484 
tJuNE 20, igoj. 
.each of my grand shooting festivals— but I have been 
among the game more and on more difiEerent fields than 
most men. Since Lee has been big enough to be interested 
in wild game I have regretted very much that I could not 
haA'C him with me, but it never happened that way until 
a short time ago. We had been noticing' and watching for 
the plover, and when rumors of them began to be heard 
we were on the alert. Driving to one of the largest pas- 
tures in the raggedest part of the hills we had a fine 
ride amid splendid and far extended views ; but, contrary 
to our expectations, we found no plover. It was very 
pleasant, though, and we felt no keen disappointment. 
Cattle were grazing on a thousand hills with far reach- 
ing levels between. With only a slight change in color 
and form it would have been the scene of fort5--five years 
ago over again. At last wc came to one of the water 
holes made b}'^ damming a ravine and catching the rain. 
While we sat looking a pair of blucwing teal dropped into 
the pond. Directing Lee how to proceed to get under 
the dam, where he could walk within fair range without 
being seen, I sat in the wagon and w^atciied the game. 
The ducks that stop long in Kansas learn to watch the 
dam and at the first appearance of a hat above the bank 
they are off. This pair were on the alert, and the}' were 
off at the first glint of white felt above the level. They 
are too late, though; two puffs of smoke and they are both 
down as neatly as if a veteran had wielded the gun. 
Lee was very proiid, and seemed to rate the hunt a 
great success. It was his first pair and fourth and fifth 
wild duck. Some j^ears earlier he had spent a good deal 
of his time in drawing, being almost self-taught, having 
taken only a few lessons from a country teacher. For the 
last few years he has done but little at it. When we got 
home he overhauled his effects for crayon paper, but 
found none except such as had been used. Selecting a 
piece of this and turning the blank side he hung up the 
pair of teal and drew them on it, natural size. We think 
the effort very creditable, and as soun as the mail opens 
will send you the original along with this letter. Yes, 
take the boy along if circumstances are favorable. 
Since writing the above we have learned that the flood 
was indeed of wide extent, and has left its hundreds 
homeless, which you had doubtless learned long before. 
E. P. Jaques. 
DisHAM, Kansas, June 2. 
The 'Tlatform Plank'' in the Field. 
Looking backward over lengthening years no friend- 
ships are recalled that are warmer, more firmly cemented, 
nor more highly prized than those formed and shared in 
the brotherhood of sportsmen. 
A day beside the rippling trout brook \yith rod and 
creel in early springtime, a day upon the distant salmon 
river beneath northern skies, a day afield with bird dog 
and gun in autumn, a day in the wilderness in the deep 
snows of winter after big game — these are the tests of 
manhood, the furnace that separates the dross of appear- 
ance and pretense from the real gold of sterling worth. 
Friendships begotten of such conditions are true and 
lasting, an unending fund of pride and delight, and they 
are not the exclusive possession of millionaires and those 
of classical education and unlimited opportunities, as too 
many are apt to think. 
Many there are in the humbler walks of life whose ears 
are attuned to the grand Te Deum of Nature, who square 
their conduct by the Golden Rule, and whose quiet lives 
and unpretentious influence for good are the salvation 
and uplifting of society and the country. 
The great army of sportsmen numbers recruits from all 
classes and w-alks of life, and worthiness is the only test 
and password. Sportsmen's literature, their periodical 
publications and helpful legislation for the protection and 
propagation of game— fur, fin and feather — wrought by 
their instrumentaliy will attest their present high ideals 
and irresistible influence and strength. 
The leaves in the diary of Time need be turned back- 
ward but a few short years before the enunciation and 
promulgation of the Platform Plank is discovered— that 
startling innovation in the ethics of sportsmanship — and 
the pessimism with which it was greeted and discussed. 
That it was necessary and timely now goes without 
saying; and that it has been crystallized into law in so 
many States is a compliment to its authors and to the 
great body of sportsmen of - our country who so quickly 
apprehended its wisdom and benefit, and who were so 
instrumental in the halls of legislation as to place it 
upon the statute books and give it all the force and effect 
of salutarv law. 
This, with the further upbuilding of healthy public 
sentiment and helpful legislation, promises much for the 
future for the preservation and propagation of well nigh 
extinct species as well as teaching lessons of manliness 
and forbearance in destruction and slaughter. 
