Nov. 5, 1885.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



287 



"panther stories." In iny opinion very few of ttieee animals 

 exist in the northwestern part of the Adirondack woods at 

 least. A panther travels a great many miles and does a lot 

 of mischief, hut a hunter hates him as 'tis said another does 

 "holy water," and would hunt him to death even if there 

 was no bounty at all. Too high a bounty tempts trappers 

 1o try to get paid for other game. Many an old skull has 

 been brought out of the woods so much decayed that no one 

 could tell what it was, yet the trapper was ready to swear 

 to its being a wolf or cat. Let the State give a bounty of ten 

 dollars for every hound caught in pursuit of deer, and ten 

 more for their master on second offense, and deer will thrive 

 in spite of panthers, I did not hear of any hounding at the 

 lake, though my guide said he could get one that way if I 

 wanted. So I take it that they do violate the law now and 

 then. R. 



Canton, N. Y., Oct. 29. 



SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS. 



A YEAR ago the plains south of the Arkansas River 

 were almost a wilderness. Now they are presenting 

 almost the appearance of an old farming country. Nearly 

 all the public lands have been taken up and hundreds of 

 farm houses dot the prairies, while teams hauling lumber, 

 others breaking sod, well borers at work and surveyors find- 

 ing corners, can be seen daily. Thousands of settlers have 

 located there in the past six months. Other thousands will 

 come in the springtime. It is wonderful, this immigration. 

 "What part of the States are you from?" is the first saluta- 

 tion one meets here. 



Game of various kinds, though gradually diminishing, is 

 still to be found in fair numhers. In Stanton county, wbere 

 I have land, many antelope are yet found, i spent over a 

 mondi there this fall, in company with an old deer hunter, 

 and though we tried faithfully, we failed to secure a single 

 antelope." The reason was that our guns would not reach 

 them at four and five hundred yards, the usual shooting 

 range here. Our guns are all right in the woods, but hero 

 they were inadequate. We learned some points about the 

 game, however, that will doubtless be of benefit to us next 

 time. We discovered that they have regular crossings from 

 one swale to another, and that each herd has its favorite 

 feeding pounds, to which it usually returns the next day, 

 after heing driven away. In this they closely resemble 

 deer. But, unlike the deer, the antelope appears to depend 

 more upon its eyesight than powers of scent for safety. Its 

 powers of vision are much keener than those of the deer. 



There is other game on these prairies besides antelope. 

 Signs of buffalo were discovered that had evidently been 

 made last spring. But we saw none of the animals. Jack 

 rabbits are sparingly scattered about They make excellent 

 stews. Prairie dog towns are often seen. These little 

 animals make as good a fry or broil as the fox squirrel. 



A iew droves of wild horses may still be found along the 

 western border, south of the Arkansas. Numbers of them 

 were captured this summer and fall and sold at different 

 towns along the Santa Fe. Prices ranged from .$25 to $.35 

 each. Gray wolves have disappeared from the prairies out 

 here, but the coyotes still carry on their cowardly depreda- 

 tions. Skunks, swifts and badgers abound, having the 

 prairies honeycombed with their dens. A mountain lion is 

 said to be making his headquarters on the Cimarron, having 

 strayed away from his mountain fastnesses. Occasionally a 

 steer or colt falls a victim to his hunger, but as yet no 

 accounts of his attacking human beings have been circulated. 



Rambler. 



Johnson County, Kansas. 



DUCK SLAUGHTER AT ENGLISH LAKE. 



THE old hunters at English Lake, Ind., were men who 

 for twenty years, every fall from the first of September 

 to the freeze up, were sure to get from half a dozen to a 

 dozen ducks a day, sometimes more. These were shot on 

 the river and in the bayous. In those days a man was con- 

 sidered no sportsman who would wade out in the marsh for 

 ducks. Such a thing as shooting on roosting grounds after 

 dark was unheard of. This was in the old days. 



Three years ago there was plenty of shooting on these 

 grounds. 



Then a shooting club of Chicago, in order to show their 

 friends, and all whom it might concern, what great duck 

 shots they were, and in order to accomplish what they con- 

 sidered a good bag, surrounded and entered the marsh on 

 every Sunday from the first to the last of the shooting season. 



All the ducks were routed, so that by the middle of the 

 season few ducks stayed in the marshes during the day, hut 

 they still came here in the evening to roost. But this privi- 

 lege was not left them, for last fall the marshes were filled 

 with shooters until 8 and 9 o'clock at night. Not one in five 

 of the ducks killed were retrieved. 



