248 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company 
C has. A. Hazen, President Charles L. Wise, Treasurer 
W. G. Beecroft, Secretary Russell A. Lewis, Gen. Mgr. 
22 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. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $3 a year; $1.50 for six months; 
10 cents 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. Foreign 
Subscriptions and Sales Agents—London: Davies & Co., 
1 Finch Lane; Sampson, Low & Co. Paris: Brentano’s. 
Entered in New York Post Office as Second class matter. 
A "CAT” OF REAL VALUE. 
War works havoc in more ways than one. 
Probably the deprivation occasioned some of our 
epicures by shutting off of imports of caviar 
from Europe will seem a very trivial matter in¬ 
deed, but this shutting off will probably bring 
our humble friend, the paddle-fish or “spoon-bill” 
cat of Louisiana prominently to the front as a 
producer and supplyer of the delicacy so much 
beloved wherever the lights of a Great White 
Way shine. 
Polyodon spathula, alias the spoon-bill, is the 
most singular and interesting fish occurring in 
American waters. It is found in the largest 
numbers and in size in Louisiana, where it at¬ 
tains a known weight much in excess of 100 lbs. 
Specimen's caught often yield more than 10 lbs. 
of eggs, which bring the lucky fisherman $2 per 
lb. for the manufacturing of caviar, and when 
it is added that the flesh is disposed of at 10 
cents per lb., it will be conceded that the cat¬ 
fish, like the sturgeon of the lakes, is Worth as 
much dead as the ordinary cow alive. The 
humble spoon-bill figures oftenest in commercial 
circles as smoked sturgeon. Certainly he is a 
valuable food fish, and now that the war has 
made him more in demand than ever the differ¬ 
ent states where he maintains his habitat should 
see that he is not exterminated, or that his tribe 
does not grow less. 
WILL WAR INTERFERE WITH HUNTING 
TRIPS f 
While Forest and Stream has nothing to do as 
a rule with “war’s wild alarums,” guns pur¬ 
chased and ammunition fired by readers of this 
paper, being for sport alone, it is still true that 
many hundreds of our subscribers are in the 
habit of crossing the boundary of the United 
States into Canada on autumn hunting expedi¬ 
tions. 
Canada, as part of the British Empire, is in a 
state of war, and the neutrality proclamation of 
the President of the United States applies to the 
Dominion, and the special regulations enforced 
by Canada might, if stringent enough, forbid the 
taking of arms into the several Provinces. A 
number of our subscribers think so at least, and 
have asked this paper to obtain some information 
on the subject. Forest and Stream, therefore, 
publishes below letters from the Department of 
State, Washington, and from the Department of 
the Secretary of the State of the Dominion of 
Canada, bearing on the question: 
Department of State 
Washington, 
August 14, 1914 - 
Forest and Stream, 
22 Thames Street, 
New York, N. Y. 
Gentlemen: 
There is nothing in the President’s Proclama¬ 
tion or in the neutrality laws of this country pro¬ 
hibiting a citizen of this country going into Can¬ 
ada on a hunting trip, with hunting rifle or gun 
and ammunition, during the present war in 
Europe. But the Department cannot foretell the 
attitude which the Dominion Government will 
assume toward citizens of other countries com¬ 
ing into Canada armed during hostilities. Per¬ 
sons intending to visit Canada under the circum¬ 
stances stated had best inquire of the Dominion 
authorities, the attitude of that Government re¬ 
specting such trips. 
I am, Gentlemen, 
Your obedient servant, 
For the Secretary of State, 
WILLIAM PHILLIP 
Third Assistant Secretary. 
Canada, Department of the Secretary of State. 
Ottawa, nth August, 1914. 
Forest and Stream, 
22 Thames Street, 
New York, U. S. A. 
Gentlemen: 
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter of the 8th instant, and to inform you 
that its subject is one falling within the purview 
of the Department of External Affairs, from 
which you will no doubt hear in answer to your 
question in due course. 
I have the honor to be, 
Gentlemen, 
Your obedient servant, 
THOMAS MULVEY, 
Under Secretary of State. 
