Xov. I, 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



266 



him and picked up nil the peaches I wanted to cat, uud then 



■ ' -'"ill the cause, and it was plain as mud. 



'i,T had fired thai peach Seed into the head of the 



deer; il had sprouted gad grown, and bore fruit. On several 



.1 - a dors' . .: 1 1 1 1 [ s:i\v tue deer and succeeded in getting 



bail of rait, but In > as too wary to give me-a shot." 



-ays John, "do you jn nut. and bathe your 

 Ld tnd tie .[own; yoil need tvbI." the old man &CCJ ; 

 pari of the advice and retired', and in less than ten minutes 



\l I ■ 'M". Ill ' "''I 1 Of tllti JUSI, ill •'!•. Siio'l 



S i-ami nsiis lit 

 II was in the Winter of '88, and Jack and 1 wen- down in 



Louisiana shooting for th« market. Ducks, Buipe and 



Iges ■- " i i ntj latt woodcock fe\* :md 1'ai between, 

 V\e made big bags of the former, often a hundred birds to 

 each man a .das. 1ml COtlldODJj kill a few of the longbills. 



There were plenty of borings, tmi the ctuiebrakes were- thick 

 ami mailed, and lie- birds bard to get ttl As u-.usl. when 

 woodcock areecarci . prices were high, six dollars a dozen, 

 and sve iuii.de tip our minds to gel" the birds somehow and 

 rake in the cash. 



A darkey told .lark about fire shooting, Neither of us had 

 ever tried it, but we resolved to make the attempt, We gol 

 a big pan tilled lull of pine knots, hired the darkey to carry 

 it, and started out that evening. We went along the cane 

 brakes where it was .rood feeding ground. There were 

 heaps of birds; they would squat prt the ground as though 

 i:i..i :! by the strange light, and when we got dose to them 

 gel up and Bcoot at a great rate. We billed two or three 

 dozen a night, but it seemed small. The birds were hard to 

 ttro. You could only see a few yards, and it was difficult 

 to down them before thoy were out of sigbl iu thedeepdai I 

 I- 1 . This would never do, and on thinking it over, I 

 decided to go down to New Orleans, hire an electric light, 

 and try that. To cut a long story short, 1 won't bother you 

 about the details and trouble of gelling the light out to our 

 hunting minimis. Enough to say that in four days I had it 

 out id liusk on it wagon drawn Its" a mule, with a man to 

 work it. 



Jack and 1 were in a high state of excitement. We each 

 had 150 cartridges, loaded with 3.1 drains powder and g 

 ounce No. i) shot. As long as i live T never .shall forget that, 

 :H night, It was 3 o'clock When I gave our electrician the 

 (jrdor to turn on the current. In an instant it was as light 

 as day for a hundred yards around. The cane brake was. in- 

 undated with the intense sunburst. Woodcock came out by 

 tens and twenties and went flying Up and down, hither anil 

 thither, through the while rays, for all the world like a lot Of 

 magnified mosquitoes. The woodcock at first would fly up 

 10 the big globe and dash Ihemsclscs against il like moths, 

 then would flyback ten or twelve feet,, and poising for a 

 moment in the air. would again dash at the white globe. 

 This was the lime to lire, and bang, bang, would go our 

 breech loaders. The two darkey boys we hail engaged to 

 nick up birds lied at the first turning on of the liidif', crying 

 "IV tire witch! de tire witch!" Nor could wc ever gel one 

 to go Dear lis When lighted up for action. We hired two 

 Arcadian lads to pick up game, and right well did they earn 

 their money. The cane brake we hunted ran along aback 

 Wflter Slough some two miles in length, Wewould hunt up 

 one side and turn the end and conic down on the other. The 

 brake was ft mile wide. Wewould slop our wagon about 

 ewrj 21)0 yards and light up. The first few nights birds 

 WOuld shoot out from the blackness in Pais and twenties 



.lack ami I would stand at eaeli furewheel with our back 

 to the light. We could see the birds fly up from their feed- 

 iug ground fifty yards away and come head on; and then 

 when they were' about fifteen yards off. looking as big as 

 laims in tiie superb artificial day. whang, whang weufthe 



funs, and down they would "come, fit morsels for a king. 

