THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL- 



Entered According to Act ol Congress, in tne year issi, by the Poreat and Stream publishing Company, in the Offlce of the Librarian ol congress, at Washington. 



r^^SrWS/SKSr-} NEW YORK, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1 88 1 . 



CONTENTS, 



Editobial :— 

 To the New York Game Protectors ; la Sweepstakes Shooting 



Gambling? 243 



The 8SOBT8MAN Toubist :— 

 Minnesota Fin and Feather ; Who Wants to Go? In Curri- 

 tuck and Dare ; A Trip to Hathan Bog; The "Tarrapin " 



before the House 244 



Natdbal Histobv : — 

 Former Abundance of the Wild Pigeon ; The Flight of Birds ; 

 Copperheads in New England ; Heport of theSociete D'Ac- 



olimatation : 246 



Game Bag and Gun :— 

 Bust Spot* in Gun Barrels ; The Hurtling Grouse; Wor- 

 cester SportHmeu's Clabs ; Thj Decrease of Game Birds ; 

 Plan of a Sink Box ; Dogberry in the Field ; He Cannot 

 Circumvent the Ducks ; October Deer Stalking ; Lako lirie 



Ducking Grouuds ; Bamogat Duck Shooting 247 



Sea and Biveb- Fishing :— 

 A Thirty three pound Mascalonge ; A Day on Balsam Lake ; 

 Canoeing in Northern Michigan ; Are They of Any Use? 

 Angling Literature: Amphiooaious Fishes; Proposed Ab- 

 rogation of the Fishery Treaty 251 



FlBHOULTUBE :— 



The Hay fish of Germany ; Fishcultural Notes 253 



The Kennel :— 

 Field Trials and Bench Shows; Sagacity of the Colley ; At- 

 tention ! Fowler's Victims ; Notes 254 



Rifle and Tbap Shootins 255 



Yachting and Canoeing : 

 Gracie-Mischief ; A Crusing Canoe ; Madge's Little Game ; 



The Trial Races ; The Pocahontas ' 256 



Answebs to Cobbeseondents 257 



TO NEW YORK GAME PROTECTORS. 



f^\ ENTLEMEN : There are eight of you, and as your ap- 

 ^3~ pointments seem to have been made without the 

 slightest regard to your geographical distribution, it is unfor- 

 tunate that not one resides south of Columbia County. Of 

 course you can travel, and as you are all appointed for the 

 State at large -this would be no obstacle if your allowances 

 were liberal enongh to permit of constant motion. Forest 

 and Stream has steadily claimed that one of your number 

 should be resident in New York city to watch the markets, 

 and another on Long Island, the home of the poacher. 



This not being the case we now call your attention to the 

 following facts : Quail are systematically snared on Long 

 Island from Oct. 20 to 30 in order to have a good number 

 on hand for sate at the beginning of the season, Nov. 1. We 

 would suggest that two or three of your number should at- 

 tend to this matter, and if you will call at this office we will 

 give you a list of the most prominent points for observation. 



The professional fishermen on the Hudson continually vio- 

 late the law prohibiting the capture of striped bass less than 

 half a pound weight. This is the case especially between 

 Yonkers and Peekskill. It is done openly every day at this 

 season of the year when the small fish are numerous. It is 

 sincerely to be hoped that you will take some action in this 

 matter. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



The Fobest and Stbeam Is the recognized medium of entertainment, 

 Instruction and Information between American sportsmen. 



Communications upon the subjects to which Its pages are devoted 

 are Invited from every part of the country. 



Anonymous communications will not be regarded. No correspond- 

 ent's name will be published except with his consent. 



The Editors cannot be held responsible for the views of correspond- 

 ents. 



Subscriptions. 



Subscriptions may begin at any time. The subscription price la $4 

 per year ; $2 tor six months. Remittances should be Bent by regis- 

 tered letter, money order, or dralt payable to the Forest and Stream 

 Publishing Company. The paper may be obtained of newsdealers 

 throughout the United States and Canadas ; and is on sale In Europe 

 by The American Exchange, 449 Strand, W. C. , London, Eng.; and by 

 Em. Terquein, 15 Boulevard, St. Martin, Paris, France. 

