FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 18, 1907.! 
773 ____ 
Protector Burnham and the Picotte Mill. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
With reference to the article sent out by Ed¬ 
ward Hatch, Jr., which by inference charges me 
with being a party to the pollution of a stream 
by the discharge of sawdust into it, I wish to 
say that the statement as printed is absolutely 
false, as instead of condoning the offense I had 
the mill owner, Peter Picotte, arrested, by Game 
Protector Daniel Seckington and taken to Eliza¬ 
bethtown, where he was tried by Justice John 
D. Nicholson, plead guilty and was fined. Seck¬ 
ington also had the mill shut down till it could 
be fitted properly to keep its sawdust out of the 
small brook on which it is situated. 
Picotte’s mill is sawing lumber for me as well 
as for others, and it is this fact alone which gave 
a basis to the story. I did not bring about the 
establishment of the mill on its present site. I 
have no interest in the mill whatever beyond 
my interest to see that its owner complies with 
the exact letter of the law. Action was begun 
against the mill owner before Mr. Hatch visited 
Commissioner Whipple, and the conviction as 
above narrated occurred some time before Mr. 
Hatch sent out his published statement. 
John B. Burnham. 
Legislation at Albany. 
Senator Whitney’s bill, relating to a close 
season for deer in certain counties, is up for 
third reading. It provides for amendments to 
the forest, fish and game law, extending the close 
season on deer to Sept. 1, 1912, in Albany, Colum¬ 
bia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, Oswego, Put¬ 
nam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Schenectady, Scho¬ 
harie, Westchester, and parts of Oneida, Lewis 
and Jefferson counties. 
Assembly bill 2183, by Mr. C. Smith, reflating 
to fishing in Otsego Lake, was signed by Gover¬ 
nor Hughes on May 9. 
Assembly bill 1582, by Mr. Nevins, relating to 
fishing in Silver Lake, was signed May 6. 
Assembly bill 553, by Mr. Apgar, relating to 
nets in the Hudson River, was recalled May 6. 
Assembly bill 1075 . by M.r. Gates, relating to 
tipups on Sandy Pond, was vetoed May 4 
Assembly bill 1038, by Mr. Cobb, relating to 
the compilation of forest, fish and game laws, 
was signed May 4. A new section (164) is 
added. It provides that the forest, fish and game 
commissioner shall, as soon as practicable after 
the adjournment of the Legislature each year, 
make a compilation of these laws, and properly 
index them. Twenty-five thousand copies shall 
then be printed in pamphlet form of pocket size, 
under the direction of the clerks of the Senate 
and Assembly, who shall distribute them as fol¬ 
lows : One hundred copies to each senator, 50 
copies to each assemblyman, and the balance to 
the commissioner for distribution. 
Assembly bill 1485. by Mr. Stratton, relating 
to a close season for trout in Chenango county; 
in committee of the whole. 
Wild Celery. 
Springfield, Mass., May 14 . — Editor Forest 
and Stream: Referring to the query of R. V. 
Pierce, in your issue of May 11, relative to wild 
celery ( Vallisneria spira'is) : In the autumn of 
1881, through the kindness of Mr. D. W. Cross, 
of Cleveland, I obtained a large quantity of both 
the seed and bulbs of this plant which he had 
secured near his club house at Port Clinton, 
Ohio. The greater part of these seeds and bulbs 
I planted immediately after I received them at 
a place in the Connecticut River, a few miles 
below Springfield, where with others I was in¬ 
terested in decoying chicks. Some of the seed 
I kept until winter when I put them into an 
aquarium where they sprouted and thrived until 
spring, when I successfully transplanted the 
plants to the Connecticut River. 
About the same time I obtained from Oregon 
what was called “wocus seed” then said to be 
one of the finest duck foods* in the world, but 
these seeds did not germinate either in the 
aquarium or river. At this decoy place in the 
late seventies and early eighties we planted a 
great many bushels of wild rice (Zizania aqua¬ 
tion) which germinated, grew and increased so 
that a few years later at the proper season, along 
the river at that place, grew an immense crop 
of rice. And then previous to 1892 we cap¬ 
tured individuals of twenty-two different species 
of wild duck not all attracted by the rice, but the 
increase there of the mallard, black duck and 
teal, following the introduction of wild rice, was 
very marked. I know of no good results from 
the planting of the wild celery. 
Robert O. Morris. 
Deer in Private Parks. 
Louisville, Ky., May 10.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: My friend, Wm. F. Mosser, of West- 
over, Pa., writes me that the State’s game war¬ 
den is proceeding against him for killing deer 
in his private park in contravention of the Penn¬ 
sylvania game laws. Mr. Mosser reported him¬ 
self as having killed in excess of the legal limit 
of one deer in one season for the purpose of 
testing the law as applied to private preserves. 
It appears that the authorities are prosecuting 
the action in dead earnest without reference to 
the purpose of game protection. Mr. Mosser un¬ 
questionably has reason on his side and declares 
that unless he is permitted to exercise control 
over deer in his private grounds he will dispose 
of them. Otherwise he would be afraid to use 
a free hand in getting rid of diseased or vicious 
individuals or disposing of surplus stock. 
Such a regulation would be senseless and pur¬ 
poseless in so far as any effect it might be de¬ 
sired to have on the State’s supply of wild 
animals, and on the other hand would have the 
positive effect of discouraging large owners from 
beautifying the landscape by maintaining a private 
stock of deer and other wild animals in counties 
and States where the lamentable absence of 
proper laws or the failure of officials to enforce 
them have permitted the species to become ex¬ 
tinct in its native unfenced wild. § 
1 should believe that such a keen sportsman 
as Mr. John M. Phillips, the State Game Com¬ 
missioner, would see to it that the law is not 
perverted into a measure to interfere with in¬ 
dividual rights and to discourage the preserva¬ 
tion of the species in private parks. 