It will be seen that there is nothing in the neu¬ 
trality proclamation of President Wilson to pre¬ 
vent American sportsmen taking arms and 
ammunition into the Dominion, but definite an¬ 
swer from Canada is not yet at hand. As soon 
as a ruling is made on the question, a synopsis 
will be published in these columns. 
We have an idea, however, that there will be 
little, if any, interference with the American 
sportsmen arranging for Canadian hunting trips 
this season. 
THE PASSENGER PIGEON. 
Controversy as to the cause of the disappear¬ 
ance of the passenger pigeon and the approxi¬ 
mate date of its extermination will not down. 
A communication from one of our readers pub¬ 
lished a few weeks ago covering the time when 
passenger pigeons were last seen in a certain 
vicinity has brought out quite a number of re¬ 
plies and added information, as will be noted in 
other columns of this issue. 
The passenger pigeon did not disappear as a 
species on any given date. The files of Forest 
and Stream, reaching back many years, show that 
living specimens were noted in 1898, 1900 and 
even as late as 1902. The distinguished natural¬ 
ist, John Burroughs, wrote Forest and Stream 
as recently as 1905 that he had received good evi¬ 
dence of the re-appearance of the passenger pigeon 
in one or more sections of New York state. Cer¬ 
tainly John Burroughs would not mistake an¬ 
other species for the genuine passenger pigeon, 
and while he himself did not see the small flock 
reported, he was inclined, after correspondence 
and communication with the observers, who were 
familiar with the birds from boyhood, to accepl 
their statements as the truth. 
The most valuable collection of data concern¬ 
ing the much lamented and barbarously exter¬ 
minated “meteor of the sky,” as the passenger 
pigeon has been aptly described, is to be found 
in W. G. Mershon’s book, “The Passenger Pig¬ 
eon.” This book and the files of Forest and 
Stream as well constitute a mine of information 
on the subject. In looking over old volumes of 
Forest and Stream it is pleasant to record here 
that as far back as 1881 this paper was protest¬ 
ing against the custom of using live passenger 
pigeons as targets at shooting tournaments. 
The passenger pigeon, so far as known is, with 
the exception of a single living bird at the Cin¬ 
cinnati Zoo, now extinct. Liberal offers of re¬ 
wards have failed to bring satisfactory evidence 
that even one wild bird is still alive. The folly, 
the brutality, the shortsightedness that sum up 
the reason for the disappearance of the passenger 
pigeon constitute for all time a lasting reflection 
on this nation. If it shall serve as a warning to 
preserve other rapidly disappearing species, the 
disgrace will not be so great, although the regret 
will ever be as keen. 
DEATH OF BEN CLARK. 
Ben Clark, a famous scout who had served 
under General Miles and General Custer, died at 
Ft. Reno, Oklahoma, a short -time ago. 
Clark was a good scout and a brave man. He 
had been on the plains for about forty-five years, 
married a Cheyenne woman, and had a large 
family. His wife is no longer living, but several 
of his children survive him. 
About thirty-five years ago, at the request of 
General Sheridan, Clark undertook to write a 
history of the Cheyenne Indians, and a vocabu¬ 
lary of their language. This manuscript, never 
published, is still in existence. 
Although for many years there has been no use 
tor scouts in the southern country, Clark—be¬ 
cause of his old-time service and his popularity 
with eminent soldiers—was kept on the Govern¬ 
ment payrolls as wagon boss, corral master, or 
watchman of -the Government buildings at Ft. 
Reno until the time of his death. 
Clark was a man of agreeable manners, and 
had performed good service for the army in the 
fighting days of long ago. Many of the older 
officers of the army will be saddened by the news 
of his death. He was seventy-six years old. 
PENNSYLVANIA'S NEW GAME 
PRESERVE. 
The campaign of the state authorities to pre¬ 
serve game in Pennsylvania has won the ap¬ 
plause of the sportsmen of Hazleton and vicin¬ 
ity, who view with pleasure the action of the 
State Game Commissioners in selecting the Po- 
cono Mountains as a state game preserve. This 
will have an area of 30,000 acres and will be 
stocked with game birds and animals. It will 
mean a better supply of game all through this 
section of the state. The large number of hun¬ 
ters’ licenses secured in this section prompted 
the authorities to establish the preserve. 
