FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 2, 1907. 
176 
Adirondack Forest Preservation. 
A meeting of the Association for the Protection 
of the Adirondacks was held in New York city, 
Jan. 25, for the purpose of devising plans for de¬ 
feating the proposed amendment to Section 7 of 
Article VII. of the State constitution. Letters 
were read from a number of prominent men, 
followed by a very animated discussion of the 
subject in which the measure was unqualifiedly 
denounced as inimical to the ' interests of the 
people. 
A scathing review of Adirondack history for 
the past fifteen years was presented in behalf 
of the Association for the Protection of the Adi¬ 
rondacks, in which various depredations, actual 
and planned, were set forth, and in which it 
was claimed that the proposed Constitutional 
Amendment was another step by grabbers to get 
their clutches on State property for their per¬ 
sonal aggrandizement. Burke was quoted to 
the effect that when bad men band together, good 
men must associate, and the review concluded 
by saying that when greed' and graft wer.e ram¬ 
pant the citizens of the State should not remain 
passive. • 
In conclusion, a joint committee, representing 
the various organizations participating in the 
meeting, was appointed to take such steps as 
might be netessary to secure the defeat of the 
proposed amendment if it should be introduced 
in the present Legislature. 
A review of all the facts bearing on the ques¬ 
tion was given, and the association put itself 
on record as follows: 
“A circular recently put forth by the advocates 
of the amendment claims among other things that 
the building of storage reservoirs on State lands 
in the Adirondacks is necessary for the control 
of destructive floods, for the promotion of pub¬ 
lic health, 'for the supply of- the enlarged Erie 
Canal and for the industrial development of the 
State. 
“We claim, on the contrary, that to amend the 
Constitution as thus proposed will put the State 
forest lands back again at the mercy of those 
against whom this bulwark was erected in 1894. 
That it will permit the destruction of forests; 
produce unhealthy conditions; mar the scenery; 
place the people’s possessions at the service of 
private corporations; that there is more hydraulic 
power avaifable outside of the Adirondack Park 
than can be utilized for a century, and that stor¬ 
age reservoirs can be constructed outside the 
park if the promoters will buy the property in¬ 
stead of building their dams on State land; that 
the defeat of the proposed Malby-Merritt Amend¬ 
ment will not in the least impede the industrial 
development of the State by legitimate means; 
that its adoption will open the way to the virtual 
pre-emption by private corporations of water re¬ 
sources which may eventually be required by 
our cities; that the proposed amendment is not 
necessary to prevent damages by floods; that 75 
per cent, of the damage done by floods on the 
Hudson River at and below Troy is due to the 
Mohawk waters, not originating in the Adiron¬ 
dacks ; that the other minor freshets are controllable 
outside of the Adirondack Park or otherwise 
avoidable; that the proposed amendment is not 
necessary for the purposes of the enlarged Erie 
Canal, as the reports of the State engineers 
show; 
“And that this and similar allegations are 
simply subterfuges designed to deceive the public 
and to cover up schemes for private aggrandize¬ 
ment. 
“The interests which are promoting this amend¬ 
ment have been discredited by their record of 
dissimulation and hypocrisy; and the history of 
the Adirondacks for the past thirteen years shows 
that the people still need the benefit of the salu¬ 
tary restraint which the constitution, as the 
supreme law of the commonwealth, places upon 
current legislation. 
“When the forces of greed and graft are ram¬ 
pant, we cannot remain passive. There is 
occasion for every citizen who appreciates what 
the Adirondack Park is now and will be in the 
future to the people, and what it would mean 
to impair in any degree the constitutional pro¬ 
tection which it now has, to arouse himself and 
take vigorous steps to maintain the safeguards 
that have wisely been erected.” 
Letters opposing the proposed legislation 
and endorsing the association’s work, by the fol¬ 
lowing gentlemen were read: Andrew V. V. 
Raymond, of Union University; J. M. Taylor, of 
Vassar College; the Rev. L. T. Chamberlain, 
John B. Thatcher, Rev. L. H. Schwab, Henry 
Phillips, Gen. G. W. Wingate, Robert W. De 
Forest, R. U. Johnson, S. R. Stoddard, of Glens 
Falls; Bishop Potter, and others. 
The New Jersey Commission’s Work. 
The annual report of the Board of Fish and 
Game Commissioners of New Jersey shows that 
the year has been an exceedingly active one. 
The board at present consists of Benjamin P. 
Morris, president and secretary, of Long 
Branch; David P. McClellan, of. Morristown, 
and Percy H. Johnson, of Bloomfield. The 
fourth member, David T. Miller, died recently 
at Camden. There are 24 wardens, 167 deputy 
wardens and one game protector. The latter 
is James M. Stratton, of Long Branch. 
These fish were placed in the various lakes 
and streams in New Jersey during the year: 
45,000 trout, 9,800 black bass, 14,600 perch, 
2,075 pickerel, 7,300 catfish, 100 crappie and 46,- 
100 bait fish. 
In conjunction with the Department of Fish¬ 
eries of Pennsylvania, and the Forest and Fish 
and Game Commission of New York the com¬ 
mission collected from the Delaware River and 
hatched and distributed 3,013,000 shad. One 
hundred thousand of these were put in the 
Hudson River. 
The commission liberated 7,440 quail in the 
spring, with a loss of but 232 birds, or about 
three per cent.. 
