166 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



|Maech 17, 1887. 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST BRUIN.! 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Inclosed find as interesting and original letter from an 

 old hunter in the Alleghany Mountains, Pennsylvania. 

 Being from the pen of a whole-souled, weather-beaten 

 lover of the forest, it will be of interest to all readers of 

 your valuable paper who have come in contact with these 

 'simple children of nature. E. H. B. 



Palatka, Florida, March 6. 



Beockport, Feb. 19.— Friend Ed: I made myself a 

 good knapsack yesterday, and packed it with the inten- 

 tion of going to Camp Bowers this morning, but it is 

 Taining and freezing as it comes down, so I thought I 

 would put in the time writing to an old friend. I want 

 you to take your memorandum and put down the num- 

 bers and names and locations of my bear pens, then you 

 will understand what I may write hereafter. Wal and I 

 took the old mare out and killed her on the left of the 

 road at the top of the Perry Kelts hill. Then we built 

 pen No. 1 near by and named it "Newhouse." Last 

 Thursday G. Himes and I went out and built pen No. 2 

 on the divide between the head of Packard Run and Wal- 

 burn Run and named it "Qalaniity," Friday we built 

 pen No. 8 at the head of Rock Shanty Run and named 

 it "Old George" in honor of our old friend. When it 

 quits raining Wal and I are going over to build pen No. 

 4 below our "shanty, near the laurel and big rocks before 

 you get to the coon rocks, and we will wait for a name 

 from you for that pen. Pen No. 5 we intend to build on 

 the other side of the coon rocks, near the head of Cow- 

 ard's Bend Run, and name it the "Boss." Then George 

 and I are going over to build one on Long Point, between 

 the branches of Walburn. I intend to make a double- 

 barreled pen of that and call it the "Double-header,'" and 

 put in a partition and two lids. I will have three pens to 

 look at when I go over and three coon traps. I expect to 

 hear waf-fah-waf-fali. I have four double springs to 

 take over next time. I will set tln-ee of them under that 

 coon rock. I am bound to have revenge. There is a bear 

 perambulating the woods that makes a track longer than 

 Old Burchfteld. I call him Moccasin-foot. George and I 

 have each ordered a genuine Newhouse bear trap, and 

 old Moccasin-foot will feel the close embrace of one of 

 them, or I am fooled. 



I have made one lick and will make five more. When 

 I get back from the woods I will write again. If you 

 should take a notion to come up and have a time, write 

 and I will have everything ready for a good time. 



I think spring has come to stay. Pigeons are flying; 

 chipmonks (chipmucks) are out, and the bluebirds are 

 here. When George and I were over building pens there 

 was snow in the willows and none on the hills near camp, 

 for we struck three coon tracks (an unlucky number, I 

 think, Ed), and followed them on to Coon Ridge, where 

 the snow played out, but we found a poplar tree (of 

 course the largest one in the woods) directly on their line 

 of march, that had been used for years. *We threw off 

 our coats and hats and went to work with a will. The 

 tree was frozen hard clear tlnough, but I chopped while 

 George puffed and blowed, and George chopped while I 

 sweat, puffed and blowed. Just before the tree was 

 ready to fall George cut a club, cleared the way and 

 squared himself, with blood in his eye. ready to make 

 short work of at least three coons. The tree cracked and 

 started, crashing through the smaller trees to the ground, 

 and when the old monarch struck the frozen ground the 

 slivers flew in every direction. In an instant George was 

 in the top and— well, there is one consolation about it, 

 that old porcupine will never fool another man. 



Well, dinner is ready and I will close for the present, 

 hoping this has found you well and prospering. Write to 

 Yours, as ever, Jacob Fields. 



PACKING A DEER. 



THE article on deer packing in a recent issue reminds 

 me of personal experience in that line, and suggests 

 an account of a method perhaps superior to that given. 

 Years ago the writer made one of a party that passed a 

 very pleasant week or two in hunting and fishing along 

 the St. John's River in Florida. We sailed when" it was 

 possible, made an ash breeze when it was not, stopped 

 here and there along shore, shot an occasional 'gator, 

 lunched beneath the umbrellas of the palmcttoes, pulled 

 in, hand over hand, the unwilling bass as he threw the 

 spray from his wide open mouth, chokingly protesting 

 against such violent compulsion, now and then stopped a 

 duck in his swift journey to better feeding grounds, and 

 in one way and another passed the days in a very enjoy- 

 able manner. Neither counting room, counter nor office 

 pointed a warning finger at us, and we were due at the 

 wharf whence we started, on our return, and not a mo- 

 ment sooner. There was great satisfaction in that. 



