FOREST AND STREAM 
99 
Jan. 18, 1908.] 
Death of an Old Sportsman. 
John Hazen died suddenly in the streets of 
Warwick, N. Y., recently, while driving a favorite 
trotting horse attached to a sleigh. He and his 
friend Richard Ryerson had been exercising their 
horses and were entering the town when Mr. 
Hazen toppled over in his seat. Mr. Ryerson, 
who was behind him, was afraid to approach the 
sleigh for fear the spirited horse would rim, but 
finally some one, seeing his signals, stepped into 
the street, and the horse, trained to obey his 
master’s voice, stopped when commanded to do 
so. A physician was summoned, but could do 
nothing, for Mr. Hazen was dead. 
John Hazen was born at Greenwood Lake in 
1833. He early became a guide for sportsmen 
who came to the Waterstone and Brandon 
Houses for their vacations, to fish and hunt, and 
without educational or financial advantages, took 
on the tastes and manners of associates who 
had them. He early developed the qualities which 
attached to him an excellent class of men who 
have remained his friends all his life. Being 
frugal and honest, he was trusted by all and 
grew up to be a man of excellent qualities as a 
landlord, lived well and never lacked for money 
or friends. With gun or rod he was an expert 
to whom wealthy men went with the greatest 
confidence. The friends he made of business 
men whom he guided over mountains and lakes 
after game in his younger days remained his 
friends all their lives. Such attachments tell, 
probably better than anything else we might 
write, of the genial, modest and thoroughly re¬ 
liable traits of the departed. 
John Hazen, up to about two years ago, was 
one of the best bush shots that ever pulled a 
trigger, his favorite game being partridge (ruf¬ 
fed grouse'), and his tramping ability hardly 
second to the younger generation. He was a 
lover of fine dogs, and always had one or two 
that were extra good. Hazen was a good story 
teller, and full of quaint humor, and his eye 
had a merry twinkle when he was telling of 
some past experience of the field. He remem¬ 
bered Frank Forrester, was well acquainted with 
Tom Ward (Tom Draw), of Frank Forrester 
fame, and related many anecdotes of him. John 
was the ideal gentleman shooter, always giving 
his friend the best position, when the dog pointed, 
or the best side of the cover when beating 
through. John’s cheery “mark” will be missed by 
many who have followed him through the War 
wick Woodlands. W. J. S. 
Killed by Timber Wolves. 
Mr. W. H. Cooper, of Edmonton, Alberta, has 
sent us a clipping from a local paper containing 
a dispatch from Saddle Lake, dated Jan. 2, as 
follows: 
“Word comes from Lac St. Vincent that the 
remains of a man were found forty miles north 
of there, who had been killed and eaten by tim¬ 
ber wolves. The report states that only the 
man’s gun and a fgw hairs were found. Near 
the spot were the remains of seven timber wolves 
which the man had evidently shot before being 
killed. Some halfbreeds from St. Paul de Metis 
have gone to try and find out, if possible, the 
man’s name, etc. The place is north of the 
Beaver River and about forty miles east of Lac 
La Biche.” 
Commissioner Whipple’s Report. 
The preliminary report of the New York 
State Forest, Fish and Game Commission has 
been transmitted to the Legislature by Com¬ 
missioner James S. Whipple. We reproduce it 
herewith in part: 
The last annual report of this commission 
showed an increased amount of work done and 
increased results flowing therefrom. The im¬ 
provement during the past fiscal year over that 
of the year 1906, has been as marked as that of 
1906 was over the preceding year. As stated in 
the last report of the commission in 1904, fines 
and penalties were collected to the amount of 
$23,636.66; for 1905, $58,548.08, and for the year 
1906, $61,255.03, which was the high water mark. 
During the present year we have collected from 
fines and penalties $52,264.77. 
It should be observed that the total amount 
collected and reported this year, to wit, 
$25,264.77 is made up much more largely from 
fines and penalties for violations of the fish and 
game law, and much less from moneys received 
for trespasses on State lands than heretofore. 
The total amount reported and collected for the 
year 1906 had in it the various large sums col¬ 
lected for timber trespassing. This fact demon¬ 
strates two things: First, that there has been 
no trespassing this year of consequence on State 
land, and second, that the protectors have been 
much more active in hunting out and detecting 
offenses against the law and in successfully 
prosecuting the same. 
