Forest and Stream 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



NEW YORK, AUGUST 9, 1883. 



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Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 

 Nos. !!!J and 40 Pake How. New Tore City. 





CONTENTS. 







FlSHCULTl-RE. 



Sunday Fishing. 





The Ohio Commission. 



property in (lame. 





The American Fishcultural As- 



Ilaininess of the 



two Black 



sociation. 



Basses. 





The Kennel. 





the Match. 



The Royal York (England) Dog 



Angus; sliooiiug. 





Show, 



hi' '• ' it"-|'"H 1, "i'i.:'l : "Li.'' 



Rattlesnake and Dog. 



The l 



airv Gamp. 



Upai. V!i .,; 1 ■■!.- 



Moiinta n. 



Field Trial Celebrities of 1883. 



Post Prandial Chat 





Two Dog Stories. 



Natchal History. 





Kennel Management. 



The House Wren. 





Rifle and Thai- Shooting. 



Mescal. 





A British Opinion. 



The Springfield Ka 



•er Identified 



Muzzle vs. Breech. 



Camp Fri i Fiac» oa 





Press Comments on the Match. 



i . AND GUN. 





Range and Gallery. 



An i)lu Alabama I 





The Trap. 



A Deer Hunt at La 





Canoeing. 



-.,.•!; Notes. 





Aims and Work of the A. C. A. 



Prairie Chid 







Table. ,f <>p,-n Can 



e Seasons 



Yachting. 



Sea and Kiver Fishi 





Hull Y. C. 



The Angler's Song. 





Beverly Y. C. 



An Afternoon's An 





Hull Y. C. Open Races. 



Trolling and Buoy 



Ushing. 



How Large is a Single-Hander. 

 Chicago Y. C. 



The Greenbrier 11. 



adwaters. 



Lake Geo go. Indii 





Lubbers for Skippers. 

 Beverly Y. C. -July 28. 



Philadelphia >..,..- 





Lake Waccabuc. 





New York Y. C. 















PROPERTY IN GAME. 



ALTHOUG H the principles of common law concerning 

 the property which exists in wild game are well 

 understood in England, there is in this country much mis- 

 conception respecting them. This is what might reasonably 

 be expected when we consider the conditions which have 

 formerly governed the pursuit of wild birds and animals. 

 America is comparatively newly settled; less than a century 

 has elapsed since the abundance of fish and game was every- 

 where so inexhaustible that there could be no possible clash- 

 ing of the interests of hunters or fishermen and landed pro- 

 prietors. The pursuit of game and fish was free to any one 

 and all who had the inclination to indulge in it. These pe- 

 culiar conditions which once obtained have, in all the older 

 portions of the United States, largely passed away, but the 

 sentiments engendered by these conditions have survived. 



When game and fish were so plenty that there were enough 

 for all, naturally no question arose as to who owned the 

 game in its wild state. Now that the supply is so narrowly 

 restricted, this question of ownership is gaining prominence. 

 It has not been popularly discussed in an intelligent and dis- 

 passionate spirit, There have been bitter conflicts between 

 sportsmen and the occupants of the land upon which they 

 desired to shoot, Recrimination ha8 too often taken the 

 place of argument, each party in the contention intent upon 

 maintaining his supposed rights. 



The decision recently rendered by the Illinois Supreme 

 Court in the Maguer case, which we presume to have been 

 based upon the commonly quoted language of Blackstonc, 

 declared wild game to be the property of the State. Rely- 

 ing upon the known ability of the court, we have in the 

 past, accepted (lie view set forth in the case alluded to. Re- 

 cently, however, we have found cause to question that de- 

 cision so far as it relates to this particular point, the property 

 in wild game ; and after careful and elaborate investigation 

 we have adopted a contrary view. 



W hni really is the common law of England, and therefore 

 of this country, respecting this subject, we shall set forth in 

 our next issue. 



SUNDAY FISHING. 

