318 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 9, 1SS9. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



CHICAGO, May 1.— Three weeks ago, when Mr. L. K. 

 Brown was out on Mak-saw-ba marsh, he jumped a 

 mallard hen which appeared to be crippled, and which 

 fluttered oft over the reeds not very far in advance of 

 him. Mr. Brown fired at the bird with snipe shot, but 

 says that the instant he pulled the trigger he knew she 

 had a nest and was trying to lead him away from it. 

 Fortunately he did not kill her and a few moments' 

 search discovered the nest, which contained twelve eggs. 

 These eggs were taken to the house and are now under a 

 domestic hen. 



Mr. R. B. Organ says that he lately saw a female blue- 

 bill in the same marsh which was acting very much as 

 Brown's duck did, and he is satisfied she had a nest. 1 

 have never heard of the actual discovery of a bluebill 

 nest in this country, although many other ducks nest 

 on the Kankakee, especially the mallard. Mr. Henry 

 Sloan tells me that he once, by means of his hunting dog, 

 discovered four ducks' nests on this marsh in one day, 

 for a friend who wanted to raise some young wild ducks. 

 The dog pointed the nest just as he would a bird. 



Snipe shootiag goes on unabatedly, and nearly every- 

 body is getting plenty. Mr. J. A. Sliarpand a friend gbt 

 seventy in a day near Winter Valley. Mr. Joel A. Kin- 

 ney got thirty-two at Mak-saw-ba, and other bags of like 

 size have been so common that I forget them. Plover 

 and snipe have been very plentiful west of Morgan Park, 

 beyond the Sag. The birds are in wonderfully good con- 

 dition. 



We are all getting tired of shooting out here for this 

 spring, and talk turns toward the trap and the coming 

 State meets. Fishermen are growing impatient. The 

 ice is reported nearly out of Eagle Waters, ami the sea- 

 son will begin up there a month earlier this year than it 

 did last. 



I was talking the other day with a few friends prom- 

 inent in sporting circles here, and we fell upon the sub- 

 ject of an inter-State game law. All agreed that some 

 such measure was the only thing which would ever really 

 and practically solve the question of game protection. 

 "It might be called visionary," said one, "but so has 

 nearly everything else been called visionary which has 

 ranked high in the field of actual accomplishment. For 

 myself I do not see anything impossible in some such 

 project for keeping the great game markets closed at the 

 same season. Of course, an iron-clad law establishing 

 the same season throughout all the United States would 

 be impossible and undesirable; but suppose we had a 

 sort of Congress of sportsmen, delegates from the differ- 

 ent States or State associations: and suppose this Congress 

 should draft a wise and conservative measure which 

 should promise the greatest good to the greatest number; 

 suppose the close season should be established for any 

 given bird to run not between any rigid parallels, but 

 bet%veen lines which would vary as the isothermal lines 

 do, running north or south to cover the needs of any 

 certain State, but preserving a general regularity; sup- 

 pose the whole country were to be thus mapped off, and 

 each State to accept the decision of the Assembly as to 

 the game law which would be best for it and all 

 the other States, as applied to any given bird or 

 animal. Then let the other birds ' and animals be 

 taken up in the same way. For instance, let duck 

 shooting be sought to be stopped clear across the 

 country between the arbitrary lines above mentioned, 

 between certain dates. Then, after the general idea was 

 mapped out, and the definite law for each State suggested, 

 let the delegates return and let each lay before the sports- 

 mem of his State the measures thought desirable. It 

 would then be left a question of local work; and if sports- 

 men can accomplish anything at securing game legisla- 

 tion, I am sure I do not see why they could not ultimately 

 accomplish the success of such a measure, founded as it 

 would be in a general good sense. If we could do some- 

 thing like this we might be satisfied. Then we would 

 have really protected the game, and would no longer 

 hear the old selfish cry, -If we don't kill the game some 

 other State will.' I am tired of hearing that— and of 

 feeling the truth of it." 



