612 
^FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 17, 1904. 
Commonwealth v. Essex Co., 13 Gray, 239, 248; Phelps 
v. Racey, 60 N. Y. 10; Holvoke Co. v. Lyman, 15 Wall, 
500; Gentile v. State, 29 Ind. 409; State v. Lewis, 33 
N. E. Rep. 1024.) 
In a more recent case it was said by that high court: 
"From the earliest traditions the right to reduce ani- 
mals feres natures to possession has been subject to the 
control of the law-giving power. * * * In most of 
the States laws have been passed for the protection and 
preservation of game. We have been referred to no 
case where the power to so legislate has been ques- 
tioned, although the books contain cases involving 
controversies as to the meaning of some of the statutes. 
* * * The adjudicated cases recognizing the right 
of the States to control and regulate the common prop- 
erty in game are numerous. * * * 'The wild game 
within a State belongs to the people in their collec- 
tive sovereign capacity. It is not the subject of pri- 
vate ownership except in so far as the people may 
elect to make it so, and they may, if they see fit, abso- 
lutely prohibit the taking of it, or traffic or commerce 
in it, if it is deemed necessary for the protection or 
preservation of the public good.' * * * The right 
to preserve game flows from an undoubted existence 
in the State of a police power to that end, which may 
be none the less efficiently called into play, because, 
by doing so, interstate commerce may be remotely and 
indirectly affected. Indeed, the source of the police 
power as to game birds flows from the duty of the 
State to preserve for its people a valuable food supply." 
(Geer v. Connecticut, 161 U. S. 519.) 
The right to pass laws for the protection of game 
being conceded, as in view of the authorities it must be, 
the method of affording protection is necessarily with- 
in the discretion of the Legislature. It may provide 
a close season for the taking of game, and may pro- 
hibit the possession or sale of game during that sea- 
son. It may close the game market throughout the 
State during the period of prohibition, in order to re- 
move temptation from poachers and pot-hunters, who 
are apt not to run the risk of taking game out of sea- 
son if they cannot sell it. To do this effectively it 
may be necessary to close the market as to game taken 
without the State, as well as within, for there are no 
marks by which birds killed in Michigan can be dis- 
tinguished, from those killed in New York. When en- 
acting a game law the Legislature may_ provide for its 
ready enforcement, not simply by making the posses- 
sion of game during the close season presumptive evi- 
dence of a violation of the statute, but it may go far- 
ther and, in order to prevent evasion, fraud and per- 
jury, may prohibit the possession of game in this State 
during the close season, even if it was taken in an- 
other State and brought here during the open season. 
The action of Congress has taken away all questions 
of interstate commerce, so that the State can act with 
entire freedom and can prevent the shipment of game 
into or out of its own territory; and if game is im- 
ported, it can regulate or prohibit the sale thereof. 
Such provisions are warranted by the police power, 
and are not in conflict with either the State or Federal 
Constitution. This appears from the authorities al- 
ready cited, to which we add the following: Smith v. 
Maryland (59 U. S. 71); State v. Randolph (1 Mo. 
App. 15); Haggerty v. I. M. & S. Co. (143 Mo. 238); 
Roth v. State (51 Ohio St. 209); Wagner v. State (97 
111. 320); Ex parte Maier (113 Cal. 476); Smith v. State 
(155 Ind. 611); State v. Rodman (58 Minn. 293); Com- 
monwealth v. Savage (155 Mass. 393); Organ v. State 
(56 Ark. 270); Allen v. Wyckoff (48 N. J. Law, 90, 
93) ; People v. Gerber (92 Hun, 554) ; Association for 
Protection of Game v. Durham (19 J. & S. 306). 
While it is our duty to affirm the judgment of the 
Appellate Division, we have felt constrained to con- 
sider the constitutional question discussed by that 
learned court, lest the conclusion announced should 
be regarded as a precedent and result in evil. We do 
not affirm because, as held below, the statute would 
be unconstitutional, if construed according to the claim 
of the plaintiff, but because it should be construed in 
accordance with our prior decision. 
