Oct. 4, 1902.] 
The Preserve lde&. 
It does not make one especially cheerful to look back 
over the changes which have taken place in the last ten 
years or so in sporting conditions in the West. One of 
the most striking of these changes is the rapid growth of 
the preserve idea. We slowly go ahead in. game law 
matters, undoubtedly enforce -the law better than we did 
in the past, and undoubtedly gain yearly in respect for 
honest game laws. Yet, after all is said and done, the 
American system of game laAVS does not seem to be one 
v;hich is destined to save the Am^rican_ game for the 
American people. It ought to work, but it does not. It 
works in places, accomplishes results spasmodically, and 
is, of course, a tremendous force for the betterment of 
conditions, but it does not stop the passing away of our 
game. Upon the other hand, steadily and strongly, with- 
out very much fuss about it, the preserve idea has been 
gaining ground and gaining it efficiently in the West,_ as 
in all other parts of the country. There is no use denying 
the fact that the best of our Western sporting country is 
passing into the hands of clubs and individuals who 
close them to the general ptiblic. A good duck marsh in 
the State of Illinois would be worth immensely mote 
than a good farm. A good trout stream in Michigan or 
Wisconsin at once suggests the notion of a preserve. A 
remarkable fishing lake in Minnesota is at once built in 
with club houses. One cannot tell whether or not_ the 
American public realizes this, yet the truth is that it is 
happening and happening all the time. 
There are only two things to be said in regard to the 
preserve system. It works, and we cannot help its work- 
ing. Moreover, the only man who kicks against the game 
preserves is the fellow who has not one of his owii. 
When he gets able to preserve a bit of marsh of river he is 
just as quick to do it as anybody else, &hd jUst Ss loUd iil 
his protests at invasions of his rights. The preserve idea 
has come to stay, and although the outcome of these mat- 
ters is something beyond earthly wisdom to predict, there 
is more likelihood that in' this preserve idea, hated as it 
is, there lies the greatest hope for the future of our 
American fish and game. 
Some of these refleetions are called up by reading the, 
following words in the English angling journal, the Fish- 
ing Gazette. I continually read of good takes of fish made 
oil the streams of that ancient and much harried country. 
Here is what one artglef says 1^ 
"The miller, although admitting it brought money into 
the gien, had a woeful yet sensible tale to tell. Between 
Over-fishing and poaching the valley was being practically 
ruined. From early May (Easter) till late on in Septem- 
ber, English anglers were coming in dozens weekly, and 
only a few were getting anything like- sport. The fishing 
is practically free for miles, and the Icafers and poachers 
from the distant villages were doing fof every trdut aboye 
half a pound, while tlie fistl Averg ffightened"^ oUt of their 
lairs, or lies, at ail other titiies by the lUiiiUte and incessant 
fiumber of baits and flies with which they were continu- 
ally bombarded. He said he counted as many as twenty 
rods pass his mill door in a single day, and that soon the 
once prosperous valley would be a howling wilderness — to 
the trout angler. 
''Such is the miller's tale, which was fully corroborated 
on the spot. And this is only a santple of what is going 
on all over the north. The Rev. Mr. Macintosh, Aber- 
deen, has just finished ah angling tour in Sutherland and 
Eoss. At every hotel advertising fishing he found a crowd 
of anglers, but no fish. Unless the loch is actually all 
the bigger it gets fished out. The fish may be there, but 
they are scared to death and need a rest, which they never 
get in the season. Sport on private waters the reverend 
gentleman found in abundance, and as he had a few in- 
vitations for such, he found it his best policy to stick to 
them. We need not give more instances." 
That's what the thing has come to in England, and 
that's what it's coming to in this country. Whether you 
like it or not, that's what it will come to, unless we wake 
up and take a greater interest in the system of game laws 
which we have devised for this country. A sober con- 
clusion, after judging the work'ng of these game laws 
for nearly two decades, leads one to believe that the 
American people don't want their game, and ,don't de- 
serve it. 
From Dakota, 
Mr. Maxiraillian Foster, formerly of New York, but 
now of Pittsburg, Pa., with his friend, Mr. Ellsworth, 
visited in this city yesterday on their return home from a 
two weeks' trip in Dakota. They went out to Buford 
and traveled thence up the Yellowstone Valley to Mr. 
