Nov. 23, 1883.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



3 27 



"UNCLE AB." McILRATH. 



WE have referral intelligence of the death of Mr. Aimer 

 C. Mcllrath. of Cleveland, OMo. Mr. Mcllrath or, as 

 he was Known and loved I ry 9 S iri is of men who shall read these 



lines. "UneleAb.."wa-oia ei Ih-hct known of the old school 



of Ohio sportsmen, "The local press I writes Dr. E. Sterling, 

 of Cleveland) never jrivcs more the, the -obituary of a man, 

 further particulars may now and then be printed, bill trim y- 

 lllhe readers out of a hundred have [orgpuen die connection. 

 Therefore it occurred to mo that if yon should insei D the 

 Forest a>td Stream some of thr p the extracts 



from local papers which t enclose, you" might r 6s n 



those who have hunted with him some continuation of (lie 



gave chas 



Iriaiilene 

 but their 



C em 6 



1 fellnv 



wrse i 



ot aft 



taken. ' 

 out of tin 



gave tha 



Ab." g 

 ii liriur 

 d foods 



01 in! 

 K an 

 h fed 



stor 



- lil 



id A 



eseeU thai jump over 

 ilim i to-day that Abe 

 tl exj i nice. There is 

 and kiud, they say he 

 Upper was bad enough, 

 grieved him and was 



the stories of his' ways 



r. ; 1 1 : • i foi any hula fox 

 iries in court and field 

 was always cheerful 

 luteiiauce would say, 

 ill have a hunt. Mother 

 oe plea and turkey.' 1 



the 



i» his prune, eordd wor 

 a volume iu his hu.-.iii, 

 never struck p re kD 

 and fortunate was tie. 

 treated in tins kindly ' 

 anil doings might be ti 

 burner's ears, indeed 

 can be told of this stal 

 and with broad Cu ,i 

 'Boys, come OM h r-lao 

 ibis' wife' hue piles of 

 w rite this merely to g 

 markable men I ever mel with. By the way. yon ought lo 

 have seen the nvo"Abes" embrace one anotlier. 'if tiie W- 

 lb use. when President Lincoln was on his way to Wash- 

 ington to he inaugurated. On that occasion a measurement 

 was taken of (he two, at the t'cqnjost of the company 

 present, Tlieji -lood haek to back, and it we- discovct sal ... 

 "Abe" I he president w;ts half an inch shoi terthan "Ab." ihe 



linnlei' 



Born in 1812. he came at the age of five years, with his 

 father's family, to the ibcn wilds of Ohio. The company, 

 with their household goods, were conveyed in two wagons, 

 one of which was hauled in a primitive manner by a yoke 

 of oxen and the other by a span of horses. After a'jouruev 

 Of thirty days' duration they reached Euclid township, 

 where they settled on three hundred acres of land that the 

 elder ilel'raih had purchased. A portion of this land in- 

 cluded a part of what is now used fur the Lake \ r iew Ceme- 

 tery, The country between this farm and the site of the 

 present great citv of Cleveland was an uncleared forest. It 



was amid these' sui diugathal young Blollrath grew 



up. In 1833 he was married io a Euclid ladv, .diss Francis 

 Eliza Pier. Bv this union tie- eouple had thirteen children. 

 three of whom are not living. I" 1886 Mr. Mcllrath erected 

 the hotel which bore his mines located sis miles from the 

 city, on Euclid avenue, and he kept, it for thirty-six years, 

 ending in 187-2. when it was torn down. 



