Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1904, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
ehms,$4ajeak.jocts.acopy.j NEW YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1905. \^o. m^'ko'l^Z^T^'^JYo.K. 
REVOLVERS AND HOMICIDES. 
Elsewhere, in the columns of Forest and Stream this 
^■eek, an esteemed correspondent criticises, in gracious 
pirit, the custom of carrying revolvers on the person, 
,nd he erroneously assumes that such custom pre- 
ails throughout the United States. To it he imputes 
he large number of homicides in the United States as 
hown by pertinent and reliable statistics of the past 
■ear. By vi^ay of comparison of conditions in New- 
oundland during the same time, revolvers not being 
arried as an armament in that country, no homicides 
lave occurred. From these data he deduces that the 
arrying of revolvers is the true cause of the homicides 
1 the United States, while the absence of that custom 
1 Newfoundland accounts for the absence of homicides 
ti that country. 
There is a certain plausibility in these coincidences 
s presented, though as a matter of fact the presenta- 
ion is fallacious for several reasons, chief of which is 
hat the number of homicides is in no wise dependent 
)n the carrying of revolvers. The latter is but one of 
nany intermedia used for the purpose, and is not in 
teelf an essential. Knives,, razors, axes, hammers, 
lubs, poisons, anaesthetics, and dozens of other articles 
ti common, legitimate use, hold a conspicuous place 
n the list of deadly weapons used in committing 
lomicides.' 
There is no inherent tendency to homicide which can 
jistly be ascribed to the revolver. Before it was in- 
dented, human nature was the same, and homicides 
)ccurred then, as they occur now in lands in which it 
s unknown or unused. The true causes of homicide 
ire to be found in the struggles of life, and where the 
struggle is keenest, as in the great cities, there the 
shedding of blood will be greatest. Of course, the 
:fiminal proclivities of some men's nature must be 
taken into account, as a phase peculiar to mankind in 
tvevy age and every clime. 
To compare Newfoundland with the United States 
in this connection is to compare quantities so irre- 
concilably unlike in every way that any conclusion is 
aecessarily forced and erroneous. Newfoundland has 
m area of about 42,000 square miles, a little larger in 
irea than the State of Ohio. It has a population of 
over 200,000, a number no greater than pertains to 
many of the ordinary cities in this country. Compare 
200,000 people with Upward of 80,000,000, the popula- 
tion of the United States, and our correspondent's 
comparison as to homicides is obviously fallacious. 
Large areas, in the country regions of the United 
States, can be found where homicides are rare or un- 
mown. • 
Newfoundland is devoid of many of the contributory 
causes to the large list of statistics in question, and 
which are peculiar to violent deeds in the United States. 
Of the more important causes, it may be fairly as- 
sumed that the chief one has its source in the inces- 
sant stream of immigration which pours on our shores. 
The immigrants do not represent American life or ideas 
it the outset. They, as a matter of course, represent 
the life of foreign countries, in language, customs, etc., 
which persist more or less distinctly to the end of the 
nirst generation. Many of them cherish their old world 
feuds as a part of their treasures, and acquire new ones 
is a sacred privilege indigenous to a land which is free 
to all. Thus we have sudden and frenzied brawlings 
of the hostile "Tongs" with their mysterious homicides; 
the secret killings imputed to the Mafia; the vendettas 
md stabbings among the Sicilians, Greeks; and similar 
doings in a lesser degree among some othef classes of 
immigrants, all of which generously swell the list of 
homicides committed in America, though they are not 
United States in any sense other than having a place 
within our borders. Within the city of New York, as 
in other, large cities, there are many, districts which are 
colonized by foreigners, and are really foreign spots 
in American institutions. 