Arriving one day at a point where we intended looking 

 for deer, we tied up in a little bayou and marched forth 

 across the prairie that stretched from the river a mile or 

 two to the hamak whose dark green wall rose in a long- 

 line from right to left. Passing through this f ringe a few 

 score yards we came to a beautiful savannah sentineled 

 here and there by towering pines and dotted occasionally 

 by patches of scrub palmetto, just the place for deer. 

 Before we had made the tour of this promising field, a 

 fat doe sprang from her well-concealed nest in the pal- 

 mettoos, and with gaily defiant wave of her flag, bounded 

 away only to tumble in a struggling heap at the crack of 

 the gun. * And this is the way we prepared her for pack- 

 ing: The bones of the forelegs were taken out from knee 

 to foot, leaving the foot on the skin. Bones of the hind- 

 legs were tied together, and putting one arm and the 

 head through the loop so formed, as the soldier carries his 

 blanket in a roll, the doe was backed and carried nicely, 

 disemboweled, of course. O. O. S." 



Present and Future. Is the Yellowstone Park going 

 to be saved to the people for generations to come, with 

 all its wonders, mountain streams, fauna and flora? If 

 not Forest and Stream is not to blame. And be the 

 man hanged on ten thousand kites that gives his vote to 

 desecrate it. If that day ever comes I hope nature will 

 revenge herself by tinning the Niagara up stream and 

 emptying the waters of the Great Lakes by the way of 

 the bayous of the Mississippi into the salt-water gulf. 

 Strong" talk, but I want others after me to smell the for- 

 ests, paddle the streams and go a fishing and hunting. 

 Big and best medicine. Fresh air, sunlight and out-of- 

 door sports.— Dr. E. S. 



Powder and Wads.— Charlestown, N. H., March 12. — 

 I note "J. M. W.'s" letter of March 2, and am glad to find 

 that we agree about wadding and penetration. I cer- 

 tainly should have expected just the results he got, but 

 as 1 wrote am sorry that he did not try both 3 and 2 wads 

 on 2|drs. of powder. The snow here was knee deep when 

 I last wrote, but we have had 20in. more since, and loco- 

 motion outdoors is practically impossible, except in the 

 middle of the main road, or in the ditches which have 

 been opened out by snow plows and shovels up the village 

 side walks, fairly covering the fences on either hand. I 

 will endeavor to make some penetration tests next season, 

 but can say now that I fully agree with him as to the ex- 

 cellent qualities of Hazard's electric or ducking powders, 

 which I use myself for the little shooting I do nowadays. 

 I do not see that it is at all inferior to the Curtis and Har- 

 vey, which I was taught by "Frank Forester" forty years 

 ago was the only powder worth shooting with. I have 

 also found Dupont's Eagle Ducking very excellent. I do 

 not think the Hazard Company put up an "eagle" brand, 

 and the "orange" powder is made by the Rand & Laflin 

 Powder Company, of Westfield, Mass. I wish "J, M. W." 

 would try the wads I mentioned, viz. , one pink or black 

 edge and one thick merino felt on the powder, and a card 

 board on the shot. I think the thick elastic felt expands 

 so as to fill the barrels and give a better result than a mul- 

 titude of thinner hard wads. If he will do this and com- 

 pare the result with the trials which he has already given, 

 the notes will be of value, and judging from the present 

 appearance of this part of the world, he will lie able to do 

 it at least two months before I shall have an opportunity. 

 I also think that with such wadding he will get a high 

 degree of penetration with only 2'drs. of powder, as I 

 have used that quantity with very good results for many 

 years, but the powder had to be good. — Von W. 



A Camp on the Cass.— Dr. E. Sterling, of Cleve- 

 land, O., sends us a sketch with this note: This is a 

 rough sketch from memory of a hunting camp on Cass 

 River, Tuscola county, Mich., where O. H. Perry (uncle 

 of Mrs. Whitney, wife of Secretary Navy Whitney) and 

 myself, from 1853 to 1880, spent the best clays of the year, 

 especially in "Indian summer days" to mid-December, 

 finding what the primeval forests produced, and killing 

 game only as we wanted it for our lunch and now and 

 then for some renagade Ottawas that camped eight miles 

 above us up the river. The land then the State Surveyors 

 called "swamp sand," and valued at 12cts. an acre. Now 

 it is a settled country, and will average. $30 an acre. 

