212 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Feb. 17, 1912 
Publislied Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company, 
127 franklin Street, New York. 
Edward C. Locke, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary, 
S. J. Gibson, Treasurer. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
The Forest and Stream is the recognized medium of 
entertainment, instruction and information between Amer¬ 
ican sportsmen. The editors invite communications on 
the subjects to which its pages are devoted. Anonymous 
communications will not be regarded. The editors are 
not responsible for the views of correspondents. 
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six months. Subscriptions may begin at any time. 
Remit by express money-order, registered letter, money- 
order or. draft, payable to the Forest and Stream Pub¬ 
lishing Company. 
The paper may be obtained of newsdealers throughout 
the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Foreign 
Subscription and Sales Agents—London: Davies & Co., 
1 Finch Lane; Sampson, Low & Co. Paris: Brentano’s. 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
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THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful in¬ 
terest in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate 
a refined taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
WHERE ARE THEY? 
Portions of the Great Lakes have been closed 
by ice during the recent cold weather, and it is 
said that deer, moose and other game have moved 
southward from Canada into the United States, 
where it is possible they may remain. 
Throughout the northern tier of States the tem¬ 
perature has been low for an unusually long 
time, and here and there storms of snow and sleet 
have hampered bird life. No doubt the loss 
among quail, grouse and imported pheasants and 
partridges will be very heavy. Sportsmen and 
farmers have scattered food in favorable places, 
with good results, but despite this the outlook is 
not bright, and 1912 will probably be a lean year 
for the upland bird shooters, and even a very 
favorable breeding season can scarcely be ex¬ 
pected to offset the ravages of the long severe 
winter. 
The Legislatures now in session seem to favor 
the popular demand for reasonable game laws. 
It is significant that at least one of the Southern 
States purposes to take robins off the list of game 
birds, and that no-sale laws are being considered 
in other capitals. 
If sportsmen will examine with thoroughness 
the places where imported game birds have been 
liberated, and report the results of their surveys, 
their testimony may throw much-needed light on 
an experiment that is becoming more and more 
of an expense to the States. The question of 
what disposition to make of the shooting license 
fund has been answered in a number of States 
by purchasing large numbers of imported birds 
at fancy prices, while at the same time no extra 
efforts are being exerted to protect native game. 
It would be enlightening to know what percent¬ 
age of these foreigners can, under normal con¬ 
ditions, be found in the places where they are 
put down, if indeed, they may be found at all. 
WATER STORAGE. 
The water storage bills, now before the New 
York Legislature, are two cunningly drawn meas¬ 
ures which, if they become law, will give to the 
water grabbers the power they have so long 
sought in vain, and open the State preserves to 
private interests. Under the guise of conserva¬ 
tion, the bills provide for a number of acts osten¬ 
sibly for the benefit of the public, but intended 
primarily for private gain at public, expense. 
Water storage and the regulation of stream 
flow, the preservation of watershedj and the dis¬ 
tribution of power can be handled by the State 
without any assistance from semi-public corpora¬ 
tions, and without invasion of the forest pre¬ 
serves. 
BRITISH ANGLERS’ MUDDLE. 
The anglers of Great Britain are much exer¬ 
cised over the possible effect of the enforcement 
of the Protection of Animals Act, which was 
made a law last year, one section of which, it 
is pointed out, applies to the use of live baits of 
all sorts. 
The principal purpose of the act is to prevent 
overloading, abuse and unnecessary suffering 
among beasts of burden, but it also refers to “any 
domestic or captive animal,” and the definition, 
which follows, seems to have escaped the atten¬ 
tion of the angling public until too late for pro¬ 
tests. 
The section follows: 
The expression “captive animal” means any animal 
(not being a domestic animal) of whatsoever kind or 
species, and whether a quadruped'or not, including any 
bird, fish or reptile, which is in captivity or confine¬ 
ment, or which is maimed, pinioned or subjected to any 
appliance or contrivance for the purpose of hindering 
or preventing its escape from captivity or confinement. 
