Nov. 4, 1905.] 
date those who make this claim, he replied emphaitically 
in the negative. In his judgment, it would be possible 
for them to take now and then a day or half a day 
off for field sport, and the consequent loss in wages 
would not be seriously felt. 
One day this week an electric car in Swansea (near 
Fall River) was held up by a big buck, which would not 
leave the track till driven away by the motorman, who 
stopped his car for that purpose. 
At Mt. Sunapee, N. H., many are enjoying the hunt- 
ing season, treeing coons by moonlight being one of the 
diversions. Mr. D. W. Chandler, of the B. & M. Rail- 
road, has secured his quota of birds. A 200-pound 
buck was recently brought out from Colebrook by 
Arthur Gilchrist, who has been in camp with his family. 
Mr. and Mrs. George Rogers, of Boston, Have been 
hunting in Corbin Park. Dr. Sherman, one of a party 
from Cambridge, occasioned a good deal of merriment 
this week at Bristol by shooting one of farmer Pike’s 
rams, which he mistook for a deer. Of course the doctor 
settled. 
The six days’ deer season in Vermont closed to-day 
and reports are current that not less than 1,000 deer have 
been killed in that time. Commissioner Thomas’ record 
is not yet at hand. 
A sad shooting accident is reported from Essex Junc- 
tion, it being 'the probably fatal wounding of Howard 
French, a lad of seventeen years, by the accidental dis- 
charge of a gun in the hands of his companion. 
In the action brought against H. E. Popp, of Boston, 
for the killing of guide Daniel Durgin, reported from 
the Forks of the Kennebec, after a careful investigation 
Mr. Popp has been found blameless. The hunter was 
one of a party of three artists all in , the employ of the 
Boston Globe. Mr. Popp was walking a short distance 
behind the guide carrying his rifle at the half-cock 
through a thick growth of underbrush, when a limb swept 
back with such force as to throw the trigger to full cock 
and cause the discharge of the rifle. Everything possible 
was done to save the life of the wounded man but with- 
out avail. 
The receipts of game at Bangor have been, running 
" large through the week, more than equalling those of the 
corresponding period of last year, both of deer and moose. 
Hunting conditions have been excellent and can only 
be improved by a fall of snow, which is pretty sure to 
come very soon. 
A few 'Massachusetts hunters who , have been success- 
ful are G.- and W. Hubnell, F. W. Lane, R. R. Smith, T. 
H. Wheeler and A. J. Cummings, of Boston; E. Ward, 
Newton; L. B. Allen and J. B. Howard, Medford; 
Messrs. Colburn and Elliott, Andover; F. N. Downes 
and H. Lovering, Somerville, and G. M. Converse, of 
Cambridge. 
Two active members of the State Association have 
had a wonderfully successful trip to New Brunswick, 
. Messrs. George B. Clark, of Boston, and F. P. Royce, of 
Dedham. They went about forty miles back from Boise- 
town into the Dungarven district. Each of them secured 
a magnificent moose with over fifty inches spread of ant- 
lers. They found partridges galore, and report seeing 
not less than 125 moose. Mr. Clark says he feels much 
safer in the wilderness of New Brunswick than in that of 
Maine, and willingly paid the license fee of $50. Many 
admirable trophies are to be seen in his office in the Tre- 
mont Building. 
In a letter from your valued correspondent, Edward 
A. Samuels, he writes- that moose are plentiful in Shel- 
burne county, N. S. He was privileged to eat a portion 
of one killed by a friend a few days ago — the finest moose 
steak he ever ate. . 
Two other hunters in the woods from Monday to Fri- 
day returned with three. Another party, two brothers, 
got three good moose on a trip of a few days. He says 
it is a pity hunters are not restricted to a single moose 
in a season, which ought to be enough for anyone. 
Central. 
Maine License and Sunday Shooting. 
