898 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[APRIL 28, 1893. 



NEW YORK GAME AND FISH SEASONS. 



THE close seasons, as fixed by the new bill now in the 

 Governor's hands for his approval, are as follows; 



(SAME, 



Deer, between Nov. 1 and Aug. IS, No person shall 

 take more than two deer in a season. Protected in Ulster, 

 Greene, Sullivan and Delaware counties for five years. 

 "Venison (if killed in open season or out of the State) may 

 be possessed between Aug. 15 and Nov. 15. Hounding 

 deer forbidden between Oct. 31 and Sept. 10. Forbidden 

 at all times in St. Lawrence, Delaware, Greene and Ul- 

 ster counties, and between Dec. 1 and Oct. 1 in Sullivan 

 county. 



Black and gray squirrels, between Jan. 1 and Sept. 1. 

 Hares and rabbits, not protected. 

 Wildfowl (except geese and brant), between May 1 and 

 Sept. 1. 



Quail, between .Jan. 1 and Nov. 1. If lawfully killed 

 or from out the State may be possessed to Feb. 1. Pro- 

 tected for five years in Orleans. Livingston, Monroe, 

 Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Tompkins, Tioga, Onondaga, 

 Steuben and Cortland counties. 



Woodcock and grouse, between Jan. 1 and Aug. 15. If 

 lawfully killed or from out the. State may be possessed to 

 Feb. 1. 



Wilson's or English snipe, plover, rail, mudhen, galli- 

 nule, grebe, bittern, surf birds, curlew, water chicken, 

 bay snipe, shore birds, between Jan. 1 and Sept. 1. No 

 protection in Onondaga, Wayne, Oneida, Cayuga, Wyom- 

 ing, Genesee, Niagara, Monroe, Erie, Chautauqua, Cat- 

 taraugus and Orleans counties. 



Meadow larks between Jan. 1 and Nov. 1. All other 

 wild birds (except English sparrow, crane, hawk, crow, 

 raven, crow blackbird, common blackbird, kingfisher) 

 protected always, 



FISH. 



Trout between Sept. 1 and April 15. (In Spring Brook 

 Creek, Sept. 1-April 1. In Lake George, Sept. 1-May 1.) 

 Lawful length, 6in. 



Salmon trout, land-locked salmon, between Oct. 1 and 

 May 1. Lawful length, 6in. 



Black bass, Oswego bass, between Jan. 1 and May SO. 

 (In Lake George, Jan. 1-Aug. 1. Black Lake, Jan. 1-May 

 5.) Lawful length. Sin. 



Muskallonge, between Jan. 1 and May 30. 



Salmon, between Aug. 15 and March 1. Lawful 

 length, I8in. 



Wall-eyed pike, yellow bass, pike, in Susquehanna 

 River and tributaries, between Nov. 1 and May 30. 



LONG ISLAND, 



Wildfowl (except geese and brant), May 1-Oct. 1. 

 Plover, etc., Jan. 1-July 1. Woodcock and grouse, Jan. 

 1-Nov. 1. Trout, Sept. 1-April 1. Salmon trout, land- 

 locked salmon, Oct. 1-April 1. Black bass, Jan. 1-May 

 30. Hares, rabbits, Jan. 1-Nov. 1. Deer, except from 

 Nov. 10-16 inclusive. Black and grav souirrels, Jan 1- 

 Nov. 1. 



SPRING SHOOTING. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



There does not seem to be much diminution in the 

 number of snipe in this part of the country, as this 

 spring's shooting has been good. Although I never see 

 many of these birds in the fall, and so could not get much 

 sport were spring shooting forbidden by law, still I could 

 not find it in my heart to advocate the perpetuation of 

 the law now allowing it. However, if their numbers are 

 not seriously decimated I would say, give us spring 

 shooting. Certainly many are left for "seed," for as the 

 "twister" leaves the bog" he cries 'scape, and generally 

 does as he says he will. One day, with spectacles on 

 nose and singlebarrel "Champion," I shot eleven dead in 

 thirteen shots. Don't expect to do that again at my age. 



N. D. E. 



HtWTrNGTON, April 18. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Some ducks have been shot hereabouts this spring, 

 though most were spoonbills. Last week Mr. Overholt 

 had the good fortune to shoot a blackbill swan. He saw 

 it light in the creek, and getting his gun approached by 

 crawling on the ground for a long distance to within 

 range, and killed it. It measured across the wings Oft. 

 4in. He is having it mounted. This is the first swan 

 shot in this county, I believe. 



From all information I can gather the quail have win- 

 tered well, and the promise of another good fall shooting 

 may be expected. These counties lying along Lake Erie 

 on the west are the best quail grounds; in fact, the only 

 shooting grounds in Ontario. 



