1030 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
Devoted to Field and Aquatic Sports, Practical Natural 
History, Fish Culture, the Protection of Game, Preserva¬ 
tion of forests, and the Inculcation in Men and W omen of 
a Healthy Interest in Out-Door Recreation and Study ; 
PUBLISHED BY 
COREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
—AT— 
NO. HI FULTON STREET, NEW YORK. 
[Post Office Box 2833.'? 
TERMS, FOUR DOLLARS A YEAR, STRICTLY IN ADVANCE. 
Advertising Bates. 
Inside pages, Donparlel type, 25 cents per line; outsidepage, 40 
cents. Special rates for three, six and twelve months. Notices in 
editorial column, 50 cents per line—eight words to the line, and 
twelve linos to one inch. _ ... , 
Advertisements should bo sent In by Saturday of each week, If 
Pt Ali b trai*sient advertisements must be accompanied with the 
money or they will not be inserted. , , 
JSo advertisement or business notice of an Immoral character 
will be received on any terms. 
A**Any publisher inserting our prospectus asahoveone time, with 
brief editorial notieo calling attention thereto,and sending marked 
copy to us, will recelvi the Forest and Stream for one year, 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1880. 
To Correspondents. 
All communications whatever, intended for publication, must be 
aooompnnied 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 he published if objection bemade. Anony¬ 
mous communications will not be regarded. 
We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 
Seen, caries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us wtih 
brief notes of their movements and transactions. 
Nothing will be admitted to any department of thepaper that 
may notbe read with propriety in the home circle. 
• We cannot bo responsible for dereliction of mail servicerf money 
remitecl to us is lost. 
pg~ Trade supplied by American News Company, 
Our Prize List.—T he responses to our offer of pre¬ 
miums and prizes has been eminently satisfactory. We 
again invite attention to the schedule as published else¬ 
where, and admonish our friends that the man who hags 
the first prize must be afield before the dawn and return 
late at night. 
A Book on the Black Bass.— Our valued correspond¬ 
ent, Dr. J. A. HenshaU, of Cynthiana, Ky., is devoting 
his spare moments to writing a book on the “Black 
Bass,” including the technology, history, habits, angling, 
etc. The entertaining and instructive papers ou black 
bass fishing contributed to our columns by Dr. HenshaU 
contain sufficient assurance of the merit of the book. 
We shall welcome it as a desirable addition to our ang¬ 
ling literature. 
Obituary.— We regret to announce the death of Com¬ 
modore Homer C. Blake, at his home, 10 East Thirty-third 
street, Jan. 21st, after an illness of about six weeks. He 
leaves a wife and a daughter to mourn his loss. Commodore 
Blake was a native of Stanford, New York, and entered 
the service in 1840. He commanded the frigate Sabine 
in 1861 and was commissioned as Lieut.-Commander in 
1862, taking command of the steamer Hatteras of the 
Gulf blockading Bquadron. In 1863 be bad charge of the 
Utah, and in the next year was present at the battle of 
Malvern Hill. He was promoted to commander in 1866, 
and was subsequently stationed for three years in New 
York, and since 1875 has been waiting orders. In October 
last he was appointed a Commodore, and was confirmed 
assuohhy the Senate a week before his death. While 
Captain of the Hatteras he fought the famous engage¬ 
ment with the Confederate steamer Alabama, resulting 
in the loss of his vessel, the explosion of a shell which 
pierced the cylinder rendering the pumps useless, the 
Hatteras sinking a few minutes after her officers and 
crew had been taken off by the Alabama. They were 
carried to Port Royal and paroled. 
—Our issue of Jan. 15th, despite what we supposed was 
a fuU provision for any emergency, met with such an 
unlooked for and extraordinary demand that the entire 
edition was exhausted before noon of publication day. 
We trust that contributors who did not receive their full 
quotas, and others who have ordered copies of that date, 
will possess their souls in patience until we can secm-e re¬ 
turns for their supply. To run out of an edition in this 
way causes much annoyance, b»t for ourselves it is, after 
all, a pleasant unpleasantness. %. 
SPORTSMEN’S EXCURSION CARS. 
