Ten Cents a Copy. } NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1876. \ IT Chatham Sc! (CltyHall teqr.) 
For Fomst and Stream. 
§ak §oi ing- 
I N a late number of the Forest and Stream I fiud an 
admirable article on the late Caleb Loritig, a true¬ 
hearted man, and the most renowned among Eastern sports¬ 
men; and as its author hopes that other similar reminiscen¬ 
ces may he volunteered, the present writer being for 
• some years an associate with honest Caleb, wishes to add 
his tribute to the memory of his old friend. 
Under the sod, dear Cale! That strong right hand that 
pulled so well the matchless oar and the fatal trigger, now 
but poor dust and ashes! When we think of friends de¬ 
parted, how vividly flash back upon our recollection, their 
very look, smile, step, and gesture! The tone of their 
voice, the ring of their laugh, are again audible to us, as 
if but moments, not years, had intervened. 
Several years since, in the good old city of Boston, a 
few lovers of field sport formed a mutual association that 
they might often meet together and talk over the pleasures 
of rod and gun, and contrive ways and means for the en¬ 
actment and enforcement of game laws. The club con¬ 
sisted of some twenty members, including officers, among 
i whom were the late Capt. Henry J. Sargent, and Col. 
Fletcher Webster, “dead on ilia field of honor." Caleb 
Boring was one of its most active members, and here we first 
made his acquaintance. He was then well-known as a most 
expert sportsman, unrivalfed in the pursuit of game and 
the handling of rod and gun. The club then occupied a 
handsome room in a large buildiug at the corner of Sum¬ 
mer and Washington streets, which was decorated with 
painting, and supplied with a billiard and card tables; no 
liquors, and no betting permitted. A good fire always 
welcomed one in the winter days, and the light of gas 
made cheerful the evenings. The cluh had also a conven¬ 
ient building of several rooms, constructed in the city, 
which was placed in pieces upon the cars, conveyed to the 
shores of Scarboro Hirer, in the State of Maine, and there 
erected. This house was thoroughly built, and made se¬ 
cure by iron [doors and window-shutters, and the key of 
it was always at the command of any of the members, who 
wished to enjoy duck, geese, and bay-snipe shooting; and 
very many hours of social pleasure were enjoyed under 
its bumble roof. 
One day, early in the month of April, Caleb came to the 
writer to propose a trip to the “shanty." He said that 
the Scarboro River was free from ice and that the geese 
and ducks were there in great numbers, and suggested that 
we should provide provisions and ammunition sufficient 
for a few week’s consumption, and go forthwith to our 
shooting ground. This tempting proposal was at once ac¬ 
ceded to, and at the dawn of the next day we were rolling 
through Washington street in a carriage filled with the 
impedimenta for our campaign. After a ride of ninety 
iniles, the ears deposited us at a little depot, within'a few 
miles of our shanty; and just at the dusk of evening we 
stood upon its piazza. It was not a cheerful scene, A 
cool Northeast breeze swept drearily across our river, and 
as it moaned through the dead, yellow salt grasses of the 
meadows, gave us but inhospitable greeting. But soon the 
rusty old door creaked upon its hinges, the iron bars were 
removed, the window-shutters thrown back, our guns and 
stores deposited in the parlor and kitchen, good fires blaz¬ 
ing in our stoves, the evening lamps filled and lighted, the 
coffee pot and frying pan in full operation, and we, our¬ 
selves, made comfortable and happy after a substantial 
meal, in the smoking of the evening pipe. Our next busi¬ 
ness was to drag out two of our little boats from the boat¬ 
house, deposit in them a proper set of decoys, and launch 
andsecure them, all readyfor service in the morning. This 
done, we ascended through our trap door to the large sleep¬ 
ing room, which was provided with a dozen double bunks, 
with ample supply of blankets. Before break of day Gale 
was out of his nest, called me, and wc descended to our lit¬ 
tle parlor. Coal was freshened up In the stove, coffee was 
disposed of, and then taking our guae, we stepped into our 
boats and rowed away in the dark, each for our selected 
shooting place. When sufficient light permitted, we set 
out our decoys and continued to shoot until ten o’clock, 
when we returned to the shanty, cooked our dinner, and 
after a good smoke, rowed out again to our decoys and 
continued the sport until dusk, when we returned home; 
enjoyed our supper, and then- retired early to rest. This 
was about our daily routine for several weeks, except in very 
stormy weather, at which time we remained at home, em¬ 
ployed in overhauling boats, decoys, and ammunition, and 
in reading, writing, chatting, and wishing for good sport 
on the morrow. 