Boston, Mass., Oct. 27. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your most interesting journal I notice from time to 
time various criticisms as to the game laws of Maine, 
and while on the whole these laws seem to_ rne right and 
desirable and I would gladly see in addition to them a 
universal gun tax as in Europe, which would have the ten- 
dency to stop the destructive shooting of everything that 
flies by foreigners— Italians and others — and by irrespon- 
sible boys, all of whom can in these days buy a fair gun 
for a few dollars, still there are some points in the situa- 
tion in Maine which seem to be open to question. 
One is that, unlike New Hampshire, Maine requires 
a license from all persons who are not actual residents 
of the State (i. e., who do not vote there I suppose it 
means), no matter how much property they may own- in 
the State or how large taxes they pay there. Under this 
law a man with a house and surrounding property taxed 
for, say, $25,000, which house is kept open the year round 
and is occupied by the owner perhaps half the year and 
off and on the rest, yet who votes in Massachusetts, is 
called upon for a license, even to shoot on his own prop- 
erty, while a man voting in Maine, paying no taxes at all 
perhaps, and passing the winter in Florida, for instance, 
is exempt. 
What, in my mind, however, is more serious than this 
is the way the existing laws in some instances are not 
mforced. Notably the law prohibiting shooting on Sun- 
day.. A stream not ten miles from Augusta, which for 
the fifty years that I can remember such things, has given 
excellent duck shooting and where the wood duck have 
always bred, a place almost under the eyes of the game 
authorities at Augusta, is practically ruined for shooting, 
and this year for the first time not a woodduck could be 
found there. The Sunday shooting on it has always been 
openly carried on. One Sunday last year over thirty shots 
were counted from one standpoint, and the birds can get 
no rest and are abandoning the place. For at least four 
years the attention of the Game Commission has been 
called to this time and time again, and yet apparently not 
the slightest effort has been made by them to prevent it, 
although a stop could easily be put to it under the cir- 
cumstances. 
I think the question can be fairly put to the Maine 
Legislature whether it is fair to tax a man (perhaps a 
native oi the State) for a license, no matter what amount 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
378 
of taxes he pays in the State, and also whether it is fair 
to take his money and then not use reasonable efforts to 
enforce the laws that make such payment of any prac- 
tical value to him. B. Vaughan. 
Canine Crosses. 
The notes we have printed on this before make per- 
tinent the following correspondence and comment in the 
London Field on some wild dogs found in Spain. A 
Malaga correspondent wrote : 
“During the month of June last several predatory ani- 
mals were found to be playing havoc on the mountain 
sides around Malaga, and opinions differed as to whether 
they were wolves, hybrids between wolf and dog, or de- 
scendants of domestic dogs that have run wild and bred 
for generations in a wild state. Numbers of kids, fowls 
and peacocks have been killed by these brutes, and at 
least one dog that I know of, a medium-sized watch dog, 
near my house. A Spanish farmer sat up one night with 
a gun and killed two of the animals, a full-grown bitch 
and her bitch puppy. The ears do not seem to me like 
those of a wolf, and I have seen, many in North America 
and elsewhere. They are more like those of a fox. In 
■color the animal is a yellowish gray with long gray hairs 
interspersed, and it is very long in the leg for its size, 
like all the Spanish foxes.” 
Mr. Abel Chapman, the author of “Wild Spain,” com- 
mented on this : 
“On looking at the photographs we were struck with 
the similarity of the animal to the podcnco, a very com- 
mon breed of dog in Spain, about half-way between a 
SPANISH WILD DOG. 
smooth Irish terrier and a greyhound. These dogs are 
commonly used in Spain for hunting both large and small 
game, and we have known instances of their running 
wild, as domestic cats often do. They are generally be- 
lieved in Spain to have been originally crossed with a 
fox, the smaller breeds — that is, those called the paterna 
breed — the larger with the wolf, as in the Sierra Morena. 
“It is a curious circumstance that in 1891, when we 
were after ibex in the hills between Malaya and Gibraltar 
there was some excitement about an irruption of ‘wild 
dogs,’ which were playing havoc wuth the flocks of sheep 
and goats. The local Spanish papers called them jackals. 
