FOREST AND STREAM 
appear* to have suddenly found favor with the 
public in many new places. The cricket columns ill 
the late * numbers of the Forest and Stream 
will show how the game is now distributed over the coun¬ 
try. We have published over one hundred and fifty- 
full scores of matches, besides referring to as many 
others. Our principal aim has been to give in. our record 
each score correctly, and for this reason we often delayed 
tho publication of a match until we could vouch for its 
correctness, We have noticed all the important games 
infull, many of which we reported in person, and our 
aim has been to be impartial and just. It is now proposed 
by the editorial management of this journal to continue 
the cricket column through the winter months, publish¬ 
ing the averages of the principal clubs, and later on, a 
series of articles which will be interesting to all lovers of 
the game. We fortunately have in our possession many 
old records of the game, and will be pleased to furnish 
what information we can to those who care to revive 
then - cricketing days of the past. We earnestly request 
the cooperation of all Club secretaries, and will at all 
times'lie pleased to serve as a medium through which 
cricketers can hold communion with each other, and ex¬ 
press their viewB. 
SPORTSMAN AND GENTLEMAN. 
T HE artist poses his subject before a landscape scene 
with stretch of country, woodland and winding 
river. This background adds to the beauty of the por¬ 
trait, and the picture is in an artistic sense more pleasing 
than one which could be made with the studio walls for 
a setting, The devotee of rod and gun who is pictured 
from week to week in our columns has been fortunate in 
having the woods and fields and rivers as artistic acces¬ 
sories of the picture. If this has been such as to delight 
hiB own eye and the eyes of his friends, due considera¬ 
tion should he accorded the background before which he 
has been posed, 
In the field, doubtless most men are at their best. The 
day out of doors has for its single purpose a good time— 
freedom from the vexatious and petty worriments of the 
office, counting-room and dwelling. If a man is sulky 
with his gun on his shoulder and his dog by his side, you 
may set him down, first, for a morose old misanthrope, 
and secondly, for an idiot. And then, unless you are 
willing to be an idiot yourself, stay away from that man’s 
home. Sportsmen in the field are understood to be jolly, 
good-natured fellows. They may be tired, wet and hun¬ 
gry, lacerated by thorns, and black and blue with bruises 
and falls ; their powder and shot may be gone, and their 
game bag empty ; but so far as our knowledge goes, the 
cheery tone of voice and the ready smile are never absent. 
The tone of the sketches sent to us invariably give evi¬ 
dence of the shooter’s and angler’s good nature. And so 
tho reader of the Forest and Stream, who shall form 
his conception of the ideal American sportsman from the 
data afforded in its pages, must regard that being as a 
pleasant fellow, just the companion for a morning tramp 
or an evening chat about the hearth. 
Quite unwittingly on our part, and perhaps uncon¬ 
sciously too, so far as the writers are concerned, the 
sportsman as a type has been painted in other colors by 
some of our later contributors, The plaints of our fair 
friends, the sportsmen’s wives, which we have published 
of late, show something of the other side of the sports¬ 
man’s character. They have shown him so eager to 
“ Away to the woods, away,” as to disregard, or at least 
to think lightly of, the inconveniences of the ones at 
home, and so fond of dog and gun as to ignore the pro¬ 
prieties and little delicacies which make the ideal home 
what it is. The ardent sportsman may he an inconsider¬ 
ate husband. 
The pleasure of a day of field sport is dearly bought if 
it be at the expense of the finer feelings, and the little 
felicities of life. The sportsman is a grand character : 
the gentleman a grander one, No man is great to his 
valet, but the true gentleman is as much of a gentleman 
in his own family at home as among acquaintances and 
newly made friends abroad. 
