262 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 3. 1883. 



and consequently is not go overrun wilh fashionable tourists, 

 but as travel increases we may expect n gradual change in 

 tile character of the guides. 



Sportsmen who visit the North Woods will do well to 

 ascertain beforehand who ore reliable guides, and above all 

 they should avoid the "hotel guides." 



1 ii Western country the same trouble has been had. 



and from the same causes, it began many years ago, and 

 tor u long tune grew steadily worse, though how it is at 

 present we cannot tell, for ii is a long time since we had 

 occasion to hive a guide. The difficulty began When the 

 wealthy hunters from the Old World first learned that there 

 was au abundance of game in the Hock)- Mountains. One 

 o* more of them would go out to sonic frontier town and 

 hire hall' n dozen men, to one of whom, under tin- title 

 of chief of guides, would he paid from twenty tO forty 

 dollars a day. Now, in those times, three dollars a day 

 and his horse, was good pay. hut, of course, after 

 having received such large wages from these foreigners, no 

 i ii ' niii afterward go out for the pay which had 

 been given before. Ho the rate was raised, and guides 

 asked whatever they UlOUgbl they could get, some 

 of the best known refusing absolutely to go out for any 

 reasonable sum. The result of this liberal payment was 

 therefore to spoil the guides for Americans, and not 



always to satisfy the foreigners. The latter, as a rule, 

 thought thai the longer a man's hair was, and the 

 more he bragged, the more important he was. They 

 took the frontiersman at his own valuation, and (.lie more 

 he lied the better prospect he had of getting the job he 

 was after. In every little frontier town about the time 

 thai the anhual incursion of the foreign hunters was ex- 

 pected, Ute Hills, Rattlesnake Joes, and Buckskin Charlies, 

 sprang up like tin- Cadim-an army, nourished for awhile, 

 and then after the bunt was over, returned to I be more 

 arduous and less remunerative pursuits of tending bar or 



driving teato. 



There was a time when it was a most difficult matti i to 

 hire a good guide, and often a man was Obliged Bit bet 

 to give up his trip, or else trust to Providence and pick 

 his own way through the mountains. 



Ftsu and Doo PTCTTJBES,— Mr-. "Walter M. Bracket t has 

 painted some pictures of 6sU for the international Fisheries 

 Exhibition at Loudon. Mr. Mead, we learn, has also one. 

 Mrs. Fred Mather has a large picture of a waterfall, with a 

 pool and a leaping trout in the foreground, which has broken 

 the angler's line and is escaping with the fly. Underneath 

 is the inscription: 



'• Farewell— and all ill}- laws forever; 

 Thy baited hooks shall Laiiule me no more. 1 ' 



This picture has been greatly admired, and will be on 

 exhibition at Blackford's, in Fulton Market, for a few days, 

 after May ti. before shipment to the London Exhibition, A 

 collection of finished pictures, studies and sketches of lisli 

 and dog subjects by the late S. A. Kilbourne and Mr. J. M. 

 Tiaev. will be shown at the American Art Association, 

 East. Twenty-third street (South Madison square), New- 

 York, for ten days, from May 2. They are ofleicd for sale. 



Rob Debb in the Adhioxdacks.— Mr. B. W. Pick 

 ardt has imported and turned out on his Adirondack pre- 

 serves some English roe deer and English partridges. Some 

 of the partridges have been put out at Matnaroneck, in West- 

 chester county, this State, ami at Allauiuehy, Sterling and 

 Fsirview, New Jersey, The birds were imported by licichc 

 & lli-os., of this city. _ 



Hit. Gkadv's Pa'I'kmt OdfMee Mini Bill was defeated 

 m the Senate at, Albany last Tuesday. The present New 

 York game law will remain in force. 



ghe gporfmt(W §;oumi 



QUIET SPORT.-I. 



:ny mti/lakd. 



ALL the preliminaries had been carefully arranged; in 

 fact, they had been the subject of so much earnest but 

 good nalured discussion that they could not. have hi in more 

 thoroughly adjusted. 



There were no inexperienced ones belonging to (he party, 

 all were enthusiasts aneut the pliant rod; for Ward, although 

 not a fly-fisherman, was an old angler with the float and 

 worms, grubs and grasshoppers; and could content himself 

 on the bank of a brook or lake and watch (hat float from 

 dewy morn till rosy eve, though never a bite rewarded his 

 patient waiting, lie had most of the prime qualities that 

 constitute the angler, save experience with the light tackle 

 of the fly-fisherman, lie had purchased at our solicitation 

 the proper outfit, and all hough not evincing much confidence 

 in its efficacy, had expressed a willingness to give it as good 

 a trial as he was capable of. 



