SBO 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 19, 1891. 



HAD A GOOD TIME. 



THE party from Perth Amboy and Woodbridge, N. J., 

 recently in camp on the Grand Rwer, Indian Terri- 

 tory, have retiirued, and seem to have had a good time 

 in spite of the drought and its consequences. They 

 started from Baxter Springs, Kan., it maybe remem- 

 bered, in a house boat, on which they expected to float 

 down to Fort Gibson, hunting and fishing on the way. 

 A-t intervals of half a mile all hands (eight) had to get 

 OYerboard and yank the boat by main sti'ength over a 

 shallow riffle — but they had a good time. At a point 

 eight miles from Baxter they had to give up the ship, and 

 took to wagons. The roads were pretty rough and 

 rocky (they were neaiiy disemboweled, and one of the 

 party was thrown violently to the ground and hurt) — 

 but they had a splendid time. On the pra,ixie road they 

 were nearly smothered with dust, their quail and chick- 

 ens spoiled on their hands in twelve hours, and water was 

 mighty sca'ce — but they had a perfectly elegant time. 

 However, their camp tent was very comfortable; they 

 heard selections from "Trovatore" beautifully played by 

 an Indian girl at the Cherokee Orphan Asylum; they saw 

 some curious rocks and curious people, and managed to 

 kiU some deer, turkeys, chickens, ducks and squii-rels, 

 which the law prohibited them from sending out of the 

 Territory. And on the journey back to Baxter Springs 

 (75 miles by wagons with no springs) they were not an- 

 noyed by dust, for it rained steadily the whole two days 

 and nights. Moreover, their total expenses, per capita, 

 feU within the estimated amount (|iOO). So that, all 

 things considered, they must have had an altogether gor- 

 geous and utterly hyperskyruginous kind of a time, and 

 traveled only about 1,700 miles and back to have it. 



J. L. K. 



Pebth Ambot, N. J., Nov. 10. 



MISADVENTURES. 



A YOUNG man last summer essayed to descend from 

 the red mountain crag which rears its umber head 

 above the little station of Wagon Wheel Gap, Ool., and 

 does not care to risk the chaffing that that poor fellow 

 got. He had climbed up to the top of the cliff as adven- 

 turous and sight-loving youth will sometimes do, and 

 about 4 o'clock in the evening essayed to come down, and 

 in about half an hour, after a rough experience in roll- 

 ing, slipping and struggling downward, found himself 

 clinging to the face of the cliff at a point where he could 

 neither go up nor down. He was fairly treed, and per- 

 force began to wake the echoes calling for help. 



A mile away, to the hot springs hotel, one came riding 

 in hot haste. A man had fallen from the cliff and broken 

 his leg, and the doccor should come at once; and there 

 was a hurrying to and fro, and a chorus of exclamations 

 and a great stir among the guests, and the doctor was off 

 like the wind, and numerous lights could be seen afar 

 climbing the mountain, and when the help reached him 

 he was neither dead nor dying, had no broken limb nor 

 strained arm or ankle, but was simply rock-bound, 

 entirly unable to lielp himself. Above him was the per- 

 pendicular cliff, below a narrow overhanging shelf of 

 rock and a fall of 30ft. to the broken stones below, with 

 a possible roll all the way to the bottom of the moxmtain. 



Those mountain folk are rough jesters; w^hen they 

 found that he was unhurt they began to chaff" him un- 

 mercifully. They told him they had brought candles to 

 have a wake; that he should have a first-class funeral ; 

 that they didn't see what he could do but j ust to drop off 

 over the shelf and take his chances and be done with it. 