The manners and management of this club have been the 

 most unsportsmanlike of any known to me. Of the finest 

 shooting grounds in the State they have made a waste in so 

 short a time. Last Sunday (Oct. 4) at about 4 o'clock, a 

 skirmish line of these Chicago shooters, five or six boats 

 abreast, was formed at the head of the lake to destroy as 

 they came down the few coots that had been overiooked. So 

 long as they could average five ducks a day each they had 

 not cared for the coots. Dozens of coots were killed and 

 left to lie on the water where they fell, destroyed for no 

 other reason than that each sportsman might show the others 

 how good a shot he was. After dark the men living about 

 gathered up what birds they wanted and cooked and ate 

 them. 



We could not help thinking, would it not have been better 

 for the game and the poor men who went out in the night to 

 gather this game unseen, had they taken repeating rifles, 

 formed a skirmish line, under the law of self -protection, and 

 told these first day shooters to stop killing these coots from 

 pure wantonness, or their boats would be filled so full of 

 bullet holes that their owners woulk sink in the Kankakee 

 mud too deep for their friends to find them. 



Not content with destroying all the game in that section 

 they put up signs, warning off trespassers from all the 

 ground they own and all they expect to own. 



When any State is invaded by such a party of men, the 

 Legislature ought to appoint a man to protect them from 

 each other. Dan Johnston. 



MisaoTJBi Game.— Glassville, Mo,, Oct. -30.— Weather 

 cold and wet, with heavy frosts. Ducks in considerable 

 numhers are passing south. Some are being killed here, 

 mostly teal. The close season on quail expired Oct. 15, but, 

 though abundant, few have been hagged. Am going out on 

 Grand River soon for a duck and goose hunt, and will re- 

 port.— C 



THE CHOICE OF GUNS.-VIII. 



BY some means 1 fell into an error in describing the Le- 

 fever gun— a gun which I constantly use, and with 

 which I am certainly familiar. The description of this gun 

 was hurriedly written, and in the pressure of professional en- 

 gagements 1 mailed the article without having time to read 

 the portion of it descriptive of the Lefever. I avail myself 

 of the first opportunity to correct the error. 



In the issue of Forest and Stream of Oct. 1 (Article VI.) 

 the following language is used : 



"The hinge joint [of the Lefever] consists of a ball and 

 socket — the strongest joint known to mechanics. The ball 

 screws into the head of the frame so as to make a perfect com- 

 pensator, and, as with the bolt, all wear can be taken up by 

 simply turning a screw. The socket is in the lug (the guu 

 has only one lug), and the pressure of the ball into this socket 

 keeps the gun tight. This lug is split, and the lateral wear 

 of the lug may be taken up by turning in a long, tapering 

 screw with which the lug is provided. The fore-end is also 

 made compensating, and if wear occurs there, the turning in 

 of a screw takes it up. The gun has the Nichols hinge- 

 check — the best made — and when it is thrown open an ex- 

 tension or shoulder on the rear of the lug engages with the 

 che«k and prevents strain." 



The error consists in the description of the lug and of the 

 arrangement of the hinge- check, and is due to the looseness 

 of the language used. The gun has, strictly speaking, but 

 one lug. In the forward end' of the lug is the socket, into 

 which the ball (screwed into the head of the frame) fits. 

 The lug is partially severed (leaving, however, enough metal 

 connecting the forward and rear sections to insure inde- 

 structibility) to receive the hinge-check. The forward sec- 

 tion of the lug, which goes through the frame, is split and is 

 provided with a long, tapering screw to take up the lateral 

 wear. The forward end of the rear section of the lug is pro- 

 vided with a hook (or shoulder) which engages with the 

 check^ind prevents all strain in opening the gun. 



In order to avoid all unnecessary expense to Forest and 

 StreajiI in the presentation of these articles I have endeav- 

 ored to make myself clear without the use of diagrams— a 

 thing, by the way, difficult to accomplish in describing 

 mechanical contrivances. But to clear up the confusion 

 which the article referred to produces I, for this once, depart 

 from my rule and give below a diagram of the Lefever lug 

 and adjoining parts: 



The foregoing diagram explains itself and clearly shows 

 the construction of the lug and its workings. 



With the correction of this error I bring these articles to a 

 close. In the course of them some slight typographical 

 mistakes have occurred, marring the grammar but not inter- 

 fering with the sense of the articles. With these 1 shall not 

 blame the printer, as it is very likely they were due to the 

 illegibility of my chirography. 



