288 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 5, 1885. 



The TtrxBDo Club.— Of this new club Mr. John G. 

 Heck«cher told a Sun. repnvier: "Some tioje ago Mr. Loril- 

 lard conceived the idea of formin,!? a club for eportsmeo on 

 his beautiful estate iu Oranee county. He owns there _a 

 tract of 5,n00 acres of lakes and mountain land. He calls it 

 Tuxedo Park, and it is situated one mile from Lorillard 

 station on the Erie Railroad, amonii the mountains of Orange 

 and Rockland counties. He spoke to a number of friends 

 who jumped at the idea of having a club where tliey could 

 CDioy good shooting and fishing so accessible to the city. 

 The up-hot has been that the club was at once organized. 

 The President is Mr. Pierre Lorillard; Vice-President, Mr. 

 Allen T. Rice; Treasurer, Mr. Herbert C. Pell, and the Sec- 

 retary, Mr. W. Kent. The club will consist of 200 non-resi- 

 dent members, in addition to such members as may own 

 houses in Tuxedo Park. It is organized to furnish facilities 

 for fishing, shooting, boating, skating, tobogganing and ice 

 boating, and to serve as a general resort both summer and 

 winter for the use of members and their families. It will be 

 kept open throughout the year. The park proposes to build 

 a club house, with sleeping: accommodations for about lOO 

 members. The park will lease the shooting and fishing of 

 the estate to the clu'-- for a period of twenty-one years, stock 

 the lakes, streams and preserves, and give them to the con- 

 trol of the club during said term for the sum of $100 initi- 

 ation fee for each member and his annual dues of $100; also 

 supply game keepers and fish wardens, keep grounds in 

 order,' and pay for the period of five years any shortase there 

 may be in running expenses to the 'extent of $20,000 per 

 annum. Mr. Lorillard guarantees the project, and the plan 

 will be a grand success. Already a great many applications 

 for membership have beea made." 



The Red Fox as a Tree Climber.— One of your cor- 

 respondents seems to think that the red fox never does climb 

 a tree. I do not speak from heresay, but from my own ex- 

 perience, where holes are plenty and where bluffs along the 

 river course afford ample opportunity for reynard to dodge 

 into a hole. In my boyhood in this neighborhood the most 

 successful fox hunter would bag as many as three reds a day, 

 never shot them, but their packs of thirty or forty hounds 

 would turn up reyuard's tc)es in a race of from twelve 

 to sixteen miles run. One instance I distincty remember. 

 A red fox, started three miles from town, made a course for 

 the river, and in half a mile from the town, being hard 

 pressed, took to an open field. In the center of a ten acre 

 lot was a black w^alnut tree thirty or forty feet high, and 

 perpendicular as a tree ever grew, and twenty feet to a limb. 

 The red fox concluded it was safest for him to climb up this 

 very particular tree. He did so, and there remained until 

 we all surrounded the tree. Hunters and dogs gave him as 

 another chance for his life a half hour start, but the hounds 

 were too fast for bim; they overtook him in less than thirty 

 minutes. Many other instances of climbing by the red fox 

 I could cite, and would be verified by numberless ones in 

 this vicinity. — ^Ah Look. 



The Rifle of the Future.— T would like to offpr a com- 

 ment or two upon the "Addehdum to 'Woodcraft','^ in your 

 paper of Oct. 1. 1 have used double rifles similar to those 

 advocated by "Nessmuk," for several seasons, and were I 

 to select a gun to-day, I would ask no better for all-around 

 work. One may use a light or heavy bullet, and vary the 

 charge of powder to suit himself. The point made concern- 

 ing tbe advantage of the lock underneath, had never oc- 

 curred to me, thouah. it seems well taken. I have used single 

 rifles with such locks, but never liked the look of them, and 

 always preferred side locks. If this is to be the lifle of the 

 future, for hunting, I give it as my opinion that it will be 

 made so as to load at the muzzle for accuracy, at the breech, 

 for convenience. I agree with "Nessmuk" that rapidity of 

 loading is of much less importance than many suppose, but 

 the sportsman of the future will insist upon his privikge of 

 looking through the barrel of his gun at short notice. With 

 a combination rifle and shotgun of this sort, and with an 

 auxiliary barrel to be used in the smooth-bore if desired it 

 would seem that one might safely "take to the timber."— 

 Kelpie. 