Mr. Mcllrath in many respects was an extraordinary 

 man, phvsioa'.b- speaking. He was a giant in his build, as 

 he was six feet six and a half inches i„ Ids height, and his 

 average weight was about iij.J pounds. As an athlete he 

 probably did not have a superior in the country, certainly 

 not since the days of the great muscular man of Northern 

 New York, Joe'Call. In addition to his athletic eharacter- 

 aeteristics he was a great fox hunter, and many are the 

 stones told of incidents connected with his chase after Rey- 

 nard. He was gifted with iremi r.dous long wind, and the 

 story has been told thai lie would frequently chase after a 

 fox on foot and run it down ! Iu spite of his great weight, 

 large bones, and apparently ungainly size, he was a re- 

 markably quick as well as marvelously athletic man. He 

 once lifted with his hands from the ground an iron sha It 

 weighing 1,700 pounds, which would be equal to lifting- 

 double, that weight were he harnessed with straps to 

 weights and allowed to lift under the best advantage. Two 

 men would hold a siring two inches above his head and he 

 would step back two or three steps and jump over it with- 

 out touching it. making the lefip about six feet nine inches 

 in height. "He has been known, rather than to lead his 

 horses around to the other side of his barn, to put his long 

 arms under a horse and lift it up to the floor of the barn, 

 which happened to be three or four feet above the ground. 

 Another of his well known feats was lifting a horse" over a 

 fence and then throwing the buggy over after it. 



Some forty years ago a gang of rowdy sailors, a dozen in 

 number, went out to "Ab. .di [bath's Tavern" on purpose 

 to have "a muss with him." Uncle Ab. was a most peace- 

 ful sort of a man, and would submit to a great deal of abuse 

 before resorting to the last .argument, but on this occasion 

 his ire was exceedingly excited at the preposterous idea that 

 a dozen ordinary mec could run over him in his own domi- 

 cile. The result was, he went among them, and in spile of 

 their all piling upon him, he took them one by one by 

 the coat collar and seat of Ihe pants and threw each some 

 distance out of the doorimo the- snow! The sailors there- 

 upon retreated, the most, disgusted of Jack Tars at being 

 whipped by a solitary man. He told the writer that during 

 that ••scuffle," as he called it, he did not dare double his fist 

 and strike for fear of killing. He had a very good oppor- 

 tunity in 1839, when he was twenty-Seven years of age, of 

 testing his athletic ability, which proved very conclusively 

 that at that time he was probably the strongest nianperhaps 

 in the world. He met in Buffalo Charlie Freeman, who 

 was then a sailor, and was known as the American giant, he 

 being about seven feet in height. These two giants lee! a 



Quyaghoga giant woe too much for FrCemaH, for' he threw 



him v 'k ..!.-.. TL, ■■ , ; :;:, :■ :A , : .. lSj I-,,. ,,,,,, „ .„■ ,., 



light with the champion of England, known as the "Tipton 

 Slasher," and easily defeated him. These facts will give a 

 good idea of "Uncle Ab's" great muscular strength and 

 activity. Like Joe Call, he literally never met with his 

 match and never doubled his list, on a man for fear of killing 

 him. Anyone who had ever seen his tremendously long, 

 heavy boned arms, encased in muscles of iron, with his 

 sledge-hammer like fists, realized perfectly that a kick from 

 him partook of the nature of a kick from a horse, and it is 

 not at all surprising that Mr. Mcllrath never doubled his 

 list on a human being. 



During his life he had gone through some ludicrous episodes 

 Which will bear being told. On one occasion, after haying 

 hauled a load of barrels to town, ssaj g the Load* r, he v, .,: on 



bis return, When he Stopped at, I loan's tavern io water has 



horses. A eouple of conceited young bloods from tin lily 



had just got into their buggy, and a,s they drove by 'Ab. 

 they' thought it would be fiiii to give him a cut with their 



whip; which they did, and Men drove o$ as fast as they 

 could away tow.. .nis the town "Ab." not relishim ;b.:i 



kindof tiefttoieB i ■ ■; 1 1 lil d lOsitionyi - : d,aaahe 



toed an exl retncl 

 of Euclid towush 

 event. When the 

 all monn 

 the Old h 

 brought 



nig bucks. Rot a, mile the 

 seep just sofar ahead of bun, 

 ngoul, and they were over- 

 gy, took the reins anil whip 

 ick to the corners, where he 

 e.roeeh fioe^-iiur wilh their 



of the 

 • dam 



;avea grand fox limit, in which 

 •mis participated. He had cap- 

 d vigorous fox in the wildhills 

 Id it in captivity for this especial 

 -■1 the chase arrived, the hunters, 

 steeds, put in an appearance at 

 „.,i-;^;„.,f.L,i .„-.„. .^ T.e ...... ^... . 



