OOT. 6, 1892.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



293 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[From a Staff Correspondent.'] 

 Chicago, 111., Sept. 30,— How about that fine, Dr. 

 Thomat^V 



Dr. Thomas is a popular pi'eaoher. He makes every- 

 thing popular he touclies. If left alone he would make 

 summer dppr shooting a popular pastime. Not left alone 

 he makes Fokest A^^r^ Stream, for the time at least, very 

 po^mlar. So far as I can learn the paper never pleased 

 Western men more than by showing the facts in regard 

 to this popular Western preacher. Even from the East 

 comes word in regard to this. From a letter written by 

 Mr. A. C. Collins, of Haf^^brd, Conn., president of the 

 Connecticut Association of Farmers and Sportsmen for 

 the Protection of Game and Fish. Hartford county game 

 and fish warden, president Colt Hammerless (lun Club, 

 secretarv Hartford Kennel Club, agent of the Connecti- 

 cut Humane Society, etc., etc., I take the following: 



It Dr. Thomas get- his just dues— a good line— he will not then 

 be talKinK hia absuvfi and illogical vaporinsis regarding the game 

 laws, neither will he be smocking bis lips with so much gusto. 

 He might then change bis lone. Those three deer, Villed illegallj' 

 by the divine, wer-s the property of the State of "Wisconsin. 

 He bad no more Ipgal Tight to steal them than be had to take 

 other propert.v belonging to the State, I hope he will be fined 

 heavily. A "poacher" is a "poacher" regardless of clothes or 

 position . 



I reckon Dr. Thomas will be fined all right, though 

 probably he never would have been except for Forest 

 AND Stream, This week I got a letter from Mr. D, W. 

 Fernandez, now State game warden of Wisconsin, at 

 Madison, in which he inquires for the county on which Dr. 

 Thomas did the killing. Mr. Fernandez, I understand, 

 also wrote City Warden Bortree about it. I told Mr. 

 Fernandez that the county did not make any difference, 

 since I had personal assurance that Dr, Thomas was just 

 honing to be fined. I sent Mr. Fernandez's letter to Dr. 

 Thomas and Dr. Thomas's letter to Mr. Fernandez; if 

 these two gentlemen do"'fc aret together now it isn't my 

 fault. I give below Dr. Thorn is's last letter, which needs 

 no further comment, being as regards evidence in defense, 

 irrelevant, immaterial and incompetent, as the lawyers 

 say. The public will file its own objection to it. The 

 best and easiest thing Dr. Thomas can do now is to take 

 the advice I kindly gave him in my last letter— pay his 

 fine and go and sin no more. This giving good advicn 

 to a preacher is what I call a snap, and I am wiping off 

 plenty of old scores right here. The letter: 



Dear Mr. Hmigh: . . , 



Though personally not acquainted, we are coming to know each 

 other by correspondence. , v, , . . 



If you were a preacher, you would probably be aregalistrn 

 Teli'^ion; and yet you would Had that the formal law of the 

 churches by erowHi and change of custom has in many things 

 dropped into disuse. The Methodist church has a positiye law 

 against "putting on gold and costly apparel," and yet every 

 preacher who is aWe— Bishop not excepted— carries a gold watch 

 and chain, and all wear "costly" OToadelotii. 



I do not mean by the analogy that the game law is by any means 

 a dead law. I believe in it and the hunters of Wisconsin respect 

 It and would he the first to complain of any one who sought to 

 take advautsge of or to abuse the liberty' of interpretation by 

 •which they kill for use. Two of my deer I killed when alone— I 

 like atill-hnnting— oiie when with a'profeasion.il hunter, and he 

 said, "Now, tliat is enough, we would. not shoot another if there 

 were forty in sight." _ . . ■ 



But the "fort> " are never in "sight;" it is a difficult matter to 

 find a.nd get them in the interminable brush of that country. I 

 hunted at one time four da.vs and one night with three good hunt- 

 ers and we did not ger one. It is not this little summer hunting 

 that is destroying the game, but the wholesale slaughter in sea- 

 son It hecomes a pride and a boast to see who can kill the most. 