We did not see any ourselves, nor have I ever heard of 
them again until now. I should think those mentioned 
are podencos run wild, possibly having some fresh cross 
with the- fox if they have been running wild for a few 
years. I do not know if there are any wolves in the 
Malaga hills or not.” 
Vermont Blackcock and Deer. 
Sheldon, Vt., Oct. 27. — Editor Forest and Stream: Mr. 
Harry Noyes, of Hyde Park, Vt., shot this season a pair 
of birds that I think were without a doubt hybrids, a 
cross between ruffed grouse and blackcock. These birds 
were found in Cambridge, this State, not far from Mid- 
dlebury, where the writer had some years ago a few pair 
of blackcock released. These hybrids were fully one-half 
larger than a large ruffed grouse, and the dark bands 
were a light chestnut color. As the men were short of 
meat in camp the birds went into the pot instead of being 
sent to a taxidermist. 
For several years after blackcock were released we had 
favorable reports of their breeding, and have no doubt 
that they have by this time spread over a considerable 
extent of territory, and if they are crossing with our na- 
tive grouse it will please the majority of our sportsmen, 
as they will make a larger mark to shoot at, and also 
give a little more meat in the pot. 
So far there have been about twenty large buck deer 
shot in' this section of the State, and in some cases the 
scenes here are much like those in Long Island on the 
opening day — intense excitement and abundant profanity 
and shooting [cuss] Bang! bang! bang! In one instance 
a party were heard shouting, “Shoot that doe; she’d no 
business to be without horns. Give it to her.” When we 
consider that these animals are semi-domesticated and 
have been running among our cattle unmolested during 
the greater part of the season, it seems little short of 
murder to give them the kind of treatment that they now 
are receiving. There is a strong feeling expressed here 
among the farmers to have a close season for at least 
five years on deer. Then post their farms and keep the 
factory and village rabble off their property. Now nearly 
every boy that we meet has a high power rifle, and is out 
to kill something, and we expect that investigation will 
show that there has been a general massacre of both 
does and fawns. As there is generally sooner or later a 
“falling out among thieves,” we may expect to at some 
future date receive information that will be used to make 
some of these fellows contribute $100 to the game pro- 
tection fund. 
- Woodcock ’shooting has been fair since the migratory 
birds have arrived; ruffed grouse are scarce;- our opeti 
season on these birds (grouse) should be shortened to 
Oct. I, and close Dec. i. Foxes and mice are numerous. 
Gray squirrels also- scarce. Stanstead. 
Venison in Season. 
Now THAT many populous sections of the country^ espe- 
cially in New England, are likely soon to be overrun with 
deer (which are even now depredating on the farmers) 
and venison is to become a frequent, if not a staple, article 
of diet, the suggestion may be opportune, in view of the 
near convening of the legislatures, that measures be taken 
to make these viands as palatable and wholesome as pos- 
sible so that the appetite may not sour on it. As the sea- 
son stands at present, under the laws, whatever deer meat 
is sold in the markets or even distributed by amateur 
hunters who are out for pastime is hardly fit to eat. Why? 
Because it is allowed to be hunted and killed only when 
it is strong, and permeated with animal odors, caused by 
inordinate sensual excitement and stimulation of the 
functional glands during the season of rutting — that is, 
during October and November. It is indeed a remark- 
able fact that no State law extant permits venison to be 
eaten when it is healthiest and of choicest flavor, so that 
it may be impressed upon all that none of us taste it at 
its best except we eat it clandestinely. 
This is certainly a grating reflection upon the astute 
law-makers who devise and designate the close season. It 
shows that the laws have not been enacted advisedly, or 
with regard to the natural laws which govern animal 
habits and pathology. They have not been wisely drawn, 
either in the interest of the creatures which they osten- 
sibly are framed to protect, nor in the interest of the peo- 
ple w'ho are supposed to be. wards of State paternalism. 
