860 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



lDec. 29, 1893r 



The Gun Tax Again. 



Medina, Tenn., Dec. 19.— Quail are very abundant in 

 this vicinity: turkeys scarce: foxes and gray squirrels, 

 coons and possums fairly plenty: and well-trained dogs 

 over plenty, as the writer has Bruce M. and friend Dick 

 Morgan has a full dozen cracks along. 



The farmers, or rather the planters, are, as a rule, 

 friendly toward us, as we are here for sport and always 

 ready to divide our bag of birds with them. The market 

 shooter would find no favor here, as, in Southern par- 

 lance, "they have no use for him." 



There is one nuisance that should mett "short shift" 

 here, and that is the negro with his pot metal gun, who is 

 found sneaking around every cornfield, cotton patch and 

 fence corner, where it is his delight to find a covey of 

 quail huddled up in a bunch to fire into, though every 

 bird or beast that comes his way is rdeat for him._ The 

 only way to stamp out this evil is to put a heavy license 

 on guns owned in the State, and then enforce the law 

 rigorously. Stanstead. 



A Stray Pheasant. 



BusHKiLL, Pa., Dec, 19.— The only Eoglish pheasant 

 ever seen in this county, was killed lately by a party 

 grouse shooting. It is supposed to have cEcaped from 

 Tuxedo Park. Y. 



Making Up a Texas Party. 



San Antonio, Tex.— Texas to-day is the finest and best hunt- 

 ing and fiFhing grnnnd in the United States, tor such game as 

 detr, antelope, chicken, quail, ployer, gfiese, duck, Drant, swan, 

 turkey, curlew, snipe, wild hog. squirrels, rabbits and doves; and 

 such fish as black baes, channel cat, blue cat, trour, perch and 

 cranpie: and on the bay we catch sea bass, trout, redfish, Spanish 

 mackerel, flounder, tarpon and jswfish. Florida is "not in it" 

 for tarpon. We are making up a party now and want six or 

 seven more of our Northern sportsmen to join us. We shall leave 

 liere betwetn .Tan. ^ and 10, and ai-e going on a grand hunt on the 

 bay for geese, duck, brant, swan, snipe and curlew, and on the 

 Island for dfer, coon, fox, etc. It will be one ot the best outings 

 one can ha> e and the expense is very light; we shall be out from 

 two to four weeks, which ever we agree upon, and our expense 

 will not be more than $10 per week, thatincluding board and boat. 

 We shall sleep right on the schooner and have our cook and everj- 

 thlng complete. There are now three from Illinois, one from 

 Iowa and two of us Texas men, hut we want a party of ten or 

 twelve, as we can have a better time and it will not cost so much. 

 We can hunt, fish and root up oysters, and go flounder spearing 

 at nigbt. This is only for some of the boys that really want a 

 good time and to show what we have here. One can get round 

 trip pxcursion tickets v<*ry cheap. Come and join us, you are 

 heartily welcome. We don't sell town lots, nor are we real estate 

 agents, but true spor'smen, and it does us good to see others 

 enjoy themselves. L. F. Meyers. 



"That reminds lae." 



A SHORT time ago, just as the glorious orb of day was 

 sinking peacefully to rest behind the western hills, a 

 solitary fisherman might have been seen wending his 

 quiet way toward a country hotel not more than fifty 

 miles from the canter of Ottawa county, Michigan. 



The said fisherman's creel was as full of emptiness as 

 when he shouldered it at early morn. His inward faint- 

 ness, rumblings and grumblings plainly denoted nothing 

 there "nuther,'' 



The bar room of the hotel, barring a long board bench 

 and a flaming poster announcing when the next county 

 fair would ! e held, was as empty as both of the above- 

 mentioned articles lumped. 



There was no obsequious landlord nor pompous clerk 

 with a seventy-five candle power electric light on his ex- 

 pansive short front to welcome the weary, hungry fisher- 

 man: but a dapper, bustling, nervous little woman soon 

 put in an appearance, to whom the self-invited guest 

 quickly made known his wants, which were simply sup- 

 per, lodging, breakfast and a chance to wash : all of which 

 the little landlady said could be furnished, "provided he 

 would put up with country fare." Of course he would. 