There is enough in the above words to offer food for 

 thought, if not for action. For the truth of the main 



{dedication, that we will lose our game or form a genera] 

 awof this sort, nothing will speak so plainly and so rapidly 

 as the events of the next f ew years. It is too plain all eady 

 that the game is going-, everywhere, rapidly, unmistaka- 

 bly. He may be visionary who expects to see these States 

 forget selfishness and join in a general measure to protect 

 the game, he is far more visionary who expects to see the 

 game last under the present measures of so-called protec- 

 tion. 



The jacksnipe and plover have been giving our folks a 

 mighty good lot of fun for the past week or two, and 

 have brought into temporary vogue, at least, a little of 

 the decadent sport of upland shooting. The birds seem 

 to be pretty much all over the country, and are found by 

 nearly every party that goes out. Water Valley rt ports 

 numerous big bags, and the shoo ing at jacks must have 

 been good there this spring. Mak-saw-ba marsh also I< >oms 

 when it come to jack :nipe this spring, and nearly all the 

 shooters who have been there lately have soma account 

 to give of themselves. Mr. Wm. Mussey last Saturday 

 bagged a dozen golden plover in a desultory sort of wav, 

 while Messrs. R. B. Organ, J. A, Sharp, J. C. Hayde, 

 John Walson and another gentleman, who took the club 

 wagon and went out for plover, had a lot of fun. Mr. 

 Watson got a nice bag of snipe, Mr. Organ brought in 

 forty odd birds, golden plover, upland plover and snipe. 

 The other gentlemen of the party also did well. 



Mr. George Airey got 15 jacksnipe along the Sag last 

 Friday, and earlier in the week Mr. Charles Iglehart and 

 a friend got 42 sand snipe (gray plover) and a few goldt n 

 plover over in the same direction. On last Saturday I 

 made a flying trip over in that country, which is but four 

 or five miles west of my home, and got 10 snipe and 

 plover. I found the jacksnipe so fat they could hardly 

 fly. When they did get up" they nipped along slowly, 

 unable to utter more thau an apoplectic squeak, quite 

 unlike their usual defiant note. I found it no trouble to 

 kill ten straight. On the table the birds were the best I 

 ever tasted. The skin was underlaid with a layer of fat 

 a quarter of an inch thick. 



Mr. Wm. Pay son, alias Billy Payson, started last Mon- 

 day night for Joliet, 111., for a Whirl at the golden plover. 

 The prairies around Joliet are fairly alive with these 



birds, and two guns have made bags of 200 and 300. The 

 method of hunting is with a team, and the shooting is 

 done largely from the wagon. The birds will not often 

 allow the (-hooter to approach close enough on foot. No. 

 7 or No. 6 shot is usually found to be best, as the ducks 

 often start at 50 and 60yds. distance. This bird — known 

 as "bullhead" in the South— is a big and beautiful bird, 

 the breast being black and the back shot full of little 

 golden scales. It is by odds the best of the plover family, 

 and is usually preferred here to the jacksnipe. 



The jacksnipe had not at this writing made their 

 appearance to any great extent about Fox Lake, but they 

 are leaving the lower marshes very rapidly. Let them go. 

 We have all had fun enough out here* this spring, and 

 ought to think of seasons yet to follow. 



May %, — The wiseacres may once have been right who 

 pictured the sportsman as a lazy, ne'er-do-weel with no 

 love or energy for the ordinary work of life; but the pic- 

 tures they once drew are in sad lack of accuracy now. 

 Our best men are proud to be held sportsmen to-day. I 

 am started on this reflection by the morning paper, which 

 announces the confirmation of Col. Jas. Sexton as post- 

 master of Chicago. "Col. Jim" Sexton is one of the best 

 and heartiest sportsmen of this city, and ever since his 

 name was suggested for the place,*the boys have hoped 

 he would get it. Indeed among the boys there may have 

 been some who could help a little, for Chicago draws her 

 shooters from the best business classes. Col. Sexton is a 

 member of the Cumberland Duck Club, and it is to be 

 hoped that he will hang out at his new office a regular 

 bulletin, announcing the condition of the flight. He can 

 draw trade in that war. 



