Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



NEW YORK, AUGUST 24, 1882. 



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Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 

 Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row. New York City. 



Editorial. 



The American Team. 



The Amateur Club Defeat. 



Adirondack Survey Notes. — VI. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Rambles through Newfoundland 



Rice Lake. 



The White Sulphur Springs. 



A Half-way House. 

 Natural History. 



A Baby Sea Lion. 



English Sparrows' Depredations 



The Gopher. 



A Strange Story. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



Deer Hunting in Michigan. 



Put Yourself in Condition, 



A Morning with the Woodcock. 



Grass Plover Shooting. 



\Vha' [''."SiiMV,. ]-;-.i,r,-,l ('-J ,.«.*. 



Rail Tides. 

 Sea and River Fishing. 

 Fly-Casting Tournaments. 

 Light vs. Heavy Rods. 

 :.■-. r ■• .■■:■.■■.■:■ i r;iMj.- i.'i-i 

 The Trout of Castalia. 

 "Trout-Hogs" and other Pests. 

 Camping on the Susquehanna. 

 Landing a Gar. 



FlSHCULTURE. 



Report of Mr, Hughlett. 



The American Fishcultural As- 

 sociation. 

 The Kennel. 



Pollux. 



Dominion of Canada Kennel 

 Club. 



An Intelligent Collie. 



Dariingvnn Vos, Show. 



The Kennel Club and its Rulers. 



Lament Of an OM Timer. 



The Cocker Spaniel. 



Gordons and Black and Tans. 



Kennel Management. 



Kennel Notes. 

 Rlfle and Trap Shooting. 



The Fall Meeting Programme. 



A Rational Target. 



The American Team. 



Club Constitution. 



Matches and Meetings. 

 Yachting and Canoeing. 



An Expert's Views. 



Systematic Observations. 



Lake Yachting. 



New York Y. C— Annual Cruise 



Beverly Y. C— Aug. 19. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



Notwithstanding that thf. Forest and Stream has 

 been permanently enlarged to twenty-eight pages, the sub- 

 scription price remains the same as before. 



THE AMERICAN TEAM. 

 nPHE men who are to mate tip the shooting dozen in the 

 -*- match with Great Britain are now busy at work upon 

 the range at Creedmoor, practicing in anticipation of the 

 meeting in September next. The test shooting earned on 

 during the past week was sufficiently trying to winnow out 

 the few weak men who presented themselves, while, of 

 course, there was the usual bad luck attending men who 

 felt their election sure. The men have secured a good cap- 

 tain, and there is uo reason at all why, with the practice of 

 three days per week which the men intend to devote to the 

 work of preparation, we should not see very high averages 

 during the next few weeks. 



The match, if it is to lie won at all, is to be scored as a 

 victory for our team by an adherence to those rules which 

 were so important in previous contests. These men are 

 capable of better scores by far than any they have yet 

 shown. They have been working thus far as individuals, 

 and each man has put forward his greatest strength. Work- 

 ing singly, it is not likely that any amount of practice will 

 show better results than what has already been accom- 

 plished. The difference between what has been done and 

 what must be done to win the match is what may be gained 

 by union. The men must be brought nearly up to an aver- 

 age, and that a good one, and this can be done by team drill. 

 The rifles are capable of any demands which may be made 

 upon them. The "unaccountable" misses which marked the 

 shootingof the four days last week must be done away with. 

 The same trouble was found with our present small-bore 

 rifles, but care in the handling and make of the ammunition 

 and attention to the manner of loading entirely did away 

 with this annoyance, and to-day the "unaccountable" is a 

 thing of the past. The nondescript weapon of the coming 

 match is really a match rifle ia this respect, and the first care 

 ' of a good coach will be to see that the load and loading tire 

 precisely as they should be. The men are all of them good 

 holders; if they are not, there is no room for them on the 

 team. With these conditions looked after, there is notliing 



to prevent the ability and advice of a good coach showing 

 itself in the score of the shooting men about him. Holding 

 "dead on'' may be practiced as easily by a military team or- 

 ganized as this one will be as by any small-bore team. With 

 detached verniers and wind gauges the bar of the rear sight 

 may be made to record the minutest differences, and the 

 chance shot of the leader of a squad should be the sure guide 

 to the man following. If it be not, then the team is not 

 properly organized, and is little better than a mob of marks- 

 men. 



