104 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 9, 1882 



the target, as off-band shooting is very uncertain. When 

 you have found the charge that will give the best average re- 

 sults, be slow to change, and never do so until you find, 

 after thorough test, that you have something better. Do not 

 base your judgment upon your success or failure in bringing 

 the game to bag, as this is most unreliable unless yon are 

 an experienced shot. Comparatively few can ever make 

 first-class shots at all kinds of game. Very many, by pains- 

 taing, care and perseverance and a careful attention to neces- 

 sary details, can achieve a very satisfactory success. 



THE TROUBLE IN OHIO. 

 \ BILL is now before the Ohio Legislature to provide a 

 J -~*- three years' close season for game. Such a proposed 

 law has absolutely nothing to commend it. But its passage is 

 strenuously advocated by the representatives of (lie farming 

 interests. The farmers of Ohio reason that they cannot afford 

 to have their property despoiled and their live stock maimed 

 by the shotgun ruffians who invade their premises. In that 

 they are perfectly right, and should have the sympathy and 

 support of all decent people. 



But the Ohio farmers have set to work in the wrong way 

 to secure a remedy for this evil. In their determination to 

 rid themselves of the plague of trespassing rowdies, they have 

 become aggressive and seek to trample on the rights of a 

 very important, and very respectable portion of .the commu- 

 nity. They propose in fact to punish the innocent with the 

 guilty, to class the law abiding sportsman with the 

 rowdy. They forget that when they make such a law as 

 that now under consideration they are taking away front a 

 very large number of hard-working business and professional 

 men their favorite means of recreation, rest and recuperation. 

 These men surely have rights which should not be wrested 

 from them simply because land-owners have suffered from 

 the outrages of another class of men. There is nothing in 

 common between the ruffian gunner, be he rich or poor, and 

 the gentleman sportsman, he he poor or rich. And we can 

 conceive of no logical process of reasoning whereby the lat- 

 ter class should be made to suffer for the sins of the former. 

 The law providing a close season of three years in Ohio 

 would be a most unjust law, if only because that it is based 

 on a most unjust principle. But Ohio farmers are not the only 

 men who have failed to see the social distinction which 

 surely exists here, and until that distinction is insisted upon 

 by sportsmen themselves, others will not recognize it. 



Let the Ohio Legislature provide, the strictest laws and the 

 severest penalties to suppress shotgun lawlessness, but we 

 trust that for the sake of the best classes of citizens of that 

 State such unjust laws as that now under discussion may not 

 have place on the statute books. 



Farmers have rights; Ave. hope to see them maintained. 

 Those who seek recreation with dog and gun have,' rights too, 

 winch should be insisted upon. 



Its injustice is not the only objection to the proposed Ohio 

 law. Such a statute would be futile as well. The fellows 

 by whose depredations the farmers suffer are not a law-abid- 

 ing class. They would not respect a three years' game law. 

 The farmers would have the same trouble year in and year 

 out as that they have now ; and always will have until they 

 adopt some more sensible means of abating the nuisance than 

 by tinkering at the "game law." The only men who would 

 respect the three years' law, would be the legitimate sports- 

 men, a class from whom landowners suffer no injury now, 

 and by thus depriving them of their rights no advantage 

 would be gained; 



SCIENCE AND FTSHCULTURE. 



THAT embryological science and fishculture should go 

 hand in hand is a fact disputed by none, except a few 

 dog-in-the-manger fogies who, having little knowledge of 

 what embryology really is, sneer at it. The United States 

 Fish Commission has long been conducted on the plan of 

 scientific fishculture, and Major Ferguson, the Maryland Com- 

 missioner, has made his name famous by his excellent reports 

 wherein embryology has been a leading feature under the 

 ablest scientists whom he could employ. 



Mr. E. C Blackford, the most progressive Fish Commis- 

 sioner that the State of New York has ever had, has just 

 taken a step in that direction. He has long been a valuable 

 assistant to ichthyologists by forwarding specimens of fish, 

 which came to him in his private business, at his own per- 

 sonal expense, to Washington, for identification, and has 

 added many species to our fauna. Now he proposes to go 

 deeper into the subject and has rented a room in the new 

 Fulton Market for the purpose of advancing research in all 

 departments relating to fish. The room will be fitted up for 

 the gratuitous use of such students as may wish to avail 

 themselves of its privileges to study up any special liue of 

 original investigation. This, no doubt, many will be glad 

 to avail themselves of, and it will prove of great benefit to a 

 class of students who now have difficulty in obtaining fresh 

 material or a room in whieh to work it up. 



