Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Terms, U a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy. { 

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NEW YORK, MAY 14, 1891. 



j VOL. XXXVI.-No. 17. 



1 No, 318 Broadwat, New York, 



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Forest and Stream Ptibllsliiag Co. 

 No. 318 Broadwat. New York Citt. 



CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 



The Angling Bxliibit at the 

 World's Fair. 



The Helen Keller Fund. 



The Fur Seal Crisis. 



Snap Shots. 

 Sportsman Tourist. 



On the North Shore.— m 



In Memory of "Nessmuk." 

 Natural Histort. 



The Truth in Nature. 



The Drumming of the Grouse. 

 Game Bag asd Gun. 



Martin's Point Gun Club. 



Antoine Bissette's Letters, 



Ducking at Long Point Marsh, 

 Va. 



Oregon Association. 

 In the Forties. 

 Bob White vs. Pa'tridge. 

 Guns cf Small Bore. 

 Obicaeo and the West. 

 Forest and Stream Gun 

 Tests. 



A Hail from the Frontier. 

 Game Notes. 

 Sea and River Fishing. 

 KellUD's Trout. 

 The Pike Family.— TU. 

 Didn't Want the Trout. 

 Fishing in Sullivan County. 

 The Castalia Stream.- rr. 



Sea and River Fishing. 



The Mastieouche Waters. 



The Maine Ice is Out. 



The Season in Canada. 



Angling Notes. 



Mrs. Stage's 2051b. Tarpon. 



Vermont Trout. 

 The Kennel. 



English National Field Trials. 



Egyptian Mummy of a Dog. 



English Kennel Club Trials. 



Dogs to Tree Pheasants. 



San Francisco Dog Show. 



Dog Chat. 



Kennel Notes. 



Kennel INIanagement. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



Range and Gallery. 



The Revolver Championship. 



Revolver Shooting in England. 



The Trap. 



Hflokettstown Scores. 



Algona Events. 



A Good Time at Ackley. 



Brooklyn Traps. 

 Yachting. 



Sail versus Steam, 



Yachts' Names. 



Marjorie. 

 Canoeing. 



Ameiican and English Sails. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



THE FUR SEAL CRISIS. 

 'T^HE season for beginning to kill seals at the Pribylov 

 Islands opens usually about June 1, but as yet no 

 one seems to know whether the Government has decided 

 that the fur seals shall or shall not be exterminated this 

 season. It is announced that Great Britain has proposed 

 to the State Department that no seals whatever shall be 

 killed this year, and that, during this close time, further 

 investigations shall be made as to the numbers of these 

 animals which visit the islands during the breeding sea- 

 son of 1891 . It is difficult to understand why this proposi- 

 tion, made some time ago, was not at once accepted by 

 our Government, for it is so manifestly in the interest 

 of the protection of this valuable industry that it might 

 have been supposed that we would not have hesitated to 

 secure so good a chance to save the seals, and the dollars 

 which these seals may confidently be expected to produce 

 in the future. 



It is claimed, however, that private interests— those of 

 the Commercial Company which has leased the seal 

 islands— are so strong at Washington that the Govern- 

 ment hesitates to order the close season, which is de- 

 manded by the existing conditions of seal life at the Pri- 

 bylov Islands; that this company wants to secure all the 

 seals it can this season and cares nothing about the 

 future; in other words, that it wishes for the sake of 

 present gain to utterly destroy a piece of property which 

 for 20 years and more has been bringing in to this Gov- 

 ernment an annual revenue of about $300,000. We say 

 nothing about the pity of the extermination of a most in- 

 teresting mammal. The naturalist and the sentimentalist 

 may grieve over that, but a consideration of that kind 

 does not appeal to the average man bo strongly as does 

 the thought that a great sum of money may be taken out 

 of the United States Treasury through the selfishness of 

 as infiuential oorporatiour 



No satisfactory reason has been advanced for failing to 

 order entire protection to the seals this year, nor— with 

 England's proposal before us — can we conceive why there 

 should be any delay in establishing at least a temporary 

 close season. That such a close season should endure for 

 five years is believed by every one who is familiar with 

 the subject. 



But nothing is done at Washington : the days are slip- 

 ping by, and before long the killing will begin, and the 

 miserable remnant of the young male seals now at the 

 islands will be wiped out of existence, and with them 

 will disappear any present hope of the restoration of our 

 fur seal fisheries. 



w 



THE HELEN KELLER FUND. 