Noble's ranch house. They had grand sport at prairie 
chickens, or rather sharp-tailed grouse, of which they 
could have killed any number. They found the shooting 
a bit tame after a few days, and did not kill very many 
after that. They got into some very fine mallard shoot- 
ing and had all around a very enjoyable time. Mr. Ells- 
worth got tangled up with a bucking bronco in a corral 
and is limping a little bit yet, though he "staid with him." 
Mr. Foster is well known as a magazine writer on differ- 
ent topics, largely those of the outdoor air. 
The Saginaw Crowd. 
The Saginaw Crowd will put their private car in com- 
mission for the fall shooting on Oct. 5, reaching this city 
on their way to North Dakota on the evening of that day. 
The personnel of the Dakota party this year is not yet 
determined, but there will probably be about a half-dozen 
guns. It goes without saying that "among those present" 
there will be no one who is not a gentleman and a 
shooter. This party of sportsmen always seems to me to 
have more fun to the square inch than anybody else. They 
are all business men, and they go at their vacations in the 
serious and thorough-going fashion of practical men re- 
solved not to let anything good get away. The captain, 
as usual, will this fall be Col. Bill Mershou, of Saginaw. 
E. Hough, 
Haktfohd Building, Chicago, 111. 
AU communications intended for J?obest and Stbeam should 
.alwsys ,b.e addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co,, New 
■^ork, &fi^ f^gi to any iii4>vi(lu#l connected witli tbe p«{>ef« 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
New England Game Grounds. 
Boston, Sept. 27. — The gunners are getting ready for 
the opening of the Maine big-gamo season, Oct. i. Some 
are planning- to be on the ground; other.'s will go later. 
The Fish and Game Commissioners have appointed twen- 
ty-nine agents to sell tags, which amount to licenses, to 
transport game out of that State. Section 26 of the code 
of game laws provides that whoever has lawfully killed a 
moose or deer, or who has in his possession one trout, 
togue or landlocked salmon, one white perch, or ten 
pounds of either kind of these fish, or one pair of game 
birds, may send the same to hia home or any hospital, 
without accompanying the same, by purchasing of the duly 
constituted agent a tag, at the rate of $5 for a moose, $2 
for a deer, $1 for a fish, $1 fof ten pounds of the same, and 
50 cents for a pair of game birds. This is a most peculiar 
law, and amounts to tons, of game coming^ straight to 
Boston and other markets, Once the game is out of the 
State, it goes unmolested to Boston. There one has sim- 
ply to order the express where to take it, and there it 
goes; nine-tenths of it to the markets, or to individuals 
other than owners or hospitals. This statement is sus- 
ceptible of proof, if the Maine Commissioners desire proof. 
Twenty-nine agents, more or less honest, scattered around 
the different game outlets, with tags to sell, will make it 
perfectly easy for licensed guides, or anybody else, to get 
game out of the State of Maine this fall. 
An Arlington, Mass., party of five will start for the 
Maine woods Oct. 5. The company includes Messrs. N. 
J. Hardy, Omer W. Whittemore, Stewart Allen, Dr. L. 
L. Pierce and J, Ronco. They go to the Monotony Club 
camps, above Moosehead- All are hunters, and some big 
game will be brought out, under reasonably favorable 
conditions. There are some good reports of shore bird 
shooting from Provincetown, and other gunning resorts 
on the Cape. But along the shore nearer to Boston the 
shooting has continued very poof. Down the North Shore 
far enough, say at Small Point, and near the mouth of the 
Kennebec, there is good shore bird shooting, with ac- 
counts of good bags. I saw a letter yesterday giving an 
account of several bags of yellowlegs and grass birds 
shot on the marshes near the mouth of that river. Some 
Boston gunners are making up for that way next week. 
There are very few accounts of partridge .shooting in 
Maine, though the open season begun Sept. IS- 
Still the bird shooting is poor at Chatham, and at 
nearly every point along the Cape shore. A number of 
sportsmen are at Chatham BeaCh, though about discour- 
aged with the small flights of birds thus far. They rea- 
son that so small have been the flights in September that 
October and cooler weather must make up for the de- 
ficiency. Ex-President Cleveland recently visited the 
blinds at Wellfleet, but got only six birds in two days' 
shootingi Dtjdley Hall, of Boston, an old-time gunner 
at the Cape, is among tbe waiting. He is daily at the 
blinds, and manages to pick up a few birds. A portion 
'o.f the grounds at Harding's Beach has been leased by 
Boston sportsmen, and they look for good results later. 