T HE strength of an opinion or of a taste is determined 
by the amount of capital invested to maintain or to 
indulge it. If we would estimate the standing of Amer¬ 
ican field sports to-day we must consider the pecuniary 
and mercantile Bide of the question. Measured by this 
standard the fraternity of sportsmen is important and 
powerful. Millions of dollars are invested in supplying 
its demands. Scores of firms are engaged in the manu¬ 
facture of rifles, shot guns, fishing tackle, arcliery, and 
cricket goods and other paraphernalia of the craft, and 
in the construction of yachts and pleasure boats. These 
industries demand costly and elaborate machinery and 
skilled workmen. The supply must be of the best grade 
of material and workmanship, for the purchaser is exact¬ 
ing and competition pressing. The rules which insure 
sucoess in other branches of business have full weight 
here. The manufacturer of a fine arm knows that one 
gun sold means two more ordered. The fishing rod goes 
forth from the shop as dry as Aaron’s wand, but the ex¬ 
pert who has made it knows that in due time it will bud 
and blossom into orders for others. The demand for 
first-class sporting outfits is vastly greater in 1880 than 
it was in 1870. The ledgers of our advertisers tell this. 
The displays in their show windows have very much the 
effect upon passers-by of the Mountain of Gold upon Sin- 
bad the Sailor in the Arabian Nights. 
These industries minister to man’s enjoyment. They 
supplement the provision of food, shelter and clothing, 
Their tendency is towards luxury. One end of the scale 
is filled by the flint lock handed down, like tne veterans 
of Bunker Hill, “ from a former generation originally 
fashioned for the slaughter of man, now relegated to the 
conquest of the irascible though harmless wild turkey. 
The other extreme presents the $500 beauty made to or¬ 
der and finished with the exquisite workmanship of an 
artist. 
One of the most noticeable advances in providing for 
the sportsman’s comfort is the construction of excursion 
cars fitted up with special reference to shooting expedi¬ 
tions. Some months ago we described the two cars 
built by the Pullman Palace Car Co., and our readers 
have long been familiar with the pioneer car of this 
character, “The City of Worcester.” At an annual 
meeting of the Worcester (Mass.) Excursion Car Com¬ 
pany, Mr. Jerome Marble, the President, gave a detailed 
statement of the history of the enterprise. Originally 
purchased at a cost of $6,840, further expenses have 
been incurred in adding new furniture, piano, folding 
chairs, etc. The car has earned since September 8d, 
1878, the sum of $2,516.46, leaving over $1,100 after pay¬ 
ing all expenses. After paying the recently declared 
dividend of 10 per cent, there is a surplus of about $415, 
which is considered a creditable fifteen months’ business, 
and the company are so well pleased and so sanguine of 
the future that they are considering the construction of 
another car of like character. 
The car has four sections and berths ot the same 
width as in other sleeping cars, and two berths in 
the reading room, a sofa by day and a bed by night. 
There is a full supply of bedding for a party of fourteen, 
with kitchen and table furniture, refrigerators, ice 
locker, water tanks and all other equipments of the most 
elaborate cars of the day. With a cook and porter its 
terms are only $20 per day, with liberal discounts for long 
trips. That this is cheap travelling is shown by the record 
of the car, of which the first trip was to Montreal, Que¬ 
bec and the White Mountains in July, 1878, by the stock¬ 
holders and their ladies, twenty-two in all, and all were 
accommodated. It occupied five days. The first regular 
trip was with a shooting party to Minnesota and Dako¬ 
ta of seventy-eight days, at an expense of $208.05 to 
eacblparticipant. The next trip of importance was with 
a party of fourteen to California, of seventy-five days, 
and costing about $700 per individual, and the last was a 
party of fourteen to Iowa and Nebraska, for shooting, at 
a cost of 309.78 per individual for a trip of sixty-nine 
days. The car has been run 18,000 miles. This experi¬ 
ence' proves that there is a saving of from 30 to 40 per 
cent, over any other method of journeying for similar 
purposes, and besides much pleasanter surroundings are 
secured. The car has been chartered for the month of 
February by a party of ladies and gentlemen of Worces¬ 
ter and Boston for a journey to Florida, 
Professor James W, Milner. —It is with extreme 
regret that we chronicle the death at his home in Wau¬ 
kegan, Ill., on the 6th test., of Professor James W. Mil¬ 
ner. Professor Milner was one of the most earnest 
workers in the ranks of America’s scientific corps. As a. 
member of the United States Fish Commission ho had 
accomplished most valuable work, and his future was 
full Of promise. By his death the Fish Commission has 
sustained a loss not easily filled again. Born Jan. 11th, 
1841, the subject of this notice early devoted himself to 
an earnest and arduous pin-suit of scientific study; he 
graduated at the Northwestern University, and after- 
serving with honor during the war, was soon selected by 
Professor J3aird as one of his staff of assistants. In 1871, 
as Deputy United States Fish Commissioner, in charge" t' \ 
the Eastern Department, he thoroughly investigated tl'.ro j n -- 
natural history of the whitefish, and his able essay upoririicfo 
the subject was published in the Report for 1872-3. For V 0 "" 
the past two years Professor Milner had vainly sought ' S1 r 
health iu different climates, but at length gave up hope 
aud returned to his childhood’s home to await the end. 
