Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy, 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1909. 
VOL. LXXII.—N 0 . 7 . 
No. 127 Franklin St., New York 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright. 1909, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary. 
Louis Lean Speir, Treasurer. 
127 Franklm Street, New York. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful interest 
in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate a refined 
taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
AN IMPORTANT DECISION. 
The proposition that the wild game of a State 
is the property of the people of the State, and 
that the State may restrict the taking of such 
game has again been affirmed by the courts. The 
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals recently 
handed down a decision in a case in which Bart 
Blardone of Calhoun county sought to justify 
his action in selling two wild ducks during the 
open season. 
Blardone claimed that he had taken twenty- 
five ducks in one day in the open season by law¬ 
ful methods. He sold two of them, was arrested 
and fined. In his defense he claimed that the 
right to alienate property is a natural and neces¬ 
sary right and privilege guaranteed by the con¬ 
stitution of the United States and of Texas, and 
that any law by a Legislature infringing or 
abridging this right is unconstitutional and void; 
and further, that it is unreasonable and oppres¬ 
sive and a species of class legislation. 
In its decision the court held that no valid 
objection to the law in question could be sus¬ 
tained, and its constitutionality remained unques¬ 
tioned. From this decision Judge Davidson dis¬ 
sented. He held that after the property had 
been acquired by an individual, he might dis¬ 
pose of it as he saw fit. 
THE CAT ISLAND CAMPAIGN. 
Forest and Stream's campaign for the pur¬ 
chase of Cat Island, Miss., proved short, sharp 
and decisive. 
Forest and Stream printed Mr. Job’s article 
and an editorial on the subject on Jan. 23. The 
first letter offering a subscription was written 
Jan. 24, and on Jan. 26 a Boston gentleman tele¬ 
graphed Mr. Job, saying that if a personal in¬ 
vestigation of the island and the conditions of 
its sale proved satisfactory, he and a number 
of his associates would subscribe the money 
needed for the purchase and for the upkeep of 
the island—the amount being from $20,000 to 
$25,000. 
The gentlemen interested are sportsmen and 
game protectors and are heartily interested in 
the work of the Audubon Society. Their repre¬ 
sentative is now on his way south to make a 
thorough investigation of the matter, and if he 
satisfies himself as to the possibilities of the 
locality and the validity of the title, the matter 
will evidently go through. Pending decision on 
these points no further offers of subscriptions 
should be sent in. Of the many letters about 
this received by Forest and Stream, only one 
or two came to us before the date on which the 
subscription for the whole amount required was 
received. Those which came after that date 
must of course be declined. 
It is interesting to note that the leading spirit 
among the men who have agreed to supply the 
funds for the purchase of Cat Island had never 
heard of the place or its possibilities until he 
read the account of it in Forest and Stream. 
As soon as he learned of it in this way, and 
felt that it was thus in a sense guaranteed, he 
acted with characteristic promptness and energy 
and enlisted the interest of his friends. We 
hope before long to learn the results of the in¬ 
vestigation to be made by the intending pur¬ 
chasers. 
ADVENTURES IN THE WILDERNESS. 
We do not feel at all sure that the readers of 
Forest and Stream apprehend clearly the wealth 
of interesting material which is to be offered 
them during the coming year. This week we 
print the first chapter of Mrs. Ridley’s fascinat¬ 
ing story of “A Woman on the Trap Trail,” 
which is certain to make a great impression on 
all our readers. Following this, and to be print¬ 
ed at just about the time when President Roose¬ 
velt is to start for Africa, will come the journal 
of an Afrikander, which deals with travel in 
what was once the Dark Continent, and with the 
ordinary happenings of a big-game hunter’s life 
in Africa. It is a dangerous game that the 
hunter plays there, as indicated by a recent re¬ 
port which tells of two men killed and nine 
mauled by lions within a year in a small district. 
From this interesting material the average home- 
staying sportsman will be able to get a pretty 
clear idea of what is likely to happen to Mr. 
Roosevelt on his journeys. It must always be 
remembered that President Roosevelt is not go¬ 
ing to Africa on a mere trip to kill game; rather 
he is heading a party which will devote its ener¬ 
gies to collecting biological material for the great 
National Museum at Washington. 
Besides these, our prize stories and many 
others are to come as fast as space will permit. 
Mr. Cooper’s “Trouting on the Rio Grande” is a 
paper that will thrill every lover of out-of-doors; 
while the story of his Abyssinian journey, by 
Mr. Lethbridge, in which he describes King 
Menelik, now lying at the point of death, pos¬ 
sesses a strange interest, and shows what may 
be done by the resolute Anglo-Saxon in the face 
of a hundred difficulties and dangers. When 
we speak of Samuel Merrill’s “A Still-Hunter’s 
Memory,” of Mr. Osgood’s “Adventures in New 
Brunswick With a Tracking Snow,” of the fol¬ 
lowing up and killing of the “Big Grizzly of 
the Bitter Root,” and of a dozen other tales 
equally interesting—some of them prize stories 
and others almost prize winners—the readers of 
Forest and Stream may readily see that they 
are guaranteed interesting reading for a long 
time to come. 
GAME REFUGES. 
In at least two States plans are now being 
made to increase the number of game refuges 
through legislative enactment. Ere the time for 
adjournment, it is likely the lawmakers of still 
other States will fall in line and set aside suit¬ 
able tracts where game and birds may rest and 
breed in safety. It is agreed by all interests that 
these sanctuaries are necessary, and the plan is 
endorsed by sportsmen, bird societies and the 
officials of States. 
The Colorado Legislature is considering a plan 
to set aside 250,000 acres of land in Estes Park 
as a refuge for game. The people of Colorado, 
and of many other States as well, are heartily 
in favor of preserving this beautiful natural 
park, not only for its excellent trout fishing and 
its game, but to keep its natural features as they 
are. 
The Pennsylvania Legislature has been asked 
by the Game Commission to set aside two more 
refuges for game. These, if established, will 
be on lands now held in the forest reserve, but 
will be fenced and protected. 
Similar action is expected in New York, where 
the sportsmen’s associations favor game refuges, 
and where portions of the lands in the Catskills 
and the Adirondacks might well be set aside. 
A BILL to correct and revise the game laws 
of the State has been prepared by the game and 
fish commission of the Wyoming Legislature and 
appears to be a great improvement on the exist¬ 
ing laws. An especially praiseworthy provision 
is one which protects antelope until 1915. A 
bird hunter’s license costs $1.50 for residents 
and $5 for non-residents. The resident’s license 
to kill one elk costs $17.50 and a non-resident 
$50. Spring shooting of ducks we are sorry to 
say is still permitted up to April 13. A gunner 
may shoot eighteen game birds in a day; but 
not more than twelve grouse. We shall publish 
an abstract of the law next week. 
California lost a very useful citizen through 
the death of Dr. Lorenzo Yates. “Aboriginal 
Weapons in California,” “The Channel Islands” 
and other books are well known to scientists. 
Dr. Yates was a fellow of the Linnaean Society 
of London and was connected with the Golden 
Gate Park Museum in San Francisco. His spec¬ 
ial studies were devoted chiefly to botany and 
paleontology. 
