832 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company 
Chas. A. Hazen, President Charles L. Wise, Treasurer 
W. G. Beecroft, Secretary Russell A. Lewis, Gen. Mgr. 
2 2 Thames Street, New York. 
CORRESPONDENCE:—Forest and Stream is the re¬ 
cognized medium of entertainment, instruction and in¬ 
formation between American sportsmen. The editors 
invite communications on the subjects to which its pages 
are devoted, but, of course, are not responsible for the 
views of correspondents. Anonymous communications 
cannot be regarded. 
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Entered in New York Post Office as Second class matter. 
SHOWING STOLEN DOGS. 
In another column appears a letter from Mr. 
E. M. Post, an authority on show dogs, particu¬ 
larly the Airedale. This communication opens 
an interesting discussion—i. e.: Is there a method 
of indelibly marking a dog, without marring it 
or of injuring the coat? There must be some 
method of branding the canine so that the 
meanest brand of thief, next to the poor-box 
robber, cannot steal a dog, fake a pedigree and 
show him, perhaps for honors, under another 
kennel name. Undoubtedly at every bench 
show and field trial dogs are shown under 
owners and kennel names to which they are 
not entitled. 
If the American Kennel Club insisted that 
every dog shown, be marked with the breeders’ 
name or trade-mark, the profit from thieving of 
show possibilities would be nil and the conse¬ 
quent purloining greatly reduced. We would 
appreciate the opinion of our medical friends 
on the feasibility of branding the pup. 
FEATHER TRUST PULLING WIRES. 
The bird destroyers’ association, referred to 
generally as the feather trust, though doing busi¬ 
ness under title of International Plume Dealers 
Association, like the cornered rat facing starva¬ 
tion, is putting up a fight for life. At its In¬ 
ternational congress, just held in Paris, the mem¬ 
bers of this extermination society adopted a 
resolution urging the repeal of the section of the 
United States tariff act prohibiting the importa¬ 
tion of plumage and the similar legislation in 
Canada and urging that the proposed legislation 
of the British Parliament along similar lines be 
killed. 
With the action of United States and Canada 
as precedent there is little doubt that Great 
Britain will further stifle the plume dealers. 
The State of Pennsylvania passed legislation 
prohibiting the wearing of aigrettes, even though 
purchased before the bill went into effect. Such 
legislation in every state would prevent the pur¬ 
chase of aigrettes, through underground channels, 
thereby putting the handles on the casket of the 
piume hunter, then everything will be ready for 
his interment. 
CHANGES IN NEW JERSEY GAME LAWS. 
The New Jersey Board of Fish and Game 
Commissioners have a synopsis of all acts of the 
last Legislature relating to fish and game. The 
announcement is made in the form of a bulletin, 
which says, “below will be found changes made 
in the laws, all of which are now in effect with 
the exception of the new hunting and fishing 
license law, which will not go into effect until 
January 1, 1915.” The bulletin further says that 
"until January 1, 1915, hunting licenses will be 
issued by authority of the laws under which they 
have been issued in the past and in the same 
manner.” 
The general laws are changed as follows: 
"Makes closed season of wild turkey for five 
years; provides that all pound net licenses shall 
expire December 31; provides that all menhaden 
licenses shall expire December 31, and makes the 
penalty for violation of the menhaden act $500; 
makes close season for net fishing in the Mullica 
River from March 1 to November 15; prohibits 
persons under 14 years of age from taking out a 
resident hunter’s license; prohibits all spearing 
of eels and erection of all eel weirs in fresh 
water; permits fifty-fathom gill nets and hauling 
seines to be used in the Delaware River and bay 
between Delaware and New Jersey, from March 
1 to December 31, for the purpose of taking food 
fish and white and yellow perch. Skunk, mink, 
muskrat and otter may only be taken by being 
trapped in all parts of the state from November 
15 to April 1, excepting in Salem county above 
Mill Creek, where it is lawful to kill such animals 
between those dates; makes a closed season on 
female English or ring-neck pheasants for five 
years, except on game reserves duly licensed by 
the fish and game commissioners; prohibits bait¬ 
ing or decoying of wild water fowl in any salt or 
fresh waters with exception of wild celery and 
wild rice; prohibits use of hauling seines beneath 
!he ice in salt water, the act intended to put the 
net fishermen of upper Barnegat bay out of busi¬ 
ness; prohibits dogs from running at large ex¬ 
cept during the open season for killing quail, 
rabbit, squirrel, English or ring-neck pheasants. 
