150 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Mabch 33, 1883. 



their sport. A sportsman ia a law-abiding gentleman, and 

 ever interested in the protection and propagation of fish and 

 game. Re may use the latest and most approved kind of 

 guns and fishing-tackle, or he may, perhaps, clint; to his old 

 and well-tried tools, which are endeared to him by long and 

 pleasant associations; he may either use "artificial lures" or 

 natural baits in his piscatorial sports — but is never devoted to 

 the use of the ";jigg" net, snare, or silver book. Some 

 sportsmen find their greatest pleasure in still-hvinting dee]', 

 while others prefer the exhilarating sport of runnina them 

 with hounds, but neither butcher their game in the season of 

 deep snows. Pox hunting is enjoyed ' bv a certain class of 

 sportsmen only when on horseback, following a pack of 

 hounds, while another class prefer a gun aud a single or brace 

 of hounds. Aud so on to the end of the chapter— as there 

 are many legitimate ways for the sportsman to pursue and 

 capture his game. 



Regarding the whisky-drinking theory advanced by one 

 correspondent, why. that is all "bosh." "in my native "town, 

 the only man who claims to do only wing-shooting is a poor 

 drunken fellow whose reputation and credit are 'not worth 

 five cents; and the worst "pot-hunter" there was a man who 

 used neither whisky nor tobacco. 



In conclusion, I would say— Brethren, we should learn to 

 be charitable, and be sure that our own garments are clean 

 before we criticise those of our neighbors. Stanstead. 



Halifax, Nova Scotia. 



THE MISSISSIPPI FLOODS. 



I AM en route from Vicksburg to my home in Lincoln, 

 Nebraska. On account of early and continued high 

 water in the Mississippi, duck-shooting has not been good 

 near Vicksburg this winter. Quail have been very numerous, 

 but have not been hunted much, the weather having been so 

 wet and the roads in such fearful condition it took a brave 

 man and an enthusiast with the gun to tackle them. Snipe 

 came iu two weeks ago, and on last Thursday Mr. 13. B. 

 Myles and myself ran out to a station on the railroad thirteen 

 miles back of the city and during the day bagged twenty- 

 two quail and fifty snipe. I think we would have made the 

 score an even hundred, as we started out for that, but the 

 weather was so warm we had to lay up two or three hours 

 to prevent utter exhaustion. As the steamboat Sunflower 

 was passing through Old River below the mouth of the 

 Yazoo one night, it encountered thousands of ducks that had 

 settled there to roost. The pilot, who is quite a sportsman, 

 signaled the engineer to start the engine that grinds out the 

 electricity for the electric light, and when that bright light 

 flashed out among the flocks"ol' ducks, it created such a con- 

 sternation among them they lost their senses and flenv in 

 every direction, many of them dashing aboard the boat, 

 where over a dozen were captured by the crew. One Hew 

 into the open carcass of a deer that hung out upon the fore- 

 castle and became wedged in there, where it, was found, 

 alive and kicking, after the boat reached Vicksburg. The 

 devastation caused by the present overflow in the lower 

 Mississippi has not been overstated. The scene from Cairo 

 to Vicksburg is one of painful destitution and desolation. 

 The full extent of the loss and suffering will never be known. 