In all these sports, Gale exhibited superlative skill, not 
only in cutting down passing fowl, but in approaching them 
in his shell of a boat. This craft was cunningly trimmed 
on its edge with salt grass, and as it was almost even with 
the surface of the water, it was a common practice with 
him to scull noiselessly within fair gun-shot of a l(ock of 
geese, or of feeding ducks. He would lie flat on bis back 
in the boat, and propel it with a short paddle, passing 
through a hole in the stern of the craft. This he would 
do so skilfully, that I could not delect Mb sculling-hand 
project above the rim of the boat as be moved upon his 
game. 80 expert was be in cutting down a swift-flying 
bird on the wing, that I can readily credit the account of 
his killing, on wager, ninety-four woodcock out of a hun¬ 
dred; forty-one of which were got consecutively, as were 
also thirty-eight. Capl. Bogardus could have hardly ex¬ 
celled this shootiug, nor could Frank Forester have done 
better. By the way, the latter splendid shot and writer re¬ 
minded me of Caleb in many respects. They were of about 
the same (middle) size, both of dark complexion, and 
black hair and eyes; both of sinewy mould and energetic 
action. Both had great powers of endurance, defying 
wind and weather; both were prompt with the gun and 
quick with the trigger. Both were enthusiastic lovers of 
the gun, ready at joke and repartee, genial comrades; and 
Cale, at least, was ever in good spirits and kindly humor; 
never losing temper or equinimity, under adverse circum¬ 
stances. We first became acquainted with Herbert at tbe 
office of the spirit of the Times, in Porter’s time, and 
though we conversed wiili him on rod, gun, and game, we 
had not the pleasure to be out with him in the field as lie 
had but little prediction for wild fowl shooting. Ilia 
choice sport was, with the help of a good trained dog, to 
hunt up quail, woodcock, partridge, and prairie fowl, 
more especially the latter. 
As a specimen of Cale's quickness with the gun, we 
might mention, that on one occasion we saw him cut down 
Bix old squaws out of seven, with his double-gun, and then 
we thought that the survivor would escape, but no, for 
Cale caught up his heavy single ducking gun and stopped 
him at a very long shot. 
We were both at the shanty when that terrific spring 
gale swept tbe Atlantic coast. It was that fearful storm 
when the famous Minot’s ledge light-house was swept 
away with its two keepers. We had “turned in" that 
night with no forebodings of the hurricane, and the unpre¬ 
cedented high rise of tides that was impending. Our shanty 
was planted without cellar or foundation, at what was sup¬ 
posed to be a safe distance from tbe river, and beyond the 
reach of tbe very Mghest tides. In the middle of that 
night I was awakened by the heavy roar of winds and the 
mad rush of the waters against the building. 1 roused up 
sleeping Caleb and we hurriedly descended to our little 
parlor below, to find with dismay that the water was sev¬ 
eral inches deep on the floor. On opening the door to look 
out, we were made aware of the overwhelming fury of the 
tempest. The river was all around us, and we were isola¬ 
ted as in the middle of a lake and no land to be seen. The 
river was one sheet of plunging billows and tossing foam, 
the waves rushing like wild horses, with flowing manes, 
ready to trample down all opposition. The piazza was 
flooded deep with water, and the house trembling with 
fear. We expected every moment that it would be en- 
gulphed and swept away, and our only hope was in one of 
our boats, whose painter was luckily fastened to the piaz¬ 
za. But after watching the scene for an hour, we were 
relieved to notice that the water on the floor began grad¬ 
ually to subside, and soon we were sale from danger. 
