April it, 1903.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
289 
awaits the signature of Governor Bates to make it a per- 
manent statiitfe, and the Forest and Stream Plank will 
keep partridge and woodcock out of the markets in Mas- 
sachusetts perhaps for all time. At any rate, tO Seeure its 
repeal the burden of proof will be on those who Wish 
an open market. 
It has proved of great benefit not only to the partridge 
and woodcock, but incidentally to quail as well. To say 
that 110 partridges have been sold in the State since the 
law Was enacted three years ago would be claiming too 
iliueh. but sudh sales have been elandestine and not, 
Ave believe, very lafge in tiumbefi 
No dealer would take the risk of open violation of the 
law with the efficient warden service now at the corrt- 
mand of the State Commission. The number of paid 
deputies might be increased without entailing upon the 
State an ilnrea.Sonahle expenditure of money. 
From what has already been accomplished during the 
present sessioli of the Legislature^ yqxif readers have no 
doubt formed a favorable opinion of the Committee^ 011 
Fish and Game. Its members have not only given patient 
hearings to all who have come before them, but have 
shown a high appreciation of the aims and purposes of 
sportsmen who favor proper protection. Of this I may 
say more in another letter. 
A Farmers' Bill. 
Oti April'2 a hearing was given on House bill No, 1,184, 
presented by Representative Warren C. Jewett, of Worces- 
ter, entitled "Relative to the Preservation of Deer." The 
first 'section extends the period of protection till NovCnl- 
ber I, 1908, and the second provides for compensation for 
damages done by deer. 
In speaking for the bill, Mr. Jewett expressed a desire 
to continue the protection and at the same' time take care 
of farmers whose crops are injured by the deer, which, he 
said, were already becoming numerous in the northern 
and western parts of the State. The second section, he 
Said, was drawn on lines similar to the Massachusetts 
dog law. 1 inclose a Copy of the bill. Mr. George S. 
Ladd, of Sturbridge. Master of the State Grange, Repre- 
sentative G. H. Doty, of Waltham, and Mr. A. B. F. Kin- 
ney, of Worcester, also spoke in favor of the bill, and 
there were no remonstrants. A favorable report is antici- 
pated. 
A New Departofc. 
The town of Cohasset, at a recent meeting, voted to 
appropriate the sum of $300 for the purchase of game 
birds, to be liberated in the town. You, Mr. Editor, or 
some of your readers, may know a parallel to this, but the 
writer does not. This was brought about in part, at least, 
by a nlenlber of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Pro- 
tective Association, Mr, W. O. Souther, Jr., a resident of 
the town, and a deputy warden. Several other members 
of the Association are summer residents of the town,_ and 
have been doing missionary work there for a long time; 
Ex-President Benjamin C. Clark,_ for instance, and there 
are others. The committee appointed to secure and put 
out birds is desirous of buying quail, but so far have 
found some difficulty in purchasing them. It is very de- 
sirable that, so far as can be done legitimately, the barriers 
now existing in the way of securing live quail for pur- 
pose of stocking should be removed. 
From Maine come reports that several salmon have 
already been taken from the Bangor Pool by local anglers, 
and that both salmon and trout have been caught at 
Eagle Lake by Bar Harbor fishermen. The ice in Moose- 
head is reported very thin and dark, which is thought to 
indicate an early fishing season.. 
From New Hampshire comes intelligence that a non- 
resident license law has been passed, and that the open 
season for killing deer has been shortened by taking off 
the fifteen days in December, making it the months of 
October and November only. Next week I may be able 
to send good reports from some of our Boston anglers 
who are trying their skill on streams in our own State. 