Every effort was made to keep the public in¬ 
formed on the fish and game laws. Over 
twenty thousand copies of the fish and game 
laws were distributed, in addition to 20,000 
charts, showing the open and closed season for 
taking game. There were 321 prosecutions. Of 
these 312 were convictefl and nine acquitted. 
The fines amountd to $7,824.93. 
The following are the recommendations of 
the Fish and Game Commissioners: 
The laws as now fconstituted have given better 
satisfaction as a whole, than any previous law 
that the Legislature has enacted upon the sub¬ 
ject. It is the sense of the board that the 
laws be unchanged with the exception of such 
amendments as may be made necessary from 
time to time to meet • new conditions and 
emergencies. We recommend that there be a 
tax placed either upon all guns or upon all 
persons before hunting, whether resident or 
nonresident, and that all licenses cover hunting 
for all kinds of game. We see no reason why 
there should be any exceptions. The nonresi¬ 
dent license act should be amended so as to 
cover hunting for wildfowl and snipe, as well as 
quail and rabbit. 
We renew recommendation of previous years 
to abolish spring shooting, on all kinds of game 
and birds; the sale of game should be abolished. 
This would stop the market hunter, who causes 
the greater part of the trouble. 
The commission recommends that purse net¬ 
ting be abolished; regulating pound nets; the 
abolition of fishing through the ice; making 
June 15 opening day for bass fishing;. abolish¬ 
ing July woodcock shooting, etc. 
North Carolina Game Laws. 
Greensboro, N. C., Jan. 26.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: Secretary T. Gilbert Pearson, of 
the State Audubon Society, recently returned 
from Raleigh where he has been attending a 
convention of North Carolina bird lovers. The 
object of this meeting was to unite in asking the 
Legislature to pass certain restrictive laws re¬ 
garding the killing of birds which are regarded 
as important for their preservation. The meet¬ 
ing was well attended, representatives being 
present from a large number of counties of the 
State. Dr. R. H. Lewis presided at the day 
session and Dr. J. I. Johnson, Mayor of Raleigh, 
in the evening. At the meeting Mr. Pearson 
stated that the State Audubon Society would 
recommend to the Legislature the following 
changes in the laws: 
First: > A uniform close season for quail and 
other upland game birds from March 1 to Nov. 
15, provided this would not conflict with any 
county which had a shorter season than the one 
herein provided for. At the present time ten 
counties have a shorter season, and over eighty 
counties have a longer one for snooting birds 
than the above dates. He said this change in 
the law was deemed wise for two reasons; first, 
because of the great amount of confusion aris¬ 
ing in the State as a result of the innumerable 
local laws now existing; and second because it was 
generally agreed that quail should not be hunted 
before Nov. 15. “Even then,” he said, “many 
young quail, unable to fly, are found in our 
fields.” Second: Making, it unlawful to sell 
game during the season of the year when it is 
unlawful to kill it. He stated that in any large 
town in North Carolina it is common to see 
quail offered for sale before the hunting season 
opens. By stopping the sale of birds, market 
hunters will have little motive to kill them be¬ 
fore the season opens. Third: To make it un¬ 
lawful to net or trap quail except for purposes 
of propagation. Only five out of the ninety- 
seven counties of the State have this law. 
The convention heartily endorsed these recom¬ 
mendations. Many other points were then dis¬ 
cussed, such as stopping dogs from running at 
large during the summer months while the birds 
are breeding; the securing of additional funds 
with which to pay warden services; stopping the 
sale of game at all times; and stopping the ship¬ 
ping of wildfowl out of the State. It was finally 
decided to ask for a State measure making a 
close season for woodcock. At the present time 
this fast-disappearing game bird is protected by 
a close season in only eleven counties. This step 
was taken upon motion of Dr. J. I. Johnson. 
Col. T. J. Anthony, of Charlotte, discussed at 
length the importance of limiting the number of 
birds which a man may shoot in a day, and the 
only other matter acted upon favorably was his 
motion to ask for a bag limit of twenty-five quail 
per day. 
Messrs. Haynes and Woodhouse, of Currituck 
county, were present and spoke at length re¬ 
garding the destructiveness of the market hun¬ 
ters of the wildfowl in Currituck Sound. They 
had made the journey to Raleigh in order to ac¬ 
quaint the members of this conference and the 
members of the Legislature with conditions as 
they really exist in that section, as they had 
reason to believe the representative in the Legis¬ 
lature from Currituck this year would try to 
have many of the protective game laws of that 
county repealed. C. J. Lambe. 
The Master of Game. 
On the third page of our ’supplement this 
week is a reproduction from the oldest English 
book on hunting, “The Master of Game,” written 
between 1406-1413 by Edward, second Duke of 
York, Who was the master of game at the court 
of Henry IV., and who was killed at Agincourt. 
Some twenty of the original manuscript copies 
were found after a long search by W. A. Bail- 
lie-Grohman and his wife, the editors of the 
modern' work, and after a great deal of research, 
comparison and consultation with the British 
Museum authorities and others, the Shirley manu¬ 
script was selected for printing. 
The manuscript work was not original with 
the Duke save in part. Rather it was an original 
translation with additions from the French of 
Count Gaston de Foix’s “Livre de Chasse,” the 
first parts of which were written in 1387. Only 
five of 'the thirty-six chapters in “The Master 
of Game” are original, but numerous interpola¬ 
tions made by the translator add to the value of 
the book. The illustrations in the "various Eng¬ 
lish manuscripts were so inferior to those in 
the French manuscripts that the reproductions 
(of which pur supplement picture is one) were 
made from the latter, which are preserved in the 
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. 