All the paraphernalia required for a few weeks in the 

 woods were snugly packed in the wagon bed; tin: hoys, and 



there weiv some old one-., took their places, and wilh'a word 



of warning and I cheer to the horses the wheels went 



around and WC lad a short adieu to plug hats, "biled shirts," 

 and telegraphic communication. 



Past tne blacksmith shop, by the village church, across 

 the old stone bridge, the wagon rattles; and in five minutes 

 weai'i oractioally heyc-nd the confines of civilization, save 

 that winch we carry wilh us. 



Anticipation? Well, J should take this opportunity to 

 remark (hat that was the proper present word. The de- 

 lightful anticipation of absolute idleness if one wishes (o 

 indulge in do-nothing. This anticipation which augments 

 the delights of reality as preparation properly prepared gives 



a substantial backing to your achievements. We had a 

 wagon load of it and some to spare. There was enough of 

 boush eagerness in our plans, but there was more of care 

 and method than reckless boyhood would bestow on going 

 a-flshing. 

 There is sometimes poetry in the prose of a day'- ride. 



and had we a poet with us he might drop into it; but we 

 are a prosaic old crowd, and lament the want of a laureate 

 to Bing of the old turnpike with its winding ways, its 

 pleasant vista-, its abrupt changes from sunshine to shade, 

 as we go rumbling along, drinking in its ever changing 

 beauties. 

 Late in Hie after -,n we reached Whitman's, tie end ol 



our wagon ride. The dear old tavern w ilh its little world 

 of out-houses and incongruous additions we have BCengrow 

 ing from year to year on to the original log shanty which 

 was the forerunner oi the settlement The old log building 

 which years ago resounded wilh Song and story, with ring 



ing laughter and clinking glasses, is now degraded into a 

 woodshed adjoining the more pretensions structure of later 

 days, which in itself hears the marks of old age. 



Its original color was no douhl white, bul the verdant city 

 seiil.hlers wilh thai unfathomable instinct of writing their 

 noi'es. residences and number of fish they have caught, had 

 transformed it into a dirty gray, and in so doing had in 

 many cases unwittingly betrayed the defacers' true' charac 

 lers as anglers, For instance, one party had posted their 

 books on the side of the house like this: 



Job, Philadelphia. 



Kbask. Philadelphia. 



tlAVl-.. lie, II. .11, N .1. 



In wood's at Spider Lake torn flays, Caught US07trout. 



Another house side document which we found among 

 -core- ..I' others v. as; 



I're.l 1.. Sam W. 



Walter 1,. .Lick C. 



No luck fishing, tail lots <T w hiskj- and a good linn-. 



"Fred," "Walter" and their companions harmed i a- 



more than themselves, bul "Joe," "frank" and "Dave," by 

 their selfish butchery of Bngerlings, harmed the waters they 

 fished. It's the meanest Kind id' vandalism this catching 

 Bngerlings for count, the thoughl of which should ever after 

 sting the conscience. The propensities of such a man are 

 brutal. He is a trout butcher, a selfish fellow, a bog, who 

 would deplete a stream by creeling the little ones and rob- 

 bing the honest n who a few seasons later may come 



there for honest, manly sport, lie's next door neighbor to 

 the poacher and on intimate tcrroB with him. Now. a decent 

 man never knows who has caught the most fish, or he 

 religiously keeps -|,he knowledge To himself, and capturing 

 the linli follow not much larger than oats would afford him 

 no more pleasure than mowing away hay or turning a grind- 

 stone docs to a boy working ou a farm for his health or his 

 board. 



As the silvery gray of twilight shaded into black, and the 

 night air began to be "eager and a nipping," we adjourned 

 lo Ihc old silling room, a "room old al least in appearance. 

 It was not actually a Revolutionary relic; hut it looked old 

 lor its age. ami its furnilureand ornaments lent an additional 

 air of olden line s. h only wanted one of the signers of ihc 

 Declaration to step in wilh his knee breeches and powdered 

 hair, ami the illusion would have been complete. 



The great open fireplace capable of consuming in a week 

 wood enough to last a tenement house family a winter, was 

 roaring with its abundance of burning beech, diffi sing heat 

 and light throughout the whole apartment. High above ihc 

 fircplaceand held by wooden pegs, were a shotgun and a 

 rifle, both connecting links between the ancieni Hint lock and 

 the modern breech-loader, and looking as though they were 

 m t capable of doing effective work. On the walls opposite 

 w.re several fishing sticks of the slid' and heavy middle- 

 aged lice variety, used for slinging trout or any kind of li.-h 

 bodily up a mountain side or across a wide lake. 



