Forest and Stream 
Terma. $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy, / 
Six Months, $1.50. I 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1910. 
VOL. LXXV.—No. 25. 
No. 127 Franklin St., New York. 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1910, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Cbari.es B. Reynolds, Secretary, 
Louis Dean Speir, Treasurer, 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful in¬ 
terest in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate 
a refined taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 187J. 
DEER IN NEW ENGLAND. 
Within the past few weeks much discussion 
has taken place in Massachusetts about the kill¬ 
ing of deer which recently took place during 
the short open season. Many persons have writ¬ 
ten to the newspapers making statements in be¬ 
half of or against the deer and the methods that 
have been used in destroying them. Out of all 
the correspondence only one thing seems to be 
clear, and that is that neither humanitarians, 
farmers nor hunters of deer are satisfied. There 
is general objection to the use of the shotgun, 
on the ground that many deer are wounded and 
get away to suffer and die, but there is com¬ 
paratively little reference to the fact that the 
employment in hunting of the high power rifles 
of the present day would enormously increase 
the danger to human beings—not only to hunters 
of deer, but also to residents of the State not 
at all interested in hunting. Farmers who have 
complained bitterly of the damage done by the 
deer seem to be still more earnest in their de¬ 
nunciation of the damage done by the hunters. 
It is an open question whether large wild 
animals such as deer have any place in a farm¬ 
ing community. They are, to be sure, beautiful 
objects of the landscape, and give great pleasure 
to a large number of people. On the other hand 
they no doubt do some damage to crops, and the 
man whose crops are injured by them is not 
likely to be satisfied by any compensation that 
he may receive from the State. The question 
of the deer’s preservation or extermination is 
one which each State must thrash out and de¬ 
cide for itself. 
Next year the long close season which has 
prevailed on deer in Connecticut will come to 
an end, and there is some reason to believe 
that the fish and game commissioners will recom¬ 
mend a short open season. While there are a 
few deer in Connecticut, a very short season will 
probably result in their practical extermination, 
and whether this is or is not desirable, the citi¬ 
zens of that State must decide. 
Problems of this sort are coming up wherever 
large wild animals still exist, more or less sur¬ 
rounded by a community of civilized men. Each 
year we have a striking example of it in the 
starving elk of the Yellowstone National Park. 
NATIONAL PARKS. 
The Secretary of the Interior devotes con¬ 
siderable space in his report to the subject of 
our National Parks, and brings together many 
interesting facts in regard to them. He wisely 
seeks to attract more people to visit them, and 
with that in view urges liberal appropriations 
“to increase their accessibility by roads and es¬ 
tablishments for public convenience and pleasure.” 
As things stand at present comparatively few 
of the great American public know anything 
about our National Parks, except the Yellowstone 
and the Yosemite, yet there are many others, 
of which the Glacier Park in Montana, the Se¬ 
quoia and General Grant parks in California, 
Mt. Rainier Park in Washington, Crater Lake 
Park in Oregon and Mesa Verde Park in Colo¬ 
rado are the most important. All these ought 
to be improved and made more accessible. On 
the other hand there are others of small size 
and inconspicuous for wonders or natural 
scenery, the improvement of which may be de¬ 
layed. An important matter which Mr. Ballinger 
very properly urges is the enactment of a bill 
now before Congress to set apart the Grand 
Canon of the Colorado as a great national 
reservation. 
Secretary Ballinger recommends the appoint¬ 
ment of civilians as superintendents of the parks 
and the use of troops merely as a police force; 
in other words, he would limit their service “to 
the enforcement of regulations pertaining to pub¬ 
lic travel and preservation of game and natural 
curiosities.” He recommends the establishment 
of a Bureau of National Parks and Resorts, but 
the time for anything of this sort has not yet 
come, we think, while the services of the United 
States troops in the parks have been extremely 
efficient. 
ANTELOPE IN ARIZONA. 
Antelope are now protected—as they should 
be—all over the United States. This unique 
member of the animal kingdom is growing very 
scarce and should be rigidly protected. 
The Arizona game law protects the antelope 
up to March i, 1911. There are but few ante¬ 
lope in the Territory—soon to become a State— 
and it would be a real misfortune if the close 
time should be allowed to expire and any of 
those few should be destroyed. In the Mexican 
State of Sonora, south of Arizona, there are 
some antelope, but in the northern part of that 
State probably not many. 
It is hoped by all sportsmen, but especially by all 
enlightened residents of Arizona, that the close 
time on these animals will be extended, but on 
account of statehood questions the meeting of 
the Legislature will not take place as usual in 
January, but later. When the Legislature con¬ 
venes, the matter will certainly be looked after. 
Herbert Brown, a naturalist, an ardent game 
protector and a good newspaper man, is certain 
to keep this matter in mind, and when the time 
comes to urge the further safeguarding of Ari¬ 
zona’s few remaining antelope. He should have 
the support of all Arizonians. 
The Territory of Arizona has game laws which 
in some respects are excellent. Besides protect¬ 
ing the antelope, the law forbids the killing of 
elk, mountain sheep, female deer or spotted fawn, 
and there is a bag limit on quadrupeds and quail. 
I he new State should start its career with a 
good set of game laws. 
It is announced in Bangor, Me., that the ship¬ 
ments of game over the Bangor & Aroostook 
railway during October last were as follows: 
Deer, 1,225; moose, 56; bears, 2. In November, 
2,216 deer, 48 moose and 2 bears were shipped, 
making the grand totals of 3,441 deer, 104 moose 
and 4 bears. Compared with these are the totals 
for last year, 2,335 deer, 105 moose and 30 bears, 
showing an increase of about one-third in the 
deer shipments, practically an equal number of 
moose, but a falling off in the number of bears 
secured. The woods in Maine have been very 
dry this season, and perhaps this accounts for 
the small number of bears, though it seems not 
to have affected the successful hunting of deer. 
Many of the rivers of Maine are so low that 
factories are closing down for lack of power. 
tt 
It is well known that only in London do fur¬ 
riers understand how properly to dress the skin 
of the fur seal, and for this recason the Depart¬ 
ment of Commerce and Labor is selling at auc¬ 
tion in London the 14,000 raw seal skins taken 
by its order during the last season from the 
male seals killed on the Pribilof Islands. Com¬ 
missioner of Fisheries George W. Bowers left 
Washington Dec. 2 to be present in London as 
the representative of the Government at the sale 
which is taking place there. It is believed that 
these skins will realize about half a million 
dollars. 
William DeForest Brown lost his life in 
Bristol Harbor last Saturday in a peculiar man¬ 
ner. He had been shooting ducks and was row¬ 
ing ashore when his light ducking boat ran on 
an oyster stake, which penetrated the planking. 
The boat filled too rapidly for Mr. Brown to 
remove his heavy garments and rubber boots, 
and encumbered thus, he was unable to reach the 
shore. His age was forty-eight years and a 
widow and daughter survive him. He was sec¬ 
retary and treasurer of the National India Rub¬ 
ber Company of Bristol, R. I. 
Five vacancies of fish culturists in the Federal 
Bureau of Fisheries will be filled early in the 
New Year. Examinations will be held by the 
Civil Service Commission in Washington, on 
Jan. 4, and applicants can have full particulars 
by writing the commission for application forms. 