The police have warned anglers not to employ 
live bait in their fishing, and it is conceded that 
magistrates possess full authority to punish users 
of live bait, if indeed, they may not also con¬ 
sider that , catching fish comes within the mean¬ 
ing of the law. 
In all civilized countries the trend of senti¬ 
ment is toward the use of artificial lures in fish¬ 
ing. The main reason for this is that large 
catches are frowned on, else nets would be the 
thing. Methods that are clean and sportsman¬ 
like are necessary in conserving the supply of 
fish, and ere many years we may see the fishing 
in certain waters restricted to artificial lures, a 
policy that has been tried in one State with 
success. 
Much depends on the anglers themselves. If 
selfishness continues to give way to moderation 
in the future as in the recent past, restrictions 
of this sort may be long deferred, if indeed they 
will ever be generally imposed. 
An ordinance enacted by the East Africa Pro¬ 
tectorate gives the governor power to declare 
any area therein a forest area, and power is 
conferred to make suitable regulations for pro¬ 
tection of trees and forest produce on crown 
lands in a forest area. Provision is also made 
for a board of forest commissioners, which is 
especially charged with the question of forests 
which are now or may be declared to be demar¬ 
cated. The present Government forest timber 
area is about 2,000,000 acres. According to the 
last report of the conservator of forests, the de¬ 
struction of forests by natives in the past fifteen 
years amounts to 224,000 acres. 
When John Munro killed 216 plovers at one 
discharge of a punt gun recently in Cromarty 
Firth, some of his friends claimed that it was 
a record bag for that part of Scotland. In a 
country where other game is protected so re¬ 
ligiously, it is remarkable that punt gunning is 
not only permitted, but is classed as sport. In 
the British sportsmen’s papers various writers 
solemnly discuss the merits of various big guns, 
always with a view to their range and killing 
circle, and dilate on the joys of the gunner who 
wipes out entire flocks of wildfowl. But after 
all, there is not much to choose between the bag 
of the successful punt gunner and that of the 
landowner who, with his guests, shoots driven 
birds. The latter shooting is profitable to a 
greater number of people, particularly those in 
the ammunition trade, and no great harm is 
done, as the pheasants are raised for the pur¬ 
pose. The class of men who shoot pheasants 
do not care to face rough winds and salt water 
in motion, hence the supply of wildfowl seems 
to be affected but little, though wholesale meth¬ 
ods of annihilation are permitted and practiced. 
During the fiscal year ended June 30 last, four 
cases arising under Sections 242 and 243 of the 
Criminal Code of the United States (35 Stat, 
1088) were reported to the attorney-general for 
appropriate action. Two of these cases were sub¬ 
sequently dismissed, owing to the fact that ser¬ 
vice could not be obtained upon the defendants; 
the other two cases were pending at the close 
of June 30 (Department of Agriculture Miscel¬ 
laneous Cases Nos. 121 and 122). The case of 
twenty-three Japanese poachers who were ar¬ 
rested on Laysan Island in the act of killing 
birds was brought to trial and the defendants 
fined and imprisoned. 
In his address before the annual convention 
of the hardwood manufacturers of the United 
States, held in Cincinnati recently, W. B. Greely, 
of the Federal Forestry Service, pointed out the 
advisability of eliminating fire risks, which he 
termed (‘the first commandment of forestry.” 
He also cited a number of examples showing 
the profit and economy of saving young trees, 
with a view to continuous production, making 
of lumbering a business of to-morrow as well as 
of to-day. 
c. 
The Dutch Government purchases annually 
large numbers of young salmon, which when 
liberated in the German Rhine, eventually de¬ 
scend into Holland. In 1910 over 3000000 sal¬ 
mon were thus planted, while during the same 
time about 6,000 adult salmon were taken from 
the Rhine by fishermen in Holland. 
Nearly 55.000 shooting licenses were taken out 
by sportsmen in Indiana last year, an increase 
of about 7.000 over the returns for 1909, and 
about 2,500 more than in 1910. 