 'hefirsl night was our best shooting! wc fired all our three 

 hundred cartridges away on one side only of the brake, and 

 bagged and sent to market 210 birds, lor which we received 

 $150, not bad for a night's work. We hunted thai cane 

 brake and two other such places in all, everv good night for 

 ucarfv two months, and bagged 2,7(13 birds. 'which netted us 

 I .'iii Deducting from this (he expense of eieelncian 

 $100. and Ihe hire of the light, $300, express Charges on 

 birds (tuld we not only supplied New Orleans but St.' Louis 

 and I 'hieago as well), and it is seen that We cleared on wood- 



coca (done $1.0(10. We also made $500 from what ducks, 

 snip* and partridges sve sent in. 



Some of the native sportsmen found Qui what we Were 

 doing, and strange!;, enough did not like il at all. One 

 night a rifle bullet came Crashing through our electric light 

 globe and our electrician seemed a little weak in the knees 

 afterward; but we braced him wilh a good drink of cognac 

 ■ il ii leu dollar note. This is a free country, and why 

 people should be so peculiar about a few birds I cannot 

 men i stand. If would seem to me as though they ought to 

 have admired our Yankee ingenuity and enterprise, and not 

 instead have sent rifle balls about our ears. It's impossible 

 for us to go down again this year, but we bad a delightful 

 lime in '83, and Jack and I only wish we could go this 

 sviuter. At any rate we claim that this necount is the first 

 where woodcock have been killed by the aid of the electric 

 light by TnotiocuH Spoktsmen 



Tiik Hub, Massachusetts. 



TflB Sea Sehpebi'. — A dispatch from Panama was re- 

 ceived on Thursday night to the effect that the sea serpent 

 had changed his apparel and made a public appearance off 

 SI Elmo one of the Pearl Islands just before the train caught 

 up with him he threw himself headlong in front of the 

 locomotive which ss ith the entire train passed over Ids body 

 Several Of the ribs measure forty-four inches long by about 

 1 .a i inference a passport from Italy to'.N'ow York 



round in his pocket ihere sviis. nothing on his person 

 that would assifil in his recognition he was transferred to the 

 See of Evneuxin 1851 and four years later came up promptly 

 in the third round and after sonic good sparring clinched 

 again and while clinched somebody called the police are on 



us the men separated and the crowd dispersed in all 

 dircco.^is a prominent Brooklyn politician having his 

 ue.sv plug hat destroyed in the stampede found on his 

 return (hat his name on the calcudar of the colli 

 was marked will! an asterisk as dead and lie threat 



ens to bring suit i igainsl the institution 



-everal medical colleges of the city are anxious to get the 

 body as it took the combined strength of twelve men to 

 lower the body into Ihe glUVB it is hardly pOBStDle that the 

 svork required to gel il OUl again eould be accomplished bis 



■ 1 1 . • i- number the police authorities were notified and an 



investigation was made but iu the absence of complaints 

 fcdeh all Ihe parly refused to make no aclion was taken, 



|a«fi» J?#ij m\d 



mEZSXSS 



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id to ) 



its (>:< 





fm. vvX 



■ Sere a 





W,ll 



lot 





Uh such nil.icc' 











To'insim prompt attention.) communications slunild be ad- 

 dressed to the Vorest wnd Stream Piiblistdng Co., dndnofrto 

 individuals, ;,: whose absence from the office matters of im- 

 portanee fare lidblt to delay. 



OPEN SEASONS. 



ii a ..i open seasons, printed m oar issue at Aug IB, tias 



beeupnlilislieilMi.-iii iM-i Ionic and ■' ill i anj 



address, |)03fcpii.it],aii receipt of til cents. 



THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS. 



i l>D ] more to Ihe list of those who dearly cherish the. 



.L_V memory of the past, when game was plenty and the 

 thought that it would ever become scarce was a seemingly 

 preposterous idea. Now that the country is alive with 

 miserable pot-hunters and law -breakers, the once "prepos- 

 terous idea" assumes a different hue, and behold everywhere 

 the mournful feature of the true sportsman, as his voice is 

 raised iu appeal for the protection of the rapidly diminishing 

 game of Hie country. 



