FOREST AND STREAM, 
853 
though seldom enough to make a trip for this especial 
purpose advisable. Clrey squirrels are found in almost 
every large woods in Essex and the adjacent counties in 
small numbers, and afford excellent practice for the small¬ 
bore rifle. Bay-birds haunt almost every salt marsh along 
the coast, and at one time made the Elizabeth meadows 
a favorite gunning-place, but the condition of the soil 
has been so altered by railroad enterprises and drainage 
schemes that the birds have almost entirely forsaken it. 
A few years ago a noted gunner named King frequented 
a scald near Brinton Range, and often made bags of from 
50 to 200 birds in a day, and the struggle for bough-houses 
was so sharp that many would occupy them all night to 
secure them for the next day, 
“The fall shooting for quails, rabbits, partridges and 
woodcock is not confined to any particular localities, but 
every county in the vicinity receives its quota of Newark 
visitors, and none come home without a fair display of 
game. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Road 
takes out many parties, and scatters them along the route 
at almost every station from Millhurii to PhiUipsburg, 
most of them getting off in Morris County, though those 
whochoose Sussex generally have the greatest sport. The 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey Central Roads both pass 
through splendid shooting-grounds, and carry from this 
city many lovers of the dog and gun, who are set down 
at various spots within twenty or thirty miles from this 
city, and are picked up again in the eveuing with a good 
share of the game which has escaped the traps and snares 
of the farmers. 
“Among the prominent spovtsmen and owners of fine 
dogs in Newark are Dr. Robinson, Mr. A. P. Baldwin, 
W. R. Hobart, R. H. Brientuall, Ebenezer Green, W. and 
W. B. Durand, Charles Heath, Jacob Pentz, Dr. Pindell, 
J. R. Burnett, N. J. Demarest, C. Willigerod, Joseph 
Baldwin, James A. Hedden, A. Van Volkenberg, Inslee 
A. Hopper, Frank B, Allen, E. P, Ward, W. W. Bying- 
ton, Tiner Hedden, James Peck, Charles Leroy, l'l. F. 
Baldwin, C. C. Currier, George Rouband, W. F. Quinby, 
Albert Darling, Jacob Decker, Samuel Streit, E. E, Beck, 
and a host of others too numerous for these columns. 
“Perth Amboy, Prince's Bay, the Central bridge and 
Canarsee are the favorite fishing-places frequented by 
Newarkers, and the worthy anglers of the city contain 
among their number Asa Whitehead, Horace Freeman. 
Dr. Duteher, Dr. Andrews, George Watson, James M. 
Durand, H. M. Mason, Thomas Austin, Theodore Morrell, 
E. P. Ward, Wallace Durand, Harry Smith, G. A. Wiod- 
enmayer, Joseph H. Wright, W. N. Swezey, with four or 
five thousand others whose names escape our memory at 
present writing. 
“The local opportunities for fishing are as fine as could 
be found in any section of theoountry, and the variety of 
the fish is no doubt as extensive as any place in the world 
can show. Of anglers we have a host, who all delight in 
communing with nature through the medium of a * stick 
and a string.’ Within easy reach of the city, trout, black- 
bass, yellow perch, big pickerel and countless smaller va¬ 
rieties of fish cau be caught, and river anil sea-fishing of 
every description can be reached in an hour or two by 
any one who prefers it. Striped bass, weakfish, bluefish, 
blackfish and the vulgar porgy all helped to divert the 
hard-worked business man or mechanic in his hours of 
relaxation; and many are the Newarkers who take ad¬ 
vantage of our easy communication with salt waters to 
spend a day on the bridges or in open boat, enjoying the 
delights of capturing a mess of fish." 
Shooting in New Brunswick. — St, John, IV, B., 
Nov. 18 th,—Editor Forest and Stream: — As you are 
doubtless aware, by inexorable decree of the weather’s 
clerk the shooting season in this northern province of 
New Brunswick generally closes about the first of 
November. Thenceforward, if any hardy sportsman In¬ 
dulges in his favorite pastime, he does it with tingling 
fingers and nose reddened by cold. 
Taken as a whole, the season has been one of unusual 
brilliancy, and our orack shots have had better sport and 
more of it than usually falls to their lot. Various game 
birds have abounded, aud in the vicinity of this city— 
say, within a distance of seven or eight miles — woodcock 
have been unexpectedly plentiful, but sportsmen who 
have ventured further away to the vicinity of the Loch 
Lomond lakes or along the banks of Garnett’s Creek, 
have also returned with large bags as rewards for their in¬ 
creased exertions, 
Including a very few sportsmen from out-of-town, and 
numbering in all not more than a dozen guns, I think it 
would be within the mark to state that not less than six 
hundred woodcock have been killed by our sportsmen 
duringthe season which has just closed. It will he readily 
appreciated that this is pretty good work for so small a 
number, whose time has necessarily to he mainly de¬ 
voted to the more serious matters of life, and who find 
little leisure from the whirl aud activity of absorbing 
business cares. 
