FOREST AND STREAM. 



55 



tried, a whole lot of us fellows, on the Platte a mouth ago, and 

 it was just bully. Guess the coffee-pot was kept a b'iling all 

 the time. There came along a lot of officers from the fort on 

 a hunting trip, and mighty tuckered out they were. Their 

 small stores had gl'n out, We just made coffee with a stick 

 for those fellows, and they must have kept drinking it all 

 night." 



" You mean Miss Juliet Corson's receipts, we suppose?" we 

 inquired. 



" Yes, that's the lady's name. By thunder ! the boys just 

 drank her health." 



"In coffee?" 



"Yes, for there wasn't nothing else. See here, mister, 

 liquor on the plains, when you go regularly in for a hunt, is 

 sceerce, mighty sccerce. When I go trapping, and fills up 

 with stores, it's about the last thing 1 thinks of. Hum is 

 good for Injuns, and not for white men. This here roll is as 

 white as snow, and first rate in every way ; but give me a 

 good flap-jack. That's the best thing on airth. Does that 

 lady, Miss Corson, know how to make flap-jacks ?" 



"Well, the lady in question is a perfect encyclopaedia of 

 culinary lore, and we have no doubt but that she does. But we 

 don't know. So pray enlighten us, and the readers of the 

 Forest and Stream shall have the benefit of it," 



" I ain't going into print, am I ? Well, I don't kcer. Fust 

 I must tell a little story. It was on the Medicine, three years 

 ago, and there was a swell camp there — a lot of New York 

 and Boston fellers — nigger cook and all that kind of thing. I 

 struck their trail one morning and followed 'em up ; seed a 

 paper collar fust, and after that a tin Ash-box— there, jest like 

 that — " and our plainsman indicated the sardines. "Ij'ined 

 'em just after supper. They acted kind of hearty like, but 

 the camp was cleaned out of cooked food. They made ex- 

 cuses for having no supper. I was downright sharp set, so I 

 asked for some flour. They had a bag of that. Then I got 

 some 'east powder, just as much as would cover a dollar piece; 

 then the darkey handed me a frying-pan, and 1 mixed that 

 flour with the 'east powder into a batter until the frying-pan 

 was half full ; I greased the edges of the pan ; I scattered a 

 little salt in it ; then I sot it over the Are. The fellows all 

 crowded around me. When it was half baked I began to 

 shake the flap-jack, so as it shouldn't settle down and not 

 stick. Now, rnister, comes a trick that no one but a man bred 

 on the plains kin do. That's the tossing of the cake. I dou't 

 want to brag much, but there ain't a man that lives 'twist the 

 Rocky Mountains and the sea that can toss flap-jacks with me. 

 Mebbe Carver can beat me shooting, but he ain't no shakes to 

 me tossing flap-jacks. It's agin the hunter's code out on the 

 plains to turn 'em with a fork. You just take your pan, 

 steady your flap-jack for a moment, give her a jerk and up 

 she flies in the air, and she lites plum on the other side. That 

 lady kin give you the fixings what a flap- jack mought call 

 for, the 'gredients, but the flipping of a flap-jack in the air she 

 can't show you. There was a kind of beam a stretching across 

 the shanty the party was housed in, and I just slung her over 

 that cross-piece and cotched that flap-jack as she lit on the 

 other side. They had never seen the trick before, and they 

 just howled with delight, and eat up my flap-jack. I was a 

 baking and tossing flap-jacks all night. I acted as guide for 

 those fellows afterward, and a nicer lot of chaps I never met 

 with. Now you know all about flap-jacks, except the slinging 

 of 'em. Give me flap-jacks and beaver-tail and a good big 

 three-pound hunk of elk, and I don't want anything better. 

 Any fool can make up a flap-jack, but the slinging of it is the 

 thing that tells." 



[FROM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT.] 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN "WANDERINGS. 



WHEN, in the course of human events, it becomes possi- 

 ble for the overworked business man or student to ex- 

 change for a time the desk for the open air recreation, which 

 most men crave and which all need, the choice of a locality to 

 visit and of the routes by which this is to be reached becomes 

 a matter of no small importance. For many years it has been 

 our custom to visit each summer some portion of the trans- 

 Missouri region, either the Plains or the Rocky Mountains. 

