BIO 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 11, 1889. 



O'DONN ELL'S NOTE. 



TDEING passionately fond of squirrel hunting, I made 

 JD arrangements to* camp out up in the wilds of Lick- 

 ing Creek for a two-weeks' hunt. The party consisted of 

 Sheriff Shivery, Wm. Brown, Gus Wright, Henry Diem 

 and myself. We had a large tent, llxl4ft., and plenty 

 of provisions and ammunition, and for two weeks gave 

 ourselves up to solid enjoyment, during which time we 

 shot all the squirrels and ruffed grouse we could use in 

 camp; and each one brought a mess home. My son 

 Charles requested us to leave our tent, cooking untensils, 

 v etc., when we came home, as he and a few of his friends 

 wanted to spend a week hunting after our return. We 

 left everything in camp for them on our return, but 

 when their party was ready to start all had backed out 

 excepting Charley and Levi Goshen, who determined to 

 go alone. After hunting three days, Goshen, who was 

 tax collector, suddenly remembered that he had ap- 

 pointed Thursday to collect his tax, so he took his gun 

 and hunted home, leaving Charley alone in camp. When 

 Goshen told me on his return that Charley was in camp 

 alone, I hired Ed. Gushart to go up and stay with him 

 until 1 sent a team for the tent. 



There was a teamster who hauled ties from up Licking 

 Creek to the railroad, and Gushart made arrangements 

 to go along with him as far as he went. About nine 

 miles up Licking Creek lived John O'Donnell, who had 

 a note due in the bank at Mifflin, and the cashier sent 

 word by the teamster to O'Donnell that unless his note 

 was paid that day it would go to protest. The teamster 

 and Gushart started about 2 o'clock in the morning, and 

 consequently arrived at O'Donnell's before daylight. 

 When the teamster called O'Donnell, he was informed 

 that he had started a short time before to go up the creek 

 about two miles to salt some cattle — there were several 

 hundred young cattle turned out to pasture, and it was 

 O'Donnell's business to attend to them. When the team- 

 ster had driven about a mile he stopped his team and 

 hallooed, something like this, "Ho! John, ho! John;" and 

 about this time a large owl down along the creek answered, 

 Wlwo! whoo! The teamster being somewhat deaf, sup- 

 posed it was O'Donnell, and at the top of his voice 

 shouted, "Your note will go to protest if it is not paid 

 to-day." Directly the owl answered as before, Whoo! 

 whoo! whoo! In a still louder tone the teamster again 

 shouted, "Your note is due and will go to protest unless 

 you pay it to-day." Thereupon Gushart, nearly choking 

 with laughter, told him he was talking to an owl, which 

 so angered him that he replied, "Curse the owl, let 

 O'Donnell attend to his own business," and drove on. 

 And from that day to this, whenever I hear a large owl 

 hoot, I think of the owl's note going to protest. 



Sancho Panza. 

 MrfFiJN'JowN, Pa. 



A Tube Bullet.— Mr. A. Weed, of Tarrytown, N. Y. 

 has been flying in the face of tradition in the matter of 

 rifle bullets, and has prepared a bolt bullet in which he 

 leaves an opening down its entire length. He has made 

 them of several calibers, .38, .40 and .45, and in each case 

 the work has been of the best sort. The front of the 

 bullet is cut square off, and the forward end slightly 

 countersunk; an opening of about one-third the diameter 

 is then carried down the center of the bolt, leaving a 

 heavy tube of about the same weight as the ordinary 

 bullet. When fired it is found to fly with a very low 

 trajectory, and when hitting any hard substances, as a 

 plank, the hole cut is clean and neat in outline, but when 

 fired into a log, and the log is split for examination, the 

 superior destructive powers of the new bullet are at once 

 shown. It mushrooms, but even more than or as much 

 as the hollow point bullet, and on game of a large sort it 

 is claimed that the stopping power of the new bullet is 

 unexcelled. Mr. Weed expresses a willingness to supply 

 a few of these bullets, without cost, to the readers of 

 the Forest and Stream who may care to test them on 

 game. ' 



