FOREST AND STREAM 



393 



of the rivers and bay with, salmon, and also the acclimation of eastern 

 fish, such as the shad, black bass, lobsters, etc. Now, the supplies of 

 fish in the Bay of San Francisco have been steadily increasing for a 

 number of years, and at last people in general have begun to take no- 

 tice of it. There is a law prohibiting the killing of the sea lions which 

 live at the entrance to the bay, because they, inhabiting exclusively two 

 or three large rocks immediately below the Cliif House, are a sort of 

 natural curiosity, and almost the only one we have to show visitors. 

 The Legislature is now recommended to repeal this law, on the ground 

 that the lions are eating all the fish. They undoubtedly musi. eat a con- 

 siderable quantity; but the real source of the diminution will be seen 

 from the following extract from the Antioch (Cal.) Ledger:— 



"Only a few days since," says the Ledger, "we watched the modus 

 operandi of catching fish on the San Joaquin. Two Chinese iunks or 

 schooners appeared in the river, each holding the end of a remarkably 

 fine net. The schooners then separated and swept the waters with the 

 net to the shore. Fish of all sizes are tnus caught, and none, not even 

 the smallest salmon trout, are ever returned to the water. Those too 

 snvill for market are thrown on shore or fed to poultry. It is said by 

 those familiar with the Chinaman 1 s mode of fishing, that one of these 

 leaves no young salmon behind, and they are far greater enemies to their 

 propagatioa than the seals. 1 ' 



This will probably account for the non-appearance of the shad, etc., 

 that the Commissioners took so much pains to put into our rivers. I 

 have often watched the Chinamen fishing, and the operation is substan- 

 tially the same as the above, not even the very smallest sardine escap- 

 ing The fact that the Chinese export annually to China nearly $400,0u0 

 worth of shrimps and smad fish-try, speaks for itself. Besides these 

 seines, the Chinese have pole nets, which resemble mosquito netting in 

 textnre, and which remain set all the year, swinging with the tide on the 

 flats around the bay. Some of the nets extend out almost half a mile 

 from the shore, and are murderous to the smallest fish, which, as the 

 Ledaer says, are never re' urned to the water, but are dried and exported 

 to China. The society of Italian fishermen are taking steps to memori- 

 alize the Legislature on this question, and unless something is speedily 

 done about it, the Commissioners may as well 'give up. Howard. 



Our correspondent "will ascertain, by reference to our 

 columns, that we have already had much to say upon the 

 subject of his letter. Additional communications will also 

 be found under this head, and in the Sea and Kiver De- 

 partment, of our current issue. 



\ Ferrisbitcgh, yt., Jan. 15th, 1876. 



Editor Forest and Stream:— 



The Ferrisburgh Sportsman's Club held its annual meeting on the 14th 

 inst., when its officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows:— 



President, Wm. A. Leonard; Vice President, John A. Cadwell; Sec- 

 retary, R. E. Robinson; Treasurer, Byron W. Field; Executive Com- 

 mittee, Walker Field, ME. Hall, H. C. Martin, and R. Parker, Jr.; 

 Doorkeeper, Joseph Birkett. 



When the Legislature of 1874 enacted the first really effective, if not 

 the only, code of laws for the protection of jc,ame and fish which Ver- 

 mont has ever possessed, a few persons here who felt a vital interest 

 in such protection, united in this organization for the enforcement of 

 these laws, and the promotion of all objects advantageous to sportsmen. 

 Its members being few, and not all of them taking a very lively interest 

 in the objects of the club, our achievements have not been great; but 

 nevertheless there is much to encourage us to continue our organization, 

 and to encourage the sportsmen in the towns throughout the State to 

 unite as we have done. There has been but one prosecution for viola- 

 tion of the game and fish laws (for taking black bass out of season). 