 We know of no locality in the East where so much pleasure 

 or health may be secured in so short a time as in the stupen- 

 dous mountains which form the back bone of this continent, 

 and to all our readers we recommend at least one visit to this 

 enchanting region. Among these towering, snow-clad peaks 

 are thousands of lovely valleys, scarcely yet explored, where 

 game is still abundant, and where delicious trout, weighing 

 from one to four pounds, are to be had for the trouble of 

 making a cast. Here there is room for all who are in search of 

 rest and health, and here, year by year, gather increasing 

 multitudes to rejoice in the charms which nature has scattered 

 with so lavish a hand. Among the most delightful of these 

 spots are the Parks of Colorado, to be reached via Union 

 Pacific and Colorado Central railroads, and there the traveler, 

 if an invalid or accompanied by ladies, can find conveniences 

 in the shape of comfortable hotels, which may not come amiss 

 when he arrives dusty and tired from his railway journey. 

 Travel by rail in these latter days, however, is made so com- 

 fortable that the tourist has little to complain of, and when 

 the palace cars are furnished with a bath room at one end for 

 the use of the passengers, we fancy that the last grumbler will 

 cease to murmur. 



Some brief suggestions as to the mode of our summer's trip 

 may be useful to others who propose similar excursions, and 

 to this end we shall furnish, as the occasion offers, notes of 

 our progress and adventures. We may premise that in our 



various excursions in the past we have traveled over almost 

 all the railroads between New York and Omaha, and that, 

 after a somewhat mature weighing of their various advantages, 

 we have decided that those to be hereinafter mentioned are 

 the ones by which our journeyings in the future are to be 

 made. 



The excursionist whoso business or pleasure calls him to 

 the \VeEt should not fail to make at least one trip over the 

 Pennsylvania Central Railroad. Having made one, he will 

 be likely to repeat it. With us this road is a favorite one on 

 account of its beautiful scenery, the comfortable accommoda- 

 tions which it furnishes, and the speed and safety with which 

 it conducts the tourist to his destination. It was with a great 

 feeling of rest and security that we stepped into the Pullman 

 sleeper recently. We felt that now, for thirty-six hours at 

 least, wc need give no further thought to our journey. We 

 would be well taken care of and in due time landed safely in 

 Chicago. So, confiding our traps to the care of John, the 

 porter, we devote an hour or two to surmises as to what the 

 next few weeks may bring forth, and then retire in good time. 



He who journeys by the Pennsylvania Central when going 

 West, will not, if he be wise, devote to sleep the early morn- 

 ing hows. Some of the finest scenery on the road is passed 

 before reaching Altoona, and from the rear platform of the 

 train our delighted eyes beheld a superb and constantly 

 changing panorama. From the moment of entering the Alio- 

 ghenies the speed of the train slackens, and the patient engine 

 puffs heavily up grades of remarkable steepness. The road 

 winds around the sides of the wooded mountains, now and 

 then striking a more or less level river valley which it follows 

 for a short distance only to leave it before long and recom- 

 mence its climb. On every side the hills covered with the 

 fresh green foliage of deciduous trees, here and there inter- 

 spersed with darker conifers, stretch away into the hazy dis- 

 tance, and far below in the valleys the tiny streams gleam 

 bright and sparkle in the morning sun. Just beyond Altoona 

 comes the rarest bit of all — the famous Horseshoe Curve. As 

 wc approach it we see high up on the mountain side, across 

 the vallejr, the track over which we are soon to pass, and so 

 steep is it that it seems incredible that our heavy train should 

 surmount it. We are, however, entering a cul de sac from 

 which there is no escape save around this point, and presently 

 we see our own locomotive creeping along in the direction 

 opposite to that which we are pursuing, and actually making 

 the turn. So the Horseshoe is passed, a spot familiar, no 

 doubt, to all our readers, and but for that deserving a more ex- 

 tended description. It must be seen to be appreciated. 



