394 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



put her in a sea some twenty-five degrees lower in tempera- 

 ture than that tepid Oceanfc water, and she would shortly 

 cry " enough." 



— With gambling we have nothing to do, save record the 

 suicide of some poor wretch at Monaco, the modern Euro- 

 pean hell, where Messieurs Benazet and Blanc now hold 

 high carnival, and to draw the sad moral from this miser* 

 able death. The Field has a carefully written editorial in 

 regard to gambling, where it asserts "that gambling in 

 England is to a great extent done away with." Of course it 

 exists to a certain extent in London just as it does in New 

 York, and perhaps more money is lost at sober whist in the 

 clubs in London than in New York. If however, we at pre- 

 sent can claim no superiority in this way, how long gam- 

 bling may continue in the present quiescent condition in the 

 United States we cannot state. Perhaps in time Saratoga 

 may flaunt its gambling claims more brazenly and may even 

 rival puny Monaco. It is not impossible to imagine that 

 before long the crack of the suicide's pistol may be heard 

 resounding in that most frequented American resort, and for 

 a moment a spasm of conscience be felt, which the whole 

 press of the United States will descant upon, and no end 

 of well-written quiverings (in editorials), he eliminated 

 therefrom. When a poor devil had lost his last piece of 

 money at Baden, and then blew his brains out, lest it 

 should be said that Rouge el Noir had killed him, agents at- 

 tached to the establishment used, it is said, like buzzards 

 scenting out the dead man, to place a sum of money in the 

 pocket of the victim. Of course the world was made to be- 

 lieve that loss of money at the gambling table had not 

 caused the death. Our contemporary states how this 

 worked very well, until a canny Scotchman (Yankee?) 

 learned the dodge, and fired off continually blank cartridges 

 in retired spots of the Coursall, then "laid him down to dee' 

 in a most composed way. Then would hasten one of the 

 attaches of Benazet and pop a roll of gold into the 

 breeches pocket .of the pseudo suicide, who as soon as the 

 coast was clear, would immediatelv get up again and walk 

 off with his gains. 



— Of the Australian cricket match, short mention of 

 which was made in our last, w* have as yet but meagre de- 

 tails. The Victorians were first at the bat and made a total 

 of 267. The Grace eleven were beaten. Land and Water 

 "presumes that Mr. Grace saw the whole side out in the 

 first innings, for he carried out his bat for 51, and made 33 

 in the second, or 84 out of the total 247 runs." The second 

 match at Ballarat against. 22 had just reached England ; 

 here the English team were the conquerors. The Grace 

 team scoring 470, of which the Leviathan made 120, very 

 much over the third of the whole score. 



—Some very curious facts in regard to the breeding of 

 ostriches, we take from the publications of the Paris Ac- 

 climatization Society. The number of eggs laid by the 

 female averages about eighteen, though she docs not hatch 

 out the whole number, some of them being preserved by 

 the hen bird as food for the ostrich chicks. Curious as 

 this may seem, nature seems to point to such a peculiar 

 kind of nourishment as necessary, because in the midst of 

 the desert, where the young birds are born, there is no 

 food. Both male and female help to make the nest, which 

 is a simple hollow in the sand. Experiments seem to show 

 that the organ of hearing is singularly defective in the 

 ostrich. Adult birds consume 3 pounds of grain a day. 



WHAT OUR ENGLISH FRIENDS THINK 

 OF CREEDMOOR. 



From the London Volunteer Service Gazette, an admirable 

 paper, devoted to the interest of the Volunteer Service 

 of England and the official organ, we take the following 

 most flatteriug review of the late Creedmoor campaign. 

 Some of the suggestions conveyed in the article which we 

 copy may be of use to our riflemen. We fully appreciate 

 the good feeling evinced by the Volunteer Service Gazette, 

 and trust that we may soon welcome some of the repre- 

 sentatives of the Wimbledon range at Creedmoor. 



THE UNITED STATES RIFLE ASSOCIATION. 



There is something particularly curious and interesting in 

 the perusal of the full report which Ave took last week from 

 a New York contemporary, of the Prize Meeting of the 

 newly-established United States Rifle Association. It is 

 nretty obvious that after all these years our American cous- 

 ins are guing in with a will for military rifle shooting, and 

 we may now hope to look forward to much pleasant rivalry. 

 Maior Leech, the indefatigable promoter of Irish rifle shoot- 

 in* having set the ball rolling by offering to take an .Irish 

 team over to compete with the Americans on their own 



ound ^ s we have often said, international matches of 

 this kind are open to none of the objections which are at 

 least possible with regard to greet promiscuous gatherings 

 nearer home, and we may fairly look for Yankee teams be- 

 nns: frequent and welcome guests at Wimbledon, and Eng- 

 lish Scotch, or Irish teams at Creedmoor. 