“All licenses must be obtained from any 
county or municipal clerk or salaried fish and 
game warden, and these licenses entitle holders, 
who are residents of the United States, and above 
the age of 14 years, to hunt with firearms and to 
fish. These licenses are known as ‘Resident 
Hunting and Fishing Licenses.’ No license to 
fish is required of resident females or males 
under 14 years of age. Non-residents and alien 
males and females must secure a ‘Non-Resident’ 
and ‘Aliens’ Hunting and Fishing License’ in 
order to hunt any protected or unprotected wild 
bird, animal or fowl, which license also entitles 
the holder to fish. No license is required to fish 
of non-resident and alien females or non¬ 
resident and alien males under 14 years of age. 
No license is required to hunt or fish by owners 
of farms or their families on land owned by 
them, but employes living on such places are 
not exempt from the law in these respects.” 
COMPARATIVE DANGER IN AFRICAN 
' HUNTING. 
Through the kindness of a long time friend of 
Forest and Stream, we are permitted to print 
some paragraphs from a private letter that lie 
has just received from a well known African 
hunter, now in London, England. The writer 
has made many trips to Africa and has been a 
successful killer of big game. The paragraphs 
which follow were in reply to various questions 
asked by his correspondent about certain of the 
greatest game animals. As to the elephant the 
hunter says: 
Tusks of 100 ibs. each, or anything near it, are 
considered large tusks at the present day, al¬ 
though two or three years ago, in the same part 
of the country we were in, a couple of weeks 
later, one of the native chiefs shot a bull which 
had tusks 150 lbs. weight each. Rowland Ward 
has in his window a pair weighing about 160 lbs. 
each. I forget the exact weight, but these are old 
tusks, and were secured a good many years ago. If I 
recollect right, the New York Zoological Society 
has in its collection of heads and horns at Zoo¬ 
logical Park two tusks presented to it by the late 
Charles T. Barney which are records for length, 
but I do not know about their weights. 
It is excessively difficult to determine the com¬ 
parative danger in hunting the elephant, buffalo, 
lion and rhino. Much depends on the country. 
If the wind is steady a hunter can approach an 
elephant in fairly open country to within 40 or 
50 yards or closer, get a steady aim and drop 
his bull with a .256 or .303 solid bullet in the 
brain. An elephant, or a small herd, especially 
bulls, almost always makes off up wind, and con¬ 
sequently away from the hunter. In bad country, 
and with a big herd, especially if the herd has 
been shot at, it is likely to be unpleasant. It is 
only a short time since the man who was with 
me was charged by two cows that got his wind. 
He had gotten into the herd, looking for a bull, 
and crept to windward of these cows. 
It is just as hard to say what is true about the 
danger of hunting lions. A single lion or two or 
three in short grass—eight inches to a foot long— 
is an easy victim to a man with a steady nerve. 
If a lion and lioness are seen, a beginner is likely 
to take the lion, when the lioness will often 
charge viciously at the shot and sometimes get 
home. In grass eighteen inches or more in 
height a lion or lioness is extremely dangerous. 
They hide with wonderful cleverness, and you 
may get too near to them to stop them if they 
charge. The oftener you miss a charging lion 
the harder it comes on, the noise seems to anger it. 
I do not like to see an elephant charge. It 
comes on with ears spread out and trunk ex¬ 
tended, screaming and trumpeting with rage, 
and it needs very steady nerves to down it with 
a shot at the forehead just above the base of 
the trunk. Sometimes they can be turned by a 
couple of heavy bullets in the forehead, which, 
while not killing the animal, will stun and con¬ 
fuse it. 
A buffalo dies hard, and you, of course, have 
heard of its habit when wounded of making a 
circle and coming on its enemies from behind, 
or from the side. 
The rhino is stupid and you never know what 
it may do. When startled or wounded, it gives 
several short rushes, apparently blindly. This 
habit is not pleasant if you happen to be in line 
of one of these rushes. Then it may rush off, or 
may stop to see if it still scents danger, when it 
may rush again. All hunters differ about these 
animals. 
It is certainly true that in the books on Afri¬ 
can hunting one may find as many opinions about 
the comparative danger of hunting these large 
species as there are species. Mr. F. C. Selous, the 
best known and one of the most experienced of 
old-time African hunters, has declared to us 
that the evidence on this subject is altogether 
conflicting. Perhaps we shall never know wheth¬ 
er there is any law as to the comparative danger 
of hunting these animals; it may be largely a 
question of individual temper and disposition 
which governs. 
