248 
FOREST AND STREAM 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 
Devoted to Field and Aquatic Sports, Practical Natural History, 
Culture, the Protection of Game.Preservation of Forests, 
and the Inculcation in Men and Women of a healthy interest 
in Out door Recreation and Study : 
PUBLISHED BY 
S oreH t und Mtrwn publishing (^otngmfg, 
17 CHATHAM STREET, (CITY HALL SQUARE) NEW YORK 
[fosT Office Box 2832.1 
and 125 SOUTH THIRD STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 
Terms, Five Dollars a Year, Strictly in Advance. 
A discount of twenty per cent, for five copies and upwards. Any person 
sending us two subscriptions and Ten Dollars will receive a copv of 
Hallock’s “ Fishing Tourist, ” postage free. 
Advertising Hates. 
In regular advertising columns, nonpareil type, 121ines to tbe inch. 25 
cents per line. Advertisements on outside page, 40cents per line. Reading 
notices, 50 cents per line. Advertisements in double column 25 per cent, 
extra. Where advertisements are inserted over 1 month, a discount of 
10 per cent, will be made; over three months, 20 per cent; over six 
months, 30 per cent. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1874. 
To Correspondents. 
All communications whatever, whether relating to business or literary 
correspondence, must be addressed to The Forest and Stream Pub¬ 
lishing Company. Personal or private letters of course excepted. 
All communications intended for publication must be accompanied with 
real name, as a guaranty of good faith. Names will not be published if 
objection be made. No anonymous contributions will be regarded. 
Articles relating to any topic within the scope of this paper are solicited. 
We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 
Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us with brief 
notes of their movements and tr, tactions, as it is the aim of this paper 
to become a medium of useful aim reliable information between gentle¬ 
men sportsmen from one end of the country to the other ; and they will 
find our columns a desirable medium for advertising announcements. 
The Publishers of Forest and Stream aim to merit and secure the 
patronage and countenance of that portion of the community whose re¬ 
fined intelligence enables them to properly appreciate and enjoy all that 
is beautiful in Nature. It will pander to no depraved tastes, nor pervert 
the legitimate sports of land and water to those base uses which always 
tend to make them unpopular with the virtuous and good. No advertise¬ 
ment or business notice of an immoral character will be received on any 
terms; and nothing will be admitted to any department o the paper that 
may not be read with propriety in the home circle. 
We qannot be responsible for the dereliction of the mail service, if 
money remitted to us is lost. 
Advertisements should be sent in by Saturday of each week, if possible. 
CHARLES HALLOCK, Managing Editor. 
WILLIAM C. HARRIS, Business Manager. 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE CUR¬ 
RENT WEEK. 
■-4- . 
Friday, May 29tb.— Maryland Jockey Club, Baltimore, Md.—Regatta 
at Savaunah, Ga.—Scranton Driving Park Association, Penn.—Southern 
District Agricultural Society, California. 
Saturday, May 30th.—Practice day of Harlem Boat Club, Harlem, 
Y.—Oswego Driving Park Association, N. Y.—Practice day at Hoboken 
Cricket Grounds, N. Y.—New Jersey Athletic Association, Ridgewood, 
New Jersey. 
Tuesday, June 2d.—Illinois State Sportsmens’ Convention, Chicago, 
Ill.—Cambridge City Agricultural Association, Indiana—Freeport Driv¬ 
ing Park, Ill.—Prospect Park trotting meeting, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Wednesday, June 3d.—Match day St. George’s Cricket Club, Hobo¬ 
ken, N. J.—Great Falls Association, N. H.—Cambridge City Agricultu¬ 
ral Association, Iud.—Freeport Driving Park Association, Ill.—Lee Park 
Association, Wilkesbarre, Penn.—Prospect Park trotting meeting, 
Brooklyn, N. Y.—Harvard University Boat Club spring races. 
Thursday, June 4th.—Lee Park Association, Wilkesbarre, Penn.— 
Prospect Park trotting meeting, Brooklyn, N. Y.—Great Falls Associa- 
ation, N. A.—Freeport Driving Park Association, Illinois. 