fleet-footed steeds, put in an appearance at 

 ger for the anticipated sport. Bey mod was 

 I re.' -eel. ii ad aWaj he dashed, "taking a 

 'or the lake, with a pack of hounds baying 

 ■ rear, and the haulers following as fast as 

 v^.ild carry them. The time was December. 

 and the winter king held all nature in his frigid embrace'. 

 The terrified fox kept flying over ihe frozen icid- sue 

 bi rough thick woods, while the cjate t Of hoofs iu his rear 



only goad. -.1 him on in his dash for life and liberty. Fin- 

 ally the banks Of did Brie were reached.. Jieynard took one 

 comprehensive view of its frozen bosom, and in another was 

 bounding awaj over the vast expanse of ice. When the 

 hunter-; reached the bank they all pulled up with ore: ex- 

 ception, and that was Obdle Ab." With B}8 eve Mrmlv fixed 

 on the rapidly disappearing fox, he dashed the spurs into the 

 sides of his panting steed, and to the horror of his com- 

 panions, started across.tiie treacherous field of ice, toward 

 the Canadian shore. On he flew, on the top of the relitthle 

 old black's speed, until he disappeared from the sight of his 



t over the lake 



,- iign 



f Ui 



■ an 



still in pursuit of the fox and riding like a demon, nothing 

 could stop him; the wearv fox look to the woods, but, Uncle 

 Ab. folloyved, cheering on tin hound,-, and in a short time 

 he returned with Reynard's lifeless body hanging from the 

 horn of his saddle. 'On the yvay home' that night he told 

 the boys the story of the perilous chase how he lost sight of 

 the laud, but how he kept bravely ou, determined to capture 

 the ga,me or perish in the atteto.pt. He had cooled down 

 somewhat then, and he remarked to one of the Nimrods 

 nearest him, that "lie would not repeat the experience for a 

 bag full of gold. 



On another occasion he and a party of friends had plan- 

 ned a fishing excurtion to Wieklfffe. ' The majority of the 

 anglers drove down and left Uncle Ab. to bring the boat, 



The yachl was anchored in what is known as thedugwav, 

 a .small' stream which empties into the lake from East Cleve- 

 land township, and, as is common at the mouths of such 

 tributaries, a, long sand bar hail formed for several rods out 

 into the lake. Uncle Ab. had reached this point all lighl 

 and wa.s sailing around this bar with a view of going upfche 

 shore some distance to take on the necessary supplies for th 

 trip, when the boat, suddenly capsized, t'n fort innately Uncle 

 Ab. could not swim, and so' he clung to the upturned boat 

 with desperate energy. Suddenly the boat began to drift 

 out, and visions of a Watery grave rose before him. He 

 turned pale, and with a voice tilled with terror called to his 

 son, who w-as calmly viewing the seme from the shore. 

 "Con.:, if you ever expect to do anything for Ab., doit 

 now." Con. choked back a laugh, and told trim to just 

 lower himself down and see how deep ihewntci was. ii 

 reluctantly took the advice, and to his chagrin found thin it 

 was hardly waist deep. Con, was cautioned, noi to say any- 

 thing about it, bul somehow or other the fishermen learned 

 all the details of. the laughable affair, and Uncle Ab. never 

 heard the last 01 it 



"Artemus. Waul" was a frequent visitor tit Mcllrath's 

 tavern. I le and Uncle Ab. were great friends and used to 

 go fox hunting-find fishing together, and the latter frequently 

 figured in Ward's writings. Mr. Mcllrath died at tiisresi- 

 den.ein Cleveland, November 16. 



SHOOTING NOTES FROM KANSAS. 