The region through which we are passing is one of very 

 great geological interest, and has bean thoroughly and ably 

 worked up by the State Geological Survey. Abounding as it 

 does in coal and iron, we see everywhere signs of business 

 activity and thriving industry. Furnaces are blazing and 

 smoking ; cars loaded with coal, ore, or manufactured iron 

 fill all the sidings, and a general air of prosperity pervades 

 each town or hamlet through which we pass. At two o'clock 

 we reach the City of Smoke, Pittsburgh to wit, one of the 

 most important railroad centres in the United States, and 

 pressing onward, soon arc in fertile Ohio, celebrated for her 

 broad wheatfields and fat cattle as well as for her manufac- 

 tures of iron and agricultural implements. Through these 

 close shaven stubbles the quail are even now leading their 

 tender broods, gleaning the abundant leavings of the farmers, 

 and here, two months hence, superb sport will be enjoyed by 

 many a reader of Forest and Stream. Still we rush on, 

 till at last night spreads her shadowy pinions o'er the earth 

 and shuts out the charming landscape. Morning finds us in 

 Indiana, and soon we reach Illinois, and at eight o'clock find 

 ourselves in Chicago. 



From here West our route lies over the Chicago and North- 

 western Railroad. The lines controlled by this corporation 

 extend over much of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota 

 and Wisconsin ; and, besides being one of the trunk lines 

 between the Atlantic and the Pacific, they traverse one of the 

 richest grain and cattle countries of the United States. On 

 every side we see extensive fields either fresh from the reaper 

 and dotted with shocks of yellow wheat or green with 

 waving standard of tasselled corn. Great pastures are full 

 of fattening cattle, and in the older stubbles are many flocks 

 of sheep and hundreds of sleek Berkshire hogs. The motto 

 of the Northwestern Road is, we believe, "Speed, Safety and 

 Comfort," and well does it perform all that is implied in this 

 saying. The palace cars are all that could be desired and the 

 attendance is excellent. Besides this, well cooked meals are 

 neatly served on the hotel cars, thus doing away with one of 

 the most annoying features of modern railway travel— the 

 twenty minutes for dinner at the ordinary railroad eating- 

 house. By the Chicago and Northwestern Road we arc 

 whirled along for twenty-four hours, reaching Omaha, Neb., 

 on Sunday morning. Berg we had the pleasure of meeting 

 Mr. Thos. L. Kimball, Gen'l Passenger and Ticket Agent of 

 the Union Pacific Railroad, over which our journey is w 

 to bo continued, and to him we wish to express our apprecia- 

 tion of the courtesies extended to us. 



Omaha, the eastern terminus of the U. P. R. R., has been 

 called the M ropolia of the Northwest. It is, indeed, a 

 flourishing t n, and is destined in the not distant future to 

 be one of the most important cities of the Western country. 

 Nine railroads centre here, and in 1877 there were received 

 2,000,000 bushels of grain and 95,500 head of cattle. There 

 are extensive smelting works here which last year produced 

 $5,000,000 of bullion, and the total amount of gold and sil- 

 ver bullion and coin handled during 1877 was $60,000,- ' 



000. Omaha's position to-day among the cities of the United 

 States it owes almost wholly to the U. P. R, R., which is the 

 only road leading to the vast gold, silver and coal fields of the 

 Kocky Mountains, and to the unequalled scenery of Colorado, 

 Wyoming and Montana. 



From Omaha we pass West along the Platte Valley, What 

 a change has taken place here within our recollection I Where 

 now we see on all sides fertile farms and comfortable houses, 

 but a few years ago the buffalo roamed in great herds, rarely 

 molested, save by the Indian. We pass many well recollected 

 spots, and with the sight of each of them memoty brings 

 before our mind thoughts pleasant or 9ad. Here, years ago, 

 we killed our first elk ; there is the point from which wo 

 started with four thousand Pawnees to hunt buffalo on the 

 Republican. Further on is where wo struck the railroad 

 after being pursued by a band of hostile Sioux, and still later 

 we pass the bluffs, near which, in a slight difficulty with the 

 noble red, we had a horse shot under us. Where once the 

 buffalo blackened the plain, now great herds of cattle extend 

 almost as far as the eye can reach, and settlements have been 

 pushed out on all the streams of the State . Almost all the 

 Government land on the line of the railroad has been taken 

 up by immigrants, but the Union Pacific Co. has still large 

 quantities, admirably located for farming, at very moderate 

 prices— from $3 to $10 per acre. All this land is either on 

 or very near the railroad, and includes some of the best farm- 

 ing country in Nebraska, so famous already for its grain, its 

 cattle and its fruits. 



