46 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 9, 1888. 



one making sufficient space for his insertion. I was 

 just finishing screwing down the lid when the keeper 

 made his appearance, and instantly divining what had 

 occurred, leaned against one of the' cages and burst into 

 convulsive sobs. The relief and lack of beer had com- 

 pletely unnerved him. Knowing that the captain would 

 be instantly informed, I tried to dodge hirn, but he ran 

 me down in the smoking: room. Without giving him a 

 chance to scold, said, "If it had ever been known that 

 there was a snake loose among your passengers, every 

 one of them would have passed the bahnce of the voyage 

 on deck." Hs saw the point and good-humoredly an- 

 swered, "In not spreading the alarm, you took the'most 

 prudent course." 



XV. 



I have met but two ladies who seemed to lack that 

 horror of snakes, almost universal with the sex. One was 

 Miis C atherine C. Hopley, the other caught me unawares, 

 and I neglected to obtain her address. My keeper and 

 myself were busy unpacking a lot of native "snakes, when 

 a shadow in the doorway caused me to look up. and see- 

 ing a lady about to enter, I said : 



"Madam, if you have the common fear of snakes, I 

 would suggest that you wait for a few moments, until I 

 get these so secured that you can see them without fear 

 of injury." 



"What kinds are they?" 



"Only the harmless species, or you would not see me 

 handling them so carelessly." 



"That being the case, I think I will venture in." 



She passed in, and just as I had finished shifting, she 

 paused in front of the case containing a large diamond 

 rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus), and said in a low tone, 

 as if commtming with herself, " So this is the much- 

 dreaded diamond rattlesnake, and I am very glad to have 

 seen one," and suddenly turning addressed me, saying, 

 "Do you know, I don't think the devil ever assumed any 

 such form as that to bamboozle a poor weak woman, be- 

 sides, it is contrary to all natural law, and I don't believe 

 it." 



Bowing in silent acknowledgment of the cogency of 

 the lady's reasoning, I passed out of the building and left 

 her alone in her quest of ophidian k-owledge. 



Frank J. Thompson. 



FORTY YEARS AGO. 

 When I read in your interesting paper the pleasant 

 reminiscences from the pen of Mr. Frank J. Thompson, 

 memory carries me back to nearly forty years ago, when 

 I was a boy employed as a clerk by .Mr, Thompson in 

 New York. The firm was then Sanborn & Thompson, on 

 Water street, below Wall. In our building there were 

 half a dozen volunteer firemen, all members of "No. 8 

 City Hose," then lying in Cedar street, between Broad 

 way and Nassau street, on the ground where the large 

 life insurance company building now stands. From that 

 little carriage house turned out some of our best mer- 

 chants then in business down town. When the sweet 

 and never to be forgotten music of that clear old bell in 

 the City Hall tower (it rang many a brave fellow's death 

 knell) came in for a fire m the seventh and eighth dis- 

 tricts there was fun in the. old store on Water street. Mr. 

 John Clancy was the first out; he was a little lame, but 

 he got there all the same; he was foreman of the hose 

 cart. Then followed Lairy Clancy, Will Hubbel. Plain 

 Lawrance and myself, the whole party soon overtaking 

 Mr. John Garcia. We made a merry crowd, and the little 

 hose cart was quickly rattling over the pavements with 

 as kind-hearted and manly a set of firemen as ever 

 manned a rope. And when the lire was out and Jack 

 gave orders to take up and "man the rope, boys," the 

 music of the sil ver- toned bells and merry songs from the 

 boys, the bright-colored lanterns, with which the little 

 cart was decked, as we wended our way to headquarters 

 through the then quiet and deserted streets of the big 

 city, were all something grand to me and never to be 

 forgotten. 



. As I sit here to-night in my quiet country home, with 

 all my dear ones around me, the wind sig'hing through 

 the skeleton trees, the patter of snow on the windows, 

 and my old dog Quail at my feet on the hearth, resting 

 from his day's labor on the golden stubbles after the little 

 brown beauties, a feeling of sadness steals over my heart, 

 when I think where are all those noble fellows." It all 

 seems but as yesterday, so far as I can learn they have 

 all crossed the unknown gulf to join the great majority, 

 all but Mr. Thompson and myself. 



Alfred A. Fhaser, 



The Debars, Oakdale, L. I., Dec, 20, 1887. 



POWDER-DOWN FEATHERS IN HERONS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In "Key to North American Birds," revised edition, by 

 Elliott Coues, part second, page 8G, the author says, in 

 speaking of the matted patches of oily feathers on the 

 breasts of herons, "the design is unknown." 



