226 
ee 
ployed constables to make tours through parts of the city 
where these birds were formerly killed, and it is believed 
that this business has been practically broken up in the city. 
The association will endeavor to have the State law amended 
at the next session of the Legislature so as to prohibit the 
slaughtering of birds. 
A number of reports were received from various parts of 
the county in effect produced by the action of the associa- 
tion, and in every instance they were of a most gratifying 
natnre, Farmers report that there has been less shooting 
done than ever, and in some sections not a gun was heard 
discharged during the closed season. At Greenwood Lake 
the pot-hunters and pot-fishers had become scared and it was 
impossible to procure a guide to do any illegal fishing; the 
more respestable class of guides haye offered their support to 
=the association in every way possible. Encouraged by these 
reports the association resolyed to go to work with more 
energy than ever in the protection of fish and game, A 
committee was then appointed to obtain all the information 
necessary in repard to the price of live quail; where they can 
be obtained, and the method to be pursued to liberate them 
in this county to increase the present stock. This committee 
is to report at the next meeting of the association, and it is 
expected that then a sum of money will be appropriated 
for the purchase of quail. 
CENTRAL ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION. 
HE annual convention and tournament of the Central 
Ilinois Sportsmen’s Association was held at Alton, 
Sept. 30 and following days. A fair number of delegates 
were in attendunce, and there was a protracted discussion of 
the game laws. Mr. Geo. Ff. Vickery, of Indianapolis, was 
elected president for the ensuing year. The next meetin 
will be held at Jacksonville. The following essay was send 
before the Association by Prof. McAdam: 
WHAT I5 A SPORTSMAN? 
Having on two previous occasions appeared before you 
with the ‘‘Animals of Illinois” and ‘‘Fishes of Lllinois,” we 
now propose to take up a higher branch of natural history, 
and give you our views of the sportsmen of Illinois. 
What constitutes a sportsman? is a question many have 
asked as if there certainly must be some well outlined dispo- 
sition of the term. In our relations as members of this asso- 
ciation in the State of Iinois, 1 will attempt to answer that 
question. 
Our idea of a sportsman is one who occasionally hunts, or 
fishes, prompted by mere love of the sport. One does not, 
necessarily, have to be a man of means and Icisure to be a 
true sportsman. The day laborer cares occasionally to take 
a day’s hunting or fi-hing with true enjoyment and with as 
much manliness as any one. In this country, we can hardly 
conceive of a respectable condition in life that prevents a 
man from being a gentleman. We have spent many pleas- 
ant days with aman who used a $300 brerchloader and 
whose fishing rod was a maryel of workmanship and costli- 
ness, yet he was a gentleman and one of the best of sports- 
men. On the other hand, one of the most companionable 
men we ever met inthe Held was aquondam farmer and 
sometime Methodist preacher, who shot an old army musket, 
for weds in which he used pieces of newspaper, and when 
he fired the ‘‘arm’ the ground for yards in front of him 
would be white with bits of his Christan Advocate, Yet he 
had such a cheery laugh. and such a happy way of enjoying 
himself in an innocent, legitimate manner, that all who 
knew him thought bim to be a most genial sportsman, We 
have camped with this man in the wilds of Arkansaw where 
there was vo habituation within rach of the reports of our 
guns, yet he would not hunt on Sunday. My father taught 
me to “‘Remember the Sabbath ‘lay and keep it holy.” he 
said; and he commanued our respect for his adherence to the 
principles taught him by Christian par.nts. 
Wili a true spottsman go hunting on the Sabbath? We 
hope not. We thik it derogatory to the dignity of a gen- 
tleman to bide bis gun under the bugey seat and go stealthily 
ont of town, blushing guillily at the 1ecognition of church- 
going friends. How loud the church bell sounds. How 
many xcquaintances he meets. Evin the little girls on the 
way 10 Sabbath school nod pleasantly; and instead of stop- 
ping to crack a juke with the deacon and asking after his 
precinct, as usual, he goes stiffly by with a coid nod, and 
the deacon wonders, as he turns to Jook back, '*What is the 
mAatler with ihe Judge?’ and the next morning there are 
Spanish needles and rabbit hair on his pantaloons behind, 
We found out years ago that if you want to retain your self 
respect you cannot go hunting ou the Sabbath day, ~ 
You will pardon us, but we consider that we would be 
recreant to our trust as president of this great A+sociation if 
we did not take advantave of this opportunity in impressing 
on your minds the fact that in being a sportsman you need 
not luwer the standard of your dignity as a gentleman. 
We sometimes huvea day’s bunting or fishing witha 
friend who enjcys the sport with the keenest relish. He is 
ayenuine sportsman. He insists alw»ys on takin his sons, 
two schoolboys, along. In the wagon there are guns, fishing 
tackle, a generous Junch, no bottle labeled “Old Bourbon,” 
which is too often apart of the sportsman’s ammunition. 
