'248 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 



Djsvoted to Field and Ayiunc Srotn, Iv.AC,TieAL>-ATunAL llis-ronr, 



Fish Cinyruni;, the I'rutei tion up GAME.ritESEiivATioN or Fobests, 



: IN Ol'T-D'IDli KECHEATION AND STUDY 1 



PUBLISHED BY 



4£arcst and <§tre.vn fflublishing (^empaim, 



17 CHATHAM STREET. (CITY HALL SQUARE) NEW YORK, 



[r-osT Office B. iv S-SW.] 

 123 SOUTH THTHD STIIKBT, I'll I T.ADKLFITIA. 



COBB'S BUILDING, DEARBORN ST., CHICAGO. 



Term., FIvo Dollars n Year, Stricdy In Advai 



A discount of twenty percent, for five copies and upwards. Anyperson 

 gendrae us two subscriptions and Ten Dollars will receive a copy of 

 Haliock'a " FiSKINn Tol'KIST," postage free. 



Advertising Hate«. 



In regular advertl<<in!; columns, nonpareil type, 13 lines to the inch, 2£ 

 cents per line. Advertisements on outside page.-JOrents perline. Reading 

 notices, SO cents per line. Advertisements in double column 25 per cent. 

 3Xtra. Where advertisements are inserted over 1 month, a disconnt of 

 10 per cent, will be made; over threa mouths, 20 per cent; over six 

 months, 30 per cent. 



NEW YORK, TUUKSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1874. 



To Correspondents. 



All communications whatever, whether relating to business or literary 

 correspondence, tnnst be addressed to The Fobest ant> Stream Pub- 

 lishing Company. Personal or private letters of course excepted. 



All communications intended for pnbllcationmust be accompanied with 

 real name, as a guaranty of good faith. Names will not be published if 

 objection be made. No anonymous contributions will be regarded. 



Articles relating to any topic within the scope of this paper are solicited. 



We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 



Secretaries of Clubs and Associations ore urged to favor us with brief 

 notes of their movements and transactions, as it. is the aim or this paper 

 to become a medium of useful and reliable information between gentle- 

 men sportsmen from one end of the country to tile other ; and they will 

 End onr columns a desirable medium for advertising announcements. 



The Publishers of Fokest and Streui aim to merit and secure the 

 patronage and countenance of that portion of the community whose re- 

 fined intelligence enables them to properly appreciate and enjoy all that 

 is beautiful in Nature. It -will pander to no depraved tastes, nor pervert 

 -i .: ii i . ,i :,mi water to niose uase uses tvinen an.,,.- 

 tend to make them unpopular with the virtuous and good. No advertise- 

 ment or business notice of an immoral character will bo received on any 

 terms ; and nothing « ill be admitted to any department of the paper that 

 may not be read with propriety in the home circle. 



We cannot be responsible for the dereliction of the mail service, if 

 money remitted to us is lost. 



Advertisements should be sent in hy Saturday of each week, ir possible. 

 CHARLES UALLOCK, Managing Editor. 



WILLIAM C. HARRIS, Business Manager. 



CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE CUR- 

 RENT WEEK. 



Satckday, November s8.— Competition for Turf, Field and Farm 

 badge at L'reedmoor. 

 Tuesday, December 1.— Races at New Orleans. 



"Wednesday, December 2.— Prof. Judd's attempt to walk 500 miles in 

 six days, in New York. 



■»■•» 



THANKSGIVING. 



THIS year Hie President, the Governor, and the Mayor 

 have each and all respectively enjoined upon us the 

 propriety of being thankful to day, and reminded us of the 

 obligations we owe to the Great Provider for his goodness 

 in showering peace, plenitude, and abundance upon us; 

 so thai even if we were disposed to be ungrateful or queru- 

 lous of bud fortune, it would still be incumbent upon us to 

 obey this triumvirate of Chief Magistrates, attend morn- 

 ing church service, stuff ourselves with roast turkey and 

 plum pudding, and bu thankful that our capacity can hold 

 no more! 