The Woodcock's Whistle.— Cookstown, Ont.— I was 

 not aware, until seeing a printed note the other day, that 

 it is a mooted question as to how the sharp whistle is 

 made by the woodcock when he rises. I thought that 

 it was understood by all woodcock shooters that this noise 

 is made by the wings of the bird. If any one who doubts 

 this will examine the russet woodcock he kills he will 

 find three strong, narrow feathers on the outside of each 

 wing. It is the rapid motion of these feathers through 

 the air that produces the whistling noise when the wood- 

 cock rises. In proof of this let any sportsman interested 

 inthis question go out during the month of August, when 

 these birds are moulting. Among some of the birds that 

 he will flush a few will rise making no whistling noise at 

 all; let him shoot these birds, and he will find on exam- 

 ing their wings that they have lost the three narrow 

 feathers on the outside of each wing, which feathers 

 have as yet not grown again.— H. B. N. 



Deer in the Adirondacks.— New York, July 3.— 

 The Adirondack Preserve Association's headquarters are 

 in Essex county. We are pleased to be able to inform 

 you that from advices we get from our members who 

 are now at the club house there are very good prospects 

 for the coming deer season. It is an undoubted fact that 

 this game has of late very much increased, and a letter 

 from one of our members, received to-day, states that 

 within the last two weeks seventeen have been seen in 

 the day time, and in one case our member paddled up to 

 within 20ft. of a fine buck on Mink Lake one afternoon. 

 I mention this as evidence of our efforts in the carrying 

 out of the provisions of the game laws of the State, and 

 we feel very hopeful that with the continued assistance 

 of the residents the old cry of "No deer in the Adiron- 

 dacks," will not be heard. Our lakes show no diminution 

 of trout, the largest taken this season was of 3|lbs. in 

 weight.— J. G. Case, Secretary. 



Yellowstone National Park, July 1.— There are at 

 this date a few over 150 tourists in the Park. Since June 

 1 the Transportation Company have carried nearly seven 

 hundred people. Camping parties are coming in slowly. 

 Traveling with teams, they spend much more time in 

 the Park than the average tourist. Mr. Ed. Wilson, the 

 Government scout, on a recent trip saw two bands of 

 buffalo that together made seventy-five. With one of 

 these bands he counted twelve young calves. No par- 

 ticular effort was made to count a larger number, as the 



buffalo were partly in the timber. Mr. Wilson was care- 

 ful not to disturb them. They are on their summer 

 range and where they are protected from hunters. — H. 



The Long Island Shore Bird Season opened yester- 

 day. 



m Ht\d $ivqr fishing. 



NEW YORK FISH LAWS. 



THE last Legislature enacted laws, of which ahstracts are 

 given: 



Chap. i97— Sec. L Section 840 of the Penal Code is hereby 

 amended by inserting immediately after the eleventh subdivi- 

 sion thereof a new subdivision as follows: 12. Takes or attempts 

 to take, without the consent of the owner of any lake or pond, 

 any fish from the waters thereof, provided such lake or pond is 

 so situated that fish cannot pass therein from the waters of any 

 other lake, pond or stream, either public or owned by other per- 

 sons; or, without the consent of the owner of any such lake or 

 pond, places therein any piscivorous fish or any poison or other 

 substance injurious to the health of fish, or lets the waters out 

 of any such lake or pond, with intent to take fish therefrom or 

 to harm fish therein. 



Chap. 512.— Sec. Lit shall be unlawful for any person to kill, 

 or catch any fish, except minnows, in that part of Lake Ontario 

 commonly called Fair Haven Bay, or that part of Lake Ontario 

 commonly called the pond, immediately east of Fair Haven Bay, 

 which is hereby declared public waters, or in that part of Lake 

 Ontario lying between the parallels of longitude formed by the 

 east and west boundary lines of Cayuga county, and within two 

 miles of the shore, or in Sodus Creek, within two miles of its 

 mouth, in any way or manner, or by any device whatever ex- 

 cept that of hook and line, and it shall be unlawful for any per- 

 son to have in his or their possession, any fish excepting min- 

 nows, which have been taken from any of such waters, contrary 

 to the provisions of this act. 