I have been interested of late in that always interesting 

 study of tracing the circulation of a big paper. I never 

 could help wondering where a big paper goes, who takes 

 it, what each subscriber looks like, what he does for a 

 living, and what is the prevailing color of the hair in bis 

 family. I have been unable to learn the color of the hair 

 of all the readers of the Forest and Stream, but I find 

 that the paper goes pretty much all over this city in its 

 weekly tide. There are, however, certain whirls and 

 eddies in this tide, wherein lurk numbers of the largest 

 and most sagacious of our sportsmen. For instaucp. I 

 learn that large numbers of Forest and Stream go into 

 our City and County building. Toe Sheriff's office, the 

 Probate Court, the Coroner's office, the Fire Department, 

 the Comptroller's office, and I doubt not many others un- 

 visited, all show goodly numbers of the paper with the 

 mist-colored back, and there seems to be a sort of con 

 tagion about the thing. The great Board of Trade build- 

 ing is another hive of sportsmen. Run a net through 

 there and you will catch a lot of shoote; s and fishers, and 

 many who have seen sport at its best in a I corners of the 

 world. Forest and Stream is as much a necessity in 

 there as the daily market report. Our big wholesale 

 houses make the next best showing. 



Such comment is apropos of nothing in particular ex- 

 cept to the bygone notions of the back-number wiseacres, 

 who will, I hope, all note it. I wish to say that if you see 

 a tall, hearty-looking man, whose clothes lit him. and 

 who tells the newsgirl on a cold day to keep the change, 

 you mostly see a mist-colored paper in his pocket; while, 

 on the other hand, if you note a" man bent and crabbed, 

 with a paralyzed umbrella, and who loses a train waiting 

 for a cent in change, you don't see any such paper in his 

 pocket. I calls no names, and I draws no lines. All I 

 have to say is, that it is plain that all good sportsmen 

 finally become happy and prosperous, while all who are 

 not such are destined to sink into a iieevish, obscure and 

 unhonored future. The moral is too plain to need any 

 further pointing than that. E. Hough. 



It Goes Everywhere.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 My hatchet, a sketch of which you kindly published Nov. 

 22, 1888, seems to be the "long felt want" of a goodly 

 number of brother sportsmen, if I may judge by the 

 number ordered from all parts of the United States, in- 

 cluding the four new sisters and the two Canadas. Per- 

 mit me to congratulate you on yo'ir widespread circu- 

 lation, and to offer as proof part of a letter received a 

 short time ago: "Pay Examiner's Office, No. 2 Koyla 

 Ghat Street, Calcutta, India, Feb. 11, 1889. * * Dear 

 Sir: I have seen the sketch of your hatchet in Forest 

 and Stream of Nov. 22, 1888, and prompted by what you 

 say in same, write to ask you to kindly favor me by 

 sending a hatchet such as you use yourself. * * From 

 the sketch I am of the opinion that it would be a most 



useful article for camp life in India. * * Signed, 



Major Calcutta Vol. Rifles." Our postal union allows 

 but 4oz. , but fortune favors the brave, and in August a 

 good missionary will leave our town for his post, Allaha- 

 bad, India, with the Major's little hatchet in his grip. I 

 find I will have to patent the hatchet to protect myself. — 

 G. A. Scroggs (Beaver, Pa., April 29). 



THE NEW JERSEY GAME LAW. 



THE new game law of New Jersey, just signed by the Governor, 

 provides: 



That hereafter it shall not he lawful for any person or persons 

 to capture, kill, or have unlawfully in possession after the same, 

 has been taken or killed, any quail, comrnoidy called partridge, 

 or any ruffed grouse, commonly called pueasants, or any raobit, 

 except only between the last day of October and the sixteenth day 

 of December in any year, under a penalty of $20 for each quail, 

 -grouse or rabbit, so taUeu, killed, or had unlawfully in possession. 



That no person or persons shad take, kill, or have unlawfully 

 in possession after the same has been taken or killed, any wood- 

 cock, except only during thumoorh of July, and alto between the 

 last nay of September and ilie sixteenth day of December in anv 

 year, unner a tenalty of £20 for each, bud so taken, billed or bad 

 unlawfully iu possession. 