 A \f HEN the amendment prohibiting Sunday fishing was 

 ' ' grafted upon the Penal Code of this State much indig- 

 nation was expressed in some quarters, it being held by op- 

 ponents of the measure that the inoffensive pastime of ang- 

 ling was not a proper subject of penal legislation. A con- 

 sideration of the right or wrong of angling on the Sabbath 

 would afford an abundant field for argument and casuistry 

 upon which we do not propose to trespass. The Forest 

 and Stream willingly leaves such a discussion to its neigh- 

 bors, the Examiner two stories below, the Evangelist just 

 back of us, the Observer in the next block, the Independent 

 across the way, or the Christian IntettigeneSr, presided over 

 by our correspondent "Hix," who, being both a clergyman 

 and an angler, may bo trusted to deliver sound doctrine. 



The Sunday fishing amendment is a most excellent law in 

 principle and in practice just so far as it accomplishes what 

 we conceive to have been the purpose of those who origi- 

 nated it. It was designed to give the farmer and rural 

 land-owner a chance to go to church on Sunday if he wished 

 to do so. In many districts where there are angling 

 waters the proprietors of the soil have been harrassed beyond 

 measure by the Sunday trespassers with fishing poles. In 

 many instances the Sabbath, instead of being a day of rest, 

 has been a day of aggravation and work — the labor being to 

 chase rowdy fishermen out of the crops. The clause pro- 

 hibiting Sunday fishing was meant to put a stop to this 

 unbearable nuisance. In many cases the remedy has proved 

 efficient, much to the advantage of the local congregation, 

 the farmer's temper, and the prospective harvest. 



On the other hand, the class of fishermen in whose behalf 

 the law was opposed, have in no wise suffered from it. This 

 class is made up principally of men in the city who work hard 

 all the week in shops and factories, and go fishing on Sun- 

 day. They have suffered no hardship from the new statute, 

 because so far as it relates to them it is a dead letter. The 

 police do not dream of enforcing it; such an idea never en- 

 tered their heads. 



Every Saturday night hundreds of fishermen go down on 

 the Staten Island ferries, stay on the Island over night, and 

 are early in their boats along the shore, fishing for weakfish, 

 or whatever happens to be in season. They are joined by 

 hundreds more who go down Sunday morning; and they all 

 comeback to the city Sunday night. The men are sober, 

 industrious fellows, who evidently have little or no 

 other recreation. They belong to the humbler 

 ies of society; one sees among them no fancy 

 fishing suits nor expensive tackle; their clothes and 

 their outfits are cheap, but (we have studied them pretty 

 carefully and speak frompeisoual observation) neither going 

 nor returning are they, as a class, disorderly. Their conduct 

 is as exemplary as that of their fellow passengers, and on 

 Sunday much more decorous than that of the crowds who 

 indulge in excursions. The officers on the trains and boats 

 and tne policemen on Staten Island and at the ferry in the 

 city agree in giving the Sunday fishermen a good name, and 

 as we have already said, they do not pretend to enfore the 

 law against fishing. The number of men and boys who go 

 down to Staten Island to fish will average 500 on each Sun- 

 day during the season; they leave tens of thousands of 

 dollars in Richmond county every year. The fishermen who 

 dangle their lines from the wharves and docks and ferry 

 slips about the city, will count up another 500 and more, 

 making a thousand strong in New York who would be con- 

 cerned in the anti-fishing law, were it enforced. 



A UG UST SHOOTING. 



AUGUST is the month for bay bird shooting. Even where 

 it is legal to kill them, the woodcock cannot be shot 

 because they have disappeared — gone to their dressing-rooms 

 to don their new suits— and the only living thing that it is 

 possible to kill and to eat after killing is the shore bird. 

 Lying ou one's back during the whole day on a white sand 

 beach or among the grass in a salt marsh, cannot truthfully 

 be called exciting sport, but when the flight "is on" there 

 will be an liour or two in the morning and evening when a 

 great deal of pleasure can be had over the stools. If the 

 birds come along in any numbers one forgets all about the 

 hot sun and the tierce mosquitoes in his anxiety to discover 

 some far-off flock, and when they have approached, to at- 

 tract their attention to their mimic relatives, which stand so 

 quietly on the mud or in the water within easy gunshot of 

 bis place of concealment. And when a single black breast 

 or a wary old jack curlew has seen the stools, and swings 

 backward and forward just out of gunshot, answering the 

 call and yet not quite satisfied with the appearance of things, 



then there is really a moment or two of excitement. A 

 single false note in the call now will send him off, but if the 

 whistle is artistically manipulated he will be likely to come 



Bay bird shooting, though not at all comparable to the 

 sport of following the dogs over the uplands, has its attrac- 

 tive side, and after the next easterly storm no doubt many 

 of our readers will have some interviews with out Limir/iUn. 



