Sept, i, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
display of speckled beauties (I forget, must not 
say that), their eagerness to appropriate the 
aforesaid specks to home consumption superin¬ 
duces incipient carelessness, and the invariable 
result is their elegant wardrobes find their final 
resting place in my famous pillow. 
It is fair to presume that a bird will eat one 
fish per day. A young bird before leaving the 
nest will eat all the fish an old pair can bring 
it, be the same more or less. Now, we will be 
reasonable by keeping our figures within reason, 
and we will be disappointed if we are not disap¬ 
pointed in the result. Although a pair of birds 
may produce four young each year, we make no 
account of it; but assuming that death from 
natural or unnatural causes will keep the stock 
about the same, we will only reckon upon the 
number of fish the birds I have killed would eat. 
SOLUTION. 
Average number of birds killed per year, for 
five years . 37 
One fish per day, 200 days per year... 7,400 
Five years’ supply for first year’s score.37,000 
Fours years’ supply for second year’s score.. .29,600 
Three years’ supply for third year’s score.22,200 
Two years’ supply for fourth year’s score.14,800 
One year’s supply for fifth year’s score. 7,400 
Total ..111,000 
This is the number of fish saved. This is only 
the number of fish required to feed the birds 
while they are here on their summer business 
tour, and our southern friends must care for 
them 165 days longer to complete the year. 
Again, thirty-seven birds will eat 13.505 fish 
per year and upon the same basis as above, if 
all are allowed to live, will eat 202,575 fish in 
five years. As near as I can get at it my traps 
have cleared a section covering about three 
miles square, which is equal to nine square miles, 
and as the State of New York contains 50.519 
square miles, the intelligent pupil will readily 
see (mentally) that if the whole State had been 
attended to in the same way, the total saving 
of fish to the State would have been 623,067,666 
fish in five years. These calculations furnish 
sufficient mile stones for the persevering phil¬ 
osopher to catch on and tell us how many fish 
are destroyed annually in the United States by 
kingfishers. May it not be well to offer pre¬ 
miums or pay bounties for the destruction of 
this terrible scourge of which so .little notice has 
been taken. I waive any present claim that I 
may have. 
Appendix.—Three more kingfishers scored 
since writing the above and 6,625 fish saved in 
five years. Wooden Sinker. 
Alabama Fish and Game. 
Alma, Ark .—Editor Forest and Stream: After 
spending much time and trouble, we have at last 
succeeded in catching four miscreants who have 
been killing fish in our waters with dynamite. 
Two years ago the writer posted a reward for 
evidence that would convict any person of this 
crime in the waters of Crawford county; and 
tempted by the ready cash, two young men 
came in from the country and informed on four 
persons, Jack Cox, Charles Hazel, John M. 
Hickey and Stokes. They were arrested and 
put under bond to answer the charge before 
Esquire T. B. Murphy. On the day set for 
trial it was found that Hazel had forfeited his 
bond and Hickey was begging to be allowed to 
turn State’s evidence and be let off. This offer 
was accepted by the District-Attorney. Cox 
and Stokes seeing that further resistance was 
useless, entered pleas of guilty, and were fined 
$50 each and costs, amounting to $60 in each 
case. Hazel’s bondsmen will be sued on the 
bond, and a standing reward is offered by the 
Alma Fishing and Hunting Club. It is next to 
"impossible to prevent the use of dynamite in our 
waters, as long as the penalty is only a fine; if 
imprisonment was added, then we could protect 
our fish. But we have no idea of giving up the 
fight; on the contrary, the reward will stand, 
and every one caught will be prosecuted. 
Fishing has not been good here this season, 
on account of so much rain keeping the waters 
muddy. For the last two years our waters have 
contained many carp. Whether or not this will 
diminish the game fish, remains to be seen, but 
I am of the opinion that it will. 
There is a small brook running through the 
north and east side of this town that formerly 
contained hundreds of what are called black 
perch, a game fish and splendid food fish; but 
with the coming of the carp, they have almost 
entirely disappeared. As to the bass, I cannot 
say yet what the effect will be. 
The quail crop this year is large, and shooting 
will be good when the season opens. In the 
river bottom section of this county quail have 
multiplied until they are found in every cover, 
and the protection afforded by the corn and 
cotton stalks is such that in a few more years 
they will be more numerous than any other 
feathered creature. 
Ducks in season are plentiful, and the lakes 
are filling with young wood ducks now. We 
need more stringent laws to protect them. 
Many geese winter here now, but they are so 
wary that it is next to impossible to get in reach 
of them with any kind of a gun. I will report 
a deer hunt in my next. J. E. London. 
Association of Angling Clubs. 
To the Angling Fraternity: 
During the International Fly and Bait Cast¬ 
ing Tournament held in Kalamazoo, Mich., on 
August 3 and 4, 1906, a National Association of 
Scientific Angling Clubs was formed, the objects 
of which are, primarily, to perfect universal rules 
under which to conduct national or international 
tournaments, to promote interest in scientific 
angling through tournament or contest casting, 
to guard against any evils of professionalism that 
may possibly arise, to assit in the propagation and 
protection of game fishes and influence legislation 
toward this end, to promote the appreciation of 
true amateur sportsmanship among anglers and 
lend normal suport to, all moves toward true 
sportsmanship in all sports, and to promote such 
social conditions as are incident to the sport of 
angling. 
The prevailing sentiment looks toward the 
maintenance of the absolute individuality of each 
club in its own affairs, contests, etc., but the 
general good of all in matters of interest to all. 