Central. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
..The President at the Yellowstone Park, 
Chicago, 111., April 4.— President Roosevelt is now 
Working his way westward on his extended trip through- 
out the Western States. He will arrive at the Yellow- 
stone Park on April 8. His guide there will be, of 
course, Billy Hofer. Billy is in Chicago to-day and 
leaves for the Park to-morrow morning. He had little 
to say regarding the proposed trip at the Park, of 
course, but I gather that President Roosevelt's stay 
will be about ten days in duration. By the time of his 
arrival the snow will have pretty much disappeared in 
the lower districts of the Park, that is to say, around 
Mammoth Hot Springs, parts of the East Fork coun- 
try and some of the country between the Mammoth 
Hot Springs and Yancey's. It is thought that a com- 
fortable trip by amubulance and sled can be made to 
Yancey's, where a cabin has been especially prepared 
for President Roosevelt's comfort. From this point 
the big winter herds of elk can be easily located, and it 
is thought that President Roosevelt will take delight in 
seeing the big game animals in such numbers. It will 
be necessary in getting about in the mountains to re- 
sort to ski. Billy tells me that he will give to Presi- 
dent Roosevelt for use on the trip his own pair of 
ski, the same which he wore during his trip through 
the Park in the winter of iSpS- The intention is to 
allow the President a short time to get familiar with 
tricky footwear, and then to let him have all_ the rough 
work he likes in actual snowshoeing. It is possible 
that there may be some mountain lions killed in the 
Park by the agents of the superintendent this spring, 
as the latter have made trouble with the sheep and 
.deer. It is not, however, in the least likely that Presi- 
ident Roosevelt will do any shooting. Attempts are 
inaking to get him a lion or bear hunt near the Park, 
,and possibly this may be done. The main delights of 
•the visit to the President will be the keen sport of 
>snowshoeing and the pleasure of seeing the big game 
animals. There is talk that Buffalo Jones will do his 
jbest to get President Roosevelt to come over deep 
.into the Park, where the buffalo are. Twenty-one 
'Buffalo, ths-t- is to 5a/ ,t»veiSi:y-one wild Qceg, arjc} not 
including the semi-domesticated ones held in the in- 
closures, were lately counted in the Park. President 
Roosevelt planned a still earlier visit to the Park, but 
the late adjournment of Congress rendered this impos- 
sible. As it is, there will still be winter enough to 
appeal to him, though not enough to make outdoor 
work too severe. 
Allard Herd of Buffalo Dispersing. 
Howard Eaton, who recently got an option on the 
entire buffalo herd of the late Charles Allard, in the 
Flathead country, is now in the East disposing of 
these buffalo. He has sold seventeen head to the Gov- 
ernment, and is negotiating for the sale of other speci- 
mens to private individuals. 
Duck Shooting Fair. 
Duck shooting in this part of the world is for the 
present fair. We had a heavy snowstorm day before 
yesterday, and this has set the flight back for a few 
days. Meantime the water is falling along the Missis- 
sippi Valley, making the sport better than has previous- 
ly been the case in some of the tracts where the best 
feeding grounds had been flooded. 
_Mr. Henry Clarke, of this city, is back from Henne- 
pin Club with twenty-two nice birds. He says the best 
of the sport is yet to come at Hennepin, as the feeding 
grounds are just getting good. Mr. W. W. McFarland 
is also just back from Hennepin and reports good 
shooting and good prospects. 
Mr. Fred M. Hild, the urbane head of the Chicago 
Public Library, received to-day a present of four nice 
mallards from his friend, Mr. Sellers, who is shooting 
at Swan Lake Club and who reports good luck. 
Mr. J. V. Clarke and his brother Mr. Lou Clarke are 
to-day absent at Tolleston Club, where good shooting 
has obtained pretty much all the week. They should 
have success. 
Mr. Hempstead Washburne and his son, Clark Wash- 
burne, are to-day at Goose Lake Club, on the Kanka- 
kee River, where they may be expected to have fair 
shooting, as the Kankakee has held a good number of 
birds all through the flight thus far. 
Mr. Eddie Pope, Mr. W. L. Wells and Mr. Hollis 
Field start to-morrow for Fox Lake, Illinois, where 
they expect to g'et at least four ducks between them. 
The shooting is good at Fox Lake, when the ice drives 
the cripples into the grass, and granted proper weather 
conditions, these redoubtable sportsmen may com^ back 
with quite a bunch of birds. 
From Ca''^orn{-i. 
By the wa3^ Eddie Pope just got in this morning from 
his winter in California, where he has, of course had a 
very delightful time. At Santa Barbara he found some 
mountain climbing not too far away, and was surprised 
to learn that grizzly bears and mountain lions are not 
yet extinct in that corner of the world. A hunter came 
down from the mountain where Mr. Pope had been 
rambling around unarmed, and brought the skin of a 
fine mountain lion which Eddie might just as well have 
killed with a stick if he had happened to run across it. 
