March 6 , 1909-] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
377 
The effort to bring the railroads to a sense 
of their responsibility in the matter of forest 
fires should have beneficial effects, especially 
along the Mohawk and Malone route. Prob¬ 
ably nothing has more plainly showed the reck¬ 
less disregard of the corporations in the Ad- 
irondacks for public policy, public rights and 
public interests than the great fires which were 
started along the railways. Fortunately, it does 
not appear that the woodsmen attacked the 
private preserves to any great extent last year. 
The reason seems to be that only a few of the 
private preserves have strictly enforced the 
trespass laws. 
One cannot help but be optimistic with re¬ 
gard to the future of the Adirondacks, in spite 
of the conditions existing in some parts. The 
menace of the builders of power dam reser¬ 
voirs still hangs over some of the most beauti¬ 
ful valleys, and road-builders threaten some of 
the wildest places, but public sentiment may be 
depended upon to guard the mountains better 
than ever before, provided the lovers of the 
region are eternally vigilant. 
Raymond S. Spears. 
The North Carolina Season. 
Raleigh, N. C., Feb. 27. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: In almost every county in North Caro¬ 
lina the open season for quail ends Feb. 28. 
In about fifteen counties there are other dates, 
some much earlier, while a few extend the sea¬ 
son as far as mid-March. Careful inquiry shows 
the kill to have been much lighter than usual. 
The birds usually come out in the open late in 
January, but this year they have been in the 
fields very little. The open winter is re¬ 
sponsible for this in a general way, and the 
birds are becoming more wary. They stay in 
the woods more than ever before. This has 
been noticed for several seasons. 
The bill to prohibit the sale of quail has 
passed one branch of the Legislature, and 
though a fight has been made on it in the 
other branch, it will probably get through. It 
is the market-hunter and not the sportsman 
who does the work of extermination. A few 
farmers hunt for market, but many persons who 
do this sort of work are half-poachers, not 
owning any land, but going here and there and 
shooting carefully to get every bird in a covey, to 
save themselves the trouble of walking long dis¬ 
tances. The farmers are very bitter against this 
class of hunters. 
About as many hunters from the north, as 
usual, have been down this season and have 
enjoyed to the full the wonderful open weather. 
A sportsman from Johnston county says he 
never saw such destruction of birds as there 
was last August by the floods. 
The Legislature has passed several bills to 
protect pheasants, and these have been asked 
for by groups of farmers in various sections. 
A number of these made very interesting 
speeches before the legislative committees, 
showing what was being done. This Legisla¬ 
ture has shown more of a sporting spirit than 
any one before. 
William Robbins, who has a plantation near 
Raleigh, is crossing Belgian hares with wild 
rabbits and reports success, the result being an 
animal much larger than the ordinary rabbit, 
which the darkeys universally call the hare. 
The Belgian hares give no sport whatever in a 
chas.e with dogs, but the cross produced as 
above is a game runner. F. A. Olds. 
Game Protection. 
Springfield, Mass., Feb. 27. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: It needs no lengthy prelude of 
glittering generalities to convince the sports¬ 
man of even limited experience, that our wild 
game is sadly in need of efficient protection. 
That our present laws upon this subject are en¬ 
tirely inadequate is patent to all, and that re¬ 
cent and proposed legislation fails to show 
radical improvement is the cause of deep re¬ 
gret. I have given this matter much careful 
study and have come to the conclusion that 
drastic, measures must at once be taken if we 
would secure for the present, as well as future, 
generations a tithe of the royal sport we once- 
enjoyed among our beautiful hills and lovely 
valleys when in pursuit of our favorite game. 
That adequate measures will be taken for the 
radical improvement of the present deplorable 
state of affairs I firmly believe and -sincerely 
hope that the day is not far distant when our 
protective laws will protect. I am not pessi¬ 
mistic enough to believe that the “coming New 
Zealander” with his electric telescopic-sighted 
gun will actually pot the very last English 
sparrow, for I have an abiding faith in the 
common sense wisdom of my brother sports¬ 
men, and firmly believe that the day has nearly 
arrived when they will awake from their 
lethargy, arise in their strength and do things 
meet for the occasion. 
