404 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 21, 1903. 
New York Non-Resident License. 
Rochester, N. Y— Editor Forest and Stream: One 
cf the amendments ^to our game laws which I think the 
League should urge is that all non-residents shall pay 
a license fee. The present license provision is not en- 
forced. Recently I was informed through the Commis- 
sioner's office that not a single fee has been collected or 
license issued this season. Thirty-two States now re- 
quire a resident of New York to pay a license of from 
$10 to $25, but two States, Delaware and Washington, 
being less. It will scarceb^ be claimed tliat any non- 
residents have not both hunted and fished in this State 
this summer and fall, and the States of which they are 
residents require a license fee from a resident of New 
York. It seems clear that our State should have a 
regular license fee for a non-resident, free from all 
provisions and conditions. Our game is not so plentiful 
that we can furnish sport for all non-residents of this 
continent as we have been doing. 
Mongolian, Ring-Neck and Englisb Pheasacts. 
The law protecting these birds expires with 1904, and 
such being the case, ought not the same to be amended 
at the coming session of Legislature? If there is to be 
an open season for them I would suggest that it be not 
more than five or ten days to begin with, for a few- 
years, and say from November i to Sth or loth, and then 
let the barter or sale, etc., be prohibited. 
Section 27 should be amended so as to include quail 
killed in this State, and I think the Avord bartered should 
be inserted before the word sold, as to all these birds. 
A Gun License. 
It is frequentl}^ suggested that there should be a gun 
license. I am somewhat of the same opinion; if so, I 
think it should be graded. For instance, $1 per annum 
for permit to carry pistol, revolver, single or double- 
barrel shotguns and rifles, and $3 for punip or magazine 
shotguns and $5 for automatic magazine shotguns. xA.s it 
is now, guns are so cheap that boys and irresponsible 
men — and especially foreigners who cannot even speak 
our language — carrjr a gun and shoot any and all birds 
they can find, and especially on Sundays in many 
vicinities. J. R. F. 
Idaho and Washingfton. 
Keller, Wash., Nov. 12. — The 25th of July I left camp 
ioT the St. Joe country in Idaho, where I spent over two 
months and had a good time hunting and fishing, gather- 
ing huckleberries, and a nice time generally. I got back 
to camp in October. The boys tell me that birds have 
been more plentiful this season than at any time since 
the opening of the reservation. T think this can be 
accounted for by the fact that little spring shooting wa-^ 
done. People have begun to find out that if they shoot 
in the spring they will not have any birds to shoot in the 
fall. Deer are not very plentiful, although there are some 
around. The birds Forked Deer calls apple birds are 
what we call black woodpeckers. They make their ap- 
pearance the first of May, rear their young, and leave 
alx)ut the last of September. They are xQiy destructive 
to cherries, and do dainage to all kinds of fruit by peck- 
ing into any they can reach. Sotne kinds of apples the}- 
work on more than others. I have seen some of Mr. 
Campbell's apple trees covered with them. They nested 
in some old pine trees in my garden for a few j^ears, and 
I did not molest them till I found that they were so bad 
on fruit. Last year I set out some trees, among them two 
clierries; this year there were nineteen cherries on one 
tree and I wanted to see what kind they were. I had 
to put a sack over the tree to protect them. In this way 
I saved them, and I have been killing all the birds I 
could from around the garden. 
The other day I was over on the west side of the 
Ssn-Poil, and the miners told me that a few days before 
they had seen a nice flock of Bob Whites. I think the 
quail will do well along the San-Poil, as there are lots 
of thorns as well as rose bushes covered with hulks, 
which supply food for all the quail and grouse families. 
'I he sharptail grouse are about as plentiful as when the 
reservation was opeiied. Geese are putting in along the 
Columbia, on their southern flight. 
October ^vas as fine as was ever experienced here. The 
robins die still here, and the bluebirds have not all left, 
a -J the larks are still with us. Lew Wilmot. 
