300 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



few moments, while the rest of the party also did good 

 work. During the day they killed three deer, and struck 

 the fresh trail of a bear, but having no suitable dogs 

 abandoned it. The game in this region is abundant. The 

 young sportsman, just from New York, Mr. N Edgar, 

 visited Anastatia Tsland last Friday with the famous Indian 

 doer trailer, U-wah ne. Three deer were started, but the 

 island being mostly under water, they were not successfully 

 followed. There are a number of excellent hunters among 

 the Indians here. - 0. A. K. 



Iowa — Davenport, Dec. Qth. — There has been poor shoot- 

 ing here this Fall—no game at all, so far. H. B, P. 



Indiana— Valparaiso, Dec. 8th. —Pinnated grouse (Gu- 

 pidonis cupido) were abundant, and are'still. I made several 

 good bags over my dog, Ned, who, by the way, is one of 

 the best in this section of country. Duck shooting was a 

 failure. Our Kankakee marshes were full of water, ^ and a 

 remarkable growth of wild rice rendered it almost impos- 

 sible for the shooter to reach them, or for the dog to re- 

 trieve them. Quail are not in great numbers, but sufficient 

 to afford good sport. They were thirty days late in hatch- 

 ing this year, and I heartily favor a law making the close 

 season until Nov. 1st or 15th; let it be uniform at all 

 events. Ruffed grouse are found in all our groves and 

 thickets, and I have thus far bagged enough to afford me 

 several excellent dinners. Wild turkeys are reported to be 

 more than usually plenty north of us, about ten miles, and 

 deer shooting in the Kankakee swamps will be excellent, 

 if the ice makes and snow falls before the close season 

 comes on. This will not matter much to many lawless 

 characters, who regard neither law nor reason. Any 

 sportsmen coming this way will receive a hearty welcome. 



W. H. HOLABIED. 



Michigan— Birmingham, Dec. 4^.— Game is game in this 

 section. Woodcock are where the "woodbine twineth;" 

 partridge are "wild as hawks" and "scarce as hen's teeth;" 

 quail are few and far between, though some of our shoot- 

 ers once in a while get a fair bag. George H. Toms and J. 

 O. Beattie bagged 7 quail and 3 partridges one day, the lar- 

 gest yet. If you know to a certainty where a bevy of 

 quail are, the farmer is sure to tell you "he has not seen 

 them since the latter part of seeding time." Turkeys are 

 not yet heard of. Squirrels have been very plenty, as well 

 as rabbits. We must have a game law to prohibit shooting 

 of all and everything for five years, and then something 

 may increase. Although our country is full of lakes, the 

 ducks could lay without crowding in a wash-tub. 



J. Allen Bigelow. 



Minnesota— Shakopee, Dec. Qth.— Owing to the mild 

 weather with thaws and bare ground, that has succeeded 

 the second cold snap, with its snow and sleighing, the 

 chances are that our deer here in the valley will pretty 

 much escape for the balance of the season, which closes 

 Dec 15th. * 



Canada— Montreal, Dec. 4th.— Mr. Cauchon brought into 

 market this morning four magnificent cariboo which he 

 had captured in the mountains back of Cuateau Bigat. 

 This makes eight the redoubtable hunter has already cap- 

 tured this season. 



-♦*♦■ 



GATLING SMOOTH BORE FOR SNIPE. 



Jackson, Miss., November 27th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I wish to say a word for the benefit of such of your readers as count 

 birds by the hundred in a few hours' snipe shooting on Barnegat Bay and 

 call it sport, where a man and his son killed thirty-seven robin snipe 

 with three barrels out of one flock; to market shooters, who "turn her 

 loose" where "she 1 ' will do most execution at birds auywhere and at all 

 times; and for the benefit of such men as "Zack Light" last Winter, 

 who, while on a buffalo hunt one day squatted down in a buffalo wallow 

 (after crawling and getting a stand on a herd of buffalo) and killed sev- 

 enty-four head of buffalo j'ist where he sat in the wallow. He killed 

 that Winter 2,300 head. "The rest of us killed about 1,200 head." (See 

 circular of Sharps Rifle Company . ) To all such men I would recommend 

 the idea of a townsman of ours, who wrote to the Chief of Ordnance at 

 Washington, in regard to having a Gatling gun built to shoot ducks. The 

 chief referred the gentleman to Dr. Gatling, who wrote that he had never 

 thought about the practicability of using one of his guns for flock shoot- 

 ing. 