Tiiat no person or persons shall take, kill or have unlawfully in 

 possession after the same has been taken and killed, any upland 

 or grass plover, except only between the last day of July and the 

 sixteenth day of December in any year; or any Wil on snipe, 

 commonly called English or gray .snipe, except only during tne 

 months of March and April, and also between the last day of 

 September ana the sixteenth day of December in any year, under 

 a penalty of $20 lor each bird so taken, killed or had unlawtullv 

 in possession. 



Tnat it shall be unlawful to take, kill or have unlawfully i n 

 possession any reed bird, rail bird or any marsh hen, except only 

 between the last day of August and the 'sixteenth day of Decem- 

 ber m any year, under a penalty of §5 for each and everv bird so 

 taken, killet', or had unlawfully in possession. 



Tnat nothing m this act shall prevent any oae, duly autborized 

 by an incoipwra'ed game protective society in this Stare, from 

 capturing alive, any quail fur the sole purpose of protecting and 

 preserving them alive during the winter months; provided the 

 birds so taken are released within the borders of the date. 



That nothing in this act shall prevent any Ijeenfced or estab- 

 lished dealer in game to dispose of such game mention, d in tins 

 act ten days after the periods therein mentioned; provided that 

 sucb game was killed within the period allowed by this act or 

 was killed and purchased outside the limits of this State.- 



That all laws now existing, relative to the preservation of game™ 

 treated of in this act, be and the same are, so far as the same are 

 mconsi.-tent v\iih i his act, hereby repealed. 



That this act shall be taktn to be a, public act, and shall tak* 

 effect immediately. 



ALBANY GAME LEGISLATION. 



ALBANY, April 29.— The Assembly Committee on name Laws! 

 has reported Mr. Hamilton's hill preventing net flsi.ing iti 

 the St. La.vr n e Lliver; als j De Peyster's Dill pro jihiu ig ike 

 running down and shooting cf buds from steam yochts; alBcj 

 Stevens's bill amending the forestry laws so that any one can x< 

 upon the forest preserve to fish and hunt. 



The Assembly bas passed McAdams'sbill prohibiting the spring! 

 shooting of ducks and geese through ibe State; also Mr. Stevens'si 

 bill for the protection of shad and i taer tish in thw Delaware! 

 Kiver; also Mr. Tread way's amendments to the game laws. 



FISHING NEAR NEW YORK. 



IV.— THE FISHING BANKS. 



ALL along the Atlantic coast there are stretches om 

 shallow water several miles out into the ocean I> 

 which are called '-banks,'' and on tbe.-e hanks most of the! 

 bi^ sea fish are caught which are sold in tliecity markets,* 

 Off the New Jersey coast from Seabright south these §< 

 banks are comparatively near the mainland, and thf 

 shallow water is dotted every day during the open sea- 

 son with the boats of the professional fishermen who sup- 

 ply the New York market. If the New Yorker wants ici 

 fish on these New Jersey banks he can often get the Seal 

 bright fishermen to permit him to accompany them. T<] 

 reach Seabright take the Sandy Hook boats from Pier ?• 

 North River, foot of Rector street, and from Sandy Hooi 

 pier the trains of the New Jersey Southern Railroac 

 (round trip lare $1.33) to Seabright. Another way o. 

 reaching the New Jersey banks is to go to As bury Park 

 via Central R. R. of New Jersey, or Pennsylvania R. R: 

 (round trip fare §1.50). From the fishing pier at Asbur^ 

 Park there are during the summer several sloops whiol 

 make daily trips to the fishing banks, charging pas&T 

 engers fifty cents apiece, bait not included. 



From New Yoik there are two steamers which maka 

 regular trips to the New Jersey batiks and those off Fird 

 Island, on the southern shore of Long Island. The§« 

 latter are about twelve miles distant from the main;] 

 land, and the mean depth of the water over them M 

 fourteen fathoms, or 84ft. The Angler, Cjpt. Al Foster;) 

 is a double iron and steel hulled steamer, whose pier is aij 

 the foot of East Twenty-first street, East River; and thA 

 other Fishing Banks steamer is the famous old f^heimaajl 

 J. B. Schuyler, Haucox captain, Henry Beebe pilofcl 

 whose pier is at the foot of East Twenty- third street, Eas« 

 River. These boats begin ninning to the hanks early itlj 

 May each year, and continue until the weather is so coldl 

 that no fisherman is brave enough to sit out on deck anM 

 dangle a line. 