Thk Polyonomous Gake Bmo.— Editor Forest and 

 ^eam: I have alwavs called a quail quail, and my worst 

 enemy wouldn't call me "dudey." 1 do not object to the 

 term partridge for those who like it. Either sounds to me 

 better than Bob White. There is a good deal in beino- used 

 to things. A man may talk about his tishpole or his mu«ket 

 where I would say rod or gun, and he may after all be one 

 with whom I would be willing to camp out; aud that is 

 saying a great deal. I cannot believe that Northern sports- 

 men wdl ever call their quail partridge, for the most of them 

 would think that a ruffed grouse was meant. Neitlier do I 

 think that our Southern friends will call their partridae 

 quail, in our time at least. I see no occasion for heat in 

 tbis discussion. I had no difficulty in fraternizing with the 

 partridge men when I was among them. "Let us have 

 peace."— Kelpie. 



Massachusetts.— Salem, Mass., Nov. 2 —The quail 

 though reported plenty before the season opened, have not 

 been found so numerous since, though some good bags have 

 been made. Reading parties have done well, so hale some 

 from balem, inchidiug, among others, the old veteran Ben 

 (rrover, who at io years of age recently remarked to me 

 aoout his setter: "Oh, he is a good dog or will be, but he is 

 young yet, only eighteen months old." Love of sports afield 

 keeps this old fellow young. I'd like to see some of the 

 shooting he has had in years gone by. He shoots and tramps 

 well now, and I doubt not these brief lines will catch the eve 

 of some one el^e who remembers him too. Partridges are 

 rather pkniy, but very shy. Woodcock have been rather 

 scarce. Snipe have been not over plenty.— X. T. Z. 



Mistaken for a Bear.— Frankfort. Mich. Oct 26 — 

 Last Friday Sherwood Hall, of Grand Rapids, and a'hunter 

 named Grouse were hunting ducks on Platte Lake Grouse 

 went on shore, HaU remaining in the boat to look for deer 

 or bear near a salt lick. Seeing what he supposed to be a 

 bear he fired and then ran up to it, when he found that he 

 had shot a woman who was in the marsh gathering cran- 

 berries. Grouse called Hail and they carried her to Griff's 

 the nearest hoiise. The acK-ident happened at .5 P. M., and 

 the ladv died the nest morning at 4 



Toronto, Oct. 38. -Duck shooting about the islands poor 

 local sportsmen returning from the Fkts with good scoi es" 

 borne good woodcock shooting has been done, birds lvin<i- 

 well to dogs. Plover almost gone.— Dread Shot 



A Very Ancient Device.— The South Bend. (Ind.) Tri- 

 bune savs: Sportsmen will be interested in a novel boat 

 which Mr. Lew Casaday, of this city, has invented and had 

 patented. It is designed for duck shooting, and a test made 

 with it one day this week by Mr. Casarlay proves its f ffi- 

 ciency. He shot and secured forty-seven ducks, and thinks 

 he killed about a hundred in all. To make an invisible boat 

 Mr. Casaday takes a common boat and cuts from the bow 

 back say one-third of the entire boat's length down to the 

 water line. This is made water-tight, and at its opposite end 

 from the bow a mirror (in this case 28 inches high and 48 

 inches long) is placed so that the glass reflects the water iu 

 front and the decoys. Behind the mirror the hunter sits and 

 paddles his boat toward the ducks and makes his observa- 

 tions through a small spot in the mirror from which the 

 amalgam has been removed. As the boat moves up to the 

 ducks they can see their own reflections in the mirror, and 

 in some instances swim toward the boat. When the hunter 

 is near enough to shoot he drops the mirror forward by 

 loosening a string and gets two effective shots — ^one at the 

 ducks on the water and one as they rise. Mr. Casaday's 

 patent includes the use of mirrors aad also a boat whose 

 sides are entirely covered with mirrors. 



Clinton, Mass., Oct. 29.— The two sides of the Clinton 

 Sportsmen's Club have been out for their annual hunt. El- 

 wood's side reported 11,69.5 points, Bnwer's 5,565, and they 

 paid for the supper for the 70 hunters and guests. The 

 game secured was rated as follows: Coons and foxes 100 

 points each, wild geese 75, minlvs 50, white rabbits 35, gray 

 rabbits, wild ducks, gTay sctuirrels, woodcock, partridges, 

 25 each; muskrats, crows, wild pigeons, hawks, owls, 15 

 each ; woodchucks 10, red squirrels, bluejays, 5 each. Many 

 went in pairs or quartetts. The best individual scores were: 

 C. H. Laselle 1.993 points. G. W. Goss 1,025. 6. M. Liver- 

 moor 840, F. E. Carr 540, D. H. Hayter 510, Dr. W. P. 

 Bower 405, while Hartshorn and Truell aggregated ^,335 

 points. 



