OREST AND STREAM. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1904, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. , / 
Terms, $4 a Yeaf. 10 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months, S3. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1904. 
VOL. LXII.— No. 8. 
No. 346 Broadway, New Vork. 
The Forest and Stream is the recognized medium of entertain- 
ment, instruction and information between American sportsmen. 
The editors invite comm.unications on tiie subjects to which its 
pages are devoted. Anonymous communications will not be re- 
garded. While it is intended to give wide latitude in discussion 
of current topics, the editors are not responsible for the views of 
correspondents. 
Subscriptions may begin at any time. Terms: For single 
copies, $4 per year, $2 for six months. For club rates and full 
particulars respecting subscriptions, see prospectus on page iii. 
GAME AND FISH AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 
An officer of the Maine State Grange made complaint 
the other day because Maine was to display its game and 
fish resources at the Wold's Fair with what he considered 
undue prominence. Maine will not be the only State to 
make a showing of what it has to offer the sportsman. 
Colorado is to have an extensixe exhibit of live game m 
a suitable park; and Missouri is to be represented in 
the same way. There will be aquaria containing exhibits 
from the waters, ranging from Missouri's big catiish to 
black bass.; and a tract of three acres will be devoted to 
large game, furred and feathered. The hunter's cabin, 
fly-casting ponds, camp-sites, and other accessories will 
add to the interest of the display. 
Between the Maine and the Missouri sporting exhibits, 
however, there will be this essential difference, that while 
Maine will make its showing for the express purpose of 
inducing sportsmen from other States to visit it for 
shooting and fishing, Missouri will show what it pos- 
sesses for the benefit of Missouri sportsmen only.' Its 
laws forbid the taking of game by any but its own citi- 
zens. However attractive may be the display at St. 
Louis, no visitors will be allured to the Ozarks for hunt- 
ing. When the Missouriaus coiitemplate with pride their 
wild animal resources as put on show at St. Louis, it will 
be with the pride of exclusive possession and use; and 
the visitor from another State may" look on only with 
envy. • 
POSSESSION OF IMPORTED GAME. 
In the case of the people of the State of New York 
against A. Booth &" Co., to recover penalties for the pos- 
session of brook trout in close season, Supreme Court 
Justice H. T. Kellogg, of Ogdensburg, handed down a de- 
cision last week finding for the defendants, on the ground 
that the provision of the statute under which they were 
prosecuted was void under the Constitution of the United 
States. The special provision reads : "Wherever in this 
act the possession of fish and game, or the flesh of any 
animal, bird, or fish, is prohibited, reference is had ec^ually 
to such fish, game, or flesh coming from without the 
State as to that taken within the State." 
This clause of the law was an outgrowth of the Buffalo 
fish case which came up in 1902. The Buffalo Fish Com- 
pany was sued for penalties for the possession of fish im- 
ported from Canada ; and the Court of Appeals held that 
as worded the statute under which suit was brought did 
not apply to fish imported into the State.' To give the 
law explicit application to all fish and game, whether , 
taken in the State or brought in from outside, the pro- 
vision quoted was added as Chapter 194 of the Lavvs of 
1903 ; and under it the suit was brought against A. Booth 
& Co. for the possession of brook trout which had been 
imported from Canada. It goes without saying that the 
decision of Justice Kellogg has created consternation 
among the friends of game protection, for it flies directly 
in the face of a principle which in this State has always 
been held to be good law. The leading precedent is the 
Phelps vs. Racey case, in which it was established that 
the defendant Racej^, a game dealer, was liable to the 
prescribed penalty for the forbidden possession of quail, 
even though the birds had been killed in another State. 
This is only one of numerous decisions to the same effect 
both in New York and in other States. 
The precedents have been in support of the constitu- 
Hpnality of the prphibition of the. possession an4 ^ale of 
1 
imported game in close season. Indeed the right of the 
State to forbid the possession of fish and game in close 
season irrespective of their origin is one of the accepted 
principles of game protective legislation and practice. Such 
prohibition is vitally important; it is so essential that the 
determination of this question of constitutionality can- 
not be permitted to rest with Justice Kellogg's decision. 
There is no intention on the part of the New York 
authorities to permit it to rest here. The case will be 
appealed. There is abundant reason for confidence- that 
in the higher courts the decision will be reversed. 
The Booth case has roused wide interest; for mani- 
festly if Justice Kellog's ruling is good law for New 
York, it is good law for other States. A Massachusetts 
correspondent, who characterizes the decision as "a 
serious blow to all our efforts at game protection," de- 
clares that if it be allowed to rest here, "mo.st of the 
game protective organizations will feel like disbanding." 
posed of different clay from that of his brother in Maine. 
The licensing of guides in Maine has not resulted in 
preventing infractions of the game laws. 
ADIRONDACK FORESTS. 
The legislative committee on Adirondack forests gave 
a. hearing in this city last week to persons interested in 
ihe subject. Among those in attendance was Judge 
Warren Higley, president of the Adirondack League 
Club, and first vice-president of the Association for the 
Preservation of the Adirondacks. Judge Higley cor- 
rectly represented public sentiment, we believe, when he 
urged the resumption of purchases by the State, which 
were discontinued at the instigation of Governor Odell 
two years ago. The committee provided for at the last ses- 
sion of the Legislature to formulate plans for some com- 
prehensive system of purchases will report at this session, 
and the matter should not be permitted to go over an- 
other year. 
In his message Governor Odell expresses what is the 
sentiment of the people of the State when he says, "It 
is" of the greatest importance that the State should 
eventually own every acre of land within the preserve." 