—We have to acknowledge the receipt of the Sharp¬ 
shooters’ Score-hook, published by Messrs. John P. Moore’s 
Son, of New York. In a most handy shape will be found a 
series of admirable rules entitled, “suggestions for long 
range rifle practice,” and a number of leaves with forms of 
targets, and blanks, with their appropriate printed headings, 
as of wind, atmosphere, &c., on which can he noted every 
variation, and the exact weights of bullet, of powder, and 
where the balls strike, so that a rifleman, with this book 
and a pencil, can absolutely map out the result of a day’s 
shooting at Creedmoor. A record of this kind must tend 
to discover and correct errors, as it eliminates chance, and 
will be appreciated by all riflemen, whether at short or long 
range shooting, when elevations of the sights or a variation 
of the wind-guage, have to experiment on. A collection of 
such memoranda arranged in just such a rational method 
as can be carried out by the use of the sharp-shooters’ score- 
book, will tend to blend theory with facts. We recommend 
the book most highly to all riflemen. Its use is both of a 
practical and scientific character. Its author, a well-known 
rifleman, has succeeded in producing oqe of the best score 
books we have seen . 
-- 
—The Boston Journal whose presence among our ex¬ 
changes is always most welcome, contains more news of 
interest to sportsmen than some papers which term them¬ 
selves sporting papers. Its New England yachting and 
angling news is very full. 
OCTOPUS EATERS. 
W E had no idea that Mr. Tegetmeier’s notice that a 
correspondent of the Forest and Stream had 
eaten octopus, would have brought forward so many cor¬ 
roborations of the fact that our decapod is capital food. 
From France, from the Island of Jersey, from the Medi¬ 
terranean, from Naples and Venice, and from Mauritius, 
comes in an avalanche of testimony, written by gentlemen, 
most appreciative gourmands, all declaring the octopus to 
be a morsel “ fit for a king.” One correspondent, A. J., 
most kindly informs us how to cook them. “They may 
be stewed with butter, or fried in bread crumbs.” In 
Venice, says Mr. Trevelyan, the octopus squid or cuttle 
fish is called calamizo (anglice, ink bottle), and as to its ex¬ 
cellence he says: “ Nothing I have.ever eaten has come up 
to the delicacy of this fish.” We beg to state, with all be¬ 
coming modes 4 y, however, that we have never eaten octo- 
pod ourselves, though we do hanker after it. Such glow¬ 
ing descriptions of the excellence of this creature have 
made our mouth water. We are sharp set for a hit of oc¬ 
topus. Will Mr. Harvey, of New Foundland, kindly send 
us a tentacle, say some sixty feet long, nicely potted in a 
tin can to experiment with ? We should only be too glad 
to make the crucial experiment, and perhaps as lobsters 
are being exterminated, Mr. Seth Green could find in the 
octopus a substitute for the most cherished of shell fish. By 
the way, what an enormous waste of good food there is on 
this earth, and how much we have to learn, even from the 
Japanese or Chinese. 
Later. —We have eaten octopus ! 
Passing through Fulton Market we saw at Mr, Black¬ 
ford’s stand a nondescript creature. It was sprawling 
at full length on top of a silver-sided shad. By contrast, it 
was a clear piscine case of Beauty and the Beast. Such 
was its individual repulsiveness that we could readily un¬ 
derstand tow the fluent Victor Hugo with his vocabularly 
of 20,000 French words, should have spilt every syllable of 
them nil out over it. A comely lady, purchasing a salmon 
at the fish stand, almost touched it with her plump white 
taper finger, and drew hack shuddering, and said, “Horrid 
creature !” It had long filaments dangling Medusa-like 
around it3 head, a kind of animated crater, and then below 
were two wicked glaring eyes; and there was an adipose 
flabby body, and a long neck, which worked socket-like 
into the body. In fact, it was a baby octopus, an infant 
squid, a nursling Cephalapod, some two feet long. At our 
request Mr. Blackford gave us the pretty thing, and secur¬ 
ing our prize, we took it to the office, and spent an hour 
dissecting it. The tentacles were provided with an infinite 
quantity of those curious suckers, and around the larger 
ones there was a distinct ring of clear shell as transparent as 
glass. We can readily understand how, as our intelligent 
correspondent F. E. E. informed us, when these arms and 
cups caught hold of you, they would cling like leeches. We 
found the ink sack, and with a drop or two of the fluid, 
managed to write some three lines, which are now—(some 
three or four days have elapsed since we wrote them)—as 
