374 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 9, 1907. 
All the game laves of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
A Maryland Ducking Case. 
An important decision on the Maryland duck¬ 
ing law was reached last week, which settles for 
the time being the constitutionality of Mary¬ 
land’s law governing duck shooting on the Sus¬ 
quehanna flats, which law for about a quarter 
of a century has been more honored in the 
breach than in the observance. The facts of 
the case are given in the Sun as follows : 
The case of the State of Maryland vs. George 
R. Carver, of Havre de Grace, charged with vio¬ 
lation of Section 300 of Article 13 of the Public 
Local Laws of Maryland, which section says it 
shall be illegal to cross the line of the Susque¬ 
hanna flats as laid down by Sections 27S and 
279 of Article 13 before the hour of 5 A. M. on 
the days on which shooting is permitted, was 
tried last week before Judge Van Bibber and 
a jury, occupying three whole days in the trial. 
For the first time since the passage of the act, 
in 1882, a conviction was obtained, the jury ad¬ 
judging Mr. Carver guilty. Sentence was sus¬ 
pended. It is understood that the attorneys for 
the defense will take the case to the Court of 
Appeals. 
The case was vigorously fought for the State 
by State’s Attorney John R. Stifler, assisted by 
State Game Warden Oregon Milton Dennis and 
B. B. Shreeves, of Baltimore, Mr. Carver being 
represented by Mr. J. J. Archer, of the Belair 
bar, and Mr. Joseph W. Chamberlaine, of the 
Havre de Grace bar. 
State Warden Dennis, in speaking of the trial 
and conviction, said: 
“Of course, I am much gratified with the re¬ 
sult of the trial. At the beginning of the duck¬ 
ing season, upon request made to Governor War- 
field, the ducking police were placed under the 
jurisdiction of my department. Year after year 
the line law of the Susquehanna flats was being 
violated, without any apparent effort upon the 
part of the ducking police to enforce it. 
“After the Governor had written them that 
they should operate under my jurisdiction, I met 
them by appointment at Perryman in October 
and told them of the history of their predeces¬ 
sors, and that I would expect them to ‘make 
good’ during the present open season for shoot¬ 
ing wild fowl. They have made good, especially 
Ducking Policeman Killy and Schirling, to whom 
too much credit cannot be given for the part 
they took in enforcing the law, many times en¬ 
dangering their health by patroling the flats on 
very cold nights in an open boat. 
“They made a number of arrests; all of the 
persons were tried and convicted, or pleaded 
guilty and paid their fines before a magistrate. 
Mr, George R. Carver, one of the most promi¬ 
nent gunners and men of Havre de Grace, de¬ 
clined to be tried before the magistrate. His 
case was sent before the grand jury at Belair, 
where he was promptly indicted for violating 
the line law by going over the line before 5 
A. M. on the morning of Nov. 2. 
“Heretofore convictions could not be had be¬ 
cause it was difficult to either get the support 
and co-operation of the State’s Attorneys in the 
various counties or to get a jury who would 
convict. We had both this time and State’s At¬ 
torney Stifler more than ‘made good,’ and I can¬ 
not commend him too highly for his earnestness 
and loyalty to me and the department in his pre¬ 
sentation of the case. 
“I am glad also that the case will go to the 
Court of Appeals, for I feel sure every point 
passed upon by Judge Van Bibber will be sus¬ 
tained by that court upon appeal. 
“The defense used every means, by dilatory 
pleas and demurrers and special pleas, to have 
the ducking law of the Susquehanna flats de¬ 
clared unconstitutional by the court. There were 
two demurrers and three special pleas, all of 
which tended and were for the purpose of de¬ 
claring the act unconstitutional. The demurrers 
were overruled, and the special pleas were trav¬ 
ersed, resulting in the constitutionality of the 
act being sustained by the court in the following 
particulars, to wit: 
“First—That the law is not unconstitutional 
on the ground that the fine fixed by Section 300 
of Article 13, Code Public Local Laws, is in¬ 
definite. 
“Second—Fixing beyond question the lines of 
the Susquehanna flats as laid down by Sections 
278 and 279 of that article. 
“Third—-The act is not unconstitutional on the 
ground that it interferes or is inconsistent with 
the laws of navigation as fixed by the United 
States Statutes. 
“Fourth—That the State ha? a perfect right 
to pass laws for the protection of fish and game 
therein. 
“In view of the decision in this case I shall 
now vigorously enforce the law without regard 
to whom it may affect. Under the decision the 
State has a perfect right to regulate the shoot¬ 
ing of wild fowl on the Susquehanna flats, and 
as the State has seen fit to pass a law making it 
illegal to go over a certain line for the purpose 
of hunting and shooting wild fowl before the 
hour of 5 A. M. on the days open for shooting 
them I shall enforce the law. 