There is a growing conviction, too, that New York 
must adopt a new policy with respect to the treatment 
of its forest lands. The contsitutional clause which for- 
bids the cutting of trees, and requires that the woods must 
be let alone, must some time give way for a scientific 
economic exploitation of the forests such as is practiced 
in Europe. The constitutional clause was a necessity 
at the time of its adoption to thwart the plundering 
schemes of land grabbers and lumber thieves. To reason 
that the prohibition must be continued for ever for the 
reason that there are not in the State of New York 
ability and integrity to administer the forests in a 
capable and honest manner, is to make a humiliating- 
confession of inability and dishonesty. 
Doubtless the people are not now ready to repeal the 
constitutional provision. They will not be willing to 
do this until they shall have good assurance that any 
proposed system of forest administration will be the 
right one. But the new order is bound to come, and that 
soon. 
Among the recommendations brought out by the for- 
estry discussion is one by the New York Board of 
Trade and Transportation for the licensing of Adiron- 
dack guides. One prolific source of forest fires is the 
camp-fire of the careless campers. To lessen the damage 
from this source the board would have the Maine s\'s- 
tem of licensing guides applied to the Adirondacks, the 
guides to be held responsible for the perfect extinguishing 
of camp-fires by parties under their guidance. The 
licenses, it is recommended, shotfld be issued annually 
to such guides by the -State upon evidence of the good 
character of applicants and of their possessing the neces- 
sary experience to qualify them, and that their compensa- 
tion shall be fixed by law at such maximum sum per 
diem as is now charged by competent guides. "This plan, 
if adopted," the board thinks, "will prevent irresponsible 
and inexperienced persons from pretending to knowledge 
of the craft they do not possess; it will insure the com- 
fort and Safety of camperSj and the guides will become a 
very important factor in preventing infractions of the 
laws of the woods, ,not only in respect to fires, but in 
other respects also." 
Manifestly the A<1ir'^?idacl^ guide is asfurqed to be cotti- 
NEJV HAMPSHIRE ABANDONED FARMS. 
In his New Year address, Governor Bach^lder, of New 
Hampshire, reports gratifying progress in the movement 
to restore the abandoned farms of the State. Owing to 
several causes, chief among them the migration from 
country to city and to other States, the number of de- 
serted farms had become so great that some fifteen years 
ago the subject was considered of such importance as to 
engage the attention of the Legislature. In a com- 
mission was appointed to devise ways to repeople the 
rural districts. There were at that time 1,343 abandotied 
farms within the State, and the abandonment of others 
has since gone on, but at a decreasing rate. 
^leanwhile the efforts of the commission were so suc- 
cessful that the tide has turned the other way. There 
have been found purchasers for the deserted homesteads, 
some attracted by the cheapness of the land and the possi- 
bility of making it pay as a farm, but a greater number 
induced by the splendid opportunities everywhere offered 
for summer country homes. 
The air, the scenery, the cheapness of living, all com- 
bine to make the valleys and hills of the Granite State 
ideal home sites; and as the unusual opportunities to 
secure generous country domains at low prices have been 
heralded abroad, there have come into the State new 
summer citizens from all parts of the continent. A can- 
vass now being conducted by the State Board of Agricul - 
ture, and not yet completed, shows the names of 2,100 
owners of summer country homes. Among them are 
representatives of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Co- 
lumbia, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, 
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missoi ri, Louisiana, Colorado, 
and California, as well as foreign countries. It is esti- 
mated that the 2,100 landowners, with their families, 
guests, and employes, add to the population of New 
Hampshire every summer not less than 20,000 people, and 
their real estate represents a- permanent investment of 
not less than $5,000,000; while their annual expenditures 
within the State amounts to half of that sum. 
The fish and the game, the open air country life, and 
the forest all have part among the attractions which are 
luring so many to the New Hampshire hills. 
To most persons whom the town has called from the 
country, there comes at some time a longing to get lack 
to the simpler life; and most country-bred men and 
women wish their town-bred children to know some- 
thing of the pleasures of country living. The abandoned 
farms of New England afford opportunities for realizing 
these desires ; we may expect the present movement 
to be permanent because it has its motive in a sane view 
of life. . 
The non-resident sportsman's license idea is gaining 
- ground. The latest proposition is embodied in a bill in 
the New York Legislature providing that no non-resident 
may kill a deer unless he shall have taken out a license, 
for which the fee shall be $So. This is in effect prohibi- 
tive. There are few men so ardent in the pursuit of veni- 
son that they will be willing to pay the tax in addition to 
the very considerable expense of a trip to the North 
Woods. It would be interesting to learn by what course 
of reasoning the advocates of the measure have reached 
their conclusion of its expediency. 
Blessings brighten as they take thetr flight. The»bear 
of the Adirondacks has not been regarded in the past as 
a .species deserving protection; but the growing scarcity 
has created a sentiment favorable to the preservation of 
the remnant. A bill has been introduced into the Legis- 
lature making a close season for bears from Tune i to 
September 30, limiting the "catch" to one bear by any one 
person, and protecting cubs under one year of age. 
The cruising competitions instituted last year brought 
in a series of capital stories of experiences and adven- 
tures afloat; and tt^se are now in course of publication 
in our yachting and canoeing pagesi The cruises make 
good reading, and should not be overlooked by those who 
may not h? iT!tereste4 in the technical bran^h^s of the 
sport. ■ . _ . , _ , : . - 
