32 



RECREATION. 



COLORADO HAS ONE. 



I hand you herewith a photograph of 

 Herbert Gardner, of this city, who claims 

 to be a hunter, but judging from the pict- 

 ure, I should not class him as such. _ I 

 should like you to write him and ask him 

 if this is his killing, made on the Bear 

 River Flats, Utah, in 2 days. If he admits 

 this butchering as his work, should like 

 to have you class him with the rest of 

 your pigs. 



C. A. R., Colorado Springs, Colo. 



I did write the old hog and ask him if 

 the report was correct, but he evidently 



smelt something besides his own filth and 

 declined to answer. No decent man ever 

 thinks of being photographed with such a 

 lot of game in this age of the world. Gard- 

 ner is one of the old fashioned, backwoods 

 breed and deserves to be branded G. H. on 

 his forehead and on each cheek. — Editor. 



A young man contemplating matrimonial 

 felicity, took his fair intended to the home 

 of his parents that she might be introduced 

 to the old folks. 



"This is my future wife," said the young 

 man, proudly, turning to paterfamilias, 

 who was a canny Scot. "Now, father, tell 

 me candidly what you think of her." 



The old man eyed the blushing bride- 

 elect critically for fully 2 minutes, then 

 answered, with deliberation : 



"Well, John, I can only say you have 

 shown much better taste than she has." — 

 Exchange. 



A POACHING WARDEN. 



Not a thousand miles from Ludington, 

 Michigan, there is a game preserve owned, 

 or leased, by the Kinney Creek Game Club. 

 A few weeks ago, in anticipation of the 

 encroachment of poachers, the club decid- 

 ed to hire a game warden to protect their 

 interests, and selected a man from town, 

 named Bates, for the position. The season 

 for duck shooting in Michigan had not 

 opened when the new warden reported for 

 duty, but the first night he was out he de- 

 termined to do a little poaching on his 

 own account. Accordingly he set out some 

 decoys soon after dusk, seated himself be- 

 hind a blind, and awaited developments. 



Within half an hour he heard a familiar 

 "quack," "quack," and saw some dark ob- 

 jects swimming around the decoys. Mr. 

 Gamekeeper, who should have been pro- 

 tecting the interests of his employers, fired 

 both barrels of his io-gauge into the flock, 

 bagging 8 of them. Procuring a boat he 

 picked up the ducks and started into town 

 to boast of his prowess. 



Alas for the game hog, who didn't know 

 a wild duck from a litter of pigs. When 

 he reached town with his prize, he learned 

 to his discomfiture he had wasted his 

 powder on some tame Pekin ducks belong- 

 ing to a farmer some 2 miles down the 

 river. There was a grand laugh at his ex- 

 pense, and the expense was increased a 

 few days later when the club received a 

 bill from the farmer for the loss of his 

 ducks amounting to $4.75. It was paid and 

 deducted from the gamekeeper's first 

 month's salary. He isn't shooting any 

 more ducks now, even if the season is 

 open. 



Mallard Drake, Chicago, 111. 



THE SNOW PHOTOS. 



(See page 18.) 



I hand you herewith my dollar for mem- 

 bership in the League, although I need the 

 money for many other things. 



Before I began to read Recreation, I 

 thought I did not have much sport unless I 

 could kill something every hour ; but now 

 I more often hunt with my camera than 

 with my gun. I am sending you by this 

 mail some photos of the beautiful snow 

 which has covered everything. It was 4 

 inches deep on the telephone wires, so you 

 can understand how it clung to every- 

 thing. It did a lot of damage to fruit and 

 other trees ; but oh, what beauty met my 

 eyes on putting up the window shades. I 

 had my camera in less than 5 minutes. The 

 views were taken before the snow was dis- 

 turbed, early in the morning, and while it 

 was still snowing. 



D. H. Darling, Guilford, N. Y. 



