FOREST AND STREAM. 



201 



RAVINE REVERIES. 



II. 



THE slanting rays of an afternoon sun glance athwart 

 the ravine and illumine the camp. They brighten 

 and glorify the trees which yet retain their foliage — the 

 brown-leaved beech; oak, with leaves of russet and red; 

 walnut, with a foliage half yellow and green, and maple 

 with its flaming foliage of red and golden. The withered 

 and fallen leaves, which the gusts of late October have 

 hurried hither and thither, have reduced the trees on the 

 surrounding hillsides to their winter nakedness, and through 

 them I can see various objects that indicate the proximity 

 of the great Exposition— the dome of Memorial Hall, the 

 towers of the Main Building, and the various bazars and 

 buildings which constitute the side-show of our grand Ex- 

 hibition. 



As I doze on my couch of bear-skins, my mind recalls 

 some of the incidents of my stay here, and the murmur of 

 the water secures a continuity of thought even while the 

 camp is thronged with visitors. Visitors — that should be 

 the theme of this letter, for to them mainly am I in- 

 debted to what measure of pleasure or provocation has 

 been afforded to me here . 



But I grope wildly among the multitude that has been 

 here for individuals worthy of description. From the 

 thousands who have been here I must select a few rep- 

 resenting peculiar types, and dismiss the majority with a 

 benedictory blessing for their presence. Among those who 

 stand out with greater prominence than others, is the man 

 from Po'keepsie. Not that there are no great number of 

 men from Po'keepsie, but he has indelibly registered him- 

 self in every mind as the man from Po'keepsie. 



He came in early one afternoon, while I was conversing 

 with two very estimable gentlemen— one from Ottawa, and 

 the other from Virginia City— who were thorough sports- 

 men, and were interesting me mightily. One of them 

 happened to mention a steamer he had seen with four 

 engines, when this man from Po'keepsie broke in with the 

 assertion that he had seen one with eight. Then he 

 gathered himself and made more astounding statements 

 than I ever heard made in one afternoon, by one man, in 

 my life. He mentioned one Pete Gullem, a Norwegian, in 

 Minnesota, who had killed five deer at one shot, and told 

 how he did it. He said he was a machinist by trade, and 

 some day, when he felt like it, was going to build an 

 engine and steamer that would discount the Mary Powell 

 a half-hour from New Yoik to Po'keepsie. 



This will be sad news for our friend Captain Anderson. 

 He said he could drink more water than any man in the 

 Centennial grounds— and Philadelphia water at that— and 

 to prove this, went out to our spring and drank six cups of 

 unadulterated water. Refreshed by this, he declared him. 

 self -the limberest-jointed man in America, and then pos- 

 tured himself in various positions in front of the camp, 

 standing on his toes, on one hand, and finally walking off 

 on both hands with his legs in the air. 



But he came back, and settled himself down for a story. 

 As it details a rather peculiar experience, I give it to your 

 readers. 



Said he: " You think I can talk, but I met a man once 

 that took the wind all out of my sails. I always think of 

 him as 



THAT BIBLE MAN. 



He wan't a bible man, as we generally understand it— not 

 one of them good old patriarchs, Abraham, Jacob and 

 Beget — but a man who went about selling bibles. I was 

 getting subscriptions for a new book, and was making 

 money, too, when this fellow interfered with my plans for 

 making a fortune. You see, I would always be sure to get 

 'em, for I could out-talk anybody I ever met, and I would 

 stay to dinner, and stay to supper, and stay all night— for 

 time was no object — till I got the subscription of the head 

 of the family. As I said, I was sailing along swimmingly, 

 till I first heard of this bible man, in the house of a friend. 

 As I knew my friend was rather close-fisted, I launched at 

 him with half an hour of reasoning, enough to convince a 

 mule, when he broke in with, ' oh, yes, I know it; splendid, 

 but we have a bible.' " 



"Yes, of course you have— so's everybody." 



" Ah ! but mine is such a lovely one— cost twenty dollars 

 —and, and you know, I can't afford two such nice books." 



" Into every house after that, I found that bible man had 

 entered, and more, had sold a bible in every one. I called 

 on an old friend whom I had reserved as a last resort. He 

 wept." 