 And the present condition of affairs must last a month 

 longer at least, for the Mississippi does not go up aud down 

 the same day. It has been known to remain at a stand for 

 thirty days. The extent of the calamity may be in part 

 imagined when it is remembered that the submerged district 

 comprises an area of about 1,000 miles in length and fully 

 fifty miles in width. In sympathy with the suffering of our 

 own race we are apt to overlook or forget that of the brute 

 creation. But who will ever tell the suffering of domestic 

 and wild animals that is now being endured by those caught 

 in this flood? It cannot be done. When the levees on the 

 east of the river below Memphis were broken the water 

 rushed in torrents toward Deer Creek, Sunflower and 

 Tallahatchie rivers, and by this time the entire Yazoo delta 

 must be under. And it has been done so suddenly that 

 much of the stock and game perished in the flood. Deer 

 have fallen an easy prey to any woodman who owned a dug- 

 out, and they have been wantonly and mercilessly slaughtered 

 on the higher ridges, mounds and patches of levees where 

 they have sought refuge from drowning. It may be well 

 enough that a bullet has shortened suffering where death 

 would have come at last, but one cannot think of these 

 things without a feeling of pity. For my part I think the 

 case of the wild animal, in the present emergency, is the 

 hardest of them all. Human beings can take care "of them- 

 selves, or be succored by their neighbors, and will, in a 

 measure, look after their stock, but the poor, friendless, 

 wandering wild animal must take care of itself with only its 

 instinct as its aid. Truly they are objects of pity, 



Bonn "II. Polk. 

 Mississippi Rives, near Cairo, March, 1883. 



A Gayoso, Missouri, correspondent writes : We have been 

 overflowed since about the 20th of January, and the waters 

 of the Mississippi still cover the face of the earth. Our game 

 is mostly destroyed, and we have just any amount of deer 

 and turkey. The deer have been seen in droves of nearly 100 

 going west toward Crowly's Ridge, in Arkansas, but the 

 most of them must have drowned, as the nearest hills are at 

 least thirty miles from here. 1 am sorry to say that a great 

 man? have been killed by pot-hunters, solely for their hides. 

 -W. J. H. 



The Natchez, Miss., Democrat reports: "A Natchez man 

 says a she bear yesterday swam the river, pushing in front 

 of' her a log on which she had put eight cubs. This is about 

 the tallest story we have yet heard in connection with the 



overflow. Next!" 



"Accidental" Shooting Awaxn. — Baltimore, Md., March 

 8 — Editor Forest and Stream: The Baltimore papers this morn 

 ing report, what seems to trie to be a particularly aggravat- 

 ing case of carelessness with firearms. The particulars are 

 these: "Miss Lillie Roach, aged 10 years, daughter of Mr. Wm. 

 H. Roach, a prominent citizen of Somerset county, Md., was 

 accidentally shot in the chest by a pistol in the hand of 

 William Berry, aged eighteen years, son of Dr. Berry, on 

 Saturday night last, at her father's residence, near Hope- 

 well, about three miles from Crisfield. Miss Roach and 

 others had been on a visit on the evening in question to the 

 house of a friend a short distance from Mr. Roach's place. 

 On their way back to Mr. Roach's place they were accom- 

 panied by Mr. Berry. It is said that Mr. Berry fired his 

 pistol several times in the air for the purpose of "frightening 

 the young ladies during the walk, and that he snapped it 

 playfully at Miss Miles. The trigger fell upon one of the 

 emptied" chambers of the pistol, as expected by Mr. Berry, 

 and of course did not do any damage. It is also said that in 



the same manner he pointed the weapon at Miss Coleman, 

 when Miss Miles is said to have told him to put his pistol up, 

 as Mr. Roach would not be pleased if it was discharged. 

 Miss Lillie Roach is said to have remarked that the old "pis- 

 tol was of no account, and that she was not afraid of it. Mr. 

 Berry then pointed the weapon at her playfully and pulled 

 the trigger. Unfortunately the hammer" came in contact 

 with one of the loaded chambers, and the ball entered Miss 

 Roach's chest, inflicting a painful and what was at first 

 thought to be a mortal wound. The young lady fell upon 

 the porch, but got upon again and walked into the house. 

 Dr. G. T. Atkinson, of Crisfield, who is her brother-in-law, 

 was called in attendance, and on his advice Miss Roach was 

 Drought to Baltimore yesterday on the steamer Maggie, being 

 accompanied by Dr. Atkinson and wife and Col" Lemuel 

 Malone and his wife, whose niece the young lady is. She 

 was taken to the Maryland University Hospital and attended 

 by Dr. McLane Tiffany, Dr. Tiffany does not think it ad- 

 visable to probe for the ball, nor does he consider Miss 

 Roach's condition dangerous." It is with pleasure and grati- 

 fication that I have noted the just severity with which' you 

 deal with criminal cranks, such as this William Berry has 

 proven himself to be. That the law should take its troupe in 

 this matter there can be no question. It is the obvious duty 

 of the grand jury of Somerset county to bring in a bill of in- 

 dictment against this reckless idiot of assault with intent to 

 kill, whether his victim dies or finally recovers. The law in 

 this case is so plain that there can be no option. The. 

 court, it is to hoped, will speedily find Berry "guilty as 

 indicted" and fix his punishment at ten years confinement at 

 hard labor in State's prison. — Cues. A. Peake. 



