144 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Feb. I, 1913 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company, 
Charles Otis, President. 
W'. G. Beecroft, .Secretary. W. J. Gallagher, Treasurer. 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
CORRESPONDENCE — Forest and Stream is the 
recognized 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. 
SCHSCRIPTIONS: $3 a year; $1.50_for six months; 
10 cts. a copy. Canadian, $4 a year; foreign, $4.50 a year. 
This paper may be obtained of newsdealers throughout 
the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Fordgn 
Subscription and Sales Agents—London: Davies & Co., 
1 Finch Lane; Sampson, Low & Co. Paris: Brentano s. 
ADVERTISEMENTS: Display and classified, 20 cts. 
per agate line ($2.80 per inch). There are 14 agate lines to 
the inch. Covers and special positions extra. Five, 
ten and twenty per cent, discount for 13, 2G and 52 inser¬ 
tions, respectively, within one year. Forms close Monday 
in advance of publication date. 
Entered as second-class matter at the Post-Office, 
New York, N. Y. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful in¬ 
terest in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate 
a refined taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
A LONG STEP FORWARD. 
The McLean bill for the Federal protection 
of migratory birds was passed by the United 
State-s Senate, on Wednesday, Jan. 22. This 
action followed an admirable speech made by 
Senator McLean, Jan. 14, and printed in the 
Congressional Record. At the close of that 
speech. Senator Root, of New York, offered a 
resolution that the President be requested to pro¬ 
pose to the governments of other North Ameri¬ 
can countries the negotiation of a convention for 
the mutual protection and preservation of migra¬ 
tory birds. The resolution was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations. After the bill's 
passage, it was sent over to the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives, where there is a possibility that it 
may come up by unanimous consent before the 
close of the present session. It occupies a pre¬ 
ferred position. 
The passage of this bill is the longest step 
in the direction of wild life protection yet taken 
in this country. The measure passed the Senate 
without opposition, showing that one Flouse of 
Congress has been thoroughly convinced of the 
economic necessity of protecting migratory 
birds, which are the greatest natural force work¬ 
ing in behalf of the farmer, and which, if pro¬ 
tected and encouraged, cannot fail to add enor¬ 
mous sums to the wealth of the countiAL 
A large part of the time and effort of the 
farmer is devoted to protecting his crops from 
the ravages of noxious insects, and under the 
most favorable circumstances these efforts are 
but partially successful. To the loss caused by 
the insects must be added the cost of the labor 
and material, expended in fighting the insects. 
In the birds we have an innumerable unpaid host 
of helpers, working all through the year, and 
performing services incalculable in dollars and 
cents, but at all events enormous. It has been 
estimated that the destruction caused by harm¬ 
ful insects amounts to $Soo,ooo,ooo a year, a 
sum almost too vast to be comprehended. IMore- 
over, with the continued spread of population 
and consequent destruction of useful birds, the 
harm done by injurious insects is constantly in¬ 
creasing. 
By explaining true conditions, and so arous¬ 
ing public sentiment in its favor, many individ¬ 
uals and many associations gave valuable help 
to the passage of the measure. 
The hearings on the McLean and Weeks 
bills, held last March before committees of the 
Senate and House, constituted the ultimate 
force that pushed the bill to victory. No Fed¬ 
eral game measure ever called forth at one time 
so widespread and so impressive a body of pub¬ 
lic opinion as that marshaled at these hearings. 
The work of organizing the forces that believed 
in the measure, and the bringing them together 
at one time, so that they might deal a blow which 
would be effective by its very mass, was done 
by John B. Burnham, president of the American 
Game Protective and Propagation Association. 
The results of his efforts were most gratifying, 
and the gathering of wild life protectors of all 
sorts and conditions made a great impression 
on both committees. IMr. Burnham’s efficient work 
in this matter is not likely ever to be forgotten. 
PROHIBITING IMPORTATION OF BIRD 
PLUMAGE. 
James Buckland, of England, in a letter to 
E. FI. Forbush, State Ornithologist of Massa¬ 
chusetts, declares his opinion that Germany will 
be the first European power to pass a law pro¬ 
hibiting the importation of plumage, and ex¬ 
presses the hope that England and America will 
follow. America, however, may be the first 
nation to adopt such a measure, as a movement 
is on foot to amend the tariff law so as to for¬ 
bid importation into the United States of birds 
and bird plumage for millinery purposes. 