“I believe certain amendments to the law 
should be made, and at the proper time I shall 
arrange for a conference with the people who 
are interested in shooting wild fowl, especially 
at Havre de Grace, with a view to having cer¬ 
tain amendments made at the next session of 
the Legislature.” 
Pennsylvania Game Legislation. 
The following letter to the members of the 
Pennsylvania State Sportsmen’s Association, 
dated at Harrisburg, Pa., Feb. 18, explains it¬ 
self 
“I write you to-day to say I understand a 
bill will soon be on its way in the Senate, giv¬ 
ing authority to the owners of game preserves 
in this Commonwealth to kill game at pleasure 
(especially deer) and to sell the same in this 
Commonwealth. 
“You know what a measure of this kind will 
mean to the cause of game protection and how 
hard it will make the enforcement of the law, 
not only in the matter of the sale of game, but 
also in the matter of killing. The law now 
upon the books forbidding the purchase or sale 
of deer, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, quail and 
woodcock killed within this Commonwealth is 
the result of your effort. Are you willing to 
see this work undone at this time? What do 
you propose to do in this matter? I beg of 
you to take action as soon as may be and to 
write at once to your members and to- any other 
member you can reach regarding this subject. 
I beg of you to get together and be consistent, 
if you hope to have your claims recognized. I 
say this because of the position we are in re¬ 
garding the bill to require each resident to se¬ 
cure a license before hunting in this Common¬ 
wealth. 
“At the meeting of the organization held at 
Milton last spring, a resolution was adopted 
without a dissenting voice indorsing this meas¬ 
ure, and the president was directed to appoint 
a committee to consider the subject, to draft 
and have presented a bill relative to it. The 
committee was appointed with E. K. Morse, of 
Pittsburg, as chairman, R. R. Bennett, one of 
the officers of this association, and other gentle¬ 
men members of this committee. These gentle- - 
men spent their time and money to carry out 
the wishes of this organization and to-day find 
several of the very clubs that authorized their 
action drawn up in opposition to their own meas¬ 
ure. As chairman of your legislative committee 
1 am doing all in my power for what I think you 
want and must say it is more than discouraging 
to have things of this kind happen. I have had 
corrected several bills that seemed to be in op¬ 
position to your desires, one of which was the 
proposed bill placing a closed season on wild 
turkeys, pheasant and quail for a term of five 
years. The wild turkey and pheasant have been 
stricken out of the bill and the closed season 
on quail cut down to three years, a fair duck bill 
introduced, and other bills correcting unfair 
penalties have been started. What is your de¬ 
sire in this matter? I wish to say it is no small 
matter to' stop a bill backed as this one is by 
wealthy men, and without your help it cannot 
be done. 
“It will most certainly require united and 
harmonious effort upon our part, if we hope to 
win or to have influence in the direction of any 
of the many measures that affect our interests. 
It is hardly consistent for me to tell a member 1 
of the great good that is being done by the Penn¬ 
sylvania sportsmen, of their generosity, of how 
they are doing this and that for the good of the 
State, and risk him to vote either for or against 
a measure when I know he is likely to have a 
petition in his pocket asking him to vote against 
the resident hunters’ license bill because it takes 
a dollar out of his pocket and is likely to make 
a return of many times that amount. At the 
last session I did my utmost against the bill 
that attempted to stop the shooting of pigeons 
at the trap. I told of the many virtues of the 
men belonging to the Pennsylvania State Sports¬ 
men’s Association. I told of their generosity, of 
how they were spending their time and their 1 
money, without the hope of a reward of a re¬ 
turn to them as individuals. How they spent 
their money for quail to be released for the 
benefit of the State, and said, if pigeon shoot¬ 
ing was a wrong, it was the one evil done by 
these men, who had done a thousand times more 
good than they had done harm' etc. A member 
of the house showed me a clipping from a news¬ 
paper a few days ago calling attention to the 
fact that the second of their local gun clubs 
had taken an open position against the bill that 
proposed to make a poor man pay a dollar for 
hunting in this State and said, ‘Doctor, how 
about these big-hearted fellows you are always 
talking about; these men who are spending their 
money for the benefit of the State?’ I am afraid! 
you don’t understand the true purpose these men 
have in spending their money for quail. If we 
hope to win we must be consistent and stand 
together.” Joseph Kalbfus, 
Chairman of the Legislative Committee of.th{l 
Pennsylvania State Sportsmen’s Association.: 
Skis and Snowshoes. 
New' York, Feb. 25 . — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The snows of the present winter have 
turned the attention of New Yorkers fond ot 
outdoor life to methods of progression over it 
and it is being realized that the ski under propel 
conditions offers greater excitement than the 
Indian snowshoe. 
Many of your readers will therefore thanbj 
Mr. Moody for telling us all he can of the use 
and especially the manufacture of the Norse 
ski as suggested in his communication in Forest 
and Stream of Feb. 23. And also,, if he knows 
from whom properly constructed ski can be pros 
cured in this country. J. T. H. 
