24 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 



Devoted to Fielb and Aquatic Sports, Practical Natttbal History, 

 Fr-'^uRi, the Protection op Game, Preservation op Forests, 

 A2?d the Inculcation in Men and Women op a healthy interest 

 m Out-door Recreation and Study : 



PUBLISHED BY 



Sowzt xttd Jf /r uawf §ttbtishittg @ampatig, 



AT — - 



17 CHATHAM STREET, (CITY HALL SQUARE) NEW YORK, 



[Post Oppice Box 2832.] 



127 SOUTH THIRD STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 



Terms, Five Dollars a Year, Strictly In Advance. 



— — ♦ ~ 



A discount of twenty per cent, allowed for five copies and upwards. 



Advertising Rates. 



In regular advertising columns, nonpareil type, 12 lines to the inch, 2E 

 Cents per line. Advertisements on outside page, 40 cents per line. Reading 

 notices, 50 cents per line. Advertisements in double column 25 per cent, 

 extra. Where advertisements are inserted over 1 month, a discount of 

 10 per cent, will be made; over three months, 20 per cent; over six 

 jnonths, 30 per cent. 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1875. 



To Correspondents. 



All communications whatever, whether relating to business or literary 

 Correspondence, must be addressed to The Fobbst ahd Stream Pub- 

 lishiko Company. Personal or private letters of course excepted. 



All communications intended for publication must be accompanied with 

 real name, as a guaranty of good faith. Names will not be published if 

 objection be made. No anonymous contributions will be regarded. 



Articles relating to any topic within the scope of this paper are solicited. 



We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 



Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us with brief 

 notes of their movements and transactions, as it is the aim of this pap^pr 

 to become a medium of useful and reliable information between gentle- 

 men sportsmen from one end of the country to the other ; and they will 

 find our columns a desirable medium for advertising announcements. 



The Publishers of Forest and Stream aim to merit and secure the 

 patronage and countenance of that portion of the community whose re- 

 fined intelligence enables them to properly appreciate and enjoy all that 

 iB beautiful in Nature. It will pander to no depraved tastes, nor pervert 

 the legitimate sports of land and water to those base uses which always 

 tend to make them unpopular with the virtuous and good. No advertise- 

 ment or business notice of an immoral character will be received on any 

 terms ; and nothing will be admitted to any department of the paper that 

 may not be read with propriety in the home circle. 



We cannot be responsible for the dereliction of the mail service, if 

 money remitted to us is lost. 



Advertisements should be sent in by Saturday of each week, if possible. 



CHARLES HALLOCK, Editor. 



WILLIAM C. HARRIS, Business Manager. 



CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE COM- 

 ING WEEK. 



Thursday, August 19th . —Trotting at Utica and Delaware, Ohio. 



Fbidav, August 20th.— Trotting at TJtica and Georgetown, Ky. Re- 

 gatta at Martha's Vineyard. 



Saturday, August 21st. — Creedmoor competition for Luther Badge; 

 do. Seventh Eegiment ''shells.'" Chicago Yacht Club Itegatta. Base 

 ball, Athletic vs. Chicago, at Chicago. 



Monday, August 23d.— Creedmoor, Seventh Regiment "rifles." Base 

 Ball, Athletic vs. St. Louis, at St. Louis. 



Tuesday, August 24th.- Trotting at Springfield. Racing at Mon- 

 mouth Park. Provincial Rifle Meeting at Fredericton, N. B. Interna- 

 tional Amateur Regatta at Saratoga. Trotting at Morrisville and Bethel, 

 Vt., Earlville, 111., and Lawrence, Mass. 



Wednesday, August 25th. —Trotting as above. Regatta at Saratoga 

 continued. Trotting at Simcoe, Canada. 



Another Long Boat Voyaqe.— Canoeing voyages are 

 becoming popular since our friend N. H. Bishop set such a 

 notable and brave example. Our readers will see by the 

 following note that there is another long, cruise already in 

 progress, the voyagers contemplating a trip from Kansas 

 to Florida *and back. What makes the adventure more in- 

 teresting is, that there are two ladies'm the case; their cour- 

 age will command the admiration of all. The total length 

 of the round trip is about 4,000 miles:— 



Ithaca, N. Y., August 12th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : — 



I have recently arrived here from Alexandria Bay, having rowed that 

 distance in a small, Clayton-built boat, accompanied by Mr. Howard 

 Wilson of Leavenworth, Kansas, where we both reside. We came via 

 the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario to Oswego, and thence by 

 Oswego' River, Erie Canal, Seneca River and Cayuga Lake. The trip 

 was novel and delightful beyond our expectations, and so well pleased 

 are we with its results that we have arranged to prolong it indefinitely. 