The order granting an additional allowance, of $2,000 
should also be affirmed, because the court had power 
to make it, inasmuch as the action was difficult, owing 
to the number of statutes to be construed and authori- 
ties to be examined, and extraordinary, as it originally 
involved over one million dollars and required unusual 
care in preparing for trial. While the demurrers re- 
duced the amount claimed to about $325,000, the stipu- 
lation making the final reduction is dated but two days 
before the trial began. An extra allowance is made 
to reimburse the successful party in a difficult and ex- 
traordinary case for the expense of the litigation, 
which depends to some extent upon the amount 
claimed. The plaintiffs could not allow the defendants 
to prepare for trial on the theory that a large sum was 
involved and then subvert the power of the court to 
make an allowance accordingly by stipulating to reduce 
their demand, after substantially all the preparation had 
been made. If this could be done two days before the 
trial, we do not see why it could not be done after the 
trial had commenced and the entire preparation made. 
As the power to make the allowance existed, the 
amount thereof, subject to the limitation of the statute 
which was not exceeded, was within the discretion of 
the courts below, and. beyond our power to review. 
The judgment and order should be affirmed, with 
costs. 
Cullen, Ch. J., Gray, O'Brien, Bartlett, Haight and 
Werner, JJ., concur. 
Judgment and order affirmed. 
The Catcher Cattght. 
Whitesville, Missour. — While duck hunting with a 
companion upon Rice Lake in Minnesota this fall, a bird 
along the beach was noticed making ineffectual efforts to 
fly. It could hardly raise its head from the ground, and 
from a distance seemed to be all bill. We rowed toward 
it, and upon investigation found . a mud-hen or "blue- 
peter," with a large clam hanging to its beak. The bird 
had evidently intended making a meal upon the clam, 
and was not quick enough to get away from the snap of 
the powerful shell. The lower part of the bill was broken, 
and the bird could neither fly nor swim, J. F. Case, 
A Colorado Lion Hunt. 
{Concluded from page 468.) 
For some time the lion savagely snapped at the 
stones we dropped on him, much to our diversion. 
The dogs crowded one another near the edge of the 
precipice in their eagerness to see the lion and occa- 
sionally crowded me. As I got on my knees to. lean 
over and drop a stone on the lion's tail a big dog 
planted his fore-feet on my shoulders. Perhaps he did 
this to get a better view, or it may , have been because 
he was not able to say "down in front," he adopted 
this method of giving me a gentle hint that I was ob- 
structing his view. The action was not pleasant to me. 
I did not relish the idea of being shoved over the preci- 
pice and dashed to pieces below, with the possible al- 
ternative of landing on the ledge where the lion was 
located. Our efforts at last resulted in causing the 
tormented beast to seek refuge elsewhere. After aban- 
doning the ledge he ran upon the top of the precipice 
and came so close to me that I could have touched 
him — but I didn't. A little foxhound nearly ventured 
too close and his impertinence was rewarded by a snap 
from the lion which grazed the dog's head and slit 
his ear in twain. Instead of taking to a tree, as we 
had vainly hoped he would, the lion discovered a way 
of getting down upon another ledge of the precipice, 
more inaccessible than the first, and became concealed 
from view. It became evident that we were taking too 
many chances, so the guide and myself found a way, 
very steep and rough, below the lion's last resort, 
where it was just possible to see, several hundred feet 
away, the head and neck of the animal. I took care- 
ful aim and fired. The bullet went a little higher than 
I intended, breaking the lower jaw. I wished to pre- 
serve the skull entire for a mount, but the character 
of the wound inflicted made this impossible. In spite 
of the injury received the tawny form glided along the 
almost perpendicular side of the precipice, picking out 
fiere and there a foot-rest to aid in its ascent. I fired 
.another shot which struck behind the shoulder but did 
not stop the animal from reaching the top of the 
precipice, where the dogs soon discovered him. I was 
not too late to see some of the fight. In the scrim- 
mage the lion got Turk's head partly in his mouth, 
and for a moment I felt alarmed on account of the dog. 
Fortunately, the lion's lower jaw, being broken, refused 
to work, and Turk got off with light punishment— 
merely a scalp wound, from which the blood flowed 
freely. 
