Nor. 29, 1888.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



369 



Thinking it about time for Quilp to show up, I stepped 

 out on the veranda to listen for his step. I didn't hear 

 it, however, but something worse smote on my ear; it was 

 "The tiukle, tinkle, patter of the rain upon the roof." 

 "The jig's up" I mentally exclaimed as I returned to 

 ruminate on the hard iuck overtaking my friend and me 

 after eleven long years of waiting. But just then Quilp 

 came, and after collectively consigning the matter to a 

 dryer clime we sat down to our mutton bone and coffee, 

 and in spite of the accelerating drip outside made a 

 hearty breakfast. Another inspection convinced u- that 

 the famous dinner for which we had spoken was not 

 destined to be eaten by us to-day, and any squirrels over 

 in Sparta who might have be^n troubled by presentiments 

 for this particular day might calm their fears and rest in 

 peace. So getting the last Forest and Stream as a sort 

 of literarv substitute for the actual field, we lighted our 



, cigar*, and seating ourselves by the kitchen table, pro- 

 ceeded to read, smoke, discuss and chaff by the light of a 



| coal oil lamp. The fire snapped merrily, the cigars were 

 prime, the paper was a most entertaining number, and 

 before we knew it we were enjoying ourselves wonder- 



i fully well. We laughed at the account of the "coon" 

 who, with a pumpkin drawn over his poll, dragged the 

 mallards to destruction, then we discussed the article on 

 California deer shooting, and Quilp told some hunting 

 stories of his own experience in California. Then we 

 read the editorial on the subject and decided to save the 

 does, and wondered at the forbearance of the "Two 

 Months a Cowboy" fellow who had to ride the heifer. 



| So we sat until daylight revealed a gray sky and a nasty 

 day, and at about the time some people get up we parted. 



We may have that hunt yet, for Quilp has extended his 

 stay and there may be better days coming. 



ELW. DeLong. 



BETSY FOR SHORT. 



THERE is a town down in North Carolina where the 

 weekly paper which means to give all the news finds 

 it necessary to devote a large share of its space to the 

 doings of the rod and gun and coon dog and lantern 

 brigade. It is the Elizabeth, N. C, Economist, and here 

 are some specimens of its local leaders and items: 



We are pleased to learn that Prank M. Grice, proprietor of 

 the New Albemarle House, of this town, purposes, in addi- 

 tion to his regular trade, to offer special inducements to in- 

 valids, sportsmen, and others in search of pleasure or pursuit 

 of business, to visit Elizabeth City, N. C, during the winter 

 and spring. 



Elizabeth City is a railroad town of 5,000 sociably refined 

 and hospitable people, composed of Northern and native 

 settlers, with churches, schools, fire and military companies 

 and places of amusement, fifteen hours from New York 

 city, with e'ght hours in sleeping cars, and you have Eliza- 

 beth City, Nl C, sometimes familiarly called Betsy for short. 

 From the middle of October to the middle of June ensuing, 

 we have almost absolute immunity from disease. The roads 

 are excellent and walks and drives and outdoor exercise can 

 be indulged at any time without interruption from the rigors 

 of tbe climate, while occasional frosts audlight snows destroy 

 all malarious germs of disease. 



Five miles from town by land or eight by water, abundant 

 health-laden springs of the famed juniper water are found. 

 Fifteen miles from town you reach the head of the great 

 Dismal Swamp, where lumber mills are established and 

 where the. virgin forests of resinous juniper timber drive 

 away all chest and kindred complaints and make respira- 

 tion easy and delightful. 



Elizabeth City is admirably situated for the pleasures of 

 sporting at the headwaters of Pasquotank River where it 

 broadeus into an estuary, and commands the winter home 

 of all the wildfowl that honk, or whooy or whistle. Eigh- 

 teen miles away it debouches into Albemarle Sound and 

 reaches a point where the game birds hold their winter car- 

 nival. 



