THE 



AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S 



JOURNAL. 



Entered According to Act or congress, In toe year 1881, by the Forest and Stream Publishing company, in tfle Office or the Librarian or Congress, at Washington.; 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1881. 



CONTENTS. 



Editohial : — 

 The Fly-Casting Tournament ; The Nihilist Marksmen ; Tho 



Father of American Fish Culture 423 



The Sportsman Tourist :— 



A Model Camp ; An Elk Hunt by Moonlight ; Two Weeka 

 with the Buss and Pickerel ; Escambia Eiver j West Flor- 

 ida ; The Saranae Lake Eegion 424 



Miscellany :— 



Camp Cottages, 431 ; Jack of our Merchant Service 440 



Natural Histobi :— 



The TJbiiuitous Skunk; Tree-Climbing WoodctmcliH ; Two 

 Captive Bails ; The Seventeen Year Locusts ; A Ouide to 



Ichthyology ; A Smart Sparrow 427 



Sea and River Fishing : — 

 The Fly-Casting Tournament; The Carp as an Angler's 

 Fish; The Automatic Heel on Ojtanwood Lake ; Salmon 

 in Canada ; Tim Pond Trout Fishing ; Curing Fish : Are 



They Young Bluetish? 428 



Game Bag> and Gun ;— 



Gray Plover Shooting : Different Modes of Shooting ; The 

 Game Law Veto ; Massachusetts Game Seasons ; In a 

 Turkey Blind ; A Plea for the Beed Bird ; Shooting the 

 Blue Grouse; Game in Minnesota; The Cuvier Club; 

 Summer Guide Books ; Our Detroit Letter ; Are There 



Nihilists on ourBauges? 436 



Fish Culture :— 



Poachers ; Cuts of the Carp and Ponds 438 



The Kennel :— 

 Our Letter from England ; Louisiana Field Trials: Cure for 



Hydrophobia ; Jack, the Railroad Dog ; Notes 439 



Yachting and Canoeing :— 



Reports of Regattas and Yachting News 431 



Range and Gallery : — 

 The Tournament at Coney Island 433 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



The Forest and Stream Is the recognized medium of entertainment, 

 instruction and information between American sportsmen. 



Communications upon the subjects to which its pages are devoted 

 are Invited from every part of the country. 



Anonymous communications will not be regarded. No correspond- 

 ent's name will be published except with his consent 



The Editors cannot be held responsible tor the views of correspond- 

 ents. 



All communications of whatever nature should be directed to the 

 Forest and Stream Publishing Company. 

 MiTjscription*. 



Subscriptions may begin at any time. The subscription price Is U 

 per year j $2 for six months. Remittances should be. sent by regis- 

 tered letter, money ord»r, or draft payaole to the Forest and Stream 

 Publishing company. The paper maybe obtained of newsdealers 

 throughout the United States and Canadas ; and Is on sale in Europe 

 by The American Exchange. 449 strand, W. C, London, Eng.; and by 

 Em. Terquem, 15 Boulevard, St. Martin, Paris, France. 



Address : Forest anu Stream Publishing Co., 



Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York City. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Thursday, June 30. 



That 'possum will be served in every style July 7, 1881. 



THE FLY CASTING TOURNAMENT. 



FLY-CASTEES say that the late tournament was the 

 largest and most successful of any ever held. Why it 

 is that this beautiful art has no votaries outside the New 

 York State Association for the Protection of Fish and Game 

 we do not know, but if a tournament was ever under other 

 patronage, either in this country or any other, we never heard 

 of it. It is to be hoped that other associations may intro- 

 duce it, and also that the New York Society will carry out 

 the new features introduced at this la»t one. One of the 

 most important of these was the perfect record of the wind 

 kept by Mr. A. B. Crane, of the United States Signal Corps. 

 The day was cloudy and the wind so light that the judges 

 did not consider it necessary for tho contestants to cast botl: 

 with and against it The tournament was honored by the 

 presence of many ladies, and the following gentlemen were 

 noticed among the spectators, many of whom remained all 

 day: Hon. R. B. Roosevelt, Mr. Chas. H. Raymond, Mr. H. 