We extend our most sincere sympathy to his associates 
and friends. 
PRIZES FOR SEAMANSHIP. 
N OT long ago we had occasion to call attention promi¬ 
nently to an innovation in the way of prizes intro¬ 
duced by the San Francisco Yacht Club, a venture which 
was much appreciated by its members. We allude to the 
presentation of rewards for “neatness” or perfection in 
the display of seamanship in and about a yacht. It may 
be remembered that the first prize of the kind was car¬ 
ried off by the indefatigable Secretary of the S. F. Y. C., 
Mr. C. G. Yale, in his smart and well-kept yawl Enid. A 
board of officers, composed of disinterested and compe¬ 
tent men, selected from the mercantile and national na¬ 
vies, together with a representative of the yachting in¬ 
terests, was charged with making a minute examination 
of the club's fleet while assembled in squadron on one of 
their regular cruises, with especial reference to the thor¬ 
oughness of outfit and the seamanship displayed in the 
keep of each owner’s yacht. The wholesome rivalry en¬ 
gendered by a competition of this sort, in which everyone 
is interested in preserving the highest state of efficiency, 
order and discipline, with an ample supply in what 
should constitute the boatswains’ and navigators’ de¬ 
partments, cannot fail to be of great benefit to the rapid 
development of both seamanship and the navigator’s art 
as applied to practice, in addition to which the amateur 
skipper will acquire an outline at least of much that 
should be familiar to all who take kindly to the sea. 
To the professional eye the shortcomings of the great 
majority of our yachts in all the care, finish, devices and 
implements with which the thoroughbred sailor arms 
himself for sudden and unforseen emergencies, and with 
which he surrounds himself as aids to picking his way 
in unknown harbors; by which he lays his course, 
knows where he is going to bring up, and is aware of 
what is to be expected before it looms up close aboard— 
to the professional eye the want and neglect in these re¬ 
spects is not calculated to impress any one favorably with 
the capacity, experience, or reliability of our amateur 
sailors. Since yachting has taken such universal hold upon 
our coast and lake population, and as craft are multiply¬ 
ing fast and cruising is being extended beyond the confines 
of river and sheltered bay, may it not be as well for clubs 
to encourage the healthy development of the arts we are 
lacking in by following the example set by the S. F. Y, C. 
It is a common, and by no means agreeable sight, in 
stepping aboard our yachts, to note at once that the sailor 
is wanting; that the owner does not know or care enough 
to keep his craft and gear in ship-shape fashion, and that 
his hired crew, graduates of the fishing-smack fraternity, 
know or care still less. What with a total absence of pre¬ 
cautions for heavy weather, no storm canvas of any sort, 
summer sails; ground taokle that would part, or come 
home in any sort of stress; kleets that pull out in a 
breeze ; “spreaders” that double up upon the slightest 
provocation; topmasts carried aloft in a gale ; bowsprit 
shrouds hanging in a bight, because the rigger fails to 
provide foot-ropes to lay out on; bobstays full of kinks, 
the result of fouling boats under the bow and butting 
against buoys and the like; sheer-poles on a cant, and 
deadeyes on a slue ; rigging shabbily set up, with the tail 
ends of the lanyards flying to the breeze; no binnacle 
worth the name; side-lights an unseen myth, and the 
riding light a forlorn decrepit arrangement of tin ; an 
opera-glass of low power too often doing the duty of a 
French binocular; charts and sailing directions conspic¬ 
uous by their absence; even oil skins and pea-jackets 
things many yachtsmen have never even donned; stranded 
gear ; no log; no lead ; no palm or needle; no boat! 
But it is unnecessary to carry this indictment any fur¬ 
ther ; nor do we think the truth of the above will be dis¬ 
puted by any one who has had practical experience in 
sailing aboard all kinds of yachts of all tonnages and 
rigs. That we have some notable exceptions, a small 
minority of vessels owned and skippered by thorough 
sailors and kept in man-o'-war fashion, iB true enough ; 
but unfortunately they are too few to give color to the 
mass, and as a whole it cannot be disputed that our yachts 
and yachtsmen are lamentably deficient in the directions 
pointed out. 
There is no particular object, no reason that they see, 
why any exertions should be made to improve any faster 
than by the dribbling process of gradual emancipation 
from the lubber into the sailor graduate, by methods such 
as experience in the end will force upon subjects too often 
nnwilling and slow enough at first. 
If yacht clubs, however, will learn a lesson from San 
Francisco, “Irish pennants’’ aloft, shabby rigging on 
deck and deficient outfit below, will all the sooner be¬ 
come chapters of the past when yachting and yachtsmen 
were only in their infancy, d 
