68 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
(Jan. 23, 1904- 
the forestry reservations. The birds hunter will have 
two weeks in October and two weeks in December 
wherein he can use his dogs on these lands. He can 
hunt anything he pleases during November without a 
dog. 
"My experience in the woods this fall teaches me 
that two deer to the hunter is a too libera! allowance, 
and should be altered. One deer is surely enough, 
especially when we consider the fact that the law for- 
bids the having in possession of venison except during 
the month of November and for fifteen days thereafter. 
"I feel that some law should be adopted to prevent, 
or at least curtail, the use of the pump gun, and the 
automatic_ gun, recently introduced. Our law at this 
time_ forbids the use of the swivel gun, which, in my 
opinion, is not to be compared, for destructiveness. to 
the guns above named, especially on the water, wbere 
there is no limit to the kill. These guns are also very 
destructive in the field, for experience teaches me that 
the great majority of men who carry pump guns, con- 
tinue to rain their loads after flying game, long after 
there is any probability of killing it, frequently, after 
the possibility is passed, with the result that many a 
bird or animal is seriously wounded, yes, mortally hurt, 
yet because of distance is not knocked down, and is 
lost to the hunter. 
"We have had reported to this of!ice during the past 
year the following apparent violations: Deer killed 
out of season 10; other game killed out of season 50; 
game killed in excess of limit, 5; killing of song and 
insectivorous birds, mostly by foreigners, 160; running 
deer with dogs, 23; deer killed by dogs running at 
large, 9; hunting by non-residents, 21; hunting by un- 
naturalized foreign-born residents, 67; carrying game 
out of State, 10: hunting on Sunday, mostly by for- 
eigners, 97; sale of game, 20; purchase of game, 11; 
possession of game out of season, 3; destroying birds' 
nests, 10; using ferrets, 17; game in captivity contrary 
to law, 3; game taken by methods forbidden, 31; trap- 
ping of song birds, 9. 
"We have pushed to conviction the following cases: 
Game other than deer killed out of season, 9; purchase 
of game, 5; sale of game, 3; hunting by non-residents, 
17; hunting by unnaturalized foreign-born residents, 
57; hunting game on Sunday, 31; destroying birds' 
nests, 3; trapping song birds for sale, 7; killing deer 
ahead of dogs, 5; dogs killed for running deer, 40; 
using ferrets, 3. 
"We have tried and lost the following cases: Killing 
deer out of season, i; killing song and insectivorous 
birds, 5; killing game, other than aeer, out of season, 
7; hunting game on Sunday, 7; hunting without license, 
IS; hunting wildfoivl from naphtha launch, i." 
Game in North Carolina. 
Raleigh, N. C., Jan. 15. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your correspondent's publication of the fact that the 
law in regard to the killing of game, ducks and geese, 
at night is being violated in the county of Carteret, 
has created quite a stir among the officials of the 
State Audubon Society, and it brought Secretary Gil- 
bert Pearson here in haste to see the Governor. Mr. 
Pearson and the writer talked over the matter quite 
fully. Mr. Pearson says that the game wardens in the 
counties of Currituck and Dare, have done their work 
admirably well, and that they have stopped the killing 
of waterfowl at night, by the means known as "fire- 
lighting." The wardens in those counties are very de- 
termined men, and have been on the go day and night, 
while in Carteret the warden seems to be afraid to do 
his duty, and as a result the shooting has gone on 
nightly. Secretary Pearson has gone to the Carteret 
waters and will endeavor to secure a warden there who 
will do his duty. If he fails to find one, he will tak*" 
warden Weatherly from Guilford, a most determined 
and thorough man, and may also take a warden or 
two from Currituck. He is determined to put a stop 
to this sort of slaughter in driving away of game, 
which ruins legitimate shooting. 
Speaking of the work of the Audubon law in Curri- 
tuck, Secretary Pearson savs it Has increased the legiti- 
mate killing of waterfowl three fold. He is told by dealers 
there that this is a fact, and al^io learns that the men 
who kill such game have received this season about 
$5,000 a week. Two months of the season yet remains 
open. 
