FOREST AND STREAM 
695 
AS I LOOK AT IT. 
Boston, Mass., Nov. 21st, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
It is with great regret that I have noted the 
tendency of late to curtail the privileges of the 
sportsman—in fact, it looks as though a cam¬ 
paign of misrepresentation is being carried on 
by people from whom one would expect a square 
deal. Exaggeration as to the destruction of our 
game birds has been exploited to such an extent 
that, in my opinion, it is only a question of a very 
short time before the gentlemen sportsmen, who 
consider going afield in the open season with a 
gun and dog not only a privilege, but a pleasure, 
will be forced to combine themselves into an or¬ 
ganization whereby they can avail themselves of 
certain rights which posterity has handed down 
to them, without being referred to by the disci¬ 
ples of extreme conservatism as “pot hunters,” 
“game hogs” and “slaughterers.” 
At the meeting of the Fish and Game Commis¬ 
sioners, held in Boston last fall, I was much im¬ 
pressed with the presence of so many different 
state secretaries of the Audubon Society. While 
the meeting was ostensibly one for the Fish and 
Game Commissioners of the different states, a 
great deal of time was taken up by and devoted 
to the secretaries of these organizations, who, in 
each instance, had suggestions to make whereby 
the privileges of the sportsman were to be cur¬ 
tailed—in fact, I was almost led to believe, from 
what I heard, that this pastime so dear to many 
of us was to be placed under a ban to such an 
extent that the man who pursued it was to be 
classed as a semi-barbarian, having nothing but 
brutal tendencies, etc. 
From my standpoint, it is most regrettable that 
this tendency to work on the feelings of people 
who are not familiar with the actual facts should 
bring about this very unfair condition of things. 
I feel, modestly, that I am in a position to 
know as much about the situation as some of 
these folks who are prone to bring about tirades 
against a certain class of gentlemen sportsmen, 
said attacks being, to say the least, unjust. I 
am a contributing member of the Audubon Soci¬ 
ety, a life member of the American Game Pro¬ 
tective and Propagation Association, as well as 
one of the officers of the Massachusetts Fish and 
Game Association, and I certainly feel that there 
are some things charged against the sportsman at 
the present time that are absolutely unfair; that 
it is not the sportsman, the cfass which I repre¬ 
sent, that is responsible for the decimation of the 
game birds, and I consider that I have informa¬ 
tion in my possession to prove my contention, 
based on actual observation, not influenced by 
reports from people or organizations that would 
bar shooting of any and all kinds at all times. 
I was somewhat surprised to note the com¬ 
ment of T. Gilbert Pearson on the news that the 
last carrier pigeon of its race had died recently 
in Cincinnati. Mr. Pearson gave as his opinion, 
if he was quoted correctly, that the extermination 
of the carrier pigeon might be laid at the doors 
of the' “pot hunters,” “game hogs,” “trappers,” 
etc. I have seen the wild pigeon when there 
were thousands of its kind, and admit that large 
numbers were killed by sportsmen, and others, 
but must insist that when the flocks were dimin¬ 
ished to such an extent that trapping was un¬ 
profitable, there were yet thousands of wild 
pigeons over the country in their native haunts, 
(Continued on page 708.) 
WINTER’S FIRST SNOW FALLING. 
Bemidji, Minn., Nov. 12.—The first snow of 
the season is falling today, and already the woods 
are blanketed with white, much to the delight 
of deer hunters. More than 700 big game li¬ 
censes have been issued. 
Grand Forks, N. D., Nov. 12.—Snow began 
falling here last night, and like conditions pre¬ 
vail over most of northeastern North Dakota. 
The temperature is mild and there is little wind. 
It is the season’s first snowfall here. 
Black River Falls, Minn., Nov. 12.—A regular 
winter storm, bringing the first snow of the 
season, is prevailing here. 
WEEDS CUT DOWN THE HIGH COST OF 
LIVING. 
Chicago, Nov. 20.—As a remedy for the soar¬ 
ing prices of foodstuffs Mrs. W. K. Jaques of 
4316 Greenwood avenue, urges housewives to 
use weeds on their tables. 