Just think of it! A flock of ducks or robin snipe, partridges, or grouse 

 annihilated with one turn of the crank. Let the grouse pack as much 

 as they like; the more the better. The Gatling will get them. And the 

 buffaloes! why, bless my soul, the Gatling will soon exterminate them. 

 I tell you, sir, we will then have sport! Think of the notices you will be 

 able to give— "Mr. S. P. Orfc was at Barnegat yesterday with his No, 2 

 Gatling gun. He bagged 1,399 bay birds in a little while, and one turn of 

 his crank at a flock of robin ^tfpe brought down 301 of them; that was 

 the best shot of the season so far. Our shootists say that bay birds are 

 really oecoming scarce." 



Think what a splendid chance you will have to report about the P. O. 

 T. Hunters club's expedition after grouse on an Illinois or Kansas prai- 

 rie, twenty members, with ten Gatling guns abreast, going slowly ahead 

 and turning "her" loose as covey after covey of chickens get up. What a 

 bag! Bag; Pshaw! train loads of chickens. Think of the philanthropy of 

 the thing in the way of cheap food. No more bloated aristocrats eating 

 grouse. No, chickens for the million ! No doubt those miserable gran- 

 gers would be eaten tip with the grasshoppers, and a few old fogies 

 would complain that it was not sport, but rest assured that they are inti- 

 quaries with a 12-bore shot gun ; men behind the times ; old impracti cables 

 who must be swept aside like cobwebs and not impede the march of civ- 

 ilization. 



I have not patented the idea, Mr. Editor. It belongs to the same gen- 

 tleman who built a dam across Pearl River, with a trap attached, to catch 

 all the fish that would go in. Said dam was swept away by the first rise, 

 as we intend to sweep away the old fogy notions of that class of gunners 

 calling themselves true sportsmen. Hurrah for the Gatling "sporting" 

 eDn ! Geo. C. Etrich. 



* " , +*+~ 



PANTHERS IN VERMONT. 



Grafton, Vt., November 29th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



We have in our quiet Green Mountain town a small club of gentlemen 

 styled the Northwest Fur Company, who devote their energies to fox 

 hunting. Their President, Mr. Leveret Phelps, informs me that their 

 success this season has been better than usual, and that foxes are very 

 numerous on our hills. Last week a party of six gentlemen, with dogs, 

 from Taunton, Mass . , visited us and had very fine sport, taking home 

 with them the skins of nine foxes, one live fox, and a large showing of 

 ruffed grouse and rabbits. Of the former our woods are foil, and as we 

 have very few local sportsmen, and the boys have never been initiated 

 into the mysteries of snaring them, the birds have a chance to live and 

 grow. I know of no better hunting ground for this game. Rabbits are 

 not as plenty as they have heretofore been, which may be accounted for 

 by the numbers of foxes. Of racoons we have numbers; one mm ft day 

 or two since captured four. 



Our neighboring town of West Wardsboro had quite an excitement a 

 few days since. Two men discovered the tracks of some large animal, 

 which they supposed to be a bear, and followed them up to a small piece 

 of woods. It being nearly night they abandoned the tracks and organ- 

 ized a hunt for the next day. About fifteen men and dogs the following 

 morning surrounded the woods; three of the men took up the track 

 through the woods, and shortly came to the remains of a hedgehog, 

 partly eaten, and then to the bed of some large animal. The dogs which 

 they were leading became frantic; the game was evidently close by. Soon 

 one of the party discovered an animal in a tree near at hand, and firing 

 his shot gun brought down a panther. He was wounded in the breast, 

 and in the fall broke one of his shoulders. On falling, the dogs attacked 

 him, and a lively scene ensued. The panther leaped over a fallen tree 

 top, taking two of the dogs with him. The men came up and grasped 

 the animal's tail, the dogs still attending to the other end of the beast, 

 who again jumped another tree top, leaving the men on the other side 

 still attached to the caudal extremity, when one of them bethought him- 

 self of his revolver, and emptied that into him. He was finally quieted 

 by having his throat cut with a jack knife. The animal weighed 105 

 pounds, and measured seven feet from tip to tip. S. W.G. 



DEER HUNTING. 