The detection of fraudulent shipments of partridges 
out of the State, goes on with very great success. The 
men who are engaged in this traffic are now trying the 
scheme of first shipping from the place where they 
buy the game, to some place near the Virginia State 
line, and then re-shipping to the north. Bircis have 
been found in trunks purporting to contain samples of 
goods, in valises and dress suit cases, in egg crates, 
in butter tubs and hidden between fresh pork. Trained 
dogs are now being used by the wardens in the de- 
tection of partridges and with very great success, 
warden Weatherly, of Guilford county, having first 
tried this smart scheme. 
The Audubon Soc-4ety has turned in to the State 
treasury $4,880, as its receipts up to January i, this 
being regarded as a very good showing. It is well 
understood that in the next Legislature there is going 
to be a fight against the Audubon law, as the pot- 
hunters will rally all their friends against it. Secretary 
Pearson is well aware of this fact. Non-resident 
sportsmen are well pleased with, the law, and 160 of 
them have taken out licenses in the county of Guilford 
alone, the license being $10 a season. 
The amount of game in the State this season is un- 
questionably considerably greater that in recent years, 
as reports from various places show; As a general 
game market, Newberne appears to lead, and it is an 
admirable point for sportsmen to begin work from. 
Noar Newberne the State owns many thousands of acres 
of land, known as swamp lands, and on this there are 
some of the finest lakes in the South Atlantic States, 
these being greatly visited by waterfowl, while the 
land shooting in the vicinity- is excellent . 
So far as yet reported the largest numlDer of paiv 
tridges killed in one day tii|s^ season by oqq ^^pprtsman 
is 84, this ""Hf ffcwffi^*- be'<^^:.f^^ Jofe^tte^ 
county, near Smithfield. Many persons have an idea 
that the shooting in the central part of the State is 
by far the best, and that birds are more numerous 
.there, but they will find if they visit the pine country, 
in Johnston and other of the eastern counties, that 
partridges are very abundant. It is true that the 
cover is rather thick in many places, but this only adds 
to the interest in the sport. 
Several experiments in game breeding have been tried 
in the State. English partridges have been -turned 
loose in Warren county, and the gay-colored eastern 
pheasants in several counties. The mountain pheas- 
ant, or grouse, is being fostered in Mr. Vanderbilt's 
Pisgah Forest, and also in the extensive tract of 
country near Linville, of which Col. Murphison, of 
New York, and other gentlemen are the owners. 
F. A. O. 
Cuvier Club. 
The annual meeting of the Cuvier Club was held on 
January 9, and the following officers elected, President 
Starbuck being chosen to serve for his ninth term in that 
office: Alex. Starbuck, President; Peter F. Swing, Henry 
Hanna, P. E. Roach, First, Second and Third Vice- 
Presidents; Trustees for three years — E. G. Webster, J. 
T. Rouse, and Hon. Peter F. Swing. New members* as 
follows were elected: W. S. Magley, Alfonso Aralus, 
Joseph Hummel, C. I. Donnell, O. C. Ellis, Walter B. 
Weaver, John H. Kuhn, and A. B. Trum. 
The custodian of the museum and library, Mr. Chas. 
Dury, reported the receipt of several new specimens for 
the museum and books and pamphlets for the library. 
Chas. J. Ryan, Deputy Game Warden, reported as the 
result of his year's work 40 violations reported, 25 arrests 
made, 18 convictions; cases pending, 4; and $471 assessed 
as fines. 
The president delivered his annual address, which con- 
tained many points of special interest to sportsmen and 
game_ protectors. He reviewed the progress made by the 
club in its chosen work and in its gain of strength. He 
dwelt briefly on the gradual disappearance of game once 
plentiful in the State. Of the ducks he said: 
"It seems like writing the history of a vanishing race 
to take up the large family of ducks — canvasback, red- 
THE CUVIER club's NEW HOME. 
head, teal, dusky and others that journey in myriads from 
the frigid regions of the North, where snow and ice arc 
almost perpetual. This season there were few good bags 
made in our State, and these by the habitues of the club 
houses along the bays and inlets of Lake Erie. Judging 
from numbers slain, we arrive at the conclusion that the 
ambition of these gunners was simply to make a record. 