 That otight to be stopped by limiting the number allowahle for 



^^ersonahy I made no secret of what I did, for I live an open 

 life before my fellow men; nor under the circumstances did I feel 

 the least condemnation, and said then, and have said since, that I 

 believe in the purpose of the game law, and if what I did whs a 

 violation, I would cheerfully pay for it; and if the State of Wis- 

 consin or the proper officer presents a bill it will require no legal 

 process to eolle' t it. But the only eflE»ct upon others would prob- 

 ably be a little more secrecy; the kiUine, what little there is in 

 summer, would go on ju9t the same. The time to save the deer 

 is in Novembe'". At that time I have to beat home at my work, 

 but should gladly be eoverned by a limitation act were I a profes- 

 sional hunter, wh'cb I never w^a»; but I can shoot pretty well, 

 ha\nng been raised to the gun when ahoy in Virginia. I killed a 

 great deal of small game then, and I love the woods yet better 

 than any place else. I never shot at but tour deer in my life, and 

 three of 'those I got. _ „ „ „ 



But p:>rdou this long letter. Respectfully, H. V( . Thomas. 



No. 535 West Moneoe Strkex, Sept. 33. 



DECOYS IN QUESTION. 

 Many duck shooters of this vicinity have viewed with 

 alarm the statement in last week's Forest and Stream, 

 quoting Mr, F. M. Lawrence, of Mayville, Wis., to the 

 effect that it is against the law to shoot over decoys in 

 Wisconsin, Among other comments I have the following 

 letter from Mr. W, C. Thomas, of Sheboygan Falls, 

 Wis.: 



I have read your article on Horieon Marsh in E'orest akb 

 Stream of Sept. 23, and note your reference to Attorney Law- 

 rence's statement regarding the use of decoys. I do not know 

 what they do on the Diana grounds, but the club on the upper 

 Horieon grounds all use decoys, as also do all hunters at Puck- 

 away and every other duck grounds in Wisconsin that I ever 

 heard of. I have the latest Wiscoasin game laws before me and 

 fail to find any mention therein of decoys. You either misunder- 

 stood Mr. Lawrence or else he is not posted on that point. 



There is no question about the understanding, and no 

 question about the trouble it has raised. In the compila- 

 tion of the game and fish laws is&ued by the Wisconsin 

 Secretary of State I find no reference to such enactment. 

 Neither "do I find it in the Book of the - Game Laws, 

 issued by Forest and Stream, in which no error whatever 

 has ever been detected, and which is therefore the only 

 accurate record of the game laws published. I know the 

 Diana Club boys use decoys, and I have used decoys there, 

 though after this adyice not on the upper club marsh 

 (where, however, they do not "all use decoys."^ If Mr. 

 Lawrence can point.out chapter and verse, he will oblige, 

 and oblige still more if he can't, 



PUN WITH the boys. 



The game law is having a little fun occasionally with 

 the South Water street boys. The surprised and grieved 

 looks on the South AVater street man's face these late 

 •days is a study. The dealers don't know what to do about 

 this reckless violation of the etiquette of the past. Pres- 

 ident Organ and Waiden Borfcree, for instance, found two 

 tubs of prairie chickens in the hands of Messrs. Ender & 

 Ender. The firm compromised cheerfully on a fine of 

 $-e70. This was a sort of double-ender, so to speak, but it 

 is a poor rule that won't work both ways. The American 

 Express Co. also notified the above ofiicers that they had 

 two barri'ls of grouse for Morse Gray and one barrel for 

 G. R. Shirkly. all from Nebraska. This was unkind of 

 the company, for the three barrels only brought $71 at 

 auction, aad might have retailed for much more if the 



dealers had bad their way. Mr. S. O. Argraves, of 

 Compton, III., also sent 10 fox squirrels to Cougle Bros., 

 178 South Water street, but again the American Express 

 Co, fell against the project, and its little card of notifica- 

 tion brought speedy and proper action. This express 

 company is doing good, and it deserves thanks. United 

 action of all the express companies could kill illegal ship- 

 ping in one year's time. There has been less illegal game 

 sold in Chicago this fall than at any time for 10 years, al- 

 though this is the best year for game there has been for 

 five years. Two years' good work at protection has made 

 a distinct change. The possibilities of such work no 

 longer remain problematical, and the practical importance 

 of such work can no longer be denied. 



