316 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[April 22, 1905. 
The New York Cominissionef. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The sportsman of New York State may well feel not 
a little anxious these days— pending the appointment of 
the commissioner by the Governor, into whose hands 
for the next four yeajrs the fate of our forests, fish and 
game goes. If he shall -be a man who is not person- 
ally interested in the matters, in other words, a sports- 
man (and when I say sportsman, I mean in the best 
sense of the term), then it will be an evil day indeed. 
If the appointee is a politician, as many fear he will 
be, then the money of the taxpayers will be practically 
thrown away, and this department cannot but go from 
bad to worse — and much worse. 
The Governor stated on the 6th inst., that he had 
fixed upon the person who is to receive this appoint- 
ment. About the • capitol it was surmised that Mr. 
James S. Whipple, of Cattaraugus, is the man. _ The 
Governor also stated that he intended to appoint a 
good man to the place. This we have no reason to 
doubt, but it is the opinion of many persons that if 
the appointee is not a practical man, with personal 
knowledge of the requirements, the people's money will 
be simply wasted, as before stated. As to Mr. 
Whipple's qualifications, I have been unable to learn 
anything. 
The New York State League for the Protection of 
the Forest, Fish and Game, while doing a good work, 
should be more thoroughly organized throughout the 
State, so that when the appointment of a commissioner 
is to be made it can, and will take an active part in 
securing a person fully qualified for the place. Now 
the fact is, the league, as such, has simply done nothing, 
yet this appointment is of most vital importance as to 
our forest, fish and game. 
Unless the appointee has the qualifications border- 
ing on that of an expert, it would be much to the in- 
terests of the people, and very great advantage to the 
department, that Commissioner Middleton be retained, 
for his experience must be of value, and one without it 
must of necessity be very costly in many ways. We 
shall hope for deliverance from one without experience. 
J. R. F. 
Rochester, N. Y., April 13. 
Thoughts That Come Unbidden. 
A MOMENT for rest and a newspaper are respon- 
sible for my text. It is wrong to envy our chief ex- 
ecutive for the privileges accorded him, or am I mis- 
taken in supposing that this outing of his means _ as 
much to him as it would to poor, humble humanity,^ like 
myself? From Frederick, Okla., comes this: "The 
camp is nestled in timber fringing the branches of Deep 
Red Creek in a picturesque spot, and when the Presi- 
dent awoke at 6:15 this morning and first beheld the 
vast panorama of virgin soil, without a sign of civiliza- 
tion except the camp, he said he felt that he was at 
home." 
Ah! that sensation.; that fredom from mental strain; 
that simple boyish feeling that quickens the pulse and 
brightens the eye, yet soothes the brain. Who would 
not go picnicking in the wilds, even under less favor- 
able conditions? And our President is hunting coyotes 
and jackrabbits. Can he hit them on the run with a 
rifle? Will the evenings be spent in spinning yarns? 
Will he have bean-soup for his noon time meals, and 
at night potatoes with the jackets on? If he don't, he 
will miss something. 
A hunting trip in April. It calls up my boyhood, 
when the hunting season was every month in the year. 
No license, no trespass signs, no close season. Squirrels 
grew on bushes, wild turkeys hatched their brood in 
hollow logs, partridge nests were- in the thickets, quail 
fluttered before the scythe and little rabbits hopped 
in the stubble — and I am not an . old man, either. 
Jackrabbits, coyotes and mountain lions, with a rifle; 
fish moresuo. The camp in the wildwood, nemine dis- 
sentiente. Ah. G. W. Cunningham. 
They Met by Chance. 
The Manchester, Vt., Journal told this little story the 
other day: A pretty incident occurred recently upon M. 
J. Hapgood's log job in Mt. Tabor, Vt. Hay had been 
scattered along the log roads for the benefit of the deer 
who were pressed for food on account of the deep snows. 
John Mclntyre, one of the workmen, approached a doe 
in one of the log roads, and came so near that he struck 
her with a light switch, which he happened to have in 
his hands. She jumped aside into the deep snow and 
gave a sharp bleat. Then came a scene fit for the gods 
to gaze upon. For soon a magnificent buck, evidently in 
answer to the signal of distress, came leaping down the 
road, and, unawed at the sight of man, when within 
about twenty feet of him, stopped, and with the hair bristl- 
ing upon his l3ack, began to stamp his feet and shake 
his heavily antlered head. The woodsman, although a 
stout, strong specimen of his craft, was thoroughly 
frightened, and after managing, upon the sly, to get hold 
of a club, began to move backwards upon a retreat. The 
deer noticed the movement, followed him up, and, by mo- 
tion of head and glance of eye, commanded a halt. Final- 
ly the doe got back into the road, between the woodsman 
and the buck, and, probably from exhaustion, laid down. 