Brent Altsheler. 
Recent Deaths. 
Andrew B. Hendryx died at his home in New 
Haven, Conn., May Q, after a brief illness from 
pneumonia. His age was seventy-three years. 
Mr. Llendryx was best known to our readers as 
a manufacturer of fishing reels and artificial 
lures. His company made reels and parts of 
reek for the trade, and a great many of the fine 
reels in use to-day, while called by other names, 
contain gears, handles and other parts made in 
enormous lots by the Andrew B. Hendryx Com¬ 
pany. Mr. Hendryx’s greatest success, however, 
came through his inventions that were applied 
to railwav car wheels a great' many years ago 
and are still in use at the present time. He also 
revolutionized the bird cage trade by putting on 
the market brass cages of all sorts that rapidly 
replaced the old-time wooden article. H hree 
children survive him. 
Lieutenant-Colonel George Vincent Fosbery, 
who died in London, on May 8, was the in¬ 
ventor of the paradox principle that was applied 
so successfully to double guns, and of the auto¬ 
matic revolver known as the Webley-Fosbery. 
By means of very shallow grooves cut on a sharp 
twist at the muzzle of a smooth-bore gun barrel, 
he succeeded in securing moderate accuracy 
when firing heavy bullets, and shot could also 
be fired with fair results. These guns are very 
popular with Englishmen who hunt in regions 
where big game and small are both found. By 
applying his principle to revolvers, on firing the 
first shot the recoil is utilized to raise Hie ham¬ 
mer, turn and lock the cylinder and leave the 
weapon ready for the firing of another shot. 
These revolvers, in large calibers, are regarded 
as very powerful weapons. 
Arizona for the Sportsman. 
Phoenix, Ariz., May 2.— Editor Forest a 
Stream: The Arizona Legislature, which clos 
its session in March, passed no amendments 
the game laws. Governor Kibbey reappoint) 
the old board of fish and game commission! j 
as follows: T. S. Bunch, Safford; E. A. Slikii 
Flagstaff; W. L. Pinney (Secretary), Phoen: 
Mr. Pinney has served continuously on the coi 
mission under the last four governors. 
April is the one dull month which the sport 
men of central Arizona have. Quail shootij 
closes March 1, teal and gray duck shootij 
is first class all during the month, and then j 
have a rest for our guns until the white-wing 
doves ( Melopclia leucoptera ) arrive in lar 
numbers from Central America and Mexico abr 
this season, and afford the finest wing shooti 
in the world until September. Fancy sitting 
a camp stool in the shade of a big cottonwo 
tree late in the afternou of a hot summer d 
and shooting a hundred shells in less than 
hour, at straight flying birds, at any angle y 
wish to take them ! 
Trout, fishing opens in northern Arizo 
streams June 1, and closes Sept. 1. Oak Cre' 
about twenty miles south from Flagstaff, is t 
most accessible point. White and Black rive 
100 miles south of Holbrook, are the best a 
are said to afford the best trout fishing in t 
country. They are so far from the railroad tl 
are not likely to be fished out by this generati 
The fifteenth annual tournament of the A 
zona Sportsmen’s Association will be held nc 
fall at Douglas, Arizona. The exact date li 
not yet been set. 
Local trapshooting has taken a back seat < 
past winter on account of the large crop of q: . 
we had here. The limit is -twenty-five per H 
per man, and it was a poor shot indeed w\ 
could not reach the limit even at the last wU 
of the season. Visiting sportsmen from the e;j 
who intended to remain only a short time, p 
longed their stay on account of the quail sho 
ing. W. A. Bunn, of Peoria, Ill., has just 
cently gone back home and says he will be h 
this fall at the opening of the season (Oct. 1 
Mr. Bunn stopped for a few days at a rai 
down the valley and killed eight quail in ! 
minutes standing on one large rock, all w 
shots. There is every promise now of a m | 
abundant crop of quail than we had last fall. ; 
To the tourist who is a true sportsman ; 
wishes to enjoy good shooting in a conn 
which is not all taken up with game presen j 
we want you to come out and see 11s next v 1 
ter. We have only one game preserve in A 
zona, and that is a fine duck shooting lake ab! 
sixty-five miles from Phoenix, and visitors i 
taken out by the members every trip they nr : 
Duck shooting is also good near Phoenix, [ 
the river and ponds, from October to Ml 
Phoenix is reached by the Southern Pac 
Rock Island and Sante Fe systems, and ha 
most enjoyable dry winter climate. Come ; 
join us. Residen’ 
The Texas Anli-Pisiol Bill. 
The Texas Legislature on May 11 passecj 
bill which provides that dealers in sportsnul 
and other goods who sell pistols and revoh 
must pay to the county a tax of fifty per cent. : 
their gross receipts. If the bill becomes a ' 
it will no doubt result in a scarcity of revoh 
and pistols in Texas, and orders for^ these a 
will go direct to dealers in other States or 1 
the manufacturers, as it will not be likely 1j 
the contents of an express or mail package 
lie examined by the civil authorities. 
Our Cover Picture. 
Raleigh, N. C., May 11.— Editor Forest 
Stream: The estuary of the Neuse River, I 1 
gether with its creeks and other branches, fof 
nearly or quite the northern limit of the raj 
of the species. And, in spite _ of this fact, tj 
run to large sizes and are, in suitable plajj 
quite plentiful. The one being skinned was (■ 
tween seven and eight feet long. They are 4 
plentiful within a few hundred yards of t 
scene of the picture. FI. H. Brimle 
