72 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 26, 1893. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[]p)'om a Staff Corj-espcmdeiiL] 

 The Weather. 



The severely cold weather has been something of an 

 impediment to acti^'ity in out-door sports. It has been 

 coquetting with the zero ]3oint of late, sometimes nimbly 

 plunging down 15 or 30 degrees below zero just to .show 

 what it coidd do when so inclined. Yet the Chicago 

 weatlier was bad in appearance onlj^. As compared witli 

 the weather of other places, it was quite healthful and 

 pleasant. Nevertheless, it was not a bad time to liie 

 southward to a more genial clime, and some of the shoot- 

 ers hied accordingly. 



Mr. E. HcSugli, whose intei'esting and instructive writ- 

 ings appear each week in Fokest and Stream, left Chicago 

 last Tuesday night for the Texan coast and prairies. He 

 had a most destructive collection of outfit — a whole lot of 

 cartridges, two guns and. a mass of other paraphernaha. 

 I would not be sui-prised if he killed some ducks and quail. 

 Such was his declared intention. 



The Last of the Buffaloes. 



"Buffalo" Jones, of Kansas, made a pleasant call on us 

 on Monday. He is making arrangements here for the 

 publication of his book on buffaloes, and wild-west life. 



It occurred to me that it was exceedingly strange that 

 the same soubriquet has been produced' by different 

 causes. "Buffalo" Bill acquired his by kilhng large num- 

 hers of buffaloes; "Buffalo" Jones won his, by his skill and 

 success in catching a herd of buffaloes, and "Buffalo" 

 Tom, I have been told, acquii-ed his by constantly wearing 

 a buffalo overcoat. Thus the same effect was produced 

 by catching, killing and wearing the buffalo. The buf- 

 falo may be dead, but his fame and name Uve on. Mr. 

 Jones is an energetic man of brains and would make a 

 success in any calling. 



Mr. Charles Willard, the popular- representative of the 

 Colt Patent Fire Arms Co. , left on Wednesday for an 

 extensive business tour through tiie Southwest. 



The Destruction of Birds. 



From reports so far received, the cold weather has proved 

 most destructive to quail north of the Mississippi River. 

 Its effects will be felt uiore directly next fall, when the 

 shooter is afield with dog and gun, when few birds are 

 found and the game bag at the end of the day is light. 



Farmers would be doing a good deed by placing food in 

 such places on their farms as w^ould be found by the we&k 

 and starving birds. 



Mr. J. E. Fisher, the well-known breeder and trainer of 

 Riverside, Ind., writes me, concerning the destruction of 

 birds, as follows: "Tliequailhunting will be very poor this 

 year in this vicinity, on account of the continued heavy 

 snow. The snow has Been on the ground ten inshes deep for 

 thirty days, and the thermometer has repeatedly registered 

 15° below zero. Many quail have been starved to death, 

 and in many cases wuole coveys have been frozen. The 

 pot-hunter; game hog, foxes and hawks have a harvest. 

 The game hog does not now have to waste ammunition to 

 get a bag— the frozen quail will sell anywhere. Tiie quail 

 whicii are still alive are so weak that they can hardly es- 

 cape from the- foxes, and they are an easy prey for the 

 hawks. I am feeding what coveys I can find. I have 

 driven several coveys- to a patch of cane where they Avill 

 find food and shelter. Tiie boys will have to hustle to 

 find quail enough in Indiana to train on this yeai-." His 

 letter was dated Jan. 17. 



Such destruction is sad to contenii>late. 



From another section of Indiana, under date of Jan. 19, 

 a correspondent writes: "We are having 32 below zero 

 and over twelve inches of snow. Quail are being fed by 

 farjners. Many have frozen, whole coveys being found 

 dead. " 



A correspondent writes from Tennessee under date ' of 

 19th iust., as follows: "Just had a snow^ storm extending 

 from Cairo to central Mississippi. Snow fell to the depth 

 of a foot and over at New Albany, Miss." 



The latter is not encouraging for the forthcoming field 

 trials n-jxt mouth. It is to be earnestly hoped that the 

 storm ^vas not severe enough there to destroy the quail. 



