black bass. Mr. North will also endeavor to have the Legislature pass a law to stop spring shooting. The former will be of immense importance to the fish companies and the latter of import to the devotees of the gun.

The chairman of the Maine Fish and Game Commission, L. T. Carleton, of Winthrop, has issued a circular to the milliners of the state calling their attention to the law relating to the killing of birds.

Plans are being laid for a general overhauling of the fish and game laws of the State of Ohio.

On the one hand there is a demand for better protection for the game and on the other there is a demand for better protection for the people from the game wardens.

Under the law the entire fish and game question is in the hands of the fish and game commission.

The governor appoints.

The board numbers five and each man is appointed for five years.

Those posted on the lake fisheries realize that unless something radical is done to protect Lake Erie fish the grasping fish trust will soon entirely ruin the fish industry there. There is also a demand for the protection of birds. Senator Berry, in the last general assembly, introduced a bill to entirely prohibit the shooting of quail for five years, but it failed to pass. Many citizens believe it should be enacted this season. The farmers are discovering that the quail is valuable as a destroyer of insects that injure their crops and they are demanding that the quail be let alone.

Opposition to the new state game law of Kansas is already beginning to develop. It is likely that the law will have to run the gantlet of amendments at the next session of the legislature.

Many of the county clerks, who have to issue licenses in their respective counties, are complaining about the amount of extra work involved. They will ask to have the law changed so that the county shall get part of the fees collected. As it is now, the county clerks have to remit all they take in to the state treasurer, where it is placed to the credit of the game warden's funds. The county clerks say that the new law makes it necessary for the county to buy new books and records in which to keep track of the licenses issued. What the county clerks would like would be a regulation providing that they should retain about 10 cents for each license issued as their personal rake-off on account of the extra work involved.

The plea that the county is put to extra expense for the purchase of record books

The Ohio game laws provide that ruffed grouse, Mongolian, English or ring-necked pheasants may not be shot before November, 1908. Written permission must be obtained from the owner of the land upon which hunting is done. A fine of not less than $10 nor more than $15 is prescribed for the first offense. Non-residents of the State must secure a hunter's license from the clerk of courts. It is unlawful to sell guns or ammunition to boys under fourteen years of age, and persons who are owners of hunting outfits are not to permit boys of less than that age to use them. The penalty for a violation of this section is severe.

The market value of one roast duck served recently in Clinton, Mo., was $50.80. The eighty cents was paid by the traveling man who ate the bird, and the $50 was the fine assessed against the cook who served and sold it.

Mr. A. W. Galpin, of Phoenix, Arizona, who recently returned from a big deer hunt in the north, and who is entitled, therefore, to speak with some authority in matters pertaining to the chase, says that notwithstanding the protection of the game laws, the deer in the mountains are getting scarcer every year. The cause for it, according to the sheep men with whom Mr. Galpin talked,

is not that the people are seriously violating the game laws, but that the big, gray timber wolves are disregarding them entirely. The sheep men say that these big wolves are becoming alarmingly numerous, and are fast slaughtering the deer, especially the fawns, which are easier to catch, and it can be readily seen that if there are no fawns, there will soon be no deer.

The stockmen are fighting the timber wolves as hard as they can, but it seems with only small effect. There is a territorial law permitting the counties to pay a bounty of twenty dollars for each wolf scalp, and the county authorities are willing to pay it. In addition, the cattlemen pay a bounty of five dollars, and the sheepmen a bounty of five dollars, so that dead wolves are worth thirty dollars apiece. But even with all this inducement to the hunter and sportsmen the wolves are increasing. The sheepmen now all carry strychnine with them, and whenever they kill a deer, or sheep, or any other animal and dress it in the hills, they poison the entrails in the hope of killing one or more wolves. Some of them also are trying to trap them, though but with little success so far.