The Publisher of the London “ Field.” — Judge 
Horace Cox, who died in England the other day, at the 
age of seventy, was a busy man. In addition to his la¬ 
borious legal duties, lie had during his life written several 
text-books in law, a work upon elocution, and many 
learned and logical pamphlets in defense of spiritualism, 
in which faith he was a devoted believer. He was also 
President of the Psychological Society. His experiences 
in journalistic enterprise were of the happiest kind. The 
Lavs Times, whioh he established and edited for many 
years, brought him a large income. Some twenty-five 
years ago the London Field, then edited by Mark Lemon, 
was straggling along in a poor kind of way. Cox bought 
it. A country surgeon, named Walsh, had just published 
a hook on dogs, and another work displaying much 
knowledge of country life. Cox put Walsh at the head 
of the Field. Special editors were called in, tales of 
travel were invited, a corps of reporters organized, and 
the paper put on a new basis. The income now derived 
from the Field is §100,000 per annum. Eighteen years 
ago Mr. Cox did essentially the same thing with the 
London Queen, which was then in a languishing condi¬ 
tion. The price paid for the property was trifling. To¬ 
day tiie paper pays §50,000 a year. The total annual in¬ 
come derived from his various newspaper enterprises by 
this successful publisher, is estimated to have been be¬ 
tween §200,000 and §250,000, He had the journalistic 
faculty of judging tho public’s taste in literary matters, 
and he was equally successful in catering to that taste. 
School for Wing-Shooting.— Capt. Adam H. Bogar- 
dus has done New Yorkers a novel favor in opening for 
their benefit a. shooting school, at No. 20 Eighth street. 
A large roomy hall has been secured and arranged with 
screens and covers especially for the sport of the wing 
shooters of the city. It is in fact, a place where practical 
instruction may be given and received on shooting at 
flying objects. The arrangement is to furnish a series of 
traps from which glass balls may be sprung, and under 
the eye of the Captain young men and others may learn 
the art of wing-shooting, the correct method of carrying 
and handling the gun, and the other details which go to 
make-up the model field shot. On Wednesday evening 
of last week the Captain opened his new gallery to the 
public, and there was a gathering of the many friends of 
the Captain to see him fire the opening shots. Five traps 
had been placed in position, three of them along the 
edge of an old stage, and a pair on the main floor, in 
such position that halls from them were thrown in a low 
raking reacli along the stage floor. All the traps were of 
the Bogardus pattern, and one who learns to shoot over 
these may not fear any other make of hall throwers. A 
broad canvas sheet back of the stage upon which the 
glare of a calcium light was directed, brought out the 
flying globes in sharp relief. Tho Captain fired first at 
100 sprang from either of the five traps, then at twenty- 
five doubles, and then followed some fancy shots in 
which he pulled his own trap, and again turning his 
back to the trap and turning and shooting at the same 
instant. Dr. Bower Talbot, who is second only to the 
champion himself as a wing-shot, then stepped to the 
score, and brought his clear English eye to bear on the 
balls, shattering them in fine style. Others tried their 
hands at the work, and all pronounced the facilities first 
class. Classes are now forming, and a large demand has 
been made for practice by city men, who bring their 
own guns, and fire a few dozen shots to acquire dexterity 
and quickness in the manipulation. Colonel Gildersleeve 
and other fine shooters have begun to avail themselves 
of the privileges of the gallery, which is within easy 
reach of all parts of the city and Brooklyn, by the 
Elevated Rail Road Station at Ninth street. In the pur¬ 
chase of a new gun, there is no other place in the city 
where it can he taken and a practical test applied at 
fifteen and eighteen yards rise. Since the opening there 
has been a liberal attendance, and a continuous con¬ 
sumption of glass-ware. Preparations are now making 
for the great match against time, which the Captain is to 
undertake on Saturday next, and of which a full report 
will appear in the next issue. A card in our rifle 
columns from Captain Bogardus invites criticism, and 
should the feat of breaking 5,500 glass balls in 4504- 
minutes he really done, it will give the gallery a prestige 
and make it a more popular resort than it has already 
grown to be. 