 Advertisements. 



Inside pages, nonpareil type, 25 cents per line. Special rates for 

 three, six and twelve months. Reading notices 50 cents per line- 

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 should be sent In by the Saturday of each week previous to the Issue 

 in which they are to be Inserted. 



Address: Forest and Stream Publishing Co., 



Nos. 39 and^o Park Row, New York City. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Thursday, October 37. 



The Unprecedented Demand fob Forest and Stream 

 during the past two weeks has taken us by suiprise, and we 

 sincerely regret that we were able to supply neither our 

 friends who called for them at the offlce, nor the orders from 

 news dealers. Notwithstanding the fact that an unusually 

 large eaition was printed last week, we have been since 

 Monday without any copies. This state of things shall not 

 occur again, as we have made arrangements to still further 

 increase the edition printed, so that there shall be enough to 

 go round. 



Eastern Field Trials.— The gentlemen having charge of 

 the interests of the Eastern Field Trials will leave no stone 

 unturned to secure a successful meeting. Although there are 

 a large number of native birds on the island, five hundred 

 quail from Indian Territory have been secured and will be 

 turned down as soon as received. The first c msignment has 

 already been turned loose, and more are expected in a few 

 days. The heart-breaking briar thickets are being "grid- 

 ironed" with wide paths through their length and breadth, 

 and will not give a tithe of the trouble caused last year. 

 Everything now looks promising for a capital meeting, and, 

 judging by the quality of the dogs entered and the well-known 

 probity of the judges, we predict that the winners will have 

 no easy thing, and that their laurels will be well worth lie 

 •winning. 



company for twenty years. The incorporators named are 

 John H. Brown, Richard A. Saalfield, George W. De Lano 

 and Orlean H. Dodworth. The last named gentleman does 

 not figure In the Directory, so we cannot give his business. 

 The first name appears ten times over, so there is too much 

 liberty of choice given. Mr. Saalfield is a music publisher, 

 and Mr. De Lano is a lawyer. We know nothing about the 

 concern and care less. If international matches worthy 

 of any respect and notice are to be fought in the future, it 

 will be after the Britishers get over their dread of things 

 American in a competitive way, and then by spontaneous, 

 voluntary action, and not by the efforts of any set of rifle 

 match dry-nurses. 



Florida Game Resorts. — We have in hand an excellent 

 article on Florida game resorts from the pen of " AI Fresco." 

 This will be printed next week ; those who are contem- 

 plating a trip to Florida this winter should not fail to 

 see it. 



In Franklin, Essex County, N. J., a man named Wolf 

 shot and fatally wounded a young girl of seventeen with 

 a supposed unloaded shot-gun, which he pointed at her in 

 joke. It is said that the murderer has not been arrested 

 but "deeply deplores his rash act." It can scarcely be 

 doubted that this young idiot, as well as all the other fools 

 belonging to his class, know that a gun, whether loaded or 

 unloaded, should never be pointed at any one or any thing, 

 that it is not intended to shoot. The proper place for all 

 such people is behind the gratings of a lunatic asylum. The 

 sad part of the matter is that people who perpetrate such 

 crimes are often not discovered to be unfit to have their 

 liberty until they have accomplished the killing or maiming 

 of some of their unfortunate friends. The man who has 

 committed this act, while probably not guilty of murder, 

 has, by the law of New Jersey, certainly committed man- 

 slaughter, and should be tried and punished for that crime. 



We have preached the necessity of the most scrupulous 

 care in the handling of firearms for, lo, these many years, 

 and the more we have to do with them the more afraid of 

 them in careless hands do we become. We have had in our 

 time some rather narrow escapes from others, and nothing is 

 more annoying to us than to see any one who neglects the 

 care which we believe to be necessary in handling a gun. It 

 is not, however, to sportsmen that accidents most often hap- 

 pen. They have, most of them, learned how to use the arms 

 that furnish them with so much pleasure. It should be 

 made a felony to point any firearm at a human being, and, 

 to our notion, the hanging of the first half-dozen individuals 

 found guilty of the act would have a marvelously salutary 

 effect. We commend this subject to such of our readers as 

 occupy chairs in the legislative bodies in the various States 

 of the Union. 