The management of the Association is vested 
in an Executive Corirmittee made up of the 
national officers elected and one representative 
form each club which already has or may here¬ 
after affiliate. 
Eight clubs are already affiliated, viz.: 
The Chicago Fly-Casting Club, the Fox River 
Valley Bail-Casting Club, the Grand Rapids Flv- 
Casting Club, the Illinois Bait-Casting Club, the 
Kalamazoo Bait and Fly-Casting Club, the Kansas 
City Bait and Fly-Casting Club, the Racine Fly- 
Casting Club, the San Francisco Flv-Casting 
Club. 
A cordial invitation is extended to all angling 
clubs and anglers to correspond with the presi¬ 
dent or secretary relative to their joining the 
Association as a club, or forming clubs eligible 
to membership. 
Provision will also be made for individual 
membership where the formation of a club is not 
feasible. The officers elected for the current year 
are: 
President, H. Wheeler Perce, Chicago F. C. 
C.; First Vice-President, B. L. Shutts, Kalama¬ 
zoo B. & F. C. C.; Second Vice-President, J. 
W. Bramhall, Kansas City B. & F. C. C.; Third 
Vice-President, Fred J. Wells, Fox River Valley 
B. C. C.; Fourth Vice-President, Walter B. 
Mansfield, San Francisco F. C. C.; Secretary, 
H. E. Rice, Illinois B. C. C.; Treasurer, Dr. C. 
F. Browne, Racine F. C. C. 
The enthusiasm over the new organization is 
very great, and it is generally believed its in¬ 
fluence will be far-reaching and that the beautiful 
sport of tournament or contest casting will re¬ 
ceive an impetus and its benefits be more thor¬ 
oughly appreciated by angling sportsmen through¬ 
out the country than ever before. 
H. Wheeler Perce, President, 
990 Old Colony Bldg., Chicago, Ill. 
H. E. Rice, Secretary. 
225 South Peoria Street, Chicago, Ill. 
Indiana Wardens’ Work. 
Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 20. —These are the 
days when the assistant game wardens are hot 
on the trails of violators of the fish and game 
laws of Indiana, and many a thrilling melodrama 
is enacted about the waters and woods that has 
ts only presentation in a dingy justice shop. 
Although the catching of culprits sounds prosaic 
enough, it bears a great deal of resemblance to 
the enforcement of frontier law. 
All over the State there are deputies prowling 
among the woods, along the streams and around 
the lakes in search of those who might be trans¬ 
gressing the regulations that are aimed to pre¬ 
serve fishing and hunting as a sport. Last week 
these deputies had a merry time of it, and, as 
a result of their vigils at night, almost a score 
of violators were brought to the bar of justice 
and assessed a sufficient amount to keep them 
from poaching in the future. 
One David Sullivan, of Irvington, was de¬ 
tected in the act of fishing with a net and given 
a fine. At Fowler, George Wilson was con¬ 
victed of shooting prairie chickens out of sea¬ 
son and was given a fine of $39.50. Johnny 
Coon, of Barbee Lakes, was haled before a 
Warsaw justice of the peace and heavily fined 
for the use of gill nets. 
Perhaps the most supectacular of all of the 
raids was that on Wednesday, by which two 
monster seines were taken out of the Wabash 
River between Lafayette and Attica. The seines 
aggregated 520 feet in length, and near them 
seven set nets were found. The deputies, after 
locating the nets, lay in wait on the banks of 
the river for several nights in efforts to catch 
the men who were operating them, but so far 
have failed to locate the offenders. The para¬ 
phernalia has been confiscated. 
In three or four cases captures of alleged 
offenders have taken place after revolver battles, 
and several cases are now pending in the courts 
to determine the rights of the officers to shoot 
at those who are trying to escape. B. 
South Bend Casting Club. 
South Bend, Ind.—A bait and fly-casting club 
has been organized here, with these officers: 
President, Horace Reynolds; Corresponding 
Secretary, Dr. Roscoe DeBoe; Vice-President 
Fred Dennis; Recording Secretary, F. M. 
Boone; Treasurer, Charles Zigler. The mem¬ 
bership fee is but 50 cents, and the yearly dues 
$1. This is sufficient to pay all the expenses 
of the club. 
It has been decided to make Springbrook the 
practice ground and place for. holding tourna¬ 
ments. The lake there is away from the wind 
and is an ideal place for casting. A committee 
will be appointed at once to have the lake pre¬ 
pared for practice. The members do not expect 
to hold anything but local tournaments this 
season, as it is too late to have any big events, 
but they will keep in practice and do preliminary 
work to a big tournament next year. They are 
going to try to land the international tourna¬ 
ment for South Bend in 1908, which was held 
at Kalamazoo this season. 
Golden Fish-Hooks. 
E. J. Smith, of Tuscon, Ariz., has four gold 
fish-hooks that he unearthed in the South Ameri¬ 
can places. He was mining in a river bed near 
the city of Cali, in the State of Cauca, United 
States of Colombia, in 1866, when he pulled up 
a small tree by the roots, and there in the sand 
lay an even baker’s dozen of regularly shaped 
gold fish-hooks of the ordinary size. They are 
not bent in the Limerick fashion. Without doubt 
they are the work of prehistoric Indians governed 
by the Incas. When Mr. Smith returned to San 
Francisco he gave some away, lost others, and 
now has only four left. He has been repeatedly 
asked to put his price on these, but refuses to 
do so. The other day he refused an offer of 
$20 for one. It was such trifles as these that 
excited the avarice of Pizarro and other vandals 
who tore down better governments than have 
ever occupied the same territory since. 