 Forest, deer, elk, bears, porcupines, buffalo, grouse, 

 squirrels of three kinds, all gone. Villages have taken 

 their place. By the way, our Oliver H. Perry was a 

 grand-nephew of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry of 

 Lake Erie naval battle fame, the only officer on a water 

 fight that ever captured all the vessels and crow of the 

 enemy.— Dr. E. St erling-. 



Winchendon, Mass., March 12.— The Winchendon fox 

 hunters have been quite successful this winter in captur- 

 ing foxes, coons and other animals, whose fur is sought 

 for in the market. The record of foxes of each of the 

 quartette is as follows: Chester T. Houghton 24, Marcus 

 M. Houghton 17, Henry H. Lawrence 5, and Wayland 

 Phillips 5. ' 



A Swimming Squirrel.— A Kittery, Me., correspondent, 

 "F. B. C," relates that the game taken during a day's trip to 

 Chases' Pond, in upper York, included woodduck, ruffed 

 grouse, sandpipers and a gray squirrel which was shot 

 while it was swimming in the pond 50yds. from store. 



Snipe.— Princeton, N. J., March lb— On March 3 noted 

 five kildeer snipe. March 5 three more snipe, variety un- 

 known. March 10 two robins in apparently fine con- 

 dition.— T. R. 



THE NEW YORK GAME LAW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The communication of Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, in your issue 

 of 10th inst., on July woodcock shooting, is noticed with regret 

 upou his own account, as well as in general reference to the sub- 

 ject. Regret because it is supposed he is one of the fish commis- 

 sioners, and ought to be sure of being correct before making such 

 an assertion as that ''woodcock go south in August, etc.," as au 

 excuse for the July killing, this bird so rapidly being depleted by 

 the increasing "summer resort" demand. It is felt lie will regret 

 putting himself on record over his own signature, as inserting so 

 incorrect a statement, and justifying this practice in defiance of 

 the general opinion of true sportsmen, as tending to extinction 

 of the species. Sportsmen acquainted with the habits of this 

 bird well know the contrary of the assertion; that they migrate 

 about the same time as robins. Coming about the same time in 

 the spring and going about the same time in the fall. The autumn 

 migration is during the October full moon, thence moving gradu- 

 ally southward, depending in progress upou the severity or sud- 

 denness of approaching frosts. Provious to going, when swamps 

 become flooded, they move to Irish ground near by and gather in 

 the best feeding spots. 



That they leave their nest the instant they are out of their shells 

 is true, but they are carried by the parent only to the feeding 

 ground in the vicinit y, and which is seldom their breeding place. 

 In dry t'me they move to moist places for better feed, and in heavy 

 rains move to cornfields, hopyards and the like, where the rain 

 brings worms to the surface. In August moulting they are sickly, 

 feeble and dumpish, and resort to hiding among thick ferns or 

 weeds, when they more often hide than fly, and when forced to fly 

 often go not over a rod or two. A few' years ago, when change 

 was made from July 4 to Aug. 1, this same notion was advanced by 

 a State senator, that woodcock left his county in September, as a 

 reason against Sept. 1. It has since then been (dearly proved thai 

 the best hags were made in That county late in October. 



As to their July size, the parent bird is doubtless about the same 

 as in October, and probably this is what the gentleman kills in 

 July, while her young are hidden under some rotten log, bog or 

 root, helpless and unable to fly. The writer has seen parent birds 

 carrying young upon their backs to bide as late as July 27, and found 

 and handled the young one so hidden, a mere chick in down without 

 feathers. These are stunning facts for those who favor turning 

 the pot-hunter loose in breeding time to gratify the clamor of 

 ''watering place" guests with more money than sense. It is enough 

 to say that the more conscientious and best informed sportsmen 

 so far met, favor Sept. 1 as the proper time in common with part- 

 ridge. Not one such lias been found to favor July. Such are those 

 probably referred to as "weak-backed dudes," as if that, would 

 adorn the dignified office or help the Roosevelt bill. 