No wonder that spring shooting of these waterfowl is not 
abated, as this clan is always seen in the lobby of the 
Legislature looking to the continuance of it. It seems, 
to be a gigantic undertaking to suppress this greedy class 
of red-handed butchers, but their day of sorrow and 
lament will soon come. While we notice that Indiana 
has suppressed the spring shooting of ducks, Illinois gives 
open season for them from September i to April 15, 
Fifty ducks per day is the limit, and twenty-five of any 
other game bird. Fifty ducks per day. Think of it for 
a moment, if you can, and then realize on its mathematics^ 
for the entire season of 227 days. This at 50 per day is 
11,050 to a single gun, if the limit is reached; figure then 
on it for 100 gunners, and you have 1,105,000 ducks thyt 
have been taken from the feathered tribe, and here the- 
problem of these vanishing fowls is completely solved, 
much t© the shame of the Legislature." 
Of the conflicting game laws of adjoining States, or 
those of similar climatic conditions, he says : 
"There is still another embarrassment in the laws con- 
ditioned by conflicting open seasons, as per example : In 
Oliio you can kill quail from November 10 to December 
2; in Indiana, fnom November 15 to January i; in Illinois 
yqu have the open season for quail from November 10 to 
Di^cctnber 20. Here is a wide difference between these 
ti^rec States, while' the Ohio River laves tka shores of all 
thrpe. Again, in North Dakota, the legal season for 
caitphiiig ajl species of fish extends to January i; in South 
H2rfe>t%: ?jc5' fish of aHy l^jd catx ^ taken in the monftij 
December. These two States He alongside of each other, ; 
with the Upper Missouri River running through bothi' 
from end to end. Again, in Arizona a somewhat singular ) 
law prevails regarding black bass, which have been intro- '[ 
duced into the waters of that State. The close season s 
is legally from Decembr i to September i. In the North, \ 
including Canada, these fish are through spawning in; 
July, and why they are prohibited in the months of July ■ 
and August in a section where the thermometer has frc- ; 
quently shown a registration of 120 degrees in the shade, I 
and where the spawning season for them is certainly at; 
an end by June i, is known only to the rustic legislators. I 
Nevada shows an analogous condition. A code of' 
seasons adapted to each particular zone should be formu- 
lated by a convention of fish conmiissioners. We have » 
harped on this for years in belief that some action would " 
be taken that would rectify it, and we still live in hopes! 
of seeing it accomplished." 
The disappearance of the forests is mentioned. These,, 
he says, are essential for the protection of fish and game. ; 
As Chas. Hallock says, "Preserve the forests and all is 
preserved." The National Irrigation Congress which met : 
at Colorado Springs is a step in the right direction, and.!' 
will prove of interest to sportsmen. \ 
"Some game dealers conceived the idea that foreign; 
black bass could be sold, and in attempting it they found! 
themselves before a magistrate to answer for said ofifen.se. 
The cases were bitterly fought and finally decided against' 
them, and not being satisfied with the decision, they ap-; 
pealed the cases to the Common Pleas Court, where they< 
have recently been decided in our favor." 
Of the difficulty of preventing poaching on the Miami] 
River, he says : i 
"We regret to state that it has been a source of great^ 
annoyance to us and cost some treasure to patrol ir.t 
Nearly every farmer that is located on its banks or lives 
near by is the owner of a net, and uses it when occasion! 
offers. Form a jury from this class to try a violator and,; 
acquittal or disagreement is the rule, and not the excep-: 
tion. What violators of this stream we have had found 
guilty have been the result of lo'ng vigil as well as itSj 
prosecution in a distant locality from this army of; 
poachers. The angling there, despite the repeated seining,, 
has been fairly good, so report some of our members who- 
summer on its banks and listen to the hum of the festive 
mosquito and the grating notes of the cicada." 
