The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-04-22
DR.. HORNADAY AT
BANQUET HERE OF
STATE GAME CLUB
Methods of Preserving Rapidly
Vanishing Race of Game Birds
is Discussed

| oHlcAuliS AaNC VI OduIC OA uS
is Discussed
Enthusiastically taking up the pro-
ject. of cutting down the open season
and assisting in other ways the re-
| stocking of; our woods and fields with
the rapidly vanishing game birds, the
members Of the Connecticut Fish and
Game Association, including promi-
nent Sportsmen from all over the
State, gathered at the Stratfield last
evening for the second annual banquet
of the association
After an excellent menu had been
discussed, Secretary H. P. Carter as
sumed the role of POSTMASTER and the
speaking began.
DR.. D. T. Hornaday, dill ector of the
New York Geological park was the
| first speaker. He forcibly pointed out
| that the people of the United States
have come to a realization that new
conditions exist ilt regard to wild life.
Ihe days of abundance has long since
gone. We now find that many species
of wild game are threatened with ex-
! t1nct1on. 1t Is known that six species
| are now extinct and fourteen others
are on the way to a speedy exterm-
ination. The enemies of wild life are
| so numerous, so persistent and so
deadly that the fricpGs of the wild life
| must adopt more strenuous and drastic
means if a fair showing is to be pre-
served in comparison with former
! times. What is left of the. feathered
game bird is just a remnant.
| We should not, kill, he said, faster
than the birds breed. We know that
| shooting for the market is to blame
| for one-half the decrease. The most
| important step is CO stop absolutely
and forever the sale OF wild game
1t is entirely right, he said, to sell do
mestic game-which means game
bred and reared on preserves. New
York state has up to this time been a
gigantic fence from all sides of game
birds, illegally killed in other states
and illegally shipped into the state.
One New York dealsr recently stated
that he sold one million game birds
in one year.
Last fall as the legislative session
| approached the Game Protective asSo-
citation of the state drifte1 into COM
! b1nation Of the rnost effective char
| acter for the promotion Of three i'm
portant measures. The first was the
Baynes' bill to prohibit the sale of all
wild game. The second was the oppo-
| sition to the attempt to repeal the
spring shooting law. The third was
the opposition in the attempt Of the
Milliners' association to repeal the law
| that forbfds the use of plumage Of
wild birds 1t is L proven fact that
that no wild species can Withstand ex-
plottation for commercial purposes.
| IHynes Bill Popular.
The attempt to REPEAL the spring
| shooting law has already been de-
feated. The milliners repeal is al
ready as good as lead. Through a
coalition with the breeders Of game
in New York the last ves.ige of effec-
/ i've -
| bill has been swept away. We regard
| the passage Of the Baynes bill as alb
| so1utely certain. The measure that as
| first seemed so drastic that its passage
! would be impossible is to-day a most
| popular game law ever before the
legislature. The thanks for this are
Idue to the campaien of publicity and
| the appeal for active support from all
good citizens who ehsect to turning
over to posterity gameless continent
| that we are to-day. Three thousand
men and women are actively working
| for the Baynes bill.
If the men of Connecticut could
have heard the public expression of
the men Of New York against the
maintenance in New York city of a
fence" for the illegal destruction of
Connecticut game it would have
| warmed their hearts.
One Mails Record.
| E. H. Forbusf. state ornithologist
| of Massachusetts, gave some terrifying
statistics as regards the disappearance
of the wild birds in the United States,
as for instance, 100 years ago, and
after the Civil war. He first alluded
to the great f1ocks Of wild birds 100
years ago, when it seemed as if it
was impossible to destroy them. But
modern invention and the spread of
railroads which has destroyed their
| breeding places, or their reserves,
| have been responsible. In speaking
| of the plentifulEess of snipe before
| the war he quoted The record of Mr..
| Quingle Of Alabama. who in 20 years
killed 69,087 snipe in one section. At
| Concord, Mass, like number was
killed. Besides the modern gun and
the railroads, he said that the market
hunter was in great measure re-
sponsible. He advocated that the
season be stopped for a while to al
low the birds to breed. He admitted
| that a man who breeds birds should
| be allowed to sh" OF them Free
shooting should he allowed on wild
fowl, as they breed in far Canada,
and are not mo1ested. He spoke
about the entire disappearance of the
passenger pigeon. which was once SO
plentiful that 1T was thought impos-
| sible to exterminate them There is
not specimen in the United States
to-day.
Yale Professor Speaks.
Prof. J. w. Tourney, director of the
Forest school, Yale university, proved
to be an interesting speaker. He sue
| ceeded Mr.. Pinchot, who he said was
| the father of forest preservation in
| the United States. He spoke in
hopeful vein and sale that the United
| States is holding its own in the matter
of forest preservation, ir spite of the
great forest fires of last year.
The policy of forest preservation in
! the old countries. going sway back to
| the time Of the Greeks, was not so
much to preserve the timber, as it was
| to preserve the game. In this country
| it has been segregated from the pre-
servation Of game. Here we have it
I for the preservation Of stream flow
| and timber. He expected to see the
| day when every state would have it's
commission of state forestry and that
commission should also be linked with
| that the project he's been growing all
| the time. 1t has already taken firm
root in all the states west of the
Mississippi river.
Lobster Cultivation.
e. Hart Geer, secretary of the state
fish and game commission, and who
gets the endorsement of the members
for re-appointment, stated that Con-
necticut stood in advance of all the
states in the Union for the preserva-
ton of game and was the first state to
enact the law of non-sale of wild
game. If New York would enact such
a law it would simplify matters for
| a@s