130 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[MabghIS, 1880. 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 



Devoted to IYom) antj Aquatic Sports, Practicai, Natural 

 Histohy, Fish Coxture, thk Protection of Game, Preserva- 

 tion of Forests, and the 1 nculcation in Men and Women oif 

 a Healthy Interest in Out-Door Recreation and Study : 



PUBLISHED BY 



FOKEST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY. 



—AT— 



No. 131 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK, 

 pPoBT OM61CB Box 2832.] 



1ERMS, FOUR DOLLARS A TEAR, STRICTLY IN ADVANCE. 



Advertising Bates. 



Inside pag-ps, nonpariel type, 25 cents per line ; outside page, 40 

 cents Special rates for three, six and twelve months. Notices in 

 editorial column, 50 cents per line— eight words to the line.and 

 twelve lines to one inch. ' 



Advertisements should be sent In by Saturday of each week, If 



All transient advertisements must be accompanied with the 

 money or they will not lie inserted. 



No advertisement or business notice of an immoral character 

 will be received on any terms. 



***Anv publisher inserting our prospect us as above one nmo, with 

 brief editorial notice agattei iontl reto,ani -ruling marked 

 copy to us, will receive the Forest and Stream for one year, 



NEW YORK, THUKSDAY, MARCH 18, 1880. 



To Correspondents. 



All communications whatever, intended for publication, must be 



icernnpanifd with real name of the writer as aguaranty of good 

 faith and be addressed to FOREST USD STREAM Publishing Com- 

 pa s v . N am es w il 1 not be published if objection be made. Anouy- 



riii, i ■ ,;,i . i - 1 1 1 .- ■ i _ . - ■ : . " en . i t.'j'Ij in n, be retrarded. 

 "We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 

 Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us wtlh 



brief notes of their movements ami transactions. 

 Nothing will be admitted to any department of the paper that 

 lav not tic read with propriety in the home circle 



»W 



r i, ■ i ..,,.,' .,;. ' ■ : ■ 



...... us is lost. 



1ST Trade supplied by American News Company. 



REMOVAL. 



ON or before May 1st, the Forest and Stream will 

 remove to the new office, now being specially fitted 

 up for its reception, in Die New York Times building, 

 Nos. 39 and 41 Park Row. 



This change of quarters is one of imperative necessity, 

 "When we moved into our present office, in the spring 

 of 1877, they were thought to be all that we should need 

 for years to come. But since then our staff has been 

 largely increased, our clerical force has doubled, our 

 mailing facilities have become insufficient, other 

 things have advanced and enlarged in proportion, and 

 to-day Fulton street is too narrow for us. We must have 

 room to expand. To frankly confess the truth, too, we 

 have long wearied of the unceasing stream of humanity 

 and traffic, tbat with nimble and roar and jar never- 

 ending rolls on beneath us ; and we are disgusted with 

 the forest of telegraph poles which have grown up be- 

 fore our windows. Possibly, as the poets say— and it 

 is a very pretty thought — the wires are instinct with 

 living messages of life and weal and woe ; but the poles 

 themselves are sorry specimens, and we shall be glad 

 to exchange them for the trees of the City Hall Park, 

 and the birds (i. c, English sparrows). One other en- 

 vironment here in Fulton street has sadly annoyed us. 

 That is the varnish sign across the street, which for 

 three years has formed the liinit of our horizon ; this, 

 too, we shall exchange for an outlook over the Jersey 

 bills, and to the sunset beyond. 



In short, we are moving into much more spacious, 

 central and convenient offices, where we shall have room 

 to surround ourselves with all the appurtenances of the 

 craft, specimens of Am erican game, mementoes of 

 camp life and other things congenial to our tastes. 

 And there, in the future, ashore, in rimes past, we shall 

 welcome our friends, old and new, and from Park Ro 

 the Forest and Stream, let us trust, may go forth as 

 full of good things as are thee volumes which have 

 marked its growth while in Fulton street 



—Mr. Bdmond Redmond, of Rochester, N. Y., a corr& 

 spondent of Forest and Stream, and the inventor of the 

 diving decoy and explosive target ball, in 1877 invented 

 and projected the ship railroad for the Isthmus of Darien, 

 which engineers now say is superior to a canal for the 

 purpose of transporting vessels between the oceans. 



—"We must again urge secretaries of clubs to send u 

 their reports as early as practicable af ter.olub meetings. 



Notes.— His name was Gosling. He boasted that he 

 was the greatest walker that had ever been known, and 

 that he was going to bring the champion belt back from 

 England by an original system of pedestrianism invented 

 by himself. This brilliant plan was to take a deep breath 

 and then by the application of bandages to keep this air 

 stored up in his lungs for a week. It was a grand con- 

 ception. Its realization promised to revolutionize the 

 world. But they decided that the inventor was affected 



th the form of insanity known as the " general paraly- 

 sis of the insane." So the belt will stay in England, and 

 the life of man will still be three-score years and ten, 



Some months ago we published an account of an al- 

 leged extraordinary slaughter of cariboo in New Bruns- 

 wick, and in commenting upon it we took occasion to 

 note that few perpetrators of sucli butchery were moved 

 to detail their exploits in print. The " Sanguinary Deer 

 Hunt," on another page, ig as decided a contrast to this 

 as could well be imagined. It must not be inferred, how- 

 ever, that because upon this particular occasion the writer 

 of the sketch did not (or say3 he did not) bag any game 

 he is therefore no hunter. The fact is that many a deer 

 has fallen to his rifle, and now he can well afford to con- 

 vert the tragedy of Hamlet into a comedy, with Hamlet 

 left out. 