I began to arrange my camera, intending to take a 
snap-shot of the melee, but the shade of the trees made 
the light bad for an instantaneous photograph, which 
was the only one that could be taken of a moving 
scene; the guide, seeing my dilemma, caught hold of 
the lion's tail, while still fighting the dogs, and dragged 
the tangled bunch a few yards down the side of the 
hill into the sunlight. When this was done the lion 
was dead, and I was not able to accomplish my pur- 
pose. As I surveyed my first lion trophy I could not 
help admiring the game fight it had put up against 
hopeless odds. There could be no skepticism respect- 
ing the execution of its terrible teeth, because not a 
few wounds were inflicted on the dogs. It must have 
weighed 170 to 180 pounds and its skin was in fine con- 
dition, but, unfortunately, the skull was ruined, al- 
though I still had hopes of saving it. 
After hard hunting for about a week the dogs were 
on a fresh scent and in a short time they treed a small 
lion which the guide called a "kitten," because it was 
not full grown. The branches of the tree were quite 
close together and near the ground. One of the dogs 
managed to climb a considerable ways up the tree by 
the aid of the easy support the branches afforded and 
was in some peril. The report of my rifle helped to 
swell the chorus of the dogs which only abated when 
their jaws were employed to a better purpose on the 
struggling "kitten." The poor beast which had climbed 
the tree remained a disappointed spectator of the fight, 
being unable to take part. Afterwards I helped him 
down from his ridiculous although somewhat danger- 
ous position. 
Upon a number of occasions the dogs have climbed 
trees for a considerable distance above the ground. 
The pinon trees, where the lions frequently take refuge, 
are supplied with branches which begin to sprout out 
near the base, rendering the feat easier of accomplish- 
ment, but, nevertheless, it is a remarkable sight to see 
a dog up a tree, sometimes furnishing an unwilling sub- 
ject for a camera. Anyone wishing to obtain some 
impression of how a dog would look in such an atti- 
tude can have his curiosity satisfied by examining the 
photographs of wild animals in Mr. Wallihan's re- 
markable book, where snap-shots were taken of some 
of the dogs which were in the pack I hunted with. 
We had barely skinned the "kitten" when we heard 
the pack at some distance, baying another animal. We 
rode as rapidly as possible in the direction we heard 
the noise. We soon arrived at the edge of the valley, 
which lay some five or six hundred feet below. The 
chorus broke upon our hearing with great distinctness. 
The country beneath was free from big timber, being 
dotted profusely with pinon trees and smaller growth, 
with here and there great pillars of red sandstone 
fashioned into mushroom shapes by the erosion of the 
elements through countless ages. In the clear, bright 
sunshine every object stood out with great distinct- 
ness, producing a curious and beautiful effect. 
It was an attractive sight to watch the pack as it 
swiftly coursed about in the valley. It finally disap- 
peared around the base of the mountain. We took a 
short cut across the spur of the mountain and soon 
caught the steady baying of the dogs and I knew that 
something was treed or cornered. On the side of a 
steep slope, which extended hundreds of feet down to 
the valley, stood a pinon tree with a fine, large lion 
perched in its branches — a more beautiful pose for a 
photograph I could hardly imagine. The light was 
good and the surroundings all that could be desired 
to produce the proper effect. The guide suggested a 
doubt in regard to the lion's remaining in his present 
position very long and that one of us should cover 
him with a rifle while the other used the camera. My 
Jove of sport is not so platonic that I could readily 
forget the deadly part of the pastime for the aesthetic. 
So I held the rifle carefully pointed at a vital spot, and 
after a little space the animal quivered as though just 
about in the act of taking a spring out of the tree, 
which, had he effected, would have sent him down the 
slope at a speed that would have distanced the dogs; 
once at large in the rough country which spread 
through the valley he would have given us another 
long and fatiguing chase with a good chance of losing 
him. Before the trembling limbs could launch into 
space a bullet pierced his heart and he tumbled from 
his perch and rolled nearly a hundred feet down the 
mountain side, where his further descent was arrested 
by the dogs in no gentle fashion. The struggle with 
the lion was brief. The guide and myself had more 
of a struggle with the dogs in driving them away from 
the carcass. 
I was disappointed to learn that the guide had not 
succeeded in getting a photo. If I could have had a 
snap-shot with the camera at the lion close by, while 
in the act of springing, with satisfactory results, I 
would have had something of more value than the ani- 
mal's skin. 
