FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



The man who quits when he gets enough, with plenty of game still in sight, is a real sportsman. 



HANDWERKER DISGRACES HIS CLUB. 



Tunica, Miss. 

 Editor Recreation : 



If you have room in your roasting pan 

 and some red hot grease, it will be a 

 kindness toward the good citizens of Tu- 

 nica county, Mississippi, if you will dump 

 into said pan and grease one J. G. Hand- 

 werker, of Memphis, Tennessee. It is pos- 

 sible you will have to trim off a few bris- 

 tles with your hatchet before he will go 

 into the oven, but his case demands heroic 

 treatment, especially as he is president of 

 a gun club. His last offense againt hu- 

 manity and the dumb creation was the kill- 

 ing of 135 ducks in one day. 



Did he load the product of his slaughter 

 on the train and sneak off home after this 

 bloody day's work? No! There were 27 

 ducks left, so he remained over night and 

 completed the work of annihilation the 

 next morning. 



The one redeeming feature in the case 

 seems to be that members of the club of 

 which he is president strongly condemn his 

 action, and it is safe to say he will 

 not be president next year. The killing of 

 50, 60, 70 or even 80 ducks in one day had 

 occasionally been indulged in by some 'of 

 the members, but it was left for Hand- 

 werker to bring home to them the enor- 

 mity of their offense. The club is known 

 as the Beaver Dam club, and their place 

 is near a small lake a short distance from 

 Evansville, Mississippi. 



Game, such as deer, turkeys, quails, 

 ducks and squirrels, was plentiful in this 

 part of the country a few years ago, but 

 the deerhound, the negro with the breech- 

 loader, who is at the same time a pot 

 shooter, and such men as Handwerker, are, 

 together, rapidly exterminating it. Mis- 

 sissippi has poor game laws, and such as it 

 has are not enforced. 



You are doing a great work in behalf of 

 the hunted, and we will welcome your aid 

 in this part of the vineyard. 



Y. V. T. 



J. G. Handwerker is secretary of the 3 

 most prominent hunting and fishing clubs 

 having a Memphis membership. In 2 of 

 the clubs 50 ducks a day is the limit. The 

 other one, the Beaver Dam club, has no 

 limit except what the decency of the in- 

 dividual member may determine. I am not 

 a member of the latter, but one who is a 

 member asked me to say to you that Mr. 

 Handwerker recently killed 139 ducks at 

 Beaver Dam lake in one day. 



C. M. B., Memphis, Tenn. 



On receipt of the foregoing letters I wrote 

 Mr. Handwerker as follows: 



I am informed that you recently killed 

 139 ducks in one day. Will you kindly tell 

 me if this report is true? 



To this letter Mr. Handwerker replied : 



I regret to say that the report is not true. 

 J. G. Handwerker, Memphis, Tenn. 



Thereupon I wrote a subscriber in Mem- 

 phis, asking him if he could verify the re- 

 port. He replied: 



I have heard rumors that Handwerker 

 killed a great many ducks in one day, but 

 have thus far been unable to get definite 

 information in regard to it. I will, how- 

 ever, investigate the matter carefully and 

 report to you in person in a few days. 



E. J. M., Memphis, Tenn. , 



I also wrote "Y. V. T.," saying that Mr. 

 Handwerker had denied the charge. Fol- 

 lowing is reply : 



Your favor of some time ago with refer- 

 ence to Handwerker's denial has had my 

 attention. There is no question but that 

 he killed the ducks, although I now under- 

 stand he says the number was only 134. 

 Dr. J. H. Hitt, of Clayton, Mississippi, 

 says he heard Handwerker telling what he 

 did with the ducks. I have talked with 

 numbers of men who know that the deed 

 was done, but as yet I have no positive evi- 

 dence. Will keep hot on the trail, and 

 when I land a man I know saw the ducks 

 I will get his affidavit. You are at liberty 

 to command me for any work which will 

 result in the protection of game. I have al- 

 ready succeeded in getting many men to 

 quit shooting ducks when they have enough 

 for their own use, and I shall keep ever- 

 lastingly at it. 



Y. V. T., Tunica, Miss. 



The foregoing letters are all signed by 

 the real names of the writers, and are on 

 file in this office, so that anyone interested, 

 who will call here, may have an oppor- 

 tunity of seeing them. These gentlemen, 

 however, desire that their real names be 

 withheld from publication for the present. 



"E. J. M." called here, according to 

 promise, and assured me that Handwerker 

 did kill 134 ducks in one day. He added 

 that a large number of members of the 

 Beaver Dam club had repudiated and con- 

 demned Handwerker's dirty work in an 

 emphatic way, and that there was a pros- 

 pect that the president who had disgraced 

 the club would be invited to resign. Mr. 

 E. J. M. intimated that in case Mr. Dirty- 



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