Apart then from the flukes of bad luck into which any 

 team may fall, there is uo reason now apparent why the 

 team chosen on Friday last at Creedmoor should not lie suc- 

 cessful there in the match. Everything necessary for victory 

 is either now in their possession or within the compass of 

 their endeavor. There should be no lack of appreciative 

 support on the part of the public. The funds which the Na- 

 tional Rifle Association has asked for should be forthcoming 

 at once. Americans are interested in many ways in having 

 no defeat to American arms. Though the conditions did 

 not so demand, this is really a test of American against Eng- 

 lish made weapons. It seems to be a gauging of the Hep- 

 burn against the Hatford rifle. That the latter is capable 

 of good work the few fragmentaiy scores which have reached 

 us of the doings of our rivals is evidence, while there is the 

 long Wimbledon record to look at. The Hepburn rifle must 

 be good, for it comes of excellent stock, and it has stood 

 everj T test thus far. Apart from our patriotism as Ameri- 

 cans, the winning of this match means the upholding of the 

 American name in the small-arm market of the world. If 

 we have, no wars at home we are interested in those of other 

 nations, who look to our armories to supply the necessary 

 shooting irons. The trade in these weapons now belongs to 

 America. It has been won on the merits of the arms and in 

 the face of strong opposition. The match of September 

 should reflect that superiority in a victory for the home team. 

 The riflemen, therefore, deserve the support of every citizen, 

 be he military or civilian, and the appeal of the National 

 Rirte Association should be handsomely and generally re- 

 sponded to. 



Looking at the personnel of the team there may be some- 

 thing to criticise. They are, of course, all within the requi- 

 sition of being National Guardsmen, but it will strike the 

 visitors as a trifle strange to meet an old Wimbledon shot as 

 a part of the force of the opposing squad. The match can 

 be won- by a distinctively American team, by men who have 

 been trained on our American ranges, who are up in the 

 American methods, who shoot for sport and the love of it, 

 and are not mug-hunters, aud who are Americans in every 

 sense. The accident of birth was not made a condition of 

 the match, and very properly, too, but it was not contem- 

 plated either by the proposers or acceptors of the match that 

 there should be other than American-trained riflemen on the 

 home team. While it would be the height of folly to weak- 

 en the team by cutting out a really good man, we are of the 

 opinion that it would give general satisfaction to the country 

 at large if the team should be made as distinctively Ameri- 

 can as possible. The captain, the committee and the shoot- 

 ing men have full power to make up the team, and it would 

 be well for them to consider the above in making up the list 

 of men who are to shoot in the final test. It is to be, if we 

 understand it properly, a fight between American National 

 Guardsmen, armed with the best rifles which our American 

 armories can turri out, against a team of British Volunteers, 

 with the best military breech-loader they can find in their 

 factories. Such a match will rouse enthusiasm and compel 

 patriotic support; but if we are to fall back on Wimbledon- 

 trained marksmen in any measure, it argues very poorly 

 for what has been done in American range drill for a decade 

 past and what we are now doing. We want the match to 

 show what our National Guard has been doing in the way 

 of rifle practice against the endeavors of the British Volun- 

 teer force, and this cannot be fairly shown if we are to 

 place on our team even a single man who , has been widely 

 known as an English shot, and who, up to the time of prep- 

 aration for this match, was not known on our ranges. 



At this writing the Adjutant and Secretary of the team 

 had not been named, but with Capt. Robbing and Major 

 Farr in these positions, Col. Bodine, the Captain, will find 

 himself well supported. In their choice of a captain the 

 team was fortunate in securing Col. Bodine. U service 

 merits the reward of this post, he certainly has won it. He 

 is able as uo other man in America is to render the team 

 efficient service in meeting every difficulty connected with 

 their shunting. He can lead to victory by the force of ex- 

 ample, aud if the young men about him do not win, it cer- 

 tainly will be through uo fault of the "old reliable" at their 



head. The prospects, on the whole, are very bright. There 

 is much to be done, and much encouragement to undertake 

 the labor. It is really an up-hill fight for a company of 

 tyros, buch as art American team must be at the best, to cope 

 with the veterans of the butts who are coming over to do 

 battle, but there is every clement of success in the home 

 team, and there is every assurance of a well-fought battle 

 and of another in the series of American victories at inter- 

 national rifle shooting. 