The principal fish caught now on the Cholera Banks! 

 are codfish, which run up to 201bs. and over in weighBl 

 The average will weigh perhaps 10 or 121bs. One dajl 

 last week the Angler's passengers took 139 codfish and hadM 

 dock, another day they took 80, and on Sunday of tkut| 

 week they made the biggest catch of the season thus fan 

 257. Besides codfish some smaller fish are now takem 

 and great lobsters are caught on every trip. Conger eeif 

 are plenty and easily caught. They weigh from 2 m 

 olbs. Blackfish w-ere caught last Sunday running from a 

 to 41bs, in weight, and later in the season they will 

 taken weighing as high as 10 or 12lbe. One codfisheau; 

 from the Angler last Sunday weighed 4llbs. 



The summer fish begin running in late June, and acq 

 caught until late iu November. The fluke is common inL 

 July, and averages lOibs. Sea bass begin biting in latfl 

 June or early Jmy. Tney weigh from fib. to i21bs., anOT 

 are excellent for boiling and for chowd crs. They pjssessMj 

 a very la rge mouth, so that by the time one of theni isl 

 hauled from the bottom to the "surface of the water he ism 

 generally almost drowned. Big porgies, weighing 2 otfl 

 3ibs., are also taken on the banks in summer, ami largw 

 blue fish and weakfish are caught from small boa&H 

 anchored at a distance from the steamer. The fish mosS 

 caught of all, perhaps, is the bergall, or cunner. He isSB 

 bold biter and a fine table fish, but is a small fell nv, sehi 

 dom weighing over a pound. He also possesses a numben 

 of sharp spines, whicu inflict painful wounds to tha 

 hands if caution is not used. 



The line for banks fishing must be a long one, and tha 

 angler carrying his own tackle with him had best ba 

 prepared with a number of assorted sizes of hooks and 

 sinkers. Most of the fishermen me a handline, but thi^ 

 best sport is obtained with a rod and reel. The sinker is 

 tied on the end of the line, and is allowed to rest near the 

 bottom while fishing, three and sometimes four hooks on 

 wire snells being tied at intervals of Sin. apait above ife 

 Clams are the bait most used for fishing on the b inks, 

 except for blackfish, the latter being caught with fid.- _ 

 diets. But and tackle are always kept for hire on the 

 fishing steamers and meals can be procured on board.' 

 There are also staterooms for tho-e who are seasick, andJ 

 on rough days they are nearly ail occupied. 



The steamer J. B. Schuyler runs now to the Cholera 

 Banks every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. During! 

 the summer her days of saUing may be changed, but hei^ 

 trips are always advertised in the daily newspapers. Shfr 

 leaves her pier at E ist Twenty-third street at 7:30 A. M.,,' 

 Peck Slip at 8 A. M., and foot of Franklin street, North { 

 Kiver, at 8:30 A. M. The time for returning varies, btirq 

 she is expected at her uptown pier at 6 P. M. or toon 

 after. The fare for the round trip is GO cents, or if W. 

 party of fi ve is made up a "club rate" of 50 cents is 

 charged. The latter is aLo the fare for ladies. Clam' 

 bait is sold aboard the Schuyler at 5 cents a "bunch," a' 

 bunch being five to seven clams hung on a string. All', 

 sorts of eatables can be bought on board, and there is a 

 "grdl room" where anglers can have their fish broiled as- 

 soon as they are caught. Tackle can be hired at a reason-, 

 able rate, or purchased outright at the ruling city ret-iilj 

 piices. The Schuyler cirries, besides her two life -boats,, 

 two rowboats for the accommodation of those who wish* 

 to "chum" for bluetish or catch weakfish. One of these 

 boats holds twelve, the other eight, and seats are sold aft 

 $1 each aboaid them. The fishing aboard the steamer is- 1 

 done from the rails on both decks. As there is such a 

 crowd of fishermen aboard, especially on Sundays, lines 

 sometimes become tangled and many cuss words are said. 

 The best point of vantage from which to cast your line is 



