FOREST AND STREAM. 
949 
Th e _yj - 
jo 1 uemonstratively vocal. They pipe desperately to their 
friends in the air, and the appeal is answered. You shall 
see the whole flock swerve round in their course, and, for 
a moment, hover over the nets. Then the other cords 
are pulled and the little brace-birds flutter up into the air 
in great distress. No properly constituted flock of lin¬ 
nets can resist the temptation of coming to the rescue, 
and before they reach the ground the nets are over them, 
and in a minute half of them have had their brains driven 
in by the sportsmen. For his time is valuable, and where 
one flight has passed another may be expected. So he 
rushes quickly to the ground where the little creatures 
are plunging and struggling under the net work, kills all 
the hens and extricates all the cocks, flings the nets open 
again, and is back in a moment at his post. He stuffs 
the cock birds in the long cage and occupies his leisure 
in pulling the feathers out of the yet warm bodies of the 
hens, 
DISPOSING OF THE PREY. 
The cock linnets are Bent up that night to town, and 
are taken as a lot by the dealer at Seven Dials at Is. a 
dozen. The hens arc sold to the poulterers, who retail 
them as larks to a voracious but unsuspecting public. 
Goldfinches fetch much higher prices. Cocks and hens 
are sold at eight, nine or ten shillings a dozen all round, 
and larks fetch much the same price. The retail dealer 
has to calculate the probabilities, and though he sells his 
linnets ultimately at half-a-crown each, and his gold¬ 
finches at from three-and-six to five shillings, yet casual¬ 
ties sweep off the greater part of liis profit. Certainly his 
continued residence at Seven Dials shows that the'man 
must either drive a very unremunerative trade or else be 
singularly dull to the advantages of fresh air and general 
cleanliness .—London Queen. 
^aniens Column. 
THE CARE OF ARROWS. 
S EVERAL correspondents having mistaken the pur¬ 
port of a sentence in my late article upon winter 
practice, wherein I spoke of arrows being lost in the 
snow, and coming to light in the spring, I beg to say that 
I did not intend to convey the idea that such arrows were 
ever used afterward. On the contrary,I can say emphat¬ 
ically, that so far as my experience goes, ah arrow is 
ruined by lying out in the dew for a single night. I say 
ruined, because the effort to mend an arrow is always 
abortive unless the mender is an arrow maker of great 
skill. It is much more difficult to mend than to make 
an arrow. The reasons are, that iu making one the 
fletcher lias a large billet to work down and can force 
matters, while if the stele is warped by the shn it is next 
to impossible to get it to retain a true form afterward. 
A wain, the hard wood footing is glued on while in the 
block and afterwards worked down to the requisite size, 
and if loosened by damp it is extremely difficult to again 
put the parts together perfectly. The same is true of the 
horn nock. IE the damp causes the feathers to come off 
it is equally difficult to readjust them. The shooter, if 
only a beginner, is liable to be deceived by his success in 
scoring with arrows thus cobbled, for at distances from 
twenty to fifty yards a strong bow will drive a poorly 
fledged arrow so quickly to the target that the eye of an 
old archer only would discover its erratic flight. Indeed, 
so little will even a very poor arrow leave a direct line in 
a distance of forty yards from a fifty-five pound how, 
that one can score pretty nearly as well with them as 
with much better ones. Of course there would be a strong 
percentage always in favor of the best arrows when any 
great number of shots was made, but the archer would 
not probably notice it in a single seore. 
As the distance is increased, however, the disparity be¬ 
tween the good arrow and the bad one increases in a dis¬ 
proportionate progression. If the percentage of the good 
over the bad arrow at forty yards were five points in one 
hundred, at sixty yards it might be twenty,|at eighty yards 
seventy, and at one hundred yards the value of the poor 
arrow utterly cease, since it would never follow the aim, 
and would only strike the target when aimed wrong, a 
measure of success which no good archer would covet. 