Captain Bogardus will perform on Saturday, next, 
at his shooting school (the okl Tivoli Theatre), No. 20 
Eighth street, the most difficult and skillful feat of marks¬ 
manship, coupled with endurance, ever attempted, and 
one which will probably never be excelled. He will load 
his own gnu, and break 5,500 glass balls within 7 horns, 
304 minutes, sprang from two traps. This will beat all 
known records, and will probably never be again at¬ 
tempted by any man. Shooting will commence at 3 
o’clock p.h., and continue without intermission, Parties 
desiring to witness the performance must take the eleva¬ 
ted road for Ninth Btreet station, or the Second, Third, 
or Fourth avenue horse cars for Eighth street. 
Texas as a Winter Resort. —Our interesting and reli¬ 
able correspondent, Mr. Sam. M. Johnson, of Corpus 
Christi, Texas, known to our readers by the familiar sig¬ 
nature of “Bexar,” speaks very highly of that region as 
a winter resort for sportsmen and for consumptives. The 
former may find abundance and variety of game, and tile 
latter a salubrious and equable climate. Our friend as¬ 
sures us that strangers will find a hearty welcome and 
courteous attention during their stay. This may be just 
the place for whioh so many are now anxiously seeking. 
Puck. —The comic weekly, Puck , is one of the news¬ 
paper suocesses of the day. It is the best and brightest of 
its kind in the world. Keppler can discount Nast fifty- 
two weeks in the year. We always look for Puck in 
Wednesday morning’s mail, and tens of thousands of 
other people are looking for the same paper in their 
mail-boxes and on the news-stands. Puck has published 
an Annual, and the funny things in it are enough to 
make the paving-stones smile. Long may Puck live, and 
never may he grow old. 
ALASKA’S RESOURCES. 
C ONCERNING the prospective value of lands, six 
honest and intelligent men may entertain as many 
opinions. Nothing is more illusory than are the unde¬ 
veloped resources and the capabilities of an unsettled 
country. Investigating part ies, fitted out with the ap- 
roved facilities for carefully testing a newly acquired 
territory may give their favorable or adverse decision, 
based upon what they can see. The truth of their reports 
is verified by the immigrant who comes after them. This 
has been the rale in other sections of our own land, 
and it must apply equally in Alaska. Perhaps the value 
of no other part of the possessions of the United States 
has been so much a subject of dispute as has been that 
of this latest acquisition. Our correspondent, ‘ 1 Piseeo,” 
who certainly possesses unusual opportunities for speak¬ 
ing intelligently upon the question, it will be remem¬ 
bered, expressed a decided difference of opinion with 
Professor Henry W. Elliot, who was sent out by the Gov¬ 
ernment to investigate the territory. Below we publish 
a reply from Professor Elliott, in which he makes good 
the opinion which he originally expressed. As neither 
of these gentlemen are interested parties, save in the 
highest and most patriotic sense, we are glad to afford 
them an opportunity of adjusting each other’s field glasses, 
in the hope that our readers and the public at large may 
in the end have the benefit of the clarified visions :— 
Editor Forest and Stream :— 
Ah! Mr. Editor, the letter of “Piseeo” from his war¬ 
like ark in Sitka Bay, has the true familiar ring of pent 
up souls in Alaska—-where energetic men, once within its 
lonely borders, are so corked and bottled tight for long 
weeks and even consecutive months, that when they have 
the opportunity of speaking to and of their fellow men, 
they do so with a concentrated vim aud spirit that is both 
delightful and characteristic. It is an illustration of the 
happiest sort, is this sparkling letter- of Piseeo’s. 
Now, Mr. Editor, I am asked by your correspondent to 
come up like a little man, with a card in your next issue, 
and confess my sins of error to your readers and to him¬ 
self. This I cannot do. as I understand the law and the 
evidence ; but if I shall ever need a further confession, 
no monk of old, no matter how jolly or bold, could, or can 
bring me quicker to prompt repentance than “ Piseeo” 
can. 