 Mr. Jarvis, the well known canoe builder, formerly of Watkins, is 

 building us two 18-foot Baden Powell canoes, and with these, accompa- 

 nied by my wife and daughter, and Mr. A. C. Carpenter of Ithaca, we 

 hope to reach Jacksonville, Fla.,and if no serious obstacle presents 

 itself we will return to our homes in Kansas in the Spring by the same 

 mode of conveyance. We will start about September 1st, going down 

 the Susquehanna and Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk. Prom that point our 

 course is undetermined, and we are forced to fall back upon your appar- 

 ently exhaustless fund of information. Will you be kind enough to 

 advise us as to the most practicable route, or refer me to some party who 

 can do so? Is the route along the coast from Norfolk practicable, or is 

 there not an inland course by river or canal? Respectfully, 



D. P. Fairchlld. 



Mr, Fairchild is Secretary of the Great Western (steam 

 engine) Manufacturing Company, of Leavenworth, Kansas. 

 "We have provided him with such information as will un- 

 doubtedly serve his purpose. Success to the voyage ! 



SHOOTING OUT OF SEASON. 



THE violation of the game laws is now constant and 

 general throughout the country, notwithstanding 

 severe legal penalties, the multiplication of protective 

 clubs, both State and local, and the sweeping jurisdiction 

 of the National Association. It is just the season of the 

 year when such violations may be expected— when they 

 become frequent by the temptation and opportunity that 

 exist to provoke them. Nearly all kinds of four-footed 

 and feathered game are approaching maturity. The fawns 

 are large and weaned, the old deer are foraging for their 

 fall fat, and the birds are on the wing, old and young to- 

 gether, and whenever any of these come within gun range 

 there is a disposition to pull the trigger, even among the 

 most conservative of us. Who will deny it? This is the 

 temptation. Who will not justify to himself the act by a 

 special plea for the attendant circumstances? It may be 

 the necessity of the larder, the insatiate desire of the epi- 

 cure, the instinct of the sportsman to pursue and kill, or 

 the avarice of the market-shooter; the poor man may be 

 starving, the sportsman in camp may be reduced to short 

 commons; the market-shooter who chooses to depend 

 upon his gun for a livelihood, may be out at the elbow and 

 in debt for ammunition. Many and diverse are the con- 

 ditions when a man may compromise with his conscience. 

 "He tempted me and I did eat:" this was the primitive ex- 

 cuse. "I had my gun with me and I could not resist:" 

 this is the modern. It is evident that something stronger 

 than moral suasion, or moral force is needed to compel 

 even ourselves to observe our self-imposed restrictions. 

 We must put on a straight jacket. When we go 

 into the field or into the cover, the gun must be 

 left on its pegs or in its case. Then it will kill no 

 game. The well disposed and law abiding can check them- 

 selves in this way. For the rest there should be a penalty, 

 if they are found about the woods or prairies with a gun 

 at unlawful times. 



The opportunity that is offered to kill game out of sea- 

 son with comparative impunity is afforded by our imper- 

 fect game laws, which vary so much that some persons are 

 totally ignorant of close times and open seasons, while 

 others can evade thei,r provisions by a plea of ignorance. 

 Almost daily instances of violation are brougnt to our no- 

 tice by correspondents, who seem to be vigilant, but are 

 either reluctant or powerless to prevent. We are begged 

 to take the matter in hand, or asked for information how 

 to proceed. The fact is, no individual is willing to incur 

 odium, and often personal risk, by becoming an informer 

 especially if the offender b*e an acquaintance. In the 

 words of the immortal Tweed, "We know how it is our- 

 selves." It is obvious that a total reconstruction of the 

 laws is needed, before much can be done in the matter of 

 preservation. For that we must wait, willy nilly, hoping 

 that it may soon come. We, with thousands of others, 

 will anxiously await the action of the Legislatures this 

 Winter upon drafts of new laws that may be offered from 

 several sources— chief of which are the National and Inter-, 

 national Associations. Summer heats and Summer vaca- 

 tions now retard the efforts of committees, but colder 

 weather will be productive of things accomplished. Mean- 

 while, under the present laws, the easiest way to prosecute 

 offenders is through club organizations. Let the club as 

 a body be recognized as the informer or prosecutor, and de- 

 fend its members as it would its honor and integrity. 