Twenty-five miles away is found Alligator Bay, where 

 swan and ducks rest in rafts and invite the keen sportsman 

 to come and kill them. Thirty miles away is Currituck 

 Sound, aptly called the "Paradise of Sportsmen," where 

 wildtowl of every name and kind feed npon the wild pro- 

 ducts of nature and are hunted, harassed and hounded by 

 every device of the eager sportsman. 



Eater in the season brant cover the waters of Alligator 

 Bay. 



Thirty miles away, in all the lower waters of the Albe- 

 marle, Croatan and Roanoke Sounds, innumerable wildfowl 

 of every name spread out on the wide waters. 



The lovers of more heroic sports can also fiud within con- 

 venient distance from their home at the New Albemarle 

 House the prowling beasts of the forest, " foeman worthy of 

 their steel.'' 



Twenty miles from town, the morasses and jungles and 

 forests of East Lake, Durants Island and the Haul-Over 

 abound in deer, bears, and wild cats, and sometimes a 

 panther, last remnant of his forlorn race, wakes the echoes 

 with his terrific scream of despair or defiance. 



Forty miles away is the ocean, grand representative of 

 Omnipotence. Along its shores, where the sand dunes for- 

 bid the banns of sound and sea, are found forest fallow deer, 

 and fox, and lesser wild animals that feed upon the acorns 

 of the live oak and divide with the wild turkey the sparse or 

 abundant harvest. These are the sports not too far removed 

 for convenient enjoyment. 



Around the town, far and near, are found other fields of 

 sport. In every field and forest near town the shrill and 

 lively whistle of the Bob White enlivens the echoes of the 

 crisp and early morn; "little robin redbreasts " waggle their 

 tails in every swamp and on every rail, squirrels frisk in 

 every treetop, and a short drive four miles away, will in- 

 troduce you to the hospitable, genial and jovial "Porkers," 

 who are a nest of bear hunters and will give you heroic 

 sport at short notice. 



Our waters, as is well known, is the home of the famed 

 shad fish that no one knows in his full flavor unless he visits 

 and eats him at his home. To know him there is worth a 

 trip across the continent. 



The head and chief of the anglers in and about Elizabeth 

 City is Gip Sawyer, a deaf mute whose business and support 

 is fishing with hook and line. He comes along almost every 

 day loaded with long strings of perch, black and white, 

 chubs and other game fish. H.e is familiar with all the 

 haunts and holes of game fish in Pasquotank River, within 

 five miles of the town. He studies and knows the habits of 

 fish and, cut off as he is from communion with man, he 

 seeks the companionship of fish. He is a solitary man and 

 keeps his counsel relating to the haunts and habits of his 

 companions of the deep and shallow waters. We have felt 

 a curiosity to go a fishing with Gip, but we had heard that 

 he was a lone fisherman who preferred the companionship 

 of his own thoughts, and we have never intruded upon him. 

 Once we saw him fishing out in the river near the town and 

 we observed that he had a way of attracting fish to him be- 

 fore he threw out his line, that was novel to us and may not 

 be without benefit to the fishing euild, of which we claim to 

 be a member. When he had selected his place to try his 

 luck he ran his hand in his pockets and took out a handful 

 of corn which he passed to his mouth and ground up in his 



teeth. He then spurted the ground corn from his mouth 

 into the water and myriads of little minnows came to the 

 surface and darted after the crushed corn. Then in a few- 

 moments he threw over his line and the large fish were 

 rapidly taken. We have never seen it tried except by Gip 

 and we give him the credit for it, and we think it an admir- 

 able plan. The ground corn attracted the minnows that 

 abound in all waters and then the larger fish that prey upon 

 them quickly came to the feast and Gip preyed upon them. 

 This is the history of Creation. The large fish prey upon the 

 little fish and then come the wars of species. 