In readino- the account of the origin of the Creedmoor 

 "Rano-e we are at once struck with respectful astonishment 

 at finding that the State of New York contributed five- 

 sixths of°the purchase money of the range, besides promis- 

 ing prizes ' The range itself, situated on Long Island, is 

 "as level as a billiard table," and affords accommodation 

 for twenty targets, all available up to 500 yards, and most 

 of them up to 1,000 yards. A committee of officers was 

 sent to England, and they seem to have taken back with 

 them a false comprehension of our system. One advan- 

 tage that the range of Creedmoor has over that at Wimble- 

 don is that it appears to be available at all times; and we 

 ^re told that no less than 4,000 men practised at it during 

 the month preceding the prizemeeting. There were at 

 the meeting twelve competitions at our accustomed Wim- 

 bledon ranges (one of them at 1,000 yards). Most of the 

 competitions were confined to "National Guardsmen." but 

 some were open. One of them may give a hint to the 



Council of our National Eifle Association. It was a match 

 open to representatives from any regular newspaper or per- 

 iodical, each required to be a bond fide employe thereof. 

 There were five or more competitors, and the prize was 

 won by Ex-Governor Hawley, of the Hartford Courant, 

 whose score is recorded as 36 at 400 and 500 yards, five at 

 each, any rifle. There were, we are glad to see, two 

 "team" matches, and the Remington Rifle seems to be the 

 favorite military arm. The shooting was very fair, even 

 in the military matches; and in the so-called Sharpshooters' 

 at 800 and 1,000 yards, the prize was carried off, as we have 

 before mentioned, by Mr. Adam, of the Canadian Volun- 

 teers, with the score of 48 out of 56. A New York guards- 

 man, Mr. Roux, came next with 41. An excellent paper, 

 something like our Field, called Forest and Stream, from 

 which we take our reports, gives, as will have been seen in 

 our last number, all sorts of details of new prizes given by 

 newspaper proprietors, by gun-makers, and many others. 

 The meeting is described as having been excellently con- 

 ducted, without any instances of intoxication or gambling. 

 Some parties, we are told, were on the ground early, intent 

 on starting pools, but such requests were promptly denied 

 and squelched on the spot. Of course this refers to betting, 

 and not to such pool as we know at Wimbledon, which 

 the United States Rifle Association will, if it extends its 

 operations, probably find it necessary to organize as soon as 

 possible. 



The new Association has, if it pleases the American peo- 

 ple, a great future before it. It is started with all the 

 benefit of over fourteen years' experience at Wimbledon, 

 and untrammelled by many of our dificulties. What we 

 would warn our friends on the other side of the Atlantic to 

 cling to is the generally military character of the meeting. 

 It is this character, we are convinced which imperfectly as 

 it has been preserved at Wimbledon, has alone prevented 

 rifle shooting from degenerating into an ignoble game, with 

 all the concomitants' of a race-course or a pigeon match. 

 If the National Guards of the United States learn the use 

 of their Remingtons at Creedmoor as the Volunteers of 

 Great Britain have learned the use of their Sniders at Wim- 

 bledon, they will soon reach the Regular troops, who are de- 

 scribed as looking on with some curiosity at the matches — 

 that a soldier's firearm is intended for something else than 

 the manual exercise. We may also hope that the proverbial 

 ingenuity of the Yankee will not only be devoted to im- 

 proving," if that be possible, the rifle itself, but to solving 

 some of the problems as to marking and scoring, which are 

 becoming every year more troublesome at Wimbledon. 

 We shall be very much surprised if the Americans are long 

 contented with our clumsy iron targets, with their rude di- 

 visions, and their unsatisfactory marking; and we can give 

 them every assurance thnt we shall not be in the least too 

 proud to adopt any improvement which may come to us 

 from over the water. We cannot help, before concluding, 

 expressing our regret that the United States Association has 

 not had the courage to prohibit the use of mere target-rifles 

 in any of its matches. They never were contemplated 

 originally here, and only came into use in consequence of 

 the lax way in which the rules were drawn. A rifle should 

 be an instrument which can be used with some hope of suc- 

 cess against either a soldier or a wild animal, and our old 

 friend, which we used to call par excellence the "small-bore," 

 certainly did not fulfill either of these conditions. 



Death op Livingstone. — From England comes a dis- 

 patch announcing the death of Dr. David Livingstone, who 

 succumbed to fever in Central Afiica. The news seems to 

 be fairly authentic, and the information goes so far as to 

 state that the body of the most distinguished traveler of 

 the country is now en route for Zanzibar, to be sent 

 to England. Born near Glasgow in 1815, bred as a mis- 

 sionaiy, Livingstone followed the adventurous and peril- 

 ous course of exploring Central Africa, and of giving spir- 

 itual aid to its benighted inhabitants. For over thirty-five 

 years Dr. Livingstone has led this erratic life, and it has 

 been a wonder to all how the man could have lived through 

 all the dangers of climate and barbarous surroundings. 