What a luxury to the poor must be these annual procla- 

 mations of Thanksgiving! How grateful to the tattered 

 and benumbed starveling these injunctions to eat and be 

 filled! Surely, the odor of roast meats and savory stews 

 that emanates from the kitchens of those that dwell in 

 high places must fall with a grateful sense upon the pinched 

 olfactories of the maid who drags her ragged bit of a shawl 

 closely around her face as she wistfully looks and scurries 

 by. i\'\" in our land will go to bed supperless to-day. 

 Stores of good things from the kitchen, largesses of food 

 from the abundance of the overfed, donations of cold 

 pieces from the waste basket, special gifts to the needy, 

 will be showered for one day from Ihe horn of plenty upon 

 the deserving and undeserving. Upon the memory of this 

 day's Thanksgiving Dinner many a poor vagrant must 

 principally subsist for the balance of the year. We should 

 fancy that Ihe pleasures of hope in such a case would be 

 almost swamped in the reprospect. 



"Please, sir, give me a penny?" Certainly, my son; 

 here, take tv>o, u 



All men are more than generous to-day, and the street 

 urchins and Arabs expect a benefit. "Out of the fulness 

 of the heart the month speaketh." Even a man plundered 

 by thieves, with his pockets inside out, wouldn't begrudge 

 a poor lad a penny on Thanksgiving Day, Oh, Day of 



Superabundance! of all days the best! LTow all the poor 

 relations from far and near gather around the festive, board 

 of Uib paterfamilias who has the finest house, the largest 

 heart, and the longest purse. One likes to have his family 

 around him. Grandpa will give Bub an extra piece of 

 pudding, out of pure gratitude to the Good Pontine that 

 has blessed him wilh so much, and giveu all the rest so 

 liule. Human nature will assert itself, even when the 

 stomach is full. We venerate this lime-honored anniver- 

 sary, bequeathed to us by New England, that affords us 

 this exccplioual opportunity to turn to our neighbors the 

 best side of ourselves. Just as plants turn their petals 

 toward the sun, so do we persistently set our faces toward 

 the sources from whence all good things emanate, and em- 

 phasize the truism: "It is better to give than to receive." 

 We make this remark advisedly — to our friends, not to our- 

 selves. 



Upon ihe whole, we regard Thanksgiving Day as a day 

 to be thankful for. A little reflection compels the conclu- 

 sion that it is as necessary for our happiness as that its ob- 

 servance has become an institution thoroughly engrafted 

 upon the whole country. Its festivities are not conven- 

 tional or arbitrary, but the spontaneous and irrepressible 

 outcome of a desire to mark an era of good feeling that 

 wells up like the waters of an artesian from our deeply- 

 bored selves. 



The Forest and Stream has certair.ly much to be 

 thankful for. It has at least trebled its subscription list 

 since a year ago to-day, and has the promise of increased 

 favor as soon as business improves and times get better. 

 It has won the confidence of the community, and estab- 

 lished itself as a necessity among the fraternity of sports- 

 men. Its readers look for its weekly coming as eagerly as 

 they do for the recurrence of the festival which we cele- 

 brate to-day. And in this connection we may pointedly 

 remark the coincidence that brings Thanksgiving and the 

 day of our publication together. It was so last year— it is 

 so now. There must be some significance in the event, 

 for two such benefactions seldom come at once. They say 

 it is the best time to solicit favors after the "gude man" 

 has had his dinner. What more auspicious season, then, 

 than to-day for Forest and Stream to present its peti- 

 tion for increased consideration? The fire glows warm in 

 the grate, drowsiness soothes the senses, and the heart 

 wells up with the fulness of gratitude and good wine, as 

 the master of the house contemplates the comfortable sur- 

 roundings of his after-dimmer quiet. Let us solicit a little 

 memento of the occasion. Our readers and subscribers are 

 lavish in their compliments and wishes for. our success. 

 Let each now jog his neighbor's elbow, so that between 

 this day and the new year our subscription list may be 

 rlonblml and the. sphere of our usefulness yaoportionably 



increased. 