We regard wild turkey shooting as the most heroic of all 

 the game bird sport in our section. We don't want it gen- 

 erally known, but the best places for turkey shooting in our 

 section are the Cashie and Roanoke River sections of Bertie 

 county, the "Greenfield" and "Five and Twenty Necks" 

 section of Chowan county, and the " Live Oak," section of 

 Currituck county along the banks. They are probably found 

 in the lower section of Pasquotank county. 



Fred Zeigler killed 25 sqirrels in a morning's sport in 

 Johnson's woods on Wednesday. They say also that wild 

 turkeys roost tbere. Wild turkey shooting is the sports- 

 man's dessert. It is the LL.D., D.G.L., M.D., D.D , A.M.. 

 winged degree of sportsmen. A sportsman who kills an old 

 wild turkey gobbler adds ten years to his own longevity. _ A 

 man who can call up a flock of scattered wild turkeys with 

 a turkey bone can't have the consumption. 



Oh that this balmy, glorious Indian summer could con- 

 tinue all the year round. Men and women in this charming 

 Albemarle country would then round a green old age of a 

 thousand years and men would be in their boyhood at a 

 hundred years. I t should be a State holiday and all should 

 live in tent life with a dog and gun and fishing rod, and 

 dance on the brown and russet carpeting of the forest 

 foliage. . 



John W. Albertson, Jr., was down m the "goose honk " 

 country several davs this week on professional, legal busi- 

 ness. As he has no wild sporting blood in his veins there is 

 no danger that he will be tempted from business by the 

 abundance of sport in that land of sportsmen. 



Who'll join the possum and coon club ? A yam potato is 

 the admission fee and a lightwood torch is the monthly 

 assessment. John Brock ett is President of the club, Arthur 

 Pritchett is Secretary and the membership is increasing. 

 The place of rendezvous is Fork Swam, and time of meeting 

 midnight. __ 



ARE HIS POINTS WELL TAKEN? 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I read in your paper from time to time different reports 

 from sportsmen as to how much game they see and how 

 much they shoot; but I notice in almost every instance 

 interest seems to center in how much they get. Little or 

 nothing is said of fine weather, fine wood's, fine views or 

 lovely lakes, but the tiling of it is to know how much 

 blood has been shed. No one likes to hunt better than 

 your subscriber, but I must say I enjoy hunting, if weather 

 be fine, more than so much killing. I like to make a few 

 skillful shots and have wary game for targets. I once 

 knew a gunsmith who lived in this section who was a 

 great lover of a gun and was a good shot. He moved 

 West where game was thick. He confessed that he had 

 more enjoyment in hunting the not plentiful but more 

 wary game of the East than be had in getting the back- 

 loads of game in the West. Now it seems to me if sports- 

 men all over the country would hunt for another purpose 

 than making scores, and be satisfied with a few meals of 

 wild game in the autumn, and not expect to furnish all 

 their second cousins with ducks, quail and squirrels for a 

 week and have much of it thrown away, we would have 

 more game and enjoy our outings far more. This emu- 

 lation among gunners to see which shall tell the biggest 

 story when they get home as to numbers shot, with per- 

 haps much game wasted, is not sportsmanship. Your 

 paper tells of those who used to shoot coots by the hun- 

 dred! For what? Just so with fishing. A great catch 

 must be had or the trip is a failure. It is never a failure 

 if the weather is fine. It is ridiculous to hear these back- 

 load fellows talk about more effective game laws! Fre- 

 quent outing in the proper season with a moderate return 

 for me. Subscriber. 



WITH THE SQUIRRELS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have read "Iron Ramrod's" letters and "Von W.'s" 

 on hunting the gray squirrel. They prefer a small-bore 

 rifle. I have never' tried one so will not argue that point, 

 but I agree with "Iron Ramrod" that to successfully hunt 

 the gray requires woodcraft. In the days when I used to 

 hunt them I could not find a companion to suit me. I 

 never chase them as most hunters do, and never could 

 kill them by sitting down and wait for them to come. I 

 have gone into the woods alone and kept on the move and 

 have killed twelve in two hours in fourteen shots with a 

 muzzleloader. I always use No. 5 or 6 shot and a 14-bore 

 gun and 2^drs. powder, loz, shot. 



