May 37, 1880.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



335 



pictures before him. He is a student who studies not 

 alone to catch the fish, but also to learn their habits and 

 characteristics. He loves to hear the merry ripple of the 

 stream bubbling along in playful melody. He hears the 

 choicest arias and solos and choruses from a thousand 

 tiny throats pulsating the air. He hears the mountains 

 echoing back the weird cry of the loon ; he hears the 

 cheerful chirp of the crickets beating time against their 

 horny sides ; the whirr of the ruffed grouse ; the sleepy 

 whispering of the loaves, and this is harmony. He sees 

 the earth gay with the spring flowers ; the blue-eyed 

 violet in its simple beauty and coquettish grace budding 

 and blossoming at his fejt, and peeping upward through 

 the grasses at the golden buttercups, the purple pansies, 

 the trumpet of the wild honey-suckles, the ferns growing 

 on the silver-gray rocks, the May apple laughing in its 

 rosy beauty, and all these are to him perfect types of 

 loveliness. 



In looking up through nature he recognizes the wonder- 

 ful and beautiful creations with which the world is 

 adorned, and basking under their influence is quickened 

 into a devout reverence to the " Giver of every good and 

 perfect gift." To all these the mere fishing machine 

 gives no heed. The boulders, cushioned with moss, the 

 rugged cliffs, seamed and serrated, grim old monarchs of 

 the forest, cloud capped mountains, ferns nor flowers, all 

 tokens of divine goodness, are for him neither ennobling 

 nor harmonizing, Millard. 



Beaver River Club.— The field day of the Beaver 

 Eiver Club, at Pittsfield, Mass., May 21st, was a very erfl 

 joyable affair. Some twenty members were present, and 

 the afternoon was pleasantly passed in rifle practice and 

 glass ball shooting at the range of the Riverside Club, at 

 Pittsburg, who kindly gave the visitors permission to 

 occupy the range, which is beautifully situated on the 

 shore of Silver Lake, a short distance from the center. 



In the evening a trout supper at the Burbank House 

 ended the day's sport, which was much enjoyed by all 

 present. The elub voted to repeat the field day, Oct. 

 13th. Pittsfield is one of the most beautiful of Massa- 

 chusetts towns, surrounded by mountains interspersed 

 with beautiful lakes and an air invigorating and health- 

 giving. The sportsmen of Pittsburg and the surround- 

 ing towns of Adams and North Adams are gentlemen in 

 every sense of the word, and any sportsman who goes 

 there will be sure of a hearty welcome. The President 

 of the club, Mr. A. L. Phillips, wa» unfortunately de- 

 tained by sickness in his family, much to the regret of 

 the other members. Eleven new members were admit- 

 ted, making now thirty-five in all. 



[From a Special Correspondent.] 

 OUR WESTERN LETTER. 



Denver, Col., May IWi. 



PLEASANT as the interior of the traveling coaches 

 are which bring one out to these regions, the out- 

 side furnishes its due share of pleasure. As the rniner 

 in his digging sinks down through successive strata of 

 rocks, bo the journey overland from New York presents 

 in turn its different phases of land, life and character. 

 Each phase is a surprise and a matter of interest, es- 

 pecially if the traveler has never been before far west 

 from the Atlantic coast. One's sensations, indeed, are 

 very peouliar in this respect. The Eastern man has heard 

 and read a great deal about the "Far West" and the 

 "Great "West," and has gained an idea that there is a 

 great deal to the country beyond what can be seen east 

 of the Alleghany range, and he understands very well 

 that the overland route to the Rocky Mountains is not 

 far short of the distance to Liverpool, and so he may 

 think that he has an idea of the West. But he will find, 

 when he tries the journey, that his ideas have been very 

 small compared with the reality. It is difficult enough 

 to get a notion of the vastness of the ocean, without 

 actually crossing it. It is still harder to realize what a 

 vastness you are going into when you start out over- 

 land across the plains. After one has been aboard the 

 train for forty-eight hours, in constant motion, the feel- 

 ing is that it is about time to come to salt water again ; 

 yet the traveler will then have got merely to Iowa. It is 

 a strange feeling, which one can not shake off, that the 

 oountry is large beyond all proportion, and that the 

 United States still has a future before it. 



