Oct. 14, 19053 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
So© 
constitutional amendment according to this law. 
In Warren county no State land is claimed along the 
shores of Brant Lake, although lots 107 and 141, Brant 
Lake tract, both on this lake, were claimed by the State 
It. one time. Their land area was only 100 acres, but 
quite a large number of citizens could find camping room 
on 100 acres. From the Dartmouth patent, in the town 
of Stony Creek, lot 5 — 175 acres. From Totten Sc Cross- 
field’s ' purchase, township 14, S.W. (Conklin and 
others’ , tract, now Leggett’s survey) lots i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 > 
II, 12, 16, 18, 19, 26 and 27—2,045 acres. In township 
24, lots 33 and 38, have been taken by somebody — 170 
acres -more. 
These lands were ‘‘old-time holdings” of the^ State. 
They had been, coming and going as to ownership, but 
bad, apparently, 'finally settled into the hands of the State’ 
which' -claimed them in ' 1883, all of them having been 
‘State- Iand’‘I'previous to^ 1881. In 1881 there was a tax 
sale,' and ' from purchases in this sale more land was 
added to the State possessions. , A list of them was made 
out -in a separate appendix from the one just quoted. 
These tax-sale lands, after the redemption period of two 
j^ears, seemed to be the State’s “forever after.” Never- 
theless’ F find' that in the list of lands secured at this tax 
sale there' are. thousands of acres which have slipped out 
of the State’s possession regardless of the State’s law 
forbidding the sale of preserve lands. 
The reader will be obliged to go all over the map again 
if he wishes to follow my hunt for these lost State lands, 
[f the trail grows tedious, and the pack straps of figures, 
townships, counties, tracts and purchases cut deep, let it 
be remembered that on the readers of this article depends 
yvhether the State will come into possession of such lands 
as have been taken illegally. For every time we consider 
a lot figure, it means anywhere from a hundred to thou- 
sands of -dollars’ worth of land, from the use of which a 
iong-suffering, frequently-defrauded and foolishly patient 
aublic may have been defrauded by sheer robbery. 
By the tax sale of 1881 the State received in Essex 
county, Essex tract, Henry survey, towns of Jay and 
Keene, lots 142, 168 and 181—496 acres— which it lost 
again. From the North River Head tract, town of North 
Hudson, lot 83—80 acres— has gone glimmering. 
The Old Military tract, townships i and 2, lot 51—416 
^cres. In township 12, Thorn’s survey, town of North 
Elba, western half of lot 120— eighty acres. 
In town 14, Totten & Crossfield’s purchase, town of 
Minerva, lots 62, 102 and 103 — 568 acres. 
In township 27, lot 35 — 160 acres. 
In Franklin county, from the gore east of township 9, 
Old Military tract, in the town of Bellmont, lot 9—122 
Last of all, in Warren county, are these claims that 
are no longer made; Dartmouth patent. Great tract, 
range 4, lots 8 and 9; Small tract, pnge 3, lot 3 — 413-5 
acres. In the gore between townships 29 and 31, Totten 
arid Crossfield’s purchase, lot ii — 109 acres. In Hyde 
township, lot 73, sub 3, and lot 74, sub 4 — 196 acres. 
Finally, Totten and Crossfield’s purchase, S. W. 1/5 
Leggett survey, lots 8 and 10 (262 acres) have gone 
from the State control. 
Why was this land allowed to go out of the possep 
sion of the State Comptroller, if it has gone out of his 
hands? And who can do.ubt that the land is largely 
gone from the State when lumbermen slash over it, and 
the watchers of private preserves hurl the public from 
its vicinity? And if_the present claimants of the land 
have titles to it, where did they get them, how did 
they get them and who did they pay for them? 
I was told recently that one man, formerly chief 
clerk in the Comptroller’s office, had the honesty, 
courage and manhood to stand between the sneaking, 
land-hungry pack and the State land titles. He was W. 
H. Sanger, who lives at about 30 Neptune avenue. 
New Rochelle. He was chief clerk, but he didn’t last 
long. 
I have just received a statement by Commissioner 
Whipple, of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission, 
in which he says he is going to make inquiries about 
the Old Hatter place, lot 79, Remsenburg patent, and 
about the Ampersand Lake lands. He says further: 
“I do not believe Mr. Spear (sic) wishes to apply 
the statement, ‘Well, you know' what .money will do 
in politics,’ was the pessimistic answer to- this depart- 
ment, or to- me personally. If he, or any other man be- 
lieves he can get a tree or a foot of State land by 
political maneuvering or money consideration, let him 
try it.” 