How those boys would enjoy the shooting and the fishing, 
and their innocent enthusiasm be imparted to the older 
heads, How many times with our boys have we fought all 
the battles of our youth over and over again, and felt life’s 
span lengthen over the legitimate exercise of some of the 
better and more generous qualicies of our nature. 
Some men are 60 bound up in business that they haven't 
the least idea that it is possible to ever again enjoy the pleas- 
urable excitement they still vividly remember when in boy- 
hood the rabbit sprang up in the path before them, or the 
first minnow wriggled on their pin hook. 
Neither is it necessary for a sportsman to be a trap shot, 
although many sportsmen are good trap shots, while many 
good sportsmen never shot a bird fromatrap, In fact the 
time is fast coming when pigeon shooting from a trap will 
be over. Other devices will replace the live pigeon, We 
will not be sorry. It is hardly in accordance with this great 
age of progress to adhere to the old-fashion pigeon shoot. 
lt is hardly in keepmg with the advance of morality and 
humanity to confine live pigeons in a coop for days to satisfy 
the pleasures of a sportsman. - 
We were camped last fall on the bank of a stream in 
Dakota, our companion being a scientist of world-wide 
reputation, and who presided at the recent meeting of Amer- 
ican and British scientists in Philadelphia. I found him 
one day wuding in the stream and litting the stones, while 
he laughed like a boy at the crawfish as they darted back- 
ward, hither and thither, as their hiding place was taken 
away. I accepted and appreciated his feelings when he re- 
= = _ _ _— _ = 
ae 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
marked in answer to my look of inquiry: ‘I used to do 
this when a boy, and was trying to experience the same 
pleasurable emotions,” 
How we would like to experience again some of the more 
memorable of our happy boyhood days. I suppose there 
are moments when these peculiar memories of the pleasant 
episodes of our youth come to every man. Nature, that 
loves best to cling to the woods, fields and riverside of man’s 
memory, we believe, neyer leayes him. Thé man of busi- 
ness, with his thoughtful mien, has moments when the very 
falling of a golden leaf, the picture of a quail, or a fishing 
rod, would help to smother cut the wrinkles of his care worn 
fave, and then his memories go back. But what are mem- 
ories? Why don’t he go to the woods and see the falling 
leaves, the persimmons, the grapes, the pecan and the hick- 
ory nuts, and the squirrels, the whiz of a covey of quail or 
a flock of teal, and the echo of the report of his well-loaded 
fun, the camp-fire and above all the pleasant companionship 
of genial sportsmen? 
With as many beautiful things which nature furnishes in 
the field and wond a man with a disposition to see them has 
a world of happiness, 
A man may be a walking engine of destruction in the field 
to seek to slay everything that comes near him and still be 
no sportsman, The market-hunter and the pot-hunter are 
apt to have the largest bag, for their idea of success lies 
simply in the quantity bagged. The very poorest sportsman 
may have made the greatest count and wonder how any one 
could have a pleasant hunt without having made a great bag 
of game. Nor will a sportsman w.th gentlemanly instincts 
vations fire at birds that are of no usein his bag. He 
doesn’t fire al the great awkward bittern that suddenly rises 
from among the water plants, nor at the mouse hawk that 
beats up and down the wind over the farmers’ fields laudably 
engaged in hunting for mice. Nor, in fact, will he shoot 
any innocent bird not wanted in his bag. 
A true sportsman will always conform to and obey the 
game laws, no matter where he goes. From the many 
anxious moments spent over the original bill we have a par- 
donable pride in the game law of Illinois. There still might 
be some improvement made in it. For instance, the dove, 
now among the song birds, ought to be placed with the 
game birds where it belongs, It is a good game bird, When 
asked by a leading sportsman from an adjoining Stute why 
we were forbidden in Illinois to shoot the dove, we answered, 
that the same reasons prompted the Hindoo to always spare 
the serpent—superstition. A religious veneration for the 
serpent in India preyents eyen the most venomous from 
being killed. Our dove is nota game bird in law, for the 
same reason. 
We have the pleasant announcement to make to you, that 
from our various reports it is quite certain that our game 
laws are being more generally observed—the result of the 
efforts of the many vigorous clubs of this association. We 
trust the time will soon come when the sound of a hunter’s 
gun will not be heard in Illinois during the close season. 
Nor will a true sportsman yiolate the rights of property 
owners, Noman has 2 right to invade the premises of 
anothvr without first having asked permission. As well 
come into my house or my yard as my fields. The thought- 
ful and sensitive sportsman would hardly run the risk of 
being humilitated by being ordered off the premises. , 
The time will soon come when it will be necessary for 
well organized clubs to have their own hunting grounds. 