RECENT SHOOTING. 



Messrs. W. R. Linn, O. H. Eoche and Alex. Semple are 

 back from a chicken trip to Worthington, Minn., and 

 j-eport very bad luck. I understand this point is near 

 the Iowa line, and if so it is about 5300 miles below the 

 best Minnesota shooting this fall. 



A friend tells me that this week in St. Paul he met a 

 man just in from North ;Dakota, who told him that he 

 killed 173 birds in two days. Of course 122 of these birds 

 were illegal; lowest fine |10, total $1,820. All 172 illegal 

 when taken out of the State. The name of the man is 

 unknown. 



Messrs C. S. Burton and Henry Smith, 'of this city: 

 John Egan, of Cincinnati, and Geo. Hunsucker, of St. 

 Paul, leave tbi^ week for Ten-Mile Lake, Ottertail 

 county, Minnesota, for a two weeks' trip after chickens 

 and bass. 



The recent party that went up to Horieon marsh had 

 fair sport. W. L. Shepard bagged 46 ducks in one day, 

 W. P. Mussey 25 in two days, Geo. Holden 25 in one day, 

 L, M. Hamline 33 in one day, C. B. Dicks 23 one day 

 and 28 the next. The club keeper, Yorgey, bagged 4.0 in 

 one day. 



R, A. Turtle returned from Lake Senachwine, Illinois 

 River country, late this week and reports thousands of 

 birds there, mostly teal. The flight seems therefore well 

 south, 



Fred Allen, of Monmouth, was in town this week, and 

 as usual brought me pnother duck call, which I add to 

 my collection. This would seem a good place to say, in 

 the words of the country editor, "Call again, Fred." 



Big Lou Harrison, of Minneapolis, also came to Chicago 

 this week to oee about the prospects for sport this fall and 

 winter. Mr. Cowan, champion of Montana in the trap- 

 shooting line, is another arrival, and more to the purpose, 

 one who will locate here and stay. The great magnet of 

 the West is Chicago. 



Mr. Frank Mason, widely known through his long con- 

 nection with sporting journalism, spends this week in 

 Chicago, being West on a trip for the May1loioe.i\ an 

 Eastern horticultural magazine. This is a good time for 

 Mr. Mason to remember the famous remarks of the young 

 nreacher, who remarked to his congregation, "The 

 Providence which made you, my brethren, also made the 

 tall and spreading oak, and the Lord who made me, made 

 a daisy." This I just drop in, as being the only thing I 

 know about horticulture. 



LOST labor. 



Mr. Geo. Hofmanu, of this city, has, or had, one of 

 these expectorating dogs with long white hair. It seems 

 that there is an inexorable fashion in canine ornamenta- 

 tion which demands that such dogs be decorated with 

 lion's manes, collars, cuffs, or other landscape eft'ects 

 trimmed out of the natural hair. Mr, Hofmann did not 

 want to be behind the times, and so sought to shear his 

 dog in a truly artisctic manner. The dog resented, and 

 bit Mr. Hofmann through the hand. Not even this 

 caused him to relent, and acting on a happy thought, he 

 chloroformed the dog, tied his legs together, and then 

 proceeded to execute the most marvelous pattern of dog 

 fresco that ever was derived. He cut a lane up each side 

 of the dog's back, put frills around his legs, a ruff about 

 his neck, a star on one side and an anchor on the other. 

 The dog being quiet, the artist was not bothered in his 

 work, and so proceeded with greater liberty of hand and 

 eye. The reason why most dogs are so badly sheared is 

 because they are not chloroformed. "This chloroform is 

 great stuff,'' said Mr. Hofmann, as he finished his work, 

 and sought to wake up his dog. The latter declined to 

 wake up, however. In short, he was dead— a highly 

 ornamented but also highly dead dog. Mr. Hofmann 

 stands the chaffing of his friends very well. "I don't 

 mind losing the dog so much," says he, "but what I want 

 to know is whether the joke is on me or on the dog." 