Sunbury, Penn., November 29th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



For the benefit of those of your readers who are fond of deer hunting, 

 I give you a brief description of a trip, from which I have just returned, 

 to Sinnemahoning, a station on the Philadelphia and Erie Railway, up 

 the west branch of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. I and two friends 

 left Sunbury on Wednesday noon of the 17th of November, and at half 

 past five in the afternoon were at our destination, the Sinnemahoning 

 Hotel, Joe M. Shaffer, proprietor, a quarter of a mile from the depot at 

 the junction of "first fork," and main stream of the Sinnemahoning, 

 and prepared to fix up business for the morrow. We hunted six days, 

 ran from two to five deer each day, and five deer came to grief ahead of 

 our dogs, two ©f which were shot by outsiders. This is essentially a 

 place for driving with dogs, the topography of the country being broken 

 into narrow defiles and steep ridges. 



On Monday, the 22d— for we rested on the seventh day— we went for a 

 drive in the "Carthouse Range." Our first start resulted in a failure of 

 any of the party securing a shot, but the second was more successful, 

 Joe M., our host, a thorough sportsman and gentleman, detecting a fine 

 forked buck endeavoring to sneak away from Fida, who was working up 

 the cold track. He gave him a charge of buckshot at about sixty yards, 

 but alas, the music of the hounds grew faitly less till lost in the dim dis- 

 tance. On our return at night we heard with mingled satisfaction and 

 disappointment that our dogs had brought the buck to water about a 

 mile above the house and quit it, the deer crossing the river and taking 

 the ridge on the other side. We felt sure of compelling him to go to 

 water again the next morning where he went out; but the fates ordered 

 otherwise, for after getting him afloat, and bringing him to the brow of 

 the mountain, sore from a buckshot wound in his brisket, he declined to 

 take the descent, and suddenly wheeling went straight up the ridge and 

 back into the mountains. 



We had taken out with the pack two four months old hound pups to 

 receive their first lesson; one soon gave up, but the little black and tan 

 fellow followed in grand style, tongueing his level best in the rear of the 

 old dogs. After holding our stands until it became apparent that the 

 deer was not intending to take his back track to water, rain and sleet 

 having set in, we returned to the hotel. Dinner over, and all the dogs 

 back but Lead, Fido, and the pup— let us christen him Ginger— "Speaker 

 Jim," a brother of Joe M., donned his rubbers and started out to find 

 that pnp or perish in the attempt. He was back in two hours with the 

 buck and Ginger. The dogs had brought him to bay at a place called 

 Turtle Hole, in Grove's Run, Lead, Fido, and Ginger holding him there 

 from the gray of morning until two in the afternoon. If you want to 

 know the price of that pup you must ask the "Speaker." I will only say, 

 further, that I regret that the close season is no near at hand— 1st of De- 

 cember— as to debar any one so inclined the pleasure of a chase there 

 this season, but there are other seasons to follow, and I wish to say, in 

 meed of the Shaffers, that they keep a hotel in the true sense of the 

 word for sportsmen, know their wants and requirements, and are pre- 

 pared to meet them. They keep a fine pack of hounds, wagons and horses, 

 and any one who essays their hospitality will find that he will be placed 

 upon the best stands, where he can kill the deer himself if he knows 

 how, with no ulterior motive of driver or placer trying to steal the shot 

 ahead of him, and will find in Jim Batchelder a sober and indefatigable 

 driver, who is not going to let a deer lie quietly in his bed if he is any- 

 where in those woods, nor will he be a great distance behind the hounds 

 in coming in at the death. Indian Joe, a cousin, and Christopher C, 

 familiarly known as "Lum" Shaffer, another brother, are clever fellows 

 and good hunters, and there are others also who will vie with each other 

 to make the trip pleasurable . On the whole, its accessibility, combined 

 with the sport and accommodations, make it a good place' to go to, and 

 if I were in the proprietor's place I would advertise in and subscribe for 

 Forest and Stream. I have a pleasant recollection of as fine a basket 

 of trout as I have caught in many a day, taken from Wykofi 's Run, di- 

 rectly across from the hotel, then kept by Perkins, nine years ago, when 

 up in that region surveying pine timber lands. There are also three or 

 four other good streams accessible from this point. Grouse are also said 

 to be abundant in the early season. We saw but few, owing to the fact 

 that they are now in packs upon the mountains. I had the satisfaction 

 of clipping one fellow's head off with my rifle, for I don't shoot buck- 

 shot. A. F. Clapp. 

 •++*• 



HARE SHOOTING. 



Httmytl$. 