 But kind hearted, as they always are, one of their number 

 climbed up under the projecting shelf of rock, got a firm 

 hold with one hand, and outstretched his other arm to 

 give what aid he could, and the others stood below to 

 catch him as he fell, and thus, if possible, save his life; 

 and he was directed to back over the cliff crawfish fashion, 

 face downward, swing off, and then hang on like grim 

 death. This done, the nearest man, with his outstretched 

 arm, grabbed his feet and placed them upon his shoulders, 

 and the poor fellow let go to find himself the next moment 

 convulsively grabbing the neck and shoulders of his 

 rescuer, and somehow he slid down to the others with- 

 out broken bones. But how he was chaffed and ridiculed! 

 He fled awav in the darkness and was not seen again for 

 days, " Texas. 



Mr. F. M. Gilbert, of theEvan8ville(Ind.)r/"ib?«ie, tells 

 this: 



"Camp life is all very nice in its way, but there are 

 some bad points about it, as our friend W. B, Lacy, who 

 is just back from Arkansas, can testify. 



"On Tuesday last the day became cloudy at noon, and 

 it looked as if a shower was pending, and Lacy left camp 

 alone, intending to go to what is known as 'Over Cup 

 Flat' and watch for a deer. By some means he neglected 

 to take his compass (which, by the way, is never needed 

 on a sunny day, aa all hunters go by the sun). Just be- 

 fore dark he g'ot a shot at a fine little buck, shooting it 

 just back of the heart, too far back to kill it at once. It 

 ran about a quarter of a mile, and Lacy trailed it by the 

 blood and finally overtook it and cut its throat. He then 

 decided that he would drag it into camp himself rather 

 than hang it up and take chances on the wolves getting it. 



"On starting back, however, he found that in his pur- 

 suit of the deer he had failed to take his bearings, and it 

 took but a few moments to show him that he was hope- 

 lessly lost (and that in a great "bottoms" that is 70 miles 

 long and the nearest settlement S7 miles away). He at 

 once built a fire and hung up his deer as best he could, 

 but his trouble had only just begun. The wolves had 

 struck the trail of the blood made by his deer and rapidly 

 following it up soon appeared around him, snapping and 

 howling aa only a gray wolf can. Wbile there was 

 really little danger, as they very seldom attack a man, 

 they were rinythiug but pleasant companions and would 

 strike a nameless ter)-or to the heart of the bravest man 

 living. Hoping to kill or frighten some of them and at 

 the same time bring aid from the camp, Lacy fired every 

 shot he had in his Marlin and then emptied his revolver 

 at them. 



"Eelief came at last, in the shape of men from his own 

 camij, and the camj) of tlie Hinkleville Gun Club, both of 

 which had started out searching parties for him as soon 

 as he failed to appear at dark. Some idea of those dense 

 swamps may be gained from the fact that both of the 

 searching parties got lost also, and were only guided 

 ])&ck to camp by the continued blov?ing of horns and 



firing of guns by parties stationed some quarter of a mile 

 apart. 



"Lacy says he was not the least bit worried, but he 

 will have to tell that story to somebody who has never 

 been lost at night in Black River bottoms. Those wolves 

 would cause the hair to stand up straight on the head of 

 the bravest man on earth." 



OHIO GAME. 



ILLERSBURG, Ohio, Nov. 10.— The opening of the 

 quail season in this section of the Buckeye State 

 was ushered in in true sportsmanlike manner, and many 

 gunners were in the field ready for work before the sun 

 had shown above the eastern horizon. The State game 

 law allows the shooting of quail only from Nov. 10 to 

 Dec. 15 inclusive, and every farmer being a self-constituted 

 officer, in no State is a better observance of the law had 

 than here. S.M.Hanna,the efficient game warden, enforced 

 the law to the letter at the beginning of his term of office, 

 two years ago, and gave a few illegal shooters at that 

 time to understand that a fine of .$25 and costs was bad 

 medicine to take every few days. Hence, shooting out of 

 season was entirely broken up, and there has not been an 

 arrest made this year. The great fight now is between 

 the gunner and the farmer, and nearly every farm is 

 decorated with the familiar sig-n, "No shooting or himting 

 allowed on these premises without permission," and the 

 tiller of the soil takes good care to see that his rights are 

 not infringed upon. However, go to a farmer in the right 

 way, ask permission to hunt, and agree not to load his 

 stock down with lead through careless shooting, and as a 

 general thing he will give you permission to shoot, fre- 

 quently going with you and pointing out the best game 

 haunts. The horny-handed pumpkin husker has all the 

 law on his side, and even the county squire, and about 

 all that a cranky hunter can do is to keep moving on from 

 one farm to another, greeted every fifteen minutes with 

 "git out of thar." 