It is quite commonly remarked that a man who 
carries a pistol is therefore a coward. The remark, 
without proper qualification, is untrue. A man who 
carries a pistol when among friends exclusively is not 
a brave man or a desirable companion. When the 
criminal classes carry revolvers concealed, and when 
arrested and tried are punished with a suspended sen- 
tence or a nominal fine, honest men, whose vocation 
brings them in dangerous places, must perforce be 
armed for purpose of defense. But even at the broadest 
estimate, those who go about armed are relatively a 
small number of the 80,000,000 people of the United 
States. 
As for the existence of revolver clubs and their prac- 
tice at target shooting affecting the proclivity to 
homicide because of fostering familiarity with fire- 
arms, the truth probably is that they have only so much 
influence in this direction, and no more, than do the 
existence and practice meets of trapshooting clubs. 
THE BROOK IN APRIL. 
Looking up the brook on this mild, still April day, 
a double view is had of a New England swamp, as it 
pauses just before bursting into luxuriant bloom. 
The skunk's cabbage started long ago, and its widen- 
ing leaves are high above the ground. On the drier 
borders of the swamp wind flowers and dog-tooth 
violets are blooming; on the brook's edge and in the 
little pools of water the marsh marigolds show vivid 
green with cups of gold now opening to the, sun. Yet 
alder and grapevine and swamp maple look as they 
did in winter, save for -the swelling buds at the end of 
each twig, which are reddening as they prepare to 
burst into bloom. 
Within these silent, motionless stems is hidden a life 
that is running riot in these first mild days. Through 
the veins of each plant its pale blood courses swiftly, 
and ere long the general life, of which we now see 
only the first signs, will be universal. 
In this beautiful picture, in the time at which it is 
taken and in the portents which we see in it, is much 
that causes us to reflect on that more serious side of 
life which — without losing any of life's joy — we may 
wisely, more or less consider. 
Scenes such as this come before every, man who 
spends much of his time out of doors; but too often 
they are lightly passed over, their full beauty not ap- 
preciated, their significance soon forgotten. 
AUDUBON'S BIRTHDAY. 
On May 5 next it is purposed to hold, at the Church 
of the Intercession in this city, a meeting to commemo- 
rate the birthday of Audubon the naturalist. No one 
knows precisely when Audubon was born, but, by those 
best qualified to know. May 5 is regarded as the prob- 
able date. 
The Church of the Intercession is situated within a 
stone's throw of the beautiful home occupied by the 
naturalist during the last years of his life, and known 
for more than half a century as Audubon Park. Long 
ago the most of it passed into the hands of old neigh- 
bors and friends of the family, some of whom still 
occupy it; but the march of improvement has at 
length reached the old home, and streets aijd drives 
have now been cut through it by the city, so that 
Audubon Park, as such, no longer exists. Neverthe- 
less, over the grass now growing green still wave the 
boughs of many of the ancient trees which were al- 
ready giants when the naturalist used to wander 
beneath them as he fed his wild pets; and the great 
river beside which he used to sit and watch the sailing 
vessels pushing their slow way up to Albany, still flows 
steadily by toward the sea. 
In Trinity Cemetery, just beyond Audubon Park, lies 
the dust of the great man, his grave marked by a stone 
erected there by his admirers a few years ago. 
It is near all this that the Rev. Mr. Gates, of the Church 
of the Intercession, intends to hold his celebration, which 
many eminent men have consented to attend. Here for- 
mer President Grover Cleveland, Judge Parker, Mr. John 
Burroughs, Dr. J. A. Allen, Mr. E. T. Seton, Mr. Frank 
M. Chapman, and many others interested in natural his- 
tory and ornithology, will gather to pay a, tribute to- the 
greatest artist naturalist that America has known. 
One by one the material objects which were connected 
with the life of Audubon are being swept away, and the 
time is perhaps not distant when blocks of houses will 
cover beautiful "Minniesland," a spot made sacred to 
many people still living by a wealth of tender associa- 
tions. It is a graceful and timely thought on the part 
of Mr. Gates to set on iQ9\ the commemorative §erY}C© 
at the present time. 
THE SALE OF IMPORTED GAME. 