The complete copy of that bill shows its origin out of similar 

 notions as the woodcock scheme. It purports to be a codification 

 of existing law. Examination shows nothing but what is much 

 clearer and better expressed in existing Ja w, while a good codifi- 

 cation is extant already. Closer scrutiny discloses important pro- 

 visions wholly omitted, and that every change made points in the 

 one direction of nullifying the benefits of existing Jaw. it has 

 scai'cely a provision that pot-hunters and marketmen may not 

 throw their hats through. As samples; Sale of venison until 

 March 1, means inducement to crust deer; deer killed and con- 

 sumed in the woods is practically a permit to all fishing and hunt- 

 ing parties to kill all they please. "Out of the State venison may 

 be had, sold, etc.," but. who will prove where any piece of venison 

 was killed? Trout fishing to commence March l,when scarcely 

 through spawning. As Seth Green says, he has taken spawn as 

 late as April 1. The Gin. trout law, "catch and k111,\' is equally 

 meaningless, as it allows them to be kept alive in "private reser- 

 voirs" by thousands, one of the very things the law was aimed to 

 remedy and prevent depletion. The above are only a few of its 



many bad feature, so bad it cannot be modified. Outside of its 

 authors the general sentiment is unanimous in its condemnation so 

 far as any expression has been heard. John D. Collins, Sec. 

 Utica Fish and Game Protective Association, Utica, N. Y., 

 MaTch 1. 



Editor' Forest and Stream: 



Considerable exception is taken in this locality to the Roosevelt 

 biil in Albany. Our principal game here is the lordly grouse, 

 which all should like to see protected as much as possible. The 

 bill, should it become a law, although it shortens the season, will 

 not afford as much protection as the present. As it is large bags 

 ca nriot be made in September or until the leaves fall, and this con- 

 nected with the hot weather prevents market-hunters from get- 

 ting enough together at a time to pay to ship to market. I think 

 if the season is to be shortened, December should not be included 

 in open season. When winter sets in early a great many birds are 

 killed this month while budding, and should the time of selling be 

 extended to Feb. 15, birds would be killed this way in defiance of 

 the law. If there is need of time beyond the time of killing for 

 selling, 15 days would he plenty for dealers to unload. 



BlNGHAMTON, N. Y. FAIR PLAT. 



In the New York Assembly, Hadley, of Franklin county, has 

 introduced a bill making the open seasons as follows, dates inclu- 

 sive: Deer, Aug. lti-Oet. 31 (sale of venison Nov. 1-Feb. 23); wild- 

 fowl, Oct. 2-March 31; quail, pinnated, ruffed and spruce grouse, 

 hare, rabbit, gray and black squirrels, woodcock Oct. 1-Dec. 31 

 (grouse in Adirondacks, Sept. 1-Dec. 81.); trout, salmon April 1- 

 Aug. 31 (in Adirondacks, May 1-Sept. 14; on Long Island, April 1- 

 Aug. 14 1 ; black bass, musoalonge, pike, perch, June 1-Dec. 31 

 (with exceptions). 



A RAILROAD TO COOKE CITY. 



A Bill 



Granting to the Rocky Fork and Cooke City Railway Company 

 the right of way through a part of the Crow Indian Reserva- 

 tion, in Monl ana Territory. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

 United States of America in Congress assembled, That the right 

 is hereby granted, as hereinafter set forth, to the Rocky Fork and 

 Cooke City Railway Company, a corporation organized ana existing 

 under the laws of the Territory of Montana, for the construction, 

 operation, and maintenance or its railroad through the lands set. 

 apart for the use of the Crow Indians, and commonly known as 

 the Crow Indian Reservation, beginning at a point at or near 

 Laurel, in Yellowstone County, Montana Territory running thence 

 by the most practical route to or near the mouth of Rock Creek, 

 commonly called Rocky Fork; thence up said creek to the coal 

 mines near Red Lodge Post-Office, in Gallatin County, in said 

 Territory; thence by the most practicable route to Cooke City, in 

 said Gallatin County. 



Sbc. 2. That the right of way hereby granted to said company 

 shall be seventy-five feet in width on each side of the central line 

 of said railroad as aforesaid; and said company shall also have the 

 right to take from said lands adjacent to the. line of said road 

 material, stone, earth, and timber necessary for the construction 

 of said railroad; also ground adjacent to said right, of way for 

 station buildings, depots, machine sliops, side tracks, turnouts and 

 water-stations, not to exceed in amount three hundred feet in 

 width and three thousand feet in length for each station, to the 

 extent of one station for each ten miles of its road. 



SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the 

 Interior to fix the amount of compensation to be paid the 

 Indians for such right, of way, and provide the time and 

 manner for the payment thereof; but no right of any kind shall 

 vest in said railroad company in or to any part of the right 

 of way herein provided for until plats thereof, made upon 

 actual survey for the definite location of such railroad, and 

 including the points for station buildings, depots, machine shops, 

 side tracks, turnouts and water stations, shall be iiled with and 

 approved by the Secretary of the Interior, which approval shall 

 be made in writing and be open for the inspection of any party 

 interested therein, and until the compensation aforesaid has been 

 fixed and paid; and the surveys, construction aud operation of 

 such railroad shall be. conducted with due regard for the rights of 

 the Indians, and in accordance with such rules and regulations as 

 the Secretary of the Interior may make to carry out this pro- 

 vision: Provided, That the President of the United States may, 

 in his discretion, require that the consent of the Indians to said 

 right of way shall be obtained by said railroad company, in sucli 

 manner as he may proscribe, before any right under this act shall 

 accrue to said company. 