Trespasses discovered on State land in 1906 
were 160 in all—very many of which were small 
trespasses and many of them old trespasses— 
only 49 new ones having been reported for that 
year. This, as compared with former years, 
shows a larger number discovered and reported, 
which indicates a much greater vigilance on the 
part of the protectors and fire wardens. There 
were very few wilful trespasses in 1906. This 
year there have been only 45 trespasses on 
State land in the entire sixteen counties. No 
timber trespass of consequence has been made. 
HATCHERIES. 
There were 14,979,640 more fish produced this 
year and distributed than last year, although in 
1905 we distributed 60,000,000 more than in 1904, 
and in 1906 we distributed 60,000,000 more than 
in 1905. There were distributed in the year 
1907, 250,653,900 fish of all kinds. 
The small-mouth black bass ponds at Con- 
stantia have done excellent work, and from 
these a considerable number of small-mouth 
black bass were taken and planted in the waters 
of the State—the first time that black bass 
hatched in ponds have been distributed in the 
history of the State. 
The new hatchery at Linlithgo, on the Hud¬ 
son, has been practically completed, together 
with a very substantial dwelling-house and other 
buildings for the foreman. The hatchery 
promises to be a successful one and will be in 
full working order in the spring to commence 
the hatching and rearing of shad fingerlings to 
restock the waters of the Hudson, and small- 
mouth black bass for general distribution. All 
the hatcheries have been materially improved, 
and put into excellent condition by repairing 
and painting the buildings, and by making 
cement floors, sidewalks, retaining walls, etc. 
The Caledonia hatchery continues to be the 
most valuable, and the one from which the best 
results are obtained, producing much the 
largest number of fish of all the hatcheries. It 
should be made, as heretofore suggested, the 
finest hatchery in the United States and an ob¬ 
ject lesson for the many people who see it dur¬ 
ing every summer. In order to do that, as 
recommended in the last report, the title to the 
whole of Caledonia Creek and the necessary 
land along the borders of the same should be 
acquired by the State. 
STATE FORESTS. 
The value and importance of the forest lands 
owned by the State is constantly increasing. 
The diminution of water in all our streams, as 
the timber is cut away constantly warns us of 
the importance of keeping the headwaters of 
our rivers and creeks protected by standing 
timber. Nearly all the great rivers of the State 
rise in the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains. 
The commercial value of the water in the rivers 
of the State, if properly husbanded and used, is 
as great as the value of the coal mines of 
Pennsylvania. Public sentiment is rapidly crys- 
talizing along the line of better preservation 
and reforestation. During the year 1907 I have 
had the pleasure of addressing about 100 sep¬ 
arate audiences upon the subject of the preserva¬ 
tion of the forests, fish and game of the State, 
and the necessity for reforestation. At each 
place and on each occasion I have urged upon 
the people to plant trees upon the denuded hill¬ 
sides, especially in places where the land is of 
little value for agricultural purposes. At the 
same time I have pointed out the fact that in 
a very short time, at the rat.e timber is being 
taken from the forest lands of the State, we 
shall have little, if any, sawing timber left. This 
fact is verv patent when we consider that there 
is only about 41,000,000,000 feet of sawing timber 
left on public and private lands, farm lots and 
all in the State, and that the cut this year has 
been x.500,000,000 feet. Deducting from the 
total amount of timber land the 1,500,000 acres 
owned by the State, one readily observes that 
in 22 or 23 years we will have no timber to cut, 
assuming that the rate of cutting continues as 
it has for the last year or two, and under the 
constantly increasing demand for lumber there 
is no doubt about its continuing, and therefore, 
no doubt about it that there will be a scarcity 
of lumber and a very high price for the same in 
a few years to come. 
Once storage reservoirs were not needed in 
the State because nature's reservoir was ample 
to retard, hold and conserve the water, paying 
it out into the streams gradually and keeping a 
substantially even flow throughout the yeai. 
As the timber disappears from the land the water 
runs off more readily. Floods occur whenever 
there is a heavy rainfall, and when the water 
recedes the rivers and creek beds are sub¬ 
stantially dry. To lose our timber and thereby 
the continual flow of water in the great streams 
of the State will result in great commercial loss 
to the State, and, in places, much injury to 
agricultural lands. Therefore it seems very 
important that the State should increase its 
work in tree planting, and that all persons own¬ 
ing land not especially desirable for agricultural 
purposes, should be encouraged to plant trees 
thereon. 
(Continued on page 114.) 
