Deormbbr23, 1880.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



409 



following tbe BUhject further, but have Ijeen re(|ue9teij to do 

 so by an old subscriber to your valuable, paper, one of tin; 

 most successful sportsmen either in this village or this island. 

 I -was prompted to firisl uotice the snhject liv'recoUcolioiis of 

 iny boyhood days, siiusested by the arlicle "n " Tnippeil 

 Birds on Long Island!"" 1 have, ns ;i ftinuer's l)oj, trapped 

 asmuch game iis any lioy on Long Island, and havenoreiison 

 to be ashamed of my ability in that direction. I have, how- 

 ever, never violated any law, nor would I do it, no matter 

 how unjust the law might be. 



Near where I was bronght u\) was an old farm, on which 

 wei'e several low jilaee:," ywuTjip.s, affording an excellent 

 cover for game. A gentlcni.m from your city. aAvell-known 

 newspaper man, and, if I mistake not, a valued conlrilmtor 

 to your paper, used to either hire the farm en apartments in 

 the vicinity during the hunting season. He was alw;iys wel- 

 coined by the farmers and Iheir hoys, and his de|iiutnre was a 

 source of re^et to them. The .sign ' 'No Shoot ing Allowed on 

 these Premises" had no terrors for him. Tie Eunned every- 

 where. We boys used to tell him where quail or partridge 

 were most plentiful, and we always knew, and it is unneces- 

 sary to add that he always found plenty of game and 

 as ft natural conseipionee plenty of sport. Now I shall 

 give the reasons why he was so well tretited. First, 

 he was a gentleman, not a pirate. Sec(>nd, he was a 

 true sportsman. lie knew a pointer from a setter, he 

 did not gun -with "black and tans." and never killed 

 small game, such us robins, .sparrows, etc. lie identi- 

 fied himself with the people :oid interested himself while in 

 the vicinity with local affairs, lie used to riddle our hats 

 with shot, " just for fun," shoot erows, and haw ks for us and 

 Ocf.asiouallygive us arabbit or odd liird thai he might chance 

 to kill. He never disturbed our traps or snares, olien setting 

 them for us. On one occasion he jiut a crow in a spiing pole. 

 We were delighted and appreciated the joke by showing hiiu 

 a flock of quail when we discovered its author. lie never, to 

 my knowledge, threw down a pair of bars, shot toward afar- 

 mer's^house, nor permitted his dogs to disturb their poultry. 

 He was a true sportsman. 



In striking contrast to him are the improperlj' called 'true 

 sportsmen'' — properly the p'rates — who lures a "gunning 

 dog," borrow an eld fowling piece, and nn Thanksgiving or 

 Christmas make a raid upon the Ijong Island farroers. They 

 cannot tell a pointer from a setter, in fact a common house 

 ».dog answers their purpose just us well. 



They tramp over the farmer's fields, throw down hisfenccs, 

 flU Ids cattle with shot, .shoot at hi.s house as quick a.s any- 

 where, kill anything from a sparrow to a ehiekeu, 

 not sparing cats or dogs. They not only violate 

 the game laws, but steal almost anything 'they can 

 get away Avith. If they do not kill thotn.selves, or 

 get killed by some spoilsman like themselves, they 

 return to the eil.y, usually at least three-quarters driuik, with 

 their game bags tilled with stolon goods enniplaining because 

 farmers' bo3's have caplm'ed game wliich they had not suffi- 

 cient .skill to get. Couhi I describe scenes which I have wit- 

 nessed in smoking cars or trains returning to the city during 

 the giuining season it wnulil be a disgusting picture. TruQ 

 sportsmen know and n:specl the tights of land owners, and are 

 as a rule welcomed in agricultural districts, hut the " visit" 

 ing gunner " who does not luiow or regard the rights of the 

 la.nd owner ia an unmitigated nuisance and will be eventually 

 exterminated. 



