550 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Devoted to Field and Aquatic Sports, Practical Natural 
History, Fish Culture, the Protection op Game, Preserva¬ 
tion of Forests, and the Inculcation in>1en and Women of 
a Healthy Interest in Out-Door Recreation and Study : 
PUBLISHED BT 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
—AT— 
NO. Ill FULTON STREET, NEW YORK. 
[Post Office Box 863!!.] 
TERMS, FOUR DOLLARS A YEAR, STRICTLY IN ADVANCE. 
Advertising Bates. 
Insiae pages, nonpariel type, 25 cents per line; outside page, 40 
cents. Special rotes 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 
possible. 
All transient advertisements must be accompanied with the 
money Or they will not be inserted. 
No advertisement or business notice of an immoral character 
will be received on any terms. 
VAny publisherinscrting ourprospectus as above one time, with 
brief editorial notice call tag attention thereto.and sending mark ed 
copy to ns, will receive the Forest and Stream for one year. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1879. 
To Correspondents. 
Ail communications whatever, intended for publication, must be 
accompanied with real name of the writer as a guaranty of good 
faith and be addressed to Forest and Stream Publishing Com¬ 
pany. Names will not be published if objection be made. Anony¬ 
mous com mu mini ions will not be regarded. 
We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 
Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us wtlh 
brief notes of their movements and transactions. 
Nothing will be admitted to any department of thepaper that 
may not be read with propriety in the home circle. 
We cannotbe responsible for dereliction of maij service tf money 
a Company. 
—We publish this week the Index to Volume XII, and 
again call attention to this semi-annual exhibit of our 
field and scope. The variety of topics discussed in Forest 
AND Stream during the past half year amply illustrates 
the value of .the paper to sportsmen and naturalists. 
The Poet Longfellow’s Escape.— It is said that dur¬ 
ing the late tornado near Boston, Prof. Longfellow 
out sailing with his family and some friends, and met 
with quite a narrow escape, but managed to reach the 
shore, where a family took them in for the night. Their 
friends were very anxious, fearing that the party were 
lost. 
Acknowledgment.— The editor of this paper hasten 
to express his high appreciation of the honor conferred on 
him in the following note t— 
Ithaca, N. Y., August T. 
Charles Bollock, Esq. 
Sir I take pleasure in informing you that at a meeting of tbe 
dub, held Monday, August 4, you were unanimously elected s 
honorary member. Yours very respectfully, 
Wm. H. Denham, Secretary Forest City Shooting Club. 
Abandoned Cats. —Under this heading that paper en¬ 
titled Our Dumb Animals, which is the organ of The So¬ 
ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is discuss¬ 
ing the beBt plan for feeding those cats of our city dwell¬ 
ings which have been deserted by their occupants who 
have gone Off for the summer. Now this is very kind— 
very kind, indeed—and Tabby and Grimalkin ought to feel 
very much obliged. Respectable house-bred cats like 
these ought to be kept at home, and not be allowed to go 
out with the midnight marauders who disturb men’s 
slumbers with their hideous caterwauling. In fact, the 
proper thing would be to send the cats down for a sea-side 
vacation, while the families remain at home. 
Nebraska Game Law.— The game law Of Nebraska as 
it now stands is essentially the old law before the clause 
prohibiting all wild bird shooting except water fowl, snipe, 
waders, and woodcock was introduced, The close sea¬ 
sons now are: Buffalo, elk, mountain sheep, deer, and 
antelope, January 1st to October lBt; pinnated grouse 
(prairie chicken), February 1st to August 13 ; quail, De 
oember 1st to October 1st. 
A PLEA FOR WOODCOCK. 
—Conroy, Bissett & Malleson’s split bamboo bows are 
rapidly gaining favor among archery clubs. They can¬ 
not be broken ; that is where they differ from glass 
balls, 
lie mng where woodcocks In the summer feed 
And in what climates they renew their breed. 
D URING the closing hours of the last New Jersey 
Legislature a hill was introduced to change the close 
season prohibiting the killing of woodcock from Janu¬ 
ary 1 to July 4, to January I to September 1. It was thus 
intended to do away with what is called summer shoot¬ 
ing. A comprehensive letter, written by a sportsman of 
experience, setting forth why and wherefore woodcock 
should not be killed in July and August, was read and 
attentively listened to, and had time permitted this pro¬ 
tective bill would have become a law. Early ip the com¬ 
ing session the same bill will be taken up, and it is to he 
hoped that it will receive the support it deserves. 