black as if inscribed with Indian ink. What we wanted to 
learn about was the beak. The description of the parrot¬ 
like beak of the octopus, is a perfect one. In the specimen 
under examination the upper part was about as large as the 
nail of the first finger. ShaTp curved and cruel—the 
superior mandible fitted into the lower one like a pair of 
pincers. This beak struck us as if placed in the exact 
centre of the whole muscular power of the octopus; around 
it were flung the slippery arms, and in the middle, just where 
the tentacles flared out, this beak seemed whetted to tear 
the prey to pieces. It looked to us as a creation of strength, 
ferocity and greed. Ugly or not, we carried it home, and 
notwithstanding the admonition of the cook, “that it 
would just ruin the pot,” we had the tentacles and a portion 
of the body cooked. A carefully prepared dressing was 
made, as for a lobster, and presently cold squid was on the 
table. In cooking, it assumed a pink color. Boldly, 
bravely, defiantly, we ate some. It tasted like poor lobster, 
somewhat leathery, requiring the most determined mastica¬ 
tion. We must say we prefer soft crab to octopus. Now 
we, by no means, wish to put a damper on cephalapod 
eaters. Perliaps we did not know how to cook it. We 
have no doubt, however, that if wrecked on a desert island, 
ten thousand miles away from a bottle of Worcester sauce, 
we might manage to subsist quite well on octopus. 
---♦*♦>- - 
Decorations for Pisciculturists. —Here is a bit of 
news worth mentioning. Rejoice ye pisciculturists, your 
labors do not remain always unrequited ! Queen Victoria, 
tbe first lady in Christendom, in recognition of the services 
of James Youl, to whom is mainly due the introduction of 
salmon into the rivers of Tasmania, has made Mr. Youl a 
Knight of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Now 
that we think of it, there are certain manly bosoms in the 
United States which might be set all ablaze, like the breast 
of an Austrian Marshal, with orders and decorations for 
services rendered to American pisciculture. Professor 
Baird might be invested with the blue and silver spangles 
of the salmo quinnat; Stone and Ainsworth should have the 
order of the Fontinalis in sparkling diamonds; Seth Green 
the decoration of the shad in Roes-colored ribbon; Mather 
the dorsal plume of a grayling; and Dr. Slack, well, we’ll 
say the Ancient Order of the Octopus. Others we might 
decorate according to their merits, with mummies, pike- 
perch, and stickle-backs, in plain colors. For ourselves, 
we are modest—give us a grampus in aluminum, that 
would be plain but showy. Any slight recognition of our 
eqdeavors would suffice, 
RULES FOR ARCHERY. 
A T the request of numerous readers we have arranged a 
series of rules for this most charming recreation 
We have consulted numerous authorities in regard to the 
regulations governing archery, and have been kindly assist- 
ed by a competent expert. We shall in time give the names 
of leading houses who can furnish all the materials required 
We believe it is perfectly possible to reinstate archery j n , 
public favor, and we will be pleased to give a portion of 
our columns to reports of any archery meetings which may 
be forwarded to ns. As very possibly many of our lady 
archers might not feel inclined to have their names pub¬ 
lished with the scores, we will use the initials when re¬ 
quested. But in all cases, the name of the club, the local¬ 
ity and address in full of the secretary of the club must be 
sent to ns, in order to serve as vouchers for the authenticity 
of the match. 
RULES FOR ARCHERY. 
In archery theory avails but little, though a great deal 
may be advantageously learned by reading such works as 
have appeared on this subject. Like all athletic exercises 
there must he a certain amount of constant and painstaking; 
practice devoted to archery in order to excel. A steady 
hand and eye, a correct appreciation of distance, a knowl¬ 
edge of the allowance requisite for the direction of the 
wind, and the parabolic curve described by every projec¬ 
tile in long distances, all these require considerable practice" 
and a zest for the object. All we would inculcate is at¬ 
tention to the observations here laid down, and a deter¬ 
mined endeavor to surmount the difficulties which neces¬ 
sarily accompany any new undertaking. 
In the full persuasion that “Archery is an art difficult in 1 
nice performance,” and of the inability of directions to im¬ 
part proficiency, the following observations are addressed 
to the uninitiated, merely as suggestions with reference to 
the practice of that elegant and fashionable amusement. 