An Amatettr Bagfgfagfe Master* 
Editor Forest and Stream-: 
The editor in the current number, November 7, has 
something to say about the practice of tipping public ser- 
vants. His remarks are to the point as far as the tipping 
of most of them goes, but there is one railroad official 
who, when he does get a tip, generally earns it, and that is 
the baggage master. I had a friend who was baggage 
master on a through train on a road running out of Pitts- 
burg; and one fall a number of years ago, during the 
hunting season, having nothing else to do, I put in most 
of my time riding backward and forward in his car, and 
collecting the tips that he did not want to earn. These 
were the only tips that I had ever been given anywhere. 
1 had no business there, but the baggage master Avanted 
me and the railroad officials did not seem to care, so I 
kept riding backward and forward wnth him. 
The dogs and guns had to be taken care of, and he did 
not want to do it. On this road no gun, unless it was 
taken down and carried in a case, could be taken into 
a passenger coach; but it and the dog were carried free 
in the baggage car. 
I would often have from eight to ten dogs ott a trip; 
these and the guns I put in one end of the car, then staid 
in that end of it most of the time myself to keep the dogs 
from getting lonesome. The baggage master said that 
v»hen he had the dogs they were continually getting up 
fights, and he had no time to referee dog fights. I never 
had any to referee. When I saw one about to begin, I 
V/oidd get among the dogs and explain to them, that the 
TUles on this road forbade dog fights, and as most of 
fhe 'dogs were of the kind that do what they are told to 
CO, ?nd are not of a fighting strain anyhow, I never had 
l]|iich trouble in keeping the peace, At the end of the 
route, after we had got all the baggage dumped out on 
the platform, I would next bring out the dogs and guns, 
then each man who had a dog would generally hand me 
a dollar. I have had them give me two dollars more 
than once, when they found their dogs and guns in good 
order, though of course I never would ask anything or 
try to look as if I expected to be paid. The only part of 
this money that the baggage master would ever take would 
be what I paid for our meals at each end of the route 
wben we woidd get them at a good hotel. 
Cabia Blanco. 
Re-Sizingf Shotgttn Shells. 
OssiNiNG, N. Y., Nov. 7. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Having been so fortunate as to discover (?) an easy 
method of resizing shotgun shells that have been once 
fired with smokeless powder, I hasten to share my good 
luck with yoiir readers. 
The trouble with the work done by re-sizing dies is that 
by their use the shells become slightly corrugated on the 
inside and in this climate many will expand within an 
hour so that they can with difficulty be forced into the 
breech of the gun. At the best, the operation of a re- 
sizing die is tedious and laborious. 
The swelling of shells is principally due to the absorp- 
tion of moisture from the atmosphere, and not to the act 
of firing. 
New factory loaded shells, if stored for some time in 
an ordinary club house without fire, will sometimes swell 
so that they will not enter the chamber of the gun. 
A short tiine (say 48 hours) before the shells are re- 
quired for use, place them in a sieve or perforated vessel 
and let them stand over a stove or hot air register for 
24 hours ; then load in the usual manner, store in a dry 
place, and, if possible, use within twenty-four hours. Of 
course, if they can be stored in a particularly dry at- 
mosphere they may be kept much longer, but in this 
climate three days will usually be sufficient time to cause 
some to swell. 
Shells treated in this manner enter the chamber freely, 
but after firing do not extract as readily as those fired for 
the first time. E. F. Ball. 
Opposed to Preserves* 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Not in a decade, a decade and a half or two decades, 
has anything appeared in relation to sporting matters 
that has filled me with such blissful feelings as that de- 
cision of the Superior Court against the Blooming Grove 
Park Association of my native State. 
Every lover of our democratic institutions ought to 
reioice that the concern has been squshed by the heavy 
hand of justice in such a way that, we hope, it can never 
reappear. (Here let me say that my authority for using 
squshed is a New Jersey legislator who used squashed 
in one of his harangues, and on finding himself ridiculed 
in next morning's paper published a correction, stating 
that he did not use such a word — ^that the word he used 
was squshed.) 
For this digression some inconsiderate readers may 
think an apology is demanded, but that would be as un- 
reasonable as to demand an apology of the parties who 
are fighting over Kipling. It is said, 
"A little nonsense now and then 
Is relished by the wisest men." 