Unjust laws produce disregard for all law. If the pnor 

 farmer or his children are deprived of the right to take game 

 (in which, if it is common property he has tlie tiisf right; iu 

 their own primitive way they will do all they can to prevent 

 the wetilthy, the transient sportsman froirr taking with his 

 more perfect, and therefore more deadly appliances. 1 know 

 whereof I speak and I do not believe that there have, been 

 l,Ol>0 (piail caught on Long Island in traps or snares in any 

 one year .luring the last twenty years. It is not tin? farmers, 

 their boys, nor real sportsmen who are exterminating both 

 game and song birds, it is piratical gunners wlio poiioil- 

 ically overrun the ialaml. The readers of the Fvuiest anb 

 Steeam are, as a rule, real sportsmen, wlio would not jirose- 

 ctlte a poor farmer's boy for catching siieh l,jw and eonunon 

 game as rabbits iu his primitive wav " just for Inn." Gen- 

 tlemen areiiol, as a rnle. at all discouraged l_iy seeing the no- 

 tice forbidding tivspassers, knowing thai permission can usu- 

 ally be obtained from the owner of the property if he is .sat- 

 isfied that bis riglits are respeeti-d. I hope you wiU continue 

 your elforts to weed out " 7dalays rimning amuck " from 

 " real sixirtsmen," and thereby ameliorate if you do not en- 

 tirely do away with the autagouksm which in many sections 

 exists betw^ecn the farmer and huntsman. 



The iniatory movement in the good work must come from 

 the sportsmen. The farmer has aiisolute iirotectiou in the law 

 against iresp.-issing, aial can if lie elioose liriiig the career r.f 

 the sportsiiinn so far as land game is coiieerned to a .sununaiy 

 end. Vou ma}- be assured of my liearly eo-ojjeraliou inyom- 

 efforts to bring about a thorough and satisfactory understaud- 

 tog between the farmers aud true sportsmen, and 1 speak not 

 for myself alone, but for a number of farmers in this viciuity 

 and otier parts of the island. J. H. GRiFFirFr. 



JSa^st Sookamtj/, Deo. 10. 



I have been reading yom'plan of preserving game birds ami 

 making the sportsman and land owner mutually interested 

 with much interest. Your plan is a good one anil 1 la artily 

 indorse it. It will be more applicable to the Eastern Stales 

 tbjm here in the West, although many farmers have their 

 lands posted: iu Indiana and Illinois there is very little diffi- 

 culty in obtaining pcnnis.sion to .shoot if the sportsman pro- 

 ceeds in the right manner. The mode of procedure shouUl 

 be this: If possible see the parties upon whose laud.s yon may 

 Wish to shoot beifore you intend going out, and in a ge.utle- 

 inanly manner ask permission to shoot, assuring them that 

 you will not shoot among or toward their stock, and will 

 leave the fences and gates in a.s good condition as found. If 

 you obtain their periuisaion go to tlieir bouses when vou go 

 out to shoot, and let them know who it is that is shooting on 

 their premises, and if you can spare a few pieces of the game 

 lliat you have killed on their lanils leave it at the house of 

 1 lie ("wner, and the next time you wish !-■ shoot you will have 

 ,1 :iiiiilile in obtaining permi- -1' !i This is my way of pro- 

 . I eUing. aud I have no dillieuli} i;i iMraiuing'permission to 

 i.lioot on any land.s t may wi-h. 