 The simple fact of the existence of a body, standing ready to enforce 

 these laws, has bepn so effective that there has been very few violations 

 of them in this neighborhood. Doubtless there have been some, but so 

 few and so slight as to work little harm. One of the earliest acts of the 

 club was to request the Fish Commissioners to restock Lewis Creek 

 with salmon. This request was complied with, and on the 22d of May, 

 1875 Fish Commissioner Dr. M. C. Edmunds brought on from the 

 Chariestown hatching establishment 50,000 salmon fry, which were 

 turned out in Lewis Creek. If the experiment proves successful, a con- 

 siderable share of the cre.iit will be due to this club for having called the 

 attention of Dr. Edmunds to it; for he was uniware of the true charac- 

 ter of the stream as he was of its having been a favorite breeding place 

 for salmon in early times. Upon teeing it, he pronounced it as fine- 

 looking a salmon stream as he had seen in Maine or the British 

 Provinces. 



The club has been strengthened by the acquisition of new members of 

 therUiht sort, and of late an increased interest has been manifested, 

 owing, in a great measure, to the introduction of discnssions of the hab- 

 its of game and fish, and other subjects interesting to sportsmen. 



R. E. Robinson, Secretary. 



No doubt the format ion and existence of a protective 

 club in any locality, exerts a moral influence and effect of 

 the most salutary kind. People will not break laws with 

 the police officers in sight. 



\ 



Sotjth Farnworth, N. H. January 6th, 1876. 

 Editor Forest and Stream :— 



New Hampshire is still a Stute, where the earnest sportsman can find a 

 field for Lis efforts, and where the hunter, that hunts for piofit, can still 

 make the business "pay." The Game and Fish League of New Hamp- 

 shire, of which Col. John B. Clarke, an earnest and adroit sportsman 

 is President, has done, and is doing a world of good, in aiding the lovers 

 of sport to secure their just rights. The slaughter of ruffed grouse at «U 

 times of the j ear is no longer allowed, and the increase in their num- 

 bers even in so short a time, has been remarkable, and the sport at the 

 right season, ha* become splendid. The trout, that had become almost 

 exterminated, have already oegan to fill the streams, and Col. Clarke and 

 his associates can well congratulate themselves on having done a great 

 and good work. 



But New Hampshire is a State that affords sports of another kind. Bears 

 abound among the mountains, and at least one man has more than a local 

 representation as aNimrod, and that is Joshua H. Piper, of Albany, a 

 back town, that is chiefly mountaius, having within its limits all of the 

 stately Cnocona Range and where Mr. Piper.remains, hunts and fishes, 

 monarch of the mountains. Yeais ago, before the present "Albany 

 hunter" was born, a man lived and hnnted there who bore that title, 

 and was known all over the State, a man whose life was a romance filled 

 with wild adventure. Stephen Allard was his name, and his memory 

 is still cheiished among his native wilds He was a man who could tell 

 Btories of wild adventures, that those who did not know the man, were 

 inclined to disbelieve, and, with many, Mr. Allard passed as a modern 

 Baron Munchausen, while in fact he was a New Hampshire Davy Crock- 

 ett, honest, simple, true hearted, and most respected by his townsmen, 

 who several times sent him to the General Court, where the "Albany bear 

 hunter" made a sensation, something like that created by Col. Crockett's 

 appearance in Washington, to take his seat in Congress. He bore the 

 mark of at lest one battle with bruin, m the stump of his left arm, which 

 had been bitten off years before. The old hunter, dressed in "home- 

 fipun" with bis erect form, rough speech, and qnick wit, formed one of 

 the sights of Concord, when I^aac Hill was governor. In the last years 

 of his life, wnen questioned about the number of bears he had killed, he 

 rfplied that he had "kept count of between five and six hundred," a re- 

 cord that few readers of Forest and Stream can equal. 