But if the mere distance jiroduces this effect, the va- 

 ried richness of the country through which one passes 

 impresses one still more strongly. Across New Jersey, 

 rich in her market-gardening, her mines and her large 

 manufactories, and dotted with the mixed tints of su- 

 burban villages — an extension at arm's length, as it were, 

 of the wealth of the metropolis— until it reaches these 

 finjpBr-ends of suburban towns, and drops off and enriches 

 the spots where it falls. Across New Jersey, with these 

 sources of wealth and these adornments, one strikes a 

 new money center, the point of entrance to fiesh wealth 

 of nature and new fields of industry. Pennsylvania is 

 certainly a State by herself. You can't help knowing 

 when you enter Pennsylvania, and when you leave 

 it. Rugged and burrowed with mines — that is the im- 

 pression one gets of Permsylvania.;;Nothing j»,can be 



more interesting than the railroad ride which takes the 

 traveler over the mountains. Around the famous Horse- 

 shoe Bend is a view both of nature and of engineering, 

 which rivals the Semmcring. Down the grade on the 

 other side we fly with a speed that nothing but the best 

 of tracks and road-beds could stand, Down into val- 

 leys, dashing around curves, leaving brown clayey banks 

 on one hand and sloping hillsides on the other, rattling 

 over switches, swimming past mining stations with 

 their jeering boys, one gets down at last upon the en- 

 trance to the famous city of smoke, almost before one is 

 aware that the mountains have been left behind. It 

 must be admitted that Pittsburg is unrivalled for 

 smoke; "but there is money in it," and that is enough 

 for the American ; and it is the province of the tourist 

 and the sightseer ; indeed, if he will get a just and true 

 idea of the places he visits, to loek through this veil, 

 whether it be of smoke, as at Pittsburg, or of barren- 

 ness, desolate surroundings, dust, unhandsome buildings, 

 or what not, a veil that surrounds many a place where 

 the happiness and well-being of mankind is being con- 

 tributed to by mining, milling, agriculture, and by keep- 

 ing in supplies the tough men who have moved West 

 and gradually added States to the Union. It is well if 

 the tourist's eye can pierce to the substance of these 

 places ; and if it does, he will see a beautiful face behind 

 the disguising veil, and he will come to rank places with 

 forbidding aspects among the fair and good things of 

 the earth, because they are doing good. A good deal of 

 the beauty of Western places is of this sort. The station 

 may look lonely, and perhaps you would not like to be 

 dropped there to get your living. But all about, and 

 between such stations, there is plenty of evidence that 

 there is a productive earth, and here the energy man has 

 bent over the earth and made it yield and add to the 

 riches of the States. These uninviting, sparsely settled 

 places, have brought comfort and plenty to many a 

 home where there has been pinching and want before. 

 So the West has its beauty, even where it is rough. 



But I would be far from holding out that the West is 

 without beauty that cannot be seen readily by the eye, 

 and has to be studied out and reflected upon before it 

 becomes apparent to the mind. The beauty of the West 

 is, if I may say so, in general wider than the 

 beauty which belongs to the landscapes of the East. 

 Through Ohio one passes over long, rolling reaches of 

 mellow-looking fields— fields which afford a long, even 

 horizon for the sun to set behind. There is nothing to 

 narrow the scene ; there are no sides to the stage at 

 which you are looking. So in Illinois, only more level. 

 Vast rich flats make the view. As one draws into Iowa 

 the soil gets to looking blacker, the ground rolls more, 

 and rather startling round hills of loam, with no sign of 

 rock, rise up, stay a few minutes, and fall away, as we 

 go speeding on, Wet places appear and disappear ; the 

 soil is black ; wild birds are seen in large numbers ; ducks 

 go scurrying away across the patches of water from our 

 advancing train, and geese keep up a steady flight 

 somewhither off in the sky. The quantity of game is 

 something of a sight to the Eastern sportsman. 