Even though it were practical, selfishness is still too 
dominant in the w-orld to warrant an appeal to sportsrnen 
to individually apply, in an accentuated form, the principle 
of the Platform Plank to themselves by accepting and 
being faithful to another, viz., killing fish and game for 
sport shall be prohibited at all times. Nevertheless, the 
tendency of the times is in this direction, and a little 
later it may seem no more revolutionary nor restrictive of 
individual rights than much that preceded it. 
May the day not come when greater zest and higher 
pleasure will follow from observation and study and be 
more alluring and satisfying than now reward the strength 
to endure and the skill to destroy, even though a plethoric 
game bag attests both? 
Such was the result of a day's outmg during the open 
season of last autumn which I will briefly relate, hoping 
that others may be induced to follow our example with 
the same or greater measure of benefit and pleasure. It 
is my good fortune to number among my friends a man 
who enjoyed excellent early opportunities which he 
turned to good account — a man grown old and honored 
in prominent public station and civic life — a man whose 
love for outdoor life has grown and strengthened with 
his years. We had planned with pleasant anticipations 
based upon many former experiences along the hillsides 
and in the runs of central Massachusetts, for a day with 
the lordly grouse. , , , 
The day arrived, the air was tempered by the frosts of 
autumn, the haze of the Indian summer was in the air, 
all nature was arrayed in her most gorgeous hues. Our 
route lay northward from the heart of the Common- 
wealth toward the historic Ransom Rock near Wachusett 
Mountam, where captives were ransomed from the In- 
dians in colonial days. Arrived at a farm-house we were 
warmly welcomed and our team cared for. Massachusetts 
for the most part is rolling land, hill and valley breaking 
the monotony and adding a charm to the landscape. 
Where we had chosen to spend our day a hill of con- 
siderable height lifts its summit high above the surround- 
ing country, and its top is crowned by naked rock and a 
few pine trees which grow out of the crevasses, where 
they seem like giant sentinels on guard. Stretching away 
to the eastward were the gently sloping and well tilled 
acres of the farmer whose courtesy we were enjoying. 
Near the base of the hill on this side were a few acres in 
a basin-shaped depression forming a kind of bog, which 
was overgrown with a dense grow-th of scrub pine, white 
birches, wild apple trees, and grape vines — an ideal place 
for the king of game birds which we sought. Between 
this and the suriimit and extending around its base half 
way on either side was cleared mowing and pasture land. 
On the opposite or western slope of the hill, and extend- 
ing for miles bej^ond, there is a tumbling, foaming trout 
brook and abundant good covert for birds extending away 
in every direction beyond. 
Years of experience had taught us how to work the 
covert with greatest success. To shoot in the dense 
growth of the marshy basin on the eastern slope is next 
to impossible, and the birds when started always fly out 
over the cleared land around the base of the hill, affording 
an excellent shot for a man properly stationed. Working 
the covert from north to south the birds fly around the 
southern base of the hill, and vice versa, the gunner hav- 
ing choice of an incomer or tail shot, when only a tyro 
need score a miss. 
For a time it was a debated question who would beat 
the covert and who would do the shooting. My friend 
at last was prevailed to go to the accustomed place on the 
southern slope directly in the line of flight, and when 
he had done so I started in with the dog. I had ad- 
vanced but a few yards when a beautiful point greeted 
my sight. I was so enmeshed that it w'as impossible to 
shoot, and calling out "Point" to my friend, I ordered 
the dog on. A sound as of muffled thunder broke the 
s^tillness, and stooping to the earth I saw a magnificent 
cock bird making a bee-line toward my friend, as if to 
enter the muzzle of his gun. In a moment he had passed 
as swift as a flash, when the gunner wheeled around, ap- 
parently keeping the bird covered with his gun, as if he 
preferred a tail shot. Another moment and the bird had 
vanished, and there was no sound of gun to destroy his 
life or salute his passage! 
What could be the matter? 
He soon called for and asked me to come to him. I 
was soon at his side, and in answer to my inquiry as 
to what was the matter, with impressive earnestness he 
made this paradoxical reply : 
"I could — and I couldn't !" 
I noticed that he was deeply moved and I inade no 
further inquiry. 