Mr. Whipple says that he will begin action to reco-ver 
the Hatter lot for the State. 
I am not making a campaign against any one person- 
ally, but I propose to do what I can to let people know 
the things which examination will disclose in regard 
to. the Adirondack region, and the manner in which it 
in handled. I think Mr. Whipple wants to do the right 
thing, and he has one of the best chances in the State 
to assist a long suffering public to its rights. 
Raymond S. Spears. 
Little Fall=, Ne-w York. 
P. S. — The very latest scheme to take away a few 
thousand acres of State land, and put it to private use 
is shown in this clipping: 
BIG DAM AT PISECO LAKE. 
‘ From McComb’s purchase. Great tract i, township 12, Piseco correspondent writes: ‘The big dam on 
the public has lost lot 9, and parts of lots 12, 25 1,242 outlet of Piseco Lake, so long talked about, is ac- 
acres. /• i, -d- cording to latest reports, an assured fact and -will when 
From township 13, S. and N.E. (in the Rice built, make of Piseco a lake nearly twenty miles long, 
Mountain country, once more), in lots ii, 12, 14, 16, 36, extending to Arietta. The distance from Gloversville 
44, 59 , 72, 74 and 108 — 353.98 1-3 acres. to Arietta is about twenty-two miles a.nd with a small 
In township 15, N.E. ) 4 , lots 4 and ii — 814 acres. In steamer on the lake the trip from the railroad to Piseco 
the N.W. lots 4, 7, 14 and 16—562 acres. will be materially shortened and will also be a much 
In Old Military tract, township 8, in Bellmont to'vvn, easier trip than now. Work on the dam, we under- 
;Shows the loss to the public of lot 85 on Ragged Lake, stand, will begin very early in the spring.’ ” — From the 
and lot 87 (E. I 4 ) close to Indian Pond- 710 acres. Journal and Courier, Little Falls. 
In township 9 (towns of Franklin and Bellmont), the jg going to be put up to preserve water 
tax sale lands of 1881, lots 102, 186, 191, 206 (Tanner s, ^qj. power companies at Glens Falls. It will be on State 
now Plumadore Pond), 213 (near Inman Station), 255, land probably, but it will certainly flood several thous- 
274, 295, 305, 342, 346, 350 and 356 — 1,251.10 acres. acres of State forest land. Hasn’t the public got 
In Fulton county, in the towns of Bleecker and May- enough at Albany to preserve the Adirondacks for 
field, from Chase’s patent, lots 41, 42, 44 , 5^, 69, lOi, 103 people? R. S. S. 
In Herkimer county, Jerseyfield patent, the towns of 
Ohio and Salisbury, lots 40, 49 and 57 — a matter of 736-72 
Charles Fenton* 
icrcs. 
In the Noblesborough patent. New Survey, lot 20 and 
Old Survey lots 97 and 99 - This is 600 acres more m a 
hard-wood, deer country, where the lumbermen have 
been recently slashing the timber away. 
From Remsenburg. patent, lot 12, N. ka — 250 acres. 
Once more considering Hamilton county, Benson town- 
ship, town of Benson, lots 226, 227—320 acres. Totten & 
Crossfield’s purchase, township i, lots 10 and 12—225 
acres. In township 2, Jones’ map, lots 10 and ii 310 
acres. Township 7, town of Lake Pleasant, lots 8, 9 and 
10 — 300 acres. 
Of township 19 (town of Indian Lake), N.E. I4, shows 
1.021 acres, and the N-W. Ya, shows 5,660 acres wiped off 
the State’s claims— this is in the Blue Mountain lake 
country. , j 
Township 22 shows lots 8 , 9, 64 as no longer State land 
— 361 acres. . 
Then, in township 34, is found an astonishing loss to 
the State. The State there owned -a claim for 13,575 acres 
in township 34. If one must believe the map the State 
issues now, the State hasn’t saved a rod in it— and Blue 
Mountain Lake, Eagle Lake, Utowana Lake, Stephen 
Pond, Cascade Pond, Rock Pond, Deep Pond and Crystal 
Lake ’are in that township. It’s a private preserve now, 
at least most of it, and if the public comes across the line 
on to this tract of land it does so at its own peril— it’s 
liable' to arrest, fines, imprisonment, not to say the gibes 
and jeers of hired watchmen and club members. 
