[Feb. 8, 1908. 
2 I 6 
coys, but those high in air, when they tried to 
swing and to come down, were caught by the 
wind and whirled away. 
As for our decoys, they were a sight—most 
of them standing on their heads, or wildly tossing 
about on the waves rolling over and over, while 
others, broken from their moorings, drifted to¬ 
ward the shore, which others still had already 
reached and were lying against. The wind was ndw 
blowing directly on the point, and so fiercely that 
nothing could fly against it. The few geese 
that were on the wing had turned tail to the 
wind and were seeking any lee, but now and then 
we saw a bunch of widgeons high in air which 
seemed to be able to make slow headway againsi 
the gale. Shooting was out of the question, and 
we began to take up our decoys. This was hard, 
slow work, but at last our few birds were 
gathered, the decoys collected and the laden boat 
was pushing toward the open sound. 
We were not doubtful of what we should find 
there. The wind would be fiercer than in the 
marsh and the sea heavier. To cross the mile 
and a half of open sound would be impossible. 
In this wind no sail could be carried; to row or 
pole the distance in face of the gale was beyond 
the power of mortal man. It seemed clear that 
we must remain on the marsh until the wind 
abated—must probably sleep there—and the best 
we could do would be to reach the watchman’s 
cabin, where we could have shelter and warmth 
till morning. 
When we reached the shore of the sound the 
wind, as we had expected, blew much harder than 
in the marsh, and two men poling close to the 
shore, had all they could do to cover the short 
half mile to the watchman’s cabin. In the grow¬ 
ing darkness the wind seemed to blow harder than 
ever, the air was full of bewildered birds seeking 
shelter, and the clamor of geese and swans was 
ceaseless. 
As we approached the cabin, boats were seen 
before it, and figures of men laboring to bring 
them up, or to hold them where they were; and 
when we had come close to them the cheerful 
voice of one of our fellow members rang out: 
“Come on and get into this motor boat; it’s 
your only chance to get home to-night.” 
1 he situation was clear. The three gunners on 
this side of the sound had all made for the 
watchman’s cabin, and the motor boat had 
reached it just as our skiff got there. The 
gunners and their guides all boarded the angel 
motor boat, while skiffs, guns, decoys and all 
other property were left in charge of the watch¬ 
man. 
The run across the sound was not long, but 
was extremely wet, and those who sat in the bow 
felt as if buckets of water were being dashed over 
them at regular intervals of about thirty seconds. 
But at last the house was reached, and that night, 
warm and dry after a good dinner and before a 
comfortable fire, we had much to say to each 
other about the hurricane of Jan. 7, which blew 
seventy-five miles per hour at Hatteras just to 
the south. Ramon. 
New York Legislature. 
Mr. Brown has introduced two bills relating 
to the seasons for fishing in Cortland county, and 
Mr. Whitney a similar bill relating to the waters 
of Oswego county. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Commissioner Whipple on Forestry. 
The New York Legislature, in a concurrent 
resolution, invited the Hon. James S. Whipple, 
Commissioner of Forests, Fish and Game, to 
address the Senate and the Assembly at a joint 
meeting on the subject of the State’s forests. 
This meeting was held the night of Feb. 3 
and was largely attended by members of both 
houses and by the people of Albany. Commis¬ 
sioner Whipple referred briefly to the work the 
commission is doing and to the force of men 
required to carry it on, and said the ques¬ 
tions arose, Why all this work and expenditure 
of money? By it, what is obtained? How are 
the people benefited? It was his purpose to 
answer these questions and to appeal to the 
Legislature and to all the people of the State 
to assist in carrying on the work. 
“The necessity for the propagation and dis¬ 
tribution of fish, and the necessity of the en¬ 
forcement of the law,” said he, “is apparent 
when it is remembered that in this State there 
is annually consumed for food more than $41,- 
000,000 worth of fresh fish; that more than $30,- 
000,000 worth are taken from the waters in our 
jurisdiction; that very much of this valuable fish 
product may be destroyed by improper fishing, 
or by not stocking our lakes and streams, or by 
the loss of the forests of the State. We must 
never lose sight of the fact, that the best inland 
lake or the best trout stream, may have its fish 
supply destroyed in a single year were there no 
restrictions placed on fishing. Restrictive laws 
are necessary. Law is simply a rule of action. 
When there were few people and much forest, 
fish and game, no restrictions seemed necessary. 