I think I can explain its use. Some twenty years ago, 

 when I first began to study lirds. I took my' earliest les- 

 sons in taxidermy from John C. Deacon, an Englishman, 

 then about fifty five years of age. He had studied birds 

 all his life, was apprenticed to learn the trade of 

 taxidermy in London when a mere boy, and had traveled 

 with parties collecting for the British Museum. I sat by 

 him one day watching hfrn skin a great blue heron, and 

 he called my attention to the "matted cushion" on the 

 breast and asked me "if I knew the use of it." I told 

 him I did not, so he explained it to me. "I have watched 

 them many a time," he said. "They wade in shallow 

 water where there are small fishes, and pick off some of 

 the fibres from the breast with their bill and drop it 

 on the water, and as the fish swim for it, they make a 

 lightning-like dart with their bill and catch the fish." 

 I have never myself been fortunate in observing them 

 feed in that way, but I have no reason whatever to doubt 

 Mr. Deacon's word. I should think the question could 

 be solved by some of the many readers of Forest and 

 Stream by watching them closely in their native haunts. 

 I hope to hear from others on the subject through Forest 

 and Stream. C. E. B, 



Rivehpoint, R. I., Jan. 19. 



Recent Arrivals at Philadelphia Zoological Garden.— 

 Received by purchase— One kinka.i' u (Cercolept's vauclivolvuhw, 

 one Persian gazelle (Gazril<i mftQUtturosa), two paradoxures (Para- 

 {laxwnis tMPMs), four American gildfmches (ClirymtniWa trfaife) 

 and two rlieas (Rhea ammimna). Received by presentation— One 

 Virginia deer (O&rws vlrginianus), one black squirrel (Sciurw 

 carolincwis)) three Virginia quail (Ortyx virginiamn). one screecn 

 owl (Sam axl'i), two garter snakes (Eutainia sirtalis), and one alli- 

 gator {Alligator mfcsfss/pptefisis). 



TALKING TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In controlling the movements of domestic animals by 

 the voice, besides words of ordinary import, man uses a 

 variety of peculiar terms, calls and inarticulate sounds — 

 not to include whistling— which vary in different locali- 

 ties. In driving yoked cattle and harnessed horses team- 

 sters cry "get up," "click, click" (tongue against teeth), 

 "gee," "haw," "whoa," "whoosh," "back," etc., in Eng- 

 lish-speaking countries; "arre," "arri," "jfth," "gio," etc., 

 in European countries. 



In the United States "gee" directs the animal away 

 from the driver, hence to the right, but in England the 

 same term has the opposite effect because the driver 

 walks on the right hand side of his team. In Virginia 

 mule drivers gee the animals with the cry "hep-yee-ee-a;" 

 in Norfolk, England, "whoosh-wo;" in France, "hue" and 

 "huhaut;" in Germany "hott" and hotte;" in some parts 

 of Russia "haitaY' serve the purpose. To direct animals 

 to the left another series of terras is used. 



In calling cattle in the field the following cries are 

 used in the localities given: "boss, boss" (Conn.); "sake, 

 sake" (Conn.): "coo, coo" (V a.); "sook, sook," also 

 "sookey" (Md.); "sookow" (Ala.): "tlou, tlon" Russia; 

 and for calling horses, "kope, kope" (Md. and Ala,); for 

 calling sheep, "konanny" (Md,); for calling hogs "chee- 

 oo-oo" (Va.). 



The undersigned is desirous of collecting words and 

 expressions (oaths excepted) used in addressing domesti- 

 cated animals in all parts of the United States and in 

 foreign lands. 



In particular he seeks information as to: 



1. The terms used to start, hasten, haw, gee, back and 

 stop horsey oxen, camels and other animals in harness. 



2. Terms used for calling in the field, cattle, horses, 

 mules, asses, camels, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, and 

 other animals. 



3. Exclamations used in driving from the person, 

 domestic animals. 



4. Any expressions and inarticulate sounds used in 

 addressing domestic animals for any purpose whatever. 



5. Expressions used in directing dogs in the field or 

 elsewhere. 



6. References to information in works of travel and 

 general literature will be very welcome. 



Persons wilhng to collect and forward the above men- 

 tioned data will confer great obligations on the writer; 

 he is already indebted to many correspondents for kind 

 replies to his appearl for the "Counting-out Rhymes of 

 Children," the results of which have been published in. a 

 volume with that title. (Elliot Stock, London.) 



To indicate the value of vowels in English please use 

 the vowels-sign'? of Webster's Unabridged, and in cases 

 of difficulty spell phonetically. 



All correspondence will re gratefully received and 

 materials nsed will be credited to the contributors. 



Yours truly, H, Carrinoton Bolton. 