New York, December 7th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



In your valuable paper, under date of December 2d, is an interesting 

 article on rabbits and hares, which suggests much fun to an experienced 

 hunter by the judicious use of a hound and shot gun. If the experi- 

 enced hunter were to use a breech loading rifle instead of a shot gun, I 

 think he would get as much game and have more sport. I have just re- 

 turned from the Adirondacks, where, finding the snow too noisy for suc- 

 cessful deer hunting, I turned my attention to the hares, and used a 

 Smith & Wesson revolver, with a shoulder attachment, and a couple of 

 hounds, while my guide used a shot gun. The result was one more hare 

 for the gun than for the pistol, but half the hares killed by the gun were 

 so mutilated that they were given to the hounds, cats, and pigs. As the 

 shooting in the swamps is of necessity at very short range— say ten to 

 twenty yards— it does not require a very expert marksman to put a ball 

 through the head of a hare if it is sitting upright; and if a hare had the 

 appearance of having a pressing engagement in the next swamp I found 

 that the report of the pistol always induced it to stop and look about to 

 ascertain, if possible, what was the matter, thus giving plenty of time 

 for a careful shot, whicii at so short a range always proved fatal. 

 Moral: When in a hurry, don't stop. Please explain, if you can, why 

 the little fools stop so quickly when shot at? Unless an experienced 

 hunter can use a shot gun better than my guide, I would suggest the sub- 

 stitution of a light breech loading rifle, so that his game may be fit for 

 the table. F. G. 



All Sobts. — Affidavits are the latest sensations in billiard 

 circles. Maurice Daly took the initiatory by making one 

 last week to the effect that he did his best to win his last 

 match with Cyrille Dion. This was done to decide a bet 

 of $50 against $10, made between Charles A. Fink and 

 Tim Flynn, the former laying the odds that Daly would 



not make such affidavit Gamier won a pair of oxen at the 



Jewish Fair held at the Hippodrome. The ticket cost him 



$5, and a butcher gave him $350 for the steers Cyrille 



Dion has not decided yet whether or not he will accept 



Garnier's challenge. He has ten days to consider For 



the past week two gentlemen of this city have been stren- 

 uously endeavoring to get on a match between Slosson and 

 Sexton, but neither player appears to be satisfied with the 

 conditions. Sexton, however, authorizes us to state that 

 he will play Slosson for $500, but not on a wire cushion. . . . 

 The entries for the Tournament, at Toronto under the 

 management of Sam'l May, will close Wednesday December 



15 The Rochester, N. Y., tournament has fallen 



through owing to the absence of some of the principal 



players Simon Fitzgerald on Friday night lost the first 



game of a series of ten for $25 each game. His opponent 

 is an amateur of no mean skill, and the games are half and 

 half, three and four ball. . . .James Cusick is in charge of 

 the Union Square Rooms, owned by the late Chris O'Con- 

 nor. . ..Maurice Daly left on the 8th inst for Florida via. 

 steamer to Savannah. The trip is purely in the interest of 

 his health, and his stay there will be governed accordingly. 



Gotham is threatened with a tournament at fifteen-ball 



pool A prominent sporting man of Providence is willing 



to back Clarke E- Wilson against Ned Bryan of that city for 

 $500. The game to be fifteen-ball pool, best in twenty-one 



games, and played in this city Cyrille Dion and Gamier 



exhibited at Hoboken last week. Two games were played 

 —four-ball 500 points, and three-ball 200 points. Gamier 

 won both.. ..The tournament sometime since, started at 

 the Fifth Avenue Hotel, between a number of amateurs for 

 an elegant champion cue, valued at $25, was completed at 



the Columbia Rooms. Mr. M tied with Mr. W , and 



on the play-off Mr. M won. The various games created 



much excitement among the players and their friends, and 

 the struggles to obtain possession of the trophy won on 

 Saturday last will prove a source of great enjoyment 



through the winters to the parties contesting The Billiard 



Cue for December, published by H. W. Collender, con- 

 tains a finely executed illustration, entitled: "Monkeys as 



Billiard Players " An unknown player called Drew has 



been stirring up the New Orleans players lately. He says 

 he is from Texas. Henry Miller took hold of him, giving 

 the odds of discount, but finding that too heavy, went 

 down to fifty points in 300, at which odds the Unknown 

 captured $25. This got Henry's blood up, and he would 

 only play even. A match was finally made for $75, which, 

 after a protracted struggle, was won by Miller, with 38 

 points. The question now agitating the billiardists is: 



