48 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Augcsx 18, 1881. 



After some lime spent in aimlessly wandering from one 

 tree to another I concluded to 6tart back, and soon came in 

 sight of the tire. In a few moments the hired man came 

 back from his hunt. With an eye more practiced in moon- 

 light hunting lie Lad seen several turkeys, but had failed to 

 bag any. Not long afterward wo could hear tho dip of the 

 Canoe paddle. As the boat neared the shore a turkey was 

 startled from a Irec-trop. It flew past B. A crashing peal 

 told that B. had given it a broadside as it passed. About the 

 some instant was beard a splashing and struggling in the 

 water, mingled with yells. "He's got'im," said the hired 

 man, as we both jumped from the log on which we had been 

 stated. It seemed to me that B. bad downed the biggest 

 gobbler of the season. In an iostant we knew that the canoe 

 bad upset, and that, it was B. and the settler making the fuss 

 in the water. Fortunately the water was not deep. Fre- 

 quent remarks expressing emphatic opinions about turkey 

 hunting, night hunting and dug-nuts greeted our ears, as B. 

 wended his way to the shore. When he and the settler stood 

 shivering near the tire, the water streaming from Ihctn, they 

 made a sorry sight indeed. But. though the water was cold, 

 the weather was unusually warm for the season, and I bey 

 were both persons of vigorous constitutions. It was decided 

 to start for the house immediately. We made the distance 

 in short lime. B. and the settlor, having rubbed themselves 

 briskly to prevent a chill, were soon dressed in warm dry cloth- 

 ing, and, with pipes in their mouths and legs stretched tow- 

 ard the fire that flamed and roared in the huge fire-place, re- 

 counted amid peals of laughter the crowning event of the 

 night, their late ducking, from which they now seemed to 

 feel none the worse. 



"Did the gun kick the boat over?" 



"No. I heard the turkey, but did not see her till she had 

 nearly passed me. Then, getting a glimpse of her, I threw 

 my j:iiu round and fired. Losing my balance, I caught at the 

 side of the boat, and she was over in a second." 



The next morning we sprang out of bed before light, and 

 started up the river to he wait for the. turkeys as they Hew 

 down from the trees, Arriving at the place jj here we had 

 found the turkeys we deployed into line up and down the 

 edge of the overflow. There were four of us, and we took 

 stations about two hundred yards apart. We faced the east, 

 from which direction we expected the turkeys to come, as we 

 knew that they were over the water. I held I he extreme 

 left | B. next to me, the hired man next to him, and the 

 settler on the extreme right. The east began to grow re.J. 

 Objects became distinguithable. I saw several turkeys a 

 hundred or two yards away, sitting in the trees over the 

 overflow. They were badly scattered, and soon began to 

 yelp and call to each other. As we had nothing to call with 

 we kepi as still as possible. Soon they began to fly 

 down. Several reports to the light told that the 

 turkeys were endeavoring to force our right wing, 

 and that the hired man and the settler were making 

 things lively with their muzzle-loaders. A quick double re- 

 port, a short; distance to the right and 1 knew thai B. had en- 

 tered the fight. Would none of them come my way ? I 

 began to think that 1 would have to go back without a thot. 

 The turkeys that I had seen in the trees in front of my posi- 

 tion had gone. Looking at the dark, sluggish waler of the 

 overflow, studded with the trunks of huge irees and covered 

 above hy their interlacing boughs, 1 fell into a kind of revery 

 and bad almost forgotten my purpose there, when, hearing a 

 noise, I looked up. Not a hundred yards away, only ten or 

 fifteen feet above the surface of the water, his wings curved 

 in II steady sail, coming direclly toward me, was a large gob- 

 bler. Ou he cable like an arrow, till Hearing the edge of the 

 overflow he threw himself erect, and, bringing his wings 

 square across the direction of his (light so as to serve as a 

 brake on his speed, with a few strokes of his wings he came 

 down Justin the edge of the overflow, behind the top of a 

 small tree that bud fallen in the water at that place. In a 

 moment he came stepping from behind the tree top, in full 

 view, not forty yards away. What a beauty he was! The 

 glossy plumage on hte neck and sides fairly shone. Taking 

 quick aim I let. drive at him with my right barrel, intending 

 to give him the left if lie attempted to run or fly. A dense 

 volume of smoke shot out from the gun and hung between 

 me and the turkey. I was so certain that I bad killed him 

 that I was in no hurry to go to bim, but stood for a moment 

 deliberately pulling in another shell, so as to be ready, should 

 another turkey come that way, to give him a right, and left. 

