996 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[JUNE aa} 1906. 

is, to say the least, unworthy both of the Min- 
ister personally, and of his position as repre- 
senting the Crown. It would be most unfair if 
the Minister would, to personally punish me for 
daring to question his public invasion of my 
private rights, punish fifteen or twenty other 
gentlemen members of the same club, who may 
not all share my views, as certainly some of them 
think I am unwise in so openly expressing them. 
But I am a man, free-born, and of mature age, 
and have strong opinions, and believe I have 
the right in this free country to express them. 
Anyway, I shall express them, notwithstanding 
the Minister’s threat. I can only assure him 
that I alone am responsible for my opinions, and 
for the language in which I voice them, and no 
man living—whether Minister of the Crown, or 
member of my club—can dictate to me when I 
shall speak or be silent. Wm. R. WHITE. 

The Automatic Gun. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The majority of those interested in the preser- 
vation of game birds will, I feel assured, cor- 
rectly size up the argument of Mr. M. F. West- 
over in ForEsT AND STREAM of June Q as a clever 
sophistry. In brief, the argument is that the 
automatic gun is a superior firearm, and that the 
great majority of sportsmen armed with it will 
not kill game impropertly; therefore it would be 
unjust to the manufacturers and inventors to 
limit or forbid its use. 
My experience leads me to believe that the 
second premise is incorrect. It is nearer to the 
truth to say that the small minority kill game 
properly, especially when it is abundant. 
The pump gun has been an important factor in 
the decrease of the quail supply of south, and the 
automatic is becoming a still more menacing and 
sinister factor, A half dozen quail down on a 
scattering covey rise in a palmetto rough with 
small probability of recovering more than half; 
a 24-in. barrel automatic to turn loose on any 
and everything that jumps up; 200 doves to one 
gun in a day—these are a few of the facts com- 
ing to my own knowledge or observation. 
Who cares if the lawful limit is exceeded? Not 
the so-called sportsman, because he is game- 
hungry and is after records; not the hotel man, 
for he wants guests and his guests want birds; 
not the townspeople, for they want visitors and 
their money. 
Nothing in this country must stand in the way 
of the manufacturers. Our infant industries must 
be protected, we must endure a thousand and 
one trusts, have our pockets lightened, our bodies 
poisoned, our moral sense perverted, all for the 
sake of our infant industries. And now they are 
after the game, with Mr. Westover as apologist. 
If it is proper to bar dynamite and limit the 
use of nets and gang hooks for the taking of fish, 
to forbid the use of punt guns against wild fowl, 
to limit the speed of automobiles for public safety, 
why should it not be equally just and expedient 
to limit the delivery of fire against the rapidly 
disappearing game? 
Aside from other reasons, humanity alone 
should be sufficient for prohibiting the use of the 
deadly automatic, auto-loading or  self-loading 
gun. T. H. Grant. 
Rep Bank, N. J., June 16. 