Hosv well do I remember even my first partridge. In the, 

 muzzle-loading times I was considered a bright and supple 

 lad. I was always fond of nature; and hunting and fishing 

 were mv chiefest delights. My first lour shots with the. gun 

 will never be obliterated from" my memory. While a chip- 

 munk sat within two tods of me on a little" stump, I received 

 my directions for (akin- aim. along- the sights from the ex- 

 perienced, though unnoted erack-sbol. Clark M. Foote. I 

 cautiously proceeded to carry out these directions, lest the 

 saucy little chipmunk escape, and then I developed a new 

 characteristic oi my very excitable nature, namely, a terrific 

 charge after my game, whatever it might be, as soon as I sbot 

 at it. My second shot was one worthy of its cause. It killed 

 one of those wary enemies of the farmer, a crow, silling up 

 in the top of a tall tree, distanced about ten tods from where 

 I had crept to. My third was but a repetition of the second, 

 except that the crow allowed a closer observation of me be- 

 fore he fell. 



Mv fourth! Oh mv fourth! Here's where the partridge 

 comes in; In advance of Clark, with gun in hand, I was 

 suddenly surrounded bv a covey of part rid arcs. Completely 

 bewilder-d by the noise of their'wiugs as they flew for cover, 

 I was unable to get in a shot. All around the cover was 

 alive with them. Thev craned their necks like snapping 

 turtles, and the males strutted on the ground. I was para- 

 lyzed, and more directions were needed, which Clark con- 

 siderately gave me, and a.s he pointed to one fat cock, which 

 bad perched on Ihe line fence (a line of brush and roots run- 

 ning through the woods), I raised my gun for an "arm's 

 length" shot. Fever? Well 1 should say w. And chills too. 

 Twice I aimed at him, and twice I turned trying to smile to 

 Clark, and "I know I won't hit him" issued out of my trem- 

 bling mouth. At last I shot. I don't know how I. parted 

 with the gan. Talk of the "Flying Dutchman." the man 

 does not live that could have bagged me as I "lit out for the 

 game," as Clark would afterward relate with desperate 

 efforts to prove that his face was gashed from ear to ear I 

 clutched my floundering victim and bore him safely back. 

 Whether the rest, of the birds went all the way down South 

 or not I do not know 7 . But subsequent efforts failed to un- 

 earth any of the terrorized members of that coses'. 



Clark laughed for nearly half an hour afterward. 



But he was pretty mad when be got up and found the 

 hammer of his pet gun, lent to me, bad been broken svheu 

 the gun was dropped by me preparatory to my frantic rush. 



There was something exhilarating and stimulating in the 

 cool air of the forests that completely overcame me. and 

 caused every nerve to be strained to the highest pitch, and 

 . . bj . organ and muscle to be on the alert. 



I ii . ! ; - dislike hunting alone, after an adventure I had 

 With 8 rabbit. On this particular occasion I had first vim- 

 lured off alone, being only nine years old at the time. Some- 

 lni.s, tbroughall the underbrush and trees, my eye eaftghl 

 sight of something that resembled a rabbit's ears. Again 

 and again 1 looked, but if seemed impossible that 1 could 

 see just a rabbit's ears at such a distance through ihe woods, 

 for it must have been thirty rods in the very thickest part. 

 Satisfied thai I might at least try, I began to make mv way 

 toward him. So stealthily did I creep) that not the least 

 noise was made till I arrived at a big tree that 1 had previ- 

 ously marked out as near the place which I thought the 

 rabbit was hiding in. A little further and I rose. Then- 

 he sat. Bang! Imagine my chagrin when he never 

 moved. It must have scared him nearly to death, so 

 suddenly did 1 rise within four rods of him and fire. 

 For a moment I watched him. The spattered snosv be- 

 neath the root on which he sat told the tale. A clean miss. 

 Then I boldly marched toward him. Why, what's the mat- 

 ter? He don't move. But 1 "arnt" afraid of a rabbit. 

 Well, 1 Stood up within six feet of that poor rabbit and Vet 

 he did not move. Things changed. 1 was scared to death. 