 C. Washburne, Mr. H. L. Leonard, Mr. ffm. Mitchell and a 

 host of others. The pond was 84 feet long by 63 feet wide, 

 and in making long casts the contestants were placed back 

 from ten to twenty feet in the salmon and sixty feet in the 

 bass casting from the edge of the pond. Platforms six feet 

 square were laid on the ground for them to stand upon, so 

 that all should stand in the same place, and a line with 

 numbered buoys at every five feet was stretched across the 



water. This line hid been soaked the night before in order 

 that it should not shrink after measurement, and the floats 

 were correctly placed befcre casting. All was in order, and 

 the only thing which conspired against it was the wind, 

 which was too weak to bring out a contestant's points in 

 casting with and against it. 



Mr. Harry PrUohard was the " dark horse," a man whose 

 friends claimed much for him but who had no public record. 

 It was feared that Mr. Pritchwd would enter the amateur 

 class and walk through to the champion's. He disdained to 

 do tliis, and although ihe amateur prizes were as good, if not 

 better, than in the Champion classes, and he could not be 

 barred from if, he showed no disposition to enter there. His 

 first entry was in the salmon casting, where he showed that 

 he was an adept; aid when we consider the fact that he not 

 only never cast in such a contest, nor ever saw one, and 

 hardly knew what was expected of him. he did well. He 

 was drawn to cast first, and cast as in ordinary fishing, and 

 afterward said that he never saw as much muscle put upon a 

 rod as Mr. Wood did, and that he would have hesitated to 

 put such a strain upon a rod. Of the casting of the Wood 

 brotheis little is to be said. Reuben, ihe elder, is the heavier 

 mau of the two, but the wiry build of Ira caused several 

 to think that he might give his brother a close contest if— he 

 wauted to Mr. Pritchard was very nervous and ill at ease. 

 He cast in his lrial casts in a manner new to all present, 

 and termed an "underhand" cast by some and a "water 

 cast " by others. In this the line was not retrieved, but by 

 drawing it in a few feet and then sending it out again 

 without leaving the water, it rolled over and over with a 

 snake-like motion, and the fly was sent further and further. 

 Accordirg to the rules this style could not be allowed, as 

 the regulations expressly say that a cast shall not be valid 

 unless the line be retrieved, and in retrieving he lost many 

 flies. Mr. Reuben Wood won much applause by his skill 

 aid grace, and did not lose a fly. 



The bass casting was in " Cuttyhuuk style," with a one- 

 ounce sinker. The casters of heavy baits at Cutty hunk and 

 Pasque Island were not represented, The score given in 

 another column gives the result. This style of casting is 

 new to the Association, as it is only practiced in salt water. 

 It is quite an art and should be continued. The heavy- 

 weight men say that if they had been represented there 

 W'lu'dnave been some extraordinary long distances scored. 

 Mr. Endicott, who took the third prize, wa« commended for 

 his accurate casting. 



When the amateurs in Class C were called to the sore no 

 one seemed abb! io predict the winner. The casting as a 

 whole was arood, and those who expected to find half or more 

 of the new men to be duffers were disappointed. Mr. Hier, ihe 

 winner of the first prize, was challenged several times for lost 

 flies. He had little hdvantagc by being coached by Reuben 

 Wood, for "Uncle Kube" seemed impartial in this matter and 

 gave many of the amateurs advice. Mr. Hier's cast of 67 

 ft. 6 in. was beyond that of any of the others with their al- 

 lowance added. Once he cast 73 ft., but having no fly the 

 cast was lost, Thr next in length was Holbertou and Plumb 

 who cast 64, the former with a longer rod, and yet, when 

 style and accuracy were taken into accouut, one of these men 

 fell to the fifth and the other to the seventh place. Mr. En- 

 dicott was, in our opinion, the neatest caster in this class, 

 and on his sryle and accuracy took second prize over three 

 men who cast greater distances. Mr. Hier had worked hard 

 to prepare himself for this contest by continual practice, as 

 shown by the condition of his hands, which were skinned and 

 calloused by the rod, and his labor was well rewarded. 



In the next contest, Class B, where only lst-prize winners 

 in previous conte-ts were barred, Mr. Pritchard entered and 

 took the first. He was still nervous and continually forgot 

 to retrieve his line and had to be cautioned. Mr. Arrow- 

 smith, who took second, had a record. He took second prize 

 at Le Roy in 1867 in a free-for-all, when there were only two 

 entries and no score report was given. He has not cast in 

 public since, but he evidently knows how to do it. Mr. En- 

 dicott again showed his graceful style and led Mr. Holberton, 

 who beat him on distance but was behind in delicacy. 



