Sept. 4, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
373 
plained. I have seen nine cases of deer damage 
this summer where the farmer refused to accept 
money from the State. Do the deer damage 
:rops in Vermont? In his report Commissioner 
Thomas says: “Claims for damage to crops by 
Jeer have been more numerous than in previous 
years,” and he approved claims to the amount 
of $1,109.58. This was for the biennial term 
mding July, 1908, and the law to pay these claims 
only went into effect Feb. 1, 1907, so the period 
of time covered was not much over a year, and 
farmers were not well acquainted with the law 
it that time. In the meantime the commissioner 
had paid out $129 from the Wheeler fund, a 
private fund provided by M. E. Wheeler, of 
Rutland. 
Let us examine a few cases, see what the 
deer eat and what class of people complain. 
A.re they all “irresponsibles?” I will cite a few 
from my personal experience this summer, and 
the damage is so recent it can be seen at the 
time of this writing: Norman L. Mattison, of 
Glastenbury, assistant judge of Bennington 
county court, lost 1,425 hills of beans, with other 
damage to oats, apples and pumpkins; A. J. 
Gormley, of East Dorset, one of the most pros- 
International Hunting Exhibition. 
The work of the first International Shooting 
and Field Sports Exhibition, to be held in Vienna 
in 1910, has now reached the second stage, and 
the plans are now being carried out by the 
architect and builder. 
The buildings in the exhibition park and in¬ 
side the rotunda, which were begun in spring, 
are progressing r'apidly and the outlines of the 
pavilions and exhibition buildings can be seen. 
Judging by present appearances, one of the 
most attractive objects will be the pavilion ot 
Prince Christian Kraft Hohenlohe-Oehringen, 
Duke of Ujest. It is a wood pavilion in the 
Hungarian division, built in the stylq of the 
Carpathian shooting boxes. The whole building 
is constructed of beams and will be ornamented 
and decorated after the manner of the Hun¬ 
garian shooting boxes. 
The Norwegian division will consist of two 
Norwegian hunting pavilions and a Lapland 
camp. 
The large number of applications from in¬ 
dustrial and trading circles made it necessary to 
increase the space originally set aside for the 
good sport is to be had, but through the Santa 
Clara Valley doves are very scarce, and this 
condition of affairs prevails until Hollister is 
reached. From there on down the coast the 
birds seem to be plentiful, but this is no ad¬ 
vantage to the San Francisco sportsmen. 
A. P. B. 
Conservation Favored. 
New Orleans, La., Aug. 28. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: The game commission has accepted 
the offer of 70,000 acres of land for a game re¬ 
serve, to be located in Avoylles parish. It is 
advertising for 100 deer raised and bred in 
Louisiana, the object being to stock the pre¬ 
serves. The commission will not import either 
game or deer from other States on account of 
the fear of propagating disease. President 
Miller on his return from an extended trip East 
made an extended report which is adverse to 
importing game from other States and to breed 
from the home product. Governor J. Y. Sanders 
attended the meeting Saturday and impressed 
upon the commission the policy of following the 
laws strictly. He said if there was any mis- 
Breech open, ready to load. 
perous farmers in his section, was the loser of 
fifty bushels of potatoes, three-quarters of an 
acre of oats and two bushels of beets; Anthony 
Tatro, of Pownal, an honest and industrious 
farmer, lost 479 heads of cabbage and 1,565 tur¬ 
nips; Isaiah Young, of Arlington, had a patch 
of beans containing 3,116 hills. All were de¬ 
stroyed by deer. D. B. Hendee, Jack Ross, Q. 
A. Hall, E. S. Squiers, Jesse H. Bacon and Chris 
Godette, all of Sunderland, lost beans, beets, 
potatoes, cabbage and oats; S. E. Martin and 
George Waite, of Shaftsbury, have already lost 
281 heads of cabbage and deer are still eating 
them at this writing; F. E. Rice, G. F. Heath 
and Amos Aldrich, of Bennington, have suffered 
loss to their oats, clover, cabbage, peas, beets 
and carrots. E. A. Perry, of Pownal, has lost 
186 heads of cabbage and 708 beets; Sidney 
Squiers, of Arlington, has lost 1,505 hills of 
beans, and Stephen Dillingham, of Dorset, has 
about ten bushels of beets missing from his crop 
through deer depredations. 
These claims are all recent. I could continue 
with many more cases. Are these men all “irre¬ 
sponsibles ?” Let Stanstead consult the com¬ 
missioners of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Massachusetts and Connecticut if he is in doubt 
as to whether or not deer do any damage when 
they are camping and feeding on the farms. 
As to his contention that deer do not hide 
their young at birth, the editor of Forest and 
Stream has answered that, but I was under the 
impression that that was such a matter of com¬ 
mon knowledge that the court would take judi¬ 
cial notice of the fact. Harry Chase. 
mr. watson’s harper’s ferry relic. 
Breech closed and gun cocked. 
purpose. A special committee has been formed 
to have charge of the taxidermy. The Burger- 
meister of Budapest has ordered all weapons, 
skins, nets, etc., to be collected which are found 
on the persons of poachers within the neigh¬ 
borhood of the city. 
Hunting in California. 
San Francisco, Cal., Aug. 21 .— Editor Forest 
and Stream: Deer hunting in the vicinity of 
San Francisco has become so unsatisfactory, ex¬ 
cept in some of the choice preserves, that but 
few sportsmen are now making the week-end 
trips that were the practice when the season 
first opened. Most of the hunting that is being 
done now is in Northern California where deer 
are plentiful and where there is also other game 
to attract attention. Several San Francisco 
sportsmen have gone into the Klamath River 
country and are sending home some glowing 
reports of the sport that is to be had there. 
.Deer, bear and California lions are to be found 
there and but few hunters have gone into that 
region as yet. In Southern California hunters 
have been getting many deer, but the best sport 
is now far back in the mountains. 
Dove shooting in the counties around the bay 
has not proved to be very attractive as yet, and 
the season is to be regarded as a failure in most 
sections on the coast. In the interior counties 
it is as good as usual, but few of the local 
powder burners care to make long trips for the 
birds now that the limit has been made so low. 
In the vicinity of Paso Robles and Salinas some 
take, it was with the Legislature and not the 
game commission. He said that game preserva¬ 
tion was of the greatest importance. The com¬ 
mission is considering the policy of doing away 
with the dollar license tax for all freeholders in 
Louisiana and confining this hunting tax to pro¬ 
fessional hunters and non-residents. It is also 
proposed to have a closed season for catching 
shrimp, to require a license and to take charge 
of all the salt waters of the State. The Legis¬ 
lature will have to pass the necessary laws be¬ 
fore anything can be done in this direction. 
The real hunting season does not open in 
Louisiana until Oct. 1, A number of- additional 
wardens will be appointed and the system re¬ 
organized. A number of reforms have been 
proposed. Members of the Audubon Society and 
any hunter of good standing will be made deputy 
wardens without pay. F. G. G. 
A Harper’s Ferry Relic. 
Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 11. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: I have what seems to me a great 
curiosity; namely, a breechloading flint lock 
musket made by J. H. Hall, Harper’s Ferry, in 
1824. I send you two views of it, one showing 
breech open ready to load and the other with 
breech closed and gun cocked ready for a buf¬ 
falo or an Indian. 
I have always taken a great interest in old 
guns, but in all my life have never seen another 
like this and would like to know what your 
readers can tell me about this make of muskel 
Was it ever in use in the United States Army 
W. O. Watson. 
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