But there iwe some farmers wlio arc \ery selfish, aud no 

 amoimt of promises of good iielia\ irir w caild gain ymi the de- 

 sired permit. In such cases iu almost evejy instance your 

 plau of a fair remuneration would bruig them over (o your 

 wishes, and woidd cause such men to take pains to rear and 

 protect the birds for the sliooting fee, and it is right for tliem 

 to demand the remuneration if they wish it. The}' raise, pre- 

 lect and feed the birds from their crops, suid no gentleman 

 sportsman will refuse. Almost all the Ul-feeling between the 



sportsmen :md farmers has been caused by rowdy men who 

 have .shot into stock, left fences down and gates open, having 

 no respect for the farmer or his property. Whej'e such ctises 

 have occurcd you cannot censure the owner for posting 

 his lands agaiiist hunters. If they would all observe the 

 Golden Rule in their conduct there would be much more 

 friendly feeling between both parlies. Every hunter is a 

 trespasser upon inclosed lands, whether there is existing 

 game law or not unless he has permission : and they should 

 bear in mind that it is a privilege granted them, and no right 

 that they may possess. R, E. S. 



Neirpirrt, Ind. 



In reading your paper one would think that ii farmer was 

 anything but a gentleman mid a law abiding citizen. There 

 are farmer sportsmen here who do more to protect game 

 than all the sports of the cities, I have knowm them to" teed 

 quail in winter for many weeks, ami to protect them from 

 hawks and other enemies; and then to be culled pot-hunters. 

 I never saw our baggage cars loaded with snared Iiirds or 

 any other game ; but it may be so for all T know. There is 

 not a trap or net in this neighborhood that I know of but we 

 have some birds here we expect to tuni out next spring. x\ll 

 the birds that we wing lieie ive keep and turn out in the 

 spring to keep our stock u]!. It is some trouble to ns to 

 doctor them up, but we save a great many. 



Our woodcock law here is a robbery to us, because all the 

 birds leave here about the IGtli of June aud go North. We 

 can't shoot them, and so Norllieni men get all of our birds. 

 But we nnist keep still because we are" ftirmers and don't 

 know anything! If we raise game we look upon it as oin-a, 

 but we don't want to lie hoggish if our friends want to come 

 and see ns tliev arc wi-lcouic, but they must no| tbiuk hard 

 of U.S because we can kill more ganic"llian they can. That 

 seems to be the most trouble. If they hunt the same way that 

 we do tliey can get gimie too, but thev are afraid of getting 

 scratched and spoilbig their hands in the bi'iars. I hope that 

 our city friends won't think so hard of us farmers; we are not 

 so bad as we look. Tet.low Dog. 



Keyport, JV. J. 



Allow me to add my name to the list of those who are will- 

 ing to pay more to the farn\er for quail than he Cim realize 

 from trapped birds. Until real protective associations are 

 established in ever}' county who will omplo}' an agent at a 

 fair salary wliose only duty will be to see that the game laws 

 are cntorced and all offenders brought to justice, it is the 

 only way to save the quail. I know from experience tliat 

 the farmer will trap quail as long as he can find a purchaser, 

 and under the present management and enforcement of the 

 game laws the onl}' way to prevent it is to make it an oliject 

 for him to stop. Tour journal ha.s become indispensable to 

 me. If you will send a specimen copy to W'm. Sha]iter, 

 South Grange, I think he will subscribe. W. 



SmiZh Orange, N. J. 



I have read with great pleasure yoiu- articles upon the es- 

 tablishment of new relations between the gentlemen sports- 

 men aud the farmers of Long island. If the scheme can 

 successfully be accomplished — and I see no obstacle in its way 

 — you will receive the hearty thanks of many to whom the 

 resources of Long Island have heretoJ'ore been almost a sealed 

 hook. The waterfowl have been always accessible, but 

 when one tired of imir.sb or lieach and longed for a tramp 

 throuLdi woodor stublile, the irate voice or almost luiiversal 

 posting warned him off. Plea.se add my name to yom' list. 



fiiM.riii J-I.nixe^ AV/o York, JJtc. 7. W. W. 



OUR ROCHESTER LETTER. 



RooiiKSTiii^, K. Y.. Dee. 17, 18S0. 