Quail are plentiful this season, owing to the last two 

 winters being open and the seasons very favorable to their 

 breeding, and they are well-grown, fat" and plump. There 

 were but few late broods hatched, as we find from inquir- 

 ing among the numerous sportsmen who were out on the 

 opening day. 



This section of Ohio is generally hilly and bi-oken, with 

 plenty of underbrush and covers, yet pheasant shooting 

 has not been as good as in past years, the birds being 

 scattered and very wild and do not lie well to the dog. 

 Fair bags have been made, however, since the opening of 

 the season on Sept. 1. Joe Push. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Opening day was ushered in with a perfect gale, the 

 wind blowing tremendous all day, with a slight sprinkle 

 of rain; in fact, it was the most disagreeable day we have 

 had this fall. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the 

 weather, several of our sportsmen could not withstand 

 the temptation, as due preparation had been made to 

 open the season on a grand scale, and thpy braved the 

 storm for a day's sport. Owing to the conditions no big 

 bags were reported; the writer bagged eight cottontails 

 and one gray squirrel, having grand runs with the merry 

 little beagles. Rabbits and quail are very plenty. We 

 have also had more gray squii'rels this fall than for years. 

 I was out this afternoon and bagged two cottontails and 

 four quail, all shot either running or on the wing, no pot 

 shots. I almost forgot to tell you how many misses I 

 scored; weU, not less than one. Muzzle Loader. 



Cadiz, Oliio, Nov. U. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The annual meeting of the Central Ohio Fox Hunters' 

 Club was held at this place to-day, and it was a gala day 

 for lovers of the chase. The district is composed of the 

 counties of Holmes, Coshocton, Tuscarawas and Wayne, 

 and this is the only organized club in the State. Every 

 county was well i-epresented by ardent sportsmen, and a 

 number of visitors from other counties were present and 

 well entertained. Seventy-two handsome foxhounds 

 were shown in the parade during the afternoon. A wild 

 fox had been caught a few days before, and on the day 

 of the meeting was turned loose. After giving reynard 

 a half hour's start the hounds were put on his trail, and 

 he led them a merry chase lasting two hours, when he 

 wont to earth in a rocky ledge two miles east of town, 

 where he was perfectly safe from both hounds and hunt- 

 ers. The club adopted the following resolutions: 



Resolved, That the members of tins club use all honorable 

 meaBS lo protect tbe property of tbe farmers of the district, 

 which includes stock, fences and other farm property, ana that 

 we will lend our assistance in loolting after ali outside parlies 

 who may infringe upon the rights of farmers or the rules of this 

 club. 



Resolved, That we will do no fox-hunting during the months of 

 June, July and August of each 3' ear. 



Resolved, That it is the duty of all members of the club to look 

 after and return to the owners all stray foxhounds found in their 

 locality, with a description of the same, to the secretary; and any 

 member losing a dog shall at once notify the .secretary, who will 

 report the same to the chairman of each sub committee in the 

 district. 



Speeches were made by Hon. E. L. Lybarger, of Spring 

 Mountain, O., and Col. LakeE. Jones, of Wooster, after 

 which the following officers were elected for the ensuing 

 year: President, E. L. Lybarger; Vice-President, Elias 

 Mast; Secretary, L. G. Barton; Treasurer, Chas. M. Will- 

 iams. 