Cavse of Accidents.- In your issue of Oct. 15 Mr. Wal- 

 durf says "the bullet passed into the chamber, but the cud 

 of the shell caught on the upper .side of the chamber and 

 would not enter," etc., etc. He acknowledges that the shell 

 was improperly loaded; this of course was where the fault 

 lay. I have an opinion that the immediate cause of the 

 accident was the clogging by dirt or otherwise of the auto- 

 malic safety device in the rear of the trigger, wliich allowed 

 the hand to unfasten the trigger while in t'je act of closing 

 the breech, such an accidental movement might easily be 

 made while the attention was directed awa\' from the gun.— 

 W. S. ' 



Pennsylvania Quail. —The few sportsmen of this city 

 who have taken advantage of the early quail shooting date 

 of Pennsylvania have returned with bad showings, and re- 

 port the foliage yet too dense and the birds not inclined to 

 feed in the open places, but tell us the coveys are more plen- 

 tiful eveiywhere than last year, basing their judgment from 

 sayings of the country people. We will hear of good shoot- 

 ing by the middle of November, as compared with last sea- 

 son.— Homo. 



Htid Mivet 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



THE TALE OF A FISH. 



When a man doth wish to angle, 

 A hook like this he loves to dangle: 



J 



He has a Ime so good and strong, 

 And. catches a fish about so long! 



Before he gets hotoe the fish doth grow (?) 

 And he tells his friends that it stretched out so: 



But his friends who have a fishing been 

 Know that the man has lied like sin, 

 And they simply sit and smile and grin. 



— Middleboro News. 



LESSONS FROM THE TOURNAMENT. 



\/\7 E present on another page some sketches of the con- 

 T T testants in the late flj'-casting tournament, which 

 cannot fail to be instructive to those who did not witness 

 the contests, and especially to novices in the art, for whom 

 alone these lessons are valuable. The illustrations are all 

 taken from the expert class in single-handed fly-casting bv 

 means of instantaneous photographs by one of the Forest 

 and Stream staff. They show what it is well to avoid as 

 well as to copy, and range from bad style to the more correct 

 form. The camera often catches what the eye does not, and 

 therefore these pictures, chosen from a great number, show 

 faults that many an angler would not detect unless they 

 were repeated, and, in consequence, emphasized. The con- 

 testants themselves are usually uiiaware of anj- peculiar 

 action, fault of position, or error in the handling of the rod, 

 because they do not see the movement of either rod or line 

 when behind them. 



No 1.— This position was the worst that the camera 

 seized upon. The man is balancing himself with both left 

 hand and right foot againt the strain that he is putting upon 

 his rod in order to get out line iu this contest, where distaDce 

 alone counts. He is taken at the moment of pause between 

 the recovery and the cast. The rod is carried too far back 

 and his hue is in the water behiud him, a common fault with 

 this man, who is not an angler but a workman in a rod 

 lactory, perhaps a rod tester, who has been trained to cast as 

 a matter of business. He has never before cast in a tourna- 

 ment and under the rule of the first one would have been 

 entitled to enter the amateur class, but from which he has 

 wisely been barred by the revised rules. He made a record 

 of a wonderfiU cast of over eighty feet, as did every man in 

 this class who IS barred from the amateur class by reason of 

 business. His style is exceedingly bad and is shown that it 

 may be avoided. 



No. 2.— This man's position is not as bad as that of No. 1, 

 still he shows by the uplifting of the left arm and the conse- 

 quent contraction of the muscles that he is under a muscular 

 strain and that his training has been deficient in some points. 

 His hue often dragged in the water behind, yet he cast 

 beyond the bO-foot buoy, the longest and not the average cast 

 being recorded. Never in his life did he cast a flv for a trout 

 and, as his tastes do not run that way, he probably never 

 will. As a professional caster we would call his attention 

 to the fact that his grip on the rod is too high, whereby he 

 loses just so much on the length of his rod, and this may 

 have cost him several feet on his score. He can get out a 

 length of line that an amateur might envy, but his style of 

 doing it is not to be imitated, while his "delicacy" is not to 

 be taken into account. He is a good workman in the fac- 

 tory, a good judge of a rod, and a good caster for distance. 

 He has been trained as an athlete to do certain work and he 

 does it, but there are as manj'^ trout now in the streams as i±" 

 he had never lived. 



No. H. — In this case the position of the man Ss better than 

 that of the two foregoing, showing more ease and grace. 

 The rod is too far back and catching the water behind was 

 one of the greatest faults of the contestant, and this is not 

 caused by the angle of the rod alone when at its stopping 

 point, but rather by the motion of the wrist and forearm. 