I HAVE seen some doubt cast upon the statement, in a 

 California paper, that a hunter in that State had killed 

 in a four hours' hunt a pheasant, a partridge, a quail and a 

 mallard duck. This is a variety, but I could any day, in 

 less than four hours, and on my own land, kill chickens, 

 quail, -prigtail, butterball, teal and mallard ducks, geese, 



My average For L881, For table use, was three birds per day 



I think the use of explosive and express (hollow-pointed) 

 balls should be forbidden by law on game, and only allowed 

 on beasts of prey and reptiles, if a sportsman has not 

 science enough with, a rifle to kilt an elk, deer, or other large 

 game with an ordinary rifle bullet, lie should not try. 

 imagine the effect on bur game iu ten years from now if 

 all riflemen should use explosive balls. 



1 have had a great amount of experience with different 

 sized guns, and for my locality 1 find that, a 32-inch barrel, 

 full choked (for five shot), 11-pound, lb-gauge, breech load- 

 ing gun is superior to any other. 1 use three drams 

 powder iu summer and five in winter. 1 have used common 

 powder in my vein Cr leu \ ears and the barrels arc to-day 



,i : ,se 



brass shell will foul a gnu as much as ten with a thick paper 

 shell. 



iu loading i force the primer on the {Shell with a hickory 



punch and hammer, put in my powder. Ihen one No. 8 Win- 

 chester wad, forced down even, then one wad of mutton 



tallow (cast in a .Pi calibre rifle barrel and cut the thickness 

 of Wftds) 'ben one No. lit Winchester wad pressed down till 

 the tallow isas thin as possible, then one ounce of No. 8 or 10 

 tod me andoue-quarterouni esof 4 or fl shot, and at least one- 

 hair of a Winchester No. 8 felt wad, The latter u.-„[ 1 split 

 from a regular wad. lull prefer cardboard when I can get 

 them. 1 force the powder wad down wilh as large a stick 

 as will go into the shell, thus seating tin m very even and 



level In seating- the shot wad I -use a sties: that will just 

 go i& the shell, with the other end small enough to go up 

 tfirougl ; tunnel from the bottom, ami fit into a knob or 



hainile. A brass shell soon bulge,, in my gun so Unit, a 



hallway, ilti tnlai ' ny ramrod up through the tanne! as! 



have described. I set my shell on the block and Spread out 

 my split No. 8 Wftds, and taking my tunnel in my right hand 

 place tl down over a w;nl. thus picking it up, Hum place 

 liie w hole down ever mv shell as fai as tl e tunnel will go 



(half dov. in, tin a shove the wad home. This way of seating 



a j\o. 8 wad with a tunnel saves crumpling it, and seats it 

 as even as if it had grown there, and at the same time you 

 avoid putting J'our thumb as you would if yon dld'uot 

 use a tunnel, and if a No. 8 wad is forced through the 

 throat of a tunnel made for paper shells, it will be too" small 

 for your bra-s shell. 



T do not claim lo be an expert shot, but I make a belter 

 avi r.: v i.s most Of th o tlesc ibed in your paper. 1 make 

 .ii; poi n la i , as on the prairie we have to 



shoot at ■ from idly to eiglitj , STdS ride, and 1 have not had 

 but one chance to shoot ''(in the set." for the last twelve 

 months. 1 average two shells for one milliard and three 

 teal for two shells. 

 Quail arc shot here by a hunter taking each side ot a 



straight down* the hedge we have no difficulty iu* bagging 

 them with No. 10 shot* 



In using talksw in a trim there will be no hard, dry dirt at 

 the muzzle, ami an ordinary rag pulled through the barrels 

 by a string will clean them perfectly, 

 "By proper loading, my gun makes a pattern of over 100 

 No 'ft shot, iu a thirl vinclC circle at forty yards, with brass 

 sheila. 



I make my best pattern of buckshot bv n-amr live drams 

 powder and* two wads, then three No. *2 buckshot, put in 

 loose, ami I ben an Ely shot concentrator filled wilh two 

 layer's o'.' iSo 4 bueksh',,1, consisting of three to each layer. 



