Jan. 13, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



27 



A GRIZZLY IN THE GLOAMING. 



Louisville, Ky., Jan. 6. — I have just read with great 

 interest the letter of Ira Dodge in Forest and Stream 

 detailing his meeting with one Urt^us hombilis Nov. 2. I 

 tliink it likely I met tlie same gehllenian a few days 

 before Mr. Dodge did. I stiw ]jim before Jie sa^\• me, 

 Hence I am here to-night dreaming before my hbrary 

 fire and in its coals conjuring a shape which requires 

 little etfort to recall at the mention of his nauje. Hence 

 also I have all my members with me. a fact upon \\iiicli 

 I congratulate myself after reading of those Big Piney 

 bear's epicurean penchant for bands and legs. Mr. Dodge 

 does not locate the sceno^iccurately, nor does he state if 

 he noted any Ijran'ls or earmarks on him, but I judge it 

 Avas the same old Ejihraii n doing business at the same old 

 stand. Our party was camped at the time on the head- 

 waters of the Piney, about scA^enty-iive miles, I should 

 think, from Big Piney. 



Ever since our first day out I had been frequenting the 

 known, resorts of tiie^grizzly. but lie was always out when 

 1 happened in. The tirst morning v\-e were in camp — or 

 rather out, for we slept that night simply orj our blankets 

 and the clouds were oui' coveilet— tlie first rrrornirig after 

 we left the railroad 1 arose early, as a, man is apt to do, 

 who measm-cs only thii-ty-two around tlie waist, and who 

 has pooled issues wdth a bed feUow who raeasm'es three 

 feet tlirongli. and who 

 conseq iienth' j-aises the 

 blankets higii enough 

 off you for a Itocky 

 IVfountain blizzaixl to 

 to play all rught along 

 the north edge of your 

 spine. I started up a 

 cauon by starligld., and 

 before 7 that morning 

 had killed a big bull 

 elk, with one of the 

 finest, smoothest and 

 most symmetrical head 

 of horns I ever saw- 

 but that is another 

 story. We were not 

 gairie hogs nor skin 

 hunters, and each man 

 was limited to one elk 

 liead, so returaiag to 

 camp I filled the maga- 

 zine of my .r^O-llO Win- 

 chestei- 'with express 

 cartridges, and then 

 and tliere announced 

 that I vvas loaded for 

 bear. John Perry said 

 he had not lost any 

 grizzlies. I said 1 had. 

 Dan Lockwood said so 

 had he, but that he 

 iiad seen a man in 

 Idaho, the worse, for 

 wear, who had con- 

 vinced him that his 

 grizzly had been found. 

 The coroners jury, Dan 

 added, found the man 

 came tu his deatii l^y 

 blanked foolishness. 

 Consec-iuently \ called 

 on friend Uvsus alone. 



During tlie next two 

 weeks we made many camps, and ran around over some 

 of the roughest covintry in the Rockies, ijut Perry and 

 AVilson were the only firm wlio did busijiess with bruin 

 on a close margin. They were him ting tngetlier as usual, 

 toiling through a dense and intensely dark tamarack 

 thicket, in a. lab^'rinth of dead and down tiirtlier. a,u ideal 

 place for bear." v\dien something stirred. To their dis- 

 ordered vision the dangerous quarry coufi-rinted tlLem. 

 peering over a log wliich it so well matched in color: and 

 their rifles cracked as one. Crouching they looked 

 through the smoke of tlie discha rge for the hostile demon- 

 stration that wtaild surely UA\n\v aught but a mortal 

 wound. Tiie head had rollV-iI ufl: tire log. 



Perry was the first to find voice. -Moe,'' said he. ''tliat 

 ain't a ver\ l iig- l iear." 



"No," credulously responded his side jiartner. '• 'Bout 

 the size of a porcupine. A nd ahowt the shape (^f a i)or- 

 cupine. Joe, I believe your Itear is a jiorcupine." 



