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RECREATION. 



There is some excuse for ignorant, half 

 civilized men like some of those in the 

 rural districts who engage in side hunts, 

 but what shall we say of a minister of 

 the gospel who engineers one of these 

 butchering contests? Rev. Overbaugh has 

 disgraced his calling and has befouled his 

 cloth with the filth of the worst type of 

 game hog known to the world, the side 

 hunter. — Editor. 



KILLED SPARROWS BY THE TON. 



Pana, 111., Jan. i. — The annual sparrow hunt 

 of Pleasant township has ended, and as a result 3 

 tons of sparrows were killed. The hunt was in- 

 dulged in by 2 parties of farme'rs. Twenty men 

 on each side engaged in the pursuit, the stake be- 

 ing a banquet to be given by the party securing 

 the fewest birds. The victorious party brought in 

 13,000 birds, while the losers bagged 11,000, a to- 

 tal of 24,000 sparrows. The birds averaged 4 

 ounces each. The hunt was in progress one week. 



Such a side hunt ought to be productive 

 of good results. The English sparrow is a 

 filthy nuisance, and if he serves any useful 

 end I have never discovered it, unless it be 

 that he may be converted into food. I once 

 cooped about 30 in a poultry house, where 

 I fed them grain for 2 weeks. They were 

 then killed, skinned and made into a pie. 

 I have eaten many things much worse than 

 that pie. The English sparrow besides de- 

 stroying gardens and industriously filling 

 up the eaves troughs, drives away nearly 

 all other birds. It is perhaps impossible 

 to exterminate them, but by carrying on a 

 vigorous warfare they may be kept within 

 bounds. F. C. Koons, Des Moines, la. 



I am opoosed to side hunts in general, 

 but this kind is different, and I should be 

 glad if such sparrow killing matches could 

 be held everywhere. There is no close 

 season on these birds, and every man who 

 kills one of them contributes liberally to 

 the welfare of the song and insectivorous 

 birds. Why can not fellows who are so 

 fond of slaughtering quails and ducks and 

 prairie chickens satisfy a lot of their thirst 

 for blood by shooting sparrows? Let us 

 have more sparrow side hunts, by all 

 means. — Editor. 



A VOICE FROM THE WILDERNESS. 



This nation is rapidly gaining wealth and 

 greatness, and power on land and ocean. 

 This is the time to establish a national game 

 preserve in Southern Alaska, on the 

 lines laid down by Mr. W. T. Hornaday in 

 Recreation. It can be done if Congress 

 so wills it, backed by an enlightened people. 

 It is not a party measure; but all the de- 

 scendants of this nation will be heirs to 

 Nature's living creatures. There is a great 

 army of little folk around us developing 



brain and brawn, who will be here when 

 we are gone. We should work for the chil- 

 dren of the future. 



Should the .forests be swept from the 

 earth, the birds all exterminated; should 

 there be no joyous bird songs to awaken 

 the slumbers of a newborn day, no tracks 

 of game on the pathless and dreary plain, 

 life would not be worth living. 



" Well might the sun in darkness hide, 

 And shut his glories in." 



Nature has labored for untold ages to 

 bring forth all these glorious genera. 



England has set us a good example in 

 building wagon roads, and in preservation 

 of forests and game. Their mounted police 

 in British Columbia are thorough and effi- 

 cient, and are doing clean work. 



In many lines the average man has not 

 advanced in intelligence since the ages when 

 his weapons were the fire-hardened club, 

 his skinning knife of jasper, and his ax of 

 bronze or stone. Here in Idaho such men 

 tell us they don't care how many laws are 

 made to protect game and fish, they will kill 

 all they can ! 



A. C. G. iblocum, Rathdrum, Idaho. 



SOME OHIO HOGS. 



Tiffin, Ohio. 

 The largest and most remarkable catch of the 

 present game season was made yesterday by Al. W. 

 Franklin, of the Standard Oil Company, and C. H. 

 Bradley, secretary of the tvtate Investment Com- 

 pany, both Cleveland men. They were accompanied 

 by the Geyer Bros., landlords of the Empire hotel, 

 of this city. In less than 8 hours they bagged 175 

 quails and 9 rabbits. — Toledo (O.) Blade. 



I wrote these fellows, and append an- 

 swers from 2 . 



It is true that 3 of us bagged 175 quails 



in 8 hours, each man shooting over his 



own dog. A few days later my brother 



and I killed 105 quails in 8 hours hunting. 



Charles Geyer, Tiffin, O. 



You were correctly informed as to the 

 number of quails secured in the men- 

 tioned time. My comrades were Messrs. 

 A. W. Franklin of Cleveland, and Chas. and 

 Sam Geyer of Tiffin, Ohio. By the way, these 

 men are veteran sportsmen and admirers 

 of literature pertaining to same. 



C. H. Bradley, Cleveland, O. 



Bradley says "these men are veteran 

 sportsmen and admirers of literature per- 

 taining to same." He is entirely mistaken. 

 They have no more sense of true sport than 

 a cow has of music. They are simply low- 

 down, uneducated butchers, and no true 

 sportsman would be found in their com- 

 pany, with gun and dog. It is safe 

 to say that Recreation will not hereafter 

 figure in the list of literature that they 

 admire. — Editor, 