From various points on the U. P. R. R. the traveler can 

 reach the gold mines of the Black Hills, the almost unex- 

 plored Bighorn region, the Yellowstone Park country, Colora- 

 do, with its wonderful mineral and agricultural wealth, and 

 the distant regions of the Pacific slope. Over the Union 

 Pacific, too, the hunter in search of large game will travel. 

 Rapidly as the settlements have spread in the West of late 

 years, there are still extensive ranges of plain and mountain 

 country, where the antelope, deer, elk and mountain sheep 

 afford superb sport. We are now in search of such a region, 

 and our success shall be duly reported to the readers of 

 Forest and Stream and Eod and Gun. Yo. 



Medicine Bow, Wyoming, 



The Victim of the Shark.— We regret to announce the 

 death of Charles Cates, who was bitten last week by a 

 shark, a notice of which appeared in our issue of August 15. 

 It seems that the poor boy died rather from nervous shock 

 than from the direct effect of the wounds. While at the hos- 

 pital he constantly struck out with arms and legs, as if in the 

 act of swimming, and if any one appeared at the bedside he 

 would call frantically for help. Occasionally he had lucid in- 

 tervals, during which he knew and spoke with his father and 

 mother. He sank rapidly on Tuesday, and died peacefully 

 at a late hour that night. It may be worth while to repeat 

 here some of the characteristics of the shark. It does not 

 seem as if the visual powers of the shark were as marked as 

 his sense of smelling and hearing. The power of touch is 

 believed, however, to exist. For an acquaintance with hia 

 sense of touch we are indebted to the investigations of Jacob- 

 son. In the head and great pectoral fins he found an organ, 

 tubular in form, united in a spheroidal cavity, in which 

 might be traced a provision for the sense of touch. It is 

 pretty generally stated that a shark first approaches and 

 gently touches its prey before it turns over to seize and de- 

 vour it, mouth downwards. It may then be said to touch 

 first what it feeds upon. 



. ■<■ 



Insthuction Badlv Wanted.— Atowe, time and time 

 again, in urging the necessity of scientific studies, complains 

 of ignorance in highly educated English circles on the 

 simplest topics having to do with physics. Here is just a 

 case in point. In the last Spectator there is a short paragraph 

 as to the degree of comfort with which men can live at great 

 heights. A Mr. Webber, writing to the London Times, 

 states that in Thibet he lived for months at a height more 

 than 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. " This travele 

 had crossed the Gurla Mandhata at a height of some 20,000 

 feet, measured by the 'thermometer!'" Just here the Spectator 

 ventures to say, " Surely a misprint or a slip of the pen for 

 the 'barometer.'" Now, the average American school-boy 

 knows that elevations arc quite accurately measured by means 

 of boiling water, a thermometer noting the temperature at 

 which the water boils. The higher up the mountain, atmos- 

 pheric pressure being diminished, the quantity of heat 

 requisite to put a fluid in a *tate of ebulition is lessened. It 

 is the old story of the monks of St. Bernard who tried to boil 

 potatoes at the Hospice. The potatoes did not cook, because 

 water at that precise elevation will not heat as high as 212 

 degB unless confined. Sir Humphry Davy solved the problem 

 by advising the good father " to bake 'em. '' Any ordinary 

 book of physics gives a table of elevations, based on thermo- 

 ruetrical measurements of boiling water. Barometric and 

 thermometric measures arc both used, however, to determine 

 elevations. Nevertheless, the schoolmaster is wanted abroad. 



Captain Bogaudtjs.— Captain A. H. Bogardus arrived in 

 New York last Tuesday. Having made more than good his 

 title of "World's Champion," so far as rival English shots are 

 concerned, the Captain returns laden down with trophies, 

 gold and glory. His exploits have very thoroughly demon- 

 strated that when it comes to an individual contest at the 

 trap England must take her place after America. As the up. 

 holder of our good name and fame among the crack pigeon. 



