Jan. 2, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
19 
now must be overcome before proper game laws 
can be enacted. Col. Colgate also spoke against 
the division of the State into two districts. 
While he approved the effort to stop all spring 
and summer shooting, he did not believe that 
the people were ready for it. 
The executive committee reporting to the asso¬ 
ciation recommended a close season between Jan. 
I and Aug. i and gave reasons for its report. 
It recommended also a resident license fee of 
$1, except to landowners and their sons shoot¬ 
ing upon their own land. 
The election of officers held during the even¬ 
ing resulted in the choice of George Batten, of 
Montclair, as President, and Edward Winslow, 
also of Montclair, as Secretary and Treasurer. 
Middlesex County Game and Fish. 
Middletown, Conn., Dec. 20. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: By invitation of a few of the 
sportsmen in Middlesex county. Conn., all shoot¬ 
ers and fishermen or anyone interested in our 
game and fish were requested to attend an in¬ 
formal meeting held on the evening of Dec. 10 
in the Chafee Hotel parlors through courtesy of 
the proprietor. Councilman C. A. Chafee. 
At the meeting twenty gentlemen from dif¬ 
ferent sections of the county were present and 
discussed plans for forming a county game pro¬ 
tective association, suggesting also the desir¬ 
ability of like action in other counties of the 
State. Messrs. W. B. Beecher, E. N. Hubbard 
and A. M. Bidwell. Jr., all of Middletown, were 
named as a committee on a constitution and by¬ 
laws and instructed to report at the next meet¬ 
ing. 
On the evening of Dec. 17 a second meet¬ 
ing was held for the purpose of organizing a 
game and fish protective association, members 
to be residents of this county. Ex-Mayor W. 
C. Fisher was called upon to act as chairman 
and Mr. Arthur McDowell as secretary. The 
report of committee on constitution and by-laws 
was called for and the new club was organized 
under the name, Middlesex County Game and 
Fish Association. The following named officers 
had been elected for the ensuing year: W. B. 
Beecher, President; Joseph Deming, Portland; 
John Hutchins, Middletown; Nathan Wright, 
Essex, and Albert Coe, Middlefield, Vice-Presi¬ 
dents; Arthur McDowell, Secretary, and Charles 
A. Chafee, Treasurer. Dues were filed at one 
dollar per year, payable in advance, and time 
of meetings will be the third Thursday of each 
month, the annual meeting on third Thursday 
in December. 
It is purposed to enlist in the organization 
sportsmen in all towns in Middlesex county, each 
town to be represented by a vice-president as 
has already been done in Portland, Middletown, 
Essex and Middlefield, the towns represented 
at the meeting. Each county club is ultimately 
to be associated with all the other county clubs 
in the State organization. The Middlesex Asso¬ 
ciation will assist in the detection and prosecu¬ 
tion of all violators of game and fish laws and 
.is especially anxious to put an end to the snar¬ 
ing of birds. They favor protection of exist¬ 
ing stock rather than importation of foreign 
species. The work is to be done in the way of 
protecting fish in county ponds and streams, par¬ 
ticularly in Little River and Wright’s Pond. 
Gone By Shooter. 
Boston Sportsman’s Show. 
Boston, Mass., Dec. 29. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The opening of the Boston Sports¬ 
man’s Show on Thursday evening last proved 
a sufficient attraction to draw a large crowd 
from Christmas eve observances and, what is 
more important, the exhibition was of a quality 
to repay every one interested in the wild things 
of forest and stream. 
This year’s exhibition is the third held under 
the auspices of the New England Forest, Fish 
and Game Association, and that the Boston 
Sportsman’s Show has come to be recognized 
as a New England Institution was evident from 
the size and quality of the first-night crowd and 
those of the nights which have followed. It 
was an occasion when sportsmen and outers find 
in the scent of balsam, spruce and fir and the 
greenery suggestive of the real woods an incen¬ 
tive to get together and talk over the rare days 
with rod or gun and recall the still rarer days 
that enlivened the camp-fire circle by lake or 
trail. 
The management has spared no effort to make 
the show both a spectacular and commercial suc¬ 
cess, and Manager Follett and his aids, with the 
effective backing of the association, appear to 
have accomplished both ends. Something new 
has been attempted in the way of decoration, 
although the woodland effect has been carefully 
studied, and Mechanics Hall has been wonder¬ 
fully transformed with greenery. 