ILLINOIS CHICKENS, 



It is practically certain that the wet spring of this year 

 caused great destruction among the prairie chickens of 

 this State. This has been the report from sections of the 

 State where the birds were fairly plentiful last year, and 

 this I have personally verified" this week by a short trip 

 into country which should have had some birds this year. 

 Mr. D. H. Halladayand myself went out north of Amboy, 

 only some seventy' or seventy-five miles west of Chicago, 

 in a section where the ground is high, and where the 

 birds might be expected to have sutt'ered less from floods. 

 We met warm weather, so warm that the dogs Lady and 

 Mack had a hard time of it, but in a day's walk which 

 covered between twenty-five and thirty miles we put up 

 hardly a covey, and had to content ourselves with long- 

 shots at old birds. The next day we did better, and found 

 better country and more birds. On the whole trip we put 

 up less than sixty birds all told. We bagged twenty- 

 three, ail fiue great birds, and strong fliers. As sport, we 

 found this shooting highly enjoyable, though the scanty 

 total would make it seem dull to many who like to shoot 

 chickens in August, which I certainly do not. The birds 

 have not yet taken to the corn altogether, though they 

 fly to the cornfields when put up, and probably spend 

 most of the day there when it is warm. Early in the 

 morning and laie in the evening we found them on the 

 stubbles, and later met them occasionally on the pastures. 

 They were wild and wary, and as interesting a game bird 

 as one could ask. No, 6 and Sdrs. of smokeless was none 

 too good for them. 



In the low grounds leading back to the Kishwaukee 

 River the chickens were almost entirely drowned out. 

 south of C. B. & Q., on the high ground, they bred better, 

 and here we found some young birds, although there was 

 no gi-ass land for breeding ground. It seemed odd, to be 

 hunting chickens in this highly cultivated farming 

 country, where the maple trees, planted by the farmers. 



were thicker than a man's body, and one could not go 

 forty acres without crossing a wire fence. It shows how 

 the birds hang to their old home, even at the expense of 

 changing their habits. These birds now breed right up 

 in the field, barring meadows or grass land. We shot 

 one bird which had only one leg, the other being taken 

 ofl 80 smoothly at the joint that not the least trace re- 

 mained of wound or acar. This was doubtless done by 

 a mowing machine when the bird was small. This was a 

 young bird about two-thirds grown, one of the smallest 

 we got. Ordinarily a young bird will not cackle when it 

 is put up, but this one cackled like a good fellow as it 

 .flew. 



On this trip we met one of my old chicken dogs, in this 

 case a half-breed, apparently setter and Newfoundland. 

 Ponto was a Gothic sort of dog, bigger than any setter, 

 and of no particular shape, but with as good a nose and 

 as good a knowledge of chicken hunting as any dog I 

 ever saw. His master, Geo. Watson, had him broken to 

 a nicety, and 1 could not help wondering what would be 

 the eft'ect were this nondescript allowed to compete in a 

 field trial with the cracks. Ponto had been out every 

 day for two weeks, but on the morning we saw him he 

 was still able to do a turn. The first we saw of him was 

 when he was crossing a field at his mother's heels. All 

 at once he turned and came to a full point, and later we 

 found the birds 60yd8. further on. We brougnt up Lady 

 and Mack to back, and the three made a pretty field pic- 

 ture, all the more complete that we got the three birds 

 which rose. Ponto cost $10. He is worth $500. 



As usual, there was some sweet with the bitter of our 

 hard-working hunt. In the evening before we took the 

 train for home, we walked out a mile or so from the lit- 

 tle country village where we were stopping, and tried 

 for a few more birds. We wanted just two dozen and 

 we had just 18. We could not put up a bird, but just at 

 sundown my companion, Mr. Halladay, saw a little 

 bunch of 6 birds, flying in over the corn, and he thought 

 they went dovm about a half mile beyond us. Taking 

 their line, we crossed a wide field of corn and struck a 

 stubble field. This we worked in vain for some time, 

 separating and beating it carefully. At length, at a dis- 

 tance I heard Halladay's gun twice, and looking about 

 saw a bird rise high and wide from him, falling an in- 

 stant later to his shot. Going over to him, I found that 

 he had started 6 birds and killed 3 in the thi-ee shots. 

