170 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
|Feb. 28, 1903. 
13. That no odium shall attach to informers as violating 
honor, friendship or etiquette of vicinage or of the wood"?. 
On such basis, I believe a code of game laws would 
win the good will and energetic support of every loyal 
sportsman, guide, musket shooter, shipper, cold storage 
man, restaurant keeper and consumer, and that no code 
of laws formulated on any other substratum will. Had 
such a code been put into force a quarter of a century 
ago, with less in it for the sportsman and more for the 
rest of mankind, there would be few preserves under wire 
these days belonging to individuals whose wealth can 
command and insure what the laws have denied to them. 
Yours very truly, 
Chas. Hallocic, M.A. 
The Adirondacks, 
From the report of William F. Fox, Superintendent of New York 
State Forests. 
Private Preserves. 
In the Adirondack region there are sixty preserves, 
with an aggregate acreage of 780,993 acres held as 
'private property by sportsmen's clubs or individuals. 
The boundaries of each preserve are posted at inter- 
vals of forty rods with printed notices warning people 
that it is private Ir.nd on which no trespassing, fishing 
or hunting will be permitted, the posting of such notices 
being required by the law authorizing the establish- 
ment of private parks or preserves. The club or in- 
dividual is not necessarily the owner of the property; 
in some in'stances the land thus occupied and posted 
is leased, the exclusive fishing, hunting and camping 
privilege having been obtained through some such ar- 
rangement with the lumber company or person in 
whom the title is vested. Some of these preserves are 
situated, partly or wholly, outside the Adirondack Park, 
and hence the acreage just mentioned exceeds that 
given in the table showing the classification of lands 
within the park. 
Throughout all the private preserves the land is well 
wooded, and each contains some lake, pond or fish- 
ing stream. The forest on some of these holdings is 
a primeval one, untouched by axe or fire. On several 
of the larger preserves the owners are conducting lum- 
bering operations; but as the cutting is done under a 
conservative, intelligent management, and is restricted 
to soft wood species of medium diameter, a large reve- 
nue is derived from the property without impairing its 
capacity for future production. Then again there are 
clubs which own large tracts that have been lumbered; 
but as the logging was done fifteen years or more, at 
a time when the lumbermen took the large timber of 
one species only, these forests retain much of their 
primitive condition. 
The private preserves in the Adirondacks, with a 
slight exception, have been established within the last 
sixteen years — most of them within eleven years — and 
the comparatively sudden exclusion of the public from 
its old camping grounds has provoked a bitter hostil- 
ity on the part of the hunters, fishermen and guides 
who formerly ranged over this territor3r. The sports- 
man who returns to some favorite haunt only to find 
himself confronted with the words "No Thorough- 
fare" turns back with a resentful feeling, while the 
guides, who were wont to conduct their patrons where- 
ever game was plentiful, view with threatening looks 
the hired gamekeepers that guard the forbidden lands. 
On the other hand, the owners of the preserves point 
to the protection of the forests, fish and game afforded 
by them, and to the large number of guides and woods- 
men to whom they furnish constant and lucrative em- 
ployment. In 1899, the dry season in which forest 
fires were raging in the Adirondacks to an unusual ex- 
tent, it was noticed that there were no fires on the 
private preserves, aside from incipient ones that were 
extinguished before any serious danger was incurred. 
This was due to the large number of forest patrols em- 
ployed by the owners of these tracts. 
It is not necessary that the .State should' purchase 
these private holdings in order that the tree growth 
may be protected; for the owners can be relied upon 
to preserve the forest conditions that are so essential 
to the enjoiTOent of their property. The acquisition of 
these high-priced lands may be safelj^ deferred until the 
rest of the Adirondack Park has been bought. But 
the tenure of title to these private preserves is not 
permanent like that of the State Preserve; these prop- 
erties change hands frequently; public sentiment is al- 
ways gratified when any of this territory is opened to 
the people; and so it would be well if the State kept 
a fund on hand, available at all times for the purchase 
of such tracts whenever any portion is thrown upon 
the market. 
Adirondack Private Preserves. 