 I could hardly believe my eyes when I got to the place where 

 I expected the turkey was and could not see him. I looked 

 and looked, but ho was not there. There were bunches of 

 feathers, gome with blood on them, scattered along the cdae 

 of the water in the line of the shot, but no further traces of 

 that tui key could be found. The result of that shot made 

 me a full convert, to the theory that it is best to shoot tur- 

 keys with small shot. Had my gun been loaded with No. 

 or 7 instead of BB, I should certainly have shot bim dead, 

 as at that distance, with small shot, 1 could have put several 

 pellets through his head and neck. As it was I had doubtless 

 given him a mortal wound, but allowed him to escape. This 

 was w r orse than a clear miss. Soon B. came up with a tur- 

 key hen in his hand. Although he had shot at it with both 

 barrels, putting several BB shot into its body, it kept on its 

 course for about, a hundred yards, then dropped dead. Going 

 toward the house we came upon the settler and the hired 

 man, both circling around ihrough the woods, looking for 

 the turkey which each believed he had killed but could not 

 find. The settler and the hired man were both of Opinion 

 that the shot was too small. If large shot would not kill, 

 they did not see how using smaller shot could help the matter 

 any. 



"They'll fly till the last breflb is outer 'em, and you have 

 to shoot 'em wid shot as is big enough to knock the brefth 

 clare outer 'em, then you'll git, 'em," said the hired man. 



Since that time 1 have used smaller shot with, better suc- 

 cess. I prefer No. (i to any other size for turkeys. Some- 

 times I load one barrel with No. 6 or 7 and the other barrel 

 with No. -1. 



Returning to the house we breakfasted, and, promising to 

 come again, mounted our horses and galloped homeward. 

 That old gobbler:, although he had breathed bis last several 

 hours before, still showed fight. I could not tie him in any 

 position but, he would pull loose. I had stopped to tie him 

 several times, and at last thought, I had him firmly 

 bound. On wo went again in a lively gallop, when BU! di ily 

 my horse began to rear and plunge and throw her heels in 

 the air in a, style that made, it seem probable that I should 

 collide with the earth, fasting my eye backward lo ascer- 

 tain the cause of thoce unusual capers, I saw that old gob- 

 bler lugging with might and main at the strings which bound 

 bis feet and neck, ut the Mime time digging his spurs into the 



| i. [ Q .... 



bird, but he did not cease his tussle till I landed him at 

 home. 



Mrs. E. was delighted. After admiring bis size and plum- 

 age he was turned over to the cook with orders to pick hiin 

 nicely and then report for further orders. 



I had finished recounting to Mrs. It. the exploits — the 

 " moving accidents by flood and field " — connected with the 

 hunt, unci we had commenced to discuss the question aa to 

 the best mode of cooking the turkey, when the cook suddenly 

 appeared. I knew hy the expression on the face of Patsy 

 that she had something important to communicate. 



" Miss R ," she said, "who eber clean dat turkey forgot 

 to look his craw out, 'an he done soured." 



We hurried into the kitchen. It was too true. When on 

 our return from the hunt that night, assisted by the hired 

 man, 1 had drawn the turkey. Being unused to such work, I 

 had never mice thought of the craw, and the weather being 

 warm, he had, to use the cook's word, " soured." 



Did I discover in the dimmed and half shut eye of the old 

 gobbler a gleam of malignant satisfaction at the knowledge 

 that his captor was foiled ! But I did not, count my labor 

 lost. More than the juicy meat of the turkey do I prize the 

 memory of that hunt. With it are inwoven pleasant, visions 

 of the dim wood, the quiet water, the moon-lighted shore, 

 and of "the morn in russet mantle clad." J. E. R. 



OaiiKsmlle, Ark. 



