£^B. 18, 1905.] 
ng for other localities. A national law would have 
evented this, and we would have had the passenger 
geon in abundance to-day. On the other hand, had 
e wild pigeon, this bird of countless myriads, existed 
limited numbers and inhabited restricted areas, it 
3uld have been found in abundance to-day, simply 
vcause the Sta.te Legislatures would have guarded 
ainst its total destruction. 
'In either illustration cited you have instances of the 
spective efficiency tor inefficiency of State legislation 
according to the class of birds it seeks to protect. By 
his classification the several States retain the title 
id custody of the game birds having their habitat 
thin the respective boundaries, such as ctuail, grouse, 
Id, turkey, etc., etc., and vvhich from their breeding 
bits and other traits are ettsily protected and fostered 
local legislation^ Then, too, the effectual enforce- 
nent of a national law is very much easier, as a rule, 
hart wh'efe the violator is prosecuted, if at all, by 
;ai authorities; and this is hardly secondary to the 
estion of uniformity aimed at in this measure." 
Again let us assume that all of the Atlantic coast 
(uStates protected Ouir shore birds (snipe, curlew, plover, 
5tc.) in their northern migratory flight and, on the 
return fall flight, imposed restrictions on excessive 
jhboting, except say in the case of Virginia, and let us 
: issume (which is substantially correct) that the shores 
)f this State covered several hundred miles on the line 
3f migratory flight, and that by inviting, not only all 
ts citizens, but all the sportsmen of the United States 
md the world at large, it could in a few seasons utterly 
ixterminate these birds. Would the fact that such birds 
:ontinuously on wing over a few miles of barren sand 
)each and mud flats of the State of Virginia give such 
). right to the State for their total destruction that we, 
3f other States, would have no fight to seek the interven- 
ion of the National Government for their proper protec- 
ion? One of more broken links in the chain of protection 
vhether on the Atlantic or Pacific coast or the central 
vaterways of the country, means the eventual wiping 
3ut of certain of the migratory game birds in such 
ines of flight. Just why any one should insist on any 
State exercising such a power, lacking as it does any 
;quity or any basic principles of ownership in such 
)irds, is beyond my comprehension. 
State laws for State game and fish. Federal laws for 
lational and international game and fish, are joint 
)ropositions so fair and just that I believe the courts 
vill eventually sustain the same, provided, the sports- 
nen of this country and the great magazines, who 
ipeak for .them, will conduct a careful and persistent 
:ampaign in favor of these principles. 
Federal Contfol ef Mfgratory Fish. 
If, therefore, local fish like local game belong to the 
State, it must be apparent that the same reasoning 
vhich supports Federal supervision of migratory wild- 
owl will apply to migratory fish. I will be frank, how- 
- er, and say that, while I have had such an idea 
assing through my mind for the past two weeks, it 
vas not until yesterday that I fully realized the_ im- 
" rtance of this principle when applied to the migra- 
, :y fish, and am now able to state with some degree 
31 definiteness as to the result of an interview this 
iifternoon with Commissioner Bowers and his able 
, issistant at the Bureau of Fisheries, that if the general 
principle set forth in my game bill is sustained, it means, 
311 a purely commercial basis, the addition of nearly 
^25,000^00 a year in the food value of the_ migratory 
ish. $0 immense are the possibilities in this direction 
;hat, without further examination, I do not care to 
jlabiorate on the subject other than to say, that if we 
:att put under Federal control the salmon and shad 
ndustry of the United States, the increase in our pro- 
duction will hardly have a limit, while the great ex- 
Dense of artificial propagation of the shad and salmon 
tvill be wholly dispensed with in a short time. 
In talking over the subject with Commissioner 
Bowers, he expressed the greatest interest in the 
jossibilities of national legislation and gave me con- 
dderable information, showing how his department was 
lampered by the lack of national authority over public 
vaters. 