One measure that I believe to be feasible, and 
that would prove efficacious, is to set apart a 
large number of our many game covers as 
refuges, where gun or snare should not be per¬ 
mitted. These reserved sections should not be 
half-acre plots, but whole townships, or more 
if necessary, consisting of hill and valley with 
plenty of room for breeding purposes, trusting 
to the surplus to stock the unprotected ter¬ 
ritory. 
The working out of the details of this plan 
should of course be in the hands of a com¬ 
mittee of broad-minded sportsmen, who, with¬ 
out doubt, would receive the hearty support of 
an overwhelming majority of their brethren. 
This measure, if adopted, could be so 
arranged that when game became plentiful in 
the reserves some of them could be thrown 
open to the public and other grounds be set 
apart to take their place. 
That some efficacious measure to preserve 
our fast disappearing game may soon be taken 
let us all faithfully work to accomplish the 
greatly-to-be-desired end. 
S. T. Hammond. 
Protecting Estes Park. 
Estes Park, Colo., Feb. 25.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: I notice in a recent issue that you 
refer to the fact that the Legislature is con¬ 
sidering a plan to set aside 250,000 acres in 
Estes Park as a game refuge. While we, too, 
are working for that object, we* are also de¬ 
sirous of having it known that we are here to 
protect the game that we have. 
We have quite a number of mountain sheep, 
*The Estes I‘Grk Improvement and Protective Associa¬ 
tion. 
also some deer and a few beaver. I have just 
made an example of one Nathan Hall, against 
whom I obtained evidence so conclusive that he 
plead guilty to the charge of killing two beaver 
and paid a fine of $150 and costs and then was 
discharged from the job that he was working 
at for $2 per day and his board. He seemed to 
think that it was because he was from out- 
*side the park that action was taken against him, 
but that was not the case. It would have been 
the same no matter who it was, for we propose 
to protect what game we have here and desire to 
keep our park as near like nature as it can be 
done, so that tourists and others can see it as 
nearly like it used to be as possible. 
There is no park in the West that has the 
beauty that Estes Park holds. Our object in 
establishing a fish hatchery here is for the ex¬ 
press purpose of stocking our streams for the 
anglers and the tourists that come to spend the 
summer months with us, and we mean it when 
we say that we are for protection, no matter 
who the violator may be. 
G. H. Thomson, Superintendent. 
New York Legislature. 
The following bills have been introduced in 
the Assembly: 
By Mr. Gray—Relating to set lines in the St. 
Lawrence River. 
By Mr. Spielberg—To make the grouse sea¬ 
son in the counties of Franklin, Essex, Clinton, 
Warren, Hamilton, Greene and Ulster Sept. 16- 
Oct. 31, both inclusive, two weeks longer than 
in other counties. 
By Mr. Lupton—To amend the game law by 
making the open season for ducks, geese, brant 
and swan on Long Island Oct. i to the last day 
of February, both inclusive, with possession until 
March 15. 
By Mr. M. Smith—Relating to nets in Wap- 
pinger’s Creek in Dutchess county, also one re¬ 
lating to tip-ups in certain waters. 
By J. L. Miller—Relating to the open season 
in Lake Keuka. 
By Mr. Whitney—Relating to perch in Sara¬ 
toga county. 
By Mr. McLaughlin—Relating to lake trout in 
Skaneateles Lake. 
By Mr. Baumes—Relating to nets in the Hud¬ 
son and Delaware rivers. 
Stream Pollution in Vermont. 
New York, Feb. 26.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Referring to my communication in the 
issue for Dec. 12, 1908, about sawdust in closed 
brooks in Vermont, I am glad to say that I have 
recently seen Game Commissioner Thomas, and 
he tells me that the offending sawmill that I 
referred to has been taken down, and that there 
is a law which permits him to stop the dumping 
of sawdust into closed streams by new mills, 
but he cannot touch old mills or those existing 
at the time of the passage of the law. It is en¬ 
couraging to see even this much being done by 
Vermont in the necessary work of preventing 
the pollution of its streams. 
Herbert Wheaton Congdon. 
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