This being true, I could never advise the mending of an 
arrow, unless it were some trifling injury to be remedied, 
such as resetting a loose pile, dressing an injured nock or 
pile, or gluiug down a partially started feather. It is a 
positive injury to the archer to practise with an arrow 
which is defective. All good arrows shoot alike, but no 
two bad ones do. So the archer who has a dozen good 
arrows has only to learn to shoot well with one in order 
to succeed with the whole dozen, but the archer who has 
twelve had one3 must learn the particular vice of each in 
order to shoot with the dozen. He must always remember 
that No. 1 shoots too high, No. 2 to the right, No. 3 to 
the left, No. 4 too low, No. 5 too high, and to the right 
both, and that each of the others has one of these vices, 
and perhaps all of them troubled with general cussedness 
besides. These traits will not be noticed so much, as 
before remarked, at short range, or by the beginner, but 
to the veteran who tackles the York round they are a 
scorn and a loathing. What iB true of injured or cob¬ 
bled arrows which once were good, is equally true of 
cheap arrows which never were good. The archer should 
never heed the wiles of the clerk in the archery store, 
who swears to the excellence of the arrows which he 
offers at $5 per dozen, for no one can make a target 
arrow fit to be shot at an honest-faced target for any 
such price. 
The best arrows command from $10 to $12 per dozen, 
an 1 if properly used a dozen will last an archer through 
one season, even if he shall shoot six thousand times. 
Now a few points as to the care of arrows. First, your 
tavget being supported by an easel, you will occasionally 
break an arrow on the leg. In order to obviate this evil, 
make your easel of some strong wood like hickory, or 
better, of iron, so that the legs may be small, and wrap 
the legs from end to end with old carpet, rags, or un¬ 
twisted rope, hemp, or tow, and you will never break a,n 
arrow on the target stand. Next, do not place your 
stands, if possible to avoid it, upon ground where there 
are stones, or in range with stumps, trees or any other 
like obstruction. If you cannot have butts of earth 
erected behind your targets, a strong piece of sail doth 
suspended from a cross beam upon two poles in the rear 
of the targets will answer excellently. By these devices 
half the arrows actually ruined will be saved. Very 
few arrows are ever worn out. The writer has two ar¬ 
rows which have done faithful service through the past 
season, having been shot perhaps one thousand times 
each, and are as good us new, with the exception that 
they are flattened a little at the side which slides upon 
the bow, and the two feathers sliding upon the bow are 
frayed a trifle. The other ten of the same dozen were 
all broken by striking target stands, stones and fences, 
or were ruined by being lost under the grass. Since I 
have wrapped the legs of my target stand I break no 
more, and the butt or sail cloth would have prevented 
the loss of those passing the target and snaking. An¬ 
other fruitful source of injury to arrows is that of lean¬ 
ing them against a wall when not in use. They will 
warp by their own weight in a few days and their effi¬ 
cacy be destroyed. Some have recommended to lay 
them fiat on a floor or on the bottom of a drawer, but 
the feathers are thus crushed and the flight of such an 
arrow will be erratic. When not in rest they should 
stand exactly upright in a case, each arrow in a hole to 
itself, and far enough apart to prevent any contact of 
the feathers. Let no novice imagine that such extreme 
care is unnecessary, or that he can do well enough with 
arrows which are slightly defective, for one might as 
well expect to shoot well witli a rifle having a crooked 
barrel and a loose and shaking peep sight, as to send a 
crooked and misshappen arrow, with its slovenly tuft of 
rumpled feathers, vagabondizing in quest of coveted but 
unattainable gold. Will H. Thompson. 
SHE GOES FISHING. 
a- Chicago, Nov. 27th, 1879. 
Every time the Forest and Stream comes home Ilook 
through it to see if there are any letters from sportsmen’s 
wives. 
My husband says, “ Lil, there’s another letter,’’ Ihave 
said many times I would give in my experience, but I 
have not the heart to do it, for after all is said, mine is 
one of the best fellows that ever lived. But I can truly 
sympathize with those sisters whose husbands have 
brought home ‘‘a handsome pup.” How many times 
have I begged and entreated not to have pups brought 
home. Many times have I been obliged to get up and 
coax, threaten. and scold, but the young cub would arouse 
the whole neighbourhood until his ki-hi-hi’s, until, losing 
all patience, I would pick him up by the neck, intending 
to pitch him out of doors and finish him, but my heart 
failed me, I could not do it. So the pup lived to grow 
into a fine dog. Some people talk about the worry of 
children. I would sooner take the care of a half-dozen 
children than to have a pup brought into the house about 
every two years. They are a nuisance that women ought 
never to be pestered with. 
But my husband does not keep a dog now, and, to my 
great satisfaction, goes fishing instead of hunting. 
Here again I have teased him unmercifully, bocausehe 
has never brought his trout home. He comes home tell¬ 
ing us of the splendid fishing lie has had, of the fine 
trout or bass taken at such a place, but we seldom see any 
of them, his excuse being, the distance is so great that 
the ico melts and the fish spoil before he can get them 
home. _ .... 