 All that was required for supper was bread, butter, tea 

 and some boiled eggs. This matter being settled to the 

 entire satisfaction of both parties, he was shown into the 

 wash room, the little woman brought in a tin wash basin 

 about half full of water, hurried out and soon returned 

 with a piece of bar soap, the corners of which had been 

 nicely rounded off probably in doing the family washing. 

 There was more hustling about, when on her third ap- 

 pearance a towel was brought in and properly deposited 

 on one corner of the sink. Silence reigned, with the ex- 

 ception of the spluttering over the wash bowl, for a short 

 time, when it was again interrupted by the fourth ap- 

 pearance of the energetic little lady, whose entire manner 

 and expression of countenance denoted perplexity and 

 doubt. Gloomy gravity, seriousness and distrust were 

 plainly frefcoed all over her little face. She hesitated, 

 sort of held back, as though she had undertaken a tre- 

 mendous job and was sinking under the fearful responsi- 

 bilities assumed. After the towel had been hung on the 

 window fastener and the clean, shiny face of the party of 

 the first part shone with becoming gentleness and lenience 

 on her, she partially regained her former composure, 

 sidled up to him, drew a long breath and mildly asked, 

 "Would he have one or two eggs for his supper?" 



Grand Rapid s. Mich. 



Perfection in Traveling. 



At 6:00 P M. daily one of the handsomest trains in the United 

 Htaies and known as the North-Western Limited leaves the uas=i- 

 enger station o f the North-Western line in Chicago on its journey 

 to St. Paul and Mmneapohs. the tmn cities of the Northwest 

 Vestibuied throughout, and equipped with buffet, smoking and 

 library cars, private compartment sleeping cars, drawing room 

 sleepers and superb dimng care, it furnishes its occupants with 

 every comfort andconvenience which could be desired by the 

 f hf^fi'^"'''/. ^^'}^ ^'^^ i^"' undoubtedly takes rank 



I!^„i„*^®^.'^''?'^-*l^^,^^'°*^®^°rl'^'t^iere are two features of its 

 equipment which deserve especial mention, for they are new de- 

 Mhvl vl^n ''^ western railway world: The buffet, smoking and 

 fir.^^f^ furnished.in the most luxurious manner with com- 



bnfffit f.n'^ chairs, %VTmng desks, book cases and a well stocked 

 $?£®'^'t™™?''?^°'^.^'Sht refreshments are served. The private 

 compartment sleeping car is designed especially for the accom- 

 T?*^«''.n^''nS^*^^"/7P''''"^*^°'^ traveling without escon. 



itseu^ 3 o^'^f"? ''■^^ separate compartments, each complete in 

 iitl^Jt^^ eontainang washstaad, hot and cold running water and 

 ft is fn ll^«lC°'^f>?f[*'"^^°^^?'f • ^^'^^ t'l'-se two features 

 KfiiL^^n tT^^^f — rvice to say that the supper 

 train leaves Chicago is a meal 

 fn th^^o*^t'° Please the epicure. In a word, it you delire to tfavel 

 Minn»?r? r conifo'-taWe manner and make the trip to St. Paul 

 fln^S'^°''°' point in the Northwest, in the quickest Hme 



tfm« t fhil°''' ^.^^'^^ the North-Western Line mSs 



Ti^ be obtained upon appS 



tion h-. any iickf^l agent, or bv addressing W. A. Thrall Generfll 



Cmoafe^.-ldl^''^'' ^'"^^'^^S" ^' North-tvetL'rn BailwS 



fistartt. 



HAVEANIIVIALSASENSEOF DIRECTION? 