The following committees were also appointed: 

 Coshocton county — ^^''m. Reed, John A. Buckley, John 

 Chubb, W, W. McNeal, C. M. Williams. Holmes— Frank 

 P. Anderson, A. B. Cutter, John S. Duncan, R. Winbig- 

 ler, M. C. Lisle, Josiah Snyder. Tuscarawas — Wm. Zin- 

 kon, Wm. Woodrtiff, Ira Miser, Jonas Ban-, George Steis. 

 Wayne — Dr. Grenamire, David Adkins, Lake F, Jones, 

 John Brandt, J. M. Shafer, David Stinson. 



Col. Lake F. Jones was selected as a delegate to attend 

 the December meeting of the Tennessee "Wild Goose" 

 Fox Hunting Club. 



After finishing the general business brought before the 

 club all members partook of an excellent banquet that 

 had been prepared for the occasion, and we assure you 

 that fox-hunters are in every way capable of disposing 

 of all edibles that may be set before them. There are 

 many fine dogs in this section, and that great sire Red 

 Dan is at the head of nearly the entire family. All com- 

 munications should be addressed to L. G. Barton , Sec'y, 

 Millersburg, O. JOE Push. 



MiLLBRSBUBG, 0., Nov. 13, 



A COMPASS IN THE WOODS. 



Editor Falsest and Stream: 



A correspondent in to-day's issue explains how to sup- 

 ply the want of a compass by a watch, in connection with 

 the shadow of a knife blade on the thumb nail. In an 

 emergency this may answer. But without intentional 

 disrespect to Dr. Morris, I trust that no uninitiated will 

 hastily become converted to the Doctor's views, as ex- 

 pressed in his closing remark, that he ' 'never bothers to 

 carry a compass on Ms hunting trips." For the initiated 

 no warning is needed. I have just returned from a 

 Maine trip, with a veteran hunter and trapper of 45 

 years experience. I noticed that this experienced woods- 

 man invariably carried two compasses. Let us see where 

 the knife-watch-thumb-nail substitute might leave a man 

 on a "hunting trip." 



The camp is in meat and you do not want anything but 

 "an old big one with horns." You have accordingly been 

 searching far and wide, when suddenly you come upon 

 the track of a bull caribou. It is about noon, the track is 

 fresh, fairly smoking — and with high hopes for a speedy 

 shot you are off. You forget that in order to have a 

 short race with a caribou it is not enough that the track 

 is "fairly smoking;" it must be actually "on fire," and 

 after you have whipped up and down three or f om- moun- 

 tains, and through one or two old slashings and half a 

 dozen swamps, you conclude that your bull has sworn off 

 feeding and lying down until Mr. Fassett is elected. Your 

 watch indicates half-past four; it has come on to snow a lit- 

 tle, is dark and windy. You are perhaps three miles from 

 the old Indian line, four miles from camp, with three- 

 quarters of an hour before dark. A northeast course will 

 strike the line, and with a few birch curls you can follow 

 the line to camp after dark. You put your knife on your 

 thumb-nail and get your watch in position. No shadow — 

 the trees are too thick ; you must find "an opening in the 

 forest." But the heavy spruce and balsam flat has no 

 opening, and when you finally reach bard timber ten 

 minutes of pre.cious time is gone. No use f or a shado vv 

 now; you have not the legs of a caribou and you cannot 

 reach the line before da.rk. So a scramble for fire-wood 

 and a slanting tree where you can keep body and soul 

 together imtil morning, because— you "did not bother to 

 carry a compass." And only an hour's journey away 

 there is a comfortable log camp, where three good fellows 

 are burning tobacco on stomachs full of sirloin, coffee and 

 cakes. 



Young men, I know those who have been there. Don't 

 go to the woods without a knife, a full match-box and a 

 compass. And learn how to use the latter before you go. 