From township 38, is gone State claims for certain 
lands, thus described: N.E. corner, 250 acres and 190 
acres, being lots 6 , 7, 26, 38, 43 , 49 , 55 and 56. The land . 
so described would be reached most cpnveniently_ from 
the railroad station at Nehasane. But if one did go 
in he would incur the results of the activity of the, 
guardians of Nehasane Park, which was founded by 
Dr. William Seward Webb. The State claims in- town- 
ship 38 amounted to 2160 acres,' and those acres are 
scattered through Sergeant’s tract, as any one can 
verify by looking at the map— right in the center of 
Nehasane Park. 
In township 50, lot 47 — 70 acres. 
In Saratoga county, Kayaderosseras patent, 24th 
allotment. Great lot III. lot 2, sub 2—90 acres. Sander’s 
lot 8, subs 6 and 8—146 acres 
In St. Lawrence county, McComb s purchase, breat 
tract III, township 3, middle third of Harrison tract, 
lot 8, subs 6 and 8—146 acres. r -r^- • , 
In Brodie tract, township II, town of Pitcairn, lots 
128 and 178—171-41 acres. 
In jL^ewis county, Brantmgham tract, lots 6 and 93— 
315 acres. ■ ■ - n r nn 
In tract 4, McComb’s purchase, lots 337 . 338 , 906, 988, 
991, and 992 — 1,174 acres. 
Charles Fenton, one of . the most widely known men 
of northern New York, passed away very _ suddenly at 
Lake Placid, Friday night, where he and his wife were 
stopping en route on a trip through the Adirondack 
region. , 
Mr. Fenton and his wife climbed Whiteface Mountain 
in the morning and lunched on the summit. As they 
were descending about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, two 
miles from the base of the- mountain, he stumbled and 
fell exhausted. He and his wife were alone at the time. 
Mrs. Fenton hurried to the lake, where she sent_ out a 
summons for help. Without waiting for this assistance 
to come, she climbed back to where her husband had 
fallen and found him dead. 
Charles Fenton was the son of Orrin Fenton, who set- 
tled in Number Four in 1826, one of the first of those in- 
domitable pioneers who attacked the northern forests, and 
was born at Number Four June 15, 1829. He received his 
early education at the old log school house built by the 
settlers, afterward completing his studies at Lowville 
Academy. After leaving the academy he assisted his 
father on their forest farm, engaging with the other 
pioneers in the constant struggle with the wilderness 
and the rigors of the northern climate. During the 
next few years Mr. Fenton engaged in lumbering and 
also frequently guided parties of his friends through the 
then untracked forest. 
But as the years went by, one by one the settlers gave 
up the terrific struggle with the forest. The soil was 
poor, the summers short, the winters long, and the mar- 
kets far distant over roads impassable through the greater 
part of the year. Twenty-five years after the settlement 
at Number Four was begun only three families remained, 
among these was that of Orrin Fenton. For many years 
his home on the shores of Beaver Lake was open for the 
accommodation of hunters and pleasure seekers in the 
wilderness. But at last he, too, left the forest, and the 
person to whom he sold his house kept the place a few 
years. In 1872 Charles Fenton purchased the property, 
and enlarged and improved the resort until at the present 
time it is one of the most noted hotels in the Adirondack 
region. For fifty years Mr. Fenton was identified with 
all public enterprises in the town of Watson. He was post- 
master at Number Four for twenty years, and through his 
influence a daily mail was established in 1881. Several years 
ago Mr. Fenton made over his Number Four property and 
valuable farm property jn Watson to his children, and 
settled down to enjoy his remaining years in the forest 
which he loved so well. He was a man of sterling in- 
tegrity, as honest and true as the eternal rocks of his . 
forest home. One of the kindest and gentlest natures, 
he endeared himself to all “with perfect faith in God and 
man a-shining from bis eyes.” _ 
Many who read this article will remember his kindly 
face, his unfailing good humor and unbou-nded hospital- 
ity. He -will be mourned in all quarters of the country 
by a host of friends as ohe of nature’s noblemen, a thor- 
ough sportsman and a kindly, gentle man. 
At the time of his death Mr. Fenton was president of 
the Fenton Game Preserve Association, located at Num-. 
ber Four. This Association controls a park of 45,000 
acres in the vicinity of Number Four. — Lowville (N. Y.)- 
Journal and Republican, Sept. 28. 
Justice Barker* 
Boston, Mass., Oct. -4. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Hon. James Madison Barker, Justice of the Suprerhe 
Judicial Court of Massachusetts, was found dead from 
heart disease in his bed yesterday morning. He had held 
court the day before, and his death was sudden and prob- 
ably painless. An honest, fearless man, an upright and 
painstaking judge, whose opinions were held in the high- 
est respect by the bar, he has been duly honored by the 
press of this commonwealth. 