AeeoHiirN-o to thf. Sacramento (Cal.) Bee, there was 

 recently received at that port "a consignment of English 

 pheasants from China. Well, they came— that is, 9 out 

 of the 70 that were shipped. It appears that the bu-ds 

 were improperly cooped, and did not have the right sort of' 

 attention en route. They have been turned over to the care 

 of W. T. Coleman, who has already succeeded in raising 

 several. The hope is expressed that in a very few years 

 pheasant shooting will be one of the leading field sports of 

 the State," This is precisely what may be expected to hap- 

 pen to wild birds in transitu until some careful, intelligent 

 person has charge of such matters at the shipping port. It 

 is of no sort of use to thrust a lot of pheasants or prairie 

 chickens or wild turkeys into a coop and leave them there, 

 huddled together like a lot of ducks being sent to market, 

 and only taking the trouble to give them a little corn and 

 water once a day. Wild birds cannot stand such treatment. 

 They are accustomed to having plenty of air and exercise, 

 and if too many are put together they crowd one another 

 until the weaker of the lot are suffocated or thrown down 

 and trampled to death. Or if they are not too much 

 crowded, but are otherwise improperly confined, they dash 

 themselves ag-unst the walls of their prison so long as t ,ey 

 have the strength to do so. Such birds, if they are to be im- 

 ported, should be pro'ected by every known means from the 

 dangers to which they must necessarily be subjected on a 

 journey of this kind. There is no excuse for carelessness in 

 such a matter, and it is in the highest degree senseless 

 to waste money in the purchase of birds when they are sure 

 to be destroyed before reaching their destination That they ■ 

 can endure long voyages and the attendant confinement is 

 very clearly shown by the very trifling loss which has at- 

 tended the importation of the European quail sent to this 

 country by Consul Braun, and unless similar precautions are 

 taken with importations of other species it is not worth while 

 to attempt the introduction of foreign birds to our covers. 



John R. Wiltsie.— Very many of the readers of this 

 journal will learn with deep regret of the death of John R 

 Wiltsie, on August 10. Mr. Wiltsie was a prominent and 

 very highly esteemed citizen of Newburg, New York, where 

 he held a high position in the respect and confidence of his 

 lellow townsmen. Of fine physique, fond of the sports of 

 field and stream, and all his life participating in them, he 

 was a splendid specimen of well-developed physical manhood. 

 It was only a few weeks ago that he called at this office on 

 his return from a trip to the Adirondacks, where he. had cele- 

 brated his sixty-eighth birthday. Mr. Wiltsie's first, trip into 

 the North Woods was made in 1658, and after that he visited 

 different parts of the woods almost annually, always making 

 new friends wherever he went:. For the last eighteen years 

 he had also made annual fishing and shoot tug trips to the St. 

 Lawrence, in company with his brother-in-law, Mr. J. H, 

 Dudley, of Poughkcepsic. At the opening of the season this 

 year, Mr. Wiltsie formed one of a noteworthy shooting party, 

 of which the other members were Mr. Thomas C. Ring, (aged 

 78 years), treasurer of the Newburg Savings Bank; Mr James 

 Patton, (aged 80 years), of New Windsor; and Mr. Beuj. Sears, 

 (aged 7!) years), of Coldenham — the oldest and best known 

 shots of Orange county. Mr. Wiltsie was for thirteen years 

 president of the Hudson River Association for the Protection of 

 Game and Fish, and always took a Lively interest in promot- 

 ing the work of that society. In his principles and practice 

 Mr. Wiltsie was a fine example of a true sportsman — because 

 he was a true man. 



Death of B. B. Redding. — We are pained to learn by 

 telegraphic dispatch that Mr. B. B. Redding, of San Fran- 

 cisco, died in that city last Tuesday, August 2 1 . Mr. Redding 

 was appointed one of the original Fish Commissioners of 

 California in INTO, and retained his position up to the time of 

 his death. In his work in the commission and in other en- 

 terprises of like nature Mr. Bedding was well known us a 

 public-spirited and energetic man. He was a valued con- 

 tributor to the columns of this journal; and of late years had 

 devoted some attention to the study of aboriginal life in 

 California. 