They had a remarkable trial by jury, in Carroll county in October 

 last, turning on the ownership of a bear (dead) and a cub (live). The 

 parties were the "Albany hunter," Piper, and the Hon. De Wit C. Car- 

 ter, of Ossopee county, lawyer and earnest sportsman. The party were 

 hunting in Albany, and found an old bear and a cub. The bear, Piper 



shot, the cub took to a tree, and on the securing of the cub, was where 

 the law'point came in. Said cub being valued at $40, and on this point 

 the evidence ran, '-thusly," to quote A. Ward, and the jury rendered a 

 verdict "in accoradance with the evidence." It seemed that Piper 

 brought the cub down, the lawyer put his coat around him, and thus en- 

 abled the hunter to secure him. The jury gave the cub to the man 

 that held the coat. 



Hunting in New Hampshire is good if the hunter only goes to the 

 right place. In my next letter I will endeavor to indicate where said 

 spot is to be found. F. D. J. 



-*-»^ 



FEATS AND TRAITS OF SIR GEORGE 

 GORE. 



HIS WESTERN HUNT OF 1855-6-7. 



MEN of deeds are not usually men of words, and thus 

 it happens that Sir George Gore, after two year's 

 of hunting exploits and adventures in the wilds of the 

 Far West, accumulating a fund of experiences, whose nar- 

 ration could not be other than fascinating to every lover of 

 the wild and perilous, went quietly home, and, however, 

 he may have enacted his deeds over again by his own fire- 

 side, never told the world anything about them in a book. 

 It is, therefore, a reasonable presumption, that many a 

 well informed reader of Forest and Stream never heard 

 of Sir George until his recent return to America in his 

 old charcter of sportsman and tourist. The writer himself 

 is none too well acquainted with the Irish nobleman's ear- 

 lier hunting experiences in our western wilds, but having 

 picked up here and there a few items of information in re- 

 ference thereto, proposes to share them with his fellow 

 readers of the Forest and Stream, believing they will 

 possess some interest. 



Having procured from the Superintendent of Indian Af- 

 fairs at St. Louis, a passport through the Indian country, 

 Sir George set out, in 1855, with probably the most exten- 

 sive and well equipped purely pleasure outfit that ever 

 penetrated our western wilderness. The party consisted 

 of forty-three men, comprising, as Marcy tells us, "secre- 

 taries, steward, cooks, fly-makers, dog-tenders, hunters, 

 servants, etc," and was provided with thirty wagons, load- 

 ed with equipage and supplies, many dogs and saddle 

 horses. He had secured the services of the celebrated Jim 

 Bridger as guide and interpreter, a position for which the 

 latter's extended experience upon the frontier, eminently 

 qualified him. It is not to be supposed that Sir George 

 was unsupplied with an assortment of the best guns for his 

 purposes that were obtainable, and accordingly we find 

 him in possession of a small arsenal of weapons of various 

 patterns and calibre, suited to the different varieties of 

 game, all by the best makers of that day, as Joe Manton, 

 Purdy, Westley Richards, and others. 



Ascending the Missouri River from St. Louis, and fol- 

 lowing up the valley of the main Platte and its northern 

 fork, hunting as he went, through a region not then, as 

 now, partially secured to civilization, he finally crossed the 

 Yellowstone, where, at the mouth of Tongue River, he 

 built a fort. Here, in a perfect hunter's paradise, a region 

 for which the Sioux have since contended hotly and strewn 

 with the corpses of murdered whites, he remained nine 

 months, pursuing his hunting projects, and — must it be 

 written? trading with the Indians. At least he is accused 

 of this breach of American law, and upon excellent au- 

 thority, Indian Agent Vaughan, a fine Virginia gentle- 

 man of the olden time, having made official complaint 

 thereof to his superiors. 



Bridger related to Marcy that it was Sir George's custom 

 to sleep till ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, when he 

 arose, took his bath and breakfast, and then set out for the 

 day's hunt, usually alone. Frequently he remained out as 

 late as ten o'clock at night, generally returning successful. 