Notes from Tennessee.— Taken altogether, this past 

 winter has been the most unfavorable to all classes of field 

 sports known in years. The early fall was hot and dry, 

 then came an unparalleled period' of warm wet weather, 

 which rendered walking difficult. In consequence of the 

 above causes, but few of our sportsmen attempted hunting, 

 and but comparatively little game was killed. Formerly, 

 quantities of venison were brought to this market, but this 

 winter only a few deer were to lie seen, and they were in- 

 variably from one of the several herds owned by private 

 individuals in the vicinity of the city. The only bear meat 

 sold here during the past season was from two or three half 

 domesticated ones, which were killed at Christmas by 

 butchers in the city. The result will be an enormous increase 

 in game all over our State, provided the spring proves favor- 

 able to bird breeding. At this time snipe should make their 

 appearance, but their favorite feeding grounds about here 

 are still covered with the back waters from the river. Several 

 of our most enthusiastic hunters have braved the storm, 

 mud and water, however, and been rewarded by tolerably 

 fair bags. "Bob Grubbs" aud the old "Commodore" brought 

 in ten or twelve snipe last week, but they were in bad condi- 

 tion, Fox hunting has been fairly good, and a number of 

 brushes adorn the sanctums of some" of our bold riding Nim- 

 rods. Col. W. H. Johnson's famous pack made a number 

 of splendid runs, never failing to catch their game. Tom 

 Chadwell. George Petway, Marsh Pinckard, Felix Mitchell, 

 and Reuben Greenfield form the inevitable quintette in these 

 chases, and a more daring set of fellows never crossed a 

 horse's back in these parts. William Hobbs, the noted 'pos- 

 sum and 'coon hunter, put in his work successfully, as his 

 record shows several score of these much coveted animals, 

 but William has no regard for weather, and his pack of dogs 

 are invincible. Tuesday begins our close season for game, 

 and then guns will be "cleaned and stowed away until the 

 15th of September, unless a few of the ardent sportsmen 

 revive glass-ball shooting during the summer. We have in 

 Andy Meaders and Feiix Mitchell two remarkably expert 

 shots, as their winnings last summer in Chicago, Ohio and 

 Kentucky will show. They will doubtless make the circuit 

 again this season. Andy is already practicing, and says he 

 bejfcves he shoots better" now than ever. — J. D. H, Nash- 

 ■lfe, ~ 



ville, Tenn. 



Philadelphia Notes.— Philadelphia, March 18.— On the 

 Raccoon Creek meadows, N. J., wherever wet grounds are 

 situated, our sportsmen are killing snipe in good numbers; 

 also at the Pedricktown marshes, N. J. Those who have 

 gone to Delaware last week and the early part of this week 

 found birds plentiful, but wild. We have not had our warm 

 spring spell yet to make Mr. Longbill a little lazy. From 

 the farmers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania we "learn an 

 unusual quantity of woodcock have arrived and settled down 

 in their usual nesting haunts preparatory to breeding. Some 

 have already laid their eggs. This argues good summer 

 shooting, but how much better it would be to allow the 

 woodcock to remain unmolested until October. We should 

 then have sport indeed, and good goers. Duck-shooting at 

 Havre de Grace is drawing to a close. Fowl are still pleuti- 

 fid there, but the season is getting late, and birds are pairing 

 for northward breeding. ~ The members of the Carrol's 

 Island Ducking Club brought their guns up to Philadelphia 

 yesterday and have ceased warfare against the high-flyers 

 from their points. There have been quite a number of sprig- 

 tails, mallards and pigeons on the Delaware River during 

 (lie past week, but they have, to a great extent, left for, the 

 North. Between Delaware City, Delaware, and Port Penn, 

 Mr. Sim, Lord of the latter place has sunk a box on what 

 was formerly called "the Hundred Acres," directly on the 

 marsh to which the ducks come in from the river to feed, 

 and good shooting has been made from this novel blind by 

 several gentlemen of Philadelphia. Three Canada geese 

 wfere killed on the river near the Point House within the city 

 limits last week. — Homo. 



