Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Terms, $4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copt. I 

 Six Months, $2. j 



NEW YORK, JUNE 26, 1884. 



j VOL. XXlI.-No. 22. 



| Nos. 39 & 40 Park Row, New York. 



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Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 

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CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 



Outers and Shut-Ins. 



A Public Enemy. 



Prairie Fires and Prairie 

 Chickens. 



Use for the Bare-Foot. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Uncle Lisha's Shop.— iv. 



Across the Cascade Mountains. 

 Natural History. 



A Hybrid Sheep. 



'•The Couesiau Period ;-" 



Cunning as a Fox. 



Were we Successful? 

 Camp Fire Flickerings. 

 Game Bag and Uun. 



Smoke Memories. 



The Turtle Lake Club. 



The Performance of Shotguns. 



Notes on '■Woodcraft. - ' 



Rifles for Small Game. 



The Choice of Hunting Rifles. 



Wildfowl in New Brunswick. 

 Sea and Biver Fishing. 



Camps of the Kingfishers.— vn. 



The Canadian Sea Trout. 



Trout in Maine. 



Fishing in Texas Waters. 



The Newfoundland Oodfishery. 



Tim and Seven Ponds. 

 Fishculture. 



Protection of the Ocean Fish- 

 eries. 



The Kennel. 

 Pointers at the New York Show. 

 The New England Kennel Club. 

 A Street Scene. 



York Royal Dog Show. 



Kennel Notes. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



The Remington Rifle. 



Range and Gallery. 



The Trap. 



The Knoxville Tournament. 



The Clay-Pigeon Puzzle. 

 Canoeing. 



Eoyal C. C. 



Patching Canvas Canoes. 



Another Reefing Lateen. 



New York C. C. Annual Regatta. 



A. C. A. Official Programme of 

 Races. 



Merrimack River Meet. 



Toronto C. C. 



The Fan Mainsail. 

 Yachting. 



The Bace Around Long Island. 



New Jersey Y. C. 



"The American Yacht List." 



Dorchester Y. C— 80th Match. 



Hull Y. C. Pennant Match. 



New Haven Y. C. Annual 

 Matches. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 

 Publishers' Department 



A PUBLIC ENEMY. 

 TTE is more commonly known as the dog-catcher, and is 

 -t-|- found only in the larger towns and cities. Here in 

 New York he travels about with a wagon, in which is a 

 large cage to contain the prey, and an assistant. There was 

 once a dog-catcher who was honest, but he died many years 

 ago and left no descendants. The present race consists, for 

 the most part, of political heelers of- the lowest grade— what 

 we call here "toughs" or "short-hairs." They receive their 

 positions through political influence. These men are ap- 

 pointed in accordance with a city ordinance, which requires 

 that all dogs shall be licensed, and shall have attached to 

 their collars a tag bearing their license number. If allowed 

 to run at large, such dogs must wear, in addition to the 

 license number, a muzzle, "constructed so as to prevent the 

 dog from biting." If without a muzzle, the dog must be 

 led "by a cord, rope, or chain, not more than four feet in 

 length." Dogs whose owners do not comply with the pro- 

 visions of this ordinance are to be captured by the dog- 

 catchers and destroyed. 



Prom what we know of the life of a city dog-catcher 

 before he comes to occupy this exalted position, we should 

 expect that he would prove to be neither more nor less than 

 a licensed dog thief. This is just what he is. Each dog- 

 catcher receives from the city forty cents apiece for the 

 dogs which he captures, and to earn this sum these men 

 stop at nothing. Last year 'one of them killed a boy in a 

 dispute over the latter's dog, and it is an every-day occur- 

 rence for them to catch dogs which have been licensed and 

 muzzled, according to the ordinance, and after having re- 

 moved the collar and muzzle, to drive away with the victim 

 to the dog pound. Frequently they will snatch from its 

 mistress's arms a valuable pet dog, or will seize it as it runs 

 at the end of a chain, and, cutting the collar, will walk away 

 with the prize. Such an act differs in no respect from snatch- 

 ing the purse, except that the one who steals the property is 

 a licensed official of the citv. 



