184 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[October C 1881. 



takes cognizance of all the influences which hear upon fish 

 life and finds that, many animal?, apparently harmless, do 

 much injury simply liy devouring food which should go to 

 sustaining valuable species. 



It lias been a matter of surprise that Indiana has not at- 

 tended to this source of food production before this, as the 

 Btntes immediately surrounding her have been engaged in it 

 for some years, with valuable results. 



SALMON REPORTED ON THE VIRGINIA 

 COAST. 



WE have received -the following letter, the original of 

 which we have sent to Professor Baird, TJ. S. Fish 

 Commissioner. If the fish were indeed salmon it was most 

 Important news, and goes to prove that the California sppcies, 

 which have been placed in the waters of Virginia and Mary- 

 land, aTe long in reaching maturity. We hope that speci- 

 mens have been saved in alcohol, or packi d in ice, and sent 

 to the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C, for id'n- 

 tification. This is the only proper course to be pursued in 

 such cases, for we have recently chronicled cases of mistaken 

 identity in this same fish. Undoubtedly sirange fish were 

 caueht off Cape Charles, but the fishermen there are not 

 likely to be familiar with fresb salmon and may have made a 

 mistake. The letter is as follows : 



Norfolk, Ta., Sept. 30, 3851. 

 Editor Forest and Stream ; 



We were informed yesterday by Mr. John Henry, a merchant of 

 this city, that one of hi* friends, Captain Jimica Johuxun, a 

 famous fisherman, also of thin place, had been fishing near Tape 

 Charles for thirteen days without much success. On the four- 

 teenth day his labor and patienco were rewarded by taking three 

 hundred and fifty (350) fine large salmon. We take this as snme- 

 thing unusual, as there was never known to be caught more than 

 two or three in one day before. We would be very glad to hoar 

 your opinion m regard to this matter, as we never knew that Bal- 

 mon came in at Capes Charles and Henry. Will you please give 

 ub your opinion as to the cause of their sudden appearance ? 



J. B. White. 



THE CUTTER MADGE. 



HAVING given proofs of her extraordinary sailing quali- 

 ties this ten-ton cutter will probably soon store up 

 for tbe voyage to the East in the hopes of finding fresh vietimE 

 to add to her string of wins in American waters ; that is if 

 any one cai still be found believing that the slovenly rigjed, 

 round waisted sloop can point, reach, turn or buck a sea with 

 tbe flying cutter. Sundry additional challenges have been 

 gent to the press ; among them one from the sloop Wild 

 D iick, of Pamrapo, Mr. Lutz, owner. The Duck if we are not 

 mi-taken, is a McGiehm built feather weight, and reputed a 

 fast one in smooth water. To put her through a sea off the 

 Hook with Madge would be such a one sided exhibition in the 

 light of recent experience that, unless Mr. Lutz can hit a 

 smooth day, bis morey is 'much safer in bank. A r*ce was 

 also to be sailed with Poloma, but we believe this has fallen 

 through f u the obvious reason that, though a big sloop, she 

 would not have the ghost of a chance with the Scotchman. 

 Mr. Prague has likewise issued a challenge in behalf of the 

 Fanita. This sloop is 44 ft. water line, 17 ft. beam and Gi 

 ft. de p. Madge is 38 ft. 9 in. waterline, 7 ft. 9£ in. beam 

 and 6ft. 2 in. deep. Multiplying the three principal dimen. 

 siousiu each cite to obtain an approximate relation of the 

 sizes or tbe two we find Fanita to be more than two and one- 

 h'ltfl mcB as large as Madge. The hoist of the sloop is some- 

 thing like 4 I f ., t at of the cutter but 37 ft. To race Cljefce 

 two on nearly equal terms tieca ise their mean lengths happen 

 to be nearly alike— Madge's long, light overhang being made 

 to count as half its leugtli of additional water line with the 

 concomitant increase of beam and depth — is so palpably ridic- 

 ulous thai, we a>e inclined to thiuk Mr. Prague issued his 

 challenge simply as a good joke. Of course it will not 

 be eut'rt.ined. The fairest tjial of merits Madge en- 

 joyed was with Mistral, for these two boats are practically 

 alike in size. In Ibat match the long, narrow form pioved 

 itself so very much superior on every point of sailing that, the 

 question of t,>ye may be deemed definitely settled in favor o r 

 I be cuter. The Schemer was f irly beaten on her merits. 