The buck approached her and "lapped her sides, but upon 
any attempt of the man to retreat, would dart after him 
until he stopped. This condition of afJairs continued for 
nearly half an hour, the man, meanwhile, as he freely ad- 
mits, sweating great drops of agony. Finally, the buck 
prevailed upon the doe to get up, and by degrees induced 
her to move off the road, and when a goodly distance 
away both disappeared from the scene. 
Alaska Big Game. 
No permits will be issued this year for big-game hunt- 
ing in Alaska, except _ to authotized representatives of 
museums. Similar action was taken last year, because 
of the knowledge that game in Alaska was rapidly being 
destroyed, and it was desired to preserve it so far as 
possible for the benefit of the. natives, althotigh they §re 
fequired Ig comply with Ipcal game laws, 
The Retttfn to Nattife. 
The Pacific Coast Forest, Fish and Game Association's 
first annual sportsmen's show, in Mechanic's Hall, San 
Francisco, has proved a very successful enterprise. The 
plan was modeled upon that of the earher New York 
shows. In an address at the opening, James D. Phelan 
said : 
"With advancing civilization rnan is weaned away from 
nature, but the strong hold which nature has upon man 
constantly draws him back. Here in this exhibition an 
attempt is made to illustrate animal and vegetable life, 
forest and stream, but every attempt to reduce nature to 
a small scale or to imitate it in its beauty and variety 
must necessarily be inadequate; and yet, the mere sug- 
gestion of nature, here displayed, leads in the right di- 
rection. 
"I'he m.en and women who live in cities- instinctively 
feel that they have been despoiled of something; they 
miss, perhaps, the companionship of birds and beasts, of 
flowers and trees ; they have been cut off from the good 
green earth by the hard paved streets and the cheerless 
houses; and hence there is that irrepressible idea, always 
present, of bringing the country to the town by making 
small plantations here and there, called parks, like oases 
in a great desert of brick and mortar. 
"No matter what ,may be the allurements of civiliza- 
tion, exemplified in great cities, no son of the soil, sprung 
from the "earth and destined to return to the earth, can 
ever be wholly reconciled to the artificial character of his 
surroundings. Warped ideas, shattered health and luxuri- 
ous vices are the protests which go out from' hospital 
and jail and lyceum against the perversion of nature's 
plan. 
"Emerson, in his beautiful essay on nature, says that 
cities do not give the senses room enough : 'He who 
knows the forests ; he wo knows what sweets and vir- 
tues are in the ground, the waters, the plants, the 
heavens, and how to come at these enchantments, is the 
rich and royal man.' " 
Law Enforcement a Joke. 
La Salle, S. C, April 6. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Inclosed please find clipping from Niagara Falls paper 
which explains itself. What, in the name of common 
sense, is the use of game protectors doing any work 
when they receive such support from the magistrates? 
The game laws and their enforcement are one huge joke 
in this vicinity. A Reader. 
The report runs : 
"Acting Police Judge C. H. Piper and Fish and Game 
Protector J. W. Buckley are at odds. Several days ago 
Mr. Buckley applied for warrants in the local police 
court for the arrest of Arthur Logan and George Casey, 
both of Ransomville, on the charge of violating the fish 
and game laws of the State, it being specifically charged 
that they had fished with spears in Twelve-Mile Creek. 
The warrants were issued and were served by Protector 
Buckley, the two men appearing before Judge Piper yes- 
terday afternoon and pleading guilty to the charge. A 
fine of $3 each was imposed and paid. The men went 
their way and Mr. Buckley went into a rage. He claims 
that the fine was ludicrous and that the section of the fish 
and game laws under which the case was brought pro- 
vides that upon conviction a fine of not less than $60 
shall be imposed. 
"Mr. Buckley's ruffled feelings were by no means 
smoothed when he applied to Judge Piper for warrants 
for the arrest of two other men and was refused. Mr. 
Buckley based his request for warrants for these men on 
having caught them in the act of making their way to- 
ward a stream down the county with lanterns in their 
hands and spears over their shoulders. He did not catch 
them in the actual process of spearing fish. Judge Piper 
held that while the men no doubt intended to spear, still 
they had not been apprehended in the act of doing so. 