1 "I am the most sold man you ever saw. A chap came 

 here the oth er day and begun to talk about the benefits of 

 religion. It was near dinner time, and I invited him to 

 dine. After dinner he brought out a bible. He explained 

 that he always read a few verses from that good book to 

 give him strength. I thought it very strange he should 

 carry such a large book with him, but said nothing. After 

 he had got a little strength he went into us to buy a bible. 

 "We didn't want one. I had one which my mother-in-law 

 gave me at the time of our marriage. I had never looked 

 into that, and didn't see the necessity for another. But 

 why detail the conflict. We bought the bible, and now 

 find that we could have bought the same thing at the stores 

 for fifteen dollars less.' " , CT ■«>^ , * 



"Before he went away he showed twenty silver dollars, 

 which had been given him by an old lady who had been 

 waiting all These long and weary years for just such, a 

 bible as he had brought her." 



"I s'pose," 8 aid I, "you didn't ^j»telake> convince 

 her that yours ^ the bibjg fhj w$aMf ? " " v 



"Well," replied the old hypocrite, "I merely labored 

 with her and prayed with her that she might be guided 

 aright. I called upon a minister for his subscription." 



"Ah, my friend, this is what I want, but I cannot pur- 

 chase. Every year I lay aside a small sum for the purchase 

 of new books. Yesterday I was waited upon by a most 

 worthy gentleman from Medford, who was indeed a devout 

 Christian, and I was convinced that I could do no better 

 than devote my savings to the cause and buy a bible, al- 

 though I had a nice one, presented to me by my parishoners. 

 This gentleman will address my Sunday-school tomorrow." 



"After my experience with the parson I caved aud went 

 into something else. I am looking for that bible man 

 though; he is a tall, lean, dark-complexioned man, with 

 black eyes and whiskers, and a hooked nose. 



"Say, do you see that watch; I can take it to pieces and 

 put it together again with my jack-knife." 



And he did, and then commenced another story, which, 

 promising to be a continued story, though complete in one 

 volume, we vacated the camp— my friends and myself — 

 and took up a new position on the hillside, where we waited 

 impatiently for the man from Po'keepsie to draw off his 

 forces. He didn't notice our absence for some time, and 

 we could hear him explaining his theories to some unfor- 

 tunate whom he had button-holed. At last he came out 

 and looked around. He came up to us and bade us good* 

 by, departing with the comforting assurance that he would 

 come again to-morrow when he felt better, as he didn't feel 

 like himself at all. If he had felt like somebody else I 

 know of he would have been well nigh exhausted. 



Cautiously, like a panther creeping upon his prey, a 

 long, lean man navigates in our direction. He peers 

 around a tree, creeps warily along the bridge, quickens 

 his pace as he ascends the hill, stops, pauses a moment, 

 and then turns around and beckons with his long forefinger 

 to a portly female in black, who has followed doubtingly 

 in his wake, and halts on the bridge. 



"Come right along, Matildy; jes come right over, tnis 

 here's the place, sure as guns. Hold on, I'll assist yer." 



Did you ever notice the manner in which a man "assists', 

 a woman— across a bridge, for instance? The idea that she 

 always needs assistance, and must look up to man for 

 help seems implanted in every female breast. 



Here was a woman weighing one hundred and eighty, 

 leaning upon a man weighing scarce a hundred. The way 

 he assisted her was only that of a hundred others. Re- 

 member I am describing typical specimens. Crossing half- 

 way over our narrow bridge he extended to her his bony 

 hand, which she eagerly grasped. Timidly placing one 

 foot on the logs she clung to his shaking arm, while 

 he reversed his engines and backed towards camp. Strik- 

 ing his heel on one of the cross-pieces he stumbled and 

 would have fallen had not her firm hand held him up. 

 When he had recovered himself she became frightened 

 and firu-ly refused to advance another step. The old man 

 was in despair. "Here you, Mister, jest help this lady, 

 will you, from behind?" The man addressed obligingly 

 assented and kindly took the lady by the arms, administer- 

 ing several punches in the back, trod on her skirts, and 

 otherwise assisted her, while her husband danced in front 

 retreating toward the camp with hands extended, expostu- 

 lating and entreating. After they were seated inside the 

 camp the old man mildly reproached her for her timidity,' 

 and asked her reproachfully what she would have done had 

 she come alone. 



"Lord, mother! if yer had a set out to cross that air 

 bridge alone you'd have fell into the drink." 