DELAWARE RAIL SHOOTING. 



I HAVE been asked to Eend you for republication the 

 comparative scores of remarkable rail shooting had at 

 Chester, Delaware River, in the year 1840, and a like season 

 of great tides and numerous birds at Port Penn, Delaware 

 River, in 1873. Dr. Lewis, in his chapter on rail shooting, 

 gives the first, but the shooting made at Port Penn I pro- 

 cured from Mr. Sim Lord, the proprietor of the hotel at the 

 latter place. This may give those unacquainted with the 

 sport of rail shooting an idea of what is done on our river at 

 times, and when it is known that each bird is shot singly 

 and on the wing almost as quickly as one can load and shoot, 

 an idea can be gained of the excitement accompanying the 

 sport when numerous boats are being pushed through the 

 reeds, each one endeavoring to be " high " at the finish. 

 At Chester In 1646 



" i. JM Eyre 122 



" 4. b Pearson lot 



•• -i. T Tlmrlow S3 



" 4. K Wells ,1SB 



" !: Mr Matsenger... 95 



• :,. .1 i M--=n:ii- ierr.. J' 



" 5. 1$ Ford ST 



" s. Mr Wells '..im 



" 6. A Worrall 136 



" R. E Wells 114 



" 6. E K E>re ins 



" 0. SSUllth 93 



" 7. V Price S3 



" 7. MrBrtnghurst.., ai 



'< 7. H Taylor BO 



•' 7. u Edwards 106— 1917 



.Grand total, 3,70s. 



At Port Penn In 1S73. 



sept. 8. Mason 72 



" 8. Flower 100 



" 8. Baker 115 



" S. Saimders and 



Sept. 7. ,T M Eyre 90 



s. Mr Mat6enger..i23 

 " 8. k f Eyra 94 



8. Mr llrown 97 



" B, O Price 91 



" f. J K Honsal 



M t 



. ...19i 



9. J Kcwtiolfl H 



9. J Odeulielmer..l32 



9. WRead 107 



9. G Kploy Sli 



10. ,1 NrjWtoW s:i 



Jo. J Bonsall 141 



lo. S Smith 103 



10. EEyre us 



li. K Eyre nil 



11. II Edwards 107— issi 



Sept. 9. youug k Satin- 



. 96 



9, Mr l.nfT......... r,o 



9. Liirr, r?r «5 



9. Stell & .vewnoldm 

 'J. Fisher 170 



10. Flowers 135 



1 0. Lon glKinlin 1 1 1 l-2fi 



l'i '■.,:■ '>.:• 



10. Kerlln 92 



:n. Biddlo lot 



10. Decamp 109 



10. young & Saun- 

 ders 8S 



10. Thiirow 143 



HI. Stell, v. NewbOld 91 

 to. tosher 74 



10. Fisher 150—1703 



Grand total, 3,473. 



The shooting in 1846 at Chester was in inuzzle-loading 

 time, and the run of big tides occupied nine days ; that at 

 Port Penn in 1873 was in breech-loading time, and was done, 

 in three days' time. Many of the participants of the Chester 

 shooting have long since "passed in their checks," hut the 

 names of those who enjoyed the remarkable shooting at Port 

 Penn in 1873 are familiar to Philadelphia sportsmen. 



Homo. 



8. TMuwv S7 



fi. Lelirnnn.. 75 



s. Stell & NcwOold.lM 

 s. Fisher S9 



9. Kerlln 220 



9. l.onghosliatn. 1B4 



•J. Baker 120 



•j. Flower 14S 



9. Flsuer 76 



9. niddle.. 72 



9. lie Camp 72—1770 



ARE THEY MONOPOLIES? 



WI1AT are monopolies, and what constitutes just such 

 a one as leads " Didyaius" to wonder "that people 

 tamely submit to it?" Are they our great railroads, extend- 

 ing from the commercial centres to and through remote and 

 unsettled territories, holding the absolute right of property 

 way over thousands of acres"? No. Their stock is for sale 

 in the open market to " Didyrnus" or any one with means to 

 purchase from one share up to the controlling interest, and 

 even the " Granger" had to admit them to be a great bless- 

 ing to the farmer when he discovered that a farm in the 

 wilds of Dakota, costing from one to five dollars per acre, 

 could, by the advent of a railroad, compete profitably with a 

 farm near commercial centres costing one hundred dollars per 

 acre, in the sale of wheat, corn, rye, oat?, potatoes, etc. 