I added a few more trophies to my collection before 
finishing my hunt for that season. My experience, 
however, had convinced me that the best reminiscences 
of a hunting trip are good photographs of wild animals 
in their natural state. The ease with which trophies 
can often be secured, so far as the question of skill is 
concerned, has somewhat taken the keen edge off of 
my desire to kill. Securing a good trophy is quite as 
often a question of time and patience as skill. Cool- 
ness is also required, for frequently easy shots are 
missed through being over anxious. 
Edgar F. Randolph. 
MoRRISTOWN, N. J. 
The New York League. 
The New York State Fish, Game and Forest League 
has placed itself on record as looking forward to the 
strict enforcement of the present game laws, and favor- 
ing the appointment of ten additional State game pro- 
tectors. The League held its annual convention at the 
Yates Hotel in Syracuse on Thursday, Dec. 8, and the 
attendance was very large, upward of forty different 
organizations of sportsmen from various parts of the 
State being represented. The principal business of the 
meeting was the consideration of proposed amend- 
ments to the game laws and the adoption of a number 
of recommendations along that line. Charles H. Mowry, 
of Syracuse, chairman of the legislative and law com- 
mittee, presented a report which formed the basis of 
interesting and friendly discussions on the matters 
treated. Among other things, Mr. Mowry said: "The 
question is asked down at Albany, often, if we are not 
pretty well satified with the game laws at present? We 
have been forced to acknowledge that we have secured 
almost everything, but we are not yet satisfied. With 
scarcely an exception, it is the feeling of the Assembly- 
men that we ought to look toward the enforcement of. 
the game laws now in effect, to observe what we have 
instead of looking ahead to still more restrictive laws. 
Well, we have succeeded in holding what we fought for, 
particularly the bill prohibiting the sale of certain kinds 
of game; and I tell you that the result has been beyond 
our expectations. There were never so many birds be- 
fore as were left in the thickets this fall.". 
The recommendations submitted by the legislative and 
law committee were substantially as follows: 
First — That hunting of deer in this State be per- 
mitted only under a license, the same to be on sale by j 
the county clerk of each county. That a fee of $25 be i 
charged to non-residents of the State, and 75 cents to 
residents. That to the license be attached two coupons 
to be fastened to the carcass of the deer as they are 
killed. 
Second — That special protectors in the employ of 
regularly incorporated game associations or boards of 
supervisors have the same right of search as the State 
game protectors have. 
Third — That maskinonge shall not be taken less than 
twenty inches in length. 
Fourth — That trout and game birds shall not be sold 
or exposed for sale until five days after the open 
season. 
Fifth — That the League looks forward toward the 
strict enforcement of the present game laws. 
The above recommendations were taken up separ- 
ately, and, after being duly considered, all were adopted. 
Mr. Mowry then read a number of letters from sports- 
men advocating such new measures as the committee 
had decided upon. Some of theses communications 
stated that there were open violations of the game laws 
in their part of the State. The eastern Adirondacks 
came in for special criticism, because of the methods 
used there in running game to earth. The chairman 
emphasized the fact, that perfect protection to game 
would not be possible unless every member of the 
League "camped on the coat tail," as he expressed it, 
of the members of the Legislature in his respective 
district. 
The resolution on deer hunting provides that a bill 
be drawn and presented to the Legislature providing 
that all non-resident and unnaturalized deer hunters 
be made to secure a license costing $25, to "allow them 
to hunt deer in this State, or a license costing $10, to 
permit them to hunt other animals or game birds. This 
was the substance of the resolutions presented by Mr. 
Fanning. Chairman Mowry later said that the bill 
would also include a tax of $1 on all resident hunters, 
the licenses themselves to have two tags attached, these 
to be placed upon the deer when shot. 
A motion to prohibit the taking of trout of less than 
eight inches evoked considerable discussion, and was 
voted down. 
An attempt was made to have the time limit of five 
days in regard to the sale of trout and game birds, as 
provided in the recommendation above referred to, re- 
duced to twenty-four hours; but the majority of the 
delegates believed that under such an arrangement the 
law breakers would have as much of a chance for 
activity as ever. Hence the resolution was not changed. 
A motion looking toward an open season of five 