B. Watees. 



Chicago, III., Jan. 17. — Mr. C. J. Jones, alictH "Buffalo 

 Jones," now of Omaha., tells me that his herd will be rep- 

 resented at the Fa.ir next .summer, but whether or not in 

 connection with that of Buffalo Bill he is not at present 

 prepared to say. Mr. Jones saw the big bull lately mounted 

 by the Wolf cfePeriolotFurCo., andsayshe does not know 

 where the animal came from. The firju told him tliey got 

 it from Indiana, where a single specimen had for some 

 time been kept. Tins, in Connection with the two other 

 accounts given by tlie firm in regard to this same animal, 

 may be considered a very Hkely story. Mr. Jones knows 

 of no buffalo at Cheyenne, except one owned a few years 

 ago by a Mr. Warren, of which he has had no word for a 

 couple of years. 



Mr. Ponce de Leon Mussey, with his friends Ha,mline, 

 Dicks and Reed, hits returned from southern Indiana, 

 fresh from discovering the fountain of eternal youth, 

 which is located at West Baden, Ind. There are wild 

 turkeys m that neighborhood in vei-y fair quantities, if the 

 success of the local himters may be held as any criterion. 



Mr. C. E. Irwin, of Warsaw. Ind., spent a day or so in 

 town this pa,st week, much of the tin:ie with Mr. M. E. 

 Morfui, who owns a half interest in the Kosciusko Kennels 

 at Wa,rsa.w. Mr. Irwin says the snow has not yet hurt the 

 quail aroimd Warsaw, so far as known, though the 

 weather is miusually severe, 



Mr, T. G. Davej^ of London, Ont., announces an early 

 onslaught on Chicago, by himself, with a pointer dog 

 undei' eacli arm. 



Mr. Geo. W. La Rue, late of New York, and of the 

 Pointer Club, has removed to Chicago, and wiU be, here 

 probably'fbr a year or more at lea.st. 



I am pleased to state that Mr. R. B. Organ has had a 

 pup givt-n to him, which he will give to IMr. J. P. O'Brien 

 as legal tender for the setter Moliie O'Brien, of lamented 

 mentory. Mr. Organ says this is no shepherd dog, either. 



In a late article I chanced to say that I was threatened 

 with buying a dog of my own. It is astonislring how 

 many letters I have had siiice then, offering me just the 

 dog i want. Tilt last one comes from a trainer who has 

 a dog wliich. certn inly is a first cousin to Olympian Jove. 

 He only wants $100. and eonsider.Mtely offers to take pay- 

 ments of |10 a week, he meantime training the dog $10 

 worth a week, or as tire intellect of the dog-^vill progres- 



sively stand it. I am sorry I can't huj this installment 

 dog, because I know I should love him more as he became 

 m(ire and more m}^ own. Unfortunately, however, or 

 may be fortunately, I have had a dog given to me. Later 

 on, I may tell about this dog, which, undoubtedly, with- 

 out any fooling, is the best dog that ever graced the eartli 

 with its presence. I haven't seen it yet, but I am satisfied 

 it is the best dog ever was, barring all these other dogs, in- 

 stallment and otherwise. 



The latest Kansas enterprise is a kangaroo ranch. At 

 least an Australian gentleman by name of Adams, has 

 confided to a Montreal, Can. , newspaper man his intention 

 of investigating southwestern Kansas as a field for kan- 

 garoo cultm-e. Let the Australian kangaroo beware of 

 the Kansas grasshopper, which is something of a hopper 

 itself. 



The thermometer has been below zero here a whole 

 week, and field sports are mostly reminiscent or jarophetic 

 in their nature. This is the severest winter known here 

 for years. E. Hough. 



175 Monroe Stbeet, CMcago. 



SOME NEW BRUNSWICK TRAPS.-IV. 



Sable Trap (Fig. 4-), Tobique River, N. B. 



Deadfalls for sable exist in endless variety of detail, 

 built on logs or low stumps for early fall trapping, and 

 upon stumps 7ft. liigh, cut for the purpose, in the spring 

 when the snow is deeper. Indeed, trap after ti-ap may 

 be seen on some old "lines" that are set upon stumps 

 which (when the ground is bare) stand a foot higher than 

 a tall man's head, and as the traps are built low the depth 

 of the snow there can be imagined. 



Slabs of wood from 8in. to 1ft. high, shai-pened hke 

 wedges, are driven into the flat 

 top of a smooth-cut stump. It 

 is either exit V-shaped, or like 

 the three sides of a square. In 

 front of the opening a post 

 stands. By a clever way of 

 chopping the post can be left 

 standing as a part of the stump 

 whenever a ti'ee must be felled. 