 The Wave would have made rnuc i the best Bhowing, but f r 

 bad seamanship, and had some slight chance of scoring. 

 But the disparity in size— the slo p being a third larger th n 

 the culler — would haverobbi d a result favorable to the Wave 

 of atl its import, and no conclusions of value could have been 

 drawn from such a termination of the race. Lest we be 

 deemed prejudiced in the matter we have collected the opin- 

 ions of the pr ss of all shades, showing a universal acknowl- 

 edgment of the superior qualities of the cutler. These were 

 so marked that even the strong natural predilection of all for 

 the home production and our style of build and rig could 

 not overcome the tesiimonyof facts as witnessed by the 

 representatives of the press following over the course in the 

 j iidges' steamer on sin ce^sive days. Perhaps the most notice- 

 able feature of these races is the fact that the cutter never 

 once "me 1 her weather" in the real sense of that term. It 

 was almost wholly ru our favor, only calling for a temporary 

 singl • 'eef up in une occasion when sailing the Mistral. Thai 

 occasion plainly showed that in a snorter, the idea of match- 

 ing a slo p against a cutler borders upon tbe ridiculou-i. 

 Let us now go to work, apply the lessons learned, and try to 

 regain that prestige for our pleasure navy so unexpectedly 

 lost. 



OUR KENNEL DEPARTMENT. 



IT is with sincere regret that we announce that Mr. Frank- 

 lin Saiterthwaite has felt obliged to sever his connection 

 with this journal. 



Mr. Satterthwaite has long been known to our readers as a 

 sportsman of great experience — an excellent shot, and a 

 capital hand with a dog. Under his management the Kennel 

 Department of Forest and Stream-, by its fearless aDd 

 independent course, won the respect and admiration of all 

 men. It attacked abuses unsparingly, and was never influ- 

 enced by fear or favor. 



Mr. Satterthwaite's whole energies have been bent toward 

 ihe elevation and improvement of the sport he loves so well 

 and has practiced for so many years. 



His association with us has always been of the pleasantest 

 character, and we shall miss bis genial laugh, his good 

 story and his shrewd advice. It is with deep regret that we 

 part wrh him, and our best wishes for his future follow him 

 wherever he goes. 



We have made arrangements to have the position thus 

 made vacant filled by a sportsman of thirly-five years experi- 

 ence, who is known to a very large majority of our readers, 

 ai d is acknowledged to be an authority on all matters con- 

 nected with dog and gun. The department will be conducted, 

 as in the past, in tbe interest of the dog alone, and not of 

 any clique of dog owners. As of old, our readers may rely 

 on it. 



Essex County Hunt. — The Essex County Hunt (whose 

 kennels are near Llewellyn Park, N. J.,) have just pur- 

 chased of Sir Hugh Allen, of Montreal, a very handsome 

 pack of thirteen coup'es of imported foxhounds. They are 

 all of uniform height, and marked black, tan and white. 

 Including the old pack, the kennel of the hunt now num- 

 bers fifty-six hounds, young and old. As this is more than 

 they require they advertise to sell a few puppies and young 

 bounds. The season opened last Saturday, with a large 

 attendance, no less than forty being in the saddle, nearly all 

 of whom rode through the hunt. There were over a dozen 

 in at the death, including one lady riaer. 



A Bad Precedent. — Tbe decision of the Executive Com- 

 iniitee in the case of the protest made by W. G. L. Morse 

 against the long-range score of Dr. S. I. Sco' t in the cham- 

 pion's match, seems to be a very strange one. If the schedule 

 system if placing time of day and target for each contestanl 

 in a ma'.ch is of any use, it should be rigorously carried out, 

 •o far as circumstances would permit. To permit one com- 

 petitor in a match the use of the pool targets, after the bout- 

 set far his match shooting, means the virtual abrogation of 

 the whole schedule system. 



Speisgfield Rod and Gux Cum.— The Springfield Rod 

 and Gun Club will hold its third annual rifle tournament at 

 the club range, Oct. 11 and 12. There will be a cham- 

 pion match at 200 yards, and a four-team match open to any 

 organized rifle association. The Secretary is Mr. L. H. May- 

 ott. The Springfield boys know how to make it pleasant for 

 visitors, and we look for a large attendance from outside 

 that city. 