Already there has been two much tinkering with the 
game laws, at which every “ gunning” tyro takes a shot 
until a complete muddle is the result; both the protecting 
farmer and land-owner and the devastating "hunter” 
clash, and matters arrive at a dead lock. But before 
going into the pros and cons of the case it will be well 
to make a record of wbat we have recently seen, which 
convinces us more than ever how unsound was the ex¬ 
isting law. 
On July 5 two of us were heating out a large tract of 
high timber land which is watered by a well-known 
stream of Morris County, when our attention was called 
to a woodcock which our companion had almost stepped 
upon, and which still sat crouching within a few inches 
of his foot. There, on an open, dampish piece of ground, 
squatted a hen bird with a tiny one by her side. Making 
our dogs down charge we both stood watching the two, 
the mother from time to time moving her head side¬ 
ways and rolling up her beautiful large brown eyes to 
our faces, as if in supplication, and the chick nestling 
more olosely by her. Perhaps five minutes passed while 
we were admiring this gamy bird, when a move made 
by one of the dogs caused the beauty to start and flip 
down about ten yards away, where she alit chirping 
aud whistling. Quick as a wink did the little downy 
bird wheel where it sat and raise its head and watch the 
path the old bird had taken. But it made no attempt 
to follow. Picking it carefully up we looked the young 
thing over, and were much amused on replacing it 
the ground to see the little chap paddle off over the moss- 
covered roots in the direction from whence the sound 
proceeded. Soon it gained its parent’s side, and under 
her sheltering wing we left him. May no bungling 
“ hunter,” with a halo of mosquitoes about his head, per¬ 
spiring as if he was the father of some mighty river, 
with his companion, a poor panting brute with fevered 
breath and blood-shot eye, trail them to that hidden spot. 
May the little fellow live to tackle the largest kind of 
angle-worm and wash it down with many a julip sucked 
through the straw with which Nature, has provided him. 
May he grow and wax strong, and long after he has 
passed through the unhealthy period of moulting may 
he tower away through the scrub-oak and birch, leaving 
behind only the screaming whistle of his flight. Autumn 
is then at hand, at which time — 
Some think to southern coasts their flight they tend. 
Or to the moon in midnight hours ascend. 
It is then they weigh eight ounces, and as Josh Billings 
might say : "Are just as tall on toast.” 
Would, however, that all shooting men were alike unto 
a stoutish friend of ours—now, alas ! no more. Before 
a cosey fire, and when the sleet and snow were pattering 
on the windows, it was his wont to extol in a most en¬ 
thusiastic way the glories of summer woodcock shooting. 
Numberless engagements would be made and plans 
mapped out for the coming Fourth, then many nlonths 
away. The jolly chap would even go so far as to instruct 
his charming wife to save all his old trousers, saying, at 
the time, 11 Mother, they will do for woodcock shooting.” 
But when the nation’s birthday drew nigh and my 
friend’s collar drooped and responded to the call of "all 
down below,” there was no man in Jersey who would 
curse the "heathenish, slaughtering law,” as he waB 
pleased to call it, more than himself. This weathercock 
(not woodcock) performance was carried on with exact¬ 
ing sameness for many years—even up to the time of 
his death. Several months after that sad event, while 
making a visit at the house, we were led one morning by 
the lonely widow to make an inspection of the relics of 
her departed lord. Guns, rods, fly-book and pouches 
were all looked through until we came upon a mighty 
mountain of garments, such as the innermost crypt of a 
Chatham street clothier would he unable to disgorge. 
With a crystal tear trickling over the lovely dimples of 
her face she said, with a trembling voice, “PoorGus’ 
woodcock pants.” It was a fact—and he had passed 
away without taint of butchery on his hands—he had 
never killed a bird. No motherly bird nor brood of nest¬ 
lings did he destroy, A requiem for the true sportsman 
that has gone. 
But to resume, is it not a wretched law that enables 
the vile pot hunter to Mil with impunity and without fear 
of detection the cheeping grouse? Is it not a wretched 
law that causes the trusty farmer, with pitchfork in hand, 
to execute a pas de demon as he sees the gang of " ln*it¬ 
ers” with racing dogs plough through his standing grain 
and grass in pursuit of a scattered bird ? We know it is, 
and call for September 1 as our opening day. The change 
is the more necessary now that adjoining State govern¬ 
ments have wisely prolonged the close season in their 
territory. Woodcock should not be shot in either July 
or August. We saw in one day (August 8, 1873) seven 
broods in a swamp in Warren County that were too 
young to fly or care for themselves. Because, woodcock 
are shot at all winter in the Southern States is no argu¬ 
ment why they should he slaughtered here while they ' 
are breeding and raising their young. Summer shooters 
kifl the goose to get the golden egg. The speedy exter¬ 
mination of this Mng of game birds is consequently inev¬ 
itable. unless a saving hand, backed by the. strong arm 
of the law, is put forth in its defense. 
