AND Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
OoPYRlGIlt, was B* FotoSST /tHiJ SrREAl« PuBtfeklNG €&. 
TERMS, $4 A '^'ear. 10 Cts. a Coi'Y. I 
Six Months, $2. f 
Nt:W YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 4, 1903 
I VOL. LXI.— No. 1. 
iNo. 846 Broadway, New York 
For my own part, I wish the Bald Eagle had not been choseri 
Ms tke ffepresehtative of our country; he is a bird of bad mo^al 
ciiafacter;.he does iiot gfet tiS liviii^ honestly. . . With all his 
irijustice, he is rievei" in good cise, but, like tjiosfe among men 
who live by sharping arid fobbing, hfe is geriefally j^oof, arid 
often very lousy. Besides, he. is a rarik cowafd. . .. 1 atri, oil 
this account, not displeased that the figure is not known as a 
Bald Eagle, hut looks more like a turkey. For, in tfuth, the 
turkey is, in comparison a much more respectable bird, and 
withal a true, original native of America. Eagles have been 
found in all countries, but the turkey was peculiar to ours. He 
is besides (tho a little vain and silly, 'tis true, but none the worse 
eiiiblem for that), a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to 
attack a grenadier of the British Guards, who should presume to 
Inv&de his fwmy&rd with a ted eoat on.-Benjamin Franklin. 
RICH AND POOR. 
There is a class of shallow thbkefs and agitated 
faiiefg flgalnst tile rklii who pfoffess to sgg a hogy-nlail 
in tke wealthy #bft§mah, and ib disfotef iii hi§ eVil nla^ 
fhinations the source of all legal restrictions ,iill 
lieense 111 sport. As thus the editor of the Caledonia 
(M; Y:) Advertlsef : 
' "6i-adualiy the weaith^^ meti of the Empire State are 
getting the right to fish and Hunt entirely iri theif own 
hands!' The law passed hy the Legislature of the Statd last 
winter and signed by the Governor, prohibits the sale of 
orouse and woodcock in this State at any time durmg 
The year. Tliat is to say, that woodcock and grouse arc 
only for wealthy men to hunt, as the poor classes are the 
market hunters. One hunts for the money that's m it, the 
ether for what he terms sport and the good eatmg that s 
to follow. We admire the man who hunts for the money 
in it far the most." 
If the Advertiser man knew more about it. he would 
recognize that the interests of the "wealthy man" and of 
"the°man who hunts for the money in it" are identical. 
Game is a table luxury, it costs money, and as a general 
rule is served at expensive restaurants and hotels. If it 
were not a costly article, if the market hunter who kills 
it were not paid a good price for it, he would not be so 
eager to "hunt for the money In it." And because game 
is a luxury, its consumption is chiefly by the wealthy. 
The "poor" market hunter kihs it, the "wealthy men of 
the Empire State" pay him for it. Neither the poor mar- 
ket hunter nor the wealthy bon vivant approves the 
law forbidding the traffic in game. Both share the 
opinion of the Advertiser man that game birds should bs 
snared atid gfoutid-potted for market. If they had their 
V/ay, the dose season laws and the anti-snaring laws and 
the anti-sale laws would not be in foree. That sueh laws 
are in operation is due to the fact that in New York, as 
in the majority of States, the public has come to a realiz;- 
itig sense that if the game is to be saved it must be kept 
out of the snares of "the man who hunts for the money 
in it" and oflf from the tables of "the wealthy men." 
The statutes of which the Caledonia man makes plaint 
as class legislation are In the highest degree expressions 
of the principle of the greatest good to the greatest num- 
ber. The men in this Country who shoot and fish are the 
average men who make up the community. They are not 
all rich nor all poor. Some have ample means of money 
,and leisure, others must count most carefully the cost in 
dollars and hours. Whatever their ciurcumstances and 
station in life, all alike have the right to such .enjoyment 
of stream and game cover as their individual opportuni- 
ties will permit, and as may be compatible with the com- 
m,on interest. The game and fish laws are in principle 
and intent no respecters of persons. Their purpose is lo 
conserve the game and the fish for the common use of 
all. But, as has frequently been said in these columns, 
the protective laws are most necessary and most beneficial 
in behalf of the man of limited means, the one who can- 
not afford to indulge in long distance railway fares, hotel 
bills and guide wages, but must find his sport in home 
fields and local waters. He, the sportsman who must 
hunt and fish near home, if at all, is the one who is most 
nearly concerned and most vitally interested in putting 
a stop to "hunting for the money in it." Why? 