In Great Britain buck and stag venison; that is, fallow 
and red deer meat, is in season in August and September, 
and so it ought to be in this country. Some stags are 
shot in early October, but that date is rather late, even 
for Scotland, for the stags are “roaring” then, and be- 
ginning to be out of condition, while in English parks 
October is too late altogether. On the other hand, hind 
venison and doe venison are in season at Christmas and 
in January, as by a curious provision of nature, although 
the pairing season is early in autumn, the hinds and does 
continue to lay on fat and improve when the stags are 
really w'orthless. 
No one would enjoy to eat the flesh of a billy goat 
w'hose presence to windward was detected by a whiff of 
rank body odor, nor even that of a sheep or cow. Even 
the milk of cows is often tainted by the undue secretions 
of the glands by hasty driving from pasture, so that it 
is hardly fit to use, and meat of cattle killed at the abat- 
tcirs is affected by undue excitement or over-exertion. 
Obviously our laws on big game ought to be amended. 
Charles Hallock. 
A Specials Experience with Italians. 
Schenectady, N. Y., Oet. 26. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have been reading with interest your articles 
on bird protection and thought perhaps you would like to 
hear of some of the experiences I have been through in 
that line myself. I have been a special State protector 
for three years or more and have done quite a little to help 
the good w'ork along, having convicted a large number of 
violators of the game laws in that time. The death of 
Protector Bradley some time ago reminds me of a rather 
narrow escape from death I had about three months ago. 
I arrested two Italians at a place about two miles from 
the city for shooting robins. They had sixteen robins 
and other birds in their possession. One of the Italians 
broke away and ran. I took after him; and after a chase 
of about two miles was overhauling him rapidly when, 
without a minute’s w-arning, he whirled and fired at me 
at about 60 feet range. The shot were No. 5, and about 
fourteen of them lodged in my head and breast. I got 
on my feet as soon as I could and fired at him. The 
blood was running down my face and I could not see 
very well ; but think I hit him once, as he fell but re- 
gained his feet and jumped in front of a freight train, 
w'hich was passing at the time, and by the time the train 
passed he had disappeared. We hunted for him four 
days, but could not find any trace of him, The other 
day one of his friends received a letter from him stating 
he had fled back to Italy. I w'as laid up for about two 
weeks, but have got all right again. 
I arrested two of them last Sunday. They had eight 
robins and three song sparrows In their possession. One 
paid a fine of $50, the other is spending fifty days in the 
county jail. This class of people have slaughtered song 
birds for a long time until we got after them pretty 
strong, and now we have got the practice pretty well 
broken up, although every once in a while one will take 
a chance at it. I arrested two last month for killing 
song birds; and one of them I had stopped _about_ two 
hours before and warned him and gave him a sign printed 
in Italian warning them about the shooting of song birds 
and telling them the penalty for so doing. 
F. P. ViELE, Special State Warden. 
Massachtfsetts Decn 
The Hampshire Gazette, published in Northampton, 
Mass., of Oct. 24 says that deer are inereasing_ in alarm- 
ingly large numbers in Hampshire county, and it uses the 
word, alarmingly advisedly. ‘ There is trouble, ahead for 
farmers and fruit growers, and they know it. C. H. , 
MY SIXTY YEARS ON THE PLAINS 
The volume of old-time prairie life by William T. Hamilton, 
reviewed last week in the Forest and Stream, and advertised this 
week on another page, is meeting an extremely cordial reception 
everywhere. Out .in Montana, where Mr. Hamilton still resides, 
and where so many of his stirring adventures took place, the book 
has made a real furore, and a thousand copies were sold in 
advance of publication. This is not strange, since the book is a 
Montana product, and one of which residents of Montana may be 
justly proud. Its author is perhaps the oldest resident of the 
State, while Mr. Chas. M. Russell, its illustrator, is an artist in 
whom the. State feels a personal interest and a natural pride. 
The great charm, of this volume is its simplicity, its directness 
and its modesty. Among all the exciting and daring adventures 
with which the volume abounds, the author never speaks of himself 
as having performed any special deed of skill or bravery, but he is 
lavish in his praises of the courage and dexterity of his fellow 
trappers. The volume is one which every outdoof ina|?, and 
especially 'every Western man, should read. 
