Forest and Stream 
a Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. ^ 
Copyright, 1908 by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
^e6Ms, $4 A y&AR. 10 GTS. A Copy. I 
^ Six MdSTris, $2. ) 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1903 
J VOL. LXI.— No. 2. 
I No. 846 Broadway, New York 
MOSQUITOES AND MUStC, 
A caARiaMD life lias the mosquito, and a merfj' one, too, 
if bnfe may justly believe that his cheerful war sorig is an 
indent of eonStant mefriment when he is in man-eating 
aetivity. He, or rather she— fof it is the female which is 
so insatiably bloodthirsty — is a bold, brazen creature, be 
she ever so tuneful when seeking sustenance. She is one 
of the few forms of the earth's creatures which have 
steadfastly ignored and violated the principle of law that 
a man's house is his castle. Indeed, the mosquito has 
not sCrupICd to trCat his person as lawful and pfopef pfCy 
on opportunity. From time immemorial she has sought 
his blood at sight. Hence the ancient feud, unceasing, 
implacable, with the" mosquito on the one hand ever in the 
role of aggressive invader, and poor man, on the other 
hand, in the role of defender behind his ramparts of 
dopes, mosquito bars, window screens, volatile oils, and 
smudges, or helpless in open battle, man against mosquito. 
Within a comparatively recent period, man has taken 
new heaft in the unequal warfare. By patient investiga- 
tion he has learned that, in theofy, at least, mosquitoes 
m.ay be destroyed as a whole, instead of in detail, after the 
manner of the old-fashioned slap. 
Last year the mosquito's extermination was proclaimed 
by virtue of Crude coal oil; or, rather, the larvse and pupse, 
the innocent mites of mosquito infancy, were to be smoth- 
ered by Crude Coal oil, applied in sufficient quantity to form 
a film over the mosquito breeding grounds, the Stagnant 
waters of pools, of swamps and marshes, thereby accom- 
plishing a complete race suicide at one Stroke, as it 
were. Though effective, this method had some special 
disadvantages, chief of whicli was its costliness. It could 
be used only by wealthy communities. Any proposition to 
entirely extenninate the mosquito by the use of oil would 
of necessity involve certain general questions as to how 
many thousands of square miles of stagnant water there 
were in North and South America, and how many train 
loads of crude oil were obtainable; and then there was 
the particular question as to how oil and water were to 
be brought together. Nevertheless death by coal oil was 
the decree against the mosquito in 1902. . 
But patient investigation and experimentation have dis- 
covered newer and more economical methods. A more 
painful extermination lias been devised, of which the fol- 
lowing is a description: 
"Practical application has been given the new system, 
and it has been discovered that a certain musical note 
raised to a great number of vibrations per second will 
cause the mosquito to experience sudden and complete 
paralysis, and not only does this intensified note arrest 
the insect in flight or hurl it from the ceiling or wall, but 
also because of a strange construction of the mosquito's 
auditory system, it causes it to plunge undeviatingly to- 
ward the spot whence the music issues. 
"It has been found that the practical application has 
been effected by raising to a great number of vibrations 
per second the particular note to which the mosquito is 
most sensitively attuned. This intensified note was pro- 
duced by sudden electrical impulse upon a musical instru- 
ment, whereupon it was noticed that every mosquito in 
the room had plunged headlong to the instrument, and 
that when the windows were opened the room was soon 
filled. Again the amplified note was sounded, and in- 
stantly in a cloud the mosquitoes, apparently lifeless, were 
precipitated against the apparatus." 
It will be observed that this latest method deals with 
the adult mosquito, and therefore is much fairer than the 
making of war on the mosquitoes' immature offspring. It, 
too, bears the earmarks of entire efficiency, if our own 
experience and that of others in the correlated effects of 
sounds are to be accepted as pertinent data. 
Is there anyone who has not dear friends, both male 
and female, who, in moments of emotional happiness, have 
broken forth into raucous song having many notes of dif- 
ferent degrees of malignancy and harmfuhiess, some mad- 
dening, others paralyzing, stupefying or blasting? 