Because there is not game enough for the market hunter 
and the men who hunt for sport. Because if the market 
hunter has his swing, making a business of taking game, 
he will clean out the covers so that there will be nothing 
left for the rest of us who chose to earn a living in some 
other way than by grouse-snaring, but who do desire 
for recreation to take a day off in the fields when the 
gpason Qpines around. Any system -which insures to us 
and to our cliildren the contitiuance of these privileges 
which our fathers enjoyed is in the highest degree for the 
best good of all. Any other sVstem, such as that which 
the Caledonia editor appears to favor, by givh-fg over the 
birds to the market hunter and the patron of cold storage 
game vaults, robs the many for the few. 
No intelligent obsefvef of the trend and development 
of the fish and game legislation of the country during re- 
cent years can mistake it§ e'Haraetef. At flO Other period 
has the purpose been more definitely aiid eleat'ly to estab- 
lish beyond question the principle that the game and the 
privilege of J:aking it belong to the whole people, and Will 
be secured to them, and not to anv one selfish class. 
THE GAME PRESERVE. 
As A factor in the matters of modern sportmanship as 
they pertain to the use of the dog and gun in field shoot- 
ing, the game preserve may be considered properly as a 
constant. It is An e'siabiished institution of sportsman- 
ship in- the United States, aS it iS itl Europe, and it has 
come to stay. Its permanency i§ indifcattd ill many 
material ways. In Europe, in many countries, it has ex- 
isted through generations far into the past, and no prop- 
erty fight is more highly prized nor more jealously 
guarded; The faet that many European countries have 
monarchical fofms of govgfnments is irrelevant to the sub- 
ject of private game pfeServe'S.- They are a consequent 
to man's passionate fondness for the chase and the com- 
petition incidental to civilization. This foiidness is a 
phenomenon of human nature universally, and thefefore, 
in its origin, is independent of governments or conventions 
of any kind. There are certain principles of ownership, 
possession and enjoyment of property which are the same 
everywhere in civilization, and which, in civilization, be- 
come more and more affirmed with the passing years with 
the increased common sense of the common people as a 
whole. 
In the United States the private game preserve did not 
have its origin in imitation of foreign methods of sports- 
manship. It had its origin in accord with the natural 
laws of supply and demand. The natural game supply 
and available common areas of hunting grounds, once so 
abundant, became wholly inadequate to supply the de- 
mand. Artificial methods of game preservation were a 
necessity of the situation, if Sport with dog and gun were 
to be secured to a reasonable certainty. In the United 
States, at the present time, the game preserve, as an 
institution of sportsmanship, is to be found in eveiry sec- 
tion, is progressively enlarging with the passing of the 
years, is indorsed by men of all stations of life, of all de- 
grees of financial standing, and is well within the natural 
rights of man and the laws of the land. A sentimental 
opposition to it avails nothing. The rights of the prop- 
erty owner existed as fully and forcibly through all the 
past years of free shooting everywhere as they do t;o-day ; 
but owing to the circumstances of vast areas in a wild 
state and a superabundance of game, owners permitted 
their property rights to lie dormant. When they chose 
to assert their property rights, they introduced no new 
principles of ownership. There, however, was much to 
be thankful for during all the years of freedom to enjoy 
private property, rather than anything to resent when 
the freedom, by suft'erance, ended. 
The idea of the game preserve had its origin before the 
era of preserve ownership in a legal way. In the old 
daj's when a sportsman found a sequestered section 
abounding in game birds or fish, he carefully concealed 
its whereabouts, and year after year he enjoyed the fun 
and fruits of his superior knowledge. If anyone else dis- 
covered and invaded it, the original discoverer considered 
the other fellow as an offensive interloper. Herein lies 
all the principle of the game preserve, which had its 
origin in such primitive beginnings. What the ancient 
sportsman accomplished by stealthy secrecy and technical 
trespass, the modern sportsman accomplishes openly and 
legally as a matter of business under the universal laws 
of supply and demand, and instead of diminishing the 
area devoted to the game preserve will progressively in- 
crease till the available lands are all taken, or the gen- 
eral increase in land values shall act as a -check. 