A large acreage of new salt meadow has been made at 
Chatham this season, by changing tides and winds, and 
this should make a great feeding ground for black ducks 
later. Quail and partridges are reported abundant on the 
Cape this fall, and the opening day, Oct. i, will find the 
gunners in readiness. Great preparations are being 
made by the gunners for this opening' all over the State. 
Dogs are in training, and coveys are located. The de- 
sire is that Oct. I may not be stormy. 
Dr. Pleber Bishop and D. J. Flanders, of Boston, and 
C. K. Fox, of Haverhill, are in the woods of New Bruns- 
wick after bull moose. Dr. Bishop is after his twenty- 
second bull, twenty-one already standing to his credit, 
making him champion moose slayer • of the country. 
Mr. Flanders is after his second or third, and Mr. Fox 
has also slain his bull. They are in the woods some dis- 
tance beyond Havelock Station, the end of the rails on 
the Elgin and Havelock Railway, in the Canaan and 
Salmon River country. They were in the same region 
last year and saw 52 moose; each getting one bull; all 
the law allows. Tliey are to be absent till about the 
middle of October. Mr. W. T. Farley, of Boston, with a 
Worcester friend, has started for the moose grounds 
of Nova Scotia. The trip was planned by that genial 
hunter. Dr. McAlear, but he has been kept at home by 
illness in his family. They go to Halifax, and further up 
the countrjr. The hunting grounds are well known to 
Dr. McAlear, and the hunters are pretty sure of each 
his bull moose. 
Partridge shooting has continued poor in most sec- 
tions in Maine since the beginning of the season, Sept. 
15. Hunters returning from bird shooting trips into 
New Hampshire have had rather poor sport. The law 
protecting snipe, quail, partridge and woodcock has 
been ofl^ since Sept. 15, the same as in Maine, but the 
shooting has been poor. The Hon. L. T. Carleton is 
now declaiming on the great illegal slaughter of big game 
this year in his State; through lack of warden service, 
he says. From his reports from wardens and guides, he 
is convinced that there is not as much game in the 
woods as last year. To a daily press reporter he makes 
this statement: "I find a growing sentiment in favor 
of the enactment of a hunters' license law. It has been 
recently suggested- that .out of such, a fund the farmers 
should be reimbursed for damage done to crops by deer, 
the remainder to be used for increased warden service." 
Yes.' Pat the farmers and other malcontents and ene- 
mies of tbe game laws on the back. That will help to 
secure the license law. When the law is passed it will 
be mighty easy to spend the money, and the game will 
be no better protected than before. Special. 
The Vanishing: Woodcock* 
Sayre, Pa. — Diligent inquiry among shooting men who 
have ample opportunities to know discloses the fact that 
in southern New York covers woodcock are very rare. 
It is the consenstis of opinion that the only remedy 
for saving the long bills from total extinction is abso- 
lute prohibition of all shooting on these birds for some 
time to come. So winsome and delightful a migrant 
ghould not be permitted to pass into oblivion without a 
struggle for its .salvation, M. Chill, 
269 
In the Nova Scotia Moose Cotjntfy. 
SotTTH Brookfield, Quecus County, Nova Scotia, Sept. 
22. — Editor Forest and Stream: Knowing you like to 
have something interesting in regard to our big game, I 
am happy to tell you that our old sportsman and guide, 
Mr. W. T. Crooker (seventy-two years of age) went out 
last week, and only gone four days from home when he 
returned with a fine bull moose, v/eighing over 700 pounds, 
with a beautiful head and a fine pair of horns. He was 
accompanied by his two boys. He used a Winchester 
■4S-70, and brought his moose down with the first shot 
fired. 
Moose are very plenty here this season, and quite a 
number have been shot. Mr. Crooker says he could have 
got another moose at the same time, but thought he would 
let him go until later on, as he thought the one he had, 
with canoe, etc., was quite load enough to bring home. 
He will try it again in a few weeks. 
