404 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Deo. 1, 1896. 



Notes from Washington. 



Washington, D. C, Nov. 30.— We have already re- 

 ported a scarcity of quail. As to other game it is not so 

 scarce, though our gunners arc not having much of a 

 feast of shooting deer and turkeys. Several parties came 

 in Thanksgiving Day morning and their one small deer 

 was very conspicuously lugged along by a porter. 



Messrs. Tappan, Laird, Murray and Culliane are back 

 from a few days' shoot in the mountains around Bucking- 

 bam Court House. Tbey saw deer and have had venison 

 to supply their tables. Mr. Tappan says he was hardly on 

 his stand when he saw a deer coming toward him. The 

 creature stood awhile, scenting the air, moving its head 

 from side to side; the gunner fired a charge of buckshot 

 at it and the deer left for safer quarters. Tappan says 

 there is no use trying to shoot buckshot out of a rifled 

 gun. 



Some of our District militiamen recently went down 

 into Prince George's county, Maryland, quail shooting, 

 coon hunting, possum hunting — any kind of hunting — 

 and came back empty-handed. Lieuts. Bobbins, Ma rron, 

 Sergt. Murray and a corporal hunted over three farms, 

 covering 1,000 acres, and saw but six birds. To their 

 credit, these few birdB were left for breeding. As for 

 coons and possums, they did not find them. 



From the western Maryland side we have good reports 

 of opossum and coon hunting. In Washington county 

 James Hart has a season's record this year of forty opos- 

 sum and twenty raccoons. 



One of the largest flocks of ducks seen for years passed 

 over the city this morning. They were flying high and 

 passing southward, following the river. 



Several of our gunners have been on the river the pres- 

 ent week, but report no success. 



Some wild geese have been killed along the Chesapeake. 



Bart. 



Mongolian Pheasants in Pennsylvania. 



Pottsville, Pa., Nov. 25.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 In your issue of Nov. 16 I notice Frank Robinson's note in 

 reference to Mongolian pheasant cock killed in Bucks 

 county, Pa. The Pottsvrfle Game and Fish Protective 

 Association on April 7 last liberated fourteen of these 

 birds in Schuylkill county. Ten of these were females 

 and the other four males. The birds were distributed in 

 four groups in a radius of about twelve miles, and it's just 

 likely that one of these cocks has wandered from Schuyl- 

 kill county through the intervening county of Lehigh into 

 Bucks. 



In 1892 we bought and had shipped three birds, one 

 cock and two females, from Mattison & Mattison, of Tur- 

 ner, Ore. Two of the birds liberated were originally 

 brought from Oregon, the third (a hen) having died some 

 time afterward. We were remarkably successful in hatch- 

 ing the eggs, as high as 90 per cent, hatching; but our 

 efforts at raising the young were failures, These birds 

 stand the Association about $150, and by a majority vote 

 we decided to liberate them and stop the expense. One 

 of our members was presented with a trio of birds and is 

 still trying to raise more. F. C. Palmer, 



Sec'y Pottsville G. and F. Pro. Asso. 



Massachusetts Covers. 



Boston, Mass.— The sportsmen of this State have bad a 

 fair amount of shooting this season, considering the 

 scarcity of game and the number of dogs and guns. We 

 depend largely on flight birds for woodcock, as very few 

 breed here compared with former years. The flight is 

 expected usually from the breeding places at the North 

 from Oct. 10 to 22 on their way to the winter homes in 

 the Southern States. 



Sometimes, if the weather is mild, they will linger with 

 us a week or more, giving the gunners fine sport. But 

 some seasons we get but a day or two of good shooting, 

 as a hard freeze or a fall of snow will drive them South 

 in a hurry, and then it is good-by till the next season. 



Ruffed grouse in some sections of the State have been 

 plenty and some good records have been made. 



Quail seem to be rather scarce so far as heard from. 

 Quite a number of black and wood duck have been shot 

 in the ponds and rivers within fifty miles of Boston, but 

 our fast diminishing game birds need much more protec- 

 tion than they have at present. Bat State. 



Killing Park Buffalo. 



