812 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 2, 1911. 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company, 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
Edward C. Locke, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary, 
S. J. Gibson, Treasurer. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
The Forest and Stream is the recognized medium of 
entertainment, instruction and information between Amer¬ 
ican sportsmen. The editors invite communications on 
the subjects to which its pages are devoted. Anonymous 
communications will not be regarded. The editors are 
not responsible for the views of correspondents. 
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ADVERTISEMENTS. 
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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. 
FOREIGN GAME BIRDS. 
The New York Conservation Commission re¬ 
cently asked Attorney-General Carmody for an 
opinion regarding an inquiry from the Norwegian 
Consul-General as to the interpretation of the 
law relating to the importation of foreign game 
birds into New York State. The Consul-General 
interpreted the statute as admitting grouse from 
Scotland, while excluding Norwegian grouse or 
ptarmigan, and also as discriminating against 
other game birds of Norway. This he considered 
a violation of the favored nation clause in the 
treaty between the United States and Norway. 
Attorney-General Carmody holds that the game 
law classifies game by species and families, and 
not by geographical territory. 
The opinion of the Attorney-General holds 
that the game law classifies game by species and 
families and not by geographical territory. 
Scotch grouse, he says, does not mean grouse 
from Scotland necessarily, but grouse of a cer¬ 
tain species called Scotch grouse, which inhabit 
many other European countries and are admitted, 
no matter from what country they may be im¬ 
ported. 
The opinion holds also that species of Euro¬ 
pean b’ack game permitted to be imported under 
the game law are found in Norway, and that all 
of the species included in the game law as ad¬ 
missible into the State are based upon ornitho¬ 
logical classification exclusively and are not for 
the purpose of granting or reserving commercial 
advantages, the purpose of the law being to pro¬ 
tect those species or families that are found in 
the State of New York, upon the ground that 
the admission of foreign game birds similar to 
the native birds might be used as a cloak to 
violate the law in respect to the native game. 
The constitutionality of this provision has 
been determined in favor of the law by the 
Court of Appeals of. the State, and in a recent 
case in the United States Circuit Court, where 
the constitutionality of a similar provision of the 
law in reference to the importation of plumes of 
foreign birds was under consideration, the Court 
decided in favor of the constitutionality of the 
act, upholding the power of the State to pro¬ 
tect game and song birds by preventing the im¬ 
portation of those belonging to families native 
to this State. 
GAME BILLS IN CONGRESS. 
An interesting record of the game bills now 
pending in Congress is published elsewhere. 
These bills deal chiefly with National parks, game 
refuges, and the Federal protection of migra¬ 
tory birds. Besides this there is an important 
joint resolution in the House providing for the 
suspension of all killing of fur seals on the 
Pribilof Islands for a period of fifteen years. 
We need more National parks and we need 
more game refuges. Rapidly as it has proceeded 
within the last twenty-five years, the settlement 
of the Western country has only just begun, and 
the importance of having great recreation 
grounds for the population that is to inhabit 
the Western country is as yet hardly realized. 
With this population—or rather long before that 
population has come—all species of large animals 
will have been destroyed all over the West just 
as they have been destroyed in the thickly set¬ 
tled East. Some should be saved in parks and 
wild life refuges. 
The feeling that the Federal Government 
should protect and care for migratory birds is 
constantly growing, and the time is approaching 
when action to this end will be taken by Con¬ 
gress. This movement was first started by Hon. 
Geo. Shiras, 3d, when in Congress, and a year 
or two later he prepared a very careful, com¬ 
plete and luminous brief on the subject, which 
ought to be read by all lawyers who are in¬ 
terested in protection. 
In a recent issue of Forest and Stream were 
printed Chas. H. Townsend’s cogent reasons why 
the joint resolution suspending the killing of fur 
seals ought not to pass. Coming from an ac¬ 
knowledged authority on the fur seals, his con¬ 
clusions must carry the greatest weight, and we 
believe that they will convince Congress that Mr. 
Rothermel’s resolution should fail. 
The Biological Survey, by direction of Secre¬ 
tary Wilson, has made a thorough investigation 
of interstate traffic for the purpose of strength¬ 
ening, if necessary, the Federal laws on the sub¬ 
ject, and the recommendation of additional legis¬ 
lation. A number of important game markets 
were inspected at the beginning of the sale sea¬ 
son for game. This inspection, which covered 
the markets of Philadelphia, Buffalo, Cleveland, 
Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago, disclosed 
new violations of the law and also showed a 
notable falling off in the amount of game handled 
this year, owing to a combination of unrelated 
causes. Investigation was then made of the con¬ 
ditions surrounding the capture and shipment of 
game in several important points of supply. The 
investigation brought to light flagrant disregard 
of the laws, both Federal and State, on the coast 
of Virginia, where waterfowl for Northern 
markets were being netted and exported in 
large quantities. Vigorous steps were at once 
taken to break up the illegal practices, and the 
chief offenders, ten in number, were indicted in 
the Federal court. Two were convicted and 
fined $200 and costs each, the other cases went 
over to the November term of court. 
Since the first attempts were made, years ago, 
to navigate the River Nile as far as Khartum, 
the problem of how to combat the troublesome 
water plant known as sudd, has occupied the 
attention of Europeans who traverse the Nile 
on missions of business or sport. Great areas 
of water are rendered unnavigable by the weeds, 
and where the channel is more or less open, the 
floating stuff is very troublesome, particularly 
to craft propelled by steam or gasoline. Consul 
Birch, of Alexandria, now reports to the Bureau 
of Commerce and Labor that a method of con¬ 
verting the sudd into fuel briquets has been 
found, that an Anglo-German syndicate has been 
formed, a factory built, and work begun. If the 
experiment proves successful, there will be no 
lack of a market, for the White Nile- steamers, 
the railway and other enterprises will gladly 
purchase the new fuel. This can be sold at 
$ 3-75 per ton, whereas British coal costs at 
Khartum $12.50 per ton. The factory, with an 
unlimited supply of material, can produce 50,000 
tons of briquets per annum. In this way it is 
probable that a nuisance may be turned into a 
blessing. 
r. 
The New Jersey State Fish and Game Com¬ 
mission was reorganized last week. The term 
of B. C. Kuser, the president, expired, and 
Ernest Napier, of Orange, was elected president. 
William A. Logue, of Bridgeton, is treasurer and 
Walter A. Fell, of Trenton, secretary. William 
A. Faunce, of Atlantic City, is the new member 
filling the vacancy left by Mr. Kuser’s retire¬ 
ment. 
*• 
The New York State Conservation Commis¬ 
sion has decided to establish a tree nursery at 
the Great Meadows prison at Comstock, where 
some of the “trusties” will be employed, thus 
lessening the cost of supplying forest trees to 
citizens who wish to plant them. The plan is 
to increase the supply to 12,000,000 trees an¬ 
nually. 
r. 
John Wilson, of Standish, Mich., took out 
a license and went into the woods on a deer 
hunt when the season opened in that State. Al¬ 
though eighty-five years of age, Mr. Wilson still 
makes it a practice to go into the game region 
every autumn. We wonder if the new style red 
sweaters and caps appeal to his fancy as “shoot¬ 
ing clothes.” 
* 
Two men who had robbed the spawning beds 
of the Saranac Lake State hatchery of a large 
number of trout were fined $100 each last week. 
Protector Byron Cameron lost little time in 
apprehending the men, and some of the breed¬ 
ing trout were produced as evidence. 