A CASE of much interest arose in Brooklyn on Thurs- 
day of last week when John Hill, proprietor of the 
Clarendon Hotel, was arrested for having in his posses- 
sion twenty-four brace of English plover and Russian 
grouse. The birds had been delivered to Mr. Hill by 
August Silz, a game dealer of this city who conducts a 
large close season trade in various game birds, all of 
which he claims to have imported, and which, being im- 
ported, he contends, are not within the statutes for- 
bidding the sale of game in close season; or if the 
law is intended to apply to them, it is unconstitutional. 
So sure of his ground does Mr. Silz profess to be 
that he sends circulars to his customers notifying them 
that he can supply them with all kinds of imported 
game, giving them a guarantee as follows: 
"I take pleasure in submitting to you herewith a price list on 
imported game. All the leading hotels are using it, and I will 
guarantee to be responsible for any legal trouble that you may 
be subjected to in the sale of the same, provided you can prove 
that the imported game was bought from A. Silz." 
This guarantee of immunity from the consequences 
of a violation of the law would of course be held void 
by the courts, but there is no reason to suppose that the 
assurance is not honestly made by Mr. Silz and with 
confidence that he would not be called upon to make it 
good. In other words, he feels perfectly secure in con- 
ducting the traffic in game. This may be either because 
he is convinced of his right to deal in the game; or it 
may be because he is sure of immunity from interfer- 
ence by the authorities. The latter view is given 
plausibility by the asserted fact, that the Silz dealings 
are actually permitted, while transactions of like char- 
acter are not tolerated on the part of other dealers. 
Now no account being made of the game which it may 
be proved "was bought from A. Silz," it is true that 
vast quantities of American game birds — grouse and quail, 
and plover, and woodcock, and other species, are dealt 
in continuously in this city in the close season, being 
served at hotels, restaurants, clubs and private houses, 
and appearing on the menus under various fancy foreign 
designations, employed as grotesque blinds should occa- 
sion demand, but not intended to deceive the palate of 
the consumer. 
The traffic in foreign game constitutes a cover for 
the illicit traffic in native game. If the trade in im- 
ported birds is forbidden within the intent of the law, a 
demonstration of that fact would be a distinct gain. 
This Brooklyn case affords a new opportunity to make 
a desired test of the law. The circumstances are 
especially favorable to such a test, because Mr. Silz 
has, at his own request, been made a party with Mr. 
Hill as defendant. The New York Association for 
the Protection of Fish and Game has interested itself 
in the case, and has signified an intention to assist, 
through its counsel, in the prosecution. With this 
powerful society to press the suit, we may at last look 
for a decisive trying out of the points of law involved. 
FOLLY MADE A CRIME. 
In the Armstrong anti-docking bill, passed by the 
Legislature of New York, the problem of putting a stop 
to the senseless and cruel mutilation of horses appears 
to be solved. Laws forbidding the act of amputation 
have been tried, but the necessity of proving the offense 
directly has made it difficult to enforce them. The Arm- 
strong bill takes a cue from game laws and makes pos- 
session of a mutilated animal punishable by fine and 
imprisonment. 
It is provided that all docked horses in the State shall 
be registered by their owners within one year from the 
passage of the act, and after the expiration of the year no 
more docked horses may be registered, and it shall be 
an offense to have in possession, regardless of owner- 
ship, an unregistered docked horse. 
Every one whose love for the horse has not been per- 
verted by devotion to fashion will rejoice at the pros- 
pect of the ultimate disappearance of the docked tail. 
The horse is a beautiful creature as nature made him, 
and man's attempts to improve his appearance by may- 
hem only make him unsightly and pitifully absurd. The 
docked tail is a manifestly useless appendage, and hav- 
ing no utility, serving no purpose, it is therefore ugly 
— a mere excrescence. The process of docking is painful, 
and there can be ho excuse for inflicting unnecessary 
pain upon an animal? 