The Champion class was looked for anxiously as Mr. Prit- 

 chard would again meet the veterans. He was still nervous, 

 and it was also noticed that Ira Wood was getting shaky. 

 The latter gentleman had eaten nothing since early morning 



and it was now six p. m. He had assisted every one who had 

 a tangled line, coached the amateurs indiscriminately to en- 

 courage ihern all, lifted the platforms and made himself use- 

 ful at every opportunity. This and his continual smoking 

 caused him to shake. Reuben Wood took the first, Mr Prit- 

 chard secoud, Ira Wood third and Mr. Dennison fourth. Mr. 

 Pritchard's casting, for delicacy, was admired by many. He 

 cast fully sixty feet and his flies fell before the line touched 

 the water. The others, in all the classes, when casting for 

 delicacy cast a side cast, so that the line fell lightly but be- 

 fore the flie^. We incline toward Mr. Pritchard's style in 

 delicate casting, and hope that future judges will decide on 

 this question. Mr. Pritchard's style was a new one and the 

 judges followed precedent. He wanted to instruct them, but 

 of course it is not admissible for a contestant to instruct 

 judges in any point. They could not at this late stage take a 

 new view of any points. 



In the sweepstakes Reuben Wood led off and actually ca3t 

 seventy-five feet with a ten-foot rod. This brought an ex- 

 clamation from the veteran, Mr. Roosevelt, who pronounced 

 it the most wnderful casting he had eversee<i. Ho took the 

 first and only prize. Mr. Pritchard cast as far once, with a 

 longer rod, but did not or could not retrieve his line. Ira 

 Wood essayed to cast, but a trial convinced him that he "had 

 gone to pieces." Thus ended the largest and most success- 

 ful fly-casting tournament ever held in any land Tue ar- 

 rangements and the judging gave general satisfaction, and 

 the judges agreed so well on comparing their notes that the 

 referee was not called on to decide a single point. The lat- 

 ter gentleman was pnmpt to investigate a challenge of loss 

 of fly or other cause, and won approval by his proniplitude. 



THE NIHILIST MARKSMEN. 



WE depart from our rule of not noticing anonymous 

 communications to give space in this number for a 

 remarkable letier, setting forth what seems to be a use 

 of our American rifle ranges certainly not intended when 

 they were projected. Tho plan seems to be to do some 

 king-killing at long range ; and, with the weapons 

 which may be procured in this market, an experienced shot 

 would find but little difficulty in picking off an individual at 

 a distance of fully 500 yards. At present, on the ranges, it 

 is no novelty to have marksmen at the mid-range lodge a 

 dozen consecutive bullets within the carton circle of 11 inches 

 diameter. This, too, with light rifles, and with the compara- 

 tively heavy 3 lbs pull. Lighter trigger pull, heavier rifle, 

 and a rest to shoot from would all increase the chances of 

 hitting nearer the mark. 



Bombs thrown by hand and the use of a pistol from the 

 midst of a crowd are very crude and unreliable plans, while 

 by selecting a site commanding a view of a point where the 

 victim is to pass it would be comparatively easy for the con- 

 spirators to carry out the'r murderous plan with sure deliber- 

 ation, while the distance from which the shot would come 

 would enable the assassins to readily escape. 



Five hundred yards mean a distance of over six of our 

 ordinary street blocks, and if one of these sharpshooters, 

 which our mysterious correspondent hints are practicing on 

 our American ranges, could secure a position overlooking a 

 point where the Czar or other victim was to hold a review, 

 then the "taking off" would be comparatively easy with the 

 telescopic sights and other aids to fine shooting. There is 

 no better school of marksmanship in ihe world than an all- 

 comers match on one of our ranges. All sorts of notions in 

 shooting are there tried, and eilher accepted or condemned 

 as the results warrant. No suspicion is aroused by practice 

 of any sort, and by scattering their force of marksmen, as 

 seems to be the case with these conspirators, a vast amount 

 of information on windage, elevations, the sorts and effects of 

 various charges and the operations of the several makes of 

 arms may be gathered. 



What is to be done to checkmate their devilish designs we 

 cannot say. It may be that it is after all merely a mare's 

 nest story started by our correspondent without proper authen- 

 tication or upon partially heard remarks. That our corres- 

 pondent preserves a strict personal seclusion is not surprising, 

 since the fate of an eaves-dropping informer is not apt to 

 be a very pleasant one. We can only aid in thwarting the 

 designs of these rascals, premising that they have the plan 