Tin- remainder of the wall-, where absence of doors or 

 windows made it possible, were covered with baskets, powder 

 flasks and a map of die country, whereon Whitman's loca- 

 tion was more clearly defined by the addition of a few con- 

 spicuous lines. Bunches of dried herbs bung iu bounteous 

 confusion from the ceiling. The chairs were undoubtedly 

 manufactured by Mr. Comfort, of Comf ortville, and in then- 

 way, were masterpieces of easy lounging places, iii which to 

 plant one's corporosily and indulge it in a thorough resting 

 before the cheerful fireplace. 



The lively chirping of the birds gave us notice of the 

 dawn, and a cracked bell and a cracked voice announced 

 that tne "wittles is up " 



We are going into the woods, not on the edge of them; for 

 if you would escape (he telegraph and telephone, Q«WS 

 papers, pianos and petticoats (God bless them), and com- 

 pletely isolate yourself from all these, you must needs take a 

 day's "tramp, tramp, tramp,'' like" the hoys who are 

 marching. 



Our lbs! lake lies due north, but to reach it the compass 

 must he boxed, and the erratic movements of a knighi on a 



chessboard constantly repeated, 



Every angler has had similar tramps, and hopes for more 

 of those all-'dav promenades through hogs and underbrush, 

 over fallen trees and across brook's, up hill and down dale. 

 The afternoon shadows grew to be evening shadows, and 

 stole swiftly down the mountain side. The sunbeams quiv- 

 ered forawhileon the hilltops, and then slowly faded away. 

 A rich aroma was in the cooling breeze that came from off 

 the lake. Soon we heard the three-inch ripple of the water; 

 then wc collided with Ihc Shanty and unloaded. 



In the woods at last, and where else can the iloleefW WfenU 

 he so easily induced, where else; revel in such a lotus-eating 

 repose wuh no fashion slavery to hamper one's freedom'.' 

 This is no chimerical search like Ponce de Leon's searching 

 for the fountain of perpetual youth, hut a quirt hunl for 

 the fountain of health and recrealion, and here with rever- 

 ential soul we enter "God's first temples," and how at the 

 shrine of nature, finding ineffable delight in the simplest 

 things. 



Here you can give yourself up lo the sweetest musings as 

 you lie outstretched by the camp-fire, watching the stars 

 twinkling through tie- tree tops; or. as you partake of your 



mid-day lunch in the -hade, or your sun bath in the golden 

 light, liie while breaching deep draughts of resinous fra 



gr.mce, every breath a Ionic which haves no room lor 



lassitude. 



Arc you bankrupt in health, your system enervated, your 

 disposition driven into a state 01 acetic fermentation? Try 

 the woods when- grow the pine and balsam, the hemlock 

 an.! the spruce, try shanty life with its adjuncts of rowing 

 and fishing and tramping, and sec if it will not clear away 

 the cobwebs from the brain, strenghh n the arms and legs 

 and lungs, and rcfrish you through and through. Try It, 

 and if it fail, why try some other place or the undertaker. 



THE ADIRONDACK GUIDE SYSTEM. 



Little Falls. N. Y.. April 2, 1883. 



ACCORDING to (lie almanac it. isspring lime, and I saw 

 yesterday from mv window a disconsolate robin, ami a 

 very busy, but evidently much disappointed, woodpecker 

 Hilling about among the bare branches of adjacent trees, the 

 upper surface of which, however, are coated with a layer of 

 -now. and from the lower icicles arc hanging. Those birds 



The snow is still a foot deep here in town, and between 

 this place and the Adhondacks, some twenty miles away, 

 theuVplh varies, according to I he imagination and veracity 

 of the stage drivers, from live to thirty feel in drifts, all o'f 

 which does not indicate a very early opening of the season. 

 But the warm sun i- gradually soitiin<_r die' heavy deposit, 

 bare spots appear on the southern slope, the sap lias begun 



to run. and sugar bushes arc being worked, and from the 

 woods 1 learn thai the ice on the lakes is hot as thick as 

 usual, the great snowfall having prevented its growth, and 

 my guide engaged for an outing in early June writes lhat he 

 thinks that 1 will not have to postpone inv trip. Little he 

 knows how many oilier events than the ice moving may 

 turn up to influence such mailers. 



Mv chances for a month iii the woods have descended be- 

 low zero, and cxeepl for the pleasures of hope and anticipa- 

 tion experienced while engaged al odd times lately in over- 

 hauling and putting to rights mv woods outfit, the time and 

 labor have been wasted. ' I .out go. and Dial's the end of 

 it for me, hut there are plenty of others who are more for- 

 lunate, and for ihc benefit of some of those I propose to 

 borrow a little of your space and devote il to a growl, for 

 for which amusement 1 am in admirable humor. 