University Cunt, New York City. 



CHARLES LINDEN. 



EEADERS of this journal, to whom the name of Prof. 

 Charles Linden, of Buffalo, has long been familiar, 

 will hear with sadness of his death, under peculiarly 

 painful circumstances, in that city, Friday, Feb. 3. On 

 the 3d of last July Prof. Linden left Buffalo to spend his 

 summer vacation at Carleton, New Brunswick, a French 

 Canadian settlement on the shores of Chaleur Bay, where 

 in former years be had found health and recreation with 

 his rod and gun. The Nouvelle River was full of trout, 

 while the surrounding forests were filled with game. He 

 w ns alone, but took up his abode with his old friend, J. 

 R. Michaux. After a week or two he began to act 

 queerly, and in a short time it was clear to his friends 

 tkat his mind had become unbalanced. His Buffalo 

 friends were advised of his condition; Dr. Eugene Smith 

 went to Carleton, and in their company Prof. Linden re- 

 turned to Buffalo. He was placed in an asylum and ten- 

 derly cared for by friends until his death. His acre was 

 fifty-six years. 



Prof. Linden's career was feelingly outlined to a Buff- 

 alo Courier reporter by Ottomar Reinecke, the accom- 

 plished editor of the Freie Presse, as follows: "Prof. 

 Linden was one of the noblest men I ever knew. Twenty- 

 five years ago I brought him to Buffalo, and I think I did 

 a great good to the cause of science when I did it. He 

 was then a sailor on the lakes. He had graduated from 

 one of the high schools of Europe, but his love of nature 

 had brought him to America, I became acquainted with 

 him, and learning of his great love for natural sciences. 

 I talked with the late Judge Clinton about him, and the 

 result was that he was employed to take charge of the 

 collections of the Society of Natural Sciences. He came 

 on here from Chicago, where he had gone with his ship, 

 and took charge immediately. By the zeal he manifested 

 he at once gave to the society an importance it had never 

 before attained. He brought to us the Bodamier collec- 

 tion of birds from Europe, which at the time created a 

 sensation in the world of natural science, and it is to-day 

 the best of its kind in America. Then he began the col- 

 lection of American birds, and under my guidance he 

 learned to stuff them, which resulted in his getting to- 

 gether a wonderful number of rare specimens. We sent 

 him abroad every summer and he visited almost every 

 country. In Brazil he made a very large collection. 

 He went one season to Florida, where he did immense 

 work among the everglades, working by himself for weeks 

 at a time. In 1872 he went to Hayti and it was the same 

 all through the West Indies, and in the mountains of 

 North Carolina and along the Virginia coast near Fort 

 McHenry. He went a few years ago to the mouth of the 

 Amazon River and explored it as far as San Tara, and he 

 collected a great number of birds on that trip. In Florida 

 he explored the St. John's River, and wherever he went 

 he brought back the results of his labors. Once in the 

 Alleghenies a rich man was so impressed with the value 

 to science of the work he was doing that he gave him a 

 blank check and told him to fill it out for what amount 

 he needed to help him in his studies. Prof. Linden did 

 not accept it, for he had no use for money. He only 

 made friends, and his only knowledge was to study and. 

 impart knowledge. A friend in need could ask for any- 

 thing and be sure of getting it. Of late years he has gone 

 more for pleasure than work to Quebec, where his last 

 affliction came upon him. But his illness dates from his 

 Florida trip, for he suffered greatly from all sorts of ex- 

 posures. We succeeded in getting him a position in the 



High school, and he filled it with honor to himself and 

 all connected with him. He organized the Field Club, 

 and in his classes were found the be?t scholars in the 

 school, or in Buffalo for that matter, and if you talked to 

 them you will find that they all admired and loved him, 

 He leaves a great circle of friends who will deeply regret 

 his untimely end. He was a correspondent of the papers 

 both of this country and Europe, many and a good article 

 The Courier has printed from his pen. He was born in 

 Breslau, Germany, in the province of Siliesia, and his 

 mother and sister still reside there. It will be years 

 before we will get another man like him. None of his 

 scholars were ever rejected by the State Board of Regents, 

 I can tell you. He did a greit deal of collecting for the 

 Harvard museum, all the birds that were new or doubtful 

 being sent there to be identified. In 1876 he had a novel 

 experience. In the month of July in company with 

 Judge George A. Lewis, a Mr. Sawyer and a Harvard 

 undergraduate, he hired a schooner in Boston and sailed 

 up the Labrador coast, where the party was shipwrecked. 

 Prof. Linden got terribly excited for fear his friends 

 would be lost. For himself he said he did not care, but 

 he thought too much of his friends to have them perish. 