" 'Pears to me, young man," said the old lady settling 

 herself, "'pears to me you look sickly," addressing the 

 hunter. "Did you eVer try boneset tea? 'tis mighty help- 

 in' if you have a sore throat, and lung trouble, — an' that 

 seems to be your complaint. Here, here's a little that I 

 brought with me thinkin' maybe I might find somebody 

 needed." And the kind old soul drew from a capacious 

 pocket a small package of the herb alluded to and pre- 

 sented it to me. Thanking her, I laughingly accepted it, 

 and soon bade adieu to the kind-hearted couple. 



The buckskin dress, which is supposed to indicate the 

 true hunter from the West, I was compelled to adopt, and 

 this often led to many amusing experiences. 



"What tribe do you belong to, young man," said a 

 granger from the West, as he pointed at me with his fore- 

 finger, well loaded beneath the nail with samples of virgin 

 soil. "Stuntosh," said I in Seminole, wishing to puzzle 

 him, as I saw he intended to quiz me. 



"He is an Injun, sure enough," said this man of bucolic 

 proclivities. "Say, what's the name of this accordin' to 

 your idees?" Having thus obtained the name of every- 

 thing in camp, "accordin' to my idees" of the Seminole 

 language, he departed satisfied, expressing loudly to every- 

 one within hearing that "there was Injuns on the ground, 

 sure as preachin'," notwithstanding apparently trustworthy 

 information to the contrary. 



One day there came to camp a bulky old gentleman with 

 a smile on his face and something in his coat pocket that 

 distended it wonderfully. It was that old gentleman from 

 Westchester, and the smile on his face came straight from 

 his heart, I know, for, from his pocket he drew a bottle 

 of cider,— that veritable bottle of cider— which reposed 

 peacefully in his cellar in Westchester when he informed 

 me to that effect a month ago. He had snatched it from 

 its cool retreat in that cellar in Westchester and brought it 

 all the way to the "Hunter's Camp," to cheer the heart of 

 the lonely hunter, who has no cider in his cellar mildly 

 wording itself mto maturity^ in fact, to hag no cellar, 



§mm< T&ftt m fiM m tows m mtiWy mml^i 



the contents of a capacious basket loaded with good things 

 from Westchester, and in this good work the hunter gladly 

 assisted, for the old gentleman was grievously wearied 

 with his burden and it would have vexed him sorely to have 

 carried that basket home with its weight undiminished— 

 and it would have vexed the hunter, also, to -see this valued 

 friend depart with such a valuable stock of provender. 



After the repast had been finished I shook hands with 

 this whole soulcd man who had put himself to so much 

 trouble to do me a kindness, and promised him, as I had a 

 hundred others, in response'to his earnest invitation to visit 

 him, that sometime, some year in the future, I would, per- 

 haps, meet him again. And he went away, leaving behind 

 a pleasant memory. 



If there is pleasure in making so many and varied ac- 

 quaintances, there is also pain^inthe.reflectionthat they are 

 only the acquaintances of a day, and that the future will 

 contain nothing but the pleasure of reminiscence — except 

 by accident, we shall never, probably, meet again. As the 

 season draws to a close, the visitors to camp are more hur- 

 ried and their stays there are shorter as the days grow 

 colder. 



Now and then we have indications that camp aud hunter 

 are not wholly forgotten, for the mail carrier brings us a 

 missive from some visitor who was pleased to appreciate 

 the homely attractions of our camp, and retained a mental 

 picture of the natural beauties of the ravine. That there 

 is an innate love for camp life in every heart, is conclu- 

 sively proven by the number who come here and indulge 

 in recollection of their forest adventures. If there is any- 

 thing a man retains the memory of fresh and vivid, it is 

 his youthful field or forest life. Delightfully it recalls the 

 days of his boyhood and awakens his tenderest sympathies, 

 to meet with an exposition of camp life. If the building of 

 the "Hunter's Camp" is productive of no other result, it, 

 at least, has afforded rest and food for refreshing thought 

 to thousands who, in this immense display of man's crea- 

 tive genius — the Exposition — were likely to forget the field 

 in which man's tent is pitched — "all out of doors." 