Last summer I joined him on his fishing trip into 
Michigan. When he was putting on his fishing suit I 
teased all the time about the trout that stay in the brook, 
and “ be sure you spit on your worms.” 
He came back in about two hours, gave iris his creel to 
take out two or three fish, he said; but, as I opened it, 
I looked on one of the handsomest lot of fish I had ever 
seen, and counted out thirty trout. I have seen many 
fisli before that came to the markets, but they were flat 
beside these fine fish, that only a short time before were 
struggling for life against a fisherman’s skill. 
To say I was proud of them is only the truth, and 
as each day passed , bringing about tne same quantity to 
the table, I began to feel something of the same enthu¬ 
siasm he so often manifests when going fishing. I have 
spent a portion of each summer in the country for years, 
but have never joined my husband in this way before. I 
expect to do so again next summer, and certainly feel in¬ 
clined to do some fishing on “ my own hook.” I cannot 
understand the mysteries of my husband’s fly book, or 
get the “hang” of casting with his light rod, but l am 
going to try it, even if I do get a ducking for my pains. 
One thing I have stopped—“ teasing about the fishes 
that never came home.” The trip to me was the most 
enjoyable one in the sixteen yoars of our married life. 
i can endure the idea of having tackle covering tables, 
chairs, and everything else around the house, and even 
help my husband when he is fixing up and repairing 
damages, because I hope to join him in the spori another 
summer, and if 1 cannot take trout on the lly, I am going 
to try black bass with minnows. 
Heaven save me from the experience of raising another 
pup. __ ^ _ Lil J. 
Monkeys on a Frolic.—“ A1 Fresco” sends us the 
following story from Jacksonville :— 
At this season oi the year Florida sports interest your 
readers. Thousands of Northern and Western tourists 
andsportsmen who have visited Jacksonville have been 
tempted to examine Greenleaf s Florida curicBities. Re¬ 
solved upon furnishing additional attractions, he has in¬ 
vested in a brace of large monkeys. On Saturday last 
the lock of the monkey cage was broken, and a gentleman 
of tli© colored persuasion used a nail to fasten in the 
creatures. Mr. Greenleaf's watchmaker had numerous 
watches to repair, and worked until midnight. He care¬ 
fully placed the works of a number of tickers in boxes, 
ready for Monday morning’s operations. On Sunday 
morning tbeearly visitors on Bay street were treated to 
an amusing performance. The farcical monkeys escaped 
from their cage and started on a “ bender and words 
fail to portray what occurred. They acted ujion the 
axiom that “liberty is sweet,” and mischief inherent. 
The first point visited was the watchmaker’s table, and 
the watch fixings were soon destroyed, widely distri¬ 
buted or rendered useless. The next object which at¬ 
tracted them was a student’s lamp, and every portion 
was soon detached from its neighbor. One monkey dis¬ 
covered t)ta^ flu; oil chamber was pregnant with amuse¬ 
ment, arid lie used it d la pepper-box. No. 1 shook the 
reservoir at No. 3, and as a consequence distributed 
the oil over No. 1, curiosities, watches and other things 
too numerous to mention. In one of the windows 
were two jumping jacks—articulated representatives of 
monkeys supplied with dresses a, la showman. Each 
monkey seized a jack and commenced pirouetting on the 
show cases, at the same time manipulating the articulated 
figures until disarticulation resulted. Finding that the 
figures ceased to respond to their muscular efforts, they 
used them as weapons to tickle each other’s pate. The 
next field for their attentions were numerous boxes of 
polished sea beans, carved alligators’ teeth, and other 
curiosities. With the most ludicrous grimaces and ges¬ 
tures they pelted each other with these valuables, Tired 
of this kind of sport, they made a vigorous onslaught on 
the stuffed birds; and when They had completed their 
investigations and operations, the birds resembled an ob¬ 
ject described by a Welsh sportsman;— 
“ Three jovial Wolshtnou, ami jovial were they, 
Went out hunting: on St. David's Day; 
They hunted arid they hunted all around, 
Until they found a frog lu a well; 
One said ft was a frog. 
And the other ho said nay; 
And the other swore it was 
A canary bird with its feathers shot away.” I) 
Assuming a business and clerical role they visited the 
book-keeper’s sanctum. Discovering that double entry 
was not a quadrumanic method of keeping books, they 
introduced a new method, and in a few moments hills, 
receipts, bills of lading and books were artistically treated 
and chaos was the result. At this stage of the perform¬ 
ance the employers arrived, the monkeys.were captured, 
and the evidences of disorder summed up by an inter¬ 
ested but disgusted jury. The performance ended and 
the curtain dropped, but it will be some time before the 
owners of the tickers will regulate the movements of old 
Sol in his daily march, as New York will have to be ap¬ 
pealed to to supply missing portions of watches. 