I cannot agree with either "Iron Ramrod" or "VonW." 

 that it takes two to hunt them successfully. I would 

 rather hunt them alone, for I can go through the woods 

 as still as a squirrel. I once killed five out of six from 

 the same tree and in the woods, not open field , as fast as 

 I could load my gun and fire. How much better could 

 two do? I do not like to tell all my experience with the 

 gray, for readers will say "he is a liar." When I say that 

 I have killed seven out of nine before they got away it 

 looks big, but it is so; they were feeding in a hickory tree 

 at the edge of the woods. I had four on the ground 

 before they started to leave the tree, and they were all 

 full grown, no kids. I have proof of that. I always 

 used a muzzleloader, but my day has gone by for hunting 

 and fishing. I have not fired a gun at any game in seven 

 years, but I always have the "fever" when the time 

 comes. No one likes to read the hunting notes more than 

 I do, for I know what can and has been done. Gray. 

 Newark, N. J. 



Angling Talks, By George Dawson. Price 50 cents, Fly- 

 Rods and Fly-Tackle. By H. P. Wells. Price $2.50. Fly- 

 Fishing and Fly-Making for Trout. By J. PL. Keens. 

 Price $1.50. American Angler's Book. By Thad. Norris. 

 Price $5.50. 



SALMON IN THE DUNGARVON. 



THIS season was not as good a one for salmon in Dun- 

 garvon as last year, for although there were more 

 fish in the stream they did not get as far up as they did 

 last year on account of the extreme lowness of water in 

 the early part of the season. The largest catch made in 

 any one day by four rods was eighteen fish, about three- 

 quarters of these were grilse, and there was no time dur- 

 ing the season when a light canoe would not run in the 

 Dungarvon, even during the lowest time in summer, and 

 by a, light canoe is meant one with but two men in it and 

 nothing else. 



The club house, is situated at the mouth of Conn ell 

 Brook, and is reached by a woods portage of twenty-two 

 miles, and over this a man can ride on horseback. The 

 best fishing is in the neighborhood of this house, that is, 

 in four pools below and three above, all within three 

 miles of the house. The bushes have been cleared away 

 around these pools so as to give fishermen a good chance 

 to cast, and besides these pools there are many others 

 above and below. About Oct. 10 the salmon came on the 

 bars of Dungarvon in order to deposit their spawn , re- 

 maining there until the 20th or 22d of the same month, 

 and there were a great number of salmon beds on the 

 bars, especially on the headwaters of Dungarvon. The 

 high water did some damage to the salmon beds, but not 

 much to those on the head of the stream , but below a 

 good deal of damage was done by the water, which 

 washed away many of the bars on which the fish had 

 deposited their spawn. The water down in the settle- 

 ment, below on the Dungarvon, rose 3ft. higher than it 

 had been known to be by the oldest inhabitant. 



The trout deposited their spawn about the 20th of Sep- 

 tember on the bars at the foot of the pools, while salmon 

 spawned on the bars at the head of the pools. The largest 

 salmon caught during the season was about 20lbs., the 

 largest trout 3^1bs. There are several very good trout 

 lakes within two and a half mile^ from the club house 

 that have been but little fished, and one day two of the 

 guardians crossed one of these on a raft and caught 12 

 trout weighing from lib. to 2|lbs. 



Moose and caribou tracks are abundant on the shores 

 of the stream, and one moose was seen by the guardian, 

 and also a very large bear which crossed the river. Bear 

 tracks were plenty during the autumn. Partridges were 

 abundant in the vicinity of the club house. The stream 

 was well protected and no trespassers or poachers were 

 found. The above statement was made to me by three 

 of the guardians of this stream who have been on it from 

 June until the 1st of September. Some of them are per- 

 sonally known to me, and I have full confidence in the 

 correctness of their statements. Edward Jack. 



Fredebicton, Nov. 6. 