"Of which I am one of 'em." I confess that I have been 
amused by their funny fight, and I hope they may find my 
little digression equalh' entertaining. 
Kipling is not game, and therefore not legitimate stuff 
for a sporting publication, but I excuse them. 
DiDYMUS. 
St. Augustine,, Fla., Nov. 14. 
Pheasant fShootingf at Shelbarne Farms. 
"The first day's pheasant shooting at Shelburne Farms, 
Burlington, Vt., resulted in the bagging of over 500 birds. 
Of course, it was on Doctor Webb's private preserve, and 
it is no business of ours, but just the same, it seems like 
a senseless destruction of life."— St. Johnsbury Re- 
publican. 
Is it a senseless destruction of life to raise turkeys 
and chickens for home consumption or for market? 
Doctor Webb raises pheasants to kill for home consump- 
tion, and for his friends, just as hundreds of other Ver- 
mont farmers raise turkeys and chickens. Instead of 
slaughtering them in the manner customary here, he in- 
vites a half dozen or more ladies and gentlemen friends 
to spend a week at the farms, and the party goes out 
to shoot pheasant much as if they would if shooting par- 
tridge. And it is no boy's sport, shooting pheasant, as 
they are swift of wing and fleet of foot; but none are 
ever shot on the ground. While many of the birds are 
consumed at the farms, hundreds are sent away to friends 
in all parts of the country, none being sold. I.^st fall 
the party of hunters at Doctor Webb's pheasant shoot 
included" Lady Minot, wife of the Governor-General of 
Canada, and her daughter. — Barre Telegram. 
The Night-Hawk. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I wonder how many of your readers know that 'Nev/ 
York City— Manhattan Borough— is the home of many 
kinds of predacious birds? One night in Central Park, 
near Fifty-ninth street, I saw a good sized owl sitting on. 
a leafless sycamore at the' southern edge of the South 
Meadow near the large mass of rocks. As he slowly 
winged his solitary flight along, I wondered if he had a 
mate and family awaiting him in some hollow tree or 
old gray tower. 
Then about ^ July i every year at the close of some 
sultry day you hear high up in the air the first wild 
sound of the season, the P?a-ek, pea-ek of the wild and 
strange night-hawk, the same cry that greets your 
ear in the depths of the Adirondacks, in the Maine 
wilds, and forests of Ontario. It is such a savage, fierce 
note that you instinctively reach for your favorite old 
Ballard, your meat gun, which uses no gold pencils, but 
a short,' stubby reliable .44-40 black powder load, and 
glanep through its brightly grooved barrel. How well 
you recall watching a runwaA^ in some favorite hunting 
spot where you have listened to the bird of twilight's 
note, and awaited the roar that comes after one of his 
long dives into the lower air, and just as he turns up- 
ward _ in flight. In vain you await the Go-ivalk of the 
bird in our city. That note he never makes here, and 
why not? Will someone, another city watcher of this 
bird, bear me out in this? 
It has been supposed by some that the roar was caused 
by tlie air rushing into the vacuum made by the swift 
down shoot of the bird. Others believe that the wing 
feathers are hollow and that the bird has power to allow 
air to enter them on its downward flight. The sound 
always occurs just as the upward rise is made, and must 
be connected therewith. 
From the fact that night-hawks are often seen near 
Ic.rge buildings like Carnegie Hall, it might be supposed 
that they nest there on the flat roofs. 
Among the ruins of old Crown Point Fort, on Lake 
Chaniplain, opposite Port Henry, these birds often pair 
and rear their broods. The eggs are laid among the 
loose stones, and no effort is made to construct a nest. 
Peter Flint. 
New York. 
The Biltmore Preserves. 
The lease of the Biltmore estate preserves by E. B. 
Moore, manager of Kenilworth Inn, is one of the biggest 
projects considered in this section for a long while. It 
may be stated that the sum contemplated in the transac- 
tion reaches a good way into six figures. Guessers are 
guessing around $250,000. 