 We gathered these and took the line of the three other 

 birds, which had gone across the corn directly on the 

 line from which we came. Pushing on through the 

 corn and into a heavy growth of grass, one of these got 

 up at my feet and I killed it. An instant later both the 

 others sprung and Halladay killed both of them, though 

 we found only one in the grass. This was all in a few- 

 moments, and was the only easy shooting we had. The 

 birds were mixed old and young birds, and we knew 

 when we saw them flying in the stubble that the pack- 

 ing-up days were near at hand. 



Given a good breeding season next year, and any 

 decent observation of the law, and we will have very fair 

 chicken shooting within 100 to 150 miles of Chicago. The 

 supply of breeding birds left is ample, and from this on 

 they can take care of themselves. The public is welcome 

 to go to Dakota and the Northwest for chicken shooting, 

 and welcome to the big bags of easy birds. I have had 

 one little two days' hunt, right in the door yard of 

 C!hicago, and though it was hard work to get together 

 anything of a bag, we earned what we got, and had to 

 walk and shoot tor at. Kill a hundred chickens and you 

 don't care for one of them, but every bird we got was an 

 object for admiration, for comment, for careful stroking 

 of plumage and for words of praise. There is no grander 

 game bird flies than a full-grown pinnated grouse, and no 

 prettier spore exists than shooting it in the proper season, 

 namely, late in the fall. Before the middle of September 

 chicken shooting does not deserve the name of sport. If 

 all States opened the season Oct. 1, we should always 

 have with us a noble bird, worthy of the keen work re- 

 quired to bag it. 



Mr. C. W. Budd, of Des Moines, Iowa, writes, "I can 

 give you some work on quail and pheasants this fall. 

 Chicken shooting is fairly good. I have only been out 

 about three hours, fifteen niiles out of the citv. and bagged 

 five birds." E. Hough. 



IT5 MONiiOE Sthkk'i', Chicago. 



Chicago, Sept. M.— Editor Forest and Stream: I read 

 your Western correspondent's article in your issue of 

 Sept. 22 in reference to Dr. Thomas's pleasant and en- 

 joyable vacation, and the statement that the reverend 

 Doctor intends to "repeat the trip after more deer next 

 summer." The Doctor attempts to explain the matter 

 away in his happy easy style, btit the cold facts that he 

 has violated the game laws of Wisconsin, and intends to 

 violate them again next summer, and is perfectly willing 

 to pay the fines so long as he may have all the nice, juicy 

 venison he wishes, are all that I can see in his explana- 

 tion. 



The Doctor seems to have plenty of money to pay in 

 fines, and intends to take his pick of the choicest, in_ sea- 

 son or out; game laws or no game laws, in order to tickle 

 his palate with the delicacies of the season. The game 

 laws were never framed to allow the persons who have 

 the money to pay in fines, to hunt in and out of season, 

 but to prevent the killing of game during the closed sea- 

 son, both by the rich and poor. 



The Doctor in his capacity seems to have precious 

 little regard for the laws of man in comparison to the 

 respect he has for the laws of God. On his line of 

 reasoning a gambler who can pay his fines or a criminal 

 who clears himself by serving a term, exonerates him- 

 self in the eyes of the public. Such an example set by 

 an eminent divine is twofold more liable to bring forth 

 bad fruit. 



The worst of it all is that the worthy Doctor intends 

 to repeat the trip again next- summer. We wish he may, 

 but that meantime he will read the columns of the FOR- 

 EST AND Stream, if he does not already do so, and if he 

 does he has woefully missed the teachings, and become 

 educated as to the ethics of a summer fishing trip in 

 Wisconsin. 



If all who go fishing during the summer want a few 

 nice fat deer to relieve the monotony of camp cookery 

 and carried out their wants, of what value would be our 

 game laws? Leave your guns at home on such occasiouB, 

 and avoid the temptation, if you cannot withstand it. 



The Doctor has erred, and should be ma.de not to err 

 I again. Old Avalanche. 