A Postal Card Mapk.— A novelty is proposed at Creed- 

 moor in a postal card match in which the ordinary "postal " 

 will be p'aced over the central part of the bullseye at 200 

 yards and shot at with any rifle. This curious carton will 

 test the best eyesight of the marksmen and ought lo get a 

 great nianv hits from the close holders. The details of the 

 postal card day, which will probably be set for some time 

 this month, will be given in our next issue. 



Bat Skips Shooters will appreciate the description of 

 that sport contained in Mr. Roosevelt's sketch, "The Great 

 South Bay." 



IS IT GAMBLING? 



Jamestown, N. T., Sept. 24. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



I am sorry to trouble you the second time on the same subject, hut 

 T do not think that your answer to my question covers our case, or 

 my question should have heea stated differently. 



One section m oar constitution reads : " There shall he no Betting, 

 or gambling of any description, at any of the meetings, under the 

 auspices of this association.'' 



The above has been strictly lived up to for two years, but some 

 members are now claiming that we have a mistaken notion of the 

 definition of " gambling." 



1. How, If we, at the regular meetings on the rifle range, put up 

 money individually and divide H In prizes, are we violating the above 

 section of our constitution or not ? 



2. It the association should purchase a rule and put It up to be shot 

 off in one or more shootings, would that be in violation of the above 

 article? 



s. If an Individual member donates a gun and we shoot for it, do 

 i Che above section! kiflisuan. 



The original inquiry of our correspondent included only 

 the first case cited, and our reply to him was that the law 

 did not recognise thi- as gambling. This reply did not sa«- 

 bfy him. The question, howoer, is one ti at cam ot be 

 answered dogmatically. Much fair argument mav be ad- 

 duced to support either si le of it, and wo think il of sufficient 

 interest and importance to elicit general discussion. The 

 question may be broadened to include also trap-shooting. 



In the second and third cases given, provided there be no 

 betting, there is no gambling. 



E¥ §t$oiitemim §oim$L 



OCTOBER 



For Fore.:-' [Mid ' ■. 



TrtE mists are ri-lng on the river, 



Rising slow. 

 The birch leaves gleam with rustling quiver, 



Soft and low. 

 Nymphs of the wildvvood ! gather lightly 

 Cones, and sunbeams scattered brightly- 

 Scarlet leaves are blazing In the gold. 



Draped with haze are the giant mountains,— 



' Draped In blue. 

 Their rugged lineaments and fountains 



Veiled from view. 

 Breath of the woodlands ! hushed, and atghrog, 

 Whisper so£t of tne Summer's dying,— 

 Scarlet leaves are blazing In the gold ! 



John Pkeston Tkce. 



THE GREAT SOUTH BAY. 



C4 two parts— part first. 



THE Fishery Commission of the State of New York had 

 had under advisement for some time the practicability 

 of establishing a hatchery for sea fishes and had been study- 

 ing Long Island a-i the most promising place to locate it. For 

 i his there was a double reason ; first, that here was most of 

 our sea frontage, and secoudly, it offered an opportunity for 

 cult ivating trout for the southeastern portion of the State, 

 which had heretofore been somewhit neglected, in conse- 

 quence of its distance from the fresh water hatchery at Cale- 

 donia. On the northerly side of Long Is'and, a- d extending 

 its entire length of some hundred a»d forty miles, lies the 

 Sound, but into this he sea. fi«nes of the greatest value have 

 not penetrated. B uefish, for instance, the most roving and 

 predatory of their tribe, are rarely seen west of the "Race," 

 except in their ba'-yhood, when they are popularly known as 

 " snapping maqkerel." The rare Spanish mackerel, of which 

 there was indeed au excellent fishery at Orient Point, never 

 w, re generally taken in the Sound and have not even aban- 

 doned i he r former feeding grounds. The strip- d bass are 

 rather more numerous, but weikfish, ktngfish* and sheeps- 

 head ar seldom caught in any of the waters to the corn of 

 Long Island. 



On the south of the Island stretches a long, narrow lagoon 

 • •f salt water, fed Irom the land by innumerable trout brooks 

 pouring their sparkling rivulets, scarcely more than a mile 

 apart, and connected wiih the sea by several inles, cut by 

 the waves through the narrow beach of low sa d tbat se, a- 

 rates the bay from the oc^an. This lagoon, called the Great 

 South Bay, is in reality sixtv miles Ions, although it passes 

 under several local names, but a boat stalling from hooka; 

 way c >n sail sixly miles eastward wbhout passing through 

 any but natural water communications. 