Of fishing for j^ellowtail and the like, he had his fill, and 
also as much shooting as he cared for. 
New Sporting Region. " 
Mr. John M. Bulkley, of Detroit, dropped in this 
morning and chatted for a time about his interest in 
the new sporting region opening up along the Algoma 
Central Railroad north of Sault Ste. Marie. Mr. Bulk- 
ley says that that region is undoubtedly destined to be 
of the greatest interest to sportsmen of the East and 
Middle West, being so easily accessible. He says of 
his personal knowledge he can take one to moose 
within ten miles of the railroad, and can also find bass 
and trout fishing good enough to suit the most fastidi- 
ous. He mentions "gray trout," which he says is found 
in some of the smaller landlocked lakes. This is the 
same fish that is sometimes called landlocked sa'mon in 
one or two Wisconsin lakes, and is, of course, only 
the lake trout of the Great Lakes in a more restricted 
environment. Mr. Bulkley says this fish gives a very 
good sport, as he has found it in Ontario. It is much 
worth while keening an eye on this immense new 
region, which lies between the Sault and Hudson's Bay, 
and which will presently be opened by the railroads. 
New Alaskan Railroads. 
A friend in Chicago brings me the prospectus of a 
new Alaskan railroad, which expects to build from the 
Kenai peninsula northward across Alaska to the Tanana 
Hills and the Yukon River beyond. It is thought that 
work may begin on this railroad during the present 
summer. Should it become a success it will, v/ithout 
doubt, open up the greatest sporting country now left 
on the American continent. It is something of a con- 
tract which these railroad men are undertaking, but 
railroad builders have always done the impossible. 
Hot and Cold "Water in Camp. 
I am shown the prospectus of a Rocky Mountain 
guide, and having personally known him to be a very 
good one, I shall not mention his name. What inter- 
ests me is his description of the comforts of his camp. 
To say nothing of "special"' hams and bacon, of camp 
chairs and a very high grade of sleeping bag, a "carnp- 
fire" every night, etc., I observe one paragraph which 
reads: 
"Hot and cold water is also seryed at each tent each 
morning, or at any other time it is wanted." 
I surely think the Rocky Mountains are getting to 
be a pretty degenerate sort of country. When I have 
to have a man bring me hot water at my tent door 
in the wilderness every morning, I want to quit calling 
myself a hunter and go into a hospital, where they 
bring you hot soup as well. What was the matter with 
the sort of water our good friend Col. Anderson, of 
the Yellowstone Park, used to have of a morning 
when he was in camp? Col. Anderson used to break 
the ice in Henry Lake every morning and go in for a 
bath, and he could have had a whole geyser full of 
hot water any time he wanted. No hot water for the 
real campaigner, As they say in France, Ah! bah! the 
hot water. I never did think this sort of thing would 
ever really come in the Rockies, but it shows well 
enough the sort of sportsmanship which pertams to 
modern days. As for me, gimme the tin washpan of 
our daddies, or gimme death. 
The Habits of Raccooiis« 
In reply to the 'coon hunting comments in a late issue 
of the Forest and Stream,- Mr. W. A. Powel. a^ mighty 
'coon hunter in the land, has the following to say re- 
garding the habits of the ring-tailed gentleman as he 
finds him in lower Illinois; • 
"I noticed the New York gentleman's remarks about 
'coons last week, and he is all right, but a 'coon is 
about the wisest ever, and takes pretty good care of 
himself. At Mr. Spears' place, in Mississippi, we had 
a 'coon hunt one night, and started our first one about 
7 P. M., and from then on we just kept on treeing 
them, with intermissions of chopping 4-foot guiK trees 
(by proxy), treeing the last 'coon about 5 A. M., as 
they seem to run all night in Mississippi. Once near 
Bald Knob, Ark., I shot one in a tree at about noon. 
Here, a year or two ago, Hamer and' I were duck 
hunting, had quite a little pile of ducks, and Harner 
was sitting down le.ining against a tree, when he heard 
a noise, and looking around, saw a large 'coon within 
a couple of feet of our ducks. This was about 10 A. M. 