Indeed to fully appreciate the humor of euch an ex- 

 perience as this, one must have passed beyond the stage 

 of the novice, who is eager to kill for the sake of making 

 his record. It is the veteran who really comprehends the 

 ludicrous incidents of the battle-field, and the scholar or 

 specialist of established repute who is not afraid of 

 practical jokes. Here is a case in point, told by the cele- 

 brated English naturalist, Rev. J. G. Wood : — 



There is a cairn, broken and battered, on the summit of the hills 

 near the Vale of White Horse, and visible from the railway. A 

 very well-known author refers in a very well-known book to that 

 cairn as a Danish monument, whereas, I built it myself; and, by 

 the same token, there is in the middle of it a flat-iron without a 

 handle. Jokes of this kind are very prevalent among scientific 

 men. There is, for example, one of our best entomologists who 

 pridca himself on his skill in manufacturing insects. If they have 

 wings, he discharges the color by chemical means, and paints them 

 afresh. He substitutes various parts of various beings for those 

 of the creature which he manufactures, cutting out from an old 

 champagne cork anythtag that may be found wanting. He once 

 tried to palm off on me a most ingenious combination. The head 

 was made of cork, the wings were real wings, only turned the 

 wrong side upward, and the body had been taken to pieces, 

 painted and varnished. TJnfortnnately for himself, lliis very 

 clever forger of entomological rarities had visited one of those 

 houses where the celebrated cardinal spider lives, and had added 

 the legs of a spider from Hampton Court to the body, wings and 

 antennae of insects from all parts of the world. The spider's legs 

 betrayed him, but the author of the entomological forgery was 

 not in the least disconcerted at Ihediscovery of the fraud. There 

 are no school-boys who enjoy a joke half as much as your cele- 

 brated scientific and literary men. Their reputation is too safe 

 for cavil, and when they get together they are as playful as so 

 many kittens. The museum of the late Charles Wuterton was lull 

 of zoological jokes. 



It is among the most experienced and capable sports- 

 men, too, that we must look for advanced sentiments in 

 sporting ethics. The men who study wood lore most 

 thoroughly and intelligently, and who become familiar 

 with the secrets ot the forest and stream, are those from 

 whom we most often hear protests against unmanly and 

 unsportsmanlike conduct. Among those who have so 

 courteously offered us their experience in the different 

 methods of deer-hunting is Mr. T. S. Van Dyke, of San 

 Diego, Cal., whose note accompanying his letter admir- 

 ably illustrates what we have just said. He writes : — 



I take pleasure in answering your questions about deer hunting, 

 though lam doubtful if I can help the cause much, so long as the 

 idea prevails, and is helped along by sporting writers, that the 

 primary use of game is to eat; that one of the greatest boons 

 vouchsafed to man is to get his tooth into a haunch of venison, 

 and that the market's claim to respect is inviolable. However, I 

 am about twenty-flve years ahead of the time In my views, sol 

 will not bother you much with them. 



Mr. Walter M. Brackett, of Boston, is best known to 

 American anglers as the author of the famous four salmon 

 pictures, so often referred to in these columns. It must 

 not be thought, however, from the frequent mention of 

 these masterpieces of fish-painting, that Mr. Brackett 

 has never done anything else. A true artist is rarely sat- 

 isfied to rest on his laurels. The notice of Mr. Brackett's 

 contribution to the Berlin Fishery Exhibition, which we 

 made from a brief newspaper mention last week, did that 

 gentleman injustice in stating that he was to send to 

 Germany one of this series of salmon pictures. The 

 painting which he furnishes to Prof. Baird will be a new 

 work, upon which the artist is just now putting the fin- 

 ishing touches, and is said by those who have seen it to 

 reflect great credit upon this branch of American art. 



Virtue is alleged to be its own reward, and it often 

 happens, in the realm of canine morals at least, that the 

 practice thereof is attended with no more substantial 

 compensation. It will be remembered that Mr, Richard 

 Moncure Conway, of Spottsylvania County, Va., some 

 weeks ago advertised in the Forest and Stream a lost 

 dog which had come into his keeping. And now, 

 after thus seeking to restore the animal to its rightful 

 owner, he writes : " Soma one has stolen the cocker— 

 the only dog I ever lost in that way." 



Philadelphia is excited over fhe birth in that city of a 

 baby elephant. The mother is "Hebe," the great black 

 Asiatic elephant of the London Circus. 



