468 



RECREATION 



of her skin the strong, wiry muscles and 

 tendons that were revealed indicated the 

 source of the great speed and endurance of 

 this species. 



I returned home from that bear hunt im- 

 bued with a feeling of triumph and as proud 

 as the backwoodsman that brings in the elec- 

 tion returns with the necessary majority from 

 a remote precinct. 



TJNIFORMITY IN COMMANDS. 



A movement is on foot to bring about 

 uniformity in our orders to the dog. It has 

 been found that when a dog comes into his 

 owner's hands from the trainer, he appears 

 frequently unable to understand his new mas- 

 ter's meaning, the reason being, of course, 

 that the trainer uses different words of com- 

 mand to those his master employs. This is 

 a very old complaint ; for we remember hear- 

 ing years ago how a British sportsman 

 bought a well-trained dog from a keeper, after 

 seeing it work most satisfactorily, who could 

 not induce the dog to charge when he took 

 him into the field. He accordingly sent for the 

 man from whom he had bought the dog 

 and asked for an explanation : 



"You don't talk to him right," said the 

 keeper. "Now, you look 'ere." .Turning to 

 the dog he looked at him fiercely, and roared, 

 "Squat, you beggar." Down went the dog, 

 instantaneously, in the most approved form, 

 showing that when spoken to in a language 

 it understood, it was docility itself. 



During the running of the American Field 

 Futurity at Robinson, Illinois, a meeting will 

 be called on the evening of November I, at 

 which it is expected many of the better known 

 handlers will attend, to give their views. It 

 is expected that the result will be a code of 

 words that will be accepted by a majority of 

 the dog owners and handlers of this conti- 

 nent. 



We doubt whether it will be found easy 

 to obtain this uniformity as there are almost 

 as many different ideas upon this subject as 

 there are men. We have always used the 

 word "toho" to halt a dog and "charge" to 

 make him lie down. Yet, we are told by 

 some ot the most advanced handlers thai 

 these terms are ancient, and that no up-to- 

 date dog would acknowledge them. Per- 

 sonally, we think "charge" a better word than 

 "drop." We think "here" better than "come 

 in," "hie on" better than "go on," "steady" 

 better than "look out ;" but there are lots of 

 good dog men that will not agree with us. 



On the other hand, we should have ad- 

 herence to our code if we ever drew one up. 



Recreation will afford space, with pleasure, 

 to any handler or owner who cares to discuss 

 this interesting subject in our columns, and 

 we hope to hear from some of them. 



It would certainly be a gain if the ordi- 

 nary, everyday sportsman could be induced 



to use a sensible code, and to cut out a lot 

 of the "turkey talk" he indulges in. There 

 can be no question that a multiplicity of 

 orders, and an exuberance of verbosity sim- 

 ply confuse a dog, but for field trial purposes 

 many handlers find that it pays to have a 

 special code of orders, which, while under- 

 stood by the dog they are handling, sinmlv 

 puzzles the other fellow's entry. Whether 

 this be legitimate or not we do not wish to 

 express an opinion. At any rate, we shall 

 look forward with the greatest interest to the 

 discussion that is to take place at Robinson, 

 and we desire to compliment the American 

 Field upon taking the initiative in the mas- 

 ter. 



JOE SHOMWAY'S TURKEY SHOOT. 

 BY JOHN C. WRIGHT. 



Joe Shomway geeve a turkey shoot : — 



"One turkey an' muskrat to boot 



To any man who hit de head 



Of one hees birds an' keel heem dead." 



Den every man for miles aroun' 

 She grab her gun an' come to town — 

 She leave her farm, she leave her work, 

 For come to Joe's an' win dat turk'. 



Joe took hees bird behin' de shed 

 An' hide heem dare excep' hees head, 

 Which stick beyon' t'ree inch or so ; 

 Den Joe he holler : "Let 'er go !" 



De firs' man raise an' take good aim, 

 But miss de mark — de nex' de same; 

 Anodder one, an' den t'ree four 

 Come out jus' like de ones before. 



Dey shoot an' shoot an' shoot teel dark, . 

 But none of dem was hit de mark — 

 De bird jus' wink an' shake hees head, 

 Den wink again an' dodge de lead. 



For Joe, you see, was make great play — 

 He change de turk' for loon, sacra! 

 Dat's why dey shoot an' shoot teel dark 

 An' heverybody miss de mark. 



An' Joe was laugh to see de fun, 

 An' jump an' dance an' take de mon ; 

 By, gee crapo, he fool dem all 

 Wid bird dat dodge de rifle ball. 



A GREAT SUCCESS. 



Magazine Publisher: We've got a great 

 magazine this month. 



Magazine Editor: Yes, I think it's pretty 

 good myself. That story of Scribbler's is a 

 corker. 



Magazine Publisher : Oh, I haven't read 

 anything in your section. But just look at 

 that ! Two hundred and fourteen pages of 

 advertising. — Somerville Journal. 



