April 19, 1902.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
807 
than this, for instance, George Crawford, of Mattawa, 
who is very much in demand. Assistant guides should 
receive from $1.50 to $1.75 a day. Eighteen-foot canoes 
cost from $12 to $15 new; if hired, 25 to SO cents a day. 
It costs from 30 to 60 cents a day to feed a man in the 
bush ; 50 cents would probably be a fair average for the 
districts in question. 
Ontario Province has made a most important change in 
its game laws, by which there is an open moose and cari- 
bou" season every year, commencing with this year, viz., 
from Oct. 16 to Nov. 15, inclusive, in the immense terri- 
tory of about 100,000 square miles of wilderness north 
and west of the railway line from Mattawa to Port Ar- 
thur, and from Nov. 1 to 15, inclusive, south thereof. 
While these jottings are by no means exhaustive, they 
will answer a good many questions that our American 
friends often ask us. Snowshoe. 
Montreal, April i. 
Massachusetts Legislature. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Although there is no reason to anticipate an adjourn- 
ment of the General Court of Massachusetts in the near 
future, legislation relating to fish and game is sufficiently 
well advanced to warrant discussion of the results at- 
tained or in prospect. At the outset it may be said that 
all legislation hoped for by those who desire to see the 
old Bay State stand in the forefront of the common- 
wealths that are taking an advanced position for the pro- 
tection of fish and game, was not secured. Still the 
general result shows a steady advance in the right direc- 
tion and supplements previous achievements of the past 
two years. If this good work can be kept up for a few 
years longer, it is possible to attain conditions second to 
none in the country. In order to accomplish this, how- 
ever, it will be necessary for those interested in these 
matters to stand together and for all to pull on the same 
rope, and in the same direction. 
One of the earliest game laws of the session, and one 
of the most important, is "an act to prohibit holding in- 
sectivorous and song birds in captivity." Heretofore if 
those engaged in trapping song or insectivorous birds 
could escape the vigilance of the Deputy Fish and Game 
Commissioner, they could boldly expose the birds for 
sale or dispose of them to dealers without fear of the 
law, which only provided against the taking or killing 
of such' birds. The recent enactment is as follows : 
"Whoever captures or has in possession a wild or un- 
domesticated bird not named in Sections 2, 3, 4 or 5 of 
Chapter 92 of the Revised Laws, except English sparrows, 
crow blackbirds, crows, jays, birds of prey, wild geese and 
fresh-water and sea fowl not named in said sections, and 
birds which are not found wild within the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts, shall be punished by a fine of $10, but 
this act shall not apply to birds held in captivity before 
this act takes effect. 
"Possession of the wild or undomesticated birds specified- 
in this act shall be prima facie evidence that they have 
been captured and are held in possession contrary to law." 
In recent years many deer have been run to death by 
dogs. There was no law on the statute books to prevent 
or limit this evil, and the State officers were helpless in 
consequence. The following act should, however, do 
much to supplement the law against hunting or shooting 
deer in this "State: 
"The owner or keeper of a dog found chasing or hunt- 
ing deer at any time shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
dollars. Any person may kill a dog found chasing or 
hunting deer at any time, if the dog is used for such 
purpose with the knowledge and consent of his owner or 
keeper, and the owner or keeper of such dog shall be 
punished by a fine of fifty dollars." 
. Many of the sportsmen in the eastern section of the 
State have complained that the open season for quail 
shooting closed too early., So loud and strenuous were 
the complaints that came from Bristol county that an act 
was passed permitting quail shooting there until Dec. 15, 
or fifteen days later than in any other section of the 
State. In vain were the promoters of the bill told that 
many of the sportsmen from other sections of the State, 
and from Rhode Island as well, would congregate in 
Bristol county after the first of December and clean out 
the covers. They were quite willing to take their chances, 
and so their wishes have been granted. 
The trout fishing season has been shortened a month 
in the four western counties — Berkshire, Franklin, Hamp- 
den and Hampshire — by a bill approved Feb. 27. This 
law cuts off fifteen days from each end of the open sea- 
son, which in those counties will now begin April 15 and 
terminate July 15. The season is thus really two months 
shorter than in the other sections of the State, where one 
can fish for trout from April 1 to Sept. r. 