Jacksonville, Fla., Dee. 15th. Al Fresco. 
The “Major Sarasota” Fund. — Jacksonville, Fla., 
Dee. 20th .—Through your columns I wish to acknowledge 
the receipt of $5 Horn Henry F. Curby, of your city, for 
the nflief of the widow and c h ildren of “ Major Sara¬ 
sota," Capt. Staples. 
Our mutual friend, Doctor Furber,' with two compan¬ 
ions, will leave here on Tuesday for a sporting trip to 
Doctors PaBs, south of Charlotte Harbor, and the Doctor 
will deliver the donation in person ; and it affords me 
pleasure to state that tile amount will be supplemented 
by the Doctor and bis friends. Sincerely trusting that I 
shall have the pleasure of acknowledging the reception Of 
many such letters, believe me to remain, 
Dr. A. C. Kenworthy. 
gtWSUWS to (COVff.SlIfllUlcntS. 
No Notic® Taken of Anonymous Communications. 
i:W~ W~e make no charge for answering inquin'ics in this column. 
R. S.—Such a hook as you ask for is not, published. The nearest 
to your wants is Kemp's “ Yacht and Boat Sailing." Price SS.fiO. 
Sharpie.— Sc® our advertisers; they are all men of repute. 
For sharpie, go ito those who make a specialty of It. 
M.B., New York.—Wo cannot send you a list of yacht and canoe 
clubs. It is not our business to do so. 
M. St. L.—“ Le Yacht" is an enterprising French contemporary 
of excellent management. Published weekly at 50 Ruo St. 
Lazaie. Subscribe throug-h news dealer. 
Clermont, Batavia, O. — 1. B can put his two on the eight, 
and call it ton. 2. B eannotput the three on the seven-spot, and 
call it ten. 
Y. R. A., Now York—The British Y. B. A. has issuednpnmphiet 
containing their rules, to bo had by addressing Harrison & Sous, 
St. Martin's Lane, London, W. C\, England. Price, about 75 coins. 
E. E. L„ Philadelphia.—If you send full address will write you 
a letter. See late uowspaper accounts of Edison's discovery. Uo 
relieves acute neuralgia and kindred troubles for the Menlo Parle 
lBitors. 
Bum: with White Star, Now York.-The best place for nauti¬ 
cal ironmongery is Tieboul's, Pearl street, near Fulton. Charts 
from our advertisers. There is a yacht club at Norfolk, Va, A 
better port for all purposes could not be made to order. 
Sloop, Buffalo.—Dimensions of Vl:cm arc as follows:—Length 
extreme, 51.18 feet; on water line, 44.85; beam extreme, 18.05; 
depth, 5.4, and measures 21 tons N. M„ and 1818 cubic foot Now 
York Yacht Club measurement. 
0-H. Y., Hoosack Falls, N. Y.—You may send a description of 
your “ Collect of Revenue" to Chns. L. Woodward, 78 Nassau 
street. Now York, who deals In all sorts or rare books a ml pamph¬ 
lets relating to America. The book you have, is of not much 
valuoi we think, but if Mr. Woodward cannot toll you ho ivlU re¬ 
fer you to some one who can. 
Novice, Portland, O.—A model is worth a good deal more than 
material and labor expended, because it. is supposed to represent 
talent. You cannot buy an artist's picture for the won h of Ithc 
canvas and paint, but must pay for his ability. Cheap models are 
geuerally not worth the having. Pay liberally and get what you 
want. 
Enthusiast, Beliefont— You can build a canoe for §5. Of 
course, she will not be Qqual iff qualities or finish to those made 
by Bushton orRoahr; but she will serve your purpose, if you cau 
not afford In buy in the market. Will give directions 1'or building 
soon. The Canoe Congress meets, next August on the banks of 
Lake George. Send your address to N. H. Bishop, Lake George, 
N. Y. 
—A rare opportunity is offered for the purchase of a 
fine bitch. See the advertisement of “ Feather.” 
Better Times. —The business revival and new era of 
prosperity which has commenced are in keeping with the 
increased health and happiness all over the land resulting 
from the general introduction of 'Warner's Safe Kidney 
and Liver Cure. “The changes wrought by this remedy,” 
says Rev. Dr. Harvey, “seem but little less than mirac¬ 
ulous.”— 