There are new mavy excellent places of more or less easy 
accessibility. Those who early secure these lands will be 
most fortunate. These are along the Mississippi and Mlinois 
tivers, lakes and bodies of wet land that might be bought 
for a nominal sum, orleased fora term of years, These places, 
if properly protected, especially during the close season, 
would furnish splendid shooting tora club of sportsmen. 
We advise clubs to have their own hunting grounds and 
keep market-hunter off them, A market-hunter may possi- 
bly be a good fellow, and there even may be nothing in the 
business to prevent him being a gentleman, but a sportsman 
cannot be a market-hunter. The idva of going every day 
into the fields after game for market would strike us as 
sounding like a man getting his board from a free-Junch 
table—more than his share. 
In short, go hunting in a gentlemanly manner, with gen- 
tlemanly companions. Go for recreation Take nothing 
into the field nor do anything while there, that you would 
be ashamed to have any one know. Take your sons along 
and set them a good example. A day's hunting or fishing, 
besides the pleature, ought to be a source of much informa- 
tion. Show the boys the different species of the birds and 
be able to tell their right names. Hyery sportsman ought to 
know the right names of game. Never speak of your ducks 
as ‘‘big ducks” or ‘‘little ducks,” as if you bad bought them 
of some market-hunter. Neither does a sportsman wish to 
use the slang names that fish dealers and river men have for 
fishes. There is no such fish as a ‘jack salmon” or a “‘bull- 
head.” Know the right name of the fishes, and be able to 
tell the different species. Be able to tell your boy that a true 
“nike” (the Hsow luctus) has no fin on his back like a perch, 
We hope that no sportsman of this Association will ever 
be guilty of fishing with a seine or net of any kind, unless 
for minnows, We huve one hundred gun clubs, and 1 hope 
that every single member will raise his hands in holy horror 
and say, ‘‘Take the nets out of our rivers and all the waters 
of Illinois.” Unless better fish laws are made and enforced 
soon, fish will be so scarce in our waters that we will haye 
to go back to salt mackerel to get a faint reminder of the de- 
parted riches once held by the streams of Ulinois. There is 
much for our sportsmen yet to achieve, and we hope they 
will be active and prompt. 
PHILADELPHIA NOTES, 
N R. CECIL CLAY, of Washington, D. C., and his 
cousin, Capt. A. A, Clay, of Philadelphia, have just 
returned from a prolonged fishing and hunting trip to 
Canada. The trophies brought to one of the gun stores, con- 
sisting of five or six pairs of immense moose antlers for mount- 
ing, speak well of the prowess of these gentlemen, Oapt. 
A. A. Olay, it is well known, is one of our best Pennsylvania 
deer hunters, but this, his first trip to the wilds of Canada, 
for moose, and the showing made, stamps him as a Nimrod 
indeed. 
‘A few ducks have made their appearance at Barnegat and 
Tuckerton Bay, N. J,; by the miadle of the month or a little 
later a larger flight will have arrived and should any of the 
readers of ForEsT AND STREAM anticipate going to these 
srounds it would be better to start about the last week of 
tlis month as the fowl then stool more readily, not having 
been shot at so much, All ducks soon learn to steer clear 
from a bunch of decoys after having been “‘saluted” several 
[Ocr, 16, 1884, 
times, it is so in all waters and especially where there are so 
many professional gunners shooting for the market, When 
the ducks arrive with their young they are tame aud are 
readily decoyed, but it takes only a week or ten days to 
break up their confidence. Go arle if you want duck shoot- 
ing at Barnegat or Tuckerton, It need not be expected 
during these early trips that geese or brant will be found, 
these latter arriye later and, like the ducks, make better 
shooting when they first come, and a blind is soon recognized 
ho concealing an enemy and they are fooled but once or 
ice. 
Wearestill haying some rail shooting. The season has been 
a long one and a number of birds have been killed since the 
opening day; but not yery many large single scores have been 
made. The next cold spell will end Rallus for this season, 
aad push poles will be exchanged for the ducking paddle. 
A number of wood duck were killed last week in Darby 
Creek. Several flocks or broods appeared to have dropped 
into this stream, and more than two-thirds of them were 
shot by rail shooters who happened to be on the ground, 
Teal are plentiful in the Delaware, and gray ducks are 
showing themselves since the cool change set in. 
The Pennsylvania quail shooting season opens on the 15th 
of this month, This is just two weeks too early. The birds, 
or at least many of them, are yet too small to shoot, and the 
foliage is still hanging on the trees to make shooting unpieas- 
ant and unprofitable, 
Ruifed grouse are reported plentiful in sections where the ~ 
forest fires did not destroy the eggs and nests, and a few 
woodcock have begun to drop into the covers from their 
moulting grounds. Homo. 