Modern science maps out the floor of the ocean with 

 the same exactness as the plains of the continents ; de- 

 termines tho altitude of mountain ranges on land and in 

 the sea alike, and follows the movements of the inhabi- 

 tants of the deep as intelligently as those of the beasts of 

 the field. Few persons, outside of the circle of workers 

 who are actually engaged in the work, realize the won- 

 derful perfection to which the methods of this branch of 

 scientific investigation have been brought, and the im- 

 portance of the results attained. Professor Hind's paper 

 on " The Movements of Salmon in the Sea " illustrates the 

 progress in this department of knowledge, and is, more- 

 over, a most valuable addition to the series of important 

 papers contributed by the author to this subject. 

 m i ■ 



Wild Rice for the Ranoeleys.— Mr. J. A. L. Whit- 

 tier, noticing in Forest and Stream an advertisment and 

 editorial notice a? to wild rice to be had from Charles 

 Gilchrist, of Port Hope, Ont., has purchased from him 

 the balance of his present supply, and purposes to plant 

 it in the shallow waters around the head of Lake Molle- 

 chunkamunk, one of the Rangeley Lakes, as soon as the 

 ice goes out this spring, in the hope that hereafter visi- 

 tors to the lakes (and especially those visiting Birch Lodge, 

 Mr. Whittier's fishing camp) may enjoy good duck shoot- 

 ing. Forest and Stream will be kept informed as lo the 

 result of the experiment, which no doubt will he watched 

 with interest. All the Rangeley Lalses now need«js as 

 good shooting as there is good fishing. 



America at Berlin.— The following appointments 

 have been made for the representation of America at the 

 Berlin Fishery Exhibition next month : Prof. O. Brown 

 Goode, deputy commissioner in charge ; Mr. Fred Mather, 

 department of fish culture ; Mr. F. W. True, care of the 

 exhibits ; Mr. Julius E. Rockwell, secretary ; Mr. Joseph 

 Palmer, taxidermist in charge of casts ; Capt, Joseph W. 

 Collins, in charge of fishing apparatus. The experts are 

 charged not only with the exhibits in their own depart- 

 ments, but also to investigate and report upon nil Euro- 

 pean methods of gathering statistics of fish culture and 

 fishing. The party sail on the 20th Inst, in the North 

 German Lloyd steamer iVecfcar from Hoboken. Wo shall 

 be in receipt of letters from our special correspondent, 

 and have made arrangements for securing the fullest 

 and best reports of the Exhibition. 



OUR ALASKA LETTER. 



THE KXJRO-SIWO — THE AURORA-BOREALIS — SOMETHING 

 ABOUT THE PEOPLE— ORNITHOLOGY. 



Sitka, Jan, 18th. 



STEAMER day, the great and about the only event 

 which interrupts the monotony of our life here, has 

 come and gone ; but although the mast-head has been 

 manned by as eager lookouts as ever watched for the 

 black smoke on the horizon of a blockade-runner, their 

 watch has been in vain. She has failed to connect, and 

 what is worse, we hardly hope for her to-morrow, and 

 perhaps another week may pass leaving us newsless and 

 letterless ; for if the stormy weather and the blinding 

 snow-storms, which have for a week buried Sitka and 

 kept the sky obscured, have extended to the southward, 

 she has had no weather that would justify her risking 

 the trip through the devious and tortuous passages be- 

 tween Portland and Sitka. And if running, it has been 

 at slow speed. 



This has proved a blank month for fishing or hunting, 

 and except the occasional baggingof a pintail (Anas cau- 

 dacuUi), or a. "long-tailed duck," ami an occasional "saw- 

 bill" by a lucky rifle shot over the stern, the game re- 

 sources of Alaska have not been diminished by me. 

 Coues' description of the "long-tailed duck" is perfectly 

 that of the duck which is most common here now ; they 

 come in small flocks and are very shy. The Indians bring 

 in a few mallard, buffleheads, or butter-balls, all of which 

 are very good, especially the mallard. 



Plenty of vension and some few ptarmigan are brought 

 in daily, but the deer are getting poor and the tutting sea- 

 son has begun, My fishing has been confined to attacks 

 on a case of Cutting's canned salmon, which is good ; a 

 box of Alaska herrings packed in Portland, which are not 

 good, and one of "boneless codfish," which my Cape 

 Ann experience teaches me toaccost as "pollock." If we 

 have been deprived of other resources, we have had 

 plenty of olimate to furnish us with something to think 

 about. I think we are prepared to out-brag a Calif arnianj 

 even if a Forty-niner. For seventeen days the thermom- 

 eter has been below freezing ; so low down, in fact, that 

 to-day with it up to 31 deg. we feel as though it wt re 

 rather warm. It did touch minus 7 (leg., and it didn't 

 touch plus 24 deg. during the period. 



Having nothing else to hunt, 1 attacked the kuro-siwo 

 —(please don't let your type-setter get that, ward " kun- 

 suir," as he did in a previous letter) — and have succeeded 

 in obtaining some valuable data about it, all of which is 

 duly reported. I will only lumber your colum n s with 

 the fact gained, that with a range of variation of air 