 Where clubs do not exist it is well to organize them. 



We alluded in a recent issue of this journal to the open 

 sale of partridges at Saratoga, or rather to those birds being 

 served at the fashionable hotels at unseasonable times. 

 Referring to this statement, a correspondent has informed 

 us by letter that the whole northern country, from Amster- 

 dam to Northville is infested with pot-shooters, who hunt 

 for the Saratoga market. "All is game that comes in their 

 way," he says; "robins, meadow larks, woodcock, and 

 partridges. Their boxes of game pass through our ex- 

 press office daily, marked for their respective landlords at 

 Saratoga, and I have noticed the Monday morning stage 

 bringing its ice-packed boxes, a pretty sure sign of Sunday 

 hunting." 



There is no trouble here to determine the real culprits 

 who aid and abet the violation of the law by giving em- 

 ployment and profit to the hunters. They are accessories 

 before the fact. How to punish and check these powerful 

 offenders, with their own wealth and the influence of their 

 potential guests behind them, has been the problem that 

 puzzled. The solution is to be reached through club or- 

 ganization. Saratoga is to have a game protective club 

 which will be composed of weighty numbers and influen- 

 tial men. When this is formed, a prosecution may obtain. 

 The woodcock law seems to interpose a serious obstacle to 

 the enforcement of the general bird law, for our corres- 

 pondent says that "everything that flies is included as 

 woodcock, regardless of size or color, and as the pot-hun- 

 ter's game is generally picked, drawn, [bills cut off?] and 

 packed on ice, it is hard work to tell just what they are." 

 It is very discouraging for gentlemen who maintain ken- 

 nels of fine dogs, as our correspondent says he and several 

 of his neighbors do at great expense, for the sake of hunt* 

 ing during the few weeks of the open season, to know that 

 game birds for miles around them are being shot off by 

 market hunters for weeks before the law permits them to 

 participate. Nevertheless, we trust that they will keep the 

 law in all things and abide their time, which will surely 

 come. Another contributor reports that rail, which are 

 not in season until September 1st, have been shot near 

 Philadelphia, for two weeks past. We are personally 



aware that deer have been shot in John Brown's Tract 

 previous to the 1st of August. 



In this connection a New Jersey correspondent writes: 



"I am happy to inform you that one of the parties alluded to in a pre- 

 vious letter as having violated the woodcock law, came to grief during 

 last month. He and his companion were prosecuted and fined three (3) 

 dollars per head for killing forty-three woodcock in the month of J llrie 

 The whole bill they probably had to pay amounted to $140. These un- 

 fortunate parties owe mu^h to the leniency of the jury, and yet I can't 

 see how the jury got over carrying out the spirit and letter of the law to 

 its fullest extent of $5 per bird. I think other punishments in other 

 cases will follow swift and sure, if this unlawful shooting is not stopped 

 This is a move in the right direction, and the only effectual way to cor- 

 rect the evil. The infliction of the penalty in this single cat,e will exert 

 a most salutary and wholesome influence through our sporting fraternity 

 and cause a more sincere and general respect for the observance of the 

 game laws. I trust ad sportsmen, interested in this locality will make a 

 note of these facts and figures and govern themselves accordingly, and 

 than we will all have an equal chance to enjoy our shooting." jf. 



ASSISTANCE TO SHIPS IN DISTRESS. 