"A 'coon is a much better weather prophet than any 
goose bone, and I think the weather and moonlight, 
and lots of other things, have considerable to do with 
the time of his rambles. I know that last fall when 
quail shooting, we saw lots of 'coon tracks, and went 
there several evenings without the dogs striking a 
single trail; so Harner and I got up at 3 A. _M., went 
to the same place, and had a coon treed in a half 
hour or so. My dogs have treed 'coons at 9 or 10 
o'clock A. M., also early in the evening, but of late 
years, near here, under most conditions of the weather, 
they seem to run late rather than early. 
"The gentleman is all right about the advantages of 
having a friend named Spears, in Byhalia. I never ex- 
pressed a desire for anything to be found in that coun- 
try, but what it was presented to me as soon thereafter 
as possible. If every one in this country was like our 
friend Spears, this would surely be a glorious place to 
live. 
"I suppose it is about settled by now that the squir- 
rels do migrate. My father says that when he was a 
boy and lived at Parkersburg, W. Va., a squirrel_ mi^" 
gration took place, and they swam the Ohio River, 
landing at the town, and he, with other boys, caught a 
great many of them. 
The wolves are getting numerous here again, and 
some one comes in about every day wanting me to 
come out and chase them. They seem to be catch- 
ing lots of pigs and poultry, and soon as the young 
ones get a little older I will have to take a hunt or two 
for them. I think I could hardly kill even a rattle- 
snake while it had little babies depending on it. 
"The weather is fine here now. The babies are well 
and evei-ything lovely. Come down and we will go' 
fishing." 
The squirrel migration was settled when Col. R. 
Bobo described what he had seen. As to those wolves, 
it is interesting to know that they ate in a closel.y 
'^-i.rmed district, which has been settled for 60 or 70 
j'ears- 
^''^ From the Blackfoot Country.? ^ 
Mari^ii 27. — A letter from Jack Monroe, of the Bhack- 
foot Reservation, just at hand, says that in the neigh- 
borhood immediately about Blackfoot and for 50 miles 
east the winter has been very mild and the 'oss to 
stock very slight. In the Milk River Valley the weather 
was much more severe, and along the foot of the moun- 
tains it was also hard upon cattle. Jack says that he 
thinks that up in the mountains it has been a hard 
winter also on the game animals. 
Jack has put out a line of baits for a bear hunt with 
Dr. Henry, of Philadelphia. He says that Collins 
Anderson and Malcom Clark last spring killed four 
bears in one day. and rather thinks this was the hunch 
of four bears which we saw when I was out thee, but 
states that there was no grizzly, whereas we were sure 
that we saw one grizzly in the bunch which we followed 
for so long. 
Anj'one wanting a good elk might do well to a f dress 
Jack Monroe, as he advises me personally that he has 
a soot located which he thinks will produce the goods 
without much difficultj-- and within a ten days' trip 
from Blackfoot. out and back. Our other friend, Joe 
Kipp, of the Blackfoot Reservation, is building a big 
hotel over at Browning, and will start a general store 
at Blackfoot. Joe is about the hustlingest all round 
proposition there is west of Havre, and may 'le counted 
upon to turn up with something new any nji4..ute.., 
From Lake Superior. ,"' • 
A few months ago I mentioned the invifation of Mr. 
P. F. Stone, of Munising. Mich, to go up there and 
have a little fall fishing after lake trout. Some brief 
description of this syle of sport was made at the time. 
This morning Mr. Stone himself dawned at my office 
with photographs and other corroborative material. 
He showed me one nicture of five trout which weighed 
90 pounds. These fish were taken by himself and his 
brother Louis in two hours' fishing. Another picture 
showed 15 trout weighisg 122 pounds, which were taken 
by C. H. Worcester and E. H. Everard. All th'.« fish- 
ing was done in Munising Bay. Mr. Stone tells me 
that the biggest trout he ever took there was 35 pounds, 
and adds that in October the numbers of trout taken ' 
off that point are very large. Frequently a fishing 
boat will bring in 1,000 pounds as a catch, and do this 
day after day. These nets are set on the spawning 
grounds, the fish coming in to spawn in the month of 
October. Of course all the rod and reel angling is 
also done on these same spawning grounds. The 
depth of water in which the fish are taken is from 
20 to 30 feet, and in good weather a fish is easily dis- 
cernible at this depth in the beautiful clear waters of 
Lake Superior. 
Mr. Stone tells me that he believes the habits of' the 
trout during the spawning season are quite similar to 
those of the black bass. They don't tc^ke the spoon 