Are the telegraph and telephone companies the grievous 

 monopolies that trouble "Didymua" so much that be fears 

 this will cease to be a " free country ?" 



No. The grievance and monopoly which is to cut off 

 from the people every acre of good shooting ground unci de- 

 stroy our boasted freedom is a little club of sporting gentle- 

 men, incorporated in Ohio, and owning marshes, lands and 

 water courses in Sandusky Bay, their object being, as set 

 forth in their certificate of incorporation, " for the purposes 

 of yachting, hunting, fishing, the protection of fish and game 

 mid for lawful sporting purposes, as provided by an act 

 passed by the Legislature of the State of Ohio ou the loth of 

 May, A. D. 1878." This club (which was first, organized 

 over twenty-five years ago) for nearly twenty years left its 

 extensive bunting and fishing grounds open to all "outsiders" 

 without any restriction or hindrance to hunt and fish, the 

 club owning the land and paying annually a large amount for 

 taxes, for protecting its shores from washing, and for exten- 

 sive improvements generally 



When these grounds were purchased and these investments 

 made by the club the marshes litei ally swarmed with geese, 

 swan, brunt and almost every variety of game ducks and 

 waterfowl, and the owners of the property could be sure of a 

 day or week of sport after a long and tedious journey. The 

 rneinlWN rff tho club were .cat tered through New York, Phil. 

 adtlpiiiti, '"Pittsburgh, Oinoiuuatii, Umngiou ( Kentucky'), 



Cleveland, etc. But these grounds were open to the unselfish 

 "outsider," who cleverly managed year after year to occupy 

 before daylight all tho eligible shooting points, to the ex- 

 clusion of the less enterprising members of the club them- 

 selves, and who so persistently banged at and chased up on 

 their feeding grounds, night and day, and indiscrimately 

 slaughtered the game, that finally few game birds were left, 

 and total extinction or protection became inevitable. Hence, 

 after leaving their possessions open to wholesale slaughter of 

 their game by "outsiders" for nearly twenty years, the club 

 proceeded, under the laws of Ohio, to protect the fish and 

 game found on their premises from indiscriminate slaughter 

 out of Season, and from ultimate extinction in the near 

 future. 



No game is allowed to be shot and no fish to be caught out 

 of season or unlawfully, and none but owners of shares in 

 the club are permitted to hunt on their premises. Any good 

 citizen may become a member on the purchase of a share. It 

 looks to me more like preservation and protection of property 

 than a grievious monopoly. 



" Didymua " magnamiously suggests that "if they would 

 adopt the system of giving the privilege of a day's shooting 

 occasionally to outsiders, keeping out all market shooters, 

 they would not appear so glaringly obnoxious to the charge 

 of selfishness. My wonder is, as it now stands, that people 

 tamely submit to it." 



Luckily for the rights of property and the peace aDd har- 

 mony of the world the) people do submit to let every man 

 gather, or have the first light to gather, the came, the fish 

 and the fruits found and produced on his own premises. 

 While "Didyrnus" was about it, why not claim the privilege 

 also of one day for free shooting of game, one for digging 

 potatoes (keeping out all diggers for the market), and one or 

 two days' free feasting in the watermelon patch for himself, 

 boys and pigs on the grounds belonging to the club ? I think 

 the club would rather prefer to yield the potato and melon 

 patch (if compromise must be made to break the monopoly) 

 to public plunder and preserve the game. 



There are hundreds of Biich clubs established all over the 

 United States and the Dominion of Canada by the best of 

 men and for the best of purposes— the protection and preser- 

 vation of game and food fish — and it is sincerely hoped iberc 

 will be many more. X. 



Cleveland, Ohio, August, 1881. 



IN DEFENSE OF THE ADIRONDACK GUIDES. 



TUB BBOTE " PAEKER " NOT A GUIDE. 



