[July 30, 1880. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



515 



ally the mistake is more serious, and human life is sacri- 

 ficed to their rashness. 



To the "didn't-know-it-was-loaded" class of fire-arm, 

 handlers, must be added the " though t-it-was-a-wood- 

 chuck " variety ; and the man or woman who values his 

 or her life, will do well to give both of these dangerous 

 classes a very wide berth. 



— Mr. Frank Lord, the well-known expert in off-hand 

 pistol shooting, sailed for Europe last Saturday. We 

 have already described in the Forest and Stream 3 mie 

 of Mr. Lord's very entertaining and really remarkable 

 feats, with exhibitions of which he is always willing to 

 favor bis friends. To his programme have recently bi en 

 added several new shots, one of which consists in cut- 

 ting in twain with his bullet a card thrown up edgewise. 

 Some of these new accomplishments will no doubt sur- 

 prise even those of his European friends who are familiar 

 with his former shots. 



We should add that Mr. Lord is, in the strictest sense 

 of the word, a gentleman amateur, who praoti ces this 

 form of recreation from pure love of the sport , and in 

 thus jealously guarding his skill from all taint of other 

 motives is deserving of the highest credit. 



In these days of "professionalism," it is refreshing to 

 see a man who owns fast horses enjoy their bj eed audi 

 take pride iu their performances without pitting them on 

 the race course for a money purse ; a man who can glory 

 in the strength of his hody without rushing on to the 

 sawdust track ; and a man who has the quick eye aud 

 the steady aim to excel in pistol shooting without; posing 

 before the public for gate money and prizes. 



c faithful 

 c. jiving an 

 i anient of 

 s ltisb, up. 

 t m-able ia 



— The paper published to-day on Grouse Shooting in the 

 Northwest is timely. The writer has been long enough 

 iu the field to claim a practical knowledge of what he 

 talks about. _. . ._ 



Gheene Smth.— Greene Smith, known throughout 

 the United States as a sportsman and naturalist, died at 

 his home in Peterboro last Friday morning, July 23d, 

 aged thirty-nine years. 



The announcement will be received without imrprise, 

 but with none the less of regret by his numerous friends, 

 to whom it has long been known that recovery from his 

 disease, consumption, was impossible. 



With this brief note of Mr. Smith's death, we leave 

 until next week a more extended sketch of his life, par- 

 ticularly that side of it by which he was best known to 

 our readers as a devoted follower of field sports and an 

 enthusiastic collector of birds. 



The Onondaga County Sportsmen's Club, of S rracuse, 

 held a special meeting last Saturday and adopt' d these 

 resolutions : — 



Wheheas, Greene Smith, a loved and loving- brother, husband 

 and friend, afca time when manhood's morning almoE - reaches 

 noon, and while the shadows are still falling toward th< West, tj 

 an act of Providence, whose ways are wondrous and pt it Undine 

 out, was taken from amongst us and from this " beautifi 1 world," 

 as he often used to describe it, and we, his friends, here » seuibled, 

 feeling it, not only our duty, but our sacred privilege, i j express 

 our feelings upon this occasion, 



Remlced, That in the death, of Greene Smith we are again re- 

 minded of the uncertainty of the duration of life and at the re- 

 ality of death. 



Resolved, That in the deceased we knew a gonial ai 

 friend, and although born of illustrious parentage, r 

 oduoation by study and travels, aided by a liberal awn 

 wealth and position, which fell to his lot, yet alwaysut 

 right in all his intercourse with his fellow men, and hi 

 all things. 



Resolved, That we deeply sympatize with his widow an 1 surviv- 

 ing relatives in this, the hour of their affliction. 



Resolved, That those proceedings be published in the Syracuse 

 papers, and a copy forwarded to the bereaved widow. 



Resolved, That the President appoint three members of this club 

 to attend the funeral of the deceased at Peterboro on the 2<ith 

 instant. 



