March 4, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
335 
week. He was accompanied by a small, weird 
looking animal, a most unpresentable little wonk, 
on whom he laid great store. Curiosity impelled 
us to look at man and dog at work, and what 
we saw made such an impression upon us that 
we thought some little record of it might in¬ 
terest others. To cut a long story short, this 
is briefly what we saw: A hen pheasant hap¬ 
pened to drop into a furrowed field at feeding 
time. We saw her dictinctly running up and 
down in search of food. The native took her 
bearings, crept up as closely as he safely could, 
deposited his gun on a bit of higher ground 
and kept it trained on the bird. Meantime the 
dog lay down across the barrel of the gun as 
a screen for his master. The psychological 
moment arrived, the gun was fired, the bird was 
killed upon the ground, and the dog remained 
upon the barrel until his master took the gun 
to sharp points at the outer end. The In¬ 
dian sitting in his canoe and holding the upper 
end of the pole in both hands, as he would 
hold a paddle, sweeps the lower end, which has 
the nails in it, though the water, using the 
paddling motion. The herrings and oolachans 
collect in great schools in certain places which 
the Indians know, and every time the man 
sweeps the pole through such a school it strikes 
the bodies of several of the fish with sufficient 
force to drive the nails into them. As the man 
continues the stroke, the impaled fish are pushed 
ahead of the pole, and when the stroke ends, 
the pole is brought out of the water with the 
fish still sticking on the nails. The Indian then 
brings the nailed end of the pole in over the 
canoe, taps it on the side, and the fish drop off 
into the boat. 
Mr. Jernigan’s illustration of the Chinese punt 
those concerned in such matters. He would be 
pleased to receive at an early date the briefest 
possible written presentation of the views of 
each individual who intends participating in the 
conference. Fish and fisheries will be con¬ 
sidered Thursday, March 9. Matters pertain¬ 
ing to wild game and fur-bearing animals will 
be taken up Friday, March 10. 
At its last meeting the Senate forest, fish and 
game committee gave a hearing on the bill of 
Senator Long, to repeal the present law pre¬ 
venting spring duck shooting on Long Island 
and vicinity waters. Long Island hunters and 
those who have made a living in years gone by 
from the slaughter of ducks in the breeding 
season for the New York markets desire to ex¬ 
tend the open season from Jan. 10 until April 1. 
Ever since the bill prohibiting duck shooting in 
the spring was enacted, some six or seven years 
CHINESE PUNT SHOOTER. 
A CHINESE UPLAND. GUNNER. 
up to reload it. Now, this doubtlessly reads 
very much like romance, but it is a fact that can 
be attested by three eye witnesses.” 
This manner of collecting shellfish is more or 
less suggestive of the way in which in old times 
Indian women used to gather wappetoes on the 
Pacific coast. These wappetoes are small tubers 
which grow on the roots of a water plant. It is 
the practice of the women to wade into the water 
where these plants grow, and feeling in the mud 
for the tubers to break them free from their 
stems with the toes, when the tubers, being light, 
rise to the surface and can easily be gathered. 
The method of fishing described by the Shang¬ 
hai writer suggests also the way in which the 
Pacific coast Indians catch herrings and oola¬ 
chans. The use of the “rake,” as the Pacific 
coast implement is called, often yields large re¬ 
sults. It is a long pole flattened on either side 
and in its widest part perhaps two inches or 
more across. The flattening makes the pole a 
narrow oval in cross section, and into each of 
the narrow edges of the pole is driven a row 
of nails, an inch or more apart. These nails 
firmly driven into the wood are filed down 
shooter is of special interest, because the punt 
is used only to carry the gun, while the gunner 
wades along on the bottom. 
Game Law Hearings. 
Albany, N. Y., Feb. 27. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Hon. Thomas M. Osborne, Forest, 
Fish and Game Commissioner, has called a con¬ 
ference of representative sportsmen, anglers and 
business men interested in game law enforce¬ 
ment to be held March 9 and 10 in the Assem¬ 
bly parlor at the Capitol, Albany. The forest, 
fish and game committees of the Senate and As¬ 
sembly will sit at this hearing. The object of 
the meeting is to discuss measures relating to 
the forest, fish and game law, and to ascertain 
what changes, if any, in the present statute will 
be desirable. A clear understanding of the re¬ 
quirements of each section of the State and the 
various interests affected by the administration 
of the game law is necessary in order to obtain 
the most intelligent action. To this end Com¬ 
missioner Osborne invites the attendance of all 
ago, there have been repeal measures introduced 
but without success. 
There was a big attendance, and those who ■ 
spoke in opposition to the Long bill included 
Deputy Commissioner Burnham, of the State 
Forest, Fish and Game Commission. He de¬ 
clared the reason why the department objected 
to the bill was because it believed that the ducks 
should not be slaughtered in the spring when 
they Were about to nest. Representatives of the 
various State sportsmen’s associations, and 
numerous local organizations from counties all 
the way west to Niagara, appeared in opposi¬ 
tion. 
Hon. Martin W. Littleton represented the dele¬ 
gation of Long Island residents and hunters 
who favor spring shooting. He came in re¬ 
sponse to a resolution adopted by the board of 
supervisors in Suffolk county asking him to ap¬ 
pear in favor of the Long bill. Senator Long 
and a number of Long Islanders spoke in favor 
of the bill. They asserted that ducks have be¬ 
come so plentiful along the shores of Long 
Island that no harm could come from the re¬ 
opening of the spring season. E. C. C. 