 The person illustrated has fished for trout one or two sea- 

 sons, but is not much of an angler, having trained in cast- 

 ing to win prizes for the house he works for. This is a per- 

 fectly legitimate thing in the expert class, which is gotten 

 up merelj' to see what can be done by trained experts, and 

 in which, if "the longest pole" docs not "'knock the persim- 

 mons," the longest line scoops in the prize. Although we 

 have shown him with his line cutting the water behind him, 

 and thereby retarding his cast, he scored above the eighty 

 feet, which we still regard as a wonderful cast, although it 

 has been exceeded by twelve feet this year. * 



No. 4 — This contestant threw his rod slightly far back 

 but compensated for it in a measure by keeping his line well 

 up. In our opinion he raised his hand too high, yet his 

 i-esults were good without sacrifice of either style or" grace, 

 or of danger of his line fouling the water behind. This last 

 point is one of the greatest drags in casting for distance, or, 

 in fact, for any sort of fly-casting that the amateur has to 

 encounter. It checks the line at the time when the rod 

 starts from the recovery to send the flies forward and does 

 not lose its gi-ip on the wa'er until both arm and rod have 

 abuut spent their force, hence the cast is often many feet 

 short of what it would be if the line had been kept in the 

 air. With grass instead of water behind him his flies would 

 have either caught or been torn off many times. 



No. 5. — This is the most correct and easy position that we 

 noticed. The man is an angler as well as a fly -caster, and 

 he can cast both with delicacy and accuracy and also far oft". 

 As a rule we think his rod did not go as far back as when 

 our arust caught him, and his line seldom touched 

 the water behiud. His style is much like that of Reuben 

 Leonard, a picture of whom was spoiled by accident, and 

 his flies were stiaightened in the air behiud on the recovery 

 in very giaceful style. The back cast is the nio.-t essential 

 thing in casting and marks the correct and graceful angler 

 more than any other point. This grace was more noticeable 

 in the amateur class than in the expert, and we have selected 

 from the latter class more to show what to avoid than what 

 to follow. The recovery of No. 5. was the best of those 

 caught by the photographer, as No. 1 was the worst. 



No. 6 shows the switch cast, in which the rod goes far 

 behind while the line does not. The motion is a quick one, 

 no time being allowed when the rod is . recovered. It is a 

 style new to this country and was first introduced to the 

 public in 1881, at Coney Island, during a tournament of the 

 JNew York State Sportsmen's Association, by Harry Prich- 

 ard, whose cast of 91 feet in the toarnament of 1883, with 

 this cast, i-emained unparalleled until beaten one foot this 

 year by Reuben Leonard with a retrieved line. The cast is 

 one that can only be acquired by long practice and is ex- 

 tremely difficult. It is very useful on occasions when trees 

 in the rear forbid the retrieving of the line, and is one that 

 should be studied by all anglers for emergencies. It is not 

 a handsome cast, as it consists of a series of violent slash- 

 ings, and at times of some commotion in the water at the 

 foot of the angler, when the line fails to respond to his 

 efforts. 



It has been the aim of the Rod and Reel Association to en- 

 courage the amateur class, and to this end they have made 

 rigid rules conceru.ing admission into this contest. The 

 expert class is of the "go-as-you-please" order, and is inter- 

 esting mainly as showing w'oat can be done with a single- 

 handed, lli-foot rod. To the objection raised by some that 

 men who are not anglers but are trained for this class form 

 a large proportion of the contestants in it, the committee 

 very truly say that it bears the same relation to angling that 

 target shooting docs to deer shooting, and that as men win 

 prizes at the target who never saw a deer, so men who never 

 killed a trout may show what can be done with a rod, and 

 that the practice tends to develop the instruments used and 

 to afford lessons for amateurs. We believe that every angler 

 finds occasion for a long cast at some time when he cannot 

 move near to a rising fish, and that in the long run the one 

 who can by an effort cast seventy feet has an advantage over 

 those who cannot get out over fifty, to say nothing of the 

 pride that one feels iu the possession of the skill necessary to 

 do it. We all know that most of our trout are taken inside 

 of forty feet, a distance at which a skillful angler can drop 

 his flies delicately and accurately under ordinary conditions 

 of wind ; yet we would not be content with that distance as 

 the limit of reach. The tournaments have done much good 

 in stimulating practice with the rod, and to-day there are 

 many anglers who have taken observations at these contests 

 who have by practice improved their casting in distance, deli- 

 cacy and accuracy. 



The Sleep op Fishes. — ^An experiment has recently 

 been tried at the Inventions Exhibition Aquarium by Mr. W.. 

 August Carter with a view of discovering how far fish are 

 prone to sleep. After a close examination he found that 

 among fresh-water fishes the roach, dace, gudgeon, carp, 

 tench, minnow and catfish sleep periodically in common 

 with terrestrial animals. The same instincts were found to 

 actuate marine fish, of which the following were observed 

 to be equally influenced by somnolence, viz. : the wrasse, 

 conger eel, dory, dogfish, wrasse bass and all species of flat 

 fish. Mr. Carter states that, so far as he can discover, the 

 goldfish, pike and angler fish never sleep, but rest periodi- 

 cally. Desire for sleep among fish varies according to me- 

 teorological conditions. Fish do not necessarily select night- 

 time for repose. 