 The world is indebted to Livingstone, not only as one who 

 has nobly strived to advance Christianity, but as ffn ex- 

 plorer, endeavoring to open the interior of Africa to the 

 commerce of the world. We trust, though noticing some 

 incidents in Dr. Livingstone's wonderful life, it may not 



be, after all, his obituary. 



-*»•». 



Tribune Corner-stone Celebration. — All American 

 journalism congratulates the Neic York Tribune on the lay- 

 ing of the corner-stone on which their new handsome 

 building is to be erected. But it is not the fact of the con- 

 struction of a new building which we care for. Other 

 structures may rise far grander, more imposing, in time to 

 come, and pass unheeded. The Tribuue building serves, 

 though, to perpetuate the memory of that bravest, and most 

 conscientious of men, Horace Greeley, who won renown and 

 fame as a journalist, and that is why we, with so many 

 others, chronicle the event. May the Tribune building 

 long stand overshadowing-Printing House Square as a last- 

 ing monument of the earnest life of its founder. Mr. Rip- 

 ley and Mr. Whitelaw Reid attended the ceremony, and 



Miss Ida Greeley placed the stone in position. 

 -*•*. 



Correspondence.— The following accepted articles have 

 been necessarily deferred: — A Buffalo Hunt; Reminiscen- 

 ces of Lake Superior; Reminiscences of the Adirondacks; 

 Random Gossip from a Sportsman; Duck Shooting; Big 

 Clear, Adirondacks; Fishing and Hunting at Humboldt's 

 Bay, California; A Day at St. Augustine, Florida; A Cruise 

 on the West Coast of Africa; A day on the Raquette; The 

 Sceptic Reproved; Hunt on Seneca River; Down the St. 

 Lawrence; Albinoes; and many others already acknowl- 

 edged. 



— Our correspondents, Profs. Ew'd Palmer and Samuel C. 

 Clarke, are both en route for Florida for scientific objects. 

 We shall hear from them betimes. 



-*..«*■ 



—Thanks to Prof. F. V. Hayden for Bulletin of the TJ- 

 S, Geological and Geographical Survey. 



"ennel 



THE MYSTIC SKETCHES. 



Questions Can Dogs Reason? 



Ansxotr. I truly believe they can . 



I read with much pleasure the article in No. 23 of Forest and Stream, 

 and I am glad to see such and similar enquiries made as often as they 

 are. It is a true index of the great value of the paper, as a vehicle of 

 valuable iuformation such as very many would like to possess. While 

 I admit "Dick" to have been quite a sensible dog, and a perservering 

 pointer, true to his natural instinct or reason, for he knew by some dog 

 logic that there was no use in shooting that bird over again, consequent- 

 ly he "went in to win and save ammunition." To me this looks like 

 reason, or highly educated and well trained intellect. I have in my 

 sporting days owned good dogs, and can still appreciate the good points 

 of a good dog. 



I owned a fine cross of the terrier and the spaniel, who was a very in 

 telligent, truthful dog; he never lied, and he was seldom guilty of "bark- 

 ing up the wrong tree " This dog woold, when not often shot over, go 

 off on his own account hunting, and bring home rabbits, squirrels, 

 woodchucks, and sometimes a big snake, (for he would kill snakes.) I 

 have frequently known him to £0 out hunting, and be gone one hour or 

 two, and return and go directly to a neighbor's who owned a good hunt- 

 ing dog. "Tip" would go straight up to "Lion," put their noses to- 

 gether, shake their tails, and seem to be on the very best of terras, and 

 in a minute or two both dogs would go off at a good round trot in the 

 direction from which Tip came. This occurred several times, and I was 

 ifiduced one day from the earnestness displayed by my dog to follow 

 them, as I did. On arriving at the woods, near a pond hole, I found a 

 former dwelling place of a woodchuck, two large holes Quite near to- 

 gether. At the mouth of one hole one dog was digging with all his 

 might; at the other hole the other dog kept watch. One would work a 

 few moments and relieve the other; both would dig at the same entrance. 

 I seated myself at a convenient distance and awaited the end of this cu- 

 rious dog hunt. I had not long to wait, for soon out came out an "old 

 coon," who was most summarily disposed of by the two dogs. This 

 seems to me like instinct; and if it is a pretty good dog story, it has the 

 merit of being true in every particnlar. I have since heard of several in- 

 stances of a like canine copartnership, which induces me to believe dogs 

 reason or possess some means of communicating their desires, which 

 seems very like it to me. Yours, L. Wtman. 



v FOX HOUNDS OF VIRGINIA. 