But the most startling revelation is reserved for him 

 who goes West beyond Omaha. Once across the Mis- 

 souri, the great plains are struck. Everybody in the East 

 has heard of "crossing the plains," but I doubt if any- 

 one without seeing them can form an idea of the plains, 

 or what it is (or rather was) to cross them. The want of 

 fences is one of the first things that the Eastern man feels. 

 Where are they gone to? Are we never coming to one? 

 Surely there must be a limit to this field. 

 Yes, there is— two or three days' travel beyond this— a 

 month's travel in the old days, before steam went over 

 the plains, Where is the owner? Oh, he may be fifty 

 miles away from here, on no man's land, rounding up his 

 cattle for the spring branding ! Perhaps, though, that 

 is he ! Where? Why, coming horseback down the hill 

 over yonder. But I see no man nor horse. Right here ! 

 Oh, that black speck, you mean ? I didn't know that was 

 a man on horseback. Why, I didn't think that hill was 

 so far away, but I see now it is a good deal further than 

 it looks ; and now I can see the black speck moving, and 

 see it go up and down, on the canter ! So the " Tender- 

 foot" thinks (but, if he is wise, does not utter), and watches 

 and watches the undulating black speck cantering nearer 

 and nearer, but never near enough to distinguish man 

 from horse, until the train has finally left behind, out of 

 view, the solitary horseman, with his hopes and purposes 

 and wishes — much as one sees at sea a sail rise over the 

 horizon, hang there awhile, and disappear — half awe-in- 

 spiring in its unknown mission. Lex, 



Pennsylvania Field Trials.— At the meeting of the 

 Pennsylvania State Association at New Brighton, Pa., 

 next Tuesday, it is proposed to discuss the plan of hold- 

 ing a State field trial of dogs. It is to be hoped that this 

 project will meet the favor it certainly deserves. Local 

 trials bring out into the field a great many dogs which 

 do not and cannot appear at the large, distant tria's of 

 the same character. They are influential iu developing 

 and directing the taste for field sports, and in demon- 

 strating a right understanding of the good points in a 

 dog. 



%mr[t gug m\A §m\. 



MAX IS A CLOSE MONTH FOB GAME. 



GAME AND FISH DIRECTORY. 



In sending reports for (ho Forest and Stream Directory to 

 Game and Fish Resorts, our correspondents are requested to give 

 the following particulars, with such other information as they 

 may deom of value : State, Town, County ; means of access ; Hotel 

 and other accommodations : Game and its Season ; Fish and Its Sea- 

 son: Boats, Guides, etc.; Name of person to address. 



— Address all communications to ' 

 Publishing Company, New York." 



Forest and Stream 



THE STATE CONVENTION. 



Seneca Falls, N. Y, May Mth. 



THE twenty-second annual convention of the New 

 York State Association for the Protection of Fish 

 and Game was held last evening at Daniel's Hall, Horace 

 Silsby, President, in the chair. The delegates were wel- 

 comed by Mr. J, D. Pollard, of the Seneca Gun Club, 

 whose speech was received with great applause. The fol- 

 lowing clubs were represented: Adirondack Club, of 

 Adams ; Audubon Club, of Rochester : Central City, of 

 Syracuse ; Corning Club, of Corning ; Dansville Club, of 

 Dansville ; East Buffalo Shooting Club ; Forrester Club, 

 of Buffalo ; Farmers' Village Club ; Genesee Club, of 

 Irondequoit ; Jordan Club, of Jordan ; Jefferson Sports- 

 man's Club, of Watertown ; Leatkerstocking Club, of 

 Oswego ; Lewis County Club, of Lowville : Leroy Club, 

 of Leroy ; Monroe Club, of Rochester ; Cazenovia Club ; 

 Niagara Falls Club ; Ontario County Club, of Clifton 

 Springs : Onondaga County Club, of Syracuse ; Phoenix 

 Club, of Seneca FaUs ; Skaneateles Club ; Seneca Gun 

 Club, of Seneca Falls ; Steuben Club, of Wayland ; 

 Wayne County Club, of Clyde ; Waterloo Club, of Water- 

 terloo ; Onondaga County Fishing Club, of Syracuse ; 

 Rome Club, of Rome ; Spencer Club, of Lyons ; Forrester 

 Club, of Penn Yan : Forest and Stream, of Akron ; Dean 

 Richmond Club, Batavia : Queen City, of Buffalo ; Foun- 

 tain Gun Club, of Brooklyn ; Brooklyn, Gun Club ; Long 

 Island Club, of Brooklyn. 