 If the post cannot be left as 

 shown in the illustration, a 

 sharpened stake must be driven 

 in separate. In the trap shown 

 in the illustration, space enough 

 must be left between the post 

 and the "house" for a short, 

 somewhat three-cornered, stick 

 about an inch thick, to be laid 

 between them for a "bed piece." 

 The "fall," which may vary 

 from 8 to 15ft. in length and 

 from 3 to Sin. thick, was about 

 the average siz^*. The big end 

 of the "fall" was hewed to the 

 same thickness (or less) as the 

 "bed piece" upon which it rests. 

 The other end was also some- 

 what thinned to tit into the forked tump of a saphng 

 that grew conveniently near ?ind served to keep the pole 

 level. Fir boughs serve as a roof to the "house" (or a few 

 chips may be laid upon it). The "standard" is only Sin. 

 long and the "bait stick" is 8tn. long. Otherwise the 

 triggers are like those of the fisher trap, and set in the 

 same way. A piece of trout is regarded as the best bait, 

 though smoked herring, fre,sh squnrel meat or a par- 

 tridge's head will be taken. Tappan, Adney. 



thought he wordd take a turn out around a httle point of 

 land and back, to try and get warm. He left his compan- 

 ion, Mr. Woodward, m the blind. He had scarcely made 

 the turn, when he saw a magnificent flock of canvasbacks 

 setthng down among the decoys. He dropped out of 

 sight as much as possible, expecting to hear both barrels 

 of Mr, Woodward's gun belch out. But :lie did not fire. 

 Looking up carefuUy he saw that gentleman gesticulating 

 to him wUdly. At fu'st thought it looked as though his 

 companion, desirous that Mr. Hill should have all of the 

 fun shooting canvasbacks, was trying to draw him for- 

 ward to the blind in order that he might shoot. But Mr. 

 Hill saw that it was impossible for him to reach the blind 

 without alarming the birds, and he shouted to jVIi'. Wood- 

 ward to shoot. His gun did not respond, but the gentle- 

 man shouted back for him to come. He made a rush for 

 the blind as carefully as possible, alarming the ducks of 

 course. There was Mr. Woodward in the state of the 

 greatest excitement. One gun was fouled so that the 

 ex]iloded- shells could not be drawn. The other gun he 

 had in his hands with one shell partly in, and tiiere it 

 stuck. Mr. Woodward was lamenting the fate that had 

 sent them a flock of 300 beautiful canvasbacks in excel- 

 lent range and both guns ' 'unhorsed" so that they were 

 perfectly useless. But the Yankee boy— Mr. Hill— with 

 his jackknife soon had the shells out and the guns in 

 working order. 



So pleased was Mr. Hill wnth his trip it seems almost a 

 cruel dispensation of fate that it should have a sad end- 

 ing. He was called home by telegraph at the end of the 

 first week to attend the funeral of his fatlior-in-law, the 

 late John P. Squire, so well known as tlie great pork . 

 packer of Boston. Mr. Hill has a good scheme on. foot 

 now. Mr. Woodward, whose guest he was, and who 

 did so much for his comfort, has never fished for trout in 



Fig. 4.^Sable Teap. 



BOSTON AND MAINE. 



Ducks at F?aggred Island. 



Boston, Jan. 34. — The stories of good shooting enjoyed 

 by Boston sportsmen the past season are not yet all told. 

 A week or two ago the Fokest and Steeam had an account 

 of the departure of Mr. Walter L. Hill for the home of 

 the Ragged Island Club, in Currituck Sound, for a tiy at 

 the ducks. Mi-. HiU is engaged with the firm of John P. 

 Squire & Co., of Boston, the mdUonaire pork packers. He 

 is a. great worker, but delights in a shooting or a fishing 

 trip as often as business permits, though this may not 

 be oftener than once or twice a year. He went this time 

 by invitation of Mr. C. A. Woodward, the president of 

 the Ragged Island Club. It is worthy of mention that 

 not many individuals can enjoy the shooting at this most 

 favored spot, and only by invitation of some member of 

 the club, and then under restrictions such as the club 

 sees fit to impose. The membership is small and the 

 preserve exclusive, though one of the best in the country. 

 President Harrison is an honorary member of the club 

 and so is President Cleveland. President Harrison has 

 been to the club house on a shoot the past year and Presi- 

 dent Cleveland is expected when the weather permits. 

 But at present the Sound is woi-se embargoed with ice 

 than in the recollection of the oldest inhabitant. Mr. 

 Hill's trip was, fortunately, before the coldest of the 

 weather, though lie had a very cold time of it. He went 

 from Boston to Norfolk and thence to Virginia Beach. 