Mr. Buckley contended that the presence of the spears 
was a sufficient cause for their arrest and exhibited a 
letter from Chief Fish and Game Protector Pond, of 
Albany, to support his contention, but Judge Piper said 
that until he had an opinion from the Attorney General 
on the matter he should decline to issue warrants." 
Nevada Fish and Game Commission. 
Says the Carson City, Nev., News of April 6: "Yes- 
terday Governor Sparks appointed the Hon. H. H. 
Coryell, of Elko county; Hon. P. A. McCarran, of Wa- 
shoe county, and Hon. G. T. Mills, of Ormsby county, 
as the three members of the Board of Fish and Game 
Commissioners, The appointments meet with universal 
approbation, as the gentlemen named are greatly inter- 
ested in the propagation and protection of fish. 
"Under the old law, which was repealed several years 
ago, only one Commissioner was allowed ; but the last 
Legislature re-enacted the measure and provided for the 
selection of three Commissioners. No salary is attached 
to the position; on the contrary the Commissioner often 
expends his own money for the furtherance of some 
scheme that will be a benefit to the people of the State, 
but he does not let a little thing like that bother him or 
prevent him from^ being just as enthusiastic as ever on 
the fish question. 
"Mr. Mills served the State for nine years as Fish 
Commissioner and is particularly fitted for the position, 
as fishculture is a fad with him, and he leaves nothing 
undone that will be for the good of the State in a pisca- 
torial line. Nevada has led in the propagation of fish in 
many respects, particularly in the taking and transplant- 
ing of what is known among fishculturists as 'green 
spawn,' being the first to take the spawn from the fish 
and transport it sixteen, miles to a hatchery. The State 
has also led in. the handling and distribution of fry at 
long distance with comparatively no loss. It is to be 
hoped that the people of the State will appreciate the 
appointments and co-operate with the Commissioners in 
their work and thus place the. .fishculture of Nevada on 
the same plgne it occupied before the Commission was 
[Maine Deer. 
Lumbermen coming out of the woods are full of stories 
of deer dying by the hundred, almost, and some very re- 
liable lumbermen have told the past week of seeing any- 
where from three to a half dozen deer a day, lying dead 
or dying in the logging roads, the teams having to stop 
nearly every day to lift out some of these emaciated, 
starved creatures before the team could go on. So ac- 
customed did the horses become with the sight and smell 
of deer that in one case, at least, the lumberman drove 
his horse right up to a big buck lying directly across the 
road, and the horse stepped unconcernedly over, dragging 
the sled across the carcass. Earlier in the winter the 
same horse would have shown fright at so close proxim- 
ity to wild meat. Most of these reports came from the 
valley of the Penobscot, west and north branches. A 
well-known lumberman who was on the Allagash and 
tributary waters all winter, gave it as his opinion that 
the deer wintered there even better than they did a year 
before; although some died, yet not as many as died in 
the winter of 1903-4. He said that in several instances 
he noticed the deer that died were as fat and plump as 
deer ever are in the winter, and he commented on the 
fact tO! one of his firm who was with him on a trip over 
the. territor.y. His opinion was that some epidemic was 
killing those deer, for they were certainly not starved. 
Herbert W. Rowe. 
West Virginia Qaail. 
MoRGANTowN, W. Va., April 15. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Reports from different localities in this part of 
the State show great loss among the quail during the 
past winter. It has not been uncommon to find whole 
coveys where they have perished with cold and hunger; 
and it is believed that they are almost exterminated in 
some localities. 
The Fairmont Game Association, of our neighboring 
town of Fairmont, has purchased two hundred southern 
quail and liberated them to assist in re-stocking their 
covers, and one of the rod and gun clubs of this place 
has made a move in the same direction, but no definite 
action has been taken in the matter. Emerson Carney. 
Legislation at Albany. 
Albany, N. Y., April 15.- — Much progress was made in the Legis- 
lature the past week with bills relating to fish, forest and game. 
Senator Armstrong introduced a bill (Int. No. 915) amending 
Section 65 so as to allow the use of dip-nets and scap-nets without 
a license from the State Game Commission. 
Assemblyman Hubbs introduced a bill (Int. No. 1443), amending 
Section 103, relative to wildfowl on Long Island so as to permit 
them to be taken on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 
March 1 to April 15, both inclusive, instead of from March 1. 
The Senate Committee on Forest, Fish and Game has reported 
the following bills, which have been restored to their place on 
the order of third reading: 
Assemblyman Reeve's (Int. No. 1077), relative to the close 
season on woodcock. 