I wish, we had some of the energy of American game 

 protection clubs in seeing that the game laws were better 

 observed. Valley View Villa. 



St. Thomas, Ontario, April 4. 



Foxes Climb Trees. — Norris, Texas, April 5. — Apropos 

 of the discussion as to foxes climbing trees. I do a great 

 deal of hunting and kill a great many foxes, of which at 

 least four-fifths climb trees. They seem able to climb 

 any kind when crowded by the dogs. I have shaken 

 them out of sycamores which measured at least 10ft. to 

 the first limbs.— Rio Diablo. 



The Wilkes-Barre Gnu Co., of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., manufacture 

 a line of fine hammer and hannnerless breech-loading shotguns 

 for the trade only. Every gun dealer should send for their price 

 list.— Adv. 



The Du Ponts send us a handsome souvenir of their 

 powder works on the Brandywine, with interesting en- 

 gravings of that stream and their mills. There is also 

 given this note of the almost century old firm: "Eleuthere 

 Irenee Du Pont de Nemours, who came from France to 

 the United States in the fall of 1799, was the tounder of 

 the gunpowder works near Wilmington, Del. He had 

 acquired a practical knowledge of the manufacture of 

 gunpowder under the instruction of the celebrated French 

 chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of two gov- 

 ernment powder mills at Essone, before the French revo- 

 lution. Some months after Irenee Du Font's arrival his 

 attention was called to the bad quality of the gunpowder 

 made in America, and he conceived the idea of erecting 

 works for its manufacture. He went back to France 

 early in 1801, returned to the United States with some of 

 the necessary machinery, and selected in 1802 a site on 

 the Brandywine Creek, a few miles from Wilmington, 

 Del., where he at once began the erection of the works. 

 The business has been carried on ever since, without in- 

 terruption, by the founder, succeeded by members of his 

 family, under the firm name of E. I. DuPont de Nemours 

 & Co." The souvenir comes from General Agent Arthur 

 Hyndman. New York. 



The Globe, Daily, Sunday, Weekly, Boston, March 'M.— I want 

 to congratulate the editors of the Forest and Strea m on the 

 general high-class style of their paper. I have read It constantly 

 from my boyhood, and think that it stands to-day at the head of 

 the procession.— H. M. H. 



St** «pf 



The full, texts of the game fish laws of all the States, 

 Territories and British Provinces are given in the Booh of 

 the Game Laws. 



SPEARING ON LAKE ST. CROIX. 



IT WAS when the Territory was young that I was 

 inducted into the mysteries of spearing in Minnesota 

 by a fisherman whose "luck" was the envy of fishermen 

 equipped with improved tackle that failed to land any- 

 thing, when my tutor covered the grass with his catches 

 of rock bass and trout. I was not altogether a novice: 

 I had at least average success in taking a variety of fish 

 from my lines stretched across the Allegheny, had ex- 

 perienced the rage that consumed every fisherman on 

 that stream whose lines were completely stripped by 

 "hellbenders," wasted precious hours "gigging" on the 

 same stream, and thought I knew something of the art 

 of stealing on the finny tribe in the still hours of night 

 until I looked into the pellucid waters forming the lakes 

 in Minnesota, 



I was sitting in front of my friend's cabin smoking and 

 lazily noting the sturgeon leaping out of the lake, whirl- 

 ing over, thrashing the water as they fell and disap- 

 peared. The display was a novelty to me. They popped 

 up here, there, all over the lake. 



"H'oa! I dare say, now you can't guess what makes 

 them lubberiy fellows flirt twenty times their length out 

 of water that way," said my friend. "There's different 

 ideas, but no matter what others tell you, there's just 

 one reason for it. I've investigated on my own account. 

 They do it to get rid of the leeches. I've caught some of 

 them — they were mortally pestered with leeches." 



My companion glanced down the beach at a group of 

 Indians and half-breeds who were pottering about a 

 Chippewa canoe. As my eye followed his he removed 

 his pipe and remarked sententiously, "Them fellows are 

 at a heap of trouble for a night's work." I looked at him 

 inquiringly. "They are going to spear to-night." 



"OP I said, "we call it gigging." 



"Same thing as we used to do on the Allegheny and 

 Ohio." 



"You surely do not claim to be a better judge of the 

 weather than the Indians?" 



My companion inhaled a tremendous mouthful of 

 smoke before he replied, "Just wait till about 'lev en or 

 twelve." 



Before midnight there were caps on the waves. The 

 wind came up shortly after eleven. The white hunter's 

 judgment, aB I had occasion to note afterwards, dis- 

 counted the Indians in matters pertaining to the watery 

 elements, and in things demonstrating the huntsman's 

 skill. 