" Who is Drew ?" Albert Hoa has come into possession 



of $40,000 through the decease of a relative. . .-.The Union 

 Club of this city have ordered six tables from the factory of 



H. W. Collender Ralph Benjamin is at Durand's room, 



corner of Broadway and Thirty-second street Phillip 



Tieman, of Cincinnati, is making arrangements for a tour- 

 nament to take place in that city next month. The entries 

 are restricted to the amateur players of Ohio, the following 

 of whom have signified their willingness to compete : 

 Frank Ratteman, Wm. Meyers, John Meyers, Nick Ber- 

 nard, and William West. The prizes have not yet been 



decided on On the evening of December 8 a meeting of 



Philadelphia professionals was held at E. H. Nelms', where 

 resolutions of sorrow and sympathy were passed on the 



death of Chris O'Connor Miggioli vs. Burleigh— At Odd 



Fellows Hall, New Orleans, on December 9, the long-talked 

 of match between William Burleigh, formerly of Kala- 

 mazoo, Michigan, and Frank Maggioli (champion), of 

 New Orleans, took place before a large and enthusiastic 

 assemblage. The contest was for the championship of the 

 Northwest and Southwest. The badsre representing which 

 now goes back to Chicago, where it was originally won in 

 the tournament of last April. Henry Miller, of New 

 Orleans, who won it at that time was subsequently chal- 

 lenged by Henry Rhines, of Chicago, whom he defeated on 

 July 8. Frank Maggioli, of New Orleans was the next 

 challenger. The game took place on September 9. Mag- 

 gioli winning: by a score of 500 to 354, with the small 

 average of '5 60-88. The northwestern people selected 

 another warrior in the person of Wm. Burleigh and des- 

 patched him to the Delta to see what he could do. Their 

 confidence was not misplaced, as the result of this game has 

 proven, he beating Maggioli by a majority of 135 points. 

 Burleigh was the favorite prior to the game at the odds of 

 $100 to $60, no doubt occasioned by the poor show made 

 by Maggioli in his practice games, he having been beaten 

 easily the night before by Schafer, 290 points in 500. 

 Schafer credited himself with an average of 16f and a run 

 of 109. The following is the summary : Odd Fellows 

 Hall, New Orleans, La., December 9, 1875. Third regular 

 contest for the three-ball Championship of the Northwest 

 and Southwest; the badge ind $500 a side, between Frank 

 Maggioli (champion), of New Orleans, and Wm. Burleigh, 

 of Chicago. Game, 500 points on a 5x10 table, with H. 

 W. Collender cushions. Score— Burleigh, 500; Maggioli, 

 365 Averages— Burleigh, 9 14-54; Maggioli, 6 47-53. Best 

 runs— Burleigh, 69; Maggioli, 33. Referee— Louis Abrams. 



— Articles of agreement have been signed for a veloci- 

 pede race between A. P. Messenger and W. E. Harding 

 for $250 a side. The race will take plaee at the American 

 Institute Building, on Friday, December 17, commencing 

 at eleven P. M. , and continuing twenty-six hours. One 

 hundred dollars of the stake money has already been de- 

 posited, and the balance will be placed in the hands of F. 

 5. Englehardt on the 16th inst, 



Gbecq-Roman Wkestling.— The last of these events 

 was decided on Saturday evening at the Grand Opera 

 House and provided one of the finest exhibitions of athle- 

 tics ever witnessed in this country, The participants were 

 Messrs. Andre Christol, whose massive yet agile form 

 has become familiar to New Yorkers, and Prof essor Bauer, 

 recently from San Francisco, in which city he has haa 

 several struggles with his present antagonist. The rounds 

 on Saturday evening were short but displayed won- 

 derful skill. Christol won the first fall in eight minutes, 

 Bauer winning the second and third and the stakes, 

 amounting to $1,000 in twelve and twenty -five minutes re- 

 spectively. The last fall was splendidly contested. Again 

 and again they locked arms and struggled and panted, 

 sometime one or the other being thrown completely over 

 his antagonists head but always escaping without both his 

 shoulders touching the ground. Finally, Christol, inmaK- 

 ing a herculean effort to hurl Bauer to the ground, was 

 carried with him and before he could extricate himseii 

 Bauer grasped him around the peck and turned his shoul- 

 ders firmly down. 