Silver City, Juab County, Utah, Nov. 26.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: I send you slip cut from a news- 

 paper which relates to the killing of Park buffalo, and I 

 would add that I had a chat recently with a man who 

 has been in that portion of Idaho situated east of the 

 Utah Northern Ry., and west of the Yellowstone Park, 

 during the past season, and he told me that the latest way 

 in which those fellows get the buffalo, without fear of 

 detection and fine, is to go into the Park without arm or 

 ammunition of any kind, and finding the band of animals 

 they stampede them out of the Park; and when across 

 the line they get the guns they have cached at some con- 

 venient place without the Pam, when they slaughter the 

 buffalo with impunity. Those scamps seem determined 

 to get the very last of the buffalo, and haste must be 

 made if the few remaining ones are to be saved. There 

 is no sentiment in those wretcheB. C. H. B. 



A Curious Deer Horn. 



Edgerton, 0„ Nov. 26.— L. Gebhard and Jacob Larh- 

 man have just returned from a three weeks' trip to the 

 Wisconsin woods. They camped about sixteen miles 

 from Colby. Gebhard killed two deer and Larhman one. 

 They brought two home and ate one in camp. They also 

 brought with them the head of a four-point buck, killed 

 by P. Swan, living near where they camped; one 'of the 

 antlers extends Btraight out from the head about llin. in 

 length, and it has three small points on the end and one 

 close to the head; the other antler is the same as on all 

 deer. Mr. Gebhard, who is a taxidermist, is mounting 

 the head. Rev. E. P. Rankin, of Stevens Point, was in 

 camp with them a week, and reports a jolly time. 



L. A. G. 



News from the Expedition after Bears. 



Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 30.— Party killed ten bears in ten 

 days. I killed one. E. Hough. 



The Reporter and the Pipe. 



Some writer on the San Francisco Examiner prints a 

 story savoring of the "pipe," as the vernacular of theper- 

 fesh hath it, in regard to a herd of cattle in Colorado 

 which live in a valley whose edges are so sharp that no 

 man can get down into it. In order that all men may 

 know right where this is, I print the directions: 



In the wildest portion of the West, 75 miles northwest 

 of Meeker, where, in 1879, the Utes massacred the Meeker 

 family and every one at the agency, is the most wonder- 

 ful cattle ranch in the world. Within a space five miles 

 in length and three miles in width roams a herd upon 

 whose sides the branding iron has never been placed, and 

 around whose horns the lariat has never tightened. But 

 a score or even fewer of them have ever seen a man or 

 horse, or other animals of their kind, and in fact their 

 kin, except at a distance of nearly 600ft. high above them. 

 The Ute Indians call them "p'check-up," or red buffalo. 



The cattle are in a prison, says the Examiner. Out of 

 it there is one method of escape, but to travel that road 

 means death to the a dventurous one. There is no way to 

 get in except it be by use of a rope 1 ,000ft. in length. 

 The herd was started there in 1874, when a herd of cattle 

 belonging to John Wyckliffe was stampeded by thieves. 

 Wyckliffe and his sons tried to stop the stampede, but 

 "instead they and their horses were swept on and driven, 

 in the terror to escape the charge of maddened animals, 

 over the brink of the awful precipice which frowns up 

 from the waters of the Bear. After them plunged the 

 whole fright-crazed herd, and down to the bottom of the 

 fearful fall went horses, riders, and horned creatures. 

 Out of this plunge of life, to what was seemingly certain 

 death^to all, a few of the herd were not killed. Those 

 which had gone ahead formed a cushion of death. 

 Maimed, stunned, but still invested with a spark of life, 

 when the dread storm was over, the living cattle crawled 

 out from the mass beneath them and formed a nucleus 

 for the herd which now roam at will within their rocky 

 confines." There may be a herd of cattle in a mountain 

 park, but if there is any valley in the Rockies that white 

 men haven't been into and out of, it would be a pleasure 

 to hear more of it. Meantime let us have no uneasiness 

 on the matter. As these cattle got down in there by 

 filling up the valley in a violent and rapid manner, so 

 they will after a while get out by a reversal of the same 

 process. In course of time they will have increased and 

 been multiplied until there won't be room in the valley 

 for them any more, and they will spill out over the top, 

 and thus stock the surrounding country. This will afford 

 material for another good story. E, Hough. 



Spare the Homing Pigeons. 



Somerville, Mass. — Editor Forest and Stream: Having 

 been a reader of your paper for a great many years, I 

 ask permission to use its columns on behalf of the homing 

 pigeon. 



Besides being a lover of the dog and gun, I am also a 

 lover of the homer, often called a carrier pigeon, and have 

 spe nt a good deal of time and money in attaining good 

 stock. 