Mr. Starbuck's suggestions for changes in the gamei 
laws will be seconded by most sportsmen : 
"Our State laws need some pruning and repairing, and 
there are also some new statutes required. The first de- 
fect discovered in our game laws enacted by the last. 
Legislature was that of the rabbit law, which proved in- 
operative, and, as a consequence, was used as a subter-- 
fuge for all poachers with which to kill game birds. If 
overhauled when afield, by a warden, the plea presented 
was that of hunting rabbits, and so, perforce, Mr. Gamei 
Warden had to permit the release of the vagrant gunner. 
We want the open season for rabbit the same as the quail 
season, and then there will be no excuse for having gun 
in field or forest. Nearly everything in the land is taxed, 
and we see no reason why a license fee of $1 should not 
be charged for use of a gun during the open seasons. It I 
would, in a great measure, stop our adolescents and: 
others from waging war on everything that has feather, 
and. fur. This law was before the last Legislature, but it 
was defeated by the representatives from the country dis-: 
tricts, as was the law for discontinuing the spring shoot-! 
ing of all waterfowl. We urge their passage again and 
hope our Senators and Representatives will give earnest: 
support to this particular bill. 
"There are, we regret to state, a number of opponents to 
the license law from the belief that the game and fish are 
for the people, but when we consider that 75 per cent, of 
the game birds have already been destroyed by the people! 
with at least 50 per cent, of the fish, it looks very much, 
like this democratic measure will not round out very 
well. If some such strong means as the license does not: 
prevail to save the remainder of the game, it will vanish * 
into a memory. Let us restore it if we can, some part of 
it or a good part of it. 
"The only practical way of saving game, when we have, 
such a horde of poachers and pot-hunters and cold-' 
storage houses to hide the illegal plunder, is to entirely 
prevent the sale of it. The League of American Sports-' 
men heartily indorses it, and also a large number of think- 
ing sportsmen are heart and hand in favor of it. I would 
not take the liberty of speaking for our organization on 
the subject of 'no sale for game,' but individually I feel 
that I am unquesti-onably being fast drawn to that plat- 
form by the presentation of adverse facts that show the 
rapid decimation of our game, and that because I desire 
to see it preserved and once more populous in our fields 
and forests. It is a sad thought to realize present con- 
ditions, and heroic treatment seems to be the only remedy 
for these destroying evils. To show how this principle of 
'no sale for game' is spreading, I will state that it is for-, 
bidden in Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Oregon, Pennsjdvania, 
Tennessee, Wyoming, and in some of the counties uf 
Maryland. It will, we are confident, soon become imi ' 
versal, and then, in a few years, the depleted flocks will 
again be filled and once more the game exceedingly abun- 
dant. Then you can generously give open seasons and 
also permit the sale of game. . 
"The State Fish Commissioners, in their report, recom- 
mend changes in several of the laws relating to Lake 
Erie, and especially that providing for the tonnage tax 
upon the fish catch, which they wish supplanted by a 
license tax. The operations of the State fish hatcherie:. 
along Lake Erie and at London, O., are reported as being 
reasonably successful. At the London hatchery it will 
be recommended that the experiment of propagating quail;"; 
be undertaken, and that the fish ponds be increased in 
capacity. In regard to the distribution of fry this fall, the 
report states that from the car Buckeye nearly 500,00c 
fry, composed of large and small-mouth black bass, crap- 
pies and marble catfish were distributed. Four trips were 
made with the Buckeye car, which traveled about i,475 
miles. Fish were 'distributed to 165 persons, and of all 
the applicants only six or eight were missed. This was 
either caused by inability -to reach them with the car 
or failure on their , part to be at the station as notified, 
and shortage of fish on board to supply all wants on 5%- 
turn trip. 
"The hatchery has been ttiost ' succesaful under the 