 He then ate dinner, concluding with several glasses of 

 wine, often inviting Bridger to partake with him. The 

 company of the old hero with his odd speeches seeming to 

 afford him much amusement, and closed the day by read- 

 ing until bed-time. Sometimes his reading was aloud, 

 with Bridger for an auditor; and Marcy relates, in "Army 

 Life on the Border," two or three amusing specimens of 

 the criticisms upon the the authors read, which Sir George 

 drew out from the rough old frontiersman, but the reader 

 who goes to that entertaining volume to enjoy them, is re- 

 spectfully warned by one who knew Bridger well, that his 

 speech was not quite so provincial as that which Marcy 

 puts into his mouth. 



The destruction of game by Sir George's party was so 

 great as to excite the indignation of the Indians and bring 

 forth a remonstrance upon their part, to which Agent 

 Vaughan gave official expression to the Government. The 

 Indians were willing that the party should kill all the game 

 they needed as food, but objected to the wholesale slaugh- 

 ter for mere sport, the carcagses being left to rot upon the 

 prairie. That the remonstrance was well-grounded, and 

 that Sir George met with abundant success in the sports 

 he had come so far to enjoy, will appears when we state 

 that the party destroyed one hundred and five bears, forty 

 of which were grizzlies; two thousand five hundred buffalo, 

 besides uncounted hundreds of elk, deer, antelope, and other 

 game. At last the Indians, in retaliation, drove off a con- 

 siderable part of his horses in one swoop, and subsequently, 

 in the Winter of 1856-7, while he was quartered upon the 

 Missouri between Forts Union and Berthold, made a clean 

 sweep of the remainder. 



In the Summer of 1856, Sir George broke up his encamp- 

 ment at the mouth of Tongue River, and dispatched his 

 wagons to Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, 

 by land, himself with a portion of his party decended the 

 Yellowstone in boats prepared of some of the hides he had 



secured, going into camp at the mouth of that stream, 

 where he remained two or three weeks. While there he 

 endeavored to sell his wagons and other means of transpor- 

 tation to the Agent of the American Fur Company at Fort 

 Union, but not getting the price he demanded, he made a 

 bonfire of all that was combustible and threw the rest into 

 the river. Having prepared a large Mackinaw boat, he 

 embarked his party and sailed down the Missouri, winter- 

 ing upon that stream, above Fort Berthold, and the follow- 

 ing Spring continued his voyage to the East. 



Bridger's estimate of Sir George was, in the language of 

 Marcy, that he is "a bold, dashing, and successful sports- 

 man, a social companion, and an agreeable gentleman." 

 Lest the sympathetic reader should be in dread that Sir 

 George rendered himself bankrupt by maintaining for two 

 years so extensive a party on so extended a tour, we hasten 

 to sav that he is reputed to be the possessor of an annual 

 income of $200,000 . And it is presumable that he received 

 from the outlay, great as it must have been, what to his 

 apprehension was a sufficient equivalent, or we should not 

 see him again catering to his hunting proclivities upon our 

 shores. If it is true, as stated, that he returned home with 

 renewed health, and probably ten years added to his life, 

 few will deny that with his ample revenues it was well 

 worth his while to pass two years among savage men, and 

 amid savage wilds in a manner so agreeable to one of his 

 adventurous mind. Cavalier. 



Fort Shaw, Montana, January 1st, 1876. 

 i ■««»• ■ 



—The Central New York Poultry Association holds its 

 third annual exhibition in the City Hall, Utica, on the 9th 

 February, continuing until the 16th. Entries for competi- 

 tion close February 4th. The premium list, in addition to 

 the gold and silver medals for the best and second best dis- 

 play of fowls and chickens, comprises money prizes for 

 every variety of fowl dreamed of. There are also pre- 

 miums for song birds, pets generally, and for salmon, bass, 



and trout. 