Third Lake, Fulton Chain, Aug. 8. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



Am just in from the "other side," and find the all-absorb- 

 ing topic here the Parker affair. The papers have got 

 hold of it, and are running it for a sensational event, and all 

 wrong. The New York Mail thinks the "Adirondack guides 

 a class to be let severely alone." It happens that I was 

 cruising in the vicinity where the thing happened, and was 

 over the long carry at the foot of Forked Lake within an 

 hour of the^last act of the tragedy which happened there 

 last Friday. The simple facts of the case are that the man 

 Charles Parker was no guide, never pretended to be one, and 

 was not so considered by the guides on either side. The 

 constable at Long Lske is a genuine guide, by 1 be name of 

 Warner Cole. lie saw at, once the importance of arresting 

 Parker and bringing him to punishment, and he has followed 

 the culprit like a sleuth huiird. First, he followed the trail 

 to Kingston, Canada, inveigled or kidnapped him, and 

 brought bim back to Long Lake. Pending the investigation 

 Cole bad to keep his prisoner over night, which be did by 

 shackling the man to his own wrist. In the morning he 

 found himself in possession of both handcuffs and the 

 prisoner gone. Again he started on Iho track, trailed his 

 man to an island in Forked Lake, thence to the mainland, 

 and lay for him on all likely carries, outlets and inlets. Had 

 Parker possessed friends among the guides he might have 

 kept out of the way indefinitely. The guides, however, 

 almost to a man, were anxious for Mb arrest. They saw 

 clearly that the affair was a ruinous blow to the guiding busi- 

 ness, and they feel keenly the injustice of such articles as 

 appeared in the New York Mail lately. 



From what I saw last Friday I infer that the man who baa 

 a camp at the foot of Forked Lake, and keeps a lean horse 

 to draw boats over the carry at §1.50 each, helped Parker. 

 At all events, Parker hung around the Long Carry, and 

 there, just after I passed up the carry, Constable Cole cor- 

 nered him as he, in company with his wife, was launching a 

 boat. Ordered to halt, he refused, was fired on and bard hit 

 " through the arm, which was broken," as the first report 

 bad it "Through tho arm and breast," said a report, two 

 hours later. "Through the arm and both breasts," said a 

 guide who came in before nigh 1 . " Groaning and breathing 

 bis last " is the report of the next party. "Dead," is the las t 

 report. Any and all of Ihese reports may be true. It is cer- 

 tain that he has got heavy punishment. 



The main poiut is, after all, the way in which this affects 

 the guides. 



My acquaintances in the North Woods are largely of the 

 guide class. I feel this thing as though I were one of their 

 number. 1 have been with them, night and day, for two 

 seasons, and have not been ignorant of them and their ways 

 in many bygone years. So far aa the genuine guide of the 

 Adiroudacks is concerned, I would not hesitate to hang up a 

 valuable watch or my pocketbook on a carry, outlet or inlet, 

 merely appending my name, certain that my property w r ould 

 be safe as in the vaults of a bank- unless some outsider came 

 across it. lean give the names of more than two hundred 

 guides with whom I would trust ' my seventeen-year-old 

 daughter as contentedly as I would with her mother. 



A guide's religion is, first and foremost, to take care of 

 his "party" — to defend, protect, feed, shelter and bring 

 through safely his party, at, the risk of his life, if need be. 

 This is recognized as a first duty by every true guide. The 

 man who " wets his party," or lets them suffer privation or 

 inconvenience in any way that skill or industry can prevent, 

 gets more ridicule from his compeers than he can well stand. 



Had I time and space, I could give several instances that 

 have come under my personal knowledge of energy, skill, 

 surprising muscular endurance and faithfulness not found in 

 the ordinary walks of life. 



To sum up : Charles Parker was no guide. He came into 

 the Wilde -ness last summer for the first time, worked, 

 fished and hunted for the hotels, and had since led the same 

 desultory sort of life. 



The guides say that Parker was an assumed name— thut be 

 was a convict who had served a term in the Penitentiary. 

 They beg tho public 10 understand Hint the Adirondack 

 S'>'dea have no sympathy for, no atlllitttiou with, the rascal, 

 Charles Parkor,/ NfiBSMW, 



