The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-08
PROTECTION OF
 CAME IN AMERICA
Nearly Every State Now Has
 Game Wardens
LAWS HARD TO ENFORCE
In Outlying Sections the Residents Resent Interference With Enjoy. nent of Sport They Have ln-
 duIqed In for Years.
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

BY FREDERIC J. HAsklN.
 When Columbus landed in 1492 the section of the continent of North Amer | lea now embraced in the United States
 was one of the greatest game preserves
 in the world. The Indians loved the chase, but rarely destroyed game wan tonly. One reason for this was that the primitive methods of the savage in taking game made 1t more difficult for him to be a game hog" than it Is for the modern American with his repeat ing rifle, his pump gun" his dogs, his decoys, and his other equipment An other reason was that the Indians meat came from the forests and plains and he did not care to destroy his source of supply. Had the Indians re- mained in possession ofs the country there would have been as many deer and buffaloes in America today as there were four centuries ago. The rapid decrease in game throughout the United States after the settlement of the coun- try by white men was not due alto gether to density of populati but to q general belief that the supply was inexhaustible.
 From 1492 until 1852, when the Maine legislature created the office of moose warden. very little was done in this country to protect game, and the move ment 10 prevent the extermination of our wild animals, fish and birds has only become general within the last few years. At present thirty-six states and territories intrust the enforcement of their game laws to state boards, wardens or other specially constituted authorities, and active efforts are be- ing made to educate the people to an understanding of the importance of re- l Training from shooting out of season and otherwise violating game laws that 1 do not work hardship upon any true sportman or upon any man who seeks food with his rod and gun. Every state which has undertaken to enact and enforce useful game laws has met with opposition from certain element There are always land owners who re- sent any legislative interference with what they consider their inalienable right to shoot game in or out of season upon their own land, but gradually the prejudices of such citizens are being overcome, and the prospect Is for decided increase in the suply of game within the next decade
 :, The duties of game wardens under some of the state laws, are by no means 1 simple or devoid of hardships. During i the open season the warden Is expected to devote a great deal of his time to preventing the illegal shipment of game. He must often exercise his in in, q rtlss not af rants and hotels are selling quail as ''snowbirds" or young owls and whether venison is being served under some other name. Killing dogs is an other unpleasant duty of the game war den in states which prohibit the bounding of deer, and no one who has not had occasion to bring about the death of a neighb or's dog knows just what sort of feeling can be stirred up by this sort of activity. A few l months after the law prohibiting hunt i ing deer with dogs went into effect in i PennsylVania, the secretary of the game commission estimated that fully i, ,OOO dogs had been killed in enforc- i ing it. In many states there are laws requiring the destruction of traps and devices used to capture game and in few the confscation of guns used in l violation of the law is required.
 l In the east much trouble has arisen from the killing of game and ornamental | birds and all varieties of animals by im- migrants who cannot be persuaded that l the game laws are meant seriously, ana who not only resent attempts to enforce 1 them but in many instances resort to the use of arms to register their protest i In the mountinous sections of the states l in the Appalachian region 1t is also some what difficult and dangerous to make arersts for violations of the game laws. t1,n 1F- den and the "revenuer" in the same light. In his opinion both are bent upon in | frinsing upon his rights. and he is not ! slow to resent such interference. The record of fatalities incidents to the prose- cution of the duties of warden shoWs 1 that the game warden occupauon ls 1 more hazardous than that of soldier. l Several deputies and other officials have l been killed and others have only saved themselves from a similar fate by cool ness and the ability to get the drop on l the other fellow.
 During a recent session of the Kentucky legislaturs much opposition to rigid game laws under consideration was manifested by representatives from the extreme east l and west ends of the state, one or these l sections being the home Of the moun- 1 taineer and the other a farming country 1 A mountain representative who had never l made a speech rose and said that he was no orator, but that he would ask ndul- gence while he protested, as a friend of l the poor, against a provision of the law prohibiting trapping. The boys in the mountains. he maintained. had right to trap cartridges and sell them for money ] with which to buy school books A min ister. who represented a lowland county near the Mississippi river, followed the mountaineer and declared all game laws
 to be an infringement upon the inalien- able rights of land owners. He said 1T the legislature did not repeal those exist
 ing he and his neghbors would violate them at pleasure and would resort to the use of firearms if anyone tried to in- terfere.
 One of the most brutal forms of com mercial hunting is the killing of egrets in | Florida The plumes of these beautiful and harmless birds command high price for use as aigrettes upon women's hats and as the birds are in plume in the nest ing season the custom is to shoot them and leave the young die of starvation
 in the nests. A Florida game warden
 was killed by plume hunter while at l tempting to arrest him, and the grand jury failed to indiet the murderer. This local sentiment against punishing viola tors of game laws dies out only after the ls.sA fAa