The ownership and acreage of the various preserves 
is as follows: 
Adirondack Club.— Mclntyre Iron Co., owner, 59,300 
acres. 
Adirondack League Club. — Hon. Warren Higley, 
President, 79,172. 
Adirondack Mountain Reserve. — William G. Neilson, 
President, 25,912. 
Adirondack Forestry Association. — Gen. Hazard 
Stevens, Oscar B. Ireland and George E. Terry, trus- 
tees, 4,358. 
Altamont Club.— Union Bag and Paper Co., owners, 
"^'Ampersand Preserve. — Santa Clara Lumber Co., 
owners, 32,407. 
Anthony Ponds. — Harper Brothers, owners, 7,221. 
Bog Lake Camp.— Charles A. Tatum and Edmund 
C. Converse, owners, 5,618. . 
Brandreth Park.— Franklin Brandreth, Ralph Brand- 
reth and Gen. E. A. McAlpin, owners, 27,298. 
Camp Arbutus. — Archer M. Huntington, owner, 
1,699. 
Childwold Park.— Henry G. Dorr et a)., owners, 
13,090. 
Caughnawaga Club,— William FI. Clark, President, 
Cutting Preserve. — Frank A. Cutting, owner, 7,510. 
De Bar Mountain Park.— William Rockefeller, 
owner, 11,675. 
Deer Lick Rapids Club. — 7,500. 
Everton Park. — Wm. Rockefeller et al., owners, 
20,000. 
Fenton Game Preserve Association. — Leased land. 
Charles Fenton, Secretary, 60,000. 
Follensby Pond Preserve. — ^Titus B. and Ferris J. 
Meigs, owners, 4,855. 
Forest Park and Land Company. — Wm. W. Durant, 
President, 4,838. 
"G" Lake Preserve.— E. Z. Wright and John D. Col- 
lins, owners, 480. 
Granshue Club. — Charles R. Holmes, President, 
8,752. 
Grasse River Outing Club. — Charles E. Brown, 
President, 5,520. 
Hamilton Park. — Hon. William C. Whitney, owner, 
61,066. 
Hamilton Lake Preserve. — ^John A. Starin, owner, 
3.202. 
Holh'wood Club. — Dr. C. C. French, President, 2,360. 
Horse Shoe Forestry Company. — ^Augustus A. Low, 
27.43 1- 
Inlet Club Preserve, 6,700. 
Kamp Kill Kare. — Hon Timothy L. Woodruff, 
owner, 1,030. 
Kildare Ckib. — Ehrich Brothers, owners, 8,536. 
Knollwood Club.— Louis Marshall et al, directors, 
450. 
Lake Placid Club. — Melvil Dewey et al., owners, 
2,148. 
Lake Reserves. — Dr. William Seward Webb, owner, 
8,470. 
Litchfield Park. — Edward H. Litchfield, owner, 
12.427. 
Long Lake Preserve. — Raquette Falls Land Co., 
owners, 2,200. 
Lloyd Triangle. — Theodore Page et al., owners, 
3,6co. 
Massawcpie Club.— Hon. A. P. Hepburn, owner, 
1,720; / 
Mat-a-Mek Preserve. — Hon. Ashbel P. Fitch, owner, 
1,854. 
Meacham Lake Preserve, 5,580. 
Mohegan Lake Camp.— J. Pierpont Morgan, owner, 
1,551- 
Moose Pond Preserve. — Hon. George R. Finch, 
owner, 800. 
Morehouse Lake Club. — W. W. Mosher, President, 
1,500. 
Nehasane Park. — Dr. William Seward Webb, Presi- 
dent, 42,848. 
North Woods Club. — James Yaldcn, Secretary, 4,583. 
Paul Smith's Preserve. — Paul Smith's Hotel Co., 
owners, 18,484. 
Pine Lake Club. — Watson D. Dunmore, President, 
987. 
Pleasant Lake Club.— Thos. H. Wagstaff, President, 
I, 000. 
Pleasant Lake Preserve, 8,750. 
Putnam Preserve.. — Dr. Charles P. Putnam, owner, 
2,960. 
