454 



RECREATION. 



I enclose you herewith 2 clippings from 

 as many Philadelphia newspapers for your 

 consideration. ' I am totally disgusted with 

 this sort of "sport," and something radical 

 should be done to stop it. It is not the 

 first time these men have engaged in this 

 kind of slaughter, as you will see by read- 

 ing the articles enclosed. I hope you will 

 give them the roasting they deserve. 



B. C. C. 



IN DEFENSE OF CORMIER. 



Ottawa, March 14th, 1900. 

 Editor Recreation : 



There appeared in your March issue a 

 letter from "W. A. W.," "The Fallacies of 

 Cormier's Kipjpewa," which, to my mind, 

 not only does Mr. Cormier a great injus- 

 tice, but also does a great injustice to one 

 of the best hunting grounds of Canada. I 

 have had the pleasure of taking several trips 

 for moose in the country of which "W. A. 

 W." writes so disparingly, and while all 

 of my trips have not been successful, it 

 does not seem a just cause for condemning 

 the entire country. 



Three years ago I killed in the month of 

 November 2 moose near there ; 2 years ago, 

 while I hunted as hard as usual, I did not 

 see one; last year I went in exactly the 

 same place W. A. W. refers to. Our party 

 went in the last of September, and re- 

 mained 3 weeks. October 5th Dr. Kidd 

 of Ottawa, killed a fine bull moose, and Oc- 

 tober 8th another, which measured across 

 the antlers 58 inches. Another member of 

 the party, Mr. C. N. Daly, of Guelph, killed 

 on October 7th a black bear, and on the 

 10th a big moose. Both of those gentle- 

 men saw several other moose. 



It was not my good fortune to see one, 

 but I don't think it the fault of the coun- 

 try or of myself that I did not. It was sim- 

 ply my luck. I went back again the first 

 week in November, and killed 2 moose in 3 

 days' hunting, and could, had I wanted to 

 be a game hog, and a law breaker, have 

 killed 3 others. This hardly looks as 

 though there was nothing there. 



As to special permits to hunt out of sea- 

 son, I believe it is in the province of the 

 Commissioner of Crown Lands of the 

 Province of Quebec to issue such a license 

 if he sees fit, and I presume without know- 

 ing positively, it was from that source the 

 special permits came. 



I am not intimately acquainted with Mr. 

 Cormier, but have always found him gen- 

 tlemanly, polite, and ready to do anything 

 he could to help or make anybody's trip 

 a successful one. I have had occasion to 

 send to him, several times, American 

 sportsmen. They have universally been 

 well treated, and have been helped by Mr. 

 Cormier, very materially in setting their 



game out, and their guns and tackle in 

 without trouble or expense. 



The charge that 1 Mr. Cormier was getting 

 a "rake off" on goods purchased is a seri- 

 ous one, both to Mr. Cormier and to repu- 

 table merchants of Ottawa, and one which 

 perhaps might be a hard one to substan- 

 tiate. 



In conclusion I would say, I don't believe 

 there's a better moose country in America 

 than the district about the Kippewa, and I 

 have yet to see anybody who has been 

 badly treated by Canadian officials. It's 

 possible the gentlemen did not have the 

 best guides in the world, but we knovv 

 every one can not have world beaters. 



Charles E. Turner. 



A CLERGYMAN ROASTS WOMEN WHO WEAR 

 FEATHERS. 



To a big congregation, composed mostly 

 of women, the Rev. Dr. George Rutledge, 

 of the Third Christian Church, Philadel- 

 phia, recently preached a sermon denounc- 

 ing the practice of wearing birds' feathers 

 on bonnets. The text was from the Song 

 of Solomon, "The time of the singing of 

 birds is come," and the congregation 

 listened intently as the preacher told of 

 the usefulness and beauty of song birds. 



"I hope my words may pierce the hearts 

 of my hearers," said Dr. Rutledge; "that 

 they may appeal to conscience and mind. 

 The condemnation of heaven is upon the 

 reckless fashion and whim of women — thi? 

 pandering to folly that calls for the de- 

 struction of the innocents. 



"How lonely would be the forests and 

 the woodlands without our feathered 

 friends! How rich is their plumage! How 

 cheerful is their song! But when they 

 become the dead make-ups in fashion they 

 are useless. As the war on the feathered 

 tribes goes on the sunlight grows dull 

 and the beauty of the flowers is lost in 

 blushes of shame. The zephyrs play a 

 dirge through the tree tops. 



"As the war on the feathered tribe 

 proceeds the argument that toads and 

 lizards are capable of solving the insect 

 problem becomes wondrously far fetched. 

 Live birds in the open air are useful, but 

 dead birds on hats are useless. A living 

 bird is a moving jewel in Nature's laby- 

 rinth of beauty and sublimity. The bold 

 contract, recently made, which calls for 

 20,000 dead birds from Delaware, is a deep 

 stain on our boasted civilization that a cen- 

 tury can not wipe out. 



"I wish to raise the curtain on 2 acts in 

 a popular drama. The first has ^ been 

 played, the second will be produced in the 

 near future. Last week a mother bird was 

 murdered. The young birds watched in 

 vain for the return, They felt the pangs 