This ia a suggestion of great interest to the lover of the 

 dog, and the student of animal mentality generally, and 

 one which has been threshed out round many a camp-fire, 

 if not exhaustively, at least as nearly exhaustively as 

 the condition admitted of. The general tendency has 

 been to answer the question in the affirmative, on the 

 plea that the facts adduced admit of no other construc- 

 tion. With a like tendency the question has been pro- 

 pounded and discussed even in scientific journals, and 

 this, too, by men who could easily have reached right 

 conclusions if they had only trained themselves to a 

 habit of investigating such problems critically and sys- 

 tematically. Let me now put the readers of Forest and 

 Stream on the track of thinking out the problem for. 

 themselves. 



A sense implies a sense-organ connected with the brain 

 by a sensory nerve, which latter conveys to the brain 

 the perception of objects apprehended by the sense organ. 

 IE the animal can locate an object beyond the sphere of 

 the sense-organs of seeing and hearing, the presumption 

 is that the special sense-organ must be very conspicuous. 

 Not only can we not locate any euch organ in the dog, 

 for example, but physiologists and anatomists have failed 

 to detect It. It is quite possible that some of theinsecis 

 have special sense-organs of whose special mode of 

 operation we have not and cannot have the faintest idea. 

 Ihe sense of sight does not afilord any insight into the 

 mode of operation of our other sense", nor could our five 

 senses afford any possible clue to the mode of operation 

 of a sixth sense. But turning to the higher vertebrate 

 animals, the fact that we cannot discover an additional 

 sense-organ, if not conclusive evidence against the exist- 

 ence of a sixth sense, is at least strong negative evidence 

 against it. 



Let us now approach the problem by considering the 

 faces in evidence. A dog is taken by rail a j jurney of 

 200 miles in a circuitous course, and set free ai a di6taEC3 

 of fifty miles from his home. He disappears, and the 

 next day turns up at his old haunts. Presnmalily he has 

 taken the short cut, but perhaps if we could follow bis 

 tracks we should fiad that he did not take a bee-line, but 

 first reached familar home scenes a mile or more off the 

 direct lines. This is, however, parenthetical. 



Now let us suppose that, during the dog's absence, the 

 house has been burnt to the ground, and that the family 

 has removed to a point five miles distant, and equally 

 with the home from the point at which the dog is set 

 down. If the dog had the supposed sense organ he would 

 as easily locate the family as the old site, be will never- 

 theless make for the latter. 



It may here be objected that there is not sufficient 

 evidence on this point. Well, let us take another and 

 more familiar illustration. The dog is chained. The 

 master leaves the camp gun in hand, vanishes into the 

 woods, and makes a detour which at the end of an hour 

 brings him within half a mile of the camp on tiie opposite 

 side. The dog is then let loose, and if he had the sup- 

 posed "sense of direction" could locate hismaster at once; 

 would, in fact, have located him at every step of his 

 course. But, Instead of making straight for where he 

 then is, he trusts to his eyes and nose, and sets off on his 

 master's trail. 



Here, then, we have positive evidence that the dog has 

 no "sense of direction," no extraordinary means of loca- 

 ing objects, no means of locating places, except through 

 their perceived relation to the place on which he now 

 stands. If the dog could locate an object by any faculty 

 other than the senses which he enjoys in common with 

 man, his being thrown ofl' the scent would be no bar to 

 his continuing the hunt. 



A dog, at the close of a day's march, however devious, 

 has a clear knowledge of the relation of the place he 

 stands on, not only to the camp bo left in the morning, 

 but to every point of the route, Tli^; j .ate i?, as it were, 

 mapped out to his perceptions at any instant he tries to 

 recall it. This knowledge he, in common with all other 

 animals, owes to a faculty of close observation, sub-con- 

 sciously performed, along with an intelligent perception 

 of relations. 



This faculty is not inherent under all circumstances, 

 and is enjoyed in varying degree by dift'erent individuals. 

 It is, moreover, liable to interruption by any startling or 

 confusing circumstance. The clue is of course lost in 

 sleep. 



It may be objected that this explanation does not cover 

 the difliculty, that animals may bs carried from home in 

 closed cages, and will nevertheless find their way back. 