By the way, the reports from the eastern counties indi- 
cate that the heavy stocking with fry, fingerlings and 
yearlings for the past two years by the Fish and Game , 
Commission, has produced good results. The Worcester i 
Telegram of April 6, in a long article on early trout j 
fishing, says : 
"The authority of the Commissioners on Fisheries and 
Game shall extend to the investigation of questions relat- 
ing to fish and fisheries, or to game, and they may from 
time to time, _ personally or by assistants, institute and 
conduct inquiries pertaining to such questions." 
This puts the Commission where it ought to be, and 
makes possible the utilization, sooner or later, of the vast 
educational resources of this State in behalf of the public 
interest, so far at least as fish and game are concerned. 
It may interest the readers of Forest and Stream to 
know that, for the first time in its history, our Fish and 
Game Commission made an exhibit this winter illustrative 
of its work. And for " a maiden effort," so to speak, its 
collections were not only creditable, but by far the most 
complete of their kind at the Sportsmen's Show. The 
exhibit included yearling, two-year-old and four-year-old 
square-tailed brook trout, some of the latter being "regu- 
lar old busters" that would make a line sing and a rod 
almost bend double. Then there were two-year-old and 
four-year-old rainbow trout, some of the big fellows being 
quite able to tip the scales at 4^2 to upward of 5 pounds. 
Yearling rainbows were there, too, in numbers, and as 
sleek a lot as one would care to look on. Some fine Loch 
Levens and splendid specimens of brown trout added to 
the variety, and in part illustrated the scope of fish propa- 
gation carried on by the State. In view, however, of the 
claim made that landlocked salmon cannot live in Massa- 
chusetts waters, the display of beautiful three and four 
year old fish of this species, raised from the egg at the 
State hatchery in Sutton, must have been a revelation to 
the doubting Thomases. 
A dozen fine living specimens of Mongolian pheasants, a 
lot of mounted game birds and animals, and fourteen 
enlarged photographs, nicely framed, fully illustrating 
the work of breeding fish and game birds and animals, 
made up an exhibit that was very creditable, especially in 
view of the fact that, two years ago, the Commission did 
not have anything whatever in the way of collection. 
Bay State. 
Peter La Fontaine. 
The Du Quam River is a tributary of the Northwest 
St. John, coming in from the Quebec side. The sports- 
men who have hunted moose on the Northwest St. John 
and the Southwest up to Baker Lake usually go in via the 
Du Quam, which they take at St. Justine Parish, which 
is thirty-five miles from the railroad at St. Francis. 
Beance county, Quebec. 
Peter La Fontaine long lived with his family at St. 
Justine. From there to his camp at Baker Lake is about 
sixty miles, with good water all the way. Peter is called 
an outlaw, but he is an outlaw only in Maine — not in his 
own country. 
Fifteen years ago when I used to go to Jackman, the 
guides told me stories of the murders committed by La 
Fontaine, but there is apparently no evidence to convict 
him of any crime. 
The average Maine guide has a very lively imagination, 
and in this singular man found a subject which he fitted 
up with all the attributes of a woods terror. Among 
his neighbors Peter seems to be well liked. He is of 
light build, quick and nervous in his movements. His 
eye lights up at the least excitement, and he seems always 
apprehensive of some danger not apparent to others. Of 
all the trappers who live along the border, Peter is the 
most successful in getting fur. None of these men have 
any regard for the game laws, but while most of them 
do some other work, he makes his living wholly out of 
the woods. From St. Justine La Fontaine has moved 
his family to St. Francis, that his children may attend 
the schools, and it was to his home at St. Francis that 
he was taken after being shot by Warden Templeton. 
I have just received a letter from M. Marquis, of St. 
Justine, dated April 3, in which he writes that he has 
just heard from La Fontaine that he is fast recovering, 
and will be "relieved soon." So we may expect him back 
at Baker Lake by summer 
No man knows that section of country better than La 
Fontaine, and if he were a man of different character he 
would make an excellent guide. Twice, to my knowledge, 
he has guided American sportsmen, and I believe has 
given satisfaction. I have met him at his home and 
camped one night with him in the woods. To the Amer- 
ican sportsmen he has been friendly, offering the use 
of his camps and their contents, but to those who trap 
fur on what he considers his ground or who seek to 
enforce the game laws, he has been, and probably will 
be, a very dangerous man. Such men as Wardens Tem- 
pleton and Houston are the kind of officers needed along 
the border. Fred Talcott. 