In Albemarle Sound the national shad hatcheries, 
swing to the almost entire catch of the shad, before 
:hey reached the fresh-water spawning beds, by _ the 
ntervening nets further down the sound, had obtained 
ipawn amounting only to 10,000,000, while the hatcheries 
lad the capacity for 100,000,000. If a fair proportion 
)f the shad could reach the spawning beds, perhaps one 
housand million additional spawn would be deposited 
md ihe shad industry overwhelmingly benefited. As 
t is, I have been informed that the shad industry of 
:he Atlantic coast is almost wholly dependent upon 
:he artificial propagation conducted by the Govern- 
nent, and yet while our nation spends the people's 
noney for this worthy purpose, is has no power to 
)rotect this migratory fish from practical annihilation 
)y certain States, except through its persistent efforts 
n obtaining annually enough spawn to provide for a 
imited catch each season. Can it be doubted that the 
ihad and salmon, living far out at sea and migrating 
mnually to our waters for the purpose of reproduction, 
lo not belong to any State, and yet a State, by reason 
)f the public waters passing through its domain, may 
io net the streams and inlets as to exterminate a fish 
vhich surely belongs to the people at large and for 
vhich so much of the public money is expended? 
All ornithologists and fishculturists recognize a 
vonderful similarity in the migratory habits of certain 
ish and birds, each coming annually to the same local- 
ty, over the same general course, for the purpose of re- 
)roduction, and then returning to some distant locality 
3n water or land respectively. Destroy certain shore 
Dirds of the Atlantic coast and they are gone forever, 
!0 completely are some varieties confined to this narrow 
ivenue of migration; destroy all the salmon which are 
iccustomed to spawn in a particular stream or estuary 
md these waters are forever barren, so wonderful is 
he predilection of this fish for the same spawning 
3ed. The State of Maine improvidently wiped out the 
,'iibt salmon schools wliich once visited its streams: 
hp ,SjfV,e t^f Ci''!!H'cticiit has largely lost its shad, and 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
present the great Pacific coast States of Washington 
and Oregon are temporarily filling the pockets of their 
conmiercial fishermen, who are unrestrained by a Federal 
law so regulatmg the catch as to correspond with the 
mamtenance of a permanent supply, and soon the 
Columbia River will be like those of Maine. 
Is it possible that our National Government possesses 
no power to enact the legislation I have suggested and 
we must sit idly by while our lands and waters are 
depleted of those wonderful treasures which are such 
a source of enjoyment to our sportsmen and the basis 
of great commercial enterprises? George Shikas 3a 
A Letter from Texas. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Here's a letter from a cousin of mine—third removed— 
which was not written for publication, but as an evidence 
of good faith, or, dropping newspaper talk, as an evidence 
of good feeling and good fellowship, as the writer is 
three days' journey from here. I will take the responsi- 
bility if you care to publish it. I have an idea that a 
lot of yonr readers who are "chained to business" will 
feel their blood tingle, and will take down their guns 
and give them a caress, vowing that another season the 
first of November will find them so run down in health 
that a trip to the Lone Star State will be an absolute 
necessity. H. S. Chandler. 
San Antonio, Texas, Feb. i.—My Dear H.:. As I 
have a little time to-day I thought I might interest you 
by talking a little about myself, and let you know that 
i had not forgotten you. 
I have been leading quite a strenuous life since I came 
home last October. I have come to the conclusion that 
when a person's boyhood has been spent out of doors 
(hat it is well for him to return in a great measure to the 
habits of his early life after he has passed the half- 
century mark. For that reason I have spent a good deal 
of my time out of doors hunting. 
The quail season opened on the first of November and 
closed yesterday. During that time I have been hunting 
about fifteen or sixteen times, spending the whole day out 
in the country, and in some cases two days. I have kept 
a little memorandum of the birds I have shot, and my 
figures show a total of 500 quail and about 100 ducks. 
Last Friday Mrs. C. and I with Mr. and Mrs. L, went 
out to a small town about fifty miles from here called 
Karnes Cit3^ We had a two-horse team, a darkey driver 
and a three-seated wagon, and drove over some of the 
land on which I had loans to the owners, who of course 
did not object to my hunting. We had three good dogs 
and were hunting in an open country. The dogs would 
hunt back and forth in front of us until a covey of quail 
was discovered, when my large dog would come to a 
point and the little one would immediately back him. 
They would stand steady until we got out and walked up 
to the quail. We would usually get one or two quail on 
the first rise, and after they lit we would follow them 
up as the dogs pointed on single birds. This happened 
to be the place where the field trials were held for the 
whole of the United States a short time ago, therefore 
the grounds were particularly adapted for the sport. 
We took our lunch and at noon had the fire made and 
cooked coffee, fried potatoes and bacon, and had home- 
made sausage. The ladies seemed to enjoy the trip as 
much as Mr. L. and myself. Meanwhile I killed about 
seventy-five birds, saw the country very thoroughly, 
visited a number of my loans, and arrived at home Sun- 
day night. 