■•Mybearl Didn't you shoot ';" 



••Narv a siiot.'" lie" asbe\-ernted with that earnestness 

 that can be assmued, but the oihei 's finger _ pointed with 

 silent scorn at the smoke curlmg from the rifle muzzle. 



"John," said Joe, we will leave the reeollection with 

 the remains." 



But the stor> ^vas ( <:)o godl to keep and they told it on 

 each other with the nsnal em))ellishments, from which 

 we of course sifted the truth. 



At last uiy turn canie, I imd stayed ont on the moun- 

 tain later tlian usual in the twilight that hngers so long 

 and lovingly in those high mountain parks and riicadows, 

 long after it Irail grown dark in the canons: and as I de- 

 scended a certaur stt-ep and savage .slope the shadows 

 gloomed. 



There had been an avaJanohe some years before and 

 rocks, debris and trunks of trees were strewn thickly in 

 disordc]- and among them a sonttered growth of young 

 aspens. Sudderdy it seemed in the gli K.uiiug that one of 

 the large logs before me rose and rolled over. The light 

 was imcertain. inrt the creakijig and crunching sound 

 came clear and unmistakab!-. An aspen linsli i 'hstrui 'icd 

 the view and 1 siarted to spring around il. pausing to 

 throw a sIloU i roui the iiia,i;azine into the ijarrel. when I 

 was suddenly stricken into a death-like rigor by the ap- 

 parition that at the metallic rattle of tire ritle arose from 

 among the dead logs it had been turning over in seareli of 

 grubs'and crickets— a g-reatand gi-isley shape, Avliose huge 

 bulk clad ni g)-ay was unrelieved against tlie back ground 

 of dead logs. sa\ (■ by a high hruriji of silver Avhiteness. 



Over the- log be came with loud hough! and rearing u])- 

 wa-rd on his Ijaunch the monster stood Ijeating tlie air 

 with his great paws sharp set with scimetar talons, the 

 incarnation of lumbering alertness. 



His small piggish eyes gleamed and roUedin theii- red 

 setting: his ears were erect and rigid; Ms square muzzle 

 wrinkled with rage; his long straight upper lip protruded 

 and his great bulk of a head turned in all rlirections in the 



effort to find tlie source of that nietalhc sound so unlike 

 aught that had ever before disturbed his mountain soli- 

 tudes. 



For a few steps he moved forward erect, in gi-otesque 

 and horrible semblance of human posture, and then 

 dropping on all fours went sliding along the mountain 

 side, liis gray form quickly merging into the gray 

 shadows. 



ft was fi^'e mMil'^ after he disappeared before I 

 breathed. FRANCIS J. HaoAN. 



SMALL RIFLES AND BIG GAME. 



1 HAVE been readuig with much interest what your cor- 

 respondents in various paits of the country liave to say 

 about hunting rifles of different sizes and kinds. Let me 

 give you a bit of my experience with the .23caL, 15-45 

 center-fire. 



In 1889 I ordered a Winchester .22cal. singleshot rifle 

 from your sometimes correspondent "Iron Ramrod." In 

 due time it came. I have owned many rifles, Init within 

 its limitations nevei' a better one than this. Its sigliting 

 Avas a marvel in accuracy. I may say here that 1 regard 

 ••Iron Ramrod" as far and away the most expert adjuster 

 of rifle sights I have ever kno^vn. (This is no "puff," for I 

 paid his extremely moderate price for his admirable work. ) 



A Matxk Woodsmak- Game WArdtjn Jouathak Dakling. 