In concluding these articles I desire to express my thanks 

 to those who have, by private letter and by their commun- 

 ications to this paper, commented so kindly and so court- 

 eously on what I have written. 



In the future I shall, when the duties of a busy life per- 

 mit, give to the readers of this paper some of my notions 

 about shells, powder, shot and wads, loading and cleaning- 

 guns, prevention of rust and pits, field shooting, etc. 



Ah-Pe. 



SHOOTING IN CUBA. 



SINCE last writing you we have made some progress 

 toward regulating the shooting seasons by law here in 

 the Siempre Fiel. 



The Spanish law closing the shooting during the seven 

 months between March 1 and Oct. 1 in the public domain, 

 has been extended to Cuba. The law does not affect the 

 right of a landowner to unrestricted shooting over his own 

 grounds at all seasons or his transferring that right to others, 

 except to stipulate that such transfer shall be in writing over 

 his personal signature. This nearly nullifies the protection 

 intended to the game; hut any game law here is an advance 

 in that direction. Field sports of various kinds are also gain- 

 ing in pubUc favor, as the physical necessities of this island 

 are crowding people into forced activity which will gradu- 

 ally acclimate itself. It is but a brief space since baseball as 

 a healthful pastime was scouted as only fitted to other ch- 

 males; but its tolerance in public opinion has been so grow- 

 ing during the last three or four years that now compara- 

 tively few of our youths consider themselves quite happy 

 without being a member of a "basse-ball club."" This is a 

 hopeful circumstance that will surely produce good fruit. 



A numher of well-bred red Irish and Gordon setters and 

 a larger number of English and American pointers have 

 come into the island, and more recently several well-known 

 medical, legal and commercial genllemen met at the resi- 

 dence of Dr. Wilson, in El Paseo "del Prado, and organized 

 the first shooting club, under the designation of Field Sport 

 Club. 



This club has rented grounds about a half-hour's rail and 

 ditto of saddle horse from Habana and placed them in charge 

 of its own gamekeeper and police to protect and foster game 

 therein. Ihere are already within these grounds plenty of 

 snipe and some quail, also three large lagoous which are 

 favorite resorts of woodducks during the winter months. 

 The club is now seeking to secure a large tract of quail 

 grounds to place under contract for a term of years. 



The quail are this fall abundant and promise us a good 

 season's shooting. This kind of field sport is also growing 

 into favor more generally here, and this puny land, that has 

 never yet traveled on its muscle, may yet develop in that 

 direction from hard necessity, because of fortune having 

 withdrawn from it her hitherto bounteous favors. Now In- 

 telligence and muscle must develop to take their place in the 

 public and private weal. 



A great industrial revolution has taken place Jiere; a great 



social revolution is sure to follow upon its heels; is in fact 

 already far advanced, and these new developments of which 

 I have spoken are signs of the new growths which are 

 springing out of the new conditions. To me, and I have 

 been familiar with this society during the last twenty years, 

 it ia very interesting to observe the various changes that are 

 going on about me; but this subject is not apropos to your 

 columns. 



The tide of American travel which sets toward Cuba every 

 winter will be facilitated the coming season by a new 

 steamer to connect this city with Tampa, Florida, after Dec. 

 1, by tri-weekly trips, and some of these visitors may find 

 congenial spirits in the Field Sport Club, one of whose 

 members is an American citizen. 



I see in your columns that "Nessmuk" is paddling his 

 Ught canoe along the Florida shore. If the northern blasts 

 should still reach him there and drive his canoe so far out of 

 its course that he should find himself on this side of the 

 narrow strait which separates us, he will still find he has 

 not outtraveled his spicy articles so frequently published in 

 Forest and Stream. • Nemo. 



Habana, Oct. 2.5 . 



BEARS AND BEAR DOGS. 



Erlitor Forest and Stream: 



My experience has taught me that hunting bears with 

 dogs in this country is a success. I have two good 

 half -hound dogs now, a cross between Russian terrier and 

 foxhound. They never fail to tree or stop until I come up. 

 "Bruin" is mistaken when he says there is no recognized 

 breed that will follow successfully large game. We have 

 dogs here that will follow a bear for days before they will 

 give up the chase, and after treed will stay at the tree untU 

 starved out, which generally takes about four days and 

 nights. No particular number of dogs is used; some use 

 eight or ten, others use less. I like three, but have now only 

 two; and have good success; but in case one gets crippled, of 

 course you would still be fixed to continue the fight, there- 

 fore three are a good pack. ' I would not give a snap for 

 more than three; it costs too much to feed a large pack, and 

 I don't see of what use more than three would be except to 

 make a noise, though I must admit that Mr. Bear doesn't 

 hke that. 



