April 14, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



209 



THE SILVER LAKE STANDS AGAIN. 



ONE of the prettiest little sheets of water to be fount] in 

 this section isSilver Lake, or, as il was originally ea lied, 

 .tones River Pond. It is situated in Ply molt til (3o 

 titid lms been tbB-seene of ?cver$l rowing maieies. a large 



pine grove has b> (s clean j up &n tbd west e uf the. pond 



by the Old GOlonj Rai road Company, wl rojwl r in I m 



close proximity to tin- late and, with it r picnics and Ij itiiig, 

 1ms proved » popular rmr.1 fts w iters 'an extremely deep, 

 111 some places measuring over sixty feet, and is pri ibably IV, 1 

 by springs, as the (low of water from the lake is Qlpre lU&n 

 can possibly run Into it, Its lepgth is about hree milts, 

 while its width varies from one-half to three-fourths oi a 

 mile. Owing to its size and depth it never freezes until late 

 and forms a resting and watering place for geese, duciks and 

 other small water fowl. At various places, generally points, 

 individuals have erected small houses or shinnies, which in 

 the fall are dressed over and malted with pine boughs. 



It requires some capital to ruu one of these stands. In the 

 first place a set, of wooden decoys for geese and one for ducks 

 arc procured, those for geese being three times as large as a 

 common goose. These are anchored near the centre of the 

 pond and are for the purpose of all "■■' ''' otlCO of any 

 passing flock. 



It takes front one to two hundred of Ihese to make any 

 kind of a show, and then the stand has to be supplied With 

 live geese decoys, of which it takes from ten to fifteen to do 

 any business. "These, last, if well trained, command good 

 prices. Then about the stand there must be twenty or thirty 

 live decoy ducks and one or two boats. Bel let us see them 

 light a flock and get them within gunshot. 



It is a bright day in autumn, and as we sil liste 

 musical honk of the old gander fastened r v :..;". , 

 lookout announces n flock in sight. Quickly, bill Silently, 

 everything is put in readiness for their reception. The bush- 

 eovered shutters on the house are draw.-: up, whUi upon : 

 little knoll a man sits concealed, ready to throw the i. . -., ,. 

 which are taught to fly out, circle around •., li - . n 



iu the water, "if not trained decoys, you: ■_ ! v 



they will return. As fast as these are thrown the geese Qe 

 coys on the beach and in the pens set up a loud honking .and, 

 if managed rightly, seldom fail to induce the Book to alight, 

 The wild geese generally alight some distance from shore and 

 when the birds arc wild it takes an old hand to tlw tliam 

 near enough to shoot. To do this the geese decoys arc pushed 

 out on the beach in front of the stand, while an OcDasiolltli 

 fly goose is tossed over. Those in the pens are separated and 

 all The display of decoys, together with honkimr, is made 

 that can be invented. 



Where there is only one stand this works all right, but 

 when two or more stands are all trying to draw one jock I lie 

 strongest team and most skillful handler takes the cake. The 

 geese near enough, each man takes his place and tires at, the 

 word given by the one in command — first a volley; after- 

 ward as you can gel it iu on the wing or shooting over the 

 cripples, for, be it known, a crippled goose in the water is a 

 hard bird to capture. 



It seems unsportsmanlike to murder these mi-suspecting 

 creatures while swimming boldly in your very Eaci Mid ;-, 

 but as it is the only way they can bo captured here, and as 

 there are plenty who like it, I don't, know why it is not all 

 right. As for me, the excitement of silling around a stand 

 day in and day out and not getting a shot is ml her thin ; and 

 when you do gel a flock it, is all over in fifteen minutes ; and 

 it won't do to leave the stand, for if you do a chance may be 

 missed. I call if, upon the whole, poor sport. 



We were much entertained by a discussion iu Focist and 

 Stream a while ago, referring to the " Silver Lake Horror," 

 m Which the writer was fearful the geese would all be 

 slaugtercd. They reed not be alarmed, for T have lived 

 about here all my life, and all the geese killed at Silver Luke, 

 or any other pond in this vicinity, will not seriously dimin- 

 ish the family of honkers. It. 



AN OTTER TRAPPED. 



a~\HE extreme wariness so characteristic of thi; 

 _ too well kuown to the practical trapper i 

 even, a passive mention, but suffice it to say thi 

 sensitive of the appearance of man, and will not 

 place where he has left his scout. It is also a well-established 



I not i: 



but, like I 

 si ty that 1 



tak< 



s I wa 



fact that they 

 prepare for tin 

 dom, have a c 

 unfortunate si 

 A few mora 

 on Bailey Loll 

 prised to nice 

 canoe I was carelessly pad, ling d 

 visiting the traps along the shoi 

 huge cypress tree, behind which 

 rattling of the chain and splash 



of anv bait the trappt 

 merafily of the anlma 

 them sometimes into 



•api-i. 