In addition to the bags of woodcock which have been 
taken, a larger number of English snipe has been 
killed in the vicinity of St. John than has been customary 
for many previous years. Thanks, in part, at least, to the 
“ discriminating laws” (which have been pretty widely 
attacked), the broad Saekville marshes and some of those 
of a similar nature along the St. John River have this 
year given some grand sport to those who have had 
leisure and opportunity to visit them. Well-filled bags 
have not been at all rare. 
It will not be without interest in this connection if I 
speak briolly of tile dogs, which, in my opinion, are best 
adapted for shooting over in this country. My own 
fancy and experience lead me to place in the foremost 
rank a strain of imported spaniels introduced by Capt. 
McMurdo, a retired English officer, formerly a resident 
of this Province, but now living in Evington, Campbell 
County, Va. For cock shooting this spaniel is unques¬ 
tionably the best dog which I have seen in use here — 
going unhesitatingly and unerringly where the pointer 
or setter would scarcely venture. For open field shoot¬ 
ing, such as snipe, it seems to me that it would be diffi¬ 
cult to improve upon the spaniels, as bred and trained by 
Capt. McMurdo. Several of them are owned in thiB 
city, and I have had good opportuntity to Observe and 
judge their great merits. 
Capt. McMurdo still retains his interest in his spaniels, 
having taken his breeding dogs with him to his Southern 
home. His skill and enthusiasm for-his pet breed will, 
no doubt, achieve success in introducing his spaniels into 
a district where, I believe, they have not heretofore been 
looked upon with any great degree of favor. 
I have already referred to the excellent shooting in the 
neighborhood of the Loch Lomond Lakes. There is 
grand fishing as well in the same waters. Il seems to 
me that for these reasons, as well as for the grandeur of 
the surrounding scenery and the excellent opportunities 
for boating and yachting which they afford, these lakes 
ought to become very popular places for a summer re- 
sOrt. 
Hitherto there has, perhaps, been a lack of sufficiently 
comfortable accommodation in this vicinity: but this 
want will no longer be felt. The Ben Lomond Houso, 
which is situated in immediate proximity to the shore of 
the largest lake, and in full view of the finest scenery, 
has passed into the hands of Mr. Thomas F. Raymond, 
the ever popular landlord of the Royal Hotel in St. John, 
by whom it has been thoroughly renovated, Mr. Ray¬ 
mond’s reputation as a skilful and generous caterer is 
widespread, and tourists need not fear hut what in his 
hands they will be thoroughly well cared for. 
Both moose and caribou are said to be plenty this 
season, and doubtless will afford considerable sport before 
the close of the season, on the first of January next. 
Two English gentlemen, Sir Harry P. Burrard and Mr, 
H. S. Bigger, leave here to-morrow morning for Canaan, 
where they will spend some time in the woods in quest of 
these noble animals. They will undoubtedly give a 
good account of themselves.* Not many weeks ago Capt. 
Brannen and his crew, while crossing Grand Lake in the 
steamer Fawn, came across a large caribou swimming in 
the lake. They captured it alive, aud an effort is being 
made to tame and train it to harness. Lapis, 
Tbe Original, of “LEATHEttSTOCKiNa.”— Apropos of 
the reference made by a correspondent in an article, 
Oct. 29th, entitled “A Plea for Still Hunting," in which 
the writer mentions that Cooper’s Leatherstocking was a 
veritable being, and placing him inadvertently in the 
Seventeenth instead of the Eighteenth Century, our valued 
correspondent writes from “ Near Peake's Cross Roads, 
Spotesylvania County, Va.,” under date of Oct. 30th, the 
following :— 
Near Peake’s Cross Roads, I 
Spottsylvania Co., Va., Oct. 30 th. ) 
In an article headed “A Plea for Still Hunting,” signed 
“Antler,” which was printed in your issue of Oct 23d, 
the following appeared : "Cooper's Leatherstocking was 
supposed by many to be a myth, existing only in the 
brain of the author; but reliable historical information 
proves that such an individual did exist in the latter part 
of the Seventeenth Century —a man of English 
origin, whose antecedents were well known to Mr. 
Cooper,” etc. 
The following account of Sir Jennings Beckwith, the 
original Leatherstocking of Cooper, taken from the old 
Turf Register and Sporting Magazine for March, 1834, 
at which time Sir Jennings was well and “happy,” may 
prove interesting to other sportsmen, as it did to me — 
showing, as it does, of what stuff the sportsmen of the 
olden time were made : — 
“ Sir Jennings Beckwith was born in Richmond 
County on the 10th of February, 1764. His father, Jona¬ 
than, was the son of Sir Marmaduke Beckwith, baronet, 
the first clerk of the county under the Crown ; his 
mother, Rebecca, was daughter of Richard Barnes, Esq. 