The Thursday before I went out with a friend of mine 
and killed about thirty quail. The Saturday and Sunday 
before that we spent at Mitchell Lake, where we have a 
little house. It is located about twelve miles from here. 
Nearly every Saturday Mrs. C. and I, with a driver and 
colored girl, go down in the morning. I get out when we 
get to the fields and hunt quail for an hour or two, and 
generally when I arrive at the house at about half-past 
one, I have something like fifteen quail in my bag. We 
then have dinner, which has been cooked on an open 
fire-place. The girl we have understands how to cook all 
the old-fashioned southern dishes, including corn pone. 
In the afternoon we go out on the lake, and I am pad- 
dled around by my man and shoot a few ducks, while 
Mrs. C. shoots a little rifle at whatever she sees fit. We 
play a little game of cards in the evening, go to bed about 
nine o'clock, and Sunday morning I am up at five. The 
girl gets up and cooks my breakfast, which I enjoy more 
than any meal of my life. By daylight I am in my boat. 
I have a blind, and sometimes I put my decoys out and 
sit on the blind. Other times I go around in the boat 
rowed by the darkey. I generally kill fifteen or twenty 
ducks. Sometimes the mornings have been damp, some- 
times pleasant, and twice they have been so cold that the 
water froze on the oars when they were taken out of the 
water. I thought of Cleveland's description of a duck 
hunter— that they are born and not made. 
About eleven or twelve o'clock I come in and usually 
bring a friend or two from the lake, and we have a din- 
ner cooked in the same manner as mentioned above, in- 
cluding broiled quail, broiled duck, sweet potatoes dug 
out of the ground right in front of the house, etc. In the 
afternoon I may hunt quail a little, and by night I drive 
home. It takes about an hour and a half. We have a 
wagon fitted up for the occasion, on the back of which is 
placed a box covered with canvas, and as we go through 
town with our layout and our two dogs we look as 
though we were moving to the frontier. 
Meanwhile I have been doing a little business and read- 
ing "Frenzied Finance." My condition as regards money 
matters seems at present to be that the supply of money 
is much greater than the demand for loans to take up 
same. The country is improving a great deal. They are 
building a large number of railroads throughout this sec- 
tion, and the attention of capital seems to be directed 
this way. I am inclined to think that our lands here are 
cheaper than anywhere else in the country, and that this 
fact is being discovered by people. 
We have had some pleasant weather so far this winter, 
and although we have had two or three days of cold 
weather, the temperature has never gone below freezing 
but two or three times, 
Vyitl] Ifijidest regards I remain, very sincerely yours, 
E. B. Chandlek. 
18 B 
Chasing Around. 
Deo'r Uncle Davison: I must tell you about my rabbit 
shooting yesterday. About 9 A. M. Len and I started 
to the woods. There was a very light snow, just suffi- 
cient to show here and there a track without enough to 
enable a person to track the rabbit. We tried to follow 
several tracks, but couldn't. After stopping at the house 
a few moments, we went across the creek and got George 
and went down into Dailey's woods. Along the line fence 
we struck a lot of tracks, and succeeded in tracking a 
rabbit out into the field. George assured me that I would 
better keep an eye out, for we might jump the rabbit any 
moment. So I kept an eye out — in fact, I kept it so far 
out that when we did eventually jump the rabbit, I 
couldn't get it back in time to get a bead oa him. He 
was sitting by a stump, and though I fired at him, owing 
to the fact that I forgot to put an^ silver in the charge, 
he got away. We tried to track him up, but couldn't 
After this we went along up to the berry patch south of 
Dailey's woods, and got another track. Len and George 
struck it back on the edge of the patch, but I was in 
close to the woods, and struck the same track in there 
So I did the Sherlock Holmes act, and the way I tracked 
that rabbit would have made the last of the Mohicans 
envious. ^ In fact I got so interested tracking him that 
when he jumped from behind a tree back of me he scared 
me So I nearly threw a fit. He was what the trapshooters 
call a "left-quarterer ;" that is to say, I quartered and 
he left. I shot at him, but he declined the invitation. 