A Texas Game Country. — Rancho Grande, Spanish 

 Camps, Wharton County, Texas, March 6, 1882.— Wharton 

 county is mostly prairie" country, interspersed with belts of 

 timber from one to two miles wide, and is watered by many 

 small creeks. It can be reached by the Galveston and Sail 

 Antonio Railroad, which crosses the northern end of the 

 county. Shooting begins here October 1. The principal 

 game we have here is deer and prairie chickens on the 

 prairies, which may be shot in very fair numbers, it. being 

 not unusual for-one man to bag from eight to ten brace of 

 chickens in a day's shooting. In the timber may be found a 

 few turkeys, and at some seasons the trees fairly swarm 

 with fox-squirrels. I have counted as many as fifteen on a 

 single tree, There are so many it takes all zest away for the 

 sport of shooting them. During the months from Dec. 1 to 

 April 1 ducks and geese, may be shot in the creeks and 

 bayous, and on the prairies in the greatest quantity, not to 

 mention swaus, cranes and snipe. The hunting here is done 

 principally on horseback, as tramping through the long 

 grass would be too tiresome, at least so it is before the grass 



is burnt. Any person coming to Texas to hunt could not do 



belter than to pay this county a. visit. Good board can be 

 had at the ranches from $3.50 to .$-1 per week, and good 

 hunting (saddle) horses can be liked from 50c. to $1 per day. 

 —James Winters. 



The Destruction op Large Game.— Dublin. Ireland, 

 March 3.— I was sorry to see in a recent number of Forest 

 and Stream, an attack on British sportsmen on the grounds. 

 that they were exterminating the big game of the far West. 

 The real exterminators are the skin -hunters, who annually 

 slaughter their tens of thousands of your noblest name ani- 

 mals for the few shillings per head which their skins produce. 

 If I had time, I should write you a letter on the subject and 

 produce none but American authorities in support of this 

 statement. I have just, read an able work on the far West in 

 which the descriptions of wasteful slaughter by American 

 hide-hunters are perfectly sickening. I hope you will, iu the 

 columns of Forest and Stream, see that the "saddle is put 

 upon the right horse" in tliis matter.— R. O. O'C. 



Early Snlpe.— Ithaca, N. Y., March 13.— I killed this 

 morning (Monday) an English snipe. This is the earliest 

 that has been killed or seen in this vicinity. It was snowing 

 hard and the marsh was skimmed over with ice. It is the 

 earliest that has been killed here, I believe, in some years. 

 It was in good condition, and weighed 4i ozs.— Hisiibe'ht G. 



WlLLSON. 



A Princeton, N. J., correspondent reports, March 15: A 

 few snipe were shot here last week. The change iti weather 

 has been against their coming. 



Northern Michigan.— Mr. Frank N. Beebe, of Columbus, 

 O., become so charmed with Indian River in northern Michi- 

 gan last year that he brought "Dave" Smith's hotel there. 

 The building was recently destroyed by (ire, but Mr. Beebe 

 will rebuild at once.in time for the summer season, and will 

 doubtless retrieve, his fortunes by the increased patronage 

 the pleasure seekers in Michigan annually bestow upon which 

 this popular house. 



Illinois.— Charleston, March 17.— On the 7th insi. D. 

 Nicholas went a few miles north and bagged two sprigtail 

 and eight mallard ducks and returned home by noon. ° On 

 the 14th inst. Messrs. Nichols and Cartright were out, and 

 they bagged ten mallard ducks. They report the brant; and 

 geese very scarce. Ducks are tolerably plenty yet, but very 

 wild. They saw a few T jaeksnipe. — J." B. D.' 