Messrs. F. E. Carroll, Thomas Kirnber, Jr., and Charles 

 R. Wright were appointed a committee to at end the 

 funeral. The Central City Sportsmen's Club also passed 

 a series of resolutions as follows ; — 



Whereas, It has pleased the Divine Providence to rem ivo from 

 earth Greene Smith, just as he was reaching the primi . of man- 

 hood, with his faculties developed and his intellect in its ripest 

 vigor, and 



W'hekeA-S, The members of this organization cherish with the 

 fondest recollection the remembrance of his genial ways, his 

 kindly heart and his unselfish spirit, recalling with unmeasured 

 sadness the many bright hours spent in the oompany of one of 

 Nature's noblemen, who was an enthusiast over Nature's loveli- 

 ness, and 



Whereas, This association has had many evidences of the gen- 

 erosity, tho public spirit and the deep interest taken by our de- 

 parted brother in pastimes which in common we have enjoyed, 

 therefore, be it 



Resolved, That the mora hers of the Central City Sportsmen's 

 Club have learned with inexpressible sadness of the death of 

 our departed brother, who was a member of this organization 

 We desire to give expression to our appreciation of his con- 

 spicuous talents, his large heart which was ever charitable 

 where charity was needed, and his bright aud genial ways 

 which illumined hjB pathway in life aud which reflected their 

 sunshine and brightness upon his fellow-men, making them 

 better fur having known him. 



Resolved, That, this assaoistjou 

 Iriend, who shared the pleasur 

 trials that, beset it, and whose p 

 unless in doing good to his fellow-inon. 



Resolved, That we tender to tho afflicted wife of nur departed 

 brother our deepest sympathy in her bereaveuient.and beg her 



rver forget our departed 

 bore fine brum bt the 

 heart was never happy 



this inadequate tribute to the sterling worth of ai 

 ,' I' ■ ■.:■ the noblest of them all. 



That a committee be appointed to attend thefuti- 

 oral at Peterboro, on Monday, July Mill, at Je,M., and a copy 

 ,, , furnished to the press. 

 Resolved, That an engrossed cop? of the above preamble and 

 resolutions be forwarded to Mrs- Greene Smith. 



The committee appointed were ; Howard Soule, Frank 

 B, Klock, Lucius Moses, R, W. Jones, James. Geddos, J. 

 P, Bmmelkamp, 



The following letter was transmitted by the President 

 of the New York Stato Association, of which Mr. Smith 

 was, in tho years before his sickness, a most active mem- 

 ber, and in 1877 the President : — 



BEOOKX.YN, JulllKth. 

 V;> fireene Smith:— 



Dear Madam : It is with extreme regret that the sad announce- 

 ment of your husband's death iB received, Mypersonal acquaint- 

 ance with him, though brief, was such as to endear him to 

 The irreparable loss sustained bv true sportsmen cannot be prop- 

 erly expressed in the space of this communication. Believe me 

 that the intelligence will cause profound sorrowamong the many 

 members of the Now York State Association for the Protection 

 of Fish and Game, who wore intimate with him and were cog- 

 nizant of his personal worth, work and acquirements, Scattered, 

 as they are, throughout, the State, no formal action can be taken 

 by the Club delegates until tho annual meeting in lssi, when su 

 able measures will be adopted to perpetuate his memory. Men 

 while, on behalf of that Association its its President, and person- 

 ally tendoring you heartfelt sympathy aud condolence in your 

 bereavement, permit me lo subscribe myself, with very great re- 

 spect, sinoeroly yours, Abel Crook. 



GAME PROTECTION. 



♦ 



The Connecticut Woodcock Law.— The Stamford, 

 Conn., Advocate takes issue with those who think the 

 game law of that State is not observed as it should be. 

 Commenting on the subject it forcibly says :— 



In the first place, we don't admit for a moment the 

 game law prohibiting the shooting of summer woodcock 

 is a dead letter. It certainly is not in this section of the 

 Stat?, and if it is m and around Hartford it is not the 

 fault of the law, but the sportsmen (?) themselves. If the 

 sportsmen of Hartford aro willing to be overrun with 

 market shooters and "pothunters" out of season, they 

 must of course have "poor picking" in the fall ; but we 

 doubt very much if such men as Robinson, Bestor and 

 others whom we might name, will admit that the law is 

 a dead letter or that it is not a good and wholesome one. 

 In the second place, the old law permitting the killing of 

 woodcock on and after July 4th was the most abused law 

 ever allowed to stand on our statute books, for more rea- 

 sons than we have room to give here. All decency rebels 

 against it, for the sake of man and beast, to say nothing 

 about the destruction of the poor, half-grown birds. To 

 go back to the barbarous times of summer shooting 

 would be a long stride from the path of progress. Tim 

 whole sporting fraternity is crying out against it, and it 

 has been forever abolished in many States beside this 

 State, and it is the opinion of all thinking naturalists and 

 sportsmen that if we wish to exterminate the noblest 

 game bird in the world, continue the summer shooting of 

 woodcock. No. The sportsmen of Connecticut know 

 their best interest, and will never consent to go back to 

 summer shooting. Show us the man who will claim 

 that there would be any sport in hunting woodcock dur- 

 ing the present month, while the thermometer stands at 

 nearly ninety every day, when after the birds are bagged 

 the chances aro they would spoil before the return home. 