Southern Mexico Deer Season. 
TAPACHULA, Chiapas, Mexico, May 22.—Editor 
Forest and Stream: I ‘notice in your issue of 
April 28 that you call attention to the fact that 
President Diaz was out deer hunting during that 
month. 
April is about the best time to hunt deer down 
here in Southern Mexico, as all the tall grass and 
brush have been trampled down by the cattle, 
and it is the end of the dry season. 
In May and June the rutting commences, the 
fawns are dropped in December and January, al- 
though I have seen fawns in every month in the 
year, but not often, 
I have lived here in Mexico for many years, 
and would never have known that our much 
admired President was a follower of the fair 
Diana had I not been a subscriber to the dear 
old Forest AND STREAM. GUATEMALA, 
Shooting Hawks by Decoys. 
PENNSYLVANIA once had a bounty of fifty cents 
per head for hawks. The most successful hawk 
killer was an old hunter named Jerry Clark, and 
for quite a time the boys failed to get on to his 
methods of capturing them; but by lying in 
wait they finally discovered it. On an open 
range of hills commanding a wide extent of 
country, where the hawks were pretty thick, 
he set a post in the ground, and across it, work- 
ing on a pivot, fixed a sweeping pole about ten ' 
feet long.. On one end of this pole was_a treadle, 
to which a blue pigon was tied; at the other end 
a string was attached, run through a spool set 
in a short post fixed in the ground immediately 
beneath it and then carried to a bough house 
about ten yards away. A person in this bough 
house, by pulling the string, could raise the treadle 
several jeet in the air, and by lowering it slowly 
could cause the pigeon to flutter, thus attracting 
the attention of the hawk. 
The way old Jerry did it was this: Sitting 
in his house of boughs, he would catch sight 
of a big chicken hawk soaring in circles on a 
lookout for his dinner, and, waiting until his 
head was pointed toward him, would cause the 
pigeon to flutter. At once the hawk would see 
it and would come straight for it until but 
several hundred feet away, when it would settle 
to the ground, approached under cover of a 
small tree a few yards from the pigeon, skim 
over its top and dart like lightning on the 
quarry. Old Jerry would be ready with his gun 
cocked, yell like a Comanche, thus attracting the 
attention of the hawk for a moment, and as the 
latter rose to make off would give him the con- 
tents of one barrel, rarely failing to bring him 
down. It is a fact that one afternoon he in two 
hours killed thirteen hawks at his post, and 
taking their heads to the nearest Justice, made 
affidavit and got his six dollars and fifty cents. 
“Yes, I sometimes lost a pigeon,” said the 
veteran. ‘Now and then, while I was watching 
one varmint, another would sneak up and strike 
my decoy, but I never lost one in fair fight.” 
“That air bounty would be on now,” con- 
tinued the old man, “‘if it hadn’t been for the 
greed of the Justices. Ye see, they got twenty 
cents for every affidavy, and when we hunters 
brought in a bunch of a dozen or twenty, as 
we often did, instead of swearing us to the 
whole, as they might have done, they made out 
an affidavy fer each one, and took their fee for 
each, making such a drain on the treasury that 
the legislators up to Harrisburg got alarmed 
and repealed the law.” Ca Boat 
Hat Feather Seizure. 
COMMISSIONER WHIPPLE has followed up his 
warning to dealers in bird feathers by causing 
the seizure of a quantity of wings, feathers and 
plumes in the stocks of four of the large dry 
goods firms of Rochester. The purpose of the 
raid is to make test cases to determine the ap- 
plication of the law .to feathers imported into 
the State. The statute reads: 
“Wild birds other than, the English sparrow, 
crow, hawk, crow blackbird, snow owl and great 
horned owl shall not be taken or possessed at 
any time, dead or alive, except under the 
authority of a certificate issued under this act. 
No part of the plumage, skin or body of any 
bird protected by this section shall be sold or 
had in possession for sale. The provisions of 
this section shall not apply to game birds for 
which an open season is provided in this act.” 
It is contended by dealers in millinery goods 
that this does not apply to feathers brought 
from other States or from abroad. The New 
York Sun has interviewed dealers in this city; 
and reports: 
“Feather dealers were practically united in 
making light of or disregarding the agitation 
against the sale of the feathers. They said that 
none of the big stores of the boroughs of Man- 
hattan and Brooklyn had paid any attention to 
the law. Philip Adelson, of Adelson & Bro., 
625 Broadway, who make a specialty of 
aigrettes, said he regretted to say that some 
dealers had been frightened by the Audubon 
Society into giving up selling a certain kind of 
“try trains will see caribou every trip. 
plumage. As for himself, he had a big stock 
on-hand and had been and would be selling it 
until women ceased to buy. All his feathers, he 
declared, were imported. He had noticed no 
falling off in sales since the agitation began, and 
did not believe there would be any. The Im- 
porters’ Feather Association, of which he is a 
member, Mr. Adelson said, had decided to make 
a fight against the enforcement of a law that 
seemed to them unjust. There will be a meet- 
ing of the association next week. Mr. Adelson 
said he did not see how the law could affect the 
feathers of birds killed outside of the United 
States. Most of his aigrettes were from white 
herons killed in China and Japan. 
Newfoundland Notes. 
For the benefit of sportsmen who go shooting. 
with gun or camera, I append some caribou items. 
The great northern migration has now started, so 
that herds of deer are seen daily crossing the. 
railroad track going north to their summer feed- 
ing grounds. 
“On Sunday Mr. Wareham, who lives in the 
valley just east of Mount Moriah (Bay of Isl- 
ands), was surprised to find a caribou browsing 
close to his house. On several occasions of late 
caribou have been known to come out among the 
houses on both sides of the Humber Arm.” 
“When Saturday’s express was crossing the 
Gaff Topsails several caribou were seen, among © 
the head being a fine buck, and the passengers 
were much interested in the sight.” 
“Passengers who passed over the line to and 
from Port au Basques last week say that deer 
were seen in hundreds crossing the track between 
Grand Lake and Badger Brook.” 
From this out, passengers on the cross coun- 
In fact, it 
has become a_ recognized institution when eee 
ing through the deer country, for the engineer 
to give a couple of toots to draw attention of the 
passengers to the passing caribou, in order to | 
enable them to get a snapshot, if they possess ~ 
cameras. 
The St. John’s Rifle Club have published their 
programme. for the coming season. The fine 
range on Nagle’s Hill is opened for practice now. 
The first match was held June 7 and was between 
the officers and crew of H. M. S. Calypso and 
the St. John’s Rifle Club Juniors, range 200, 500 
and 600 yards. 
Every week hereafter until Aug. 30 matches 
will be shot. The prizes are medals, cups, badges 
and certificates. I dare say any visiting shooters 
that would happen along would have the hospi- 
tality of the club extended to them. As I am 
not a member I cannot say for certain what their 
rules are on that head, but I am safe on saying, 
from my knowledge of the personnel of the club, 
that strangers would be welcomed with good old 
Newfoundland hospitality. pe TAGs 
Where are the Deer? 
CARDINAL, Va., June 14.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Where are the deer that «used to be seen 
along the Virginia coast? Not more than a. 
few years ago deer could be seen in the thickets © 
and old fields almost any time. The changing ~ 
of the old fields into truck patches and the huts 
of negroes, scattered about the country, prevent 
them from coming in. The forest, where deer ~ 
could hide from the hunter, too, is fast disap- 
pearing, and innumerable boys, principally 
negroes, may be seen at this season of the year . 
parading with guns and shooting at anything in 
‘sight. 
In this district summer is the negro boy’s 
holiday, when he rests from his winter’s toil of 
oystering, and with him in summer “ebery day 
am Christmas.” and he seeks the pleasure of 
fishing, crabbing, hunting and water-millioning. 
It is believed that, if these boys with their guns 
were excluded from the forests and old fields 
in summer, deer would return again; but the en- 
forcement of the law for the protection of game 
in this district would be a rather difficult matter 
to deal with. Song birds, such as the mocking 
bird, robin and red bird, as well as game, are 
being killed by these terrors of the forests and 
old fields under pretense of hunting the English 
sparrows. B. C. Foster. 