Now, when we have 8,000,000 people in tlje State, 
with a rapidly decreasing forest, and less fish 
and game, we must have more restrictive laws. 
"The necessity for the law and its enforce¬ 
ment, and the protection of our forests, is better 
understood when it is remembered that the game 
birds, fur-bearing animals, and the game ani¬ 
mals are worth annually more than $750,000, and 
that all this great value in annual product may 
be destroyed by non-observance of the law, or 
by loss of our forests, or both.” 
From Mr. Whipple’s remarks we quote parts 
as follows: 
“When it is remembered that the State owns 
1,500,000 acres of woodland, which in the calcula¬ 
tion must be deducted, and that at the rate of 
annual cut it will take twenty-two years to cut 
it all, the necessity of our laws for forest preser¬ 
vation, for reforestation, and for acquiring more 
land, passes all argument and stands uncontra- 
dictable. 
“When the forest is cut away the basins are 
broken down, all obstructions to the flow of 
water are removed, the humus is destroyed, and 
nature’s reservoir is swept away, allowing the 
water to run quickly into the larger Streams, 
causing destructive floods. 
“Nearly every person can remember some 
stream close to his boyhood home, covered and 
protected by beautiful trees, its water support¬ 
ing fish life and running nearly full banks all 
the summer long. Since then the forests on the 
watershed have been removed, and now when 
he visits his old home the well remembered swim¬ 
ming pool is dry, the trout brook is a dry creek 
bed, and the forests, which kept the cool water 
constantly running from the old hills, are a thing 
of the past. These evidences are to be seen 01 
every hand all over the State. 
“We must preserve and keep our forests. FIov 
shall it be done? There are only two methods 
Both must be used. The State must acquire a 
least a million acres more in the Adirondack: 
and the Catskills, and then we must plant for 
ests. Every one who has non-tillable land inus 
plant trees. The State must help by furnishing 
trees at cost, or free to all who will plant. Whj 
not? We are furnishing a hundred thousanc 
dollars’ worth of fish free each year to stocl 
streams and lakes and the shore waters of the 
sea. Why not free trees? What are we going 
to do in a few years when we have, no timbei 
to cut? We must have lumber, for the thou¬ 
sand purposes for which wood is used. Th( 
demand is constantly increasing. It increases 
faster in proportion than the population increases. 
There will always be a demand for lumber. The 
supply is decreasing even more rapidly than the 
demand for lumber increases. For the news¬ 
papers there are required every year 2,000,000, 
000 feet of timber, board measure; 40,000,000,00c 
feet, board measure, are consumed annually in 
the United States. It is not being replenished 
We must plant trees now if we are to have tim¬ 
ber for the future. There is no class who use 
wood in any form that should show greater in¬ 
terest in this subject and do more for reforesta¬ 
tion and the protection of the forests than the 
newspaper men. It would not only be profitable 
for them, but a benefaction to all their readers 
if they would constantly and consistently urge 
the planting of trees upon all denuded non-agri- 
cultural land. 
“The water should be pure. * * * It is almost 
criminal negligence on the part of all persons 
having the power to in any way better the pres¬ 
ent condition not to move in the direction of 
purification of the water supply of the State. It 
is a subject worthy of the consideration of this 
Legislature and of all the people. Under the 
law this department has only to consider it from 
the point of preservation of fish life and even for 
that purpose the law should be amended by at 
least striking out the last two lines of the sec¬ 
tion of the law dealing with this subject.” 
After dwelling on the regulation of the tem¬ 
perature, winter and summer, by forests, and 
their effect on rainfall, the Commissioner pointed 
to the work of reforestation being done by France 
and continued: 
“The German nation, having good common 
sense and being a farseeing, practical people, have 
been restoring and caring for their forests for 
a thousand years. They have planted as they 
cut, perpetuating their forests. The Black forest 
of Germany is known and famed >all over tjie 
world. Shall we,-the supposed most intelligent 
and patriotic people of the world, shall we longer 
stand supinely by and heed not the lesson taught 
us by the experience of other nations? Shall we 
see our rivers dry up, our forest land denuded, 
our natural health resorts swept away, our fish 
and game destroyed, and enter no protest, or 
raise not a hand to prevent this evil from fall¬ 
ing upon us? If there is doubt in the mind of 
any that agricultural lands may be injured by 
the loss of water and trees, consider for a moment 
the condition of the arid plains of the West. 
There are millions of acres, worthless now, that 
would blossom as a rose if water should be 
turned on to them and trees were planted. 