May our friends all rejoice and be thankful in the day 

 we celebrate; may their roast lurkev, plum pudding, and 

 pumpkin pie "go to the right spot;" and when next year 

 the President, our Governor, and our Mayor issue their 

 respective proclamations to observe the recurring festival, 

 may they all be alive and ready to respond. 



-*•*■ ' 



A PROPOSITION. 



WE have been so often requested by many of our 

 readers, interested in the improvement of our stock 

 of setters and pointers in America, to propose to the Phil- 

 adelphia Sportsmen's Association that a Bench Show of 

 dogs of all classes shall take place under their managment 

 after the present shooting season has closed, and knowing 

 that many of the members of this organization possess 

 animals of superior blood, we advise, by all means, that a 

 movement looking to such an exhibition may be made at 

 one of their coming meetings. Not only should Philadel- 

 phia and Pennsylvania dogs be placed on the bench, but in- 

 vitations should be extended to all sportsmen's societies of 

 every State to enter their best for competition, through the 

 medium of journals devoting a portion of their space to 

 the subject, and wo will cheerfully lend our aid in behalf 

 of the success of the enterprize. 



No more fitting time could be chosen for suth. a display 

 than the month of February, when the sportsman has 

 finished his autumn campaigns among the feathered tribe, 

 and his dogs have fully recovered from the effects of the 

 arduous work devolving upon them. 



As an illustration of the success of exhibitions of this 

 character, we are told by good authority that the annual 

 show of the Poultry Breeder's Association, in Philadelphia, 

 is self-supporting and fully paying the cost of hall, diplo- 

 mas, &c., &c. Would it not be safe, then, to suppose that 

 witb all the interest taken in the improvement of field dogs 

 within the past year, and the continued desire of the sports- 

 man to possess well bred setters and pointers, that such a 

 movement could not prove a failure? 



The Mincola. Bench Show for dogs, in connection with 

 the Queen's County Agricultural Exhibition at Long Island 

 in October, proved a success beyond the expectations of 

 the most sanguine; in fact, it is stated that the display of 

 field dogs was the great feature of the fair and attracted 

 many that would not have otherwise attended. The points 

 for judging were the same as those adopted by the London 

 Kennel Club, and on which we do not think any improve- 

 ment can be made. All setter dogs contending for award 

 were placed under three classes— the Gordon, the Irish and 

 setters nf any breed — the best, under each head, receiving 

 a cup and the second a diploma; the best and second best 

 bitches of the same classes likewise gaining similar prizes. 

 For pointer dogs and bitches, first and second of each were 



given cups and diplomas, but we should like to see the 

 same system, or one resembling it, carried out in awarding 

 all breeds of animals shown, foxhound, harrier, beagle, 

 dachshund, greyhound, bloodhound, staghound, New- 

 foundland, spaniel and terriers included, and as an induce- 

 ment for perfection in taxidermy a prize should be offered 

 for the finest specimens of mounted birds. 



The Tennessee State Sportsmen's Association lately gave 

 a Bench Show of their dogs at Memphis, which proved 

 successful, as well as the Field Trial following, being the 

 first of its kind ever held in America, giving great satisfac- 

 tion to the projectors. No dog should be allowed to enter 

 for award at an exhibition unless his pedigree for at least 

 two generations be reliably furnished, and each owner be 

 charged an entrance fee, to be devoted towards defraying 

 the expenses of the affair. It will be time enough five 

 years hence to ask of our sportsmen wishing to contend for 

 premiums and medals at bench shows for pedigrees of 

 greater length than two generations back on the side of 

 both sire and dam, for the reason that in the past but little 

 attention has been paid to recording lines of disccnt, and 

 we fear if longer pedigrees be asked to day but few 

 animals would be brought forward, notwithstanding they 

 might be perfectly bred. 



In conclusion, we will add that we promiso our energies 



and attention in furthering any such movement on the part 



of the Philadelphia Sportsmen's Association, and would be 



happy to hear from them on the subject. 