 E have received since our last issue the following 

 additions to the Helen Keller Fund for the educa- 

 tion of the little mute Tommy Stringer; the money has 

 been received through Mr. Wm. Wade, of Hulton, Pa., 

 who, it will be remembered, first brought the subject to 

 the attention of Forest and Stream readers. The Eng- 

 lish subscriptions came to Mr, Wade from Mr. Geo. R. 

 Krehl, editor of the London Stoch-Keeper: 



Geo. R. Krehl, Esq.. London, Eng £5 05 



J. G. C!rawford, Esq., London, Eng 05 



P. B. Craven, Esq., Thornbridge, Eng 1 01 



A. J. Gosling, Esq., England 5 00 



£11 11 



The above is equivalent to $58 35 



J. W. Paul, Esq, Oakmont, Pa 5 00 



She is asking her friends to help her in this work, and surely the 

 appeal of one such child on behalf of another cannot go iman- 

 swered. 



$81 25 



Previously received 57 00 



Total to dale ..,$118 35 



The amount has been sent direct to Helen Keller at the 

 Perkins Institute for the Blind, in Boston. In this con- 

 nection, the following paragraphs from the Boston 

 Globe's report of a recent exhibition at the Kindergarten 

 for the BUnd in Jamaica Plain, Mass., will be of special 

 interest to Helen's friends among our readers: 



The first of these was "Little Helen Keller," as her friends still 

 call her, though she is fast outgrowing the adjective in its literal 

 meaning, for she has grown very rapidly indeed during the past 

 year, and is now as tall as her devoted teacher, Miss SuUivan. 

 Helen's mental progress has more than kept pace with her physi- 

 cal growth. Her wonderfully brilliant mind has developed in a 

 manner nothing short of the marvellous, a fact which is shown in 

 the beaming: intelligence which shines from every feature of her 

 expressive face. 



During the past year, moreover, Helen has learned to talk and 

 can now use her vocal organs in audible speech. She says every- 

 thing she wishes to express, many things with such distinctness 

 that one can see it is only a matter of time when she will have 

 complete control of her organs of speech. 



Helen was especially pleased to see Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, 

 who had come on her own special invitation. This letter of 

 Helen's to the beloved poet was very beautiful and touching from 

 the quaintness of its manner and expression. She told Dr. 

 Holmes that she should be very glad to have him come to this' 

 reception because she should read during the exercises his poem 

 on "Spring Hath Come;" and she told him, moreover, how much 

 she loved this, one of her favorite poems, because once she could 

 not see the spring at all, but now she saw it through his eyes. 



Little Tommy Stringer, the latest inmate of the kindergarten, 

 was near Helen constantly. He is her little protege, for whose 

 education she has herself undertaken to provide, and she was 

 constantly caressing him. Tommy is 4 or 5 years of age, a happy, 

 smiling, fat little lump of humanity, who has absolutely no means 

 of communicating unto the outside world, as he has never yet 

 been taught anything. He appeals to all hearts by his helpless- 

 ness and by his affectionate nature, for he demands constant 

 petting and tending to make him happy, attentions which he re- 

 wards with smiles and kisses, 



Helen Keller was announced, and there was a little flutter of 

 excitement as the tall, graceful girl advanced with her teacher to 

 a little table, on which was placed a large book printed in raised 

 letters. She found the page herself, and then said, through her 

 teacher, on whose hand she spelled out the words: "I will read a 

 few verses from Dr. Holmes' poem, 'Spring Hath Come.' It is one 

 of my favorites." 



Then she read, her teacher still acting as her interpreter, a por- 

 tion of this beautiful poem, her face expressive of the utmost 

 delight as she did so. He left hand traversed the page, spelling out 

 the words with her finger tips, while with her right hand she made 

 the characters she thus read. When some of the flowers were 

 mentioned, such as the rose, the violet and the jonquil, she eagerly 

 pointed them out from a bunch of flowers which she had, select- 

 ing the right blossom with the utmost quickness and ease. 



But more was to come, for at the close of her silent reading 

 Helen repeated m audible speech the last stanza of the poem, a 

 feat which was greeted with the warmest applause by her de- 

 lighted audience. 