"The season has thus far shown the best opening of r. 
This is certainly encouraging, and indicates the possi 
of making the trout streams of the Old Bay Stat 
attraction far beyond what has been deemed practicable 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I was very sorry to learn of the shooting of Peter 
Fontaine. "The Devil is not so black as he is some- 
times painted" is a trite saying, which, I think, applies 
to the case of Fontaine. I had the satisfaction of 
meeting this man on two of my Maine hunting trips. Be- 
fore I met him I was told to beware of him, for he would 
any trout season in the memory of Worcester fishermen." k< shoot me with as little compunction as we shoot skunks 
sibilityJitl 
of making the trout streams of the Old Bay State an.™ 
heretofore. 
The tendency of legislation the present year has been 
in the direction of broadening the duties of the Com- 
missioners of Fisheries and Game. By an act approved 
Feb. 27, "The powers and duties heretofore conferred and 
imposed upon the Inspector-General of Fish" were "con- 
ferred and imposed upon the Board of Commissioners on 
Fisheries and Game." And the Board was authorized to 
appoint inspectors of fish in every town in which fish are 
packed for export. 
It is a curious fact that until now the Fish and Game 
Commissioners of this State have never had the authority 
to appoint an assistant, scientific or otherwise, for the 
prosecution of investigations bearing on the life history 
or economic importance of fish or game. And this, too 
despite the fact that the Fish and Game Commission of 
Massachusetts is the oldest organization of its kind in 
the country. Its inability to make such appointments 
was discovered last year,. when the legal department of 
the State could find no authority for it. The natural out- 
come of this was the following act, approved March 12: 
I that his hands were continually red with the blood of 
his victims — in fact, that he was a perfect terror. My 
,., !>f curiosity was aroused, and I determined to interview 
("ithis "bad man" if possible. The opportunity first came 
to me when I was coming down the west branch of the 
Penobscot from Lee Bog. The river was very low, and 
my guide, Jack Henry, had fallen behind with the canoe. 
Rounding a bend of the stream I suddenly came face to 
face with a tall, slim, wiry-looking fellow, and we be- 
gan to swap news, as woodsmen generally do. My 
[French was worse than his English, but we managed to 
carry on a very pleasant conversation until my guide 
reached us, when I learned that this pleasant fellow was 
'Peter Fontaine, the Maine terror. 
He told us he had been helping our other guides carry 
our canoes across to St. John Pond, and this was only 
the first of many kindnesses we received at his hands. 
When we reached Baker Lake, after dark, cold, tired and 
hungry, almost a's soon as the sound of oUr axes re- 
sounded through the forest, we saw a light coming on 
the dead water, and Fontaine soon appeared, and in- 
sisted that we should spend the night at his camp — I pre- 
sume the camp wbere he was shot. We accepted his very 
kind invitation, and next morning he, helped vis. fix our 
camp, and really seemed to hunt for opportunities to do 
us favors. I improved many opportunities to talk with 
him about his life in the woods, and the violations of 
law which were charged to him. He talked freely and 
frankly, and I judged that his views on game laws were 
similar to those held by Alvah Dunning, of Adirondack 
fame. 
The fact that the misdeeds of others which were com- 
mitted anywhere near his stamping ground were all 
charged to him. did not seem to disturb him much. In 
this inaccessible country moose and other large game 
which were killed by hunting parties were as a rule left 
where they fell, the heads only being taken, simply be- 
cause it is almost impossible to carry out more than the 
heads. These were grist for Fontaine. The bodies 1 
he used for bear bait, and the skins he collected and 
carried out to market, and these no doubt helped to swell 
the sum total of his iniquities in the minds of the game 
wardens. He undoubtedly violated Maine's game laws, 
and the wardens were undoubtedly justified in arresting 
him, possibly also in shooting him, but I cannot believe 
that he was wholly bad as he was generally pictured. The. 
best that we can now do for him is to hope that he will 
recover, and that the severe lesson he has received will 
teach him to respect and obey the law. 