♦ 



SOME years ago we remember to have seen noticed in 

 the English press the necessity that existed for a sys- 

 tematic plan being formed for the purpose of rendering 

 assistance to distressed ships at sea. If the thing were 

 deemed urgent then, how much more so now, when the 

 ships, both steam and -sailing, have increased to such an 

 extent! The proposition was, if we remember rightly 

 that there ought to be established by the chief maritime 

 nations a complete surveillance over the most frequented 

 parts of the ocean; that a number of fast steamships 

 should be put in commission (to form what, in want of a 

 better term, we would denominate the "Police Force of 

 the Sea,") and should be ably officered and well manned 

 as they would be expected to cruise the North Atlantic 

 continually, particularly that portion lying between New 

 York and the entrance of the English Channel, which con- 

 stitutes the great ocean highway traversed by the mercan- 

 tile marine of Europe and America. This scheme appears 

 feasible, and pending its adoption, -doubtless the proposi- 

 tion would be just, that the countries owning the greatest 

 number of ships and possessing the most trade should fur- 

 nish the chief contingent of this Flying Squadron. The 

 home-bound or European part of the fleet would of neces- 

 sity, by traverse sailings, narrow to very close limits, and 

 cross in every direction the intermediate sections not sailed 

 over by the outward-bound or American part, and viee versa; 

 so that the probability is that but very little, if any, floating 

 material could elude the scrutiny of so many watchful 

 eyes and powerful telescopes, at least under favorable cir- 

 cumstances. The vessels' hulls and spars to be painted of 

 a uniform color, and that, too, of a shade the most dis- 

 tinguishable at long distances. This oneness of outline, to 

 the practiced eye of the seaman, would at once indicate 

 the proximity of the mariner's friend, and create a certain 

 feeling of security in those who navigate the American 

 Ferry, (or, as Lieut, Murray termed it, the Steam Lane,) 

 akin to that experienced in a populous city, where the 

 guardians of the public weal ably and willingly perform 

 their duties. Many lives, we admit, have been saved and 

 much valuable property picked up casually by ships cross- 

 ing the Atlantic; but how much more efficiently would the 

 plan proposed be found to operate — how many more pining, 

 perishing castaways would run the certainty of rescue, 

 under the closer and continuous persistency of this higher 

 development of the life-boat system! Besides, what a, 

 number of valuable derelicts might we not expect to be 

 secured and towed into ports— a great gain, verily— instead 

 of floating in the pathway of ship*, presenting a lurking 

 and uncharted danger, of whose neighborhood the mariner 

 has no .warning! On the first blush the inauguration of 

 this nautical novelty might seem Quixotic; but when we 

 observe that an expedition much less practical (although 

 decidedly scientific in its aims) and costing thousands of 

 pounds, has been launched into the unknown and dreary 

 Arctic seas, we do not despair of the one under discussion 

 meeting favor in some quarters; for what, after all, have 

 the two ships— H. M.S. Swallow and the Commodore— of 

 this port, been attempting of late but what would have 

 been done more efficiently by the agency of the Flying 

 Squadron ? It would be no more than we might fairly ex- 

 pect from the wealth, intellect and energy of England and 

 America, at least, that they would create one such safety 

 system for the greater security of those who are found 

 upon the sea, as the Atlantic is pre-eminently the inheri- 

 tance of these nations and doubtless will be that of their 

 children. On the line of lurking rocks and hidden shoals 

 that fringe the seaboard, we find the lightship moored, 

 with her various colored lights and signal guns, which pre- 

 vent many a fatal collision in the dark and stormy hour. 

 But out upon the pathless deep, anomalous though it seem, 

 the same forethought is not brought into action; there the 

 treacherous berg and the more extended ice field, equally 

 treacherous, are to be met, unsignalled, unlighted, and un- 

 buoyed, and the only intimation the mariner has of their 

 advance is, in many instances, the sad experience that 

 befel the unfortunates of the ill-fated Vicksburg. A great 

 deal has been accomplished in the cause of humanity, but 

 much more remains, and a scheme similar to what we now 

 advocate is a necessity and the chief maritime desideratum 



of our times. — A. M., St. Johns, Newfoundland. 

 - -♦*♦• 



— Florida is preparing for visitors next Winter, the num- 

 ber of which multiplies yearly. One hotel to accommo- 

 date 200 - guests is to be erected in Jacksonville; another 

 will be built at Green Cove Springs with a front of 400 feet 

 and two wings of 200 feet each; W. Ansley, of St. 

 Augustine will put up a new hotel there, and the old St, 

 Augustine Hotel is to have an immense addition. 