The bay formerly abounded with fish. Hereweakfisb, king 

 fish, blutfi-h, aheepshewd, sea bass and other species lived and 

 bred, whde Spanish mackerel, bonito and various migratory 

 kinos visited it in iheir season, if they did not deposit iheir 

 eggs there. This s emed a favorable location for the hatch- 

 ery, although the fishing bad been much reduced by the use 

 of pound nets in and near the inlets, which not only cap- 

 tured fiA in imrm-nse numbers but of immature size. So 

 Mr. Seth Gre n, the State Superintendent of Fisheries, and 

 one of the Commissioners, took a yacht and set out on an 

 exploring expediti- m determined to investigate the possibili- 

 ties of the entire bay. I went along lo see that they made 

 no mistakes. 



On the 8ih day of August, 1881, ihe good yacht Au Revoir 

 started from the neighborhood of Islip, wed provisioned for 

 a two weeks' irip, and carrying its load of piscatorial sconce 

 safely housed in it-* comf Ttable cabin of some ten feet 

 square and five feet high. Extensive accommodations are 

 not a feature of the yachts of a uthern Long Is and, for the 

 reason that while the bay is sixty miles ling and four wide 

 it is for Ihe most part less th in I wo fe t deep. The true 

 yachtsman, however, can "stow" himself, and a prod gious 

 deal besides, in a very small space, and " ourvoyagers " were 

 natu>ally good yachtsmen as well as great fis< culturists. 

 Unfortunately the Commissioner is fond of gunning, and has 

 long he d the theory, which no amount of experience ha-i re- 

 mov. d. that there will some time or other be a great flight of 

 snipe along the beach on the south of the bay. So he in- 

 sisied on bringing guns, cartridges, su pe decoys and all 

 that along; and, more unfortuuati ly S'ill, he made up bis 

 mind from Ihe signs in the heavens, the direction of tbe 

 wind, or the motion of the tides, that ihe ninth d*y of August 

 was the day on wr ich ibis flight would take plice. With 

 this id> a in his heart he headed the Au Revoir 10 the east, 

 iniending first to investigate that part of the water which 

 was contiguous to the best sniping grounds. 



No one who has not enjoyed the coinf.rrlsof a ca v >in tea 

 feet square, with just height of ceiling enough to enable one 

 when si' ting on the berth — which answers Ihe double purpose 

 of settee by day and bed by night — to take a drink of wa er 

 without hitting one's head against the timbers of the roof, 

 can imagine how snug it is. And when their first destina- 

 tion had b-en reached, anchor let go and sails furled, ihe ex- 

 plorers found the night settling down upon them and were 

 g ad 10 lake refuge in their cosey home, get out their table 

 luxuries and superintend the cooking of their meal. Appe- 

 tite is a pirmanent passenger by every yacht; it lends a 

 spice to food, assists in the cookery, helps along digestion 

 and aids in many pleasaul ways. Weariness smooths the 

 small pillows, softens and widens the hard and narrow beds 

 and brings balmy sleep. Supper over and even the bright 

 rays of the kerosene lamp which lighted up the cabin like a 

 private sun could not keep the party awake, nor persuade 

 them to attend to the piles of literature they had brought to 

 while away what never comes — the unoccupied and waste 

 time of yachting. 



Four o'clock a m., and Mr. Green remarked that if they 

 had come to shoot snipe it would not do to lose the best part 

 of the day. In ordinary life there may be a question which 

 is the best part of the day. The business man may consider 

 tbat l rom ten to three covers the case; the tielle may select 

 the same hours, hut from a different por ion of the twenty- 

 four; to the gourmand the dinner hour is all in all; to the 

 speculator, the time of meeting of the Stock Hoard; to ihe 

 lover, the hour when bis mistress is vi-ible ;— but to the duck 

 or snipe shooter, no time equals that from dawn to full sun- 

 light. There was no need denying Mr. Green's sage remark, 

 though Sloth begged for a little more "folding of the hands 

 to Bleep," and the Commissioner was fain to Bet out sleepy 