GAME BY PARCEL POST. 
There is a bare possibility that the recently 
enacted parcel post law and the game laws of 
the several States may not work smoothly to¬ 
gether. The thought may not have occurred to 
those interested in game protection that game 
may be sent through the mail in parcel post 
without being detected by the postal authorities 
and game inspectors. It is comparatively ea.sy 
for game wardens to keep an eye on the ex¬ 
press and freight packages, but the parcel post 
is another proposition. Suspecting that game is 
being shipped by freight or express, inspectors 
can go to almost any length to detect it, and 
once having done so may seize it at the destina¬ 
tion. They may examine packages in freight or 
express stations and search persons on the high¬ 
way suspected of having game, but the inspector 
will have no such privilege with the parcel post. 
The mailing of a package is regarded as a secret 
between the sender and Uncle Sam, and not an 
unauthorized hand may touch or tamper with 
the mailed article or package in any way. Nor 
are any (|uestions answered concerning other 
people’s mail by employes of the postal service. 
The Lacey act provides that nothing shall be 
sent through the mails, the possession of which 
is prohibited in the State in which it is in¬ 
tended for delivery. This was of course in¬ 
tended to cover game and will undoubtedly be 
enforced as far as possible. But one sending 
a package b}' parcel post is not required under 
present postal regulations to say what the pack¬ 
age contains. In order to enforce the Lacey act 
in connection with the parcel post, it will be 
necessary to provide for such contingencies as 
will prevent the unlawful shipment of game. 
Once more we must plug up a loop hole for the 
market hunter. 
KILLING THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN. 
In the slaughter of about 800 deer, 138 bears 
and bunches of small game in Pennsylvania dur¬ 
ing the season just closed, twenty-seven hunters 
were killed and 126 injured, with several coun¬ 
ties still to be heard from. The modern sports¬ 
man is surely a deadly creature—to himself or 
his friends. We imagine that if these mortality 
statistics could be communicated to the bears and 
deer of the State, they would excite many 
chuckles. With such unerring aim on the part 
of our gunners, it is no wonder that wild ani¬ 
mals are rapidly increasing in many States. 
GREAT GUNS! LOOK AT THIS! 
It may interest many of the readers of 
Forest and Stream to know just how much ad¬ 
vertising we are publishing, and how it com¬ 
pares w'ith w'hat other magazines are doing, for 
notwithstanding the fact that our advertisements 
are interesting in themselves, the greater the 
volume of business we carry, the better will be 
the magazine w'e" can give our readers at an un¬ 
increased cost. You readily will see, therefore, 
that in helping our advertising department, you 
are in turn reaping tlie benefits thereof. Many 
of our readers mention Forest and Stream in 
buying goods advertised therein. Do you? It’s 
a very simple problem with a great big answer. 
When you have goods to advertise, just re¬ 
member you are the style of man who suliscribes 
to 4OREST AND STREAM. If you wmuld purchase 
the class of goods you sell, then use Forest and 
Stream. But to return to other lines, namely 
agate; we ask you to glance over our record of 
last year when we carried 191,668 agate lines, 
equal to 855 “standard’’ magazine pages. Our 
nearest competitor ran 19.000 lines less, while a 
pair of binoculars are required to discern the 
next in line. It ran more than 50000 lines be¬ 
hind the ticket. W'^e feel justly proud of having 
carried more business for the year than did 
Flarper’s or Century. And mind you, the court 
of la.«t resort. Printers’ Ink. has handed down 
this decision, for the following figures were 
taken from tables compiled by Printers’ Ink, 
showing the amount of business carried during 
the past three calendar years by those maga¬ 
zines in our line. We were going to saj^ “class,” 
but after you have looked through the following 
tabulation, you will sec that that is not quite the 
word : 
Publication. 
T 9 T 2 
1911 
1910 
T. 
Forest and Stream. 
. 191,668 
174.977 
216,419 
2. 
Outing iMagazine . . 
-472,311 
159 689 
456.4.17 
.k 
Field & Stream.... 
• 140,17.=; 
444-598 
146,292 
4 - 
Outer’s Book . 
00 
q 
0 
97,664 
80070 
5 - 
Outdoor Life . 
. 95,816 
9 . 1 ,152 
95.526 
6. 
Outdoor World . .. 
• 95 - 74 T 
101,266 
106,154 
f 