 Is that sport? Is it not more like a crime? In the third 

 place, the law in New York is on until September, and 

 works well. The "pot hunters" may not like it, but are 

 they the sportsmen of the great State of New York ? We 

 think not. If "many of the sportsmen of New York 

 think a mistake was made in extending the time 

 from July to September," let us know who tltey are. 

 Give US the names of the "leading sportsmen" of that or 

 another State, who will not say the law is a grand, good 

 and common sense one, and for every such name we will 

 furnish scores who do." 



When the local press maintain this position on game 

 and game laws, the work of game protection will be ac- 

 complished. This has the ring ; it is sound, and we hope 

 to bear more of it. 



A Proposed Protective Society. — Netv York, July 

 32d.— Editor Forest and Stream .— I have been talking 

 over a plan with a number of fellow sportsmen, whereby 

 we may be enabled to establish an Association which 

 will protect game iu the vicinity of New York. We all 

 know that the Society for the Protection of Game, in 

 New York City, does its work faithfully and well, but 

 in the neighborhood of New York, on Long Island, in 

 New Jersey, and other localities where we are in the 

 habit of looking for game and fish, there is no, or at least 

 very little, protection — especially, perhaps, where the 

 West Jersey Game Society has 'control. Fanners and 

 residents generally do not wish to complain of their 

 neighbors, and are afraid to get the ill-will of poachers ; 

 beside which, it takes time and money to bring these 

 offenders to justice. My plan is as follows : Let a central 

 association be formed in .New York; members can be 

 from any locality, and a suitable reward be offered, not 

 $5 nor $10, but $25 or $50, for evidence sufficient to pro- 

 cure conviction, and also the club to see. that the indi- 

 viduals are properly prosecuted. If such an association 

 was known to exist, and poachers found they were re- 

 lentlessly prosecuted, poaching would be at a discount 

 very quickly. It is useless to look for aid from State 

 associations ; they, as we know, have neither the time 

 nor inclination. It si 



hundred 



ought to h; 

 siding at a 



i hundrt 



i '.;, i ., 



>rk, and 



start with. Let those wl 



names, and we ivill call 



W. HOLBEKTON, 



65 Fulton street. N, V. 



Migratory C^j ail.— Kenncbunk, Me., July 24th.— We 

 received our quota of migratory quail in good condition, 

 and released them in such localities in our vicinity as 



seemed to us best fitted for them. The result of such an 

 experiment was the general topic of conversation, not 



only among sportsmen, but the farmers, store -keepers, 

 aud in fact everybody suddenly discovered fihfit they 

 were interested in the "migratory quail. Reports were re- 

 ceived daily of the birds being s'een somewhere, until it 

 really got to be ludicrous to have, some thick-headed fel- 

 low, who didn't know a sparrow from a blue jay, insist 

 that he had seen a quail several times in his garden or 

 cow yard. "0,yes, it was a quail; he knew it was a quail, 

 because he had never seen a bird like it before," when it 

 was probably some bird com nioit in this vicinity ; but 

 yet never luivina; noticed the bird before, lie thought it 

 must be some new species, and therefore qaail. 



However, the quail nested, quite soon after they were 

 released, and have laid from i ight to ten eggs in nests 

 that have been disvOvered ; in some cases they have al- 

 ready hatched, and out "I" the neatj some are still on the 

 nest. There has been but one, case of loss that has come 

 to my knowledge, that of a bird being run over by a mow- 

 ing machine while on the nest covering ten eggs. You can 

 hear them at most any time in the day, hut to see them 

 is quite another tiling": yet I have beard of I fcieii coming 

 about the buildings of the farmers and feeding. Although 

 some of the birds have wandered long distances from 

 where they were released, yet they seem to have, gener- 

 ally remained near the localities where they were turned 

 loose. 



We hope that next year will bring them back to us iu 

 goodly numbers, and then we shall know that with us 

 the experiment is a success. U . C. L. 



$mqe §ng ntfd ^nt[. 