 At that point a mule team was taken and twenty miles 

 down the beach in the cold wind was made. Once at the 

 club house, everything in the world was done for the 

 comfort of the guest. Mr. Hill arrived on Monday, in 

 season to shoot on that day and the next. The rules of 

 the club are very strict. No shooting is allowed on Sun- 

 day. Monday and Tuesday are shooting days, but Wed- 

 nesday and Thursday are not. Shooting is again allowed 

 on Friday and Saturday. The object is to give the birds 

 a chance, and it is beheved that after all fully as many 

 birds are taken, and that too with much more ease and 

 satisfaction. They are given a chance to rest in the bay 

 and around the islands, and are not being frightened away 

 every daj in the week. 



Mr. Hill was charmed with the shooting. He says that 

 it w.as better than he had ever dreamed. The shooting is 

 done from blinds almost altogether, and the sport is rare. 

 He brought home a barrelful of ducks. Among the rest 

 were twenty canvasbacks. These he distributed among 

 his fiiends in the packing business, and they are all tell- 

 ing how they feasted. He shot redheads, two or three 

 varieties of teal, butterballs, mallards, widgeon and black 

 ducks. With the shootex-s at Ragged Island Club the black 

 is not popular. 



One day Mr. HiU, Jtired of sitting in the cold blind, 



Maine. Next season it is Mr. Hill's plan to take Mr. 

 Woodward down to the Maine lakes and have him catch 

 a big trout. So doth one kindness beget another. 



I Winnipissogee Pickerel. 



A Wolf boro, N. H. dispatch to the daily papers on Sat- 

 urday says that Mr. Roll in Jones's party of Boston, Haver- 

 hill and Plymouth sportsmen, mentioned in the Forest 

 AND Streatm last week, had a fair week's sport, consider- 

 ing the weather. They obtained pickerel and cusk from 

 Winnipissogee in sufficient numbers for the table at least. 

 But putting out lines with the mercury at zero and Avith 

 the holes freezing as fast as they can be cut out, is not so 

 much of a pastime as the books would make it. Still the 

 party has got along without freezing or accident. 



The Maine License Scheme. 



The Forest and Stream treated the possibilitj' of a 

 license system in Maine ably the week before last, and ex- 

 pressed the hope that an idea so repugnamt to the sports- 

 men of a free country would not receive serious consider- 

 ation at Augusta. Such is the hope of everj'body inter- 

 ested in hiinting and fishing, not residents of the Pine 

 Tree State; but it seems that the measure has already 

 made some progress. Tlie Senate has actually ordered 

 ' 'that the committee on Fisheries and Game inquire into 

 the expediency of providing a hcense system whereby 

 residents of other States shall pay a reasonable fee or 

 license for the privilege of hunting and fishing in the 

 State, the proceeds to be used in paying the salaries of the 

 Commissionei-s and in protecting fish and game." How 

 about the foolish old woman who decided to kill the goose 

 that laid her the golden egg? Special. 



Minnesota Game. 



St. Paul, Minn., Jan. 9. — There is a strong probability 

 that the game laws of tlie State wiU be changed by the in- 

 coming Legislature. 



No doubt some of the provisions of the present law 

 would be benefited by a radical change, but others would 

 not. 



It is rumored that the law concerning the hunting of 

 rabbits is to be changed, so as to make it unlawful to hunt 

 with hounds. 



All sportsmen agree that the law protecting deer and 

 fowl should be strictly enforced: but rabbits are likely to 

 become a pest and hunting them is beneficial to the 

 farmers, while at the same time it furnishes sport for 

 hunters when other game is out of season, C. L. S. 



Florida Quail. 



Enterprise, Fla., Jan. 14. — I noticed in the issue 

 of Jan. 12 a card from AValter F. Mickle regarding a 

 record of quaU shooting at Clermont, Lake Co., Fla., say- 

 ing liimself and friend shot 63 quail in one day, and 

 would say, as a matter of record, that we can make a 

 better showing. Mr. F. H. Cozzens went out at this place 

 Jan. 6 and shot 65 quail — one gun, two dogs — and a 

 few days previous Mr. Mixter of Boston and Mr. Cozzens 

 together, shot 67 English snij)e. M. Rogers. 



Clermont, Fla.— On the 9th inst. John Hooks, John 

 Abbenger, Gene Hunt and Mr. Arnold shot 78 quail over 

 John Abbenger's pointer, W. F. Mickle. 