Governor Guild and a large company of Bos¬ 
ton notables had an informal view of the ex¬ 
hibits on Thursday afternoon, and at seven the 
exhibition was in full swing, to be continued for 
ten days. 
The center of the main exhibition hall has 
been given up to the larger animals, and the 
arrangements have been made unusually com¬ 
plete both for exhibition purposes and for the 
comfort of the animals. The game displayed 
seems more complete than in the two previous 
Boston shows. The Austin Corbin preserves 
have been drawn on for some choice specimens 
which attract attention. The buffalo from this 
preserve attract attention and the huge German 
wild boar from the same preserve is scarcely 
less notable. Three handsome yearling moose, 
two specimens of each variety of American deer, 
black bear, lynx, raccoons, foxes, two splendid 
specimens of the black fox and two silver gray 
foxes make up the major portion of the wild 
animal exhibit. 
Especially varied and interestifig is the exhibit 
of upland birds and waterfowl. Seldom has a 
collection of upland game birds comprising finer 
specimens been brought together. English and 
IMongolian pheasants, brought from some of the 
large Western hatcheries, are shown side by side 
with golden pheasants. Ruffed grouse and quail 
are also shown in satisfactory numbers. The 
waterfowl exhibition is most complete and is 
made the more interesting and satisfactory by 
the exceptional facilities afforded by the splendid 
miniature lake for observing the habits and be¬ 
havior of the different species. Practically every 
eastern variety of duck and goose is represented, 
including a number of the rarer species. 
Although hardly equalling the live game ex¬ 
hibits in interest, the collections of mounted 
birds and animals and heads, both private and 
commercial, are interesting. This is particularly 
true of the feathered exhibit, comprising game 
birds, song birds, eagles, hawks, waders, in an 
almost endless variety. Although no particu¬ 
larly notable trophies are displayed, taken as a 
whole, the collection of mounted heads is more 
than creditable. 
Anglers from all parts of New England will 
be present in force during the ten days of the 
show as spectators or participants in the casting 
tournament. Events are scheduled for each day 
of the show. The opening days have been given 
up to the novice events, the more important 
events being reserved for the closing days of 
the tournament. 
A well balanced programme of aquatic events 
has been arranged for each day, including races 
in ten classes, fancy diving, high diving and 
water tournaments. As usual, this is one of 
the most attractive features of the exhibition. 
For sportsmen perhaps the most attractive 
place is the basement where the tournament of 
the New England Military Rifle Association is 
being shot off. Targets are set up at 25 yards 
and the competitions include pistol, rifle and re¬ 
volver shooting. Twenty-two caliber arms are 
prescribed for the rifle events, but pistol and re¬ 
volver shooters are at liberty to select their own 
caliber. 
Fully as important to the average sportsman 
as the exhibits of a general character is the 
opportunity these big shows afford to get a line 
on the latest things which the manufacturers of 
guns, ammunition, rods and tackle, camp equip¬ 
ment and more personal things have to offer. 
While strictly and most fortunately the cen¬ 
tral idea of a show for sportsmen has been ad¬ 
hered to, the commercial exhibits form an in¬ 
teresting portion of the show and the display of 
things that appeal to the outdoor man is varied 
and interesting enough to form an exhibit by 
itself. C. O. R. 
Michigan Quail. 
Adrian, Mich., Dec. 20.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Quail shooting for the season just 
closed has been the worst ever known in south¬ 
ern Michigan. I was out about every day and 
found but ten coveys during the entire six weeks. 
My bag for the season was only twenty-nine 
birds. 
Fortunately there was an unusual flight of wood¬ 
cock and we killed more than have been seen in 
the last ten years. Of these I killed forty-six, 
picking them up a bird or two at a time. Six 
in one day was my best bag, although I heard 
of one man killing seventeen woodcock in one 
day. They are never plentiful and we feel re¬ 
paid with two or three birds. We attributed the 
abundance of cock to the forest fires in the 
North. Their ordinary feeding grounds being 
burnt, the birds came further South and stayed 
with us as late as Thanksgiving. They were 
large and fat, the hens weighing seven or eight 
ounces. 
The scarcity of quail made the shooting ex¬ 
tremely hard and tedious. I scoured the country 
with a motor car with uniform lack of success. 
In this way we covered a lot of ground. 
Leonard Finletter. 
All the fish laws of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