George Seaman. . 
The Rail Tides. 
Essex, Conn., Sept. 25. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have read with great interest the editorial entitled "The 
Rail Tides" in the last issue of Forest and Stream. 
Evidently the writer has spent several mornings in the 
haunts of the festive rail, for his descriptions are accurate 
and true to nature. The editorial cans back to my mind 
the good old days, long past, when, as a boy, on the rail 
grotmds, I first acquired the art of handling a gun. 
The season for shooting rail is now practically over in 
this locality. Although a few birds are killed daily by 
different sportsmen, the shooting is nothing compared to 
what it was two weeks ago, when it was no trouble at 
all for even an amateur to get all the birds he wanted 
at a tide. 
Altogether, the season has been an exceptionally good 
one, as will doubtless be testified by any one who has had 
occasion to shoot on the marshes in this section. 
G. W. C. 
The Coal Strike and the Woodlands 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Permit me to call your attention to the wholesale de- 
struction of forest trees in the Eastern States in conse- 
qiTence of the scarcity and high price of anthracite coal. 
In Suffolk county, Long Island, for example, farmers 
have even neglected growing crops in order to cut cord- 
wood and market it at the unprecedented high prices 
which now prevail, and contracts are being made and 
pians perfected for the cutting over of thousands of acres 
of forest lands as soon as other farm work slacks up and 
the cold we'ather makes woodchopping a more congenial 
occupation. In several cases which have come under my 
personal observation, beautiful patches of large oak trees 
^are being cut dmvn for fuel. In a short time, probably 
before next spring, all of the larger forest grawth on 
Long Island will be cut down, and the coming genera- 
tion will have nothing but so-called "sprouts" to look at 
or hunt in. The effect on the climate and farming lands 
will be important, but the chief losers will be those who 
can appreciate forests and fine landscape effects, and 
sportsmen who enjoy forests rather than "sprouts and 
brush" land. 
The effect upon game is not likely to be serious, as rab- 
bits and game birds, and possibly deer, thrive as well in 
the young growth of woodlands as they do in the older 
forests. Squirrels are the chief sufferers when the large 
trees ^are cut down, but they usually migrate into the 
pines or the swamps, where the trees are permitted to 
grow indefinitely, and they have a way of multiplying 
under seemingly the most adverse conditions. 
A redeeming feature of the coal strike is the increased 
value and appreciation of the woodland. It will be better 
cared for and more intelligently cultivated than it has 
be.cn, and the fact that it pays a good interest on its value 
will tend to encourage investment in forest lands by a 
class of investors who will co-operate with true sportsr 
men in preserving game birds and animals. 
J. H. Griffith. 
LVK BROOK, L. I., N. y. 
The Western Potest Fires. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
It is with much regret and a feeling akin to that of los- 
ing old friends that I hear, through various channels, of 
the destruction of the forests of Wyoming and Colorado. 
While the forest fires are raging everywhere and destroy- 
ing vast bodies of timbei", it seems not enough, but to 
complete the destruction, the timber company of Carbon 
county,^ Wyo., has bought out the outfit of Teller, the 
notcd_ tie man of Wyoming, and have put three hundred 
men into one of the finest bodies of green timber now 
standing in that section of country, along the south branch 
of the Grand Encampment Creek, and what they will do 
to it is sad to contemplate, from the standpoint of one 
who knows almost every foot of the woods as it was when 
not a sign of human habitation existed there. 
How I used to look over this vast area of wooded 
country, from some mountain peak, and think of all the 
wild animal life that existed within its friendly shelter, 
and think, in my blissful ignorance that it would surely 
be ages before this part of God's country would be de- 
spoiled of its virgin beauty, not realizing that anything 
existed there to bring the march of progress. But the 
mining towns of Grand Encampment and Pearl have 
wrought changes such as could scarcely have been 
dreamed of a few j^ears ago, and it leads one to think 
that no place, however remote and inaccessible it may 
appear to be, will be saved from the destruction. 
Emerson Carney. 
J Take inventory of the good things in this issue 
g of Forest and Stream. Recall what a fund was ^ 
f( given last week. Count on what is to come next 
^ week. Was there ever in all the world a more ^ 
abundant weekly st0re of sportsmen's readmmf M 