Now as to bows. We would strongly advise any person 
desirous of purchasing a how, to do so from a respectable 
house, where, with little chance of obtaining one of un¬ 
seasoned wood, there is always a variety of prices and 
weights; for bows are measured by weight. 
There are two descriptions of bows, termed “Self” and 
“Backed Bows,” the former made from one piece of wood- 
the latter of two or more pieces joined longitudinally to¬ 
gether. Bows of either description are nearly always made 
with the oiUside flat; this is called the back, while the inside, 
which is called the belly, is made round. 
As regards the manufacture of the bow, when nearly 
finished it is strung and suspended by the handle at one en® 
of a steelyard; the string is then drawn down to the length 
of twenty-eight inches for a gentleman’s, and twenty-five 
iuches for a lady’s bow, and the weight of the bow is indi¬ 
cated at that point of the graduated scale where the bob (as 
the weight of a steelyard is called) balances; the number, 
which indicates the weight, is then stamped on the back of 
the how. Ladies’ bows range from twenty to thirty-two 
pounds, whilst gentlemen’s from forty, sometimes exceed 
sixty pounds; but for the generality of gentlemen’s, from 
forty-seven to fifty-two may be recommended; whilst for 
ladies one of twenty-five pounds will be found sufficiently 
strong to commence with. • 
No directions, however, can possibly be given on the 
choice of a how, as it depends entirely on the strength of 
the purchaser, his height, and length of arm. It has been 
considered by some that the height of a man should he the 
length of his bow; this rule, however, will not hold good 
under all cases. A man under five feet nine inches ought 
not to use a bow longer than five feet ten inches, and we 
would not recommend one above six feet even for a person 
over six feet in height. 
A bow too strong causes fatigue, and from the inability 
of the archer to draw the arrow up as far as is requisite, 
one too weak is to be rejected, as it may easily be over¬ 
drawn and broken, from no other cause than the applica¬ 
tion of too much strength. The proper weight, then, for 
the bow, is that which a person can draw somewhat easily , 
and without distortion of countenance or position. As he 
acquires skill in shooting, he will also find an acquisition of 
strength to the extent of several pounds weight. 
With regard to stringing and unstringing the bow, there 
are innumerable rules and directions given, more or less 
complicated. The best plan is, for the novice to have it 
shown to him practically. It may, however, be here stated,, 
that a gentleman’s bow should be strung up six inches, and 
a lady’s five inches and a half; that is, the string opposite 
the handle should be so far from the belly of the bow. 
It is not necessary that a bow should be unstrung during 
shooting, when, from the company being numerous, some 
little time will probably elapse before the archer’s turn to 
shoot arrives; but after the shooting is over it must be 
unstrung; and if wet, or even damp, should be wiped dry 
before it is put into the green baize case, which may be well 
protected from the ill effects of rain by India rubber or oil 
silk cover, made large enough to admit the bow and green 
baize bag easily. 
A piece of ribbon is generally put through the hole in the 
extreme end of the upper horn; it is then passed through 
the eye of the bowstring and tied in a bow-knot. The ob¬ 
ject of this is to prevent the string from slipping down the 
upper limb of the bow when taking it out of the case, or 
from coming off the lower horn altogether, as m either case 
the string would untwist and receive injury. It is some¬ 
times necessary to lengthen or shorten the string; previous 
to doing this the ribbon must be untied, and when the string 
is adjusted to the required length the ribbon brings it up to 
its proper place and keeps it there. 
A new string requires lapping with silk to prevent the 
nock of the arrow from cutting the fibres of the hemp, or 
the string itself from being frayed by constantly striking 
the guard. Commence the operation by first stringing the 
bow, then rub with shoemaker’s wax "about six inches of 
the string opposite the handle; three pieces of stout netting 
silk of contrasting colors, about a yard in length, should he 
well waxed with beeswax; with a firm beginning, lap these 
three pieces of silk round the string, drawing each turn as 
tightly as you think the silk will bear. Apiece of floss silk, 
about an inch in length, should be laid along the string op¬ 
posite the top of the handle, and at each alternate round 
made to appear bv being held up, and the silk lapped round 
the string under it. The lapping should be carried on about 
an inch and a half higher than opposite the top of the 
handle, and there fastened off. The part may be rubbed 
with some beeswax, and afterwards with a piece of leather; 