;oing the ' 

 .md",' I wi 



eraud rounds 



i the outlet of tl 

 Elc 



rap 

 of wat, 



t, I heard i 



r that < 



me that a fur-bearer— a coon, I thought— was 

 devices. Landing just above the tree I stepped ashore, and 

 to my wonder and astonishment, what should I sec wriggling 

 and fretting at the end of a mink trap chain— nothing more 

 than a fine otter. It took but a moment to take in the situa- 

 tion. Seeing that the hold was more iusecure than Hiked, 

 and under the extra excitement I was fearful he would dis- 

 engage himself from his tenacious companion, so my rifle was 

 soon brought to bear upon him. A crack, and there lay a 

 prized treasure struggling his life out, with three toes of the 

 right foot within the fervent clasp of a No. 1 Nowhouse. imp. 

 After he was thoroughly dispatched and placed in the boat 

 I then began to trace/up ihe cause of the lucky capture. The 

 torn leaves near the scene showed that the whole herd had 

 been there, and had emerged from the water at the. foot of 

 the great cypress. The trap was at the base of the tree at the 

 entrance of a V shaped pen, baited with a white bird's wing, 

 and slightly submerged preparatory to taking a coon or mink. 

 The otter having indulged sufficiently in the leaf-scratching 

 pastime, probably took a retrospective view, resulting in the 

 discovery of the white trap bait that so much excited his cu- 

 riosity as to induce him to give it, a closer inspection, and in 

 so doing experienced the trenuiness of the faithful little ser- 

 vant, the I rap, which 1 esteem as a. crowning elicit of [Tncle 

 SewellNewhousc as an iuvcntoraiul builder of his famous I rap. 

 The uncomfortable, predicament the probable leader of the held 

 got .nto gave the others such, a fright, that, they did not pay 

 ■ their nocturnal visit to the lake as usual the following night. 

 The pelt after being hunter-bundled proved to bean m 

 ordina'V skin, showing prime in quality and Nb, 1 in size, 

 and can be easily classed with th« usual more Orthern 

 catch, so hard has been the winter. 



West Point, Ark,, Feu 7. u 1). Ctni.ni, 



NOTES PROM DETROIT. 



IN the actual active game-killing world hereabout there is 

 nothing to record beyond the fact Hint ducks are cateh- 

 ingit Tlieica in the lakes and bays has surrcnderi and 



find on making my n.eeirdoined rounds ihat 'he Hon. Andrew 



Jackson, of Saiilt" Sic. Mntic, and H. S. Fay, li B Bt< I led 



irrapn Ible, ubiquitous, enthusia 



Mouffl'ei 



shall' be 



lures. His the first sally t 

 'i, !. irotcliing and waifiii 

 The Lake St. Clair Fishi 

 which you published 



et, but, 

 s in my 

 nd Sii:K4M a photo- 

 of the party's ndven- 

 i and we arc all flux- 



ing a day or two ago 



E,' K. Norton and.B. F. Fat 



ml Shooting Club, a history of 

 iks ago, held its annual, meet- 

 dWiu. C. Colhurn, President; 

 ngton, Vice-Presidents ; Fred 

 W. Hayes, Sec, and Win. A. McGraw, Treasurer. It was 

 also decided at that meeting to enlarge and otherwise im- 

 p-rove ihe club buiklings for use during the a,] 1 ,; '' ' " ■ !|1 -. 

 season, the idea being to make them the most attractive 

 places of the kind in the United States. The club's nuances 

 are in excellent shape and there is no reason why its proper- 

 ty should not be made and kept in A 1 condition. 

 ' - l he. Nonli Channel Shooting Club also has buildings on 

 i, Si I lair Flats. It has just elected a new set of officers 

 is follows: President, Li. 1). Robinson-, Vice-President, L 

 !, Sec, Dr. J. Lat.hrop; Treas., W. A. Butler, Jr. 

 Lire |,,rs -Congressman Henry W. Lord, J. P. Donaldson, 

 lie,, M. Savage, Julius Hess 'and Geo. If. Lalhrop. There 

 is some ,.n irk '.about this club's tide to the land on which its 

 buildings sland. It seems that the Dickinsons, who occupied 

 it [or many years, never got from the Government a patent 

 for it, al h'omrh their ii.hi lo such a patent is now conceded. 

 To ;, ..-. -it representative of the family has informed the 

 1,1, [iial ,1 ihcy will aid him to procure the patent for I he 

 in., will let'them have the use of it for club purposes at 

 d me e ly n.-eiinid price. They have commissioned Congress- 

 man Lord l" hull-doze the Interior Department to thai end. 