Many sportsmen will think it pretty tame sport, but I 

 assure them, when several, fanciers are joined and flying 

 sweepstake races, it is exciting, as a race is often won in 

 seconds; besides they are useful. I often, when going 

 away ou pleasure or business, take a few with me and use 

 them as messengers to the people at home. 



The great drawback to the sport is that many get shot, 

 it is on that account that I write these few lines. 



It is very annoying, to say the least, to have a bird that 

 has worked well in all flies up to 300 miles get shot in the 

 most important race of the season, viz., 500 miles; in that 

 race they become tired and are liable to fly low. 



One of our club members had some birds liberated at 

 Flint, Mich., about 650 miies "air line" from home. They 

 were stamped on the wing by the Race Secretary of the 

 Federation. When less than 200 miles from home, they 

 were shot into, the party writing there were five in the 

 lot and he killed two; he must have wounded another, as 

 only two reached home. 



I have frequently had birds come home only to die; 

 they are gamy birds, full of grit. 



Now I wish to ask my brother sportsmen to refrain 

 from shooting pigeons that may come within reach of 

 them while in the field, feeling satisfied that every 

 thorough sportsman will do so when his attention is called 

 to the fact that they are engaged in a race and are 

 straining every muscle to get home. 



I have often had letters from people who have shot my 

 birds, expressing great regret, at the same time assuring 

 me they would be more careful in the future, and in one 

 or two cases they have become fanciers. J. C. Harris. 



THE OREGON TROUT INDUSTRY. 



Portland, Ore., Nov. 21. — Mountain trout fingerlings 

 taken with hook and line in the Pacific in quantities suffi- 

 cient to supply the demands of our great and hungry city. 

 Shades of Izaak Walton I Who would have thought it? 



And what must Dr. David Starr Jordan, president of 

 Leland Stanford University, heretofore regarded through- 

 out the civilized world as the best of all authorities on the 

 trout of the Pacific coast, think of himself now? Has he 

 not written: "This is the last generation of trout fishers. 

 The children will not be able to find any. The trout that 

 the children will know only by legend is the gold- 

 sprinkled living arrow of the white water; able to zigzag 

 up the cataract; able to loiter in the rapids; whose dainty 

 food is the glancing butterfly?" Evidently Dr. Jordan 

 was not aware that the mighty Pacific Ocean was teeming 

 with the prettiest of mountain trout. It took an Oregon 

 legislator to suggest it and a Portland dealer to demon- 

 strate it, while the recorded judgment of a Portland 

 justice of the peace banishes all doubt. 



There is one thing for which we who prize our liberties 

 may feel thankful. An Oregon legislative assembly 

 meets at Salem biennially. If it convened oftener doubt- 

 less we would have more liberties. But as long as we 

 put our trust in Oregon legislative assemblies our rights 

 will be protected, and we'll eat trout whenever we feel 

 like it. 



Certain so-called sportsmen and financial philanthro- 



pists are continually bothering these assemblies for laws 

 for the protection of fish and game, seemingly forgetful 

 of the fact that these legislative bodies have all they can 

 do to elect United States Senators, pass appropriation bills 

 and do things of a dignified character. What would 

 one's constituents think of a legislator that would fool 

 his time away ahout such trifles as little fish and little 

 birds? And besides one's constituents need fish and game 

 in their business and feel abundantly able to take care of 

 such matters themselves, while their representatives at 

 Salem attend to the more important matters of State. 

 Now and then, of course, some fellow that doesn't expect 

 to be re-elected nearly succeeds in his spleenful efforts to 

 undo his constituents by securing the passage of a protec- 

 tive law that would hold water. But the more ambitious 

 ones — those who keep their fences in good repair — have 

 never yet failed to discover the plot in time to knock it 

 into' a cocked hat, .or at least knock a hog hole in it of 

 sufficient dimensions to satisfy the most exacting of his 

 constituents. Our rights are thus preserved and the 

 stealthy assassin of our liberties is foiled. 



Section 14 of our fish and game laws, as published and 

 distributed by our very efficient protector, Mr. H. D. 

 McGuire, reads as follows: "Every person who shall, 

 within the State of Oregon, during the months of Novem- 

 ber, December, January, February and March of any year, 

 catch, kill or have in possession, sell or offer for sale, any 

 mountain, lake, brook or speckled trout, caught from any 

 fresh water, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Every 

 person who shall, within the State of Oregon, take, or 

 attempt to take, or catch with any seine, wire net or 

 other device than hook and line, any mountain or brook 

 trout after the passage of this act, shall be guilty of a mis- 

 demeanor." 