New York city offers many facilities in the way of 

 material for biological reseftnCh, especially in the line of 

 marine fauna, and the gonero>ity of Mr. Blackford in fur- 

 nishing such a place for its study will, we predict, not be 

 neglected. Those who have pursued such studies at home, 

 especially in the summer Benson, need not be told of the ad- 

 vantages of a public room fitted for this purpose. By this 

 act Mr. Blackford will place biological science under further 

 obligations to him, 



What Else Could he Expected? — The latest promi- 

 nent shooting case is that of a young New York lawyer, who 

 died last week from the effects of a pistol shot, the weapon 

 being discharged by his wife. If the published details of 

 the affair are correct, the circumstances were most extra- 

 ordinary. It appears that the man had been accustomed to 

 keep a loaded and cocked pistol lying on the table 'tit his 

 room. It was a revolver of the old style, with straight 

 trigger and no trigger-guard. There it lay day and night, 

 ever ready for its deadly work whenever the inevitable acci- 

 dent should explode it. Finally, one Sunday morning, the 

 tragedy was enacted, the pistol was discharged by the wife, 

 and the man was killed. Nothing else, indeed, could have 

 been expected from the circumstances, 



We understand that Mosquito Lagoon, twelve miles 

 from New Smyrna, Florida, is to be made more attractive to 

 sportsmen visiting Florida by the erection of a small, but 

 first-class, hotel there. The shooting at Mosquito Lagoon is 

 excellent, and the deer hunting very good indeed, while there 

 is no better fishing, we are told, in Florida. A party there 

 recently, within one week, took, besides many smaller fish, 

 seven "channel bass" weighing from twenty-five to forty- 

 eight pounds. Next winter visitors will find a good hotel at 

 the Lagoon, and we have no doubt that it will become a 

 favorite resort. 



California Quail on Long Island.— In the year 1852 

 Mr. Wm. Niall, of Islip, Long Island, brought from Cali- 

 fornia thirty quail, which he turned out at Islip. Can any 

 of our readers give us any further information about the 

 birds? 



EASY READING LESSONS-V. 



for the little readers of the forest and stream. 

 TT is a Dark Night, and the Young Man from the East is 

 -"- down in the Big Swamp. He is there to catch Snipe. He 

 holds a Light and a Sack 1 The Snipe will fly at the Light — 

 as we all know Birds will do— and will fly into the Sack! The 

 Snipe have not come yet, but all the Mosquitoes in the 

 Country have arrived. The Young Man is full of Faith, and 

 his Boots are full of Water. His Kind Western Friends, who 

 taught h im this Nice, Easy Way to catch Snipe, are up at the 

 Camp. I suppose some one is telling a Funny Story, for they 

 are aU Laughing very much. 



MORE EXPERIMENTS WITH THE QUAIL. 



IN reply to your request contained in issue of Feb. S3, for 

 information as to the success attending the efforts of clubs 

 or individuals attempting to introduce Southern quails, we 

 score a complete failure. Several of the sportsmen here 

 raised sufficient funds to procure from Messrs. Ryall and 

 Ledbetter, of Shelbyville, Tehn., about twenty dozen — 231 

 birds — which arrived in several lots in December and Janu- 

 ary last, most of them in an apparently nearly famished con- 

 dition. Upon being fed t hey ate heartily but soon commenced 

 to die, and in a few days not one of the lot was living. We 

 were shown the body of one, skinned by a taxidermist, that 

 was not more than one-half its natural size, the crop was 

 full of food but none in the intestines, and we believe that 

 the birds had not strength enough left upon their arrival after 

 the long journey without food and water, to enable them to 

 digest their food. At any rate- we attribute our loss to this 

 cause, and if in error shall be pleased to have the true cause 

 explained. 



In the spring of 1880 we received three hundred Messina 

 quail in excellent condition. They were liberated on farms 

 near the city and were heard of frequently during the sum- 

 mer following, but no young broods were" observed. There, 

 however, is no doubt that they did breed, as the writer has in 

 his possession a nest containing four eggs that was run over 

 by a mowing machine and deserted by the old birds, which 

 shows that if unmolested (hey would attempt to rear young. 