Read and Strong Park, 7,375. 
Rockefeller Preserve. — Wm. G. Rockefeller, owner, 
52,335- 
Sabattis Park.— Charles R. Christy, owner, 1,633. 
Sagamore Park.: — Alfred G. Vanderbilt, owner, 1,530. 
Santanoni Park. — Hon. Robert C. Pruyn, owner, 
I I, 205. 
Saranac Club. — Jonathan J. Broome, President, 267. 
Stillwater Club Preserve.— J. H. Rushton, Secretary, 
20,000. 
Upper Saranac Association. — Dr. Samuel B. Ward, 
President, 2,751. 
Vilas Preserve. — E. A. Carpenter, owner, 18,075. 
Wilderness Park. — W. S. DeCamp, owner, 29,567. 
Wilmurt Club. — Hon. Titus Sheard, President, 1,655. 
Zack Lake Preserve. — Raquette Falls Land Co., 
owners, 1,725. 
Total acreage, 780,993. 
The total area of the private preserves as given here 
is much less than that shown in the list published by 
the Forest Commission in its annual report for 1893. 
This decrease is due to large sales made to the State 
and to the lumber companies. Since 1896 the State has 
purchased 75,000 acres of the Nehasane Park Associa- 
tion, 35,932 acres of the Adirondack League Club, and 
30,000 acres from the owners of the Santa Clara Pre- 
serve. 
In addition to the preserves mentioned in the fore- 
going list there is a large amount of forest property in 
the Adirondacks composed of small holdings — from 
five to one- hundred acres each — on which cottages, or 
"camps," as they are called, have been erected. These 
summer residences, with their pretty boat houses and 
other buildings, are often located at sightly points on 
the lakes — particularly the Raquette, Saranacs and St. 
Regis — where they form a never failing source of in- 
terest to the tourist, as they represent large expendi- 
tures of money, and are models of good taste combined 
with solid comfort. They furnish employment at high 
wages for a large number of people — "house guides," 
servants, and men on private launches — and contribute 
in various other ways to the prosperity of the region. 
Together with the "camps" on the larger private pre- 
serves there are at present 419 of these summer resi- 
dences in the Adirondacks, costing from $5,000 to 
$100,000 each, in which the investment for buildings, 
exclusive of land, amounts in the aggregate to 
$3,846,500. 
If there are any to whom these figures may appear 
unduly large, their attention is respectfully called to the 
beautiful and costly summer homes near Raquette 
Lake owned by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, Mr. Alfred G. 
Vanderbilt, Hon. Timothy Woodruff, and the late Col- 
lis P Huntington; to the forest villas on the St. Regis 
Lakes of Hon. Whitelaw Reid, F. W. Vanderbilt and 
H. McK. Twombly; to the expensive, tasteful "camps" 
on Upper Saranac Lake belonging to Hon. Levi P. 
Morton, Isaac Seligman, the Messrs. Swenson, Mr, 
Julius S. Bache, Dr. L. E. Holt and Mir. D. H. Kalm;. 
to the buildings of the Knollwood Club on Lower Sar- 
anac; th^ numerous fine cottages of the Adirondack 
Club on Little Moose, Honnedaga, antV the Bisby^ 
Lakes; the houses of the Saranac Club on the Bartlett 
Carry; the large number of beautiful cottages at Lake- 
Placid and Keene Valley; and the extensive bufldings- 
on the private preserves of Hon. Robert C. Pruyn, Dr. 
William Seward Webb. Mr. William Rockefeller, Gem. 
E. A. McAlpin and Mr. A. A. Low. 
Guides* Yarns* 
How often during our hunting trips do we come 
across a guide who has a high sense of the ludicrous, 
and who will not hesitate, should a chance present itself,, 
to test in ir.any ways the hunting qualities of those who' 
have hired him. One guide in particular with whom I 
have hunted on several occasions was chock full of yarns 
which he would spin in the evenings over the campfire, 
and always at the expense of some of his previous em- 
ployers, who evidently had not been very well posted in 
hunting lore or woodcraft. 