I have not found that white dogs will tree a bear any 

 quicker than black ones. "Bruin" says he proposes to 

 cross the foxhound with bull-terrier. My experience teaches 

 me that it will be a failure. Bull is the poorest blood that I 

 know of to hunt the bear with. He never will make a long 

 chase; it is not his nature. Put him in your front yard and 

 he is all right— he will nab the first tramp that comes along; 

 but he will forget to let go of a bear even if he should come 

 up with one, unless he should breed to the nature of the 

 hound. 



If you want a good bear dog. cross either with the Russian 

 terrier, mastiff or Scotch terrier. The bull's grit does not 

 run in that line. The biggest coward I ever saw about a 

 bear was a big bulldog. Four men could not hold him if 

 he smelled a bear — home he would go. Long hot chases 

 won't do for him. I train dogs by putting pup, one only at 

 a time, with well-trained dogs, and I do not allow them to run 

 anything but bear, panther and the like. Stiould they start 

 in 1 just get between them and the game, which will prove 

 probably to be a deer, as they are plentiful here, and give 

 him such a whipping as he wUl remember. The next time 

 he will look out, and will be more inclined to stay with the 

 pack. A good start dog is worth from one to two hundred 

 dollars and hard to get'at that. They don't half of them 

 prove good. The bears in this country are of brown or black, 

 and cinnamon or grizzly. The largest of the brown and black 

 will weigh 500 pounds when fat; the grizzly more. 



Humboldt. 



Petbolia, Cal. 



A Sunday Ducking. — The Portland, Me , Prens records; 

 "Sunday last a well-known Commercial street merchant, 

 who is also a keen sportsman, went to ride to Cape Eliza- 

 beth, taking with him his little son. Arriving at the Ocean 

 House he heard that some very fine teal were dispurting 

 themselves on a pond in that vicinity. Our friend is a great 

 deer stalker and he thought he would stalk the teal. He got 

 possession of an old leaky boat, and, w-ith his boy for oars- 

 man, he started for the birds. A couple of lucky shots 

 brought down three of the birds, and another shot killed one 

 teal and wounded the other. The boy attempted to capture 

 the wounded fowl by striking it over the head with the 

 paddle. The effort was successful, but the same blow- that 

 ended the bird's life knocked a hole in the boat and she sank 

 rapidly. Father and sou managed to save their game and 

 get to "shoal water but were drenched to the skin in so doing 

 and had to ride to town in wet garments in the face of the 

 damp afternoon wind. Yesterday father and son were sit- 

 ting with feet in hot mustard water to their knees, swallow- 

 ing hot drops, Loring's specific, and quinine, while the 

 family physician carefully felt their pulses, and the head of 

 the family is not certain but that it would have been cheaper 

 to have kept the Sabbath and bought the birds." 



New England. — Hartford, Oct. 81, — Owing to the des- 

 tructive snare, smali bags of grouse are made in this section. 

 Thousands of snared grouse are marketed iu this city, and 

 after being kept a few days are shipped to New Yurk, con- 

 trary to law. Quail wintered well, but owing to some cause 

 very few birds are found, and they are too small for shooting. 

 Woodcock are coming slowly. I had some fine shooting on 

 woodcock in Vermont this season, killing the first woodcock 

 in Caledonia county. The people there "did not know what 

 these birds were. 1 bagged seven one morning over my trick 

 pointer Fritz. I notice in a recent issue of your paper you 

 speak as if no birds were shipped from Maine. I will ven- 

 ture to say that there are as many grouse shipped to Boston 

 as before the non expert law went into effect. The mode of 

 shipping is this; A layer of poultry is placed on the bottom 

 of the box or barrel and filled with grouse to very near the 

 top and poultry on top ; thus you see the whole package has 

 the appearance of poultry. Many towns away from the 

 railroad have one or two stores who buy grouse, and they 

 are shipped in this manner. — Flick Flick. 



Galveston, Tex., Oct. 22. — Water shooting has been un^ 

 usually poor down here. But now the ducks are arriving in 

 great quantities. The varieties are mallards, canvasbacks, 

 sprigtail, bluewing and gi'eenwing teal, etc. There also have 

 been numerous flocks of brant and geese passing over the 

 city. Yesterday Galveston Bay, over near Pelican Island, 

 was teeming with ducks, and in a day or so there will he 

 good shooting on the island. Many of the snipe and plovej- 

 have left for inore southern regions. — Redbreast, 



