238 



RECREATION. 



WHY THE GRIZZLY IS DISCREET. 



The Old Cattleman, in " Wolfville 

 Days," says : 



Courage is frequent the froots of what 

 a gent don't know. Take " grizzly b'ars 

 Back 50 years, when them squirrel rifles 

 is preevalent ; when a acorn shell holds a 

 charge o' powder, an' bullets runs as light 

 and little as 64 to the pound, why son ! you- 

 all could shoot up a grizzly till sundown an' 

 hardly gain his disdain. It's a fluke if you 

 downs one. That sport who can show a 

 set o' grizzly b'ar claws, them times, has 

 fame. They're as good as a bank account, 

 them claws be, an' entitles said party to 

 credit in dance hall, bar room an' store, by 

 merely slammin' 'em on the counter. 



At that time the grizzly b'ar has cour- 

 age.. Whyever does he have it, you asks ? 

 Because you couldn't stop him; he's out of 

 hoomanity's reach — a sort o' Alexander Sel- 

 kirk of a b'ar, an' you couldn't win from 

 him. In them epocks, the grizzly b'ar 

 treats a gent contemptous. He swats him 

 or he claws him, or he hugs him, or he 

 crunches him, or he quits him accordin' to 

 his moods, or the number o' them en- 

 gagements which is pressin' on him at the 

 time. An' the last thing he considers is the 

 feelin's o' that partic'lar party he's dallyin' 

 with. Now, however, all is changed. 

 Thar's rifles burnin' 4 inches o' this yere 

 fulminatin' powder, that can chuck a bullet 

 through a fo^t of green oak. Wisely di- 

 rected, they lets sunshine through a grizzly 

 b'ar like he's a pane o' glass. An' son, 

 them b'ars is plumb onto the play. 



What's the finish? To-day you can't 

 get clost enough to a grizzly to hand him a 

 ripe peach. Let him glimps or smell a 

 white man, an' he goes scatterin' off across 

 hill an' canyon like a quart of licker among 

 40 men. They're shore apprehensife of 

 them big bullets an' hard-hittin' guns, them 

 b'ars is; an' they wouldn't listen to you, 

 even if you talks nothin' but bee-tree an' 

 gives a bond to keep the peace besides. 

 Yes, sir; the day when tne grizzly bar will 

 stand without hitchin' has departed the cal- 

 endar a whole lot. They no longer at- 

 tempts insolent an' coarse familiar'ties with 

 folks. Instead of regyardin' a rifle as a 

 rotton cornstalk in disguise, they're as gun- 

 shy as a female institoote. Big b'ars an' 

 little b'ars, it's all sim'lar; for the old ones 

 tells it to the young, an' the lesson is 

 spread throughout the entire nation of 

 b'ars. An' vere's where you observes, en- 

 lightment that a-way means a-weakenin' of 

 grizzly-b'ar courage. 



ORE HUNTING FOR SPORT. 



It is great pleasure to read the many 

 hunting and camping stories in Recrea- 

 tion ; you secure the best in that line. I 

 saw an article some time ago about pros- 

 pecting for minerals while on such trips. 

 Having spent several seasons in that way, 

 I know it doubles the pleasure of the trip. 

 Many of the rich mines of the West were 

 discovered by men who had practically no 

 knowledge of mining. With little study 

 a man can tell minerals from sandstone or 

 granite. As hunting usually takes a man 

 into unsettled and out-of-the-way places, 

 it is easy and many times profitable to 

 pay some attention to nature's treasures, 

 as well as to the trophies of the chase. 



A small prospector's pick, weighing one 

 pound, is all the outfit necessary, 'and I 

 would as soon leave my gun or my Kodak 

 at home, as my pick. At every cropping of 

 rock or ledge, I break a piece and ex- 

 amine it. A small mineral glass, costing 

 only 50 cents, will aid greatly. When I 

 find rock I do not understand, or which 

 shows mineral of any kind, I take a 

 sample to camp and label it carefully. 

 When I take my collection home, my as- 

 sayer, for a few dollars, tells me what it 

 contains. 



It is said the great camp of Creede was 

 discovered from a small piece of rock, 

 broken by a mule's feet in going over an 

 old trail. The rock was old and weather- 

 beaten, and the watchful eyes of prospec- 

 tors had passed it by many times ; but on 

 being broken it showed a glittering mass 

 of silver. The rock assayed $1,000 to the 

 ton when tested. The Government sur- 

 veyors put up a corner stone on Bull hill, 

 Cripple Creek district, years before the 

 discovery of this camp. 



Sam Stevens, Cripple Creek, Colo. 



"You say the evening wore on. What 

 did it wear?" 



"The close of day, of course." — Punch 

 Bowl. 



When a boy I owned a gun like the one 

 described by A. Kennedy in April Recrea- 

 tion. When it came into my possession 

 the barrel was nearly 4 feet long, and was 

 straight grooved, or rifled, its entire length. 

 The man from whom I got it called it a 

 "straight cut" rifle. I did not use it as a 

 rifle, but for throwing shot I never saw its 

 equal. It had rifle sights and was 38 or 40 

 caliber. With a small charge of shot its 

 range was wonderful, though th2 pattern 

 was so close that a careful aim was neces- 

 sary. Squirrels were abundant in those 

 days and I never failed to bring them down 

 from the tallest trees when my aim was 

 right. I never used the weapon as a rifle, 

 so do not know how accurately it would 

 throw a ball.. 



M. G. Crawford, Boise, Ida. 