 In the fall they all disappeared and none have been heard of 

 in this section since, with one exception. In May last a gentle- 

 man who helped put them out was informed that some of the 

 birds had returned, and upon visiting the locality with his 

 setter succeeded in finding a pair and approached them twice 

 near enough to identify them positively. They were left un- 

 disturbed but were not afterward heard of; others may have 

 returned in localities of which we have no knowledge, as no 

 special effort was made to keep informed. 



This section is not a "sportsman's paradise," ruffed grouse 

 are not as plenty as in many other sections of New England; 

 there is usually fair woodcock shooting in the season, but no 

 quails, snipe or ducks. Foxes are very plenty, to our knowl- 

 edge no less than sixty-five have been captured by local 

 hunters this winter in immediate vicinity of the city; of this 

 number Ira A. Moore, of the Waverly House, has taken 

 twentv-two. . J. E. W . 



Manchester, N. H., March 3, 1882. 



The first week in December last I ordered from Shelbyville, 

 Tenn.. one dozen live quail, which reached here the 11th of 

 December in most excellent condition. They had been boxed 

 with care and looked very healthy and bright, not at all 

 worried by their long journey by rail. The last week in 

 January I ordered another dozen, which came Feb. 2. 

 They did not seem to be healthy, but I could not detect any- 

 thing in particular. I turned them into my large cage, 8 by 

 18, with the first flock. On the afternoon of that day I wo of 

 them died, the next day one, and day by day one or two 

 were taken out dead, until by the 32q of this month the 

 whole flock of twenty-four quail were dead. The last lot 

 seemed to bring with them some dire disease that infected 

 my first flock, which, up this time, had been so healthy, and 

 in" about twenty days 1 lost all the little beauties. I could 

 not detect any indication of disease, such as lice or cholera. 

 The trouble very evidently originated: with my last lot, but 

 what it was is past my finding out. I have heretofore been 

 very successful with my pets' and would very much like to 

 know what caused this fatality. H. B. S. 



Mabiktta, 0„ Feb. 25, 1882. 



Queen Isahei/la, of Spain, gives shooting parties in 

 France and makes big scores herself. 



THE OLD RED FOX OF BALD MOUN- 

 TAIN. 



THE HERO OF A HUNDRED RUNS. 



MANY winters have passed since I first saw him — the Old 

 Bed Fox of Bald Mountain. I use the word "winter" 

 advisedly, and in the same sense that we speak of a lovely 

 maiden's summers— for is not winter the joyful season when, 

 with eager hound, we enjoy the right royal sport of the 

 glorious chase? What more" appropriate, then, for an old 

 fox-hunter than to place the mile stones along life's journey 

 where, he can still see them, although his eyes have grown 

 blear and dim? I dearly love the cheerful season; and repeat, 

 many winters have passed away since I first saw him in all 

 the pride and pomp of his first chase. Not so many by eleven 

 have taken flight since I last gazed upon his beautiful form, 

 cold and still; yet this was long, long ago. What glorious 

 visions around me throng as memory "harks back" to the 

 good old times — my hand is trembling, and erst my sluggish 

 blood is wildly coursing through my veins as of yore, when 

 the fresh morning breeze wafted to my expectaut car the 

 glorious music of the pack in full cry. 



Well do I remember my first day with the hounds. I had 

 been a constant visitor for several weeks at the little shoe 

 maker's shop of Uncle Nat Browu, who, among the fox- 

 hunters, was the "the noblest Eoman of them aft." Uncle 

 Nat had seen nearly four score winters. He stood fully six 

 feet high, and straight as an arrow. Perfectly guileless was 

 he; strictly honest and truthful, even when telling a fox story. 

 His shop was headquarters for aU the fox-hunters for many 

 miles around; and almost every evening a number of them 

 would gather round his bench and hold an old-fashioned 

 love feast. Although but a lad of thirteen, I took kindly (o 

 the genial crowd and their many wonderful tales of successful 

 chase ; and after listening to them a few evenings I announced 

 my intention of becoming a fox-hunter. This announcement 

 was received with tumultuous applaus, and dear Uncle Nat, 

 kindly placing his hand upon my head, highly commended 

 my resolution, and made me quite a speech, replete with good 

 advice, closing as follows : "Always remember, "said he, "and 

 take pattern after these mighty Nimrods you see here to-night ; 

 and never deviate from strict truth when telling a fox story." 

 This was a hot shot, and brought down the house, as all of 

 them were badly hit. Uncle Nat promised to take me out 

 with him as soon as the "law was off," for there was an un- 

 derstanding among the hunters of this vicinity that, no fox 

 should be shot until the first Monday in November, and 1 

 never knew of any one breaking the rule. 