“There are ten weeds, all edible, that can be 
used for food,” Mrs. Jaques said. “These are 
the dock, nettle, sorrel, purslane, milkweed, dan¬ 
delion, pigweed, lamb’s quarter, marsh marigold 
and brake fern. They make excellent greens and 
are nourishing. Purslane, commonly called 
‘pussly,’ which stands for the original sin to 
most people, is edible. Chinese are fond of it 
and it is found in well cultivated gardens. Purs¬ 
lane will not grow any place else and it can’t 
stand competition. 
“Improvement associations make the mistake 
of attacking weeds just because they are weeds. 
They sometimes forget that these plants can be 
utilized for their beauty. On one vacant lot wild 
carrot grew riotously. Although wild carrot is a 
weed, which is called Queen Anne’s lace, it made 
a lovely spot of the vacant lot with its pretty 
white blossoms- The neighbors enjoyed the 
white weeds across the way, but one day a man 
from the improvement association came to mow 
them down. 
“ ‘Ma’am, them’s weeds,’ he said when the 
neighbor protested.” 
At her farm, the Terrace near South Haven, 
Mrs. Jaques encourages all the weeds to grow. 
She has made a study of each weed’s utility and 
beauty through many months of watchfulness. 
She champions the cause of the weeds for their 
economic value to the poor and the many de¬ 
signs they offer to the artist for sketches, she 
said. But most of all for food. 
WILD DOGS IN TEXAS WOODS. 
Farmer Shoots One of Pack that Attacked Calf. 
Sprinkle, Tex., Nov. 15.—The woods on Big 
Walnut Creek, two miles north of here, are in¬ 
fested with wild dogs, one of which was recently 
killed by Herman F. Krueger, a dairyman, after 
an exciting chase. 
The dogs have been frequently seen and sev¬ 
eral farmers have taken a shot at them, although 
so far as is known they had done no material 
damage until one of Mr. Krueger’s Jersey calves 
was attacked and so badly lacerated that it was 
necessary to kill it. It is said four years ago a 
negro moved away from a farm now owned by 
General Stacy, leaving several puppies, and the 
present marauders are supposed to be the same 
pack. 
OH! DEER! 
Lenox, Mass., Nov. 16.—With the forest alive 
with gunners the open week for deer shooting 
in Berkshire began to-day. Up to this evening 
Fred R. Ziegler and William W. Sargood, game 
wardens, had received reports of only one deer 
shot. 
The game warden saw several small herds on 
Mr. Harry Payne Whitney’s sixteen thousand 
acre preserve, which has been posted and made 
into a game sanctuary by the State Fish and 
Game Commission. Ten men have been detailed 
to guard the preserve. 
Deer are more scarce than last year. The game 
wardens estimate not more than fifty will be shot 
in the state this season. 
PURE WHITE DEER IS SHIPPED FROM 
SARATOGA. 
Saratoga Springs, Nov. 14—Passengers at the 
Delaware and Hudson station yesterday after¬ 
noon saw a decided curiosity in a white deer 
which was being shipped away. The white or 
albino deer was shot near Black Hill, in the 
Adirondacks, by Albert D. Wolfe, of Easton. The 
deer was pure white from the end of its nose to 
the tip of its tail. This specimen is very rare 
and it is only once in a great while that a white 
deer is seen in the Adirondacks.—[We have a 
mounted specimen of a white deer in our office. 
Editor.] 
HUNTING DE LUXE. 
It comes to mind that hunting nowadays ought 
to come in for a chapter on “Roughing It De 
Luxe.” For ’tis true that many a bold hunter 
ventures forth equipped to turn virgin bowers 
into first room front bungalow. He has a vest- 
pocket cooking outfit, stowed away” in khaki, cut 
Fifth Avenue. He is accoutred so his tootsies 
don’t get cold and the part of his hair is not dis¬ 
turbed. Verily, he lacks nothing but a self-light¬ 
ing fire- All cyf which leads back—“What has 
become of the James Fenimore Cooper back¬ 
woodsman whose equipment consisted of a 
‘chaw of terbaccer’ and an ‘eagle eye’?” 
A Joyless Hunting Day. 
