202 



RECREATION. 



St. Anthony, Idaho, May 22, 1900. 

 Editor Recreation : 



Dear Sir — Yours of 14th inst. in regard 

 to George Winegar received. The state- 

 ment of Mr. Stainsky is correct so far as 

 we know. Mr. Stainsky sent George 

 Winegar a check for $200 in payment of 

 some goods he was to deliver. On the fail- 

 ure of Winegar to deliver the goods 

 Stainsky stopped payment of check and 

 Winegar would not return the money nor 

 deliver the goods. We entered suit against 

 Mr. Stainsky, and have just collected the 

 money. We believe Mr. Winegar never 

 made the least effort to fulfill his part of 

 the agreement after he got 'the money, 

 though we used all the persuasion possible, 

 short of criminal prosecution, to have him 

 do so. A. M. Slatery, 



Cashier Bank of St. Anthony. 

 Drummond, Mont. 



I wrote Winegar several months ago that 

 this case had been placed in my hands, and 

 asked what he had to say in explanation. 

 He replied as follows: 



G. O. Shields. 



Sir — In answer to your letter: If 

 Stainsky has been beaten out of any 

 money he has beat himself out of it. If 

 you want to brand me as a swindler on ac- 

 count of doing business with Gus Stainsky, 

 all right. 



George Winegar. 



I am satisfied, however, that he has be- 

 come a drunken, worthless vagabond, and 

 this is printed as a warning to sportsmen 

 not to employ him, or to entrust money 

 or property to him on any occasion. — 

 Editor. 



THE KANSAS METHOD OF HUNTING 

 RABBITS. 



Conway Springs, Kan. 

 Editor Recreation : 



So numerous have rabbits become in 

 this locality that many large fields of wheat 

 are destroyed yearly by them. In the win- 

 ter, when other food is scarce, they eat the 

 tender wheat as fast as it appears above 

 ground, and so close to the germ that a 

 sudden freeze kills it. Many counties in 

 the State pay a bounty of 3 cents for each 

 rabbit killed, and most farmers own guns 

 and spend their leisure killing rabbits. 

 Organized hunts are conducted .and new 

 methods of slaughter are in vain devised to 

 offset bunny's progenitiveness. 



Nowhere are rabbits more plentiful than 

 in Sumner county, which is about the 

 middle of the Southern border of the State. 

 This county paid in 1897 over $5,000 for 

 rabbit scalps. In no other place in the 

 State has the manner of hunting become so 

 systematized as at Conway Springs, a 

 thriving town in Sumner county. There 



it has for years been the custom to have an 

 annual rabbit hunt. 



The hunters, 9 or 10 on each side, are 

 selected by 2 captains chosen at a meet- 

 ing called for the purpose, and the losing 

 team is expected to provide a dinner for all 

 concerned. Citizens of the town who do 

 not enjoy hunting, or who, for various rea- 

 sons, can not take part in the chase, pair off 

 and agree to stand by the fortunes of the 

 respective sides. Thus the" whole town be- 

 comes interested and the gathering in at 

 the banquet is limited only by the size of 

 the dining hall. For days before these 

 hunts interest is at fever heat, and every- 

 one is speculating on the outcome. The 

 rival leaders display great generalship in 

 planning the campaign, sending scouts to 

 locate the enemy and contriving new ways 

 for his annihilation. 



At first the hunters went out as they 

 pleased at dawn and returned when it was 

 too dark to shoot, often going in 2s and 4s 

 from the same or opposing sides. Then 

 each team hunted in a body, under com- 

 mand of its captain. Last of all was evolved 

 the great "wire hunt" of 1898. Each cap- 

 tain had 8 men and exactly 55 pounds 

 (about 60 rods) of No. 9 smooth fence 

 wire. The wire is securely fastened at each 

 end to the rear axle of a farm wagon, and 

 the wagons are driven as far apart as the 

 wire will permit. The hunters, stationed at 

 regular distances, follow behind the wire. 

 Back of the hunters come the "pickers," 

 usually boys, with a horse and wagon to 

 carry the game. Having shot a rabbit the 

 hunter leaves it for the pickers, reloads his 

 gun and follows the wire, which is being 

 drawn slowly over the ground, flushing 

 everything in the cover. 



In an 1898 hunt the 2 parties left the 

 main street in Conway Springs at 9 a. m. 

 Captain Beal's men killed 352 rabbits, and 

 Captain Clapp's 276, making a total of 628. 

 Of that number about 450 were jack rab- 

 bits, and the remainder cottontails. They 

 weighed almost 2 tons; were shipped to 

 Chicago and brought about $60. 



This seems a big kill, and was so con- 

 sidered at the time, but many of the hunt- 

 ers were selected because they wanted to 

 go and not because of their marksmanship. 



To see what could be done by picked men 

 another hunt was arranged for December 

 27th. On that day Drs. Beal and Mcll- 

 heny and Messrs. Talbot, Myers, Adair, 

 Beetz, Bowen, J. P. Clapp and I left 

 town at 10.30 a. m. We took with us 

 teams to draw the wire, and boys to 

 gather the rabbits ; and were followed by 

 many buggies loaded with sightseers. We 

 hunted behind the wire from 11 until noon 

 and from 1.30 p. m. until 4 — less than s l A 

 hours — and returned with 386 rabbits. In 

 one field, about 40 rods wide and 160 rods 

 long, 135 rabbits were gotten: and many 