 This is very interesting and remarkable, but as it is vain 

 to hypothecate a sixth sense to account for it, the most 

 reasonable method of accounting for it is to assume a 

 highly developed sensitiveness to every change of direc- 

 tion. 



Darwin made some experiments with bees which throw 

 light on the subject. Having captured some bees, he 

 placed them in dark paper boxes and carried them some 

 little distance by a circuitous route. Being set free the 

 bees all returned to the hive. He took more, carried 

 them by a similor circuitous route, but while en route he 

 spun the boxes round rapidly. Only one or two bees 

 found their way back to the hive, and these, presumably, 

 by accident. While being spun round they lost percep- 

 tion of the direction in which they were being taken. 



This faculty of perception of the direction taken is very 

 low in man; it nevertheless exists in suflicient strength 

 to enable us to appreciate the higher development of the 

 faculty in our friends, the other animals. Blindfold a 

 man with his shoulders square to the wall of a large hall 

 and bid him walk straight forward fifty paces: be will 

 ordinarily deviate considerably from the straight line. 

 Take his hand and tell him you will guide him in a 

 straight line, and you may lead him around the sweep of 

 a large circle while he supposes he is going in a straight 

 Ime, but if you try to lead him round and round in a 

 small circle he will quickly realize the fact. 



Experiments with some other animals force us to con- 

 clude that animals caged, or blindfolded, may be cai'ried 

 and turned in any direction without for a moment losing 

 their perception of the route they are being taken, with 

 all Its curves and angles, as long as their "faculties are 

 alert and their perceptions quickened to the task. 



C. F. AMERY. 



Tlie Fish Lmvs of the TJnUed States and Canada, in the 

 ''G-ame Laios in Brief,"' 25 cents. In the ''Book oi' t/ie 

 Oamc Laws''' {full text), 50 cents. 



MY FIRST FISH. 



Up to date my heaviest "string" has been fifteen chub 

 and catfish weighing all told, including the stringer and 

 a fair amount of thumb pressure, 2f lbs. So I am going 

 to tell of my first fish that could be honored by having 

 his name commence with a capital letter. The string 

 above referred to was one of several caught and proudly 

 carried home many years ago, when a walk of ten miles 

 before breakfast, a mud bath all day and a return on foot 

 in the evening had no terror for a pair of hearty boys. 



However, as the bald spot grew balder and I set up the 

 remembrance of those days as the foundation of my 

 knowledge of the sport, I concluded that fishmg was "no 

 fun," and all the yarns told by friends as to the pleasure 

 to be had in whipping northern waters as mere emana- 

 tions from a well stocked vocabulary. 



It so happened that I reached Spirit Lake early one 

 season and was there converted, it being, I think, the 

 quickest conversion on record. It happened this way: 



Mr. A., an insatiable old angler, round, plump and jolly, 

 who has fished in all the waters of this fair land from 

 Maine to Mexico, one morning took pity on my woebe- 

 gone looks, and invited me to accompany him in his 

 private boat. "For," said he "although you are not heavy 

 enough for ballast you are plenty long enough for a mast 

 and may be of some use in getting us home in c^se our 

 engine breaks down; the engine in the case being Larsen, 

 a stalwart Dane, whose superior as a waterman I have 

 never seen. 



So it turned out that in a few moments I was seated 

 snugly in the comfortable tilting pivot chair at the stern 

 of the roomy boat, prepared to string anything from a 

 ccd to a catfish, my mind not being ex-ictly clear as to 

 the kind or quality of fi^h to be found in the lake. 



My companion, who occupied a mate to the chair I was 

 in, in the middle of the boat, commenced buamess early 

 and drew in several pretty perch, which he unceremoni- 

 ously cast back into their native haunt, telling me, when 

 1 remonstrated, that he was "out for fish, not kickers." 