A few moments passed and then these words of Shake- 
speare fell from his lips : 
"Like a dull actor now 
I have forgot my part; and I am out." 
A'ddressing me by name he continued: 
"How could I? That innocent bird that never knew 
human care ! That innocent bird that never did me or 
any other person harm ! That innocent bird for whom 
the heavenly Father provides I * * * From this emi- 
ricnce just look around ! Feast your eyes upon this wreath 
of gorgeous coloring that Rembrandt never equaled ! 
What a panorama in the mellow autumn sunshine! 
Where all is beautiful, stillness and peace shall man alone 
mar and do the deed of destruction? * * * j could — 
and I couldn't!" 
For a time there was nothing said ; conversation was 
out of place and words would be but discord. The 
moments were impressive. 
"I hope you will pardon me and not think me over sen- 
timental or childish," he finally said. "I have enjoyed my 
days in the field for many years, and. as you know, have 
killed a reasonable number of birds, but it don't seem as 
if I would ever want to kill another. But don't let my 
feelings interfere with your pleasure. I will take the dog 
and beat the covert and send the birds to you." 
To this I demurred, when it was mutually agreed that 
we should w'ithdraw the cartridges from our guns and 
continue our day's pleasure, enjoy the outing, and see 
how many birds we could put up and get a fair shot at 
with a fair probability that we might reduce them to pos- 
session did we choose to. 
With this understanding I returned to the covert and 
soon after sent seven other birds within easy range of 
my friend's gun. We then climbed to the rocky summit 
where for a time, seated upon the craggy rocks, we en- 
joyed the tempered sunshine, the exhilarating air, and the 
wealth of coloring which extended away in all directions 
until lost in the dim distance, where the faint undulating 
outline of the hills touched the horizon. The time and 
place were more suggestive of silence and musing than 
conversation, and recalled these lines of Emerson, the 
sage of Concord: 
"Hast thou named all the birds without a gun? 
Loved the wood rose and left it on the stalk? 
" At rich men's tables eaten bread and pulse? 
Unarmed, faced danger with a heart of trust? 
"And loved so well a high behavior, 
In man or maid, that thou, from speech refrained. 
Nobility more nobly to repay? 
Oh, be my friend and teach me to be thine!" 
The noon hour was drawing nigh and we returned to 
the farm-house to eat our lunch. Here we were ushered 
into the old-fashioned dining room with its great fire- 
place and brass-topped andirons, and the hospitality of a 
thrifty New England farmer was urged upon us and it 
v/as thankfully accepted and highly appreciated. 
We retitrned to the covert beyond the hill in the after- 
noon, where we espied a wily fox nosing along the 
ground in a small cleared space, evidently in search of 
mice. For some time we enjoyed his graceful move- 
ments, his attitudinizing and posing, when, alarmed by a 
whistle, he vanished as if shot from a gun into the cqvert 
beyond. Gray squirrels dodged about to opposite sides of 
trees, and when one of us remained behind they soon 
sought safety in the top of some projecting limb or in 
a sudden dash to adjacent trees. 
During the afternoon our dog did good work and made 
staunch point on eight birds which would have given us 
fair shots, but we did not trouble them. 
Beside the trout brook wild clematis grew in riotous 
profusion, and the blue-fringed gentian and the cardinal 
flower appeared more beautiful in contrast, but mindful 
of Emerson's lines we did not disturb them in their envir- 
onment. The hours of the shortened day were soon num- 
bered, and we returned to our homes; and the day spent 
when we could and didn't, remains a delightful reminis- 
cence. Geo. McAleer. 
VVoBCESTEti, Mass. 
Massachusetts Fish and Game. 
Boston, June i^—Editor Forest and Stream: The 
clouds of smoke and dust which have hung like a pall ■ 
over New England for many wrecks have been dissi- 
pated, and in their stead the mists and rains have come, 
reviving vegetation, bringing smiles to nature's face 
and gladness to the hearts of men. 