Mr. Moore has returned from a visit of two weeks in 
the north, where he has been looking into the question of 
ways and means. Many wealth}^ sportsmen, members of 
hunting clubs, etc., have listened with interest to Mr. 
Moore's outline of his plans, and many assurances of sup- 
port have been received. 
The culmination of the project means the lease by Mr. 
Moore from Dr. Schenck, as agent for George W. Van- 
derbilt, of the entire Pisgah preserve, which contains 
from 120,000 to 150,000 acres. Mr. Vanderbilt has re- 
cently added very materially to his holdings in that 
vicinity. As has been stated in the Gazette-News, there 
are within the tract more than 100 miles of trout streams, 
and these streams are well stocked, this alone making the 
preserve a sportsman's paradise. There is one large hunt- 
ing lodge, and there are a number of smaller ones. For 
two years road building has been in progress, and most 
parts of the tract are now easily accessible. In addition 
to the fishing, game of all kinds abounds. 
Senator Gazzam, of Philadelphia, as well as Mr. Moore, 
is enthusiastic about the plan. It would be in the nature 
of a private enterprise of Mr. Moore's, and would bring 
flocks of wealthy sportsmen to Kenilworth Inn. Asheville 
would be benefited, directly and indirectly, in many ways ; 
in fact, there is now no additional attraction in this 
vicinity which could be offered to tourists that would 
compare with this. 
Biltmore estate proper, that is to say, the tract of 
ro,ooo acres in which Biltmore House is situated, is not 
considered in the deal at all ; and persons going to and 
from the Pisgah grounds will probably not pass through 
the estate. 
In any event the preserve will be kept up by Mr. Van- 
derbilt and patrolled by game wardens employed by him. 
Mr. Moore and Dr. Schenck were in conference at 
Kenilworth Inn to-day. Mr. Moore stated this afternoon 
that there was no doubt whatever that the plan would 
go through. — Asheville Gazette-News. 
Big: Game in Alaska. 
A Tacoma dispatch to the New York Times says: 
The largest moose ever killed in Alaska was shot last 
Sunday by Lord Elphinstone and a party in Kenai 
Peninsula, western Alaska. It was a bull moose weigh- 
ing 1,576 pounds and measuring seven feet to the top 
of his shoulders. The skull and horns weighed 75 
pounds. 
Lord Elphinstone was accompanied by three friends, 
who left with him for New York yesterday en route 
for London. The party had great satisfaction in killing 
the largest moose on record in Alaska, because it 
meant a victory over Baron Paul Neidick, who headed 
a party of German sportsmen. Baron Neidick was so 
anxious to secure his choice of guides ahead of the 
Englishmen that he paid the steamship Nome City 
$1,000 to be landed first at Seldovia, where he could 
secure the services of the guide, Gilpatrick. He won 
the race to the North, but Lord Elphinstone's party 
claims the greater success. 
Other moose and many mountain sheep were slain. 
New Jersey Game Export. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
While I was on my way home last Thursday from a 
gun club in New Jersey, two friends of mine who had 
been at the club and who were returning with me, and 
who had fallen behind me and the rest of the party as 
we passed through the Central's ferry-house in New 
jersey, were stopped by two men, one of whom, wore a 
badge indicating that he was a game warden, and were 
subjected to annoying questions because they carried 
their gtms with them. Being well bred young gentle- 
men they answered the questions civilly, and managed to 
catch the boat on which I was seated wondering what 
had become of them. The game Avardens asked them if 
they Avere licensed to shoot in New Jersey, and other 
questions entirely without Avarrant because no evidences 
of game Avere present. The possession of a gun in a case 
should not subject a man to a hold up and impudent 
questioning even by a Ncav Jersey game Avarden. Jhe 
explanation that the gentlemen had been shooting in a 
j^un club finally won for them their freedom. They had 
never visited a gun cltib before, Avere guests of mine, and 
the treatment they thus received very naturally caused 
me much annoyance. 
I desire to suggest that if these game Avardens would 
devote their time to looking after "the song bird shooter of 
. foreign extraction * * * who not only destroys thfi 