It is fitting, however, that Forest and Stream should 
take notice o'f his death, for Judge Barker was a leading 
sportsman of the State. He was particularly fond of 
woodcock shooting. A splendid shot himself he always' 
gave “the other fellow” the first chance, and no man was 
more interested than he in proper legislation and proper 
enforcement of all laws for protecting our fish and game. 
He was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire county, where he 
always made his home, in 1839, was appointed Justice of 
the Superior Court in 1882 and Justice of the Supreme 
Court in 1891. He was always an o-ut-door man. 
Every one who knew him mourns his loss, and none' 
more than those' 'who were his companions in the fields 
and woods. James Russell Reed. 
Of Judge Barker’s taste for outdoor life and sports, 
the Springfield Republican writes: “Judge Barker was 
fond of outdoor life, and loved to fish and hunt. He' 
bad promoted the shooting club, with headquarters and ' 
a small preserve in the hill town of "Windsor, located 
not far from where Senator Crane has built his summer 
outing place. He knew the Berkshire haunts of the 
trout and birds as not many men in the co-unty did.' 
He rarely missed being in the woods each week of the 
autumn, and his winter excursions to the South were 
for quail shooting in the Carolinas. The revival of life 
im the open which country clubs have brought of late 
years was welcomed and fostered by Judge Barker, 
who found the Pittsfield organization a great resource. 
He was a charter member and one of the house com- 
mittee at his death. Almost literally the work of his 
hands was the beautiful road which was run through 
the 300 acres owned by the club. To golf he was an 
early and devoted victim, playing in the spring while 
the ground was still frozen, through the summer when 
the thermometer reached into the 80s, and in the fall 
when the foliage was in its glory. Snow alone drove 
him from the links. When the club bought its beauti- 
ful and heavily wooded property. Judge Barker assisted 
in thinning out the trees and shrubbery. He welcomed 
the suggestion that a road be opened through the prop- 
erty to connect with a road on the east, and took, the 
burden of the work upon himself. Nearly every after- 
noon for an entire summer Judge Barker and a small 
l3oy were in the woods, the judge cutting down trees 
and small growth, the boy being along, for company 
and to report any accident that might possibly over- 
take him. Over a mile of road was thus cut through 
the property, and the justice would return to the club 
house with hardened hands and tired muscles and 
declare that the exercise took the cobwebs out of his 
brain and gave mental vigor for the solution of cases- 
which.came up for his opinion.” 
' A Mouse in a Ttap. 
A MOUSE began to make a disturbance in the paper 
back of my desk the other night just as my wife and I 
settled down after supper to read. He was a new arrival 
from some neighboring barn. They have found a ,'way, 
into my study up through the sheathing of the sliding 
door. Mrs. A. is very tender-hearted with all living 
things except such small deer as interfere with her houso- 
keeping. These she persecutes relentlessly. Her mouse- 
trap was forthcoming at once, and, baited with a little 
cheese, was slid under the desk. It is _ one of these , 
diabolical contrivances which smash a wire loop down- 
ward on the victim. 
It was only a few moments till we heard its vicious 
click. Immediately afterward I heard distinctly a series 
of rapid aspirated squeaks which made me hustle the trap 
out in haste, to relieve the sufferer. Knowing how deadly 
the trap is, I was surprised at hearing any sound. I was 
even more, so when I saw that the little victim had been 
caught by the descending striker square across the back 
on the lungs. Its heart was still fluttering, but it seemed 
to me impossible for it to have drawn breath enough to 
make any sound whatever. Then I . remembered that the 
squeaks were more like barks of fright than screams' of 
pain. Somewhat wonderingly, therefore, I set the trap 
again, to see if there was a companion. 'Within five 
minutes it nailed another. There was no sound this time 
except that of the trap. Both were immature females. 
"What I wish to know is, did No. 2 bark when No. i was 
caught? Do mice ever exhibit fright and surprise by 
whistling or barking? Aztec. 
It Will Interest Them. 
To Each Reader: 
If you find in the Forest and Stream news or discussions of 
interest, your friends and acquaintances who are fond of out-door 
life will probably also enjoy reading it. If you think of any who 
would do so, and care to send them coin cards, which, when re- 
turned with a nominal sum, will entitle them to one short-time 
“trial trip,” we shall be glad to send you, without cost, coin 
cards for such distribution, upon receiving from you a postal 
card request. Or, the following blank may be sent: 
Forest and Stream Publishing Co., 
346 Broadway, New York. 
Please send me Forest and Stream Coin 
Cards to distribute to friends. 
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Address...! 
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