In the first indictment, the Captain says that I am 
sound in conclusion as to the failure of cereals in Alaska, 
but he takes issue with me on potatoes. What he says, 
however, about those tubers of Alaskan growth is not 
new to me; it is exactly as I have witnessed, tasted, and 
handled them myself at Sitka; but “Piseeo” does not say 
enough; he does not wait until this potato, “seven in¬ 
ches long, three inches thick,” and “not quite ripe yet” 
(September 17 Lh) has passed a few months of keeping with 
the best of care in that country and that climate, or any¬ 
where else for that matter. If he had waited and 
watched this potato, he would have found it rotten at the 
core, or else a total mass of decay, any time between six 
weeks and three or four months after digging. Why ? 
Because it never gets “quite ripe” up there, and good 
reason, too. Thus, you may easily observe, that if the 
giant Alaskan murphy which the gallant little Captain 
ate on September 17th, had been reserved for seed next 
year, the best and fondest hopes of “Piseeo” would have 
come to naught. 
Therefore, Isay, and I think with entire truth, that 
you cannot raise potatoes successfrtlly in a region where 
they will not sustain themselves from year to year. 
To make this proposition perfectly clear to “Piseeo,” let 
me kindly call his attention to the fact that on my gar¬ 
den plots at Cleveland, Ohio, I can plant cotton seed 
every spring and rear up and gather handsome bolls of 
cotton down every fall—tha t, theoretically, I can grow 
cotton of healthy' stalk and delicate fibre in Northern 
Ohio ; but, practically, it is an utter failure, because it is 
not as good cotton as that produced in Georgia. So it is 
with your potatoes at Sitka; -‘not quite ripe yet,” gar¬ 
dener “Piseeo”; you can raise them this year from foreign 
seed, you can dig them, and you must eat them forth¬ 
with ; you can’t keep them and reseed your garden next 
year. Therefore, I say yon are not successful in raising 
potatoes at Sitka Bay, because you cannot sustain your¬ 
self there from year to year with those tubers ; and wiiat 
I say of New Archangel and its environs, is applicable 
to all Alaska . 
‘ ‘ Piseeo” does not take any decided ground m regard to 
the correctness or error of my views as to stock raising at 
Sitka and Alaska generally, and he frankly says that he 
don’t know enough about the business to question it. 
Well, let him do as I have done; look about Sitka in com¬ 
pany with an old stock ranger from the Columbia or else¬ 
where, and get that man’s opinion of it. It is not a very 
long story, but I won’t go into the details, because your 
correspondent does not take clean issue with mo on that 
point. 
As for those mines at Sitka, that is a long story and it 
dates way back, years prior to the transfer of the terri¬ 
tory; and when the Captain gets away next year he 
will substantially agree with mo in regard to them. H ! 
the owners of those mines near Sitka have a valuable 
vein, then they are in full sympathy with me, because 
they do not want it puffed outside of their own knowledge 
but if .they are simply doing what thousands of 
such people are daily engaged at, floating worthless 
stock, then, of course, 1 shall merit their hostility. 
Now, “Piseeo,” let me say to you, that just as sure as 
“ three thousand” misguided, unhappy mortals ever get 
together at Sitka, as you presuppose for argument, that 
just so sure will they send down regularly to San Fran¬ 
cisco, Portland, and Victoria for their potatoes and their 
beef, as well as the “cerealsand the groceries ;” and, in 
conclusion, permit me to cheerfully bear witness to tire 
exact truth of the statements of fact which you make, 
and at the same time not to question or doubt the hon¬ 
esty of your erroneous inferences drawn from theme facts 
aforesaid. A merry, merry Christmas to thee, “ Piseeo I” 
Henry W. Elliott, 
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D. C. , Dec. 5th. 