Chap. 550.— Sec. L No person shall at any time kill in Glen 

 Lake, formerly known as Long Pond in the town of Queensbury, 

 Warren county, or take from the waters thereof, or from the 

 waters of the inlets or creeks emptying into the same, any fish 

 of any kind, by any device or means whatever, otherwise than 

 by hook and line or rod held in the hand. 



Sec. 3. No person shall have in his or her possession at any time 

 in or upon the ice or waters of Glen Lake, Warren county, any 

 trap or net, stake poles, spear, instrument or device of any kind 

 whatever, which may be used for killing or taking fish, except a 

 hook and line. 



Sec. 3. No person shall catch or kill any black bass, or Oswego 

 bass, in the waters of Glen Lake, AVarren county, between Jan. 1 

 and July 10 of any year. No person shall catch, kill or expose 

 for sale, or have in his or her possession after the same has been 

 killed, any black bass or Oswego bass from the waters of Glen 

 Lake, weighing less than ^&lb., or less than 8in. in length from 

 end of snout to end of caudal fin, at any time, nor catch, kill, or 

 expose for sale after the same has been killed, any black bass, or 

 Oswego bass weighing less than J^lb. or less than Sin. from end 

 of snout to end of caudal fin, at any time. No person shall ex- 

 pose for sale or have in his or her possession, after the same has 

 been killed, any black bass or Oswego bass, save only from July 

 10 to Jan. 1, nor shall any person catch or kill or attempt to 

 catch or kill any bullheads in the waters of Glen Lake, Warren 

 county, or in the waters of any of the creeks or inlets emptying 

 into the same between April 1 and July 1 in any year. Nor shall 

 any person catch or kill any pickerel in the waters of Glen Lake, 

 Warren county, between Feb. 15 and July 1 in any year. 



Chap. 55t>.— Sec. 1. No person shall at any time set or use any 

 net, seine or other device of any description for the purpose of 

 catching or killing fish of any kind in the waters of Owasco 

 Lake, Cayuga Lake or in their outlets, or in Seneca River, Clyde 

 River or Gasargua Creek; nor shall any person catch or kill 

 any fish in any of the waters above mentioned by means of any 

 net, seine or device of any description, or in any manner other 

 than that of angling with a hook and line. Any person violating 

 any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a 

 midemeanor, and, in addition thereto, shall be liable to a penalty 

 of $ 100 for so setting or using such net, seine or device as prohi- 

 bited by this section, and $10 additional for each fish caught or 

 killed in violation of the above provisions. This act shall not 

 operate to prohibit any person from catching minnows for bait 

 with a net held in the hand. 



CHICAGO FISHING WATERS. 



C CHICAGO, 111., July 4.— On last Saturday, while a 

 J great portion of Chicago's citizens were out fishing, 

 Chicago added 130 square miles to her territory, and in- 

 creased her population to 1,100,000. When the boys got 

 off the trains, on their return from fishing, they stepped 

 into the second city of the Union in population, and the 

 first in enterprise. Chicago sportsmen may now shoot 

 ducks or go fishing for bass within the city limits, for by 

 the annexation of certain suburbs Calumet Lake, Wolf 

 Lake and other notable waters fall within the line. The 

 old canvasback grounds, and the marshes which even 

 yet hold some of the shooting, are to-day a part of the 

 city of Chicago. Was ever a city so kind to her sports- 

 men !j 



I mention the above fact in these columns not from 

 any vainglorious Chicago spirit, but simply to call atten- 

 tion again to the often-mentioned fact of the singular 

 situation of this city in regard to sporting facilities. The 

 city fairly shakes hands with the forest and the stream. 

 This is a fact which grows on one through investigation, 

 and yet one which has never had a thorough investiga- 

 tion in any sporting paper. It has been my purpose this 

 season to make a series of trips to the angling waters 

 about Chicago, to see what extent these really reached, 

 and report what I knew to be authentic facts in regard 

 to them. It has been impossible to perform more than a 

 mere fraction of this intention, but what little has been 

 done is enough to show how futile was the original in- 

 tention. Given a radius of 100 miles about [the city, and 

 it would take a man a year to mention the better places 

 for bass angling alone, and to visit more than the fewest of 

 them would be out of the question. I therefore give up 

 all claim to thoroughness of research and shall confine 

 myself to visiting and mentioning a few of the more 

 noteworthy locations near at hand. 