Waterbury, Vt,, Nov. 16. — I learn there is good duck 

 shooting on the lake near Burlington, and I should think 

 some of the local gunners would write you regarding the 

 luck they are having. — F. E. H. 



Antelope and Deer of America. By J. D. Cat on. 

 Price $2.50. Wing and Glass Ball Shooting icrfh 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 1 5 cents. Woodcraft. By "JVess- 

 ??Mtfc." Price $1. Trajectories of Hunting Rifles. Price 

 50 cents. Wild Fowl Shooting; see advertisement. 



Phtlauelphia, July 20, 1888.— United States Cartridge Co., Low- 

 ell, Mass.: Your new Climax paper shells with strong primers 

 are the best shells made yet. (Signed) Annie Oakley (Little 

 Sure Shot).— Adv. 



FREDERICK E. RANGER. 



ON Saturday, November 17, Mr. Frederick E. Ranger 

 died at his home in Glens Falls, N. Y., in the fifty- 

 sixth year of his age. He was well known as an enthus- 

 iastic * angler throughout the northeastern part of the 

 State, and was a man who was held in high esteem by all 

 who knew him. He was a reader of Forest and Sirbam 

 from its first issue until he could read no longer, and at 

 one time wrote some interesting sketches for it over the 

 pen-name of "Fritz." In a recent article on the lake 

 trout, Mr. A. N. Cheney speaks of the last fishing trip 

 which Mr. Ranger ever took, in May last, when almost 

 worn out by disease contracted in the army. 



Mr. Ranger, or "Judge" as he was called by his famil- 

 iars became he had been a justice of the peace for years, 

 was born in Glens Falls on August 13, 1833, in what was 

 then known as the Ranger Mansion, and married in 1857. 

 When the war broke out he went with the Twenty-second 

 N. Y. Volunteers, of the famous "Iron Brigade," as a 

 second lieutenant and returned as a captain when the 

 regiment went out of the service, in 1863. He then 

 served as surrogate's clerk with the late Judge Davis, 

 and for four terms, from 1874 to 1886, he has been elected 

 justice of the peace by flattering majorities. As an 

 angler he was one who never took an unfair advantage 

 of a fish by the use of any contrivance for their capture 

 which was not sanctioned by the class of sportsmen who 

 fished for the kinds of game that he did, and he held 

 that it was unworthy of an angler's reputation to take a 

 fish in any manner except such as are laid down by the 

 best authorities on angling. We have personally known 

 him for years and can vouch for him as a gentleman 

 whose high standard of sport would never permit him to 

 do anything to increase his catch which did not commend 

 itself to his own good opinion and was consistent with 

 his ideas of sport and self-respect. His angling life was 

 a strong rebuke to the thoughtless class of younger men, 

 some of whom seem to think that they are demeaned un- 

 less they "break all previous records," that we are dis- 

 posed to dwell on the fact that Mr. Ranger was an expert 

 angler who was never ashamed to admit, with some his- 

 torical fishermen, that he had toiled and caught nothing. 



Mr. Ranger leaves a widow and four children. His 

 only son, William F. Ranger, lives in New York, as does 

 the only married daughter, but bis death will be mourned 

 by many outside the family circle who have either been 

 with him on his fishing excursions, or have met hfm so- 

 cially. 



Colorado Trout Streams.— Kansas City, Nov. 17,— 

 I read with great pleasure the letters of E. Hough, and 

 note comparison of Rocky Mountain trout fishing with 

 Adirondack and Rangelty Lakes; also in List issue that 

 gentleman's experience and very interesting letter re- 

 counting trip in Eagle and Grand River country in Col- 

 orado. My own experience is the same, and I can heartily 

 recommend our Eastern friends to take a trip in Septem- 

 ber to the famous hunting and fishing grounds in Color- 

 ado in and among the flat tops on White River, near 

 Trapper's Lake. The sport is far ahead of any Eastern 

 locality.— Tile. 



