THE REFERENDUM 



461 



CASPAR WHITNEY'S NEW BOOK. 



Caspar Whitney's new book "Jungle Trails 

 and Jungle People" is not merely the ac- 

 count of a hunting trip in one of the most 

 out of the way countries of the world, al- 

 though the pursuit of big game was dis- 

 tinctly one of the author's main objects. Mr. 

 Whitney has probably done more traveling 

 for hunting in unsettled parts of the world 

 than any other man in this country, but his 

 object has never been merely the killing of 

 game. He is one who desires to see strange 

 people and new lands, especially those parts 

 of the world which we call wilderness. It 

 is this point of view which gives his book 

 an interest to everyone who cares for travel- 

 ing in foreign untrodden paths or trails. It 

 is written in a breezy style and carries with 

 it the impression that the contents are fresh 

 and just off the bat, so to speak. Chas. Scrib- 

 ner's Sons. 



EACH WAS SCARED. 



Report comes from Mount Hope, Pa., that 

 Stump Evanse, the tower-man of that place, 

 was taking his best girl home the other night ; 

 the hour was late, and the tow-path of the 

 abandoned canal was narrow and unsafe. 

 On one side was the dry bed of the canal, 

 on the other side the dark waters of the Sax- 

 awaxen whispered mysteriously or babbled 

 loudly under the dark shadows of the brush- 

 covered banks. 



Just what Stump was saying to his Swed- 

 ish lass can be best imagined by young lov- 

 ers. The couple had but just rounded the 

 curve from Rowland Station when a some- 

 thing attracted the attention of the pair. A 

 something round and big which came bound- 

 ing to meet them through the darkness 

 Suddenly it reached them and Stump gave a 

 loud yell, forgot his best girl, and dove into 

 an alderberry bush in the bottom of the old 

 canal. 



At the same time a big, badly fright- 

 ened black bear dove into the same bush, 

 and for a few moments man and bear 

 thrashed around yelling and snorting until 

 both climbed up the bank and fled in differ- 

 ent directions. Stump has the rest of the 

 year to explain why he left his sweetheart 

 unprotected. 



NOT AFRAID OF RATTLERS. 



Jimmy Chandler, of Bohemia, Pike Coun- 

 ty Pa., caught a big rattlesnake. His small 

 brother, Eddy, held the serpent with a stick 

 until Jimmy grasped it by the neck. The 

 rattler coiled its body around Jim's arm and 

 began to pull back until the young man 

 found that he was losing his grip, and has- 

 tily attempted to free himself; he succeeded, 

 but not before the snake had struck him in 

 the back of the hand. 



Jimmy said things not to be printed, 

 sucked the wound and spat, then caught the 

 snake again and put it in an empty barrel 

 and resumed his work cutting brush. His 

 hand swelled and he told the writer that he 

 felt mighty queer, but the next day he was 

 working on Mr. Beard's place cutting brush, 

 and none the worse for his adventure. At 

 last accounts the snake was still in the barrel. 



IMPOSSIBLE LAWS. 



The following from the pen of Mr. C. C. 

 Farr, editor of the Haileyburian, is truth. 

 The flourishing little town of Haileybury, 

 Ontario is on the very edge of Moosedom, 

 and Mr. Farr is an old Hudson's Bay officer 

 — hence he speaks as one having under- 

 standing : 



We read, with interest, the letter in the Mail and 

 Empire, of the 16th inst., written by one Mr. H. P. 

 -Dwight, and we give him .credit for striking a pal- 

 pable truth. We 'have from time in the far back 

 past, protested against the rottenness of these very 

 game laws, until, as Mr. Dwight says, one loses 

 interest in the subject. The moose law is a fraud, 

 a delusion, and a snare, something to extract a lit- 

 tle money out of the pockets of men who have the 

 hardihood to attempt to hunt, in these northern re- 

 gions, at an impossible time of year. It is well 

 known that it is as much as a man's life is worth 

 to court the dangers of inland lakes, at that time 

 of year, when any small body of water is covered 

 with ice, either too thin to walk upon, or too thick 

 to allow a canoe to be navigated, with safety. We 

 cannot see the object in making men risk their 

 lives, if they want a little shooting, at big game. 

 Quebec is far wiser, for it makes its open season 

 combine the personal safety of the purchaser of a 

 permit with ordinary horse-sense. It does not want 

 a man to drown himself, even if he is anxious to 

 shoot a moose. While our Ontario management 

 of' the game laws holds out the- inducement to the 

 ordinary hunter or sportsman, either to commit 

 felo de se, or stay at home. The fact is that law- 

 yers, doctors, and other professional men who live 

 far south, have framed laws that affect a part of 

 the country, the conditions of which they know not. 

 We are expecting, in the near future, a modifica- 

 tion of all this rotten game legislation that has 

 characterized the dying years of the late Govern 

 ment. 



A LETTER THAT RINGS TRUE. 



Editor Recreation : 



Though not hitherto a subscriber I have 

 been an appreciative reader of Recreation 

 both before and since the exit of the bristle- 

 back, and while in my opinion no punishment 

 is too severe and no epithet too vile for the 

 wanton butchery of game birds, animals, and 

 fish, I must say that you have made a won- 

 derful improvement in the magazine, so grear 

 an improvement that I shall consider it an 

 honor as well as a pleasure to be numbered 

 as a "squatter" around the Recreation camp- 

 fire. 



In your July number I noticed an article 

 concerning the prairie chicken, which I 

 thought very timely. 



1 am one of the farmer boys and I hope one 

 of the true sportsmen named in that article, 