The antelope of the country have been under the protection of the game laws for the last ten years, yet they are rapidly disappearing through the ravages of the wolves. This is not an argument against the game laws, for, of course, this game would go still faster if it were not protected, but it is intended to call attention to the fact that everything possible should be done to destroy the wolves, and also to inform hunters that the wolf is a "gamer bird" than the deer, and also that his hide is valuable.

Mr. Galpin says one sort of sport that the herders sometimes engage in is to capture the young fawns and brand them, then turn them loose again. He said that one of the three deer that he shot had been branded when it was a fawn.

Mr. Galpin also verified the story to the effect that parties of Indians, in violation of the law, stray off their reservation into the forest reserves to hunt. There was one party of eight Indians in that region that a ranger found killing game and threatened to arrest. They made a defiant talk, and he went after reinforcements, but the Indians changed their minds and moved on.

At Kendall, Wyoming, a recent visitor had the pleasure of meeting Ranger Silas Yarnell, who informed him that during the late open season not a single arrest had been made for game violation. There is an abundance of game, and there is no doubt but that it is increasing very rapidly. In one day's riding shortly before the close of the season, Ranger Yarnell counted over two hundred elk. The

various hunting parties which visit this section are watched very closely, and realize their predicament and are very careful not to overstep the law.

The great trouble in wanton destruction of game comes through the tenderfoot hunters who come in each fall, and when they run into a bunch of elk they get the buck fever and lose their head. The elk, when they become scared, will bunch, and especially when they are in an open park and can not ascertain the direction at once from which the shooting is coming, and will remain quiet for some time. This is when the hunters try to get in as many shots as possible, without care in aiming, with the result that they wound many of them which afterwards trail off and die. The rangers have had many occasions to track these bloody trails, and have found several dead and wounded elk.

It is estimated that possibly one hundred and fifty elk have been taken out of this country this year, which is not very many compared with the great increase which is apparent through the number of calves to be seen.

seems impossible to make shippers through the State understand the law.

Each time a shipment is received it must be reported to the game warden, who confiscates it. The shipper receives no returns from his shipment and demands an explanation. When this is given him, he frequently doubts. At this time the commission merchants are trying to make the law known throughout the State.

The new game law will net the State of Kansas about $25,000 a year. This money will all go to the building up of a State fish hatchery and the distribution of fish in Kansas lakes, ponds and streams. State Game Warden Travis will buy a fish car for use in distributing fish next spring.

The law compelling each resident of the State to secure a license from the county clerk of his county, at the cost of $1, if he wishes to hunt in Kansas, and all outsiders $15, went into effect the latter part of July. The books show that the sum of $6,257 have been paid to the State up to date from this source of revenue. But onefourth of the counties have reported, which indicates that the total revenue annually will be close to $25.000. Barton county makes the best showing, with a total collection of $522. Reno is next with $431. Ellis reported $233; Labette $229 and Brown $223.

State Game Warden J. W. Baker, of Oregon, was in Grass Valley recently to give his personal supervision to the prosecution of a local man for selling ducks. The new license law has brought in about $12,000, and the law will be closely enforced. The law provides that ducks and game birds cannot be sold during any season of the year, but a few local dealers flooded the market until the deputy game warden stopped them.

Game Warden Chapma of Calumet, Michigan, is proving himself a most efficient State officer. Just now he is making life miserable for fishermen violating the law, and he has plans to make it warm for hunters who overstep the game provisions.

It is generally admitted that the Hoosier hunter has a hard row to hoe. Inside his hunting jacket he must not only have a license, but before entering upon the land of any farmer he must first have permission from the owner of the land. This is becoming more and more difficult to secure every year. Farmers are antagonistic to the hunter, as they generally want quail and rabbits themselves, and the birds are getting scarcer and scarcer.

Under the game laws, passed by the last legislature, there are some interesting features.

After securing his license and permit from the farmer, the hunter can kill but twentyfour birds in any one day. For every one secured in excess of this number he can be fined $10. A person may be fined $10 also for every bird sold or offered for sale. The birds can not be trapped or snared, the minimum fine for violation of this provision being $10.