ADIRONDACK GAME PROTECTION. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your issue of Oct. 2 contains an article, signed ‘‘L.,”’ on 
the subject of game protection in the Adirondacks, which is 
so grossly unjust to the game protectors, guides, and inhabi- 
tants of this region, that I feel called upon to notice it in a 
public manner. Whoever “L.” may be, and whatever may 
haye been his experience in this wilderness, his article shows 
him to be either a willful falsifier or the dupe of others who 
have motives to misrepresent. Among other statements in 
“‘LL,’s” article is the following: 
“I talked with a great many of the most experienced 
guides, and I did not find one who gave the game laws the 
least attention. All of them invited, nay urged, me to inake 
a trip there in June. ‘Then,’ said they, ‘with a jack we 
can show you a half a dozen deer in a night, and you can 
shoot as many as you please.” When I asked if this was not 
against the law, they said, ‘Yes, but if a man wants to shoot 
deer in summer, the guides will always help him to do it.’ 
It is the same with partridges and trout. At any time when 
game can be shot or fish caught, the guides will assist in the 
work,’ 
This is a gross and, I believe, wanton libel on a class of 
men which, as a class, is as honorable and law-abiding as 
any engaged in trade or professional life. In a course of 
forty years of summering in the Wiiderness I haye known 
several generations of guides, and have trusted property and 
life in their hands under circumstances when | would not 
always have trusted 2 policeman, Itis true I have found 
those who, under the temptation of heavy bribes from such 
cockney sportsmen as frequently come inte the woods from 
the metropolis, would aid in killing a deer or taking a trout 
oul of season, but where I have encountered one of this class 
I have found a dozen who would spurn the offer. There 
are doubtless on the eastern border of the Wilderness a set of 
mushroom oarsmen, who in the press of tourists to this sec- 
tion are employed as guides, who have no more respect for 
law than the men who hire them; but those who are trained 
to the business—and no one is fit for a guide here who has 
not been trained to it from boyhood—have too mach respect 
for themselves and their vocation to liye by poaching. The 
old Saranac, Long Lake and Fulton Chain guides are men 
of honor and conscience, and if they were not they know 
100 well the importunce to their own interest of game preser- 
vation to slay deer out of season and take trout from spawn- 
ing beds. 
In the efforts of the Commissioners of Fisheries, under 
whose supervision the game protectors act, to secure the en- 
forcement of the laws, they have received steady and yalu- 
able support from the guides, Indeed it is_through them 
that a Jarge shire of the information comes, that leads to the 
punishment of poachers. 
1 quote again from “L 2’ ‘The present constable for the 
counties I visited, Franklin and Hamilton, lives at Hlizabetb- 
town, and, I am told, has only once been in the woods as far 
as the Lake Saranac region ” 
The ignorance of ‘‘L,” is illustrated in the fact that Frank- 
lin county is not in the district of the protector at Elizabeth- 
town, noris any part of Hamilton county except a single 
town, -As regards this protector I have had monthly reports 
from him for a year or more, and they go to show that he 
has dune more in that time for the interest of game protec- 
tion than has ever been done before in the same territory, 
and the testimony of reliable sportsmen, guides and other 
reputable citizens of the district, is that he has done his duty 
faithfully and well, His reports show more than twenty 
convictions, as many indictments, and the destruction of a 
large amoynt of nets and set lines within the last year; and 
all from whom I have sought information in the premises, 
sav, that what he has done has wrought a remarkable change, 
that the game Jaws were never so well enforced in Essex and 
Clinton counties, principally forming his districts, as now. 
I have just completed an official tour through the Adiron- 
dacks, from the southwest to the northeast, and have found 
every where on my route, a sentiment friendly to the enforce- 
ment of the game laws. Many who have previously been 
habitual violators haye come to see that it is to their interest, 
as well as the interest of otbers concerned, to have fish and 
game protected for the public use, at proper seasons, instead 
of being wastefully desuwoyed for temporary gain. The fact 
that deer haye, within the last three years, appeared in 
greater numbers than they have at any time within the pre- 
vious twenty years, is the best evidence that they are not us 
ruthlessly slaughtered as formerly. ; 
I frequently, in my official capacity, receive complaints 
that this and that protector is not attending to his duty ashe 
should be; that violations are going on almost under his own 
nose, and that he pays no attention to them, Most of these 
are anonymous, like the communication of *‘L.,” though 
generally the writers donot ask that their complaints be 
made public. In almost every case where I have followed 
these up, I have found that1 have been put ona ‘‘wild 
goose chase.” In severe] cases I have discovered that they 
proceeded from the friends of some disappointed candidate 