1 have killed with this ritie many wild trnkeys. a dozen 

 or more wildcats and a two-year-old buck, 1 was out 

 hunting turkey's in the AVhite River liottoins of Arkansas 

 in Deceml;)er. 1890. 1 xs as watching a big flock of more 

 tlian fifty in a cornfield Avhen a young buck walked out 

 of the canebrake and stopped about 30yds, from me. I 

 AA-as sitting in front of — not beliind — a big oak. The deer 

 liegan to feed. I cocked my rifle as he shook his tail, pre- 

 jjaratory to i-aising liis liead. He stood directly fi-onting 

 me. Resting my arm on my left knee, I aimed fairly 

 between his eyes; as the white Lyman sight covered the 

 space just between the eyes 1 pulled the trigger. The 

 hand-loaded c;irtridge. with J 7grs. of powder behind a 

 45-grain Ijullet, rang out sliarp and clear with a whip- 

 like crack. Down Avent the buck. Putting in another 

 caitridge. I ran up to the fallen Inick. I t(niched him 

 Avith niy foot. He did not nnwe, for he Avas dead. 



On e.\:ainination I found that the little bullet had trav- 

 ersed the entire bia in. He was as dead as if I liad fired a 

 .45-90 charge at him. instead of the tiny load that didstich 

 fatal work. 



One spring .lay in March, 1891, I was out locking up a 

 phenornenally l.)ig gol)blcr that a negro had seen that 

 moi-ning iir a cornfield half an hour before arid stopped to 

 tell me about. I soon found him. He AA^as at tlie Icvwer 

 end of a field ten acres, or just 300 yards Avide. He was 

 certainly 125 yards aAvay frcun the teu.t. I kneAv I could 

 get no closer. So Avlien lie jmiiped up (m a log lying in 

 tlie field AN'itli his great breast tr>ward me I cockerl my 

 rifle, and, resting it on a fi-nce rail, prepared to slioot. 

 The great bird evidently suspected danger, for he drew 

 himself up to his full height, gleaming and glittering in 

 the morning sun like an t>]ial. There Avas not a breath of 

 air to drift the' bullet. It was a. perfectly still sjning 

 morning ami the sun s\'as perlvaps half an hr.ur high. I 

 silently turned up my Lyman rear sight to what 1 thought 

 to be the J ight distance, and, holiling Ingh up on the 

 brea.st. took careful aim and pulled rhe trigger. 1 Avas 

 shooting the hand-loaded cartridgi-s. which contained 

 seA-enteen grains ot powdc]-. At the rifle's report he 

 sprang six feet into the air. then with spread A\-ings ran 

 alioiit fifty yards and tell frn ward dead. The liuUet had 

 cut the great aorta, the big A'eiu that leads the blood from 

 tlie heart, and Kone out through the back, A cleaner kfll 

 f never made at nny distance. 



i This tarkcy AN eighed 23ilbs. on an accurate pair of 

 I grocer s scale's an hour after he Avas kiUed. He had a 

 ' -'beard" iSiii. long, So much for the .32cal, rifle when 

 I properly loaded. 



I 1 find the hand-loaded cartridges 25 per cent, more ac- 

 curate and nearly that difference in iDenetration than any 

 I can get from tlie best factories. 



I think the big game of the South must be larger than 

 its kind in the North or West. I have seen two j)anthers 

 that measured 9ft. from nose to the end at the tail before 

 they Avere skinned, and helped to kill a bear that on a 



pah- of big cattle scales Aveighed 3981bs. The fat on hitii 

 was an incih thick along the ribs. I killed a barren doe 

 two years ago that weighed 2071bs. witli the heart and 

 liver inside, but the entrails out. She Avas extxemely fat, 

 as all barren does are. 



These experiences have led me to think our big game 

 South is larger than the same kind of animal in other sec- 

 tions. I attribnte^ the suiieriority in size to the mild 

 climate and the great aliundance of desirable food the 

 wild creatures haA^e in the South, especially Louisiana, - 

 Arkansas and iMississippi. I should like to hear AAdiat 

 others think of this. Mtssissippi LOWLANDS. 



Hn.sHPL-cKANY, Miss,, Dec, S7, 1893. 



BOSTON AND MAINE. 

 Death of Capt. C. A. J. Farrar. 