Deputy Game Warden Charley Post, of Oklahoma City, recently seized two barrels of quail in the hands of the Wells-Fargo Express Company, which were being shipped out of the territory in violation of law. This is the largest haul of this kind made this

season.

Under the Oklahoma law it is unlawful to sell quail or ship them out of the territory. Notwithstanding this law, some one in southwestern Oklahoma undertook to ship two barrels of quail to a Chicago commission house and routed them via the Wells-Fargo Express Company's line. At least, this is the supposition, inasmuch as the barrels containing the quail came over the 'Frisco from the southwest.

The barrels containing the quail bore the address of a Chicago commission house, to which they were consigned, but had nothing to indicate from whence they came or who the shipper was. If the identity of the shipper could be ascertained, he would be liable to prosecution for violation of the game law. The Wells-Fargo is also liable to prosecution for handling the shipment.

Since the game laws have been so vigorously enforced in Illinois a new confidence game has come to light. Two city sportsmen, with guns and dogs, go to a farmer and offer him five dollars for the privilege of shooting on his domain. To protect themselves they make a receipt, which a few weeks later turns up at the bank as a promissory note. In one locality farmers were caught to the amount of several thousand dollars.

New York State has rigid laws against the killing of birds, but the farmers have been compelled to carry on an organized warfare against the crows during the past season. The only way to kill the feathered destroyers is to soak some corn in a solution of poison and when the birds eat the corn they die in a short time.

Under the new game law, no one hunter in Missouri may kill more than twenty-five quail on any one day. However, that provision will not prove a hardship for the majority of hunters.

YE ANTIENT ARCHERS Some of the old archery societies of Great Britain, and which still flourish, are: "The Royal Company of Archers," the king's body for Scotland, was organized in its present form in 1676. "The Royal Toxophilite Society" was organized in 1781 and represents the two ancient bodies, "The Finsbury Archers" and "The Archers Company of the Honorable Artillery." "The Woodmen of Arden" was revived in 1785. Their meetings are held in the beautiful grounds of the Earl of Aylesfort, who is Lord Warden of the "Woodmen of Arden."

AN OLD BOOK

The following interesting extract is from Hansard's "The Book of Archery," published in London, in 1841:

THE WEIGHT OF BOW TO BE USED.

"In thus advocating strong bows and distant shooting, let it not be understood that the archer is to injure himself by overstraining his muscles, or mar his success at the target by using bows beyond his management.

"The strength of the drawing arm rapidly accommodates itself to the increased power of the bow, for nothing tends more to fortify and invigorate the muscles of that, and indeed every other portion of the human frame, than archery. We have all seen a bow somewhat above the shooter's strength during his first season, entirely under command by the ensuing summer, if in constant use. Let the archer, however, 'wrestle with his gear,' as Ascham terms it, and achieve these conquests in private; for no bow should be taken to a shooting match which the owner cannot use with perfect facility, since the struggle consequent on an attempt to draw up the arrow, when a man is over-bowed, will so disorder his aim that by chance only can he hope, under such disadvantages, to meet with the target. It makes some men,' writes the author just quoted, 'to overshoot the mark, some to shoot far wide, and per chance to hurt a bystander.' 'I had my bows,' says Bishop Latimer in one of his sermons, 'bought for me according to my age and strength, and as I increased in them, so my bows were made heavier and stronger.' 'Let the bow of every archer be proportioned to his strength, that is, not above, but rather beneath the power of the shooter,' says Leo in his tactics; and the observation proves him to have been well acquainted with the subject on which he wrote.'

AGAIN THE DISGRACEFUL SIDE HUNT The Effingham Hunt Club will have its great annual hunt on November 15th. Captain James Border is leader. The members of the club will be divided into two sections. Whichever section loses will have to give a free supper to the winners, at which the game that was shot will be served. The game is counted as follows: Small birds Squirrels Rabbits

Hawks

Wild Ducks

10 points.

ΙΟ

46

5

The above is from a clipping from the Effingham Volksblatt.