His pet joke, which he always told with the greatest 
gusto, knowing, I suppose, from past experience, that 
it would fetch down the house (or tent), was related of 
two young Englishmen who were just fresh from the 
old country and out for their first hunting trip in the 
Rockies. One of them, intending, I presume, to write 
up an account of their trip for some sporting magazine, 
kept a diary, and in it faithfully recorded the events of 
each day. 
They had been out two days, and at nightfall arrived 
at the base of the mountain on which their guide (whose 
first name is Archie) intended they should do their hunt- 
ing; the tent was pitched and everything put in order 
for the morrow. At daybreak next morning Archie was 
astir preparing breakfast, and happening outside the tent 
to wash out the frying pan he scanned the mountain for 
game, and in a few moments descried an animal which 
he knew to be a bear moving about on a bluff nearly 
three-fourths of a mile up the mountain. He re-entered 
the tent and to his two companions, who were still asleep,, 
he broke the news as follows : 
"Boys (sniff, sniff), I smell a bear. Boys (snilf,. 
sniff), I smell a bear!" 
At the mention of bear the two Englishmen, who hadl 
been partially aroused by Archie's call, tumbled out in a 
hurry, and, without waiting to don their clothes, rushed 
outside. The guide followed them and began sniffing in 
all directions. At last, turning his face toward the 
bluff on which he had seen the bear, he said : "He's up 
in this direction, gentlemen." 
In a moment one of them had spotted him, and hastily 
dressing themselves they started with Archie in pursuit 
of the bear and eventually succeeded in killing it. They 
talked all day about the splendid nose their guide pos- 
sessed and in the evening, when rec'ordmg the events of 
the day, the following entry was made in the diary: "A 
m.ost wonderful thing happened to-day; our guide posi>- 
tively smelt a bear over half a mile from camp." Theit 
followed an account of the killing. Frank Ramsrv, 
^ 
Proprietors of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
Reminiscences of an Octogenarian. 
Part Vin. 
BY THE OLD ANGLER. 
{Continued from page 111.) 
"Though sluggards deem it but an idle chase, 
And marvel much that men should quit their easy chaii^ 
The toilsome way and long, long leagues to trace; 
Oh, there is sweetness in the mountain air, 
And life that bloated Ease can never hope to share." 
— Byroni 
There may be some persons now living who remem-- 
ber the vast flights of wild pigeons that used annually 
to visit the New England States and the Canadian' 
Provinces. Whence they came, whither they went, or 
where they lived, the Octogenarian does not know, nor 
is he aware of any Savants who explain these things- 
satisfactorily. They tell us how many feathers there- 
are in the tail, how many quills in each wing and 
descant learnedly on its head, bill and feet; some go so' 
far as to assure us that all the numerous varieties of 
pigeons that are shown by fancy breeders are descended 
from the wild blue rock and wood pigeons; but about 
the immense flights that were common a century ago, 
whence they came or whither they went, the Savants 
are eloquently silent. The great American Ornitholo- 
gist, J. J. Audubon, has described flights of wild pigeons 
he saw in the Western States that stagger the credul- 
ity of thoughtful readers. These flights, he tells us, 
often exceeded half a mile in width, and_ occupied 
hours in passing spectators, who noted and timed their 
passage. So compact were the masses that, during the 
time of their passing, the rays of the sun were inter- 
cepted and a partial darkness caused. Where such 
myriads found food on their passage; where they bred 
and found food for their nestlings and themselves, the 
writer has never been able to learn, and all the Savants 
he has consulted are as ignorant as himself. But there 
would seem to be a close connection between the food 
supply and their annual migrations; the failure of the 
former would seem to be the cause of the total cessa- 
tion of the latter. Whether those migrations still con- 
tinue in Kentucky and Louisiana, which States were 
formerly visited by them in such incredible myriads as 
Audubon describes, the writer does not know; but in 
the New England States, in Nova Scotia and New 
Brunswick, where they formerly came in vast numbers, 
a wild pigeon is now a curiosity. 
The boyhood of the writer passed in what is now the 
considerable town of Sackville, but which was then a 