 After some scolding at the captain he ordered Judge 

 Lewis to tie a rope about his wai^t and swim ashore. 

 The Judge was equal to the emergency, at last reaching 

 a great rock, to whip}! he fastened the line, and by its aid 

 the party reached terra firma, not much the worse off. 

 The schooner was broken up on the rocks, but the bold 

 navigators were picked up by an English brig and were 

 put ashore at one of the French-Canadian ports some 

 hundreds of miles below. After being safely delivered 

 from their peril, the party visited Carleton and other 

 settlements on the bay of Chaleur, in the province of 

 Quebec, and Prof. Linden was so delighted with the spot 

 that he had visited it nearly every summer since. Last 

 year was not an exception, and he left Buffalo July 3 for 

 Carleton. hi occasional letters he spoke of enjoying him- 

 self in sailing and fishing, being surrounded by a class of 

 people whose hospitality made him feel much at home. 



"He used to have a room six or eight years ago over the 

 old building occupied by the Young Men's Association. 

 Judge Clinton and I went there several times, and we 

 concluded that it was only a matter of time when he 

 would burn to death, for if the place got on fire there was 

 no way for him to get out. At last lie consented that we 

 should provide him with a knotted rope and we did so. 

 One morning he rushed into my office and thanked me 

 for saving his life. It seems that the ash-box caught fire 

 and he woke up and found himself half dead from suffo- 

 cation. He grabbed his watch, money and guns and slid 

 down the rope, escaping without a scratch." 



"He was known to many thousands of people in this 

 city," says the Courier, "and by many of them he was 

 tenderly loved, tor a nobler-hearted man had never made 

 Buffalo* his residence." 



'mm j§ng mtd §»mi. 



Afflrm all amvmvnimtiovB to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



Antelope and Deer of America. By J. D. Caton. 

 Price 0.&Q. Wing and Class Ball Shooting with the 

 Rifle. By W. C. Bliss. Price 50 cents. Rifle, Rod and 

 Gun in California. By T. S. Van Dyke. Price $1.50. 

 Shore Birds. Price 15 cents. Woodcraft. By "Ness- 

 muk." Price $1. Trajectories of Hunting Rifles. Price 

 50 cents. The Still-Hunter, By T. S. Van Dyke. Pr ice SS. 



EXPERIENCE IN MAINE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Having read in a late issue of your excellent journal an 

 article entitled "Big Game of "Maine," I beg leave to relate 

 my recent experience in that State with a view of get- 

 ing a glimpse of some big game. 



The section I visited lies about fifty miles northwest of 

 Moosehead Lake.and is most accessible by the way of Cana- 

 da, being only fifteen or twenty miles from the border. 

 I was at first 'much surprised to find so little game, and 

 one could travel all day without seeing any marks of 

 deer. In fact, in the country I traversed, there was not 

 more than one deer where there are six in some parts of 

 the Adirundacks. No signs of moose or car bou could be 

 found, until we had reached a point fifteen or twenty 

 miles from any public road, and even there I only saw 

 where one or two moose had been feeding a month pre- 

 vious. 



From reliable information obtained while there, I 

 learned that the guides and hunters w ho at that point live 

 in Canada, make a business of going over the border into 

 Maine on the deep snows and crusting deer and moose. 

 Especially do they range the whole country in quest of 

 moose, and kill all they can find at any season without 

 regard to law or with a view of saving anything more 

 than the skins; having lost their horns, their heads as 

 specimens are worthless. 



I could not learn that a game warden had ever visited 

 that section of country. And those so inclined felt secure 

 in killing game in any way and at any time they were 

 likely to be most successful. 



A guide told me that last winter lie caught a herd of 

 caribou on a pond playing on the ice, and killed four of 

 them, and would have killed more had they not got out 

 of his way, and that too in the close season. He admits 

 killing five caribou last year, while the law of Maine allows 

 only two. 



No one there seemed to pay any regard to game laws, 

 in fact, everybody seemed ignorant that there was any 

 law against killing game at any time. In view of all this 

 information I ceased to wonder that game was scarce in 

 that locality. 



I have a friend who, during the past fall, visited the 

 same locality with the same object in view. Judging 

 from a letter now before me he had about the same ex- 

 periences, and arrived at the same conclusions. After 

 hunting six weeks he succeeded in bagging one deer. Paid 

 his guide £60 for services, besides leaving him a good 

 winter camp, with cooking utensi 1a , and provisions enough 

 to last him all through the cru ti ig season they m ke so 

 much account of there, besides leaving $25 for other inci- 

 dendal expenses. He tcok the s iddle of his deer and 

 started for his home in New York State. 