DOG SHOWS AND THEIR INFLUENCE 
It is possible that after careful consideration and argu¬ 
ment the good and evil effects of dog shows might be 
found to be very nearly balanced. The good is to be 
found in the increased interest in dogs taken by the 
general public, in the pleasant re-unions of sportsmen 
and breeders, and in the opportunity for comparison, and 
the instruction afforded those who would leam as to 
points, etc., but who would have no other opportunity. 
The evil effects, if they can be so called, are found in the 
disposition to breed to dogs possessing no other qualifica¬ 
tions than those which natural beauty and careful con¬ 
ditioning have succeeded.® bringing to show perfection, 
and in the evil results to very young dogs, such as may 
arise from infection, contagion, or the natural conse¬ 
quences of change of air, diet, etc., connected with un¬ 
due excitement. Indeed, while we would not suggest a 
departure such as was made by the Philadelphia Kennel 
Club in excluding puppies under eight months of age, 
we hope that at future shows six months will be the 
lowest limit at which premiums will be offered for com¬ 
petition. And dog shows, perhaps, have had other per¬ 
nicious effects. They have increased the number of 
“breeders” to an extent which lias become not only 
almost ridiculous but positively baneful. A fortunate 
winner of a prize in a puppy class immediately indulges 
in further investment, and becomes a breeder. The 
same result has followed from the establishment and in¬ 
crease of pigeon matches. Why are there a hundred so 
called sportsmen to-day to where there was one twenty 
years ago ? Because each accidental spectator at a pigeon 
match who is induced to take a shot, and happens to kill 
a bird, immediately blossoms forth into a full-fledged 
“sportsman,” a result which, while working much good 
for the gun trade, has had a very serious effect upon the 
numbers of our game birds. Nor are we sure that the 
establishment of sportsmens’ clubs has not had a share in 
the same matter. In many instances mere good-fellow¬ 
ship has been the inspiring cause for men to join, and 
the result the development of an interest which takes out 
one more seeker for game. 
But to return to dog shows. That they are the cause 
of many heart-burnings and much ill-feeling cannot be 
denied, and he who accepts the position of judge must be 
either callous to all revilings or else suffer more iu spirit 
than the disappointed exhibitor. The question of judges 
is one which will trouble future committees not a little, 
and he who accepts the office, notwithstanding that he 
be worthy to stand by Caesar’s wife, must expect to have 
abuse heaped upon his head by every disappointed scrib¬ 
bler who can gain for his lucubrations admittance to the 
columns of the sporting papers. J3ut judges, of one Mnd 
or another, will be found, and dog shows will not die out 
for want of this element. The evil caused by injudicious 
breeding we consider of much more importance, and the 
necessity in breeding of considering other qualities than 
those which go to make up a mere show winner can¬ 
not be too strongly impressed. By this we mean that the 
dog’s general record should be scanned. We have but 
little more faith in field trial winners in this country than 
we have in bench show business, except that we believe 
that, considering the way they have been conducted, the 
chances of the best dog winning are less in the former 
than they are in the latter. As far as field trials are con* 
corned, they have been run, as a rule, too much on the 
“ring” principle, and an expose of some of the manipu¬ 
lations of scores, etc., (and we do not by any means 
refer to the Minnesota trials,) would astonish the general 
public. 
It is an undeniable fact that there is a very consider¬ 
able mortality among dogs which have been exhibited at 
shows, and a close examination into the causes which, 
have produced this mortality is a matter of duty on the 
part of committees of clubs under whose auspices shows 
are held. Young dogs are the ones most seriously affeoted, 
and with them many natural causes can be found which 
would result in disease. A greater susceptibility to con¬ 
tagion—for no matter what precautions are taken, it 
seems absolutely impossible to keep infected dogs from 
getting into shows—the results of nervous excitement 
and change of food. Still, much could be done by those 
having charge of shows, by attending strictly to ventila¬ 
tion, by seeing that fJrinfrrtrr.ta are freely*nsed, and 