Sir Jennings [March, 1834,] is six feet high, muscular, 
without many gray hairs, and can crack a walnut with 
his teeth. The family have been ddvoted to the turf and 
all kinds of hunting and fishing, laboring in search of 
amusement, but never known to do anything to bring a 
penny to the pocket. 
“ When fortune throws anything useful in the way of 
this old man, he is uneasy so long as there is a shot iu 
his locker. He moved to Frederick County, Md., and on 
losing his wife, to the ‘far West,’ in 1898, where he 
stopped in the forks of the Ohio and Mississippi. He 
made two trips to New Orleans in open boats, and twice 
visited his native county. He delighted in joining the 
Indians in excursions to their hunting grounds. In 1810 
he left the post in Arkansas witli a servant and an Indian 
to guide them through the -wilderness, who, becoming 
bewildered by high waters, lost them four months and 
six days, during which time Sir J. was nine days on the 
ground from an attack of paralysis. They were out of 
provisions three days, when the Indian shot a fox giving 
suck. The old man says he and the Indian ate it, but it 
was monstrous tough. His servant could not go it for 
some time, but at last he took his share. They returned 
to their starting pole. He then went to Cadron, where 
he bought ahorse withjhis rifle, and mounting his servant 
also, they travelled without a guide to St. Genevieve. 
H i s next move was in 1826 to the lead mines near Prairie 
du Chien. In 1831 he came to Richmond County again, 
where he spends the winters fox-hunting and the 
Bummei-B fishing, as he cannot see now to shoot. He is 
the happiest man in the world, and is the life of every 
party. He rides like a t Indian when on a chase, sees the 
fox as often as any other person, and is sure to be up at 
the death. He lately hunted with Major Beale, who at 
seventy-live years of age, has a few dogs, ana “ going 
ahead,” he took the wrong path ; it would have done you 
good to hear the old Major cry out : “ Boy, boy, you are 
going wrong!’ 
“ Sir Jennings was always called ‘Leatherstocking,’ 
and signed himself so when writing for the press, which 
he did with much grace and ease. Biudshot. 
Aiming Ahead,— Abbeville, La., Nov. 15th—Editor 
Forest and Stream :—I have been no little interested in 
the discussions on wing shooting at crossing shots, some 
contending that in such cases you must aim ahead Of the 
crossing bird, while others say the proper plan is to direct 
the gun on the bird and move it along with the bird, or 
in other words follow up the bird with the gun. In this 
latter way it is said Bogardus shoots. I think it may be 
very safely said that no man ever killed a bird at cross¬ 
ing shots who did not aim ahead, however much they 
may think they do and have done otherwise. The im¬ 
possibility of hitting a swift-flying bird while crossing- at 
any distance by following up with the gun has been dein- • 
onstrated by several writers in your paper already, and 
I do not propose any elaborate argument on it, but will 
only say it can't be done. It is simply a question of 
mechanics, which admits of mechanical demonstration, 
and what crack shots say about how they shoot proves 
nothing, only that they are mistaken. Let me illustrate 
a little. It is contended by the advocates of the moving- 
up-the-gun theory that the lateral motion of the gun bar¬ 
rel gives the charge of shot a lateral motion equal to that 
of the crossing bird, and thus enables it to cross the path 
of the bird just where the bird is at tire instant of cross¬ 
ing. Now, no one will probably pretend that the lateral 
motion of the barrels can give the shot a. lateral mol ion 
greater than the motion of the muzzle at the lime the 
charge pops out of the gun. Well, now let us figure a 
little. A swift-flying pigeon in crossing moves at the 
rate of sixty miles an hour, or one mile per minute, or 
eighty-eight feet per Becond. Now it will take about two 
seconds to aim and fire at the bird, and consequently in 
those two seconds the muzzle of the gun must pass through 
a space of 176 feet laterally to keep up with the bird. 
Does anybody t hin k he moves his gun muzzle through 
176 feet while he is taking aim? He does not, nor even 
through ten feet of space. The absurdity, then, of giv¬ 
ing a lateral motion to the shot of 176 feet in two seconds 
by moving the muzzle three feet in that time is apparent. 
It must be remembered that the force of the powder can¬ 
not give the charge any lateral motion whatever ; it only 
gives it a direct motion square across the path of the 
bird. 