For several weeks we enjoyed a glorious time in that 
lonely shanty, having plenty of provisions and being sup¬ 
plied often with fresh eggs, milk, and butter, from the 
nearest farm-house. Our ice-house furnished a sumptuous 
supply of wild fowl of various sorts, quantities of which 
we sent away to friends in the Hub as tokens oE our re¬ 
gards and trophies of our success. On Sunday's we were 
elegantly hospitable, as we at such times invited some of our 
rural neighbors to dine with us, and on these occasions we 
treated them with all “the delicacies of the season;” pre¬ 
paring for them nice cakes aDd puddings, and the very 
choiest game of our larder. These neighbors all protested 
that they never before bad so rioted in rare abundance. 
Caleb was a capital band to kill a goose and produce 
him on tbe table afterwards. We bad plenty of crockery 
and cutlery, sufficient for a largo dining party, and as we 
disliked the trouble of washing and cleaning up dishes 
after each meal, wo (lumped them, when used, into a big 
basket, which would be heaped full by the end of each 
week, which i$as our general washing day. Fried clams, 
stewed clams, and baked clams, were our most frequent 
and favorite food, aB they were handy to catch, and easy to 
cook. We would sometimes amuse the hour with reading 
elegaut extracts from our old cookery book, and so discuss 
the merits of various delicacies—beyond our reach. Cale 
would read aloud with emphasis the best modes of pre¬ 
paring beef a-la-mode, boiled salmon, turkey with oysters, 
floating-islands, ice-creams, &c,, and then would move that 
we have fried clams for dinner and I would Second the 
motion, which was a! ways'carried. I would, step out some 
fifty paces from the house and soon return with a peek of 
the big blue bivalves, to find Caleb all ready with his paa 
and pork, and the table set. 
Those were jolly days, full of toil and excitement, but 
never to return; and we suppose that the dear old shanty 
may still remain on the shore of distant Scarboro River, 
and imagine that tbe ducks and tbe geese, and the bay- 
snipe, each in their turn Continue to resort there, to Scream 
and quack, and honk, and whistle as of yore, over the 
waters and the meadows, But many of the choice com¬ 
panions that were then there, are now low in the dust, and 
among them such kindly spirits as Loring, and Sargent, and 
Webster, and Dixon, and others, who will cousorL there 
no more for ever. Yet ero we close let us essay a few trib¬ 
utary verses to the memory of dear old Cale:— 
Though eight years of ihe spring time 
O’er Ihee have cast their blooms, 
lied rosea and blue violets. 
Fair garlands, soft perfumes, 
Yet as all lov'd who knew thee. 
Though dead, thou art alive, 
The true-hearted never perish, 
Though lost, they still survive, 
In life Immortal, free from efhlu 
Their memories remain I 
When in the autumn stubble 
The quail its plaiat repeats, 
When on the falten hemlock 
The drumming partridge bouts, 
When from the swampy thicket 
The starLlcd woodcock springs. 
When o’er the salty meadows 
The cnrlew speeds its wings, 
When o’er the russet uplands 
The golden plover soars, 
When by Ihe sandy beaches 
The bluekbreast skims tbe shores, 
When o'er the hoy’s expanses 
The circling black ducks sweep. 
When all the wild geese squadrons 
Follow the surging deep, 
Then shall we miss and mourn thee, 
And green thy memory keep. Isaac 
Grempcnt, Long Island. 
Vessel. Building in the United States in 1875.— Tlic 
total number of vessels built iu the United Stales in 1876, 
is 1,318, against 3,147 built in tha previous year. The 
number of sMps aud barques built last year, however, ex¬ 
ceeds that of 1874 aud the two previous years. The 