GlB6.R0, 



l 1? evkt 

 But is it 



"FLIGHT Of? 1OTJ,E BALLS. 

 the //»»- ,'//.■' it of 



Gaxsevoort, April 1. 1HS1. 

 (.:" and I'D. Vv. areas" aSoonomsiVE 

 why the whole mutter ia decided. 

 1 think the Yarn is 3Qi Ittsly begun. The only 



nmtint omploj by these gentlemen whieli beam upon the issut 



, L -cl l,v Ml. Van DvU is embodied in Ih.i lollovvius; rmOtafUm : 

 n ouiiee hall or any hull lired from a rillo placed Bay tea feel 



ictlv parallel to n he 

 ghfcot boUdrouped from 



th bulls 

 if ha hlo' 



lit the siiine instant of til 



- . eily feet and drop another at i ,,- . . , 

 „. jroaatl together, Taking this for an 

 ,„-i; i he re, tie,,-, for the ball fired to h. 

 and strike the ground at the Kims time tin 



Ohio; the prohibition as to lime, which it conlains, applies 

 only to the State of Ohio, consequently quail killed outside 

 of 'the.Statc arc not. in a legal sense, killed during the time 

 when the killing thereof is made penal in Ohio. That, such 

 is the legal meaning of the words, "killed during the time 

 when the killing thereof is made penal, 1 ' is further evident 

 from the fuel l.h'al by Section 5,904 Ihe exposure for sate dat- 

 ing Ihe prohibited season is made prima facie evidence that 

 the quail were; unlawfully killed within the State. The de- 

 fendant will be acquitted. 



A similar decision was Tendered by ,1 ridge Force, in case 

 No, 80 967, Common Picas. The cases cited (Whitehead vs. 

 s.nilli, .:. i anmou Picas Division [British L. K.] 533, 

 Phelps vs. Baccy, GO, No. 3, 10, Magnet' vs. People, Supreme 

 Court of Illinois", February, 1881.) are based on statutes which 

 made the exposing for sale of quail during the prohibited sea- 

 son an offense irrespective of the time or place of killing. 



The New Jkksev L,vw.— The following bill,'' entitled : 

 " Senate, No. 193," introduced March 1, 1881, by Mr. Taylor, 

 has been passed by the New Jersey Legislature. It explains 

 itself, and we regret to see permits summer shooting the 

 woodcock. We scarcely expected that New Jersey would 

 fall back from the advanced position she had taken among 

 the States that, wished to protect game. The text, of the bill 

 is as folio ■■■■■■ 



An Act to amend and to paHialUj con.mli/lale ihe game tail's of 

 this Slate. 



1 />v it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State, 

 of Now .Terser, Thai, Loan and alter the pannage of this act no per- 

 son shall kill, 'take, expose for sale or have, unlawfully iu his or her 

 possession after the satno has been killed, any woodcock, except 

 onlv between the hist day of June and the first day of August, and 

 between the last, day of :-ie|,loinbci ,a! ll,-".-o.ie, nth day of Dccem- 

 1 or o, f ,r;v vear. under a penally of HftfiBn dollars for each bird 

 killed, token, exposed for sale or hsd iu poabessiou contrary to the 



^"/ao °e <t, nadedl ibzi no person shall kill, take, exposu for 



each rabbit, grouse ta quail ki 



iii possession ROfltmry to tte oi 



S^Axd be it enacted, That 



n»v ha Kired for and ■ ■■ 



debt, l.y any person before anj 

 or justice of the peace of the 

 have bean committed, orinanj 



reside or he apprehended ; tWO- 



!„■ |,„ {he 1,,0,,-dl 1,1 th" ,,,-.!>■,:!. 



-third shall be pa 



and in 



Iho-ao 

 judge 



inn, 'toi 



ii the 



e the 



ay:o 



r th. 



, wMiih flie offence 

 o paid, the linpris- 

 , the date of such 



■ Mr. Ore 



•',, 



Oil, That 

 from the 

 id at the 



ittedtotht .,- 



iDiilted until the Judgment and < 



Oiuucut, heovever, not to exceed sixty da; 



i— Ami. bcUenaeleS, That all laws nowoxisting relative to the 

 iireHerva.tion of fame treaded of in this act he, and the Himie are so 

 far as the same are iueousisteut. with this act, but no farther, here- 



5 -Awl lie il reue/e,/, That this apt tdiall bo taken lo be apublic 

 act aud shall take effect immediately. 