. -%♦♦- 



A Worthy Member. —Mr. Wm. Ward, one of the mem- 

 bers of the Toronto Gun Club, has recently been presented 

 by the members of the club with an address and a gold 

 watch for his bravery in rescuing the crew of the Olive 

 Branch. This was the eighth vessel's crew that Mr. Ward 



had been instrumental in saving. 



.*»+» . 



Conlin's Rifle Gallery.— The seventh competition for 

 the Turf, Field and Farm cups took place on Thursday 

 evening last. Mr. Chas. A. Cheever was the winner for 

 the second time, scoring 43 . The second cup was won by 

 Mr. Frank Houghton; score, 35; and the third by Mr. 

 Handford Smith; score, 26. Thursday the 27th inst., the 

 Forest and Stream badges will be contested for. Messrs. 

 Cheever and Hays will have a match for'the championship 

 on Friday evening. 



—Mr. J. S. Conlin first patented his Safety Shooting 

 Gallery, June 16th, 1868; patent re-issued January 21st, 

 1876. Mr. Conlin is the first man, as far as we can learn, 

 who received a patent on shooting galleries in the United 

 States. Mr. Conlin who from his ample experience is well 

 qualified, is now prepared to superintend the erection of, 

 or to furnish plans for shooting galleries on his system. 



Creedmoor, Jr., Range.— The fourth Subscription 

 match; entrance, $1; ten shots off-hand; one-half the money 

 received to be divided between those making the 1st, 5th, 

 10th, 15th, and 20th scores. The winners were— W. B. 

 Farwell, 45; W. H. H. Sabin, 44; J. Tragesser, 42; W. B. 

 Farwell, 41 ;R. Rathbone, 41. On Feb. 1st the competition 

 for the U. M. Car. Co.'s badges will take place at this 

 range; also, next Saturday, the employes of the Centennial 

 and Home Insurance Company will have their return 

 match. 



Hell wig's Gallery. — The eighth weekly competition 

 shooting in lying position for a gold medal, double-bairel 

 shot gun, a rifle, and a revolver, took place at Hellwig's 

 new gallery, No. 271 and 273 Eighth avenue, January 19th, 

 1876. The winners were: — First prize, T. C. Banks, 45; 

 second prize, Donald Cameron, 45; third prize, D.E. Van- 

 nett, 40; fourth prize, M. L. Riggs, 30. 



Morsemere. — The fifth competition for the Harris tro- 

 phy took place on Thursday, ths 20th inst. Messrs. Smyth 

 and Garrison's scores resulted in a tie. They each had 

 one shot to decide who should occupy first place, Mr. 

 Smyth made 4 and Mr. Garrison 3. This makes two vic- 

 tories out of the necessary three for Mr. Smyth. We ap- 

 pend best scores : — 



Name. Score. Name. Score. 



D. Smyth 71 H.J. Qninn... 67 



H. L. Garrison 71 H. Maynard ....67 



G. Frazier. 70jG. Underbill. . „ .65 



Frederick Shonmrd. ...... . .681 



Glen Drake— On Thursday the 20th inst., Mr. Geo. 

 H.Thompson was the winner of the Remington sewing 

 machine; score, 39. A meeting of the directors was held 

 on Friday afternoon. A design for a badge for life mem- 

 bers was adopted, and a committee was appointed to pro- 

 cure the same. 



The Press and the Rifle. —The journalists con- 

 nected with a number of the weekly papers of this city 

 met at Creedmoor Jr. on Saturday last for the purpose of 

 sending a challenge to their brethren of the daily press, 

 with a view to the ultimate formation of a Press Rifle' 

 Club. Representatives of the Army and Navy Journal, 

 the Turf, Field and Farm, the Mod and Gun, and the 

 Forest and Stream were present, and a challenge was 

 sent to Gen. Millen, of the Herald, who had consented to 

 receive the same on behalf of the dailies. Yesterday, the 

 86th inst, j at 3 o'clock, those of the daily press who desir§ 