When the Indians stepped out on the beach, we strode 

 down to them leisurely. The bottom of the canoe was 

 covered with large fish. My surprise was so great that I 

 complimented the Indians who accepted praise quite as a 

 matter of course, holding up the largest fish; now and 

 then one would ask me to estimate the weight. The 

 canoe was very large; the fish filled three tattered and 

 worn two-and-a-half bushel meal sacks that the half- 

 breeds had charge of. As the half-breeds and one of the 

 Indians staggered up the "coolie" under the sacks, my 

 companion said drily: 



"If you think that is wonderful I'll show you what 

 spearing is the first good night comes." 



The first good night was not long in coming. Three 

 days later Singhose said in a businesslike way, "If you 

 want some fun, get ready. We'll begin about half-past 

 eight." Singhose called our man out, got some water in 

 a can, went to the grindstone back of the cabin, brought 

 out three large knives, and ordered the man to turn the 

 grindstone while he sharpened the knives. At least an 

 hour was expended on the knives. Then while we ate 

 supper the man was sent to the beach to gather pine- 

 knots. I was consuming with curiosity, meantime, which 

 finally found voice when, supper being ended, Singhose 

 produced an instrument the like of which I had never 

 beheld. 



"Heavens! What are you going to do with that?" I 

 asked as my companion held up a four-pronged spear six 

 inches in width. The prongs were six inches long, 

 barbed from the base to the point. "Why, it is big 

 enough for a trident for Neptune," I said laughing. 



"Never you bother about Neptune," Singhose answered 

 soberly, "if you won't have the fun taken out of you 

 before one o'clock." 



Then he went to the beach to examine the batteau. 

 The batteau was in every respect the same as those the 

 loggers employed on the Upper Mississippi and St. Croix 

 and its tributaries. The narrow T ends, exactly alike, 

 extended sharp-pointed far out beyond the bottom of the 

 boat. When 1 reached the beach the servant had tossed 

 about four bushels of pine-knots in the fore part of the 

 batteau, or in front of a cross-piece that had a hole in it. 

 Into this hole Singhose thrust the shaft of the "jack." 



The "jack" was as monstrous in my eyes as the spear. 

 It was as large as the eighth of a modern barrel of beer: 

 made of quarter-inch thick bands of iron two inches 

 wide. Singhose's jack loomed up like a section of the 

 skeleton of a. boat. There were the keel and ribs at least 



"Don't you laugh at my jack— you'll know just what 

 it means before morning," said Singhose meaningly. 



The surface of the lake was as placid as a mirror. I 

 was stooping to pick up an oar when Singhose called to 

 me, "Not that. Take the pole. You may as well learn 

 to pole first as last. I don't need to tell you that if you 

 make the least noise they'll hear us." 



"But Jake — " I began. 



"There's only two can play at this. You and me. 



Jake '11 have his hands full afore morning. You can go 

 to bed, Jake — we'll wake you when we come in. Now 

 then, push her out." 



The translucent water deceived me. My companion 

 lit the pins-knots. As the flames shot up, I strove to 

 gauge the depth of the water. Singhose, in a low voice, 

 counselled me to "keep her just about in a foot and a 

 half to two feet of water," which, to my intense chagrin, 

 was much easier said than done. At the very outset my 

 pole slipped on a stone; Singhose said nothing; his silence 

 was more effective than any rebuke. "Too deep yet," 

 said Singhose quietly,— "you'll gauge it by and by if 

 you'll look at the slant of your pole when you're 

 using it." 



An immense catfish swam slowly past me. I could 

 not help asking my companion if he did not want it. 



"Nor sturgeon. No shovel-noses for me. You'll see 

 what I'm after." 



The words were scarcely uttered when a sound like a 

 whip lash struck my ear; the next instant a large bass 

 lay wriggling from side to side in the batteau. Then 

 several pickerel followed in swift succession. The 

 smallest was at least eight pounds' Some excelled twelve 

 pounds. Then a beautiful lake trout was tossed at my 

 feet. It seemed to be raining fish for a period of ten 

 minutes. My excitement was so great that I permitted 

 the pole to graze one or two stones, whereupon my com- 

 panion once more reminded me of the necessity of quiet. 



From that time on I grasped the pole with more assur- 

 ance in firmer hands. But conceive the provocation. 