THERE i.s about a foot of ice coveriiiL' the waters of this 

 county, and a.'* may well he sup]io.scd there is not much 

 activity in field sports. Now and then a foolish duck that 

 neglected the warning of insrinci to go south, is sliot on the 

 shore of Lake Ontario, nr on the rapids of some stream not 

 yet covered -with ice. Tbe wild fowl that remain here are 

 bard pressed by the severity of the weather, as was demon- 

 strated one day this week when two Hocks of ducks ikopped 

 in the water of the reservoir lliat supplies the city, aud 

 which is witliin the cily limits. On the same rlav a (lock of 

 wild geese were seen hovering over the reservoi'r aa if tlicy 

 too woidd lUve to dip their -^vings in its water, which as 

 it comes from a deep-water lake resists the congealing in- 

 fluence of the frost long after other quiet slieets are fru/'en. 



In this county a lav.- passed bv the f-^upervisois prohibits 

 grouse and eiuail .shooting for three Vear.s from the autimm of 

 lb7',l. This o|ierates to prevent any shooting near the city, 

 except tiy the few who g,, ,„u for hares, of -n-bicJi there is, or 

 wa.s, a good supply this season. Hunting them with ferrets 

 has reduced tlie number greatly, jince the snow enabled the 

 hunters to track them to their linrrows, and there is every 

 prospect that the sehisli and shoit-sighted ferreters will "kill 

 the goose that laid the golden egg," by exterminating the 

 breeding hares, and so spoil their sport for fTiture years." The 

 markets are full of "cotton-tails," and examiiuitiou not 

 revealing any shot wounds on them, the inference is that they 

 have been snared or taken in bags with the aid of fen-ets. It 

 is next to impfjssible to punish the persons guilty of thus 

 violating the law. There are also a great number of ruffed 

 grouse and quail hanging up in the markets and restaurants, 

 and I fear they did not die from honest powder and sliol, 

 but liy tbe p.jt-himter's suai-e. 



Several sportsmen re.sidmg iu this City were on shooting 

 trips to the West this fall, and found game abundant in Ohio, 

 Indiana and Michigan. They relate stories of famous sport 

 among the quail and ducks of our favored sister States, iu 

 which a good days' shooting may still be had without walk- 

 ing over a comity. Our Western friends of the gun sliould 

 be wise iu time, and if possible take measmes to perpetuate 

 the advantages tlie}' possess for enjoyment of shootine. I 

 thoughtVears ago that tbe plan rece'nt'ly jjroposed bv Foke,-.t 

 ASiJ Stmis.vm, of renting the privilege" to shoot on farms, 

 would before long prevail in tliis conntrv anrl tiecorae neces- 

 sary, if any gtinie is to be preserved at all. I hope we .shall 

 never see ilie oppicssive and undemocratic game laws of 

 England disgracing the statute book.s of ihese States, but 

 there is a v:..t l-iT"!' y. Iietween limiting sport to a few, 

 aud allowo; te slaughter of birds in and ont of 



seiison. \\ . . I lid find the golden mean. 



Whatlh:i.j v.rui-u -ibove about shuotmg trips reminds 

 me (hat tdthiiiigh most of the visiting sportsmen— not slates- 

 men— have returned home, one distingui.shed memlier of the 

 fraternity followed tlie example of the liu-ds and went south 

 ill time to avoid the cold. I speak of Robert Tangneuy, the 

 fishing-tackle maker, well known in Kew York, an odd ge- 

 nius of J^ench descent, born in Ireland aud a cosmopolitan 



by inclination. He starfod with two lioys for Florida a few 

 weeks ago with the intention of "doing" that State this 

 winter in a canvas boat of his own construction. I heard 

 from him a day or two ago and he was then on the fit. John's 

 River witli a good prospect aliead. I commend him to the 

 good offices of any of your readers who may cttauce to meet 



iiim. He will eutertu 

 iu the loughs of Ir'. 

 tures with the allig 

 hand to tie a tly do 

 catalogue of his outfit 



I- of trout-fishing 



i I I i: . '''■■■ :i\- or adven- 

 :i. : ■ -Hi. a defter 



■■\l..|, or' '," ' ;i goi.d shot. A 



ould occui>y too much of your space, 

 but it included four guns, two or three thousand feet of net- 

 ting, fish lines by the mile, fish hooks without number, some 

 made of lialf-ineh steel, for alligators and sharks. He expects 

 to make the trip jjiiy by fishing and collecting bird skins, 

 alligator teeth and other rarities. 