To investigate the weekly exodus I went up the Wis- 

 consin Central one recent Saturday, without having any 

 definite point in view, and caring more to see the crowd 

 than anything else. This road is the best patronized of 

 any in the matter of short-distance angling traffic. It 

 runs through a district truly unique, which lies all along 

 the road, anywhere from 35 to 65 miles out of the 

 city. The iron string has certainly threaded a vast num- 

 ber of rare pearls. A great many of our passengers— 

 nearly all of whom carried angling insignia— got off at 

 Lake Villa. The Fox Lake Hotel men will try to per- 

 suade any one, especially a newspaper man, that there is 

 no use fooling around Lake Villa. Yet Deep Lake, lying 

 near by, has lately yielded some grand bass, and Cedar 

 Lake, a biscuit-toss from the car window, is also not to 

 be sneezed at. There are boats at both of these lakes. It 

 is only about a mile and a half over to the Loon Lakes, 

 but there are not any boats there, and the angler will 

 need to cart one over either from Lake Villa or Antioch, 

 which lies two or three miles further up the track. 

 Several anglers got off at Ajitioch. Accommodations 



there are rather tough, I am told, although I have not 

 stopped there. 



I passed the lakes above named, and also Camp Lake, 

 where a considerable delegation disembarked, and went 

 on up to Silver Lake, where I found good lodging and a 

 good number of anglers. Among the latter were the two 

 inseparables, W. W. McFarland and C. D. Gammon. 

 "Well, do you fellows go just everywhere?" I asked 

 them; and then they asked me if I wanted some frogs, 

 which I did. Frogs is frogs this spring. It appeared that 

 Mr. McFarland had broken the record on the lake that 

 day with a take of eighty black bass and two pickerel. 

 The largest of the latter weighed 8|lbs., and the smaller 

 4 or 5, I believe, while the bass were a truly beautiful 

 sight. The pickerel and one of the bass were taken on 

 the spoon, the deadly frog getting away with the rest of 

 the bass. These two gentlemen being on the point of re- 

 turning home, I fell heir to their frog pail. I had, how- 

 ever, been disappointed in getting the casting-reel I had 

 ordered, and had no confidence in the old one which Mr. 

 Hirth, of Spalding's, had loaned me as a make-shift. I 

 therefore stuck to my old favorite fly-rod, on which, with 

 a little Skinner, I got a lot of rock bass and "strawberry 

 bass." The former do not fight, but the latter are very 

 gamy. The croppies of Silver Lake are also good fighters. 



1 hooked and lost a big pickerel, which didn't trouble me 

 seriously, as I don't love pickerel very much. What I 

 wanted was to hook a bass on the little rod. But 

 although I tried faithfully on the grounds of the bar 

 small-mouthed bass, near the ice-houses to the right of 

 the hotel, and also along the "big- mouth" grounds in the 

 rushes along the left-hand shore, I did not get a big bass 

 to strike the spoon. Cafferty, my boatman, complained 

 of an east wind, but I think it was poor fishing that 

 knocked us out. The fishing there is singular. You 

 catch wall-eyed pike (pike-perch) in deep water in the 

 middle of the lake. In 12ft. of water you catch the crop- 

 pies, rock and strawberry bass and pickerel. The large 

 black bass are almost altogether taken right at the edge 

 of the lake, in the very shallow water and among the 

 rushes. They seem to run in there to feed. The only 

 way to take them is by casting from a distance, for they 

 skurry off at the first alaraiing ripple of an oar. It is 

 next to impossible to reach them with the fly-rod. I 

 think this is why I took no bass. Cafferty and I were a 

 good deal disgusted when we pulled our boat ashore at 

 the culvert at the upper end of the lake, and sat down'to 

 think awhile. As we sat there we saw a big swirl out in 

 the shallow water, and a great bass broke water and 

 sprang out for a fly. He looked as long as an umbrella. 