Then Dr. Phillips Brooks, at Helen's request, told the story of 

 her newly adopted protege, little Tommy Stringer, for whose edu- 

 cation she is anxious to raise the necessary funds, and in her name 

 made an appeal for help in this task. It costs between §600 and 

 $700 a year to care for such a helpless little waif as the blind, deaf 

 and dumb boy, providing him with a special teacher, etc., and of 

 tliia »aia Helen has about one-aalf the necessary amount raised ^ 



THE ANGLING EXHIBIT AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



A NGLERS throughout the country will learn with 

 decided gratification that Dr. Jas. A. Henshall has 

 been appointed on the staff of tlie Government Exhibit, 

 and as a special agent of the U. S, Fish Commission in 

 relation to the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. 

 Capt. J. W. Collins has entire charge of all matters con- 

 nected with fish and fishing in both the Government and 

 competitive displays for that event. It is Dr. Henshall's 

 expressed purpose to get together the largest and most 

 complete and comprehensive exhibit of everything per- 

 taining to angling, and as "Angling Expert" he will have 

 charge of this especial feature. 



The matter is one in which manufacturers and dealers 

 should feel interested, and the great army of anglers 

 should also contribute their aid and influence. The op- 

 portunity should not be lost to make this one of the 

 greatest and most effective exhibits of all that pertains in 

 any way to angling. We bespeak for Dr. Henshall the 

 hearty co-operation of every one who can aid him in 

 making the display a credit to the angling interests of the 

 cjountry. At an early date we hope to supply full informa- 

 tion aB to the character and scope of the exhibit ; of one 

 thing we nuay be svq^. that the work has been intrusted 

 to competent hands and will be conducted with intelli- 

 gence and ability, 



SNAP SHOTS. 

 "VfUMEEOUS game and fish bills introduced at Albany 

 this year shared the fate of the codification measure ; 

 the only bill which became a law was one providing for 

 fish ways in the Cattauraugus creek and tributaries. All 

 the Adirondack Park bills were killed. The closing days 

 of the Assembly were enlivened by a wrangle dver the 

 report of the Committee on Public Lands and Forestry, 

 which investigated the Forest Commissioners. The major- 

 ity report found that the Commissioners had neglected 

 their duty, if indeed they were not criminally negligent, 

 and a bill introduced by the committee legislated the 

 Commissioners out of office and provided for a new board 

 of three Forest Commissioners. The minority report, 

 while it censured the Commissioners, did not call for 

 their removal. The Commissioners had friends enough 

 in the Assembly to defeat the majoritj'- report and to 

 adopt the minority report. Of coiu-se, after that action, 

 the majority bill, removing the Commissioners, was not 

 able to go beyond the committee which introduced it. 

 What a sweet condition of things it is to be sure. 



Our angling columns record the notable exploit of Mrs. 

 George F. Stagg, of Louisville, Ky. . who captured with 

 I'od and reel, in the Caloosahatchie River, Florida, a tar- 

 pon weighing 2051b8. Mrs. Stagg now enjoys the proud 

 and for a woman extraordinary distinction of being 

 "high hook" among the tarpon anglers. The previous 

 record for rod and reel was held by Mr. John G. Hecksher 

 with a fish of ISilbs., and for hand-line fishing by Senator 

 Quay with one of 1871bs. Next week we shall print some 

 notes about other women anglers who have scored success 

 with these big fish of Florida. 



The note in our angling columns respecting the Masti- 

 gouche trout waters will be particularly welcome to 

 many because of the explanation contained in it that the 

 fishing in that district is free. In these days when so 

 large a share of good fishing has been absorbed by clubs, 

 he is doing a public service who points the way to lakes 

 and streams which are still open. 



American Fisberies Society,— The twentieth annual 

 meeting of the American Fisheries Societies will be held 

 in the lecture hall of the National Museum, in Washing- 

 ton, D, C, May 27, The following papers have been 

 promised for the occasion: "The Rearing of Salmonidte 

 in Troughs and Tanks," by Mr. Ghai-les G. Atkins; "Ken- 

 nerly's Salmon" and "An Albino Brook Trout," by Dr. 

 Tarleton H. Bean; "The Fish and Fisheries of Florida," 

 by Dr. H. H. Gary, Fish Commissioner of Georgia; "The 

 Fisheries at the World's Fair," by Capt, J. W. Collins; a 

 paper by Dr. G, Brown Goode, its title not yet furnished; 

 "On the Teeth of Fishes as a Guide to their Food Habits," 

 by Dr. J, A. Henshall; "Breeding Habits of the Yellow 

 Perch," by Mr. Fred Mather; "The Transportation of 

 Living Fishes," by Mr. W. P. Seal. 