GAME IN SEASON TN AUGUST.* 



pus nigririiilii. i fellow-shanks, tob (jus totpes 



Ked-brcasicd snipe, dowiteher, 



Macrm-liamphM tjri&us. | 



♦This enumeration s general, and is in contact, with many of 

 the Stat?, laws. 



"Bay birds" generally, including various species of plover, 

 sandpiper, snipe, curlew, oysroi-oatelter, surf bird, phalaropes, 

 avoccts, etc., coming under the group lAmacoIr,; nr shore buds. 

 Mauy States permit prairie fowl (pinnated grouse) shooting after 

 Aug. 15th. 



— Address all communications to " Forest and Stream 

 Publishing Company, New York." 



GROUSE SHOOTING IN THE NORTHWEST. 



FOR some years past your correspondent has taken 

 his annual vacation in the Northwest, preferring 

 the fresh prairie breezes to a crowded hotel, ami the free- 

 dom of camp life to the conventional restraints of a 

 modern watering place. Each season lie has there met 

 with Eastern sportsmen in constantly increasing numbers, 

 and as a stranger's first shooting trip to that region is 

 rarely one of unqualified success it will, perhaps, not be 

 amiss to offer a few suggestions on the subject. 



It may be accepted as a general truth, in all kinds of 

 humanity, that mere skill with the gun is not in itself 

 sufficient to insure a good bag of game, aud this principle 

 applies with peculiar force in grouse shooting. The most 

 indifferent shot will bringdown his birds easily enough 

 when he has the good fortune to find them, but grouse 

 are not to he met with in every wheal, stubble and along 

 the margin of every slough " as thick as chickens in a 

 barnyard." On the contrary, even in the best grouse 

 region in America (Southern Minnesota, Ni frthwest Iowa 

 and Eastern Dacotah) it is common enough for welt 

 equipped sportsmen to beat over miles of good-looking 

 country without getting a point or starling a feather. 

 There is an abundance of game, but the country is vast, 

 and none but a practiced eye can pick out the "likely 

 places " with any sort of precision. Nor are there any 

 royal rules for the guidance of the uninitiated, An old 

 hunter, for instance, mounts the buggy seat, sweeps the 

 horizon and directs the driver to some swale, or ridge, or 

 slough, or stubble. But there area hundred such places 

 within view, and when you ask why he selects that par- 

 ticular one he can only reply: "it's a likely looking 

 spot for 'em." Were he to justify his impression by as- 

 signing specific reasons aud going" into details, he would 

 merely mystify himself and mislead you. He general- 

 izes, unconsciously, perhaps, but almost unerringly, just 

 as an Indian generalizes a feint trail, or an old banker an 

 accommodation bill. 



And this will explain the wide diversity of opinion 

 which prevails in regard to the most suitable dogs for 

 grouse-hunting. If the sportsman proposes to beat up 

 the whole country, he must have bold, wide-ranging 

 dogs, with high speed and great bottom— well-muscled 

 pointers, if their feet are good, or the pointer dropper, 

 or, best of all, the Irish setter. But if the hunter has a 

 fair knowledge of the game and its haunts ; if he can 

 pick out the choice bits of country with reasonable accu- 

 racy, then a steady, fine nosed, close ranger will prove 

 serviceable enough— a Gordon, for instance, or even a 

 good, stanch dog who is far past his prime and almost 

 useless for general purposes. 



On his first visit to the prairies an Eastern sportsman 



generally takes out his best quail do; 

 too much to say that the animal's 



id it i 



mark the deg 

 broken puppy, 



with oliler dog 

 well on grouse 

 lain lv. souietii 

 at least, bee 

 tlom run in. 

 and when he 

 holds it, hi 



. ta 



i of hi 

 phioh has 



will goner 



True, he 

 es timid an 

 ight to bac 

 hove all, not uu 

 imblingly makei 



ieveinent is io 



,se. But, alas! it is i 



adence— stanch old IV 



,ck his 



eked 



:e]y 



exactly 

 i. it, A half- 

 little on quail 

 elt reasonably 

 rplexed uncer- 

 )ld, but he has 

 and will sel- 

 ted from him, 

 ng point, and 

 s being full of 

 therwise with 

 to is your 



hope, and pr, 



favorite. You have Worked him for five seasons," and 

 each year your tongue lias grown more WaUtoninhis 

 praise. He iB a bold, up-headed dog, full of intelligence, 

 and with a marvelous nose— a dog who knows his duties 

 and glories in the knowledge. See with what freedom 