The organization iiii.l firsi amiiMl r.vhihiliou of the Ameri- 

 can Society of Tn>,;c mi' i :i:-i!-re this wreck. The 

 exhibition Is now i) I ■ I ■■irm of ulheers was 

 held veslerdav in til- iv.'Mi--- ,.| n,,. iLmrirc Gonnty Sports- 

 men's Club. Tiie meeting opened witli an address "by Fred- 

 erick S. Webster, of this city, who traced the iirogre'ss of the 

 art from its eai'liest history to the present. Prof. W. E. D; 



Scott, of Princet 



tee, offered the congratulations of the 

 lence of tlic display made at the first 

 stitutiou was adopted and the follov* 



theensninLT v,.,r: I',..l.i. M." ;■- '"i 



Vice-Presidriii, '•; -. W.- ... ■'. 

 T. Hornaday, j;r..-Kv=l.T: lr-:iio,r-i-, 

 ter. Standing Gomniittee: 'fiiomas 

 Bmith and J." F. D. Baily, R(.)cheste 

 honorary members, one eorrespoudi 

 five members. Tlr 

 The catalogue of the 



,, T^. .!., ou behalf of the .ludgcs' Commit- 

 udctes on the exccl- 

 liihition. Tlie Con- 

 ine' otbcers elected for 

 I tt, Princeton, N. J.; 

 !. r; Secretary, Wni. 

 I .\. Lucas, Rochcis- 

 W. Fraine, William «. 

 ■. The .society has six 

 ;; and thirt}'-scvcii ac- 

 ara scattered through five States, 

 hibition contains a list of 23!) entries, 



ens. I must omit a 

 o wliich it would be 

 e in words. It i.s in a 

 r.s attractions iiecome 

 ly. Every 



the spe- 



1 display is 

 n.-5ects aud 

 xidermist's 

 a fine hull 

 , is a tiny 

 iety is in- 



ntriliutif 



representing some thousands of spc 

 detailed description of the exhibitioi 

 difficult, if uot impossible, to do ju« 

 large room on State street and :: 

 known the attendance of visitors 

 zone on the globe was drawn on for 

 cimens exhibited, and you may imr 

 rare and brilliant. Bird.s, bea'sts, reptiles, tisli 

 about everything that can be preserved Ijv tlie 

 skill is shown. The largeM, croatm-c in 1110 list 

 bison and the smallest I recall, excepi lIh- insi 

 humming-bird. Between these extremes the 

 finite. 



The city x)olice court has a case before it of some interest 

 to yom- readers. A certain man is cmder arrest and will he 

 tried next week on charge of aUowiug some vtduable dogs, 

 which he was hoarding, to starve to death. One dog lie had 

 was a black setter named Sport. This dog died, and othei-s 

 he had are reduced to skeletons. Sport was v:ilued at $80 by 

 his owner, Isaac Weighell, who left the dog with the accused 

 last summer aud found out a few da}'s ago that the dog was 

 dead and that others were in dangcr'of lieatb from the same 

 cause. One of these is a bitch — Lulu, blue bollon — .said to be 

 out of a Gordon setter .sent by the Prince of Wales to Henry 

 Milwood, of Chicago. Her hair had nearly all fallen out and 

 the bones were pressing hard to come thfjugb the skin, which 

 was covered with a scruffy eruption. The prisoner says the 

 dogs have mange. Weighell, the owner, ^vho is tbor'iughly 

 acquainted with the diseases of dogs, says it is not mange, 

 but Ill-treatment, that afflicts the living dogs and lulled the 

 ones that are dead. E. R. 