Seo. 4. That said company shall not assign, or transfer, or mort- 

 gage this riglit of way for any purpose whatever until said road 

 shall be completed through that part of said reservation througli 

 which it shall be constructed: Provided, That the company maj 

 mortgage said franchise, together with the rolling stock, for 

 money to construct and complete said road: And provided further. 

 That the right granted herein shaU be lost and forfeited by said 

 company unless the road is constructed and in running order 

 through said reservation on said line within two years from the 

 passage of this act: And provided further. That no part of said 

 line shall touch any portion of the National Park. 



Sec. 5. That said railway company shall accept this right of way 

 upon the expressed condition, binding upon itself, its successors 

 aud assigns, that they will neither aid, advise nor assist in nuy 

 effort looking toward the changing or extinguishing the present 

 tenure of the Indians in their land, and will not attempt to secure 

 from the Indian tribes any further grant of land or its occupancy 

 than is hereinbefore provided: Provided, That any violation of 

 the condition mentioned in this section shall operate as a forfeit- 

 ure of all the rights and privileges of said railway company under 

 this act. 



Sf.c. 0. That Congress may at any time amend, add to, alter, or 

 repeal this act. 

 Sec. 7. That this act shall be in force from its passage. 



"FROM THE FORECASTLE TO THE CABIN." 



"VTOW that the merchant marine of America is, like its navy, 

 x\ almost a thing of the past, a glorious memory, it is most im- 

 portant that this memory of its past greatness be preserved, in the 

 hopes that it may keep alive a feeling t hat will in the future im- 

 pel! our legislators to do what those of the present and the im- 

 mediate past have so woefully neglected. Foremost among the 

 vessels of the past, when American ships were commanded by 

 American sailors, were the Liverpool packets, which, for a time, 

 made a brave though hopeless tight against the use of steam on 

 the seas aud rivaled in speed the earlier steamers. Of all these 

 none has become so famous as the Dreadnought, and none among 

 American skippers is so well fitted to tell the story of a seaman's 

 life as her captain. Who Captain Samuels is need not be told, his 

 fame, is known to all who are at all concerned in American yacht- 

 ing or shipping, but the story of his long and useful life is less 

 widely known. Those who would know more of it will find much 

 that is exciting and interesting in the book "From the Forecastle 

 to the Cabin," which has just appeared from the press of Harper 

 & Bros. Going to sea at. the age of 11 in the orthodox manner, by 

 running away from a stepmother, Captain Samuels saw the rise, 

 the long period of prosperity, and the decline of the American 

 merchant marine, and experienced all the fearful vicissitudes of 

 the common sailor's life before rising to the high positions that he 

 has since occupied. What he went through is told in plain and 

 simple language and in a manner that carries the impress of truth 

 though some of the occurrences arc as exciting and wonderful as 

 any sea novel. While by no means a boy's book it is a book that 

 every boy who wishes to run away to sea should read with his 

 regular course of Marryat before he packs to leave home. 



There are plenty of interesting and exciting sea tales, thanks to 

 Ccoper, Marryat and Michael Scott, and there are a few more 

 serious and reliable records of sea life, foremost among which 

 will always stand Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast." Between 

 these two, Captain Samuel's book •will find a lasting place, com- 

 bining the life and incident of the works of fiction with the more 

 permanent and important facts of a sailor's life with its many 

 hardships, and also of the glories of a fleet, now passed away, 

 that Americans should always hold iu remembrance. 



A violent cough continued through the winter often brings 

 consumption in the spring. Soothe and tone the irritated and 

 weakened lungs with Hale's Honey of Horehound and Tar, and 

 the cough yields and the danger disappears. Pike's Toothache 

 Drops cure in one minute.— Ad v. 



Messrs. L. W. Ferdinand & Co., 267 Federal street, Boston, 

 whose advertisement appears in another column, announce a new 

 and complete catalogue of fittings for yachts and canoes, Intend- 

 ing purchasers might do well to see it.— Adv. 



The Travelers, of Hartford, does not have to pass the hat to 

 pay its bills; it. has $8,055,000 assets and $2,089,000 surplus.— Adv* 