This i, a suitable time lo ventilate my grievances, for 

 between this dale and that on which even an early woods 

 trip is feasible, there will time enough elapse to' p. rem 

 Others of your correspondents to join in a discussion. « |,,,h 

 1 hope will ensue and prove me either right or wrong. 



I propose in this letter to say something about the guides 

 of the Adirondack* and about" certain changes which have 



taken place in the character of the guides, as a body, 

 through, the introduction or iniiu.-ion into their ranks of 

 men who, while styling themselves guides, and as such re- 

 ceiving guides' pay [employment, havo little, if.-mv, right 



to claim either. 



1 will say in advance, ihat I have alugh-respecf and 

 esteem for many men of this business, and that no man 

 more thoroughly appreciates the many good- qualities and 

 value of I he true Adirondack guides than myself. I nave 

 been going into the woods on every opportunity for many 

 years, and 1 know and like many Of them very much, 'l 

 have found manv of them to be upiighl. capable, faithful 

 and intelligent, hut I know as well that in the guide fratern 

 itv there can be found men who fail in some, and a few in all 

 these desirable points. 1 have had an upright and faithful 

 euide. who was stupid as an owl, and 1 have heeu played 

 ■with by bright, smart fellows, who would take advantage of 

 mv inexperience, and did not hesitate, if sleepy, and he often 

 Wi'is. or lazy, which he always was. to take a nap when 

 supposed to lie putting out the dogs, and who failed to put 

 me on the runways, or to row me over the best places for 

 fish, until through self interest 1 gave in and feed him liber- 

 ally i hen 1 found out how he had acquired a reputation, of 

 wiiich 1 had begun to think him unworthy. He had full 

 knowledge of his business, but he was .-man enough to keep 



Ids best tor tie- best payer, and he had become worldly wise 

 eDough to discriminate between a rich and a poor man. 



This wisdom 1 have found to have come to a great many 

 besides the guides of the Adiiondacks. The man who on 

 fill 61 I. iwreiice. taking boat and boatmen from the hotel, 

 succeeds in capturing a good-sized mascallonge, is, if he has 

 not well feed his boatman, a very lucky man." 



The faults mentioned, however, as are those of drinking 

 and shirking, and tricking ^inexperienced "Icndcrfcct." are 

 those of individuals, and the guides, as a body, are not re- 

 sponsible. Tin; body furnishes men as nearly free from all 

 faulls as does any oiler class of men. In all communities 

 there are black sheep; in all professions, unworthy members, 

 and the guide guild is not lo be expected lo he entirely free 

 from tlnni. 



In my own profession it very often occurs lhat the tra- 

 ditional blue shirt, narrow-sealed and broad-bottomed 

 trow-, i -and sailor's cap. covers, instead of a "gallanl, manly, 

 courageous, devil-may-care rollicking tar." as representedin 

 song, story and on the stage, a dirty blackguard of a beach 

 comber, not worth the powder il would lake lo shoot him. 

 And under the guide's rough garments are to he found men 

 ol very low morals, even from a worthy guide's point of 

 view." 1 have assisted in searching for and cutting set lines 

 owned by a guide; have known of a guide killing eleven 

 deer in one day, they having been 'crusted,'' aud leaving 

 lo rot all but apaek'load. I have seen guides spearing lake 

 trout on Ihc spawning beds, and a glance over the reports of 

 Game Constable Dodge, of this section, a man who has done 

 his duly without fear or favor, shows that in the mailer of 

 killing deer out of season many guides are not guiltless, 

 Of the names on the inclosed clipping, two, I am told, are 

 of guides, and the others of men who ought to have set a 

 belter example. 



Van'.l.itali part* .indicted a year ago. paid $30 tor killing deer out of 



There are, however, certain fealurcs which in my judg- 

 ment an-, obnoxious, which have of late years crept into the 



, ,:!.■:. vslen: which arc 1 \>ir sueject. sf. r.rfllClSm, .e ! which 

 if modified would tend toward rc.-loring the relationship 

 hetweeii the guide and his employer, which existed years 

 ago in m -arlv all cases, and docs now in some. 



"When the business of guide (guiding would perhaps be 

 more grammatical, but it would narrow down too much the 

 meaning of the word guide) began, there was a great need, 

 and this" business was created lo supply il. 



The wilderness was then almo.-l a terra IflCOfflltl igbt 



only by the hardieal ol sporsttijen, who were content to un- 

 dergo the hardshipsfor the sake oi tin- assured return in the 



way of game and n-h, and by the hardier pioneer, who ad 

 vatie'mg, axe in hand, supported hiuiself and family by 

 ■ t toil as a lumberman, 

 lu the seasons for hunting and fishing the lumbering must 

 rest, and the knowledge of tfie woods acquired in winter 

 became serviceable, to the sportsman who lacked in that of 