 Visions of frit aids and fairy talcs swam around in circles 

 about me. A cold sweat passed over me. lu desperation I 

 commenced to Whistle, as I had been told that rabbits were 

 frightened that way sometimes. Slid be stood. The cold 

 sweat swapped places with a cold bath. I was Ihunder- 

 struck. Everything f had ever read was compared with my 

 situation as fast as I could think. 1 remembered a hero who 

 had once killed a terrible dragon, in some well-known poetry 

 Which I have forgotten; and Fitz James's "Come on.- ame 

 all," etc., nerved me to vary the monotonous circumstances 

 of being statuized by a rabbit. I was bracing to hurl the 

 gun at him. when the memory of Clark's last essay at my 

 breaking 1 lie hammer, caused me to stay mv heroic inten- 

 tions, 



Rolling my eyes without moving the rest of ray body I 

 saw a couple of slicks near :U hand, I stooped to pick (me 

 up, when a gentle patter of hurrying feel and a streak of 

 white as ihe rabbit disappeared, seemed to lilt a heavy cloud 

 from about, me; I felt as if freed frain a terrible confine- 

 ment. I wen! home against time and I guess I must have 

 beaten if. 



This was an actual experience thai happened to me while 

 a little boy in the town of Madrid, IS. Y., near Canton, 

 where 1 read in your last issue there has been a squirrel hunt 

 lately. Thai must boa stunning whopper about the mim- 

 ber of squirrels killed, for they geiierallv allow i 

 as a count for squirrels, and I dotl arc "more 



than twenty squirrels that can be seen iu all the region round 

 about Canton in a. day's hunt. And as for its being "a 

 novel hunt," I can easily prove that such hums were numer 

 mis during the autumn seasons years ago. 



Winn does all this harangue about law breaking and 

 slaughtering game by the Wholesale amount to? The vio- 

 lating of the Maine game laws is punishable. Whs doc not 

 your correspondent, ".Maine,"' wdio claims to know violators 

 of these laws, inform on these parties? The killing the 

 ducks on Lake Ko-tikoiiotie in Wisconsin, bs means of 

 sneak hoaN. should also be stopped, l'l Aivrii- 1-'. 



BROOKLYN, N \ . 



OUT IN THE CHILLY DAWN. 



Nl i Imagination can picture the solitude of a Texas prairie. 

 There seems to be S soft Wail in the grass as it sways 



to and fro under Ihe influence of the cold north wiud, and 

 wdten one severe blast succeeds another in quick rotation, 

 the softness of the tone leaves and one would suppose that a 

 band of demons had taken its place, It was such a time 

 that, as one of a party of duck hunters, I found myself at 

 the edge of a lonely pond an hour or so before dawn, to get 

 the morning's flight. It was bitter cold, and the wind .striking 

 my wet. legs sent, a cold shiver all through me. The moan- 

 ing of the wind lent melancholy reflections, and although 

 my companions were not a mile from me, I was to all intents 

 and purposes alone with my thoughts. Kot a sound could 

 be heard except the wind and the occasional cry of geese 

 overhead. It was indeed a time for reflections of both a sad 

 and lively character; mine were both, but t shook them off 

 as f noticed a light streak in the east, and prepared for busi- 



Ducks had already passed over id numbers. This I could 

 fell by the constant whiz of wings. The light, streak grew 

 lighter mid lighter, and after some time (it seemed an age to 

 me) I began to distinguish tilings around me. Things that 

 seemed in the gloom to be objects of the most grotesque na- 

 ture, dwindled down to nothing but mere bunches of prairie 

 grass. My attention is soon directed to an approaching flock 

 of ducks— I didn't care what kind— and soon after I pulled 

 the first trigger of the morning, scoring a clean miss, rapidly 

 followed by two more. Probably I was nervous; I don't, 

 know. My following shot, was put info a flock of mallards 

 with telling effect, three falling. A little bunch of teal next 

 drew my tire, and I succeeded in winging one.' In my or 

 dcavors to capture the skulking little rascal I lost a magnifi- 

 cent shot at a flock of Canada geese. You may rest assured 

 that I thought some strong language, particularly as I lost 

 the leal. I soon made up for mv misfortune, however, bv 

 getting two consecutive right and lefts at a flock of redheads", 

 -curing three bitvl-. i'b, liic!,; didui I.-:-.: n, Luj- :,, I ssould 

 have liked, but f had fifteen ducks when it ended, and was 

 perfectly contented. The score for the party was thirty- 

 eight ducks and a scattering of jack snipe. The only thing 

 I had to growl about was my "lost Opportunity." Ntoio. 