 Cafferty had been using my casting rod, with the old 

 boiTowed reel, fishing for croppies, and he had on a No. 



2 sproat. We did not stop to tie another, but 

 stuck this one through the lips of a monster 

 frog, which was the first one at hand, and then 

 I essayed a cast with the old reel. To my astonishment 

 the heavy old concern worked nicely and laid out the 

 line very well. I cast again and again, each time reaching 

 further out. The bass was lying 50yds. out, and at 

 the sixth cast I am sure I got within 10ft. of him. He 

 came out with a big rush, and in a moment I had him. 

 "Oh ! my, that little hook ! "cried Cafferty, and then 

 we both trembled for five minutes or so. But although 

 the bass — and it was a big-mouth, too — went out of water 

 and tried all the usual stratagems, the little hook held 

 fast and we landed Mm, Cafferty quite as proud as I. 

 The bass weighed, it seemed to me, at least 201bs., but 

 Cafferty said libs., and so said the scales. I then went 

 back to the hotel, seeing clearly why I hadn't caught any 

 more bass. I wasn't fishing right. It takes long casting. 

 I shall soon give the methods of our Chicago casters a 

 yet more thorough study, and shall then set it all down 

 in black and white. I really believe that the art of single- 

 handed bait-casting is seen in its highest form in these 

 Chicago bass waters, and perhaps next week I shall go 

 minutely into the method and the outfit of the Western 

 bait-caster, believing that both will be of interest. 



I did not return to the city until Sunday, being desir- 

 ous of seeing what is known of as the "Wisconsin Cen- 

 tral gang." I saw it. There were five carloads of anglers 

 that came down on this one train, and as I believe an 

 average of 80 to a car to be reasonable it seems certain 

 that at least 400 fishers must have been out. Almost 

 every one had fish. I presume that other evening trains 

 on this and other roads must have brought in many times 

 that number of anglers. That is the kind of a city this 

 is; and I have reference not in the least to beer-drinking 

 picnickers, who I do not class with anglers. There were 

 none of those tolerated in the cars of the real, business- 

 like, professional angling "gang." 



On the train in question, it is fair to say there are 

 thousands of fish brought in. I did not move about 

 much, but in our one car saw plenty to open my eyes, 

 J. M. Clark and a friend had eleven black bass, weighiug 

 42£lbs. They had taken eighteen and put back the rest. 

 Their catch was on Loon Lake, the same place where 

 Mr. Clark's earlier recorded catch was made a week ago. 

 A Mr. Tammler had two pike, 7-J- and lO^lbs. , taken on 

 the frog in Camp Lake. He had them wrapped up in 

 paper and was carrying them in his arms, a good deal 

 prouder of them than if they had been babies. Innumer- 

 able baskets lined the aisles of the cars, and all of these 

 were heavy. To specify names or catches I found to be 

 impossible. 



There are dozens of lakes easily accessible from this 

 city where the bass fishing is excellent, of course with 

 the usual fluctuations in favor now of this and now of 

 that locality. Twin Lakes, up the C. & N. W., are very 

 well spoken of indeed, although I have not tried them 

 yet. Brown's Lake, on the same road, is good, and I saw 

 a fine string of good ones taken there last week. Of 

 course, if one cares to go so far up as Winnebago Lake, 

 he can go to Neenah, and with the forty miles of that 

 prolific water is always assured of grand sport. There 

 are bass, pike-perch, pickerel and countless small fishes 

 there, and you can't help catching them. A good hotel 

 is Robinson's, at Neenah, rates $2.50 per day. 



The prettiest lake about Chicago, a perfect little gem, 

 clean and clear, is Power's Lake, accessible by a short 

 cross-country ride from Genoa Junction, on the C. & N. 

 W. There is beautiful fishing there, both as to the fish 

 and as to the scenery. Geneva Lake lies directly beyond 

 on the same railway. That is the Cisco Lake. On up 

 north, in the direction of the Gaylord and Nee-pee-nauk 

 clubs, and along the wonderful Northern Fox River — up 

 in Father Marquette's country — well, it makes one's head 

 swim to think about that. I have not touched the bass 