The impatiently awaited morn at length dawned, and the 

 first faint blush found me on my way to Uncle Nat's; but 

 early as I was, he had been gone half an hour. This made 

 no difference with me, as I knew that the rendezvous was 

 old Bald Mountain, quite a hill about two miles north. Strik 

 ing a dog trot, I was soon there. The dogs were whimpering 

 in a patch of cedars about half a mile from me. Putting on 

 a little more steam I was soon among them. Uncle Nat's 

 dog, old "Sounder," greeted me with a wag of his tail, and. 

 as lie looked up at me, caught sight of something and was oil' 

 up the mountain like a race horse, giving utterance to a suc- 

 cession of unearthly yells, whines and screeches. Looking in 

 his direction, I spied" the fox a few rods in advance of him, 

 getting away from there the best he knew. There were eight 

 dogs out, aiid at the first scream of old Sounder every one of 

 them joined the chorus and put for him at top speed. I stood 

 with dilated eyes and open mouth, eagerly drinking in every 

 note and quaver of the "heavenly music." I had anticipated 

 much, and had lain awake nights thinking of it; and 

 when I slept had visions that haunted me all the next day, 

 but my wildest dreams were as nothing in comparison with 

 the glorious reality; my heart had never bounded as now, 

 such ecstatic feelings 1 had never experienced before. Much 

 has been said and"sung in praise of the "glorious music of 

 the hound." But how dead the words fall upon the ear, how 

 dull they seemed to the eye; even the "glorious music" itself 

 is anything but music to him, whose harp is not attuned in 

 perfect accord; but to him whose soul is in harmony and 

 whose strings are at consirt pitch ' it is indi -_d fcrtce. gt n- 

 ous music. " Just look at Uncle Nat as lie stands there in the 

 fence corner at the tip of the mountain, his tall form clearly 

 outlined against the blue sky, every throb of his quickened 

 pulse beating in tuneful unison w'ith the eager notes of the 

 dogs. Watch his dear old face sublime in its expression of 

 happiness. Notice its varying changes as the grand volume 

 of sound approaches or ree'edes; see the wonderful light in his 

 eyes as he gazes in the direction of the chase. Mortal music 

 ne'er transfigured man like this. 



But to resume our chase, I stood spellbound until the dogs 

 were out of sight. Judging by the Bound that they had 

 swung to the right and were craping to the other side, 1 made 

 for the top of the hill as fast as my legs would carry me 

 Breathless 1 arrived at the summit, and there found Lucie 

 Nat just as I have described him. He beckoned me to him, 

 and pointing to a large si one, motioned me down beside it. 

 Crouching low I lay and listened to the fast receding music, 

 now fainfandloweV still until our straining ears could dis- 

 tinguish but a low murmur, melodious as the song of the 

 whispering zephyrs that played among the trembling pines, 

 overhead. ' Up to this time Uncle Nat had not spoken a word, 

 but now with bated breath lie bade me keep quiet, as the fox 

 was sure to come back; indeed, he had already turned, for 

 we could hear more distinctly, and the gradually increasing 

 sound once more sends the hot blood coursing through our 

 veins. Glancing in the direction of the chase, 1 saw the hero 

 of this sketch steal out of the cc-'_r a half mile awiy snfj 

 with many a shake and caper and flourish of his magnificent 

 brush, he' appeared to be getting in good trim for the race 

 that he evidently courted; he. was the handsomest fox that 1 

 ever saw, very bill and large, Ids beautiful coal was "darkly, 

 deeply red," almost like a pure bred Irish setter's. Nearly 

 four 'inches of the end of his tail was snow}' while. Very 

 supple was he and, as we soon found out. as speedy as a 

 ghost and as full of tricks as any half dozen foxes 1 have 

 ever encountered, We had good opportunity to learn all 

 this, for we raced him several limes every winter for nine 

 years before any of us got. near enough to shoot at him. and 

 it was two years more before we laid him low. I will not 

 anticipate, but resume the thread of niy story, 



When I saw him, I slowly turned my head toward Uncle 

 Nat to tell him. but when foaught the eager glance of his 

 eye I did not need to hear his low sh'— to know that he also 

 had seen him. While intently watching the pranks of our 

 beautiful hero and listening to the roar of the dogs, now 

 rapidly approaching, I was greatly surprised to seu another 