We have written to James Borders, Effingham, and hope to make him see the error of his ways, but to add weight to our letter we wish that as many of our readers as see this item will also write personal letters to this gentleman, for there is no more certain way of exterminating the game in any section of the country than by the introduction of the disgraceful items.

A HAPPY HUNTING GROUND

BY S. B. HACKLEY.

To the white man of America who feels his blood leap in his veins when his foot crosses the rim of the woods, and the blue sky, save the patches that gleam through the leaves above him, is lost to him; who hears music in the bay of his hound and in his rifle's crack-I, Io of the Umpquas, long gone to the land of the spirits, speak.

Listen to me, O Pale-face brother-I am come to tell of a land of good hunting! Fifty years it has been since I went into the ground, and my covering for the night and for the day became the canoe, the sand and the stones, which those who in their turn have blown out their breaths and followed me, laid over me. Since that time, O white friend, the Great Father at Washington has called my brethren with their squaws and pappooses, to his reservations, and no redskin remains on the Oregon coast save she whose years are numbered as the leaves of the maple-the widowed squaw bent over the embers in her hovel by the sea, with no companions save her dog-pack and her pipe to listen to her sighs, like the sighs of the east wind.

When I lived and hunted, the foot-prints of my bronze-skinned brothers were as thick as deer-tracks, in this country of mighty forests and wonderful valleys. Scrape in the sand about old Indian camping-places, and you will resurrect our household utensils and outdoor implements in numbers as great as the salmon that come up the rivers in spawning time.

Go to the deserted huts in the wilderness, long since given up to the denizens of the woods, and look on the threescore feet high mounds of shells and earth about themmute and lofty witnesses to the numbers of the former hunters in these forests.

The wild geese that pass over my bones have whispered to me that in many parts of the States of this broad land not even a blackened stump remains to tell of the forests that are gone, and that in other places where the mighty trees hold up their heads the north wind is bitter in the hunting season, and the hunter can not carry his rifle I for the freezing of his fingers. To him I, Io the Indian, send greeting, and commend him to the forests of the land that is lapped by the Pacific Sea!

Here, O white brother, the snow melts as it falls the every-day rain is but a warm mist, and the white man can be comfortable in his shirt sleeves in the sunshine in the dead of winter. There are no warm nights and no cold days, and the air is pleasant and bracing through the twelve moons.

Here is found a greater area of untouched timber land than in any other state in the Great Father's dominions. Here, owing to the copious rains and the mild climate tempered by the ocean's breath, every green stalk reaches toward the stars. The evergreen brake measures the height of a brave, and the heads of the trees are three times a hundred feet above the earth. Many hundred years these monarchs of wood have stood in their summer's splendor and their winter's strength, unharmed by the winds, and since there is no day, even in the eighth moon, when these forests are not wet with dew and fogs,-unscathed by fire. And here in these forests of spruces, hemlocks, firs, oaks, cherrys, tamaracks, maples, junipers, cedars, pines -forests in many places so dense that the gloom of day is like the darkness of night-the wild things find hiding-places and live in numbers so great that, in the white man's language, the state is a "sportsman's paradise."

There are a few of the antlered elk in the state, but the rulers have forbidden the death of one of these for half a score of years, that they may increase and be many in the Oregon country.

Of the deer the hunter is permitted to kill five in the autumn season. Then to the chase, Pale Face-to the long run! Take your dogs and your companions and your fire-stick, and go into the woods a few hundred yards, and start the big buck, quenching his thirst at the fresh-water lake!

Then away like the west wind-past the miles of water-lily covered lakes, out on the knolls-on-on-to the sands where the bark of the dogs is drowned by the roar of the breakers-on-on-till the panting antlered one, seized with despair, runs into the surf to meet the crack of the good rifle!

There is another beast in these woods (the most cunning thing in the forest)-the wild creature the Great Father at Washington loves to hunt-the yellow mountain lion. The tame sheep and the foolish cow, chewing their cuds in their pastures, die as fish before