention, and to which 
more will doubtless jje added before the end of the 
season. 
The only ones to go from here into the "big woods" 
were Murray Watkins and Daniel Chaplin, who pro- 
vided themselves with Savage' rifles and a full outfit, and 
in October paid a two weeks' visit to the region north 
of Moosehead. They leportea a very pleasant trip, and 
brought back four, fine deer, including a monster buck, 
shot by Chaplin., declared to be ^he , biggest ever seen at 
that particular camp. Dan gives 9. graphic account of the 
killing of this big fellow. He was on the edge of a big 
j>urn, thicklj' sprung up to little maples, where he ha4 
seen fresh signs of a deer the day before. Moving 
along a fallen tree trunk that extended out into the 
jungle, as he stepped cautiously down from the further 
end his eye caught a quick movement in the foliage, not 
far distant. It was the flicker of a deer's tail; he could 
brokenly make out its outline as it stood in a thick 
clump of maples calmly browsing. A portion of the 
neck was exposed through a slight opening, and at this 
Dan fired. The animal gave a single short bound, then 
stood like a statue, stretched to his full height, every 
sense on the alert. The movement had brought the 
fore shoulder in full view, and at this Dan directed his 
second shot. This time the old chap turned and dashed 
straight towards him; but the terrible "soft-nose" had 
done its work. A few frantic, aimless bounds and he 
collapsed and fell dead. He was a veritable monarch of 
the woods. 
W. H. Hatch, of Fryeburg, who accompanied Watkins 
and Chaplin, and acted as guide for the camp, returned 
later on with two deer and a moose. It is probable that 
others from this way will visit that region next season. 
Cornish, Me. Templar. 
The Way We Used To Do. 
Puerto Principe, Cuba. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
On going through my eflFects a few days since I came 
upon the following notes of a march made in 1894 from 
Fort Meade, S. D., by E Troop, Eighth Cavalry, to which 
I then belonged as first lieutenant. Possibly they may 
interest my friends of the Forest and Stream. You are 
welcome to make such use of them as you desire. In the 
days before the acquisition of Cuba and the Philippine 
Islands we made many such marches; they were made for 
military purposes, such as map-making, instruction, etc. 
As the military details would be of little interest, I have 
mainly omitted them in copying the notes, and send only 
such portions as pertain properly to the columns of Forest 
and Stream. 
On this occasion our command consisted of three 
officers — Capt. K., Second Lieut. K. and myself — and fifty 
mounted enlisted men — a party ample to readily consume 
all game that might fall to our shotguns. Behind the 
mounted 'column followed closely my hunting wagon 
drawn by two horses, and carrying Capt. KL's bird dog 
Yacoob, an Irish setter of considerable ability; our shot- 
guns, ammunition, shooting coats, etc. This was in the 
days of black powder, at least on the plains, when every 
one loaded his own cartridges. I had a few days before, 
upon the recommendation of some friends, purchased a 
can of a new variety of powder which, previous to this 
trip, I had had no opportunity to test — this will explain 
my frequent reference to my ammunition. We set forth 
from the post on Sept. 8, and reached a stream called th - 
Belle Fourche River about i :30 that day, crossed it and 
went into camp. All that day's march had been through 
settlements with fenced country on both sides of us, with 
cultivated fields. Once across the Belle, however, all this 
was to change immediately to absolute cattle country — ^no 
fences, no roads, no evidences of civilization, nothing but an 
interminable sea of grass, intersected at intervals by feeble 
watercourses fringed to a greater or less extent with 
trees. As far as one could tell by appearances this coun- 
try was exactly the same as it had been at any time for 
centuries back, differing only in having the buffalo re- 
placed by cattle almost as wild, large and shaggy. In- 
deed the evidence left by the buffalo made them seem 
almost present — their bleaching skulls were numerous, not 
infrequently supplied with horns, the choicest of which 
were eagerly secured by some of the enlisted men, as they 
would yet take a polish. I say such was the appearance, 
although in reality there were a few isolated cattle 
ranches here and there, as will be seen, but they were in 
secluded hollows on some water course or other, and 
invisible until one was almost upon them. The annual 
round up was also in progress at this time, and on this 
account we now and then had our path crossed by a cow- 
boy, from whom we obtained information, usually more 
or less erroneous, in regard to our route. With these 
explanatory remarks the notes commence with the camp 
just across the Belle. Wm. F. Flynn, 
We ate a little lunch after establishing our camp in a 
fine groA'e of cottonwoods near the water, and then at 
about half-past two Capt. K. and Lieut. K. took their 
fishing tackle and tried the stream for fish. I had omitted 
to bring my fishing tackle, so I followed with my shotgun, 
thinking a duck might fly over. After watching them 
awhile I crossed the river by wading, and with Yacob 
worked a small grove of cottonwood for prairie chicken 
(i. e., the sharp-tail grouse, the bird that is constantly- 
referred to in this vicinity as the prairie chicken, and on 
that account so called in these notes). Yacoob soon flushed 
a small bunch of about six, and afterward one or two 
single birds, all of them, however, out of range, so that I 
got no shots. Although frequently noticed by our party, 
it nevertheless always excites our remark that these birds 
never lie nearly as well to a dog when found far from 
the habitations of man as when found in fields where they 
must surely be hunted much more frequently. This 
might lead some to jump at the conclusion that birds have 
to be taught how to behave properly when hunted, as well 
as the dog to hunt them. We — that is, Capt. K. and 
myself, who have been hunting companioris for many 
years — have always accounted for this peculiarity on the 
ground that in the wild state the chief enemy that these 
large birds know is the coyote, and as the dog bears more 
or less resemblance to the coyote, especially the red set- 
ter, the mere presence of the dog serves to make these 
wild birds wary and uneasy, while , with the bird of 
civilization the coyote, and consequently the dog, is an 
insignificant factor. At all events, the dog flushed the 
birds out of range and I got no shots. I finally took a 
bath in the river and got back to camg^in time for sup- 
per of bacon, cabbage and potatoes, with plenty of 
soldier coffee. At some time during that evening^ the 
sergeant came up and reported that one of the men named 
Stout, who had been out hunting that afternoon, had not 
yet returned to camp. When last seen he was about, a 
half-mile down the river. - 
Sunday, Sept. g. — As Stout was stUl missing in the 
morning, Capt. K, sent out a detail of two or three men 
to search for him, while the rest of the command pursued 
the marph. At | o'clock we pulled out of ?atnp; a fresl^ 