Who has not seen the charming vaudeville performer, 
tripping forward to the footlights airily, smilingly, in an 
atmosphere of wondrous sweetness, and then heard her 
emit notes successively wearisome to the soul and debili- 
tating to the body? 
Cats, on the back fence, at the gruesome midnight hour, 
have been known to strike notes which, owing to the 
strange construction of the bootjack's auditory system. 
have caused it "to plunge undeviatingly toward the spot 
whence the note issues." 
Indeed, the dirgeful chant of a solitary mosquito in one's 
bedroom at the hour when sleep impends, is alarming 
and destructive to rest. The delicate crescendo and 
diminuendo buzzing, denoting predatory advances and 
stragetic retreats, profoundly affects mind and body of 
the listener. Thus the idea of shocking to death by a 
peculiar note is old. Recourse to it for the annihilation of 
the mosquito is simply the application of an old thing in 
a new way. 
But the remedy is fraught with perils. If the blasting 
note shall be permanently added to the many false notes, 
or notes which are neither false nor true, now possessed 
by the human race, the mosquito plague may be only a 
trifle in Comparison. But we have an abiding faith in the 
permanency of the mosquito as a fact, and in the efficiency 
of the destructive note as an idea, and of ideas there are 
many kinds, some wise, some otherwise. 
AFTER THE FOURTH. 
July 4 for 1903 has been duly observed and solemnized 
by a record-breaking consumption of fireworks, and the 
incidental demoniacal hullabaloo raised by small boys and 
large boys, and young boys and old boys, the latter, as 
a rule, being quite frolicsomely giddy in the use of ex- 
plosives, as becomes men who rejoice by means of boyish 
methods. Indeed, in their interpretation of the true way 
to express patriotic rejoicing by means of explosives, the 
old boys of 60 or 70 winters or less are oftentimes more 
giddy than the small boy of six or seven springtimes or 
more. 
As a rule, July 4 lost much of its associational 
distinctiveness, for the reason that the firecracker, tor- 
pedo, and toy pistol phases of it were put into action early 
in June, indicating that the boyish craving to use fire- 
arms is a manifestation in itself, existing independently 
of any day or any associations. While the hullabaloo, 
which in a way has been sanctioned by usage, may be 
tolerated on July 4, whea begun and continued days be- 
fore and after, it has no patriotic significance, and is more 
in the catalogue of public nuisances than in the category 
cf patriotism. For the sake of peace and safety, so great 
is the 4th of July season on the border line of public 
nuisance, many good people journey countryward from 
the cities to escape the din, the stench of burning crackers, 
and the danger of bullets flying at random. 
In all our large cities and their environs last Saturday, 
a day of about 36 hours if measured by din and swirl, 
was particularly strenuous in emphasizing America's 
greatest day. There was the customary large and 
patriotic contribution of maimings by explosion ; of people 
killed by bullets fired by unknown hands; of inoculations 
of lockjaw germs caused by the toy pistol in the hands 
of the small bo}^ so-called ; of houses lost by fires and in- 
valids tortured by the incessant racket. Thus was at- 
tained a high-water mark of true patriotism, a realistic 
reproduction, in a way, in times of peace of the happen- 
ings of our forefathers in the actual war of the Revolu- 
tion. In New York city alone the police records up to 
midnight of July 5 had mention of 122 accident cases, 
most of which were caused by stray bullets, and of 75 
fires. Bellevue Hospital treated 57 accident cases, and 
Roosevelt Hospital treated 118 accident cases. Many men 
were arrested for discharging loaded revolvers. 
Some incidents of the day are worthy of enumeration. 
The shops of the Manhattan Elevated Railroad Company 
v.'ere burned, the estimated loss being $150,000. The news- 
paper reports state: "The only cause suggested for the 
fire is that rockets may have been shot through the open 
skylights." Long Island presented some warlike realism. 
The account follows : A 360-pound cannon exploded 
this noon at East Moriches, and Theodore King, 17 years 
old, one of the boys who was firing it, may lose the sight 
of his right eye, besides being badly burned and having" 
a hole torn through his nose. 