 And if you are hunting caribou and have grit to hang, 

 add a small hatchet (easily carried in a double loop on the 

 back of yom- coat) and a slice of fat pork. Then, if your 

 game iiisists upon visiting New Brunswick before he 

 lunches or makes a bed, you can, at least, go with him 

 part way. SEYMOUR Van Santvoord. 



Trot, N. Y., Nov. 12. 



BOSTON AND MAINE. 



GOVERNOR WILLIAM E. RUSSELL, of Massachu- 

 settts, returned on Thursday from a short visit to 

 the home of the Commodore Club, at Hartland, Me. The 

 Governor is a member of the club, along with ex-Gover- 

 nor Brackett and the Hon. Benjamin F. Butler. Governor 

 Russell evidently understands just how to obtain the best 

 sort of rest after the worry of a most brilliant campaign, 

 and the winning of a victory of which any Governor of 

 one term might be proud. He slips quietly away on a 

 shooting and fishing trip, and has his outing and is back 

 again almost before the public are aware that he has 

 stepped down from the executive chair. This time Mr, 

 John E. Thayer, of the Governor's staff, with his brother, 

 Mr. Bayard Thayer, were with him. Mr. Bayard Thayer, 

 it will be remembered, is the owner of the beautiful Birch 

 Lodge, at the head of Richardson Lake, in Maine. Gov- 

 ernor Russell was the guest of the Messrs. Thayer on both 

 their fall and spring fishing trips to Birch Lodge this 

 year. These gentlemen, young and genial, seem to be 

 companions almost inseparable in their hunting and fish- 

 ing excursions. This time they are charmed with the 

 beautiful home of the Commodore Club on Moose Lake. 

 They were down there for duck shooting, for which sport 

 that lake has long been noted. The Governor is a good 

 shot, and is winning laurels, to say nothing of the prow- 

 ess of the Thayers in that direction. 



Ducks have not come on to the marshes at the bead of 

 the lake in the usual abundance this fall. There is a 

 very good reason. The weather has been so terribly dry 

 that the marshes are shrunken lo the smallest space im- 

 aginable. Here blinds have been erected and here the 

 Governor tried his hand, morning and evening. One 

 morning he was at the blind waiting for the darkness to 

 lift and for the black ducks to come down to feed. Now 

 this black duck, as all sportsmen are aware, is about as 

 swift as a cannon ball, but the Governor took them "right 

 and left." Sam Furbish, the keeper at the home of the 

 Commodore Club, says that the "Governor went right in 

 for business every time," killing fotir ducks in succession 

 with right and left barrels. 



The next day Sam Furbish and Harry Williams, a 

 young local hunter, offered to put the Governor and 

 Adjutant-General Dalton, who was a member of the 

 party, on to a fox trail, with some good hounds to do the 

 work. Tbe Governor and the General accepted gladly, 

 but fox hunting amounted to nothing that day. as it 

 frequently does in Maine, as well as any other State in 

 the Union. But the courage and sturdiness with which 

 the gentlemen followed the hounds won the admiration 

 of the local fox hunters. 



Mr. L. W. DePass, Asst. Sec'y of the Boston Chamber 

 of Commerce, and C. vV. Hodgkins, of the Boston & 

 Albany freight office, have been on a gunning trip in to 

 the edge of Andover, Mass. They got no partridges, 

 though having a couple of good dogs. They started four, 

 but each one started from high trees and flew a long dis- 

 tance, doubtless lighting again into high trees, for the 

 dogs could not find the scent. But the exceedingly dry 

 weather is another feature and the birds may have left 

 very little scent, even if on the ground. Though quail 

 were put out in that section last spring, by the efforts of 

 the Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Associa- 

 tion, yet these hunters found no quail. They made in- 

 quiries of the residents and found that no quail had been 

 seen or heard since early in summer. One old gen- 

 tleman, well informed in such matters, suggests that par- 

 tridges have been troubled a great deal this year with 