The ordinance forbidding dogs to be allowed to run at 

 large is one which has much to recommend it, and it is a 

 desirable thing that the homeless and useless curs, which are 

 only less of a nuisance than the city cats, should be got rid 

 of. But after the owner of the dog has complied with till 

 the requirements of the law, it is an outrage that his prop- 

 erty should still be exposed to the attacks of these legalized 

 robbers. 



A few days since a gentleman, not a resident of the city, 

 had occasion to bring his dog into town, and to lead him 

 along the street for a few blocks. He had gone but a short 

 distance when he was set upon by one or two dog-catchers, 

 who ordered him to give up the dog. The gentleman in 

 question, having his dog on chain, aud feeling sure that for 

 a non-resident no license was required, declined to yield up 

 his property at the fellow's demantl, and as there happened 

 to be a policeman among the throng attracted by the dis- 

 pute, the owner of the dog appealed to that officer for pro- 

 tection. The policeman, however, said that he could do 

 nothing, but. as a matter of private advice he recommended 

 the owner to "bat" the dog-catcher. Having therefore 

 found a good-natured and trustworthy bystander to hold the 

 dog, the owner proceeded vigorously to "bat" the dog- 

 catcher, and in a short time administered to him a severe 

 thrashing, after which, amid the plaudits of policeman and 

 street boys, he led away the prize of victory. 



The gentleman to whom all this happened was clearly in 

 the right, for the ordinance says "the provisions of this 

 section [i. e. as to procuring a license], except those relating 

 to leading and muzzling dogs, shall not apply to dogs owned 

 by non-residents, in remaining temporarily or in passing 

 through this city, or to dogs brought into this city and en- 

 tered for exhibition at any dog show or annual exhibition 

 of dogs." 



The moral of all this is that so long as matters in this city 

 remain as they now are, a man is justified in using force to 

 protect his property, and that when he does stand up for his 

 rights in this way, public opinion and the officers of the law 

 will uphold him in it. 



'USE FOR THE BARE-FOOT. 

 ^PHE bare-footed boy is occasionally employed by the 

 -*- angler and gunner to direct them to the choice trout 

 pools and game covers; or to give desired weight to the 

 basket and rotundity to the bag. This is a high and honor- 

 able service ; and many a sportsman has in his soul a soft 

 spot for the memory of the small boy who saved him from 

 the chagrin of coming home empty-handed. 



There is another field of usefulness, to which the talents 

 of our stub-toed young friend might be most profitably 

 directed. Why not induce the small boy to play detective? 

 He is admirably adapted to the work. There are bare-footed 

 boys and bare-footed boys. The one usually encountered in 

 the field is sly, shrewd, circumspect and cunning. He has 

 a sharp eye, knows a thing or two, and can draw his own 

 conclusions. In short, he is just the material to convert 

 into an amateur detective. He delights to catch a fish and 

 sell it for ten cents. He might be taught to take pleasure in 

 catching law-breaking anglers, and receiving pay in pro- 

 portion. 



Some of our game-protecting officials are making com- 

 plaint that they cannot detect the fellows who infringe the 

 game laws, because the miscreants know the wardens, and 

 elude their efforts. But no one would suspect the small boy. 

 The most wary rascal who pursues the untimely search for fish, 

 aud the most artful dodger who sneaks for June woodcock, 

 would entertain no suspicion of the bare-footed, ragged- 

 shirted, one-gallused, brown-faced boy. The probabilities 

 are that he would tell the youth all about it. And the 

 youth could tell the justice. 



It may be argued, with some show of reason, that this 

 proposal to use the boy as a detective is foolish, because in 

 every well-regulated instance of the sportsman and the bare- 

 footed boy, it is the latter who catches the fish or snares the 

 bird and sells them to the former. This is not an insuper- 

 able objection. Now and then a small boy might be found 

 of so guileless a nature that he would not only sell the man 

 the contraband spoils at the best bargain he could drive, but 

 would add to his emolument by afterward swearing with 

 unblushing front that the man captured the fish himself, ami 

 he saw him do it. And .the fisherman would not deny it. 