■ ■«•«■ 



NEW GAME PRESERVE ON LONG 

 ISLAND. 



ONE of the finest trout streams on Long Island is the 

 one whose lower half is owned by the South Side 

 Club, and its headwaters by M. H. Keith and Son, of 

 Babylon. The upper part especially is wonderfully pure, 

 fed by bottom springs, and flowing over a continuous bed 

 of Whitest gravel for a distance of three miles or more. 

 It rises back of Islip, and traverses a belt of uninhabited 

 oak and pine timber land, sweeping in a semicircle down 

 to the salt meadows near its mouth, through which it flows 

 into the Great South Bay. Its whole length is fully six 

 miles, and its width is such, even near its source, as to 

 permit the most unlimited play of rod for the fiy-fisher- 

 man. "It seems most surprising to find a river of such 

 length and volume flowing through the sandy soil of Long 

 Island, and still more surprising to find it stocked with 

 trout that may be numbered by the hundred thousand! 

 Three weeks ago we waded nearly the whole length of 

 that portion owned by Mr. Keith, carefully avoiding the 

 deep places, which could hardly be distinguished in water 

 ol. clear that objects on the bottom seemed to be refracted 

 against the surface. Generally speaking, we found the 

 stream to flow uniformly and unbroken; but there are 

 frequent intervals where it sweeps in rippling whirls 

 around the bends, scoops out darksome holes under over- 

 shadowing clods of roots, or tumbles through contracted 

 channels. Occasionally it makes a little cascade where a 

 log protrudes or spans the creek. Every foot of it seems 

 available for the angler, and wherever we looked, whether 

 in the shallow mid channel, in the deeper holes under the 

 banks, or at the edges of the green patches of weeds that 

 here and there clung to the bottom and swayed with the 

 current, we saw the trout lying quietly, head up stream, or 

 darting hither and yoD, two, three, and a dozen together, 

 whenever our approach disturbed them. Throughout its 

 whole length, the stream was almost sacredly protected 

 on both sides by a jungle of several rods in width, so thick 

 as to be actually impenetrable. The only practicable mode, 

 therefore, of fishing it at present is to wade it. What 

 abundant returns our baskets would have realized had 

 fishing been in order, it would be difficult to estimate. 

 Certainly, the number of fish that might be taken would 

 depend upon the angler's endurance, rather than upon the 

 supply of fish. Very few were large, but they would 

 average possibly four ounces apiece. By next Spring they 

 will be larger and available to the angler. 



In making our calculations, we have to take the chances 

 against poachers, who are so persistent that neither the 

 fear of the law or of blunderbusses will deter them, and 

 whose gains are so lucrative as to make them speedily rich. 

 So bold are .they, and so tempting is the plunder, that on 

 this very trout preserve of which we write, they not long 

 ago erected a comfortable board shanty in the concealment 

 of the thickest woods, and equipped it with stove, bunks, 

 and provisions, to facilitate their depredations, keeping out 

 of sight by day.and driving their nefarious vocation by night, 

 when with silken nets so fine that one could fold them in 

 the pocket, they would rob long reaches of the stream of 

 its finny wealth. The plunder thus obtained is sold at this 

 season to persons stocking their ponds; at other seasons to 

 the market men. To five hundred of our readers who have 

 been in the habit of fishing iu Long Island waters, we are 

 aware that our statements as to the quantity of fish in this 

 creek will seem greatly exaggerated. For twent} r years 

 back we have tossed our own flies into many of these ponds 

 and streams, and our returns have been meagre indeed. 

 By the light of those other days, we should doubt any 

 testimony now except our own eyesight. Nevertheless, 

 the facts, as stated, can bo substantiated by any who will 

 take the trouble to investigate for themselves. Next Spring 

 this rare preserve will be opened to the public, as it is on 

 this account chiefly that we have undertaken to write this 

 article. For nearly two years Mr. Amusa Keith has been 

 improving this valuable property, and to better facilitate 

 his work has erected and occupied a shanty in the midst of 