Then the Sole Survivor of the Old-Time Fool got on the 
trail, and, as the hunting stories have it, "made the woods 
ring with his music." The trouble with that dog is that 
he is too much of a musician. When he starts to yelp 
he gets so interested in the tune he's playing that he for- 
gets what he's after. Anyway, he tore around in circles, 
and geed and hawed and backed water, and finally came 
back with a self-satisfied air, as much as to say, "I didn't 
get him, but I bet he won't stop till he gets in the next 
county." Each of us addressed a few remarks to him, 
and he seemed quite flattered at the attention he was 
attracting. 
Well, then we went up to Lockwood's Creek, just west 
of Dailey's woods. Found some tracks up there, but they 
all led into the swamp and the devil himself couldn't have 
found the makers of them. So we monkeyed around and 
finally Len, who is trapping, got on a skunk trail and left 
us. Thereafter every once in awhile we would run across 
Len. zigzagging along through the orchard, with his nose 
in the air, his eyes on the trail, and the bit in his teeth. 
It was really remarkable the way that skunk made him 
cover the entire fields and orchards, and finally brought 
him out at the exact point of the road where we crossed. 
Len seemed to be a bit put out at it, but we comforted 
him by telling him that the dog couldn't have done it, 
anyway. Somehow he didn't seem to take that as a com- 
pliment, either. Well, we crossed the road and George 
and I started through a berry patch, with Len down 
along the fence east of us. ^ Finally I heard Len yell like 
an Indian, and looked up in time to see a rabbit humping 
himself straight across me, about fifty yards in front. He 
was going like the deuce. I pulled in a couple of feet 
ahead of him and shot, and then gave him the second bar- 
rel. He went right along, and I made up my mind that 
it was my day off, and that I would better go home and 
try throwing the snow shovel at the barn. The Old- 
Timer got on the trail by mistake, but soon found out his 
error and quit. I don't believe he would follow the trail 
of a bologna sausage hung on a stick over his nose, he's 
so sort of sensitive about going where he may not possi- 
bly be wanted. Anyway George found his trail a little 
way further on, and a short distance on he found the 
rabbit, dead, with his left hindleg shot off. And yet 
they say the left hindleg of a rabbit is lucky ! It is quite 
likely that Bre'r Rabbit will entertain Deacon Dave 
Mecorney about Sunday. 
This practically ended the hunt, for we saw no more, 
and had to hurry to get home in time for dinner. It was 
very hard tracking, but I believe I never saw so many 
squirrel tracks, mice tracks, etc. I found one place 
where apparently a troop of about a dozen mice had 
been along, making a trail about three inches wide. 
I saw lots of small birds — those little chaps that don't 
know enough to go south even when the coal supply 
is short. I also saw one lone duck, variety unknown. 
We got home about six last night, having had a fine 
trip. The only trouble, I'm getting so I hate this win- 
ter weather; but I don't see any way to abate the nuis- 
ance, so I guess I'll let her go. Come and see us when 
you get home. Yours sincerely, Dave. 
Atizona Dwcfc Shooting. 
Phcenix, Arizona, Feb. 3. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Duck shooting is usually good here all winter, but this 
season, on account of a mild winter in the States to the 
north of_ us, the ducks have not come here in great num- 
bers until the past few weeks; at present there are more 
here than we have had in a couple of years. Those being 
killed are principally mallards, sprigs, teal, widgeon, 
spoonbills, and occasionally a redhead or canvasback. 
Duck shooting is found on the rivers and irrigating 
canals and on the irrigated fields within ten or fifteen 
miles of this city. The best shooting is about seventy- 
f^e miles from here (reached by rail in a few hours' 
ride), on an irrigating reservoir about by 2^ miles 
in dimensions; the limit of twenty-five birds is usually 
obtained there in an hour's shooting. 
On the completion of the Tonto dam and reservoir, 
about sixty-five miles up Salt River from Phoenix, in 
about two years, we expect to have one of the finest duck 
shooting grounds in the West. 
Fish and Game Commissioner W. L. Pinney has been 
planting a large quantity of wild rice this winter in the 
lakes and sloughs adjoining the rivers near the city. 
Quail have been more abundant than usual this year; 
our season on these closes March i. Doves are so 
abundant all the time as to be nearly a pest, and furnish 
abundant sport for the tourist and local sports. B. 
All comtnupications intended for Forest and Stkzau shouM 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., 
New Yof-k, and nof to uiy isdividtJal cotmected witfe the pape^. , 