Anglers have special reason to share in the universal! 
rejoicing; for not only were the streams drying up, but 
many ponds and small lakes were becoming so low as 
to forebode bad luck to fishermen. Our friends in the 
hill and mountain towns of the western counties, who- 
had abandoned their favorite pastime, have again takeni 
down their rods and report some very good catches,, 
especially in Berkshire, where, they tell us, they are 
getting better sport than at any time this season. Prob- 
ably some of the stream fish have been caught in shoal! 
places and have lacked sufficient water to sustain life,, 
but when a drought is not continued long enough tc 
destroy trout and is followed by a good rain, then is. 
just the time to get full creels. The experience of our 
friends in western Massachusetts will have a counter- 
part in other sections of our State and in other States., 
Some of your readers will be glad to learn that Lake 
Onota, Pittsfield, is now open to fishing three days of 
each week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. 
The executive committee of the Massachusetts Cen- 
tral Committee has just issued a report on the legis- 
lative work of the past winter, in which they character- 
ize the making permanent the anti-sale law on par- 
tridge and woodcock as "the most important piece of 
legislation in the interest of the protection of birds 
ever enacted in the history of game legislation im 
Massachusetts." Your readers will recall the fact, as 
set forth in the columns of Forest and Stre.'\m, while 
the fight was on three years ago, that a permanent en- 
actment w^as urged then, but that it was fought desper- 
ately in the committee; also, that even with the three 
years' limitation it had to be fought at every stage of 
its progress and came quite near being lost in the 
Senate. This year the committee on fish and game 
reported unanimously in its favor, and in its progress, 
through the tw^o houses there was not once a call for 
a yea and naj^ vote. So much for the change in public 
sentiment as reflected in the action of our Legislature. 
No one knows better than you, Mr. Editor, the influ- 
ence which the Boston market has wielded on legisla- 
tion in years gone by. In the Forest and Stream 
platform of 1894, which the writer has had in his pos- 
session these nine years, you say, "That which stands 
in the way of the present prohibition of the sale of 
game in the larger cities is the magnitude of the com- 
mercial interests involved." 
The "Campaign of Education," to which you refer 
in that document, has been eft'ectively conducted in our 
State, and the community is learning "the true place 
of wild game in the economy of the civilization of the 
present." 
In my humble opinion no one agency has done more 
in developing this public sentiment than your paper, 
which, as just compensation for its courageous and in- 
telligent advocacy of right principles, should be found 
in the household of every true sportsman. But with all 
the assistance we have received from your columns, it 
has been a long and an up-hill struggle, so long 
and so arduous as to discourage utterly some of the 
soldiers that enlisted under the banner of protection in 
days gone by. 
Others have kept their faces ever to the front, and 
are now reaping the rewards of a well-earned victory 
in seeing the principles they have advocated triumphant 
in many States of the Union, and so generally approved 
that the might of the general Government may now be 
invoked in their defense. 
Three events in the memorable struggle in behalf of 
the birds in Massachusetts, briefly stated, are as fol- 
lows: 
1. The meeting in 1898, when J. M. Stevenson, of 
Pittsfield, as a rnember of the Legislative Committee, 
said the first thing for sportsmen to do was to get 
together and harmonize their differences. 
2. The convention of sportsmen's and farmers' clubs 
called the same year by the Massachusetts Fish and 
Game Protective Association. 
3. The convention of Dec. 14, 1899, in which 60 dif- 
ferent organizations were represented, and which de- 
clared in opposition to the sale of game and proceeded 
to form a central committee of clubs, with an execu- 
tive committee to attend to legislative work. The 
prime mover in securing the different meetings, which 
have been of so much advantage to the cause of pro- 
tection, was the State Association, but the numerous 
clubs and societies scattered over the State that have 
"put a shoulder to the wheel," have like reason to be 
proud of the results which have been achieved by 
sportsmen "getting together and harmonizing their 
differences." We have a right to hope that the unani- 
mity of sentiment which now exists among the sports- 
men of Massachusetts, wiU be of long continuance. 
E. S. Beach, Esq., Boston, who has just returned 
from Mooseluckmeguntic, tells me he saw there thir- 
teen 9-pound salmon at one time that had been taken 
from the lake, which goes to show that fishermen con- 
tinue to be well rewarded for their efforts. A 7-pound 
salmon is credited to ex-Gov. Rollins — knovirn the coun- 
try over as New Hampshire's "Home Week" governor 
— and Miss Mary Skillings, of the Governor's party, 
captured one of S pounds. 