The next camp I shall occupy, a camp of my own, will 

 be 'neath the sun of the Tropics, but then, though sur- 

 rounded by scenery attractive and the objects most dear to 

 a hunter's heart, my thoughts will constantly wander to 

 the camp in Lansdowne Ravine, and to the friends I have 

 made there. Fred Beverly. 



\ifle. 



New York.— The fall meeting of the Sixth Division (N. 

 G. S. N. Y.) Rifle Association was held on the ranges at 

 East Syracuse on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. 

 The attendance w ? as large, and the shooting exceptionally 

 good. The meeting opened with the Director's match, five 

 shots at 100 and 200 yards, for which .there were four en- 

 tries with the following scores:— 



,-Yards^- 



Names. 100 200 T'l 



Capt. Birckmeyer....20 17 37 



A. C. Chase 20 12 32 



r-Yarde-v 



Name?. 100 200 T'l 



Capt. McAuer 18 13 31 



Col. Hawley 14 5 19 



The short range match at 200 yards, 7 shots off-hand, had 

 29 entries. Charles Talladay of Auburn took first prize, 

 $20, with a score of 31; O. G. Jones of Syracuse second, 

 |10, score 30; George White of Oswego third, $5, score 29; 

 P. O. Wright, Oswego, fourth, $3, score 28. 



The Division match, open to teams of five from any 

 company in the division, was not completed until the sec- 

 ond day. There were nine teams entered, the conditions 

 being five shots each at 200 and 500 yards, making a possi- 

 ble 250 points per team. The scores were as follows:— 



Team. Total. 



Co. A, 4Sth, Oswego let team.. 187 

 Yates Djag., Syracuse, 2d team. 179 



Co. A, 49th, Auburn, team 174 



Co. A, 48th, Oswego, 2d team.. 171 

 Yates Drag., Syracuse, 1st team. 15! 



Team. Total. 



Co. B., 49th, Auburn, team.... 166 

 Co. B, 44th, Bingham ton, team. 163 



Co. A, 48th, Oswei»o,3d team 135 



Battery, Syracuse, bd team 84 



The first prize was a si'ver plated water pitcher, donated 

 by tho State, and valued at $100. 



The Duncan badge match, shot at 200 and 500 yards, 5 

 shots at each range, had twelve entries and the following 

 scores : — 



Names. 200 Yards. 



George White 21 



James Rowley 18 



L.L.Barnes 18 



P. T. Perkins 19 



Col. C. V. Houghton 17 



Cap t . M . A a er 15 



P. fl. Stafford is 



H. A. Van Guilder.., 18 



Col. Houtz 15 



Capt. Olmstead ' l 



P. O. Wright |i7 



Capt. Paul Birchmeyer 15 



The officers' match had eleven entries, and was shot at 

 200 yards, 7 rounds. The following are the scores;— 



Names. Total.! Names. Total 



Capt. Olmstead 27 Capt. Jennings...., k s 



Capt. Buchmeyer 27 Col. Houghton "23 



500 Yards. 



Tetal. 



19 



40 



V.i 



87 



18 



36 



17 



86 



15 



82 



16 



31 



13 



31 



10 



28 



12 



27 



10 



19 







17 







15 



Lieut. Bobinson... , 25 



Col. Houtz ; &5 



Capt. Auer 24 



Capt. Nichols 23 



Col. Storke ..:21 



Col. Clarke 20 



L,ieut. McCartin ". .16 



The mid range match was open to all comers; military 

 rifles shot at 500 yards, mid-range rifles at 600 yards, and 

 long-range guns 700 yards. The first prize was secured by 

 Mr. A. Butler Smith of Geneva, shooting at 600 yards, by 

 the fine score of 24 out of a possible 25 ; the second by Jas. 

 Rowley of Auburn, score 21; the third by P. H. Stafford 

 of Auburn, score 20; the fourth by Lieut. J. McOartinof 

 Auburn, score 20. 



The scores made in the special competition by members 

 of the Sixth Division for the second prize in the Inter- 

 State match at Creedmoor are reported elsewhere. Th 

 long-range match was abandoned. The meeting was a 

 success financially and in every other respect. 



Cbeedmoor. — Saturday was a busy day at Creedmoor 

 in spite of the wretched drizzling rain, which made "dim" 

 med moist uncomfortable bodies" of everybody, Th&x © 

 were four matches on fcto card, and a large eumbes.' 6t r l» 



om. 