"The three No. a shot will just chamber in the mu/.zle. and 

 the ,-■■ :- I si Ot ■ 'ill |U»t chamber in two layers in an 



Tola. Kansas. . 



OTTAWA DEER SHOOTING. 



Miter Fond and Sirema: 



I have read, with much pleasure, "B. G. A.'s" letter in your 

 number of 9th ins!., explaining that he had been misled by 

 parties iu Ontario as lo the close season for deer in that 

 Province. 



I would take this opportunity of impressing on officers of 

 game protect] on clubs the necessity of paying more atten- 

 tion to the dissemination ol a knowledge of the close seasons 

 and of the other provision^ of Ihe game laws throughout the 

 country. An experience of many years as ;.n officer of the 

 Fish and Came Protection Club of this Province, convinces 

 me that this most, important, function of such clubs is sadly 

 neglected. 



l eaiino' ne-ree with "Is. C A." in his strictures on the close 

 -eason tor deer in Ontario. In the northern parts of that. 

 Province fa-vii- are dependent on "their mothers until near 

 the 1st of October, when the open season commences; the 

 season when hounds may be used is retricted to the period 

 commencing ls( of October and ending 15th of November, 

 ;oid all hiani'ii e •:".-: . /-■■..• o.i the l'jtli e,f December. No 

 Person is at env time allowed to hunt or kill deer for the 

 purpose of exportii the same out of the Province. Of 

 course iu a v asl and unsettled territory, such as exists in 



Canada, tin- sum: lavs ,-annot always tie strictly enforced. 

 Notwithstanding whal "1!. G. A." states, Idouoibelievct.hat 

 env hunter can kill twenty-live or thirty deer a week during 

 th-" lawful season, nor can' 1 a-ree with him that the 1st of 

 October is too late to enter ihe woods lee- plea.- ore. as at that 

 date there are no mosquitoes or flies to annoy the pleasure 

 seeker, I have just returned fri 





ugoy- 



1 hope "B. C. A." will make many another trip (in the ^opeu 

 season) and favor your readers with his experiences, told in 

 the' same genial and lively manner as that iu whichhis 

 present papers are written H. 



Montbeal, Xovemhei-IS; 



of a arcat'deal ol pleasure and' do not protect the deer, 

 merely reserving all for the yvholesale slaughter made by 

 the practical hinder when cold weather arrives; and again, 

 our American friend thinks -Oct. 1 is too late in the season 

 for a party to enter the Ontario wools for pleasure. The 

 law shoulil give pleasure pa, .■ d I be right to kid ,ecr suf- 

 iicient foreami) use. commencing with Sept. IS, and ui the 

 early. The only tune 

 lis alter the, falling of 



far .North Sept. 

 When deer can 1 

 the leaves and t! 



idly hi 

 cold i 



•ath 



; the A 



whe 



Th 



c but the 



| to all of us who seek 

 iieal t hand recreation during the beautiful and unequalled 



jaV-,- '■•,;,.,,[]. -nimi ', a -■''■ >■- ■ ae of health, and we welcome. 

 voiiVoihe pure invigoraling air of these mountains and 

 forests- lire ilhe'it without stint ami enjoy it till your heart's 

 content, but you must bring your o'wn provisions. We 

 have plenty of deer, but they are all engaged, and we arc 

 pledged I ..'reserve them for our hunters. 



-Now we desire to point out the great mistake that would 

 be made by any such changes m our gam 

 by -B. d. A.' In the lirsi, place the vvcal 



i",',,',/:'-, 'ic'o e. low hours after death, onli , 

 ,-, ,.:,,;! ,. ,ih ice wlneli is not very likely, so that the 

 Chances are thai afler ihe deer was slain a few lit bits would 

 i„. 0,1 ,.,-, off and the carcase left. During iweiily-fivc years' 

 . ,,.,■:. i , . ,,, ... cincm- in this province, auwng which 



rl 

 invariably 



kept hi. for 