It is of great importance that correct principles he 
taught those learning to shoot on tho whig, and it fre- 
queutly occurs in books of instruction for wing shooting 
that the reader is told to keep ilia gun moving forward 
on the bird, or sometimes ahead of the bird, until the 
charge is out of the barrel. This moving of the gun is 
worse than useless in practice, as it makes the aim more 
uncertain and unsteady, aud is of no assistance to tbe 
shot to keep up with the bird. The only possible way a 
crossing bird can be hit is to hold far enough ahead so 
that tho shot will reach the point aimed at the same in¬ 
stant the bird does, and to do this a firm, motionless aim 
is the best. Practice alone can enable one to learn the 
proper distance to aim ahead, and all attempts to keep 
the gun on the bird only embarrass the learner and are 
useless. This is simply a dry question of mechanics, con¬ 
trolled by fixed and eternal laws of motion and force, 
which are capable of being, and are, well understood. 
And mere opinions do not weigh a straw when the con¬ 
trary is demonstrated mathematically, Let our teaching 
be cone on correct principles. PapabotTK. 
The “City of Worcester.”— This sporting car has re¬ 
turned home. The party travelled over 4,00u miles, at a 
total expense per capita of $210, exclusive of cost of am¬ 
munition. Tne score of the game netted for their own 
use and given to friends was : 1,557 prairie chickens; 
69 geese ; 250 ducks ; 188 quail ; 17 suipe : 9 woodcock ; 
1 1 yellow legs ; 20 plover ; 13 jack-rabbits ; 15 gray rab¬ 
bits ; 7 sand-hill cranes ; 3 morgans er ducks: 8 prairie 
dogs (not for the table): 1 blue heron ; 9 pigeons ; 2 deer - 
3 badgers : 1 coyote ; 3 sharp-tailed grouse ; and 1 raven 
—The London Illustrated Dramatic and Sporting 
News, in describing a Rochester invention (diving decoy) 
Bays : “Here is an excellent idea on the manufacture and 
working of decoy ducks, which, so far as we know has 
never been used in this country. Nothing more ingenious 
of the kind has been discovered. A correspondent of an 
excellent American journal, Forest and (Stream, sends 
this excellent recipe.” 
New York— Niagara Falls. —Large numbers of wild 
geese have been recently carried over the Falls. 
Pennsylvania— Appelbacksville, Nov. 2d.—Quail shoot¬ 
ing is good. A party of four of ns bagged 125 in a day. 
Pheasant shooting is not as good as last year on Hay¬ 
cock Mountain; several fair bags made by parties. Rab¬ 
bits and bares more plenty than for many years. \V ild 
pigeons were plenty last week, and also ducks on the 
Delaware River. S. T. 
Notes from Virginia,— Nov. 22d.— One of the wa rmest 
November suns I ever remember, has through the whole 
month been shining on the dryest of stubbles and pas¬ 
tures, that this season of the j-ear has within the memory 
of man witnessed. The best of dogs, till the last lew 
days, have been almost useless. Birds, however, axe 
plentiful, and much stronger than usual on the wing, 
and, in spite of the want of scent, some good hags have 
been made. I have just returned from a six day's hunt 
in the counties of Campbell and Pittsylvania, which re¬ 
sulted in the killing of four hundred head of game to four 
guns (350 quail; 47 “ old hars ; ” 2 woodcock, and—mar¬ 
vellous to relate—a pheasant, The scarcity of woodcock 
is noteworthy ; in ordinary seasons we should have prob¬ 
ably killed 12 or 15. There have been more wood- 
duck, I think, than usual in the creeks tliis summer and 
fall, while great flocks of wild geese are already cackling 
in the wheat fields by the Staunton River. A party from 
here spent an enjoyable fortnight during October among 
the mountain regions of Bath County, bagging several 
deer, three bears, and getting good sport among the 
pheasants. Several accidents have occurred this fall. A 
turkey hunter calling, as he supposed, a big gobbler, 
shot a negro through the head, at twenty paces, who, in 
turn, was under the delusion he was creeping on some 
scattered specimen of the monarch of game bird. A 
Spanish gentlemen, at Miilboro’ Springs, shot a negro in 
tiie eye with his right barrel, and emptied the contents 
of his left immediately into the arm of another African. 
Report says that the • ‘ Don ” was so badly scared, and his 
generosity was so great, that our Ethiopian friends ulti¬ 
mately concluded that they had come in for a good thing. 
Ring wood. 
North Carolina.— Nashville, Nash Co., Nov, 18 th .— 
Forest and Stream is very much liked here, but the 
country people are too poor to take it extensively. Game, 
in the shape of deer, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, coous, squir¬ 
rel, quail, woodcock, are fairly plentiful, but little fiauing 
of any kind. Agriculturally, this section ot' tho Slate is 
not promising, though ordinary crops can be raised. Cot¬ 
ton does not pay. C. P. K. 
Davis House — Welden, N. C. —There is fine hunting 
in and about this place; plenty of grouse, willet, tur¬ 
keys, and deer, aud any quanity of small game. D, 
One-Third Seneca.—W arsaw, III., Ron. Uf/i,—There 
is a vast amount of material for a readable book if cel- 