There in front of me was the jack sending up tongues 

 of flame four and five feet in length at times. The fire 

 illuminated the beach , the lake, and dispelled the shadows 

 of Rattlesnake Bluff a mile distant on the opposite side 

 of the lake. Stooping, bending half over the side of the 

 batteau, with a hand shading his eyes from the glare of 

 the great "jack," peering into the lake, and almost under 

 the fire stood Singhose with his spear grasped tightly in 

 his right hand. His aim was unerring. Rarely did the 

 barbs cut the water with that hissing, lash-like sound 

 that soon grew familiar to me— it was like music to my 

 ears — without bringing up a struggling fish, captive to 

 the cut of the best spearman I have ever seen behind a 

 "jick" in any water. 



More than' once did the monstrous spear impale two 

 fish at once. The first time Singhose gratified me by 

 whimpering to me to look ahead, I beheld two large 

 pickerel with heads pointed toward the beach, side by 

 side, perfectly motionless. Singhose explained afterward 

 that they were asleep. A swift thrust, a shower of 

 diamonds sparkling in the fire-light, and the twin pickerel 

 in size were in the bottom of the batteau. 



The only Beason of rest, if rest it could be called, was 

 when Singhose stooped to gather pine-knots to replenish 

 the fire. At the end of an hour I became accustomed to 

 my duty. Through meshes of grass; across intervals 

 where the pole sank softly in level sand; over places 

 where boulders and shelving stone lay thick, I guided 

 the batteau, while the figure at the other end of the 

 batteau recalled the things I had read and dreamed of 

 Norsemen compelling the sea to yield them tribute, 

 Picturesque in the highest degree was Singhose as he 

 plied his spear, now in front of him, now on the right, 

 now on the left. A fish roused into activity would dart 

 ahead, or toward the poleman ; the spear anticipated it, 

 landing it in the boat; or it would cross the course from 

 right to left, or vice versa. It was all one to the eyes 

 that gleamed like stars under the "jack." 



The batteau was a sight for fishermen when Singhose 

 informed me that it was "time to lay off." He volun- 

 teered the information that he was "dead tired plunking 

 them," and then I discovered that the pine-knots were 

 alm©st exhausted. 



When we pulled the batteau up on the beach, it was 

 half past one. And I thought it might be half -past ten! 

 Singhose went to the cabin and returned with Jake and 

 the two half-breeds I had seen spearing early in the 

 week. As the half-breeds looked in the batteau they 

 held their hands up expressing wonder. 



"There's enough to fill all the tubs there, Mr. Singhose," 

 said the oldest half-breed. "I don't think so," said Sing- 

 hose. He glanced at the heap of wriggling fish. "About 

 two tubs full, I should say." 



Now I knew what the big knives were for. The half- 

 breeds assisted the servant in carrying the fish from the 

 beach to the log in the rear of the cabin. Singhose 

 picked up a large bass, struck the head oft" at one blow 

 on the log, scraped the scales off in an inconceivably 

 short interval, cleaned the fish, cut out the back-bone 

 deftly, and laid the result, four large pieces, in the 

 bottom of one of the large wash-tubs standing near. 



Then Jake and the half-breeds seized the knives, and 

 as fast as the half -breeds scraped and cleaned the fish, 

 Jake struck the heads off, cut out the back bone, and 

 divided the fish into "stakes," as I termed them. The 

 work occupied them until five o'clock. 



Meantime Singhose and his green poleman replenished 

 the inner man bountifully, and after drinking each 

 other's health, retired; the poleman to dream of whales 

 and other monsters of the deep, and cataracts of fire and 

 water. David Lowry. 



THE CANADIAN SALMON PETITION. 



A SPECIAL dispatch to the Boston Herald, sent from 

 Ottawa, April 2i, reported: 

 "There is a conflict between the wealthy Americans 

 who own salmon fishing privileges in Canada. It has 

 arisen in regard to the character of the salmon fishing 

 regulations. This afternoon a deputation of New Yorkers, 

 including Mr. J. S. Kennedy, a director of the Canadian 

 Pacific Railway; Dean Sage and A . D. Weekes, repre- 

 senting the famous Restigouche Club, were introduced to 

 Minister Tupper by Sir Donald A. Smith. The visitors 

 urged that the fishing regulations remain unchanged. 

 Their request will likely be granted. The New Yorkers, 

 it is said, will shortly acquire Beveral new fishing priv- 

 ileges in northern New Brunswick." 



A represenative of Fokest and Stream called on Mr. 

 Weekes last Tuesday. While confirming the report that 

 there had been such a meeting with Minister Tupper, Mr. 

 Weekes refused to say anything for publication. It is to 

 be counted as exceedingly unfortunate that there should 

 be any working at cross- purposes in a matter of so great 

 importance. No one who knows Mi*. Blanchard can ques- 

 tion for a moment that his concern is for the true inter- 

 ests of the Canadian salmon anglers. 