 Qaite frequently he would pull in a 8lb. pike, ond when 

 7 or 8 of this tribe had been gathered to their fathers, 

 while I had not felt the semblance of a nibble, I con- 

 cluded that something was decidedly wrong, and deter- 

 mined to try the old plan, in which most boys have more 

 implicit confidence than in their prayers — to spit on the 

 bait; so I reeled in. Hardly had the spoon touched the 

 water when a jerk nearly pulled the rod from my grasp, 

 and in a moment I was all excitement. 



"Whoa! Larsen!" I shouted. "By the great eternal! 

 I've hooked a fish that is a fish ! Whoa !" 



"Steady, Doc," said my companion, "or you'll upset the 

 boat and spoil the machinery. .Just clean your hooks and 

 drop them over again." 



A quiet chuckle from him and aloud laugh from Lar- 

 sen quieted me somewhat, and I subsided entirely as thn 

 spoon with a steady drag came to view with about l4 

 fathoms of weed. Several times this thing happened, 

 and at each pull I would be positive that I had anything 

 but the wef d-i, only to find my hook again and again 

 entangled. Becoming somewhat diecouragpd, my mind 

 reverted to the old days of chub and catfish, and I had 

 about reached the old conclusion that fishing was "no 

 fun," when the reel, with a zip-biz-iz z! startled me from 

 my reverie. 



"Hold on, Larsen," I said, "I've got another 'Burgess 

 bite'," meaning that I had caught the bottom. The 

 "Burgess bite" was named in sarcasm after one of the 

 lodgers, who occasionally came in from his day's sport 

 with same great yarn about a phenomenal fish which 

 "carried away hook, leader, sinker and line, barely savfd 

 the rod by skillful handling; fact, now, sho!" 



"Burgess, nothing! That's a daisy," growled Larsen. 



"No, you've hooked a good one this time. Doctor, and 

 if you let him get away, overboard you go," so said my 

 friend in the middle of the boat as he rapidly brought his 

 side line out of the way. "Take it easy," he added, as I, 

 becoming aware that there was an indefinable some- 

 thing on the end of that line which sent a very extraor- 

 dinary thrill coursing up and down my spinal column, 

 made a lunge at the reel, which kept up its song until 

 checked by my rude hand. 



"Take it easy! Easy!" If every fibre in my body had 

 been a nerve, and every nerve attached to'an eleciric 

 battery, I couldn't have been less at ease than at that mo- 

 ment. 



Larsen kept the boat so situated that I constantly faced 

 my game. I tried to reel in the hundred feet of line, but 

 was so nervous that time after time my fingers slipped, 

 and the quarry unwoxtnd more in a second than I could 

 regain in a minute. I endeavored to pay attention to 

 A.'s instructions, but his low groans and Larsen's words, 

 •' not loud but deep," rattled me, and at each biz-i-iz; my 

 reel made I grabbed for Pomething, anything that was 

 bandy about my tackle. Oace I had rod, Mne and reel 

 all in a death grip for the purpose of checking that eong, 

 and brought up my runaway "all standing " with rod 

 bent nearly double, and the line as taut and straight as a 

 piano wire. I felt A. give the seat of my chair a kick, 

 and a word from Larsen, not so deep this time, put a 

 little sense into my calvarium, and I determined to have 

 that fish, if I had to lasso him and pull him in hand over 

 hand. The shock, luckily, had done no damage, for 

 M. W., from whom I had borrowed the outfi' , was too 

 old a hand not to have the very best stufi: in his tackle, 

 60 the only effect was to make' the frightened beauty 

 jump. And jump he did, his four feet of glistening 

 scales and the enormous splash nearly making me lose 

 my head again. 



Giving ear to A.'s injunctions, I reeled in, once more 

 endeavoring to bring my prisoner near the side of the 

 boat, and still not too near. We had no gaff, and my 

 companion considered a dip net only good for ladies' use. 

 so I must work my yanking monster closer and closer 

 all the time, fearful lest he dash against the side of the 

 boat and free himself. His head appeared and a grpafc 

 shovel nose protruded above water. A band reach^ far 

 ovej: the brilliant, fiery eyes watched fpr a brief second 