Jos. W. Shurter. 
Gansevoort, N. Y., April T, 
Duty on Game Heads. 
Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary, Wash- 
ington. April 9. — Editor Forest and Stream: The De- 
partment is in receipt of your letter of the 2d instant, re- 
questing to be advised whether there is a duty on the 
importation of game heads from Canada, namely heads of 
moose, deer and caribou, also, whether any distinction is 
made between green heads and those which have been 
mounted. 
In reply I have to inform you that heads of moose, deer 
and caribou, unless imported as specimens of natural his- 
tory "for scientific public collections and not for sale," 
would be dutiable if mounted at 20 per centum ad valorem, 
as non-enumerated manufactured articles, under Sec. 6 of 
the Act of July 24, 1897, and if green, would be dutiable 
at 10 per centum ad valorem, as non-enumerated unmanu- 
factured articles, under the same section. (See Treasury 
Decision 22234 °f May 17, 1900. copy of which is herewith 
inclosed). Respectfully, 
O. L. Spaulding, Acting Secretary. 
Treasury Decision 22,234, May 17, 1900. 
MOOSE HEAD AND HORNS. 
A moose head and horns, with only the fleshy parts removed, 
unmounted and not prepared in any manner, dutiable as an un- 
enumerated unmanufactured article at 10 per cent, ad valorem under 
Section 6, Act of 1897. 
Treasury Department, May 17, 1900. — Sir: The De- 
partment is in receipt of your letter of the 12th instant, in 
regard to the importation at your port of a moose head 
and horns, with only the fleshy part removed therefrom, 
which was passed by you free of duty itnder the provisions 
of Paragraph 663 of the Act of July 24, 1897, as a prepara- 
tion of anatomy, and concerning which the Auditor for 
the Treasury Department has questioned such classifica- 
tion. 
In regard thereto, I have to state that under date of 
the 5th of January last the Department held that mounted 
heads of animals which had been treated in a certain 
manner, and artificial eyes added and the skin stuffed, 
etc., were dutiable as non-enumerated manufactured 
articles at the rate of 20 per centum ad valorem, under 
Sec. 6 of the tariff act, and in the case of importations 
of the kind mentioned where no praparation has been 
had, and the fleshy parts only removed, they are properly 
dutiable, as suggested by you, at the rate of 10 per cent, 
ad valorem as a non-enumerated unmanufactured article 
under said provision of law, and are not skeletons or 
preparations of anatomy within the contemplation of 
Paragraph 663. You will be governed accordingly. 
Respectfully, 
O. L. Spaulding, Assistant Secretary. 
(S *.) 
Collector of Customs, Buffalo, N, Y, 
Minnesota Quail. 
Sauk Centre, Minn., April 7. — Quail wintered here 
finely. There were several flocks last fall, and they seem 
to be all together now. Last winter was very mild. Some 
say if the snow covers the ground up quail starve to 
death; others say they live all right, as they feed the 
same as a partridge. I do not know much about 'their 
habits, as they have been with us here only a few years. 
I read with much interest the articles in your paper by 
the different ones in regard to the large and small bore 
rifle. I don't know much about rifles, but judging by 
weight of argument, would say that, up to date the large 
bores seem to have it by about three and a half good, open 
lengths. On the other hand, judging by the amount of 
game killed, those dead-shot-drop-in-their-track boys with 
their .30-30, must have it by at least 250 moose. 
C. W. Virgin. 
Iowa Game* 
Northboro, la. — The first flight of ducks arrived here 
Feb. 25, quite a good many of them, mostly pintails. I for 
one would like to see spring shooting abolished ; but I 
do not know when it will be, as our State Legislature 
killed the Greene bill this winter. Prairie chickens are 
very plentiful here. I have seen from- fifty to three 
hundred in a flock feeding on the shock fodder in the 
cornfields. There were not many .killed, as the law was 
out Dev. 1. Quail are quite plenty and wintered ah 
right, as there was plenty of feed for them here. 
P. C. D, 
"Uncle Lisha's Shop." 
"Uncle Lisha's Shop" is temporarily out of print. A new 
edition is in press, to be ready soon. It will have as frontispiece 
excellent portrait of Mr, Robinson-. T*»e price wfJJ be $1.25, 