 Galveston, Tex.. Oct. B0. 



AMONG THE BLACK TAILS. 



ONLY last week, as I was returning from San Antonio, 

 Texas, lo this place. I stopped at Murphysville for it 

 short hunt. (Securing a boon companion and borrowing a 

 repeating rifle, I struck out for the mountains, a few miles 

 distant. The country was beautiful to behold. Undulating 

 'alleys, full of stock," lay before us, and beyond the rugged 

 mountains rose in stately grandeur. We were both well 

 mounted, and as the day was lovely, the air cool and bracing, 

 we felt, highly exhilarated. Expectation ror-c in our minds 

 and our hearts throbbed with joy. 



We had not traveled more than two miles before T spied a 

 band of antelopes, about a dozen in number. They were 

 feeding in a valley, but one lordly buck had bis eyes dead on 

 us. Suddenly reining our horses to Ihe left, we passed be 

 yondhis sight behind a convenient knoll. Dismounting, sve 

 worked our way stilf further to the left, and, getting a small 

 eminence between us and our game, we easily approached 

 to within two bundled and fifty yards. From' this point . I 

 thought it easy to bring one 'down. I took the first shot, 

 fair, broadside and standing; but never a hair did 1 touch, 

 ay bounded the terror-smitten baud, and as they rushed 

 up a hillside, going almost straight away, I let fly again at 

 them, and immediately heard the dull thud that always an- 

 nounces good work." Another shot is tit c-a as quickly as 

 possible, and the air waits back to me the sound of a bullet 

 that struck home. 1 shoot no more, lor enough has been 

 done. My friend did not shoot at all. but took his sport out 

 ! n watching me. 



Getting our horses, we ride over to w here sve last saw the 

 fleeing band, and as wc near the place We see two fine fat 

 kids lying about fifty yards apart, both stone dead. Hastily 

 dressing these, sve pack them on our horses and march Oil lo 

 the mountains, tor I had told my wife that on my return 

 home I would bring a venison ham: I cannot tell a'lie, if 1 

 can avoid it, and so I had to hunt on. 



Reaching the mountains, we hitched our horses ami soon 

 climbed to the top. Surveying Ihe outlook we decided thai 

 a cafion near by looked deerish. and thither we went. We 

 found plenty of "sign," plenty of acorns, and goorl iTOI 

 Wc said: "They arc hero," and separated iu order 10 COV« 

 more ground, and be more certain of starting fame. 1 had 

 not gone more, than a hundred yards before I saw a large 

 buck rise up and look toward m'e. He was not more than 

 sixty yard.-, away, and In a few seconds my bullet had 

 pierced his vitals, and he was tearing away at a killing speed, 

 Immediately on firing ii seemed that the woods were, alive 

 with deer. Seeing a very Large doe— the largest 1 ever sasv, 

 I think— stop on a, small rise about a hundred yards off, 1 

 drew on her and shot her through the breast, Xfcw leaps 

 and nil was over with her. Looking across the cafion, 1 sasv 

 a law u running up a steep bluff', and I fired at it. striking 

 just ahead of it, which seemed to utterly confound the tittle 

 thing, bringing it to a sudden halt. Another shot seas 

 quickly tired, mid the little fellow luuibkd. With this 1 

 slopped shooting, knowing that 1 had meat enough to do 

 me and my neighbors a week. The deer Were all very fat; 

 1 have never seen them fatter; and I do believe thai the ci- 

 doe was the most beautiful deer that ever my eyes rested on. 

 In color a deep bluish-gray, hair as soft as velvet, muscles 

 all standing out in clear outline, eye? large and clear. She 

 was a picture on which 1 feasted for some minutes. It 

 almost seemed a sacrilege to put the knife to her. But a 

 hunter must not be loo a'Sthetic. Turning from the poetry 

 of sport, I took up the prose. Soon sve had our meat hau] 

 iug b convenient trees to remain until next morning, when 

 we hired a Mexican With a couple of burros lo bring it in. 



As we returned In early morning it was my good fortune 