It is customary with regiments of troops to adopt a "Child 

 of the Regiment." This might be imitated by game protec- 

 tive clubs, adopting a "Bare-footed Boy of the Club." By 

 taking the youth in hand at an early age and teaching him 

 that to kill a bird out of season is a more heinous offense 



than to slay a human being at any season, and that to de- 

 stroy the trout before their time is immeasurably more wicked 

 than arson, his ardor in the good cause might be kindled to 

 such an intensity that, unaided and alone, the youngster 

 would do as much for the cause of game protection, as ia 

 accomplished in the same direction by the monthly dinners 

 of the club. 



PRAIRIE FIRES AND PRAIRIE CHICKENS. 

 TN SOME parts of the West, the farmers fire their lands iu 

 -*- the spring to insure an abundant crop of hay. They 

 burn the ground as late in the season as possible, in order 

 that the growth may be put back and the crop mature late. 

 In this way they can put off their haying until after the 

 wheat crop has been gathered. Just here comes a clashing 

 of interest between farmer and sportsman. This late burn- 

 ing of the prairies causes the destruction of the pinnated 

 grouse eggs; for the birds are nesting when the late 

 fires are set. The shooters claim that in this way more 

 grouse are destroyed every year than fall to the gun. In 

 some localities this is doubtless true. It is also claimed by 

 the gunners that the farmers can just as well burn their 

 lands earlier in the season, before the birds have nested. 

 And in one or two instances the sportsmen have practically 

 demonstrated their theory by actually firing the farmers' 

 lands. The burning was entirely successful, but in view of 

 the damages awarded to the land-owners, the experiment 

 will probably not be repeated. 



So far as our observation cf the state of affairs has ex- 

 tended, there is no way in which this conflict of interests 

 can be reconciled. The "chicken crop" should be fostered 

 by every means possible, but it is not so important as the 

 hay crop. Much as the destruction of the birds by fire i3 to 

 be regretted, the farmer can hardly be expected to sacrifice 

 his hay to save the chickens. 



OUTERS AND SHUT-INS. 



CLUBS, whose members join together to take their vaca. 

 tions in company, are a familiar feature of our social 

 life. The number of such clubs has wonderfully increased 

 since we began to publish a paper in their interest and in 

 the interest of individuals who take their outings alone. ■ 

 With the ways and doings of the vast throng of out-door 

 pleasure seekers we are all pretty well familiar. Week 

 after week we have read of their explorations, adven- 

 tures, trials, joys and disappointments. The grand army 

 of outers is doubling its hosts. The veterans of the 

 corps are looking with ever-growing jealousy upon the new 

 recruits crowding into the old camping grounds, and, like 

 the frontiersman, the}' are seeking new wildernesses, whither 

 they may move on to fish and hunt unmolested. 



There is one association which is very different from these 

 bands of outers. Its exploits have never been told very fully 

 in print, but like the shooting and fishing and camping and 

 tramping clubs, its membership is all the time growing. 

 This is "The Shut-in Society." Its membership is made up 

 of invalids who are shut in from the outside world. The 

 clubs of outers are joined together by their taste for out-door 

 life and pleasure; the Shut-ins are united by one sufferer's 

 sympathy for another. The outers join to seek sunshine 

 and balsam odors. The Shut-ins, while of necessity they 

 cannot meet each other, are united to give one to the other 

 consolation which may cheer — as by sunlight — the darkened 

 chambers in which they are immured. 



The Shut-in Society was started in 1877, by an invalid 

 lady of New Vernon, N. J., who, having been an invalid 

 for several years, sought to give and receive comfort by cor- 

 respondence with some one who was, like herself, "shut in." 

 One and another was added, and in time a society was 

 organized. It now numbers nearly two thousand members. 



The society publishes a monthly journal called the Shut-In 

 Visitor, which is edited by Mrs. Kate Sumner Burr, Wal- 

 worth, N. Y. The monthly arrival of the Visitor is, we may 

 be sure, looked for with more eagerness than that with which 

 the outers await the coming of their journal. 



It would be difficult to name societies in more pathetic 

 contrast than those of the outers and the Shut-ins. 



Woodcock Work. — The committee to receive money for 

 a Long Island game detective fund acknowledge the receipt 

 of $50, and more is expected. With this encouragement 

 the game protector of that district ought to secure such 

 assistance as will make sure the capture of the shooters who 

 have openly stated their intention of shooting woodcock on 

 Long Island next week. The open season for woodcock will 

 not begin anywhere in New York State before Aug. 1. 