PRESS COMMENTS ON THE MATCH. 



r T , HE extracts, which we publish in our rifle columns, 

 •*• show how the results of the International Rifle Match 

 are regarded by the non-professional press, ana hence by the 

 public at large. From the English journals there are words 

 of praise for the Americans, mingled with the congratula- 

 tions following naturally upon the success of the home team, 

 The American papers strike the correct explanation of the 

 defeat in almost every case, and while according full credit 

 to Col. Howard and his men for the work which they actu- 

 ally did accomplish, see in the outcome of the match only a 

 sphere for renewed endeavoi on the part of the riflemen and 

 rifle associations here. Nowhere do we find any harsh 

 words or severe criticisms on the effort of the team. The 

 public are convinced that the men did the very best they 

 could under the conditions of the weather which surrounded 

 them. It is yet an open question whether a good team sys- 

 tem would not have enabled the men to make a better show- 

 ing, but there is no doubt that the men individually made a 

 vigorous effort to add another to the list of American vic- 

 tories, and to retrieve the failure at Creedmoor in September 

 last. 



The papers specially devoted to shooting interests give 

 particular explanations of the outcome of the match, and 

 full of detailed suggestions in connection with it. Tile 

 rifles are held to blame in some instances, but with the low 

 averages shown on each side, and the closeness of the fiual 

 result it is idle, it seems to us, to place much weight on this 

 part of the question, and until Col. Howard makes a final 

 report giving an explanation of the manner of his defeat, it 

 will be well to hold criticisms in reserve. 



GAMINESS OF THE TWO BLACK BASSES. 



WE have for many years been of the opinion that 

 the big-mouthed black bass has been underrated 

 as a game fish, when found in northern waters. About 

 the time when Dr. Gill first showed that there were 

 only two species of black bass* instead of a dozen or so, 

 some one praised the fighting qualities of the small-mouth 

 and denounced the other as a "vulgarian" with no dash in 

 him. This has been repeated so often that it is generally be- 

 lieved, and the fish has never recovered from the bad name 

 given to it, undeservedly, as we think. Last month we were 

 bass fishing with a gentleman who was strongly prejudiced 

 against the big-mouth, but on taking a two-pounder, which 

 he declared before seeing it mustweigh twice that figure and 

 "was no big-mouth," he gave in and acknowledged that 

 there was more fight in the fish than he had ever given it 

 credit for. 



Dr. Henshall, as we have often before remarked, makes 

 no distinction between the two fish, in his "Book of the 

 Black Bass," and while we are not prepared to go as far 

 until a few more years of angling confirms or disproves his 

 proposition, we feel confident that one fish has been praised 

 at the expense of the other, and hope that our readers will 

 test the merits of the two without allowing previous impres- 

 sions to have weight in their judgment. 



A correspondent of the Washington Star, writing of the 

 two species in the Potomac, says; "While the gaminess 

 and fighting qualities of the bass are generally admitted, I 

 believe it exists in the greatest perfection when they are 

 natives of the more rapid streams of the North, and less in 

 those sluggish lakes and rivers, where the finding of their 

 daily food necessitates little activity or energy. Many ex- 

 perienced anglers stoutly maintain that the small-mouthed is 

 the most vigorous fighter, when hooked, but although their 

 conformation and active habits would seem to confirm the 

 claim, my own experience is not conclusive, as I have never 

 been able to predict with certainty which variety was at the 

 end of my line before landing them." 



Give a dog a bad name and hang him, says the old prov- 

 erb, and the same principle applies to a fish. It is popular 

 to cry down the big-mouth black bass, but it has been cried 

 down too far. The fish is a good fighter, and is much supe- 

 rior to the pike, and most other fish. Give it a fair trial and 

 a just verdict. 