A Large White Swan was shot in Grand River, near Pa ines- 

 ville, Ohio, a few days ago, that measured seven feet from 

 tip to tip of wing. Through one of its wings was ahoul ten 

 inches of a copper-pointed bone arrow, which is unlike any 

 ever seen in that part of the country, and is supposed to lie a 

 kind used by some of the tribes of Northwestern Indians. 

 The flesh had grown firmly around it. 



Hunting Riei.e Sights.— Ashtabula, O.— While the sub- 

 ject of rifles is being discussed through the columns of your 

 paper, I would be glad to see the subject of sights, that is. 

 practical sporting sights, touched upon too. Let us have the 

 vicwN of some of your correspondents upon this subject.— 

 A. G. S. 



Illinois. — Lacon, March 17. — Duck-shooting has been extra 

 good along the llbuois River until this week. The mallards 

 appear to have gone north. Bluebills not here yet. — Byrne. 



Missouri. — Grave's Mills, Morgan County.— We have 

 plenty of game here, including deer, ducks, turkeys, quail, 

 squirrels, etc. — J. E. H. 



Game Notes, reports of the movements of migratory game 

 birds, etc., are invited from our readers in every part 'of the 

 country. 



Books por Sportsmen, — Attention is called to the Forest 

 and Stream Publishing Company's list of standard works. 



p# and Jprur tgishing. 



That which we have we prize not to the worth 

 AYhileweenjoyit; but, being laek'd aud lost, 



Why, then wo rack the value; then we find 

 The virtue that possession would not show us. 



Shakespeahe. 



SNAPPING MACKEREL AT CAPE IVIAY. 



"VTOU were kind enough to give my fancy play in your 

 1 columns (it was fact and fancy!) when I told how I 

 captured the red drum or channel bass, as ye editor calls i(, 

 with the Piscatoral Preacher, and now let me briefly chronicle 

 how I bagged the bounding mackerel at Cape May with two 

 of "the world's people." 



I have often wondered why it is that Izaak Walton's 

 disciples tell us in the Forest and Stream of the perils aud 

 pleasures of deep sea fishing. True, it is a laborious effort 

 after "tripping the light bombastic toe" or nimbly capering 

 in a lady's chamber (a figure of speech) at a hop, till church 

 yards yawn — it is difficult to hear the Stockton House porter 

 say, "Lads! if you're a-goin' a-fishin' you've got to get up," 

 and it is still more trying to the flesh to arouse, and without 

 breakfast gaze out of the cast window at the jocund morn- 

 ing kissing the distant waves, while the sea, noisily, beneath 

 your window, woos her bride, the ever shifting beach. 



Bui scarcely a stone's throw off, by Dcnizot's pier, is Cap- 

 tain Foster and his Vandab'a, as jolly a jack tar as ever sailed 

 a ship. He promised us a little oqjfa noif., breakfast bacon 

 and a boiled mackerel caught the day before by daylight, 

 if we would come aboard ship early. So, yawning, the 

 dauntless Douglass, and he of the "skipping spirit," the 

 youthful Miller kicked at my door and called "time." 

 "Douglass' good wife had killed three of the iiuest spring 

 chickens, broiled thern tenderly, put in a dozen raw tomatoes 

 from Douglass' own garden and a bottle of Durkee's dressing. 

 Loaded dcyvn with traps we were soon at Denizot'spier on a 

 balmy July morning when the air seemed as invigorating as 

 the heavenly air which comes over from Hart's orange groves 

 to Palatka in the mouth of March in Florida. 



Slowly Captain Foster first let down an immense coil of 

 rope belonging to some of the many and mysterious ap- 

 pliances of a sailing vessel, and then Douglass and the 

 skipping Miller slid down on deck. Captain Foster, who was 

 as lean as a Rabelais sailor who had disposed in an adventurous 

 way of all the tallow in him, said as we sat down to "hog 

 and hominy" and snapping mackerel, that he rose to a ' 'ques- 