Winchester, Va., January 26, 1874. 

 Editor Forest and Stream; — 



In compliance with a promise made to you some weeks since upon the 

 subject of the fox hounds, I now take up my pen to fulfil the same, 

 though I fear that the information I have to impart will not fully meet 

 all the requirements. 



Our knowledge of the original importation of the fox hounds into this 

 section is in a measure traditional. I have always understood, however, 

 that the first importation of pure fox hounds into this part of our State, 

 (the Valley, or Middle Virginia,) was made during Colonial times by Lord 

 Thomas Fairfax, of Greenway Court, in the county of Clarke. Our 

 present strain of dogs is supposed to be derived from these, with occa- 

 sional crosses upon dogs brought from East Virginia and Maryland and 

 others imported direct from England. Others also imported dogs m 

 Colonial times, especially the family of the Wormleys; but our fox hun- 

 ters have generally traced their best dogs back to the Fairfax strain. I 

 am unable to answer your enquiry as to the number of fox hounds in 

 Virginia and the South generally at the present time. Fox hounds were 

 very numerous in Middle and East Virginia anterior to the civil war, but 

 were sadly thinned out during the prevalence of the strife, having been 

 seized and carried off by the invading armies. 



As to the breed of dogs we prefer I will state emphatically that we pre- 

 fer our native or acclimated dogs, as they invariably proved themselves 

 superior in every particular to their imported English cousins. The 

 same remark will apply to our native pointers and setters as compared 

 with imported stock. 



As it requires a dog of the finest nose, speed and bottom to overhaul 

 a red fox in our difficult country, we endeavor to combine those three 

 most important attributes in as high a degree as possible in our breed- 

 ing. A dog bred merely for nose and bottom, (as is the custom with the 

 English,) can never catch a full grown, empty red fox in this section ; a 

 fact that has fallen under my observation "many times and oft." In 

 order to gain nose and foot I have known some sportsmen to cross the 

 fox hound with the pointer, but this custom is generally reprobated in- 

 asmuch as a dog of this mongrel origin will noi hang on like a pure fox 

 hound. 



As we have never been accustomed to time our dogs, I am therefore 

 unable to give you the precise rate of speed at which they run. The 

 fact of their being able to pick up occasionally a full grown, empty red 

 fox within the hour, may enable you to form some idea of their speed. 

 A large dog is preferred for a flat country; a small or medium sized one 

 for ground of an opposite character. Our sportsmen have no regular 

 system. They* usually feed their dogs on Indian meal boiled in pot 

 liquor, together with offal from the dairy and butcher's stall. The dogs 

 are generally kept up and fed on dry bread for some days previous to a 

 chase, meat betng considered as injurious to the nose, though I am unable 

 to vouch for the reliability of this popular opinion. 



Many sportsmen train the pups with their dams. The drag also is fre- 

 frequently used, as it teaches the whelp to find and follow a trail. Some 

 caution is necessary* not to permit the whelps to go into a regular chase 

 with the old hounds, as their inability to keep up with their seniors has 

 a tendency to discourage them. 



I have never known a sportsman to shoot a fox. I have often known 

 a gunner to get a good sound "cussin"by a fox hunter for shooting his 

 fox when in full chase. In conclusion, permit me to remark that neither 

 fox hunting nor other field sports are followed to the same extent at 

 present as they were before the war, owing to the general impoverish- 

 ment of our people consequent upon the civil strife, Dr. A. 7F. 



THE PROPOSED FIELD TRIAL. 



Editor Forest and Stream: — 



Dear Sir:— I am much interested in the proposed field trials between 

 American and English pointers and setters. If the Englishmen could be 

 induced to bring their dogs to an Illinois prairie, and try them on grouse, 

 I believe that dogs could be found in Chicago and St. Louis that would 

 win the match. At least we had dogs there twenty-five years ago, when 

 I was a shooter, that could not be easily beaten. There would also be 

 this advantage that birds would be plenty, which I believe is not the 

 case at present in Scotland. But I doubt if you could get the English- 

 men to give up the advantage of having the trial on that side of the water. 

 I have no faith in English fair play. 



A friend of mine in Boston, many years ago, who broke his own dogs, 

 and who was the most thorough sportsman I ever knew, once sold a favor- 

 ite setter to an English gentlemen to take home with him. The English- 

 man took the dog that year to the Scottish moors and tried him on grouse 

 against a large field of the best dogs. Although the American setter hud 

 never seen a grouse before, he acquitted himself so well that it was ad- 

 mitted by all present that only one dog in the field was his equal in gen 

 eral work, and he did not possess the accomplishment of fetching deal 

 game, which the American did. His owner had paid in America $100 p 

 him, and \ym offered three times that sum on the ground. 



%m%G. Claris 