Assemblyman Bedell's (Int. No. 1087), relative to the selling of 
woodcock, grouse and quail in Orange county. 
Assemblyman Cunningham's (Int. No. 599), relative to spearing 
fish in Ulster county. 
Assemblyman Reeve's (Int. No. 1075), relative to penalties. 
^ Assemblyman Reeve's (Int. No. 1076), relative to fishing in 
Jamaica Bay. 
Assemblyman Reeve's (Int. No. 1074), relative to grouse and 
-woodcock not being sold. 
Assemblyman Knapp's (Int. No. -; ), relative to the trans- 
portation of fish caught in Missisquoi Bay. 
Assemblyman Bedell's (Int. No. 1181), relative to woodcock, 
grouse and quail in Orange county. 
. Assemblyman Reeve's (Int. No. 1079), relative to the use of nets 
in Coney Island Creek. 
The Senate has advanced to third reading the following bills: 
Senator Armstrong's (Int. No. 110), relative to the protection 
of nests of wild birds. 
Assemblyman F. G. Whitney's (Int. No. 1019), relative to fish- 
ing through the ice in Oswego county. 
Assemblyman Yale's (Int. No. 771), relative to the close season 
for lake trout in Putnam county. 
The Senate has passed the following bills: 
Senator Allds' (Int. No. 486), providing for the publication of 
the game laws of 1905. 
Senator Armstrong's (Int. No. 684), relative to the destruction 
of nets. 
Senator Coggeshall's (Int. No. 496), relative to the destruction 
or exhiljition of illegal devices used in violation of the game law. 
Senator Raines' (Int. No. 247), relative to the sale of trout. 
AssemlDlyman Apgar's (Int. No. 866), relative to the close season 
for deer. 
Assemblyman Bisland's (Int. No. 1175), relative to the close : 
season for trout. 
Assemblyman Gray's (Int. No. 265), relative to taking fish 
through the ice in Dutchess county. 
Assemblyman Gray's (Int. No. 266), relative to the close season 
for grouse, woodcock and quail. 
Assemblyman Gray's (Int. No. 263), relative to the close season 
for squirrels. 
Assemblyman Hammond's (Int. No. 534), relative to taking pike 
in the counties of Oneida, Oswego, Madison and Onondaga. 
Assemblyman Reeve's (Int. No. 305), relative to the protection ; 
of land turtles and wild black bear. 
Assemblyman Reeve's (Int. No. 115), relative to penalties. 
Assemblyman Stevens' (Int. No. 1006), relative to the close sea- 
son on trout. 
- Assemblyman West's (Int. No. 469), relative to placing carp in 
certain waters. 
Assemblyman Bisland's (Int. No. 476), relative to the close ,j 
season for hares and rabbits. | 
Assemblyman Gates' (Int. No. 651), relative to the protection ' 
of beaver. 
The Assembly has advanced to third reading these bills: 
Assemblyman Prentice's (Int. No. 897), relative to the close sea- 
son. 
Assemblyman Plank's (Int. No. 1307) in relation to fires to 
clear lands. 
The Assembly has advanced to third reading and recommitted 
the bill of Assemblyman F. C. Wood (Int. No. 1194), in relation 
to the compensation of game protectors and the disposition of , 
.proceeds of actions. 
The Assembly has passed the following bills: j 
Assemblyman Santee's (Int. No. 737), relative to appointing j 
additional protectors. v 
Assemblyman Becker's (Int. No. 778), relative to special game i 
protectors. !, 
- Senate committee's bill (Int. No. 677), relative to the duties of * 
superintendent of forests, fire wardens and game protectors. 
Assemblyman Miller's (Int. No. 994), relative to the pollution 
of streams. 
Governor Higgins has signed the following bills: ' 
Assemblyman Bisland's (Int. No. 1175), amending Section 40 hy 
providing that the close season for trout shall be from Sept. 1 to! 
April 15, both inclusive; but if the 16th day of April shall bei 
Sundajr in any year, such close season shall end with the 14th dayj 
°^AssembIyman Wade's (Int. No. 249), providing that the meshes! 
of nets used in Lake Erie shall not be less than 1% inch bar. j 
- "Paw, would it be ungrammatical to say, 'I seen you when 
-you hid $10 under the bureau?' "Yes, son, both ungrammatical 
md dangetous. When you are ia doubt on such points always 
pome to me, and never go to yotir mothdr."— Cincwinati Tribune,* 