OUR DETROIT LETTER. 



I HAVE just come from an interesting interview with a 

 party of deer .slayers, and such en~thusiastic fellows I 

 never saw before. One of them is at this moment skinning 

 a deer of his own killing, and he swears by the recollections 

 of the last two weeks that he is going to liave that skin lined 

 and ornamented and Spread in front of his bed for a morning 

 foot warmer. 



To save space I will condense my interview tind give it 

 you as succinctly as possible in narrative form, simply 

 exiilaining that I shall employ the language of Ihe captain of 

 the party instead of my own. 



" Gur party," l)egaii"mv special inforinaut. "consisted of A. 

 J.Rogers, Superintendent of Polic-e uf Detroit; Ed H. Oillman, 

 John J^:. Long, Frank Eddy, of Detroit; Wm jMcSweeney, of 



Frazer, Mid 

 been a lontr tim 

 ihe detailspreli 

 of Mich, aud St 

 doas,Wincliesti 

 iliuiited 



id J a 



Moon; of Toledo, 0. We" had 

 maKing up our uiinds, but finally perfected 

 liiiary to a campaign in the big north woods 

 letl out from Detroit, Noveniber 25, with 

 rifles, wet and dry supplies iu abundance, and 

 ■k of hope, happiness and appetite. We 

 took triun :it 10:10 f- M. on the Detroit and Bay City Rail- 

 way, arrived at Bay Cily in lime for an early breakfast and, 

 after a matutinal cigar, left at 'itltl A iu on the Mackinaw 

 division of the Michigan Central Riiilroad in tJie paternal care 

 of conductor James Euglisli, one of the most amiable and 

 careful of railroad patriarclis. Otsego Lidtc was our im- 

 mediate objective point. This la about two hmuh-ed and fifty - 

 miles fi-om Detroit, as I estimate it. We reached there in 

 the evening and stayed over night at a most comfortable inn 

 where the accommodations were oil the most libertd and 

 homelike scale, and where we had a night of delicious and 

 refreshing .sleep in needed preiiarati. 

 fatigues. We wore going fiftv-lwo in 

 into the woods to a p"'oiut whieli we si 

 Rogers Luke in honor of </ur chief, 

 I daudy in camp, a splendid cook, a 

 good humor aud a dead shot, the resuti 

 in the army and ou;ihe plains of the Fai 

 Calil'(irnian overlander). 



''That was one uf lUc I onghost jom-neys I ever Jiad, and 



our adventures, if Mm h:id rooui for them, woulti fill Uia- 



FotiEsr andStresm for ,i: month. Well, we loaded up a 



tcrim and lit out. Two of our fellows had sore fp^.t — ^no 



shirking, no, sir-ee : They had honestly given out and 



actually couldn't stand it to walk, so the rest of us 



took turns about in walking and riding all day. We made 



j twenty miles by noon, when we ran plump into E. O. Avery's 



I lumber camp, and the fii-st man I met was J. N. Tiff, a well 



known New Yorker who spends a good deal of time at Al- 



I pena aud who was there on his way East . I cau't quite de- 



[^ scribe tha^ meeting, but you bet we made things lively there 



I for a time. Our team had become dt^ad fagged, so what 



does big hearted Avcry do but give iia his own team and 



send us rejoicing ou oiu- way to his other camp, and armed us 



with a letter of welcome to his Superintendent, Black Jack 



McDonald, whose cheery voice we heard at exactly 9 o'clock, 



1'. ii. Such a supper as he set out for us! And would yon 



' believe it, he turned himself out of quarters and insisted on 



a for the nest day's 



Ics almost, due north 

 I 'Seqiicaitly christened 

 v,'lio jiroved to be a 

 man cif inexlianstible 

 4 fif experience 

 r \Vesi. I He i.s an old 