At Larchmont, N. Y., a burning balloon fell on the 
rectory of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, setting 
fire to it, and the church w^as saved only by the brave ef- 
forts of members of the Larchmont Yacht Club. The list 
could be indefinitely extended. The aggregate of maim- 
ing, injury and loss of property throughout the United 
States undoubtedly reaches vast dimensions. 
Patriotism is to be encouraged and cherished. But 
there is something radically wrong with its manner of 
expression when bullets are fired promiscuously and reck- 
lessly in our cities, large and small; when giant crackers 
of terrific power are freely within the reach of the 
ignorant, the malicious and the reckless; when the toy 
pistol, so deadly as the cause of lockjaw, is allowed in 
common use. The day should be one of pleasure, thank- 
fulness and rejoicing to all, instead of a menace or a 
nuisance as now observed. Patriotism is primarily a love 
for and a devotion to one's country, and love and devo- 
tion are not expressed by violence and death. 
FISHING RIGHTS. 
We print on another page the full text of the opinion 
of the Appellate Division in the suit brought by William 
Rockefeller against Oliver Lamora for fishing trespass on 
the Rockefeller preserve in the Adirondacks. The case 
is one of much importance, because the several decisions 
of the lower courts, in favor of Lamora, have been quite 
generally interpreted by the press of the State as estab- 
lishing the principle that action for trespass damages 
could not be maintained as to waters stocked by the State. 
Such an interpretation, we pointed out at the time, was 
hasty and erroneous ; and that it was so is now shown by 
this adjudication by the Appellate Division. In the new 
trial, which has been granted, the defense heretofore 
offered by the defendant will no longer be available, and a 
verdict against him for trespass will no doubt follow. 
For, after all, divested of popular sympathies and preju- 
dices, the Rockefeller-Lamora action is nothing more nor 
less than an ordinary suit for fishing trespass. The 
parties to it happen to be a multi-millionaire and a poor 
man; but the principles involved are those which would 
govern as to a half-mile trout stream on any farm posted In 
accordance with section 212 of the game law. The owner 
or lessee of the land possesses' the exclusive right to fish 
in the water flowing through it, and he has this right 
whether he be the owner of one acre or of 50,000 acres. 
A Lamora has no more right to fish without leave on 
the property of a Rockefeller than a Rockefeller has to 
fish on the property of a Lamora. 
The opinion is so- full and explicit on these points that 
it should have careful reading; there is altogether too 
much popular confusion respecting this question of fishing 
and shooting rights, and the exposition here given in this 
Rockefeller-Lamora opinion will do much to clear away 
the cobwebs. 
As to the contention that the Rockefeller preserve 
waters had been stocked by the State and in consequence 
were open to the public, the evidence adduced went to 
shoAV that no such stocking had been done with consent 
of the owner. The stocking had been done evidently by 
planting fish in waters whence, in the course of nature, 
they might pass into the waters of the preserve. The law 
which formerly provided that waters stocked by the State 
should be open to the public has been repealed; and the 
substituted law reads : 
But waters stocked with fish by the State at any time after 
April 17, 1896, shall not be laid out in any such park. If waters 
in any such park are hereafter stocked by the State with the 
consent of the owner the provisions of this article shall no longer 
apply thereto. 
That is to say, the owner of the waters may no longer 
sue for the exemplary damages of $25 in addition to the 
actual damage. Thus to provide that special trespass 
damage may not be collected is a proposition very dif- 
ferent from the old provision that waters should be open 
to the public. The new reading leaves the right of the 
owner precisely as it would be without the operation of 
any special parking law. That right is of the exclusive 
possession and use of one's property. The farmer's ex- 
clusive right to fish in his meadow brook is a right as 
clearly, definitely and inalienably vested as is his exclusive 
right to mow the meadow hay. This is a common law 
right, and may be invaded neither by individual tres- 
passer nor by legislative statute without due recompense. 
If this be so, we shall look with interest for the practi- 
cal operation of the new Colorado law, which reads : 
"Provided, That the public shall have the right to fish 
in any stream in this State stocked at public expense, 
siibject to actions in trespass for any damage done propt- 
virty along the bank of any such stream," 