Last week one of Mr. McGuire's special deputies pur- 

 chased at one of our markets some bright, lovely trout, 

 which the dealer represented (truthfully) aB mountain 

 trout. Mr* McGuire had the dealer arrested at once, as was 

 his bounden duty. The case was tried before Justice Geis- 

 ler, and his honor took the matter under advisement until 

 this morning. The defense did not question the fact that 

 they were mountain trout, but they produced an affidavit 

 from some man over at Yaquina Bay that he caught them 

 himself with hook and line in salt water. This morning 

 Justice Geisler discharged the defendant, and now, in less 

 than an hour after the decision, every fish dealer in the 

 city of Portland is displaying openly for sale the finest of 

 mountain trout. I am not prepared to say whether they 

 all have their affidavits ready. But the market man is all 

 right. It isn't likely that he is going to sit down with his 

 hands in his pockets and talk to his patrons about close 

 season for trout, etc., when his customer can step around 

 the corner to the dealer's more enterprising competitor 

 and get all the nice black-spotted mountain trout he wants, 

 fresh from the ocean. 



And what must these so-called sportsmen think of their 

 own idiotic record; days of toil and hardship among the 

 boulders and rapids and brush of some little stream away 

 back in the mountains for a few dozen measly trout, 

 when, if they had only been members of the Legislature, 

 they would have known that all they need do to secure 

 plenty of mountain trout for themselves, their friends and 

 to pay expenses of the trip, was just to run down to the 

 coast and sail out on the broad Pacific. 



The legislator who so thoughtfully and ingeniously 

 knocked the hog hole in our trout Jaw ought to come for- 

 ward now and claim the credit of establishing a new 

 Oregon industry, the industry of catching bushels of 

 pretty 6in. mountain trout out of the briny deep for the 

 market. 



Some fellow (doubtless one of the disgruntled minority) 

 suggested to Warden McGuire the other day the advisa- 

 bility of not having any close season on legislators, and 

 that the rising generation of Oregon boys be supplied 

 with arms and ammunition at the expense of the State, 

 but, thanks to the foresight of the framers of our consti- 

 tution, that could only be done by legislative act, and so 

 the honorable members of that august body have ample 

 protection even in salt water. 



Truly our fish and game "laws" are enough to give 

 Protector McGuire the hysterics. Why, as the law reads, 

 he must even be in doubt whether he can protect us from 

 the cold storage nuisance. He tendered the last Assem- 

 bly a set of acts bearing upon all the most material points 

 pertaining to salmon, fish and game, but by the time that 

 body got through with them — well, McGuire didn't know 

 whether he was "afoot or horseback." 



But never mind, Mr, McGuire, we'll eat trout all the 

 year round if we want to, and you can help yourself as 

 long as our representatives stand manfully by our inter- 

 ests and our appetites. And so far as the rising genera- 

 tion of Oregon boys is concerned, carp and cattish are 

 good enough for them; and by the time we are done with 

 the trout, and some of these boys get into the general 

 Assembly, and begin to stop up these big holes, there'll be 

 little occasion for any marked display of energy in the 

 matter, and the boys would surely entertain too much 

 respect for their forefathers to execrate them of record. 

 — S. H. Or eerie in Portland, Oregonian, 



Landlocked Salmon Culture. 



St. Paul, Minnesota. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Some two years ago a number of landlocked salmon or 

 winninish were planted in Lake Pulaski, Wright county, 

 this State. I did not see the fish myself, but I believe 

 they were identical with the fish found in Lake St. John 

 and contiguous waters. A few days ago I wrote Mr. H. 

 B. Griffing, who resides at the lake, and who made the 

 experiment, asking the result of the effort to stock the 

 lake, and have the following in answer this morning: 



"With regard to the salmon of which you inquire, the 

 planting was not a success. The fish were something 

 over a year old when introduced, and a few of the 

 original fish survived and were caught, but they did not 

 propagate, and I doubt if there are any now left in the 

 lake." 



The lake is about a mile long and the same in width. 

 Water is very deep and cold. There are few if any 

 streams emptying into it, the supply of water coming 

 from springs principal ly, as in many of the Minnesota 

 lakes, I should like some expert in fishculture and re- 

 stocking to say whether it is essential In stocking with 

 these fish that there should be spawning ground in 

 streams, or if the fish will spawn in the lake itself if there 

 be suitable locations therein. 



Fly-fishers would doubtless be interested in this direc- 