In establishing and maintaining a game preserve, the 
sportsmen of the United States will be confronted with 
the same problems which exist in foreign countries. Tlie 
presgryes raust be stocj^ed and restocked if good shooting 
IS to be insured. Artificial methods of propagation will 
need to be resorted to, and methods to protect the game 
birds and fisfies from marauders, whether man, dog or 
^-ermin, will be a constant necessity. 
THE VAGRANT DOG IN THE GAME FIELD. 
A FACTOR in the- maintenance of the game supply gf S 
region is the vagrant dog which is permitted to run at 
large in the cover in close season. It makes no difference 
whether the animal is well bred or a cur. A dog, when 
permitted to wander about at will, exercises many of his 
wild traits of a predatory nature. He has no perception 
whatever of property rights. He will chase rabbits with 
unbounded enjoyment. He will rob the nests of game 
birds, kill and eat the young quail and partridges, and 
betimes he will harry and kill sheep. Hounds in particu- 
lar are conspicuous offenders. They have an insatiable 
appetite, are eminently vagrant and predatory in their 
habits, and from their keen sense of smell, great endur- 
ance and skill in pack work, have superlative powers of 
predatory destructiveness. If they fail in their eflforts to 
secure rabbits, the eggs of quail, partridges, hens, etc., 
they do not hesitate to invade cornfields when the corn 
is in the milk, tear if down and feed on it much after the 
manner of hogS. In the South the vagrant cur is particu- 
larly and offensively destructive. No owner has any right 
to permit his dog or dogs to run at large, and the more 
offensive or destructive vagrant dogs become, the less 
value will dogs have in the e3'e of the law. The vagrant 
dog is one of the chief problems which game preserve 
owners have to meet, but there is no doubt that, when it 
becomes serious enough, it will be fully settled, and not 
at all to the advantage of the dog. 
In a suit brought by the New York Forest, Fish and 
Game Commission against one Dunston, a New York city 
restaurant keeper, to collect the penalty for the ser^'ing 
of four quail in his restaurant out of season, the lower 
court dismissed the case, on the ground that al- 
though the birds had been served to a customer of 
Dunston in Dunston's restaurant by Dunston's waiter, 
there was no evidence to show that they had ever been in 
Dunston's possession, and Dunston therefore could not 
be held liable. This appears to be a loophole as big as a 
barndoor through wdiich restaurant keepers may pass 
cartloads of illegal game. The Appellate Term of the 
Superior Court has just sustained the action of the 
Municipal Court in dismissing the case, Mr. Justice 
Truax dissenting in an opinion of which this erudite and 
eloquent gustatory passage deserves to be engrossed on 
the records : 
"I am as fond of quail, in season and out of season, 
a la broche, au laurier, aux petits pois, au gratin, aux 
laitues, en croustades, a I'anglais, aux truffes, a la poele, 
a la cendre, aux ecrevisses, sous la cendre, au salpicon, en 
compote, au basilic, aspic, chaud-froid, pate chaud, bisque 
of quail, and in everj' other waj', as is either one of my 
associates, but I cannot concur in the conclusion reached 
by them." 
The records of the Fourth of July casualties wrought 
by the toy pistol are again claiming space in the papers. 
The deadly nature of these instruments is well known; 
it has been demonstrated year after year by the sacrifice 
of lives. That the toy pistol has not already been 
abolished by statute is a disgrace to our day and civiliza- 
tion. The subject is one which should have the first 
practicable attention of legislators. The manufacture, 
sale and use of the article should be prohibited. If 
parents lack the sense to keep the things out of the hands 
of their children, the authorities should interfere. This 
annual slaughter of the innocents is no fitting way to com- 
memorate the events of 1776. 
•« 
The coarse fish of the Nepigon have in recent years 
multiplied to such an extent that they have threatened 
to exterminate the trout for which the stream is famous. 
The authorities met the evil with vigorous action, and 
during the last season destroA'ed 1,800 pike, 389 pickerel 
and 803 suckers. Commissioner Bastedo urges the con- 
tinued prosecution of the good work, and the value of the 
Nepigon trout fishery is of sufficient importance %0 war-j 
ratit the most earnest effort tQ saye ;t. 