It IB 

 there i 



iu. rtiii 

 lia to 1 



bullet. 



centre 



Do,l- 



the fei 



lihy that del 



self, and must s 



that the bullet i 



ynnd the mnz/1 



\\ hat has bee, 



l,le puini to decide the .piebtiou for mv- 

 eriineuta thus far tend to proi-e the fact 

 on a level line" for a short distance, be- 



llg Ihe 



y.pBepa 



irhieh he now invites di„e 

 elearly settled, either in thc-f 

 Let the ' ' fun " go on. 



one which has never bee 



letieo, that, 1 am aware, ,., 

 Jos. W. SiinnrEis. 



An Ohio Dboisiok.— The following case is rcportcil in the 

 Cincinnati, O., Tivm-Star of March 35 : 



On the 10th of last month U. J. Caiu, the game dealer on 

 Fifth street, near Vine, was cited to appear before the police 

 court to answer a charge for cx-nosing for sale birds, to 

 wit: two quail which had been killed on a certain day be- 

 tween the 1st day of January, 1881, and the 17th day Of Feb. 

 18S1, contrary to* the form of the stittu'c in such case made 

 and provided, and againstJJie peace and dignity of the Slate 

 of Ohio. 



Mr T. A. Logan appeared as attorney for Mr. Cain and 

 made the point thai the quail had been killed in the Stale of 

 Illinois, and that the laws of Ohio did not, apply lo quail 

 killed outside of the Slate Judge Wilson heard the argu- 

 ments '/!>■</. and eon. about a, week ago and this morning gave 



ul prole, 



in Nkw Jbijsev. -Your correspondent rc- 

 couversaliou wilh a prominent gentleman 

 County, N. J., relative to the preservation 

 game in his county and learned from him 

 t!Ctl town along the coast— Tuckerton, I'arkertowu, 

 Mmahawkin, West Creek and Barnegat— there are parties 

 who purchase from Ihe farmer's boys all the quail smiled or 

 trapiicd by them, and that, very many birds have been thus 

 destroyed I hiss. ason. lie remarked to the writer that it 

 would* be a very simple ma'tcr for the West Jersey (lame 

 Protective Association to send to those parts coming under 

 their jurisdiction one of their defectives who could in seas u 

 always find snared quail in the possession of these dea" ers. 

 There is a law against the snaring of quail iu ihe five Iowa 1 

 counties of New Jersey and these dealers know it. By mak- 

 imr au example of one. or two of the leading ones, my in- 

 formant feels sure, will correct the evil. Let the West Jersey 

 Came Protective Society begin at Tuckerton when the time 

 comes. t .- 



The passage of the. law two or three years since prohibiting 

 fishing by seines m Tuckerlon and Bnriicgat Bays in certain 

 seasons of the year has had a marked effect. Almost any one 

 can now enjoy line fishing and the summer watering season 

 at Long I'.cacii and Beach liaveu have become famous to the 

 angler. — Homo. 



Qvaii. Snoo-i inc. ix Oeokoia. — Bainbrklge, Ga., March 3. 



— Lb tie dj 

 had in this 



alone would 



,e Y.-0 1 ', t 



Last, 'week m 



Bight o'clock 



iog at h.llf-p: 

 ingat fourai 

 of t Lem on ti 

 same week, i 



of the glorious fun lo be 

 3 country. Our county— Deca'ur— 

 irt of this kind to hundreds of sports- 

 nishiug the number of the birds. 

 ro companions lefl our law offices at 

 miles from town, commenced hunt- 

 iiied an hoiii for dinner, ceased hunt- 



idrcd ami eleven. The dogs used by both 

 etl, and their conduct in the field unbe- 



. II. J. Ci 



:al du 



Feb! 

 til 



Ti 



1881, <pia.il which ha 



int. deny the quell v 

 sets up as a dcntaisc that, they 1 

 ion fi,!K!i; Revised Statutes, make- 

 Ic quail killed during the lime wl 

 ido penal. Are. email killed in llli 

 he time when the killing thereof i 

 ictU 



are deer, lurkcys, wild ducks and sq 

 O. G. G. 



II a v Bay O, 



elde to chroei, 



Uelleville Cm; 



d country. The birds 



msdves to fields, hence 

 said, town, aclimatc that 

 d to welcome onrNorth- 

 -tiainid dogs and fine 

 Should they come wo 

 it. Besides quail, there 

 linels in abundance.— 



i quail "ki 

 ado penal ; 



, ! -eel.i.m (),!!('. I, Bcvised Statutes, makes it unlawful tor any 



person to kill anv quail between January 1 and November 



| 1. The section 'is lini tl2 d in its operation to the State of 



ihe bay, together- with a few sp 



petitioned the Ontario Covermi 



rfowl in this region had of 



,1 by the feathered tribes on 

 pot hunters aud so-called 

 ecuied to be to kill as many 

 ■sous, chiefly residents along 

 ■ling gentlemen of Napanee, 

 lit for a lease of the marshes 