Applications were received from the following clubs 

 for admission to the convention: Garden City Club, of 

 Hempstead ; Forest City Shooting Club, of Ithaca ; Ful- 

 ton Gun Club, of New York; Washington Gun' Club, 

 of Brooklyn; Phoenix Gun Club, of Brooklyn; Nonpareil 

 Sporting Club, of Brooklyn ; Nassau Gun Club, of 

 Jamaica, Long Island ; Forrester Club, of Brooklyn ; 

 Long Island Sportsmen's Association ; Rochester Gun 

 Club, of Rochester. All the clubs nominated were 

 elected members of the Association. 



It was decided to hold the convention of 1881 at Brook- 

 lyn, under the auspices of the Long Island Sportsmen's 

 Association. The following officers were elected :— 



President, Abel Crook, of Brooklyn ; First Vice-Presi- 

 dent, Charles W. Havemeyer, of Hempstead ; Second 

 Vice-President, G. T. Case, of Seneca Falls (Phoenix Club)- 

 Recording Secretary, John B. Sage, of Buffalo ; Corre- 

 sponding Secretary, Nathaniel B. Cook, of Brooklyn- 

 Treasurer, W. J. Babcock, of Rochester. 



The programme of the shooting to-day was as follows • 

 -Contest No. 1. At 8 o'clock a.m. sharp, class shoot 10 

 single birds ; entrance fee $5. Contest No, 3, at 2 o'clock 

 sharp p.m., class shoot 10 single birds. In the first con- 

 test Peter Tompkins, of the Dean Richmond Club won 

 the first prize by killing 15 birds straight. The second 

 prize was won by Edward Hudson of the Onondaga Club 

 of Syracuse, by killing 19 out of 20. R. J, Richardson 

 of the Jefferson County Club, of Watertown, took the 

 third with a score of 18 out of 20. Peter Hines of the 

 Audubon Club, of Buffalo, took the fourth, the score 

 being 13 out of 20. The general score includes the ties 

 and 110 men stepped to the front in this contest The 

 birds were all wild, and good flyers. The second contest 

 commenced at 3.30 o'clock this afternoon. The main 

 score was completed and the first tie shot off before 

 dark, Hiram Twist, of the Seneca Gun Club, winning the 

 first pm.e. The balance of the ties will be shot off in the 

 morning. 



MASSAcnusETTS-C/ieZsert, May 15th.— The Snffniv 

 Sportsman Club has been formed <vith toe f mria^ffi 

 cers: President, John K. Hodgdon; Vice-Prudent* 

 Charles E Boar*, and Wilbur L.Slade: Secretary Wit 

 ham R Swan ; Treasurer, Noah Blanchard Evlcutive" 

 Comrmttee-Joseph B. Fen wick, Joseph S. Hatch Wes ev 

 Abbott and Frank A. Magee. The club proposes to hive 

 hornHul! ggr ° UndSat the ^ ^Powder! 



Pennsylvania ABspaiAXios—WilkeOMare, Pa May 



Brighton, Pa. At this meeting the matter of h«Wi»^T 

 Stets £ 3 H trial will bo taken lS»o^^«-?aSS 

 are invited to send delegates, and it i- l^Th^vjiuA, 

 so. There will, on the following d-.v !„ . .. I \\U £ 

 club medal, also one individual prize inr be -f. ' • n a 

 only to teams from clubs belonging to the State IsS 

 uo f- B. F. Dobrance, President 



Alabama State Association.— At a meeting held at 

 the rooms of the Gulf City Gun Club, May HtH a State 

 Sportsmen's Association 'was orgamV.edThaving.tfoV^ 