The International Riflb Matoh CoMPANr.— During the 

 past week a somewhat curious corporation has been brought 

 into existence in this city. It is styled, the " International 

 Rifle Match Company, Limited." According to the certifi- 

 cate of incorporation on file in the offlce of the Supreme 

 Court, it is organized under the act of February 17, 1848, 

 "to authorize the formation of corporations for manufactur- 

 ing mining, mechanical or chemical purposes. " Under which 

 of these several heads the uew concern is to take place it 

 would be difficult to say, unless it be that it is intended to 

 "manufacture" bullseyes. One clause of the articles of 

 incorporation declares, "The object and nature of the busi- 

 ness for which said company is to be formed is the holding 

 of Grand International Rile Matches between the British, 

 Scotch and Irish rifle teams and the best American marks- 

 men, and the place thereof and the locality of its business are 

 to beat the County of New York." To carry out these laud- 

 able purposes a capital of $30,000 is named in shares of $100 

 each and three trustees axe to manage the business of the 



IS SWEEPSTAKE SHOOTING GAM- 

 BLING? 



&AMING is defined to be " the act of playing a game for 

 a stake." A game I understand to be any game, 

 sport, race or contest. 



By the early common law gaming was not illegal. As 

 early as the reign of Henry VIII. statutes made certain 

 forms of gaming illegal, and the courts refused to enforce 

 contracts "contrary to public policy or good morals." Lord 

 Mansfield, in 1778, refused to enforce a wager made as to 

 the sex of the Chevalier D'Eon. The Court of Kings Bench, 



1790, sustained an action on a wager as to whether or not 

 a wagon had been purchased. Thus there were lawful 

 wagers and unlawful wagers ; they were both wagers, how- 

 ever. 



To-day we look upon gambling as unlawful, therefore it'is 

 fair and natural not to call that transaction gambling which 

 the courts will recognize as a legal contract. Gambling may 

 be defined to be illegal wagering or gaming. Would the 

 courts to day decide that the winner of a sweepstake is en- 

 titled lo recover the stake from the stakeholder? If they 

 would decide in the negative, then to shoot for a sweepstake 

 is to gamble. 



The English statute on gaming, 8 and 9 Vict., declares all 

 contracts, by way of wagering or gaming, to be void, except 

 "subscriptions, contributions, or agreements to subscribe or 

 contribute for or toward any plate, prize or sum of money 

 to be awarded to the winner of any lawful game, sport, 

 pastime or exercise." In 1848 a case came up under this 

 statute, in whicl^it was decided that a foot-race was a lawful 

 game, sport, etc., and if two men agree to run a foot-race, 

 and each of them deposits .£10 with a third person, the 

 whole £20 to be paid over to the winner, that the agreement 

 on which the money was deposited was legal, and that the 

 £M belonged to the winner. 



On the understanding that competitive shooting is a lawful 

 game, sport, etc., under the clause of exceptions in this 

 statute, to shoot for -a sweepstake would be legal, and there- 

 fore it would not be gambling. Under the Maine statute en- 

 titled "An act to prevent gaming for money or property," 

 it was decided, in 1841, that money bet by the respective 

 owners of two horses, and deposited in the hands of a stake- 

 holder, and paid by the stakeholder to the winner, could be 

 recovered by the loner. Under this statute, to shoot for a 

 sweepstake would be illegal, and therefore it would be gam- 

 bling. 



The New York statute on this subject declares to be void 

 "all wagers, bets or stakes made to depend upon any race or 

 upon any gaming by lot or chance, or upon any lot, chance, 

 casualty or unknown or contingent event whatever." Under 

 this statute again, to shoot for a sweepstake would be to 

 gamble. 



The New York statute expresses, more or less accurately, 

 the law as to gaming in many, if not in most of, the States. 

 Whether or not certain acta will constitute gambling is not a 

 question of opinion or of abstract moral reasoning, but it is a 

 question of law, and it depends upon the law of each State 

 whether or not, in that State, to shoot for a sweepstake is to 

 gamble. W. B. 