Boston, Jan. 10.— The Boston evening papers of Monday 

 cniitaine<;l the deatli of Oapt. Charles A. J. Farrar, Avho 

 died at his home in Jamaica Plain on Sunday night at the 

 age of fifty-one years. C'a,i>t. Farrar was Avell knoAvn to 

 tiie rc-aders <if tlie FOREST .and Stream, as the pioneer of 

 little steamer transpoi-tation, on the Rangeley Lakes, and 

 also ilirough his guide books to tlie Rangeley and Moose- 

 head Lak-e regions. He was also author of several storie&, 

 the scenes of which Avcre laid in the backAvoods of Maine. 

 He early went to Maine and spent many seasons in hunt- 

 ing and prospecting 

 about her Avoods and 

 waters. It niaiy be said, 

 in fact, that Oapt. Far- 

 rar has done more to 

 make the Rangeley 

 Lakes famous than any 

 other man. He was 

 fond of hunting, fish- 

 ing and adventure, and 

 being fond of writing 

 he spent most of his 

 time later in life in this 

 emi)loyment. He built 

 the first steamer ever 

 on Richardson Lake, at 

 a time Avhen such an 

 undertaking involved a 

 great cost and a .gooi. 

 deal of h a i- d s h i p. 

 Later he taiilt a.nd run 

 the steamers on Umba- 

 gog Lake, and stiU later 

 a steamer to navigate 

 the dead vvaters of the 

 Ma,galla,Ava,y. l)y Avhich 

 sportsmen Avere to 

 r e a c h Parmacheene 

 Lake. He formed the 

 Androscoggin Lake 

 Transportation Co. Tie 

 railway and hotel intei - 

 ests of Maine oaa-c to 

 Capt. Farrar a debt of 

 gratitude, and yet in 

 his lifetime this debt 

 was hardly more than 

 grudgingly a cknoA\ i- 

 edged. 



A Moose Medab 



Mr. Nathaniel C. 

 Nash, the president of 

 the Massachusetts Rifle 

 Association, lias been dined at the Algonquin Club, in ■ 

 honor of his success at the Christmas hunt of the Dr. 

 Bishop party at the Megantic Club preserves. An ac- 

 count of his success in bringing in two fine caribou has 

 already been published in the Forest axd Stream. The 

 dinner vs-as given by Dr. Bishop, and Mr. Nash has been 

 dubbed "Caribou Tom," or the "Mighty Hunter." An 

 enormous medal had been preAdously engraved for the 

 occasion, and on presenting it the host said: -'We scorn 

 to shoAV our appreciation of our mighty hunter's skill by 

 the deteriorated and base metal silver. Avhose fluctuation 

 in value could be no criterion of (;»ut admiration. We 

 prefer the standard recognized cveryAvhere for Avhat it is 

 Avorth — block tin." 



On the medal was also engraved: "To Caribou Tom, 

 for proficiency in marksmanship, Deo. 26, 1892." 



Mj-. Nash -'Avore liis honors meekly" and as a "true 

 sportsman should," Among other things in his remarks 

 he paid a handsome rribute to his guide, Leopold Gerard, 

 admitting that Avitliout him. he should not have done 

 nearly as AveU. 



Maine Legislation. 



The subject of fish and game legislation promises to re- 

 ceive more than the usual amount of attention in the 

 Maine Legislature, just convened in that State. The usual 

 coiimittee on fisheries and game has been divided into. 

 t^vo, one committee on .shore and salt-Avater fisheries, 

 and the other i )ii inland fisheries and game. Many changes 

 in the fisli and game laws Avill be proposed. A strong 

 effort Avill again be made to ojjeii SeptemlDer f or the shoot- 

 ing of moose, caribou and deer, and the measure Avill be 

 as strongly opposed by the lunibei- interest, Avho fear the 

 sportsmen's fires. The Franklin county people propose a 

 measure to prevent the taking of trout at any time from 

 the streams that flou into Rangeley Lake. The idea is 

 thai tlie trout from the lake go up these streams to breed, 

 and are tliere destroyed by the sportsmen in great num- 

 bers. cA-en before the little fellows are sufficiently grown 

 to descend in tlie lake and become large fish . There is a 

 pond or tAvo, Avhich outlet into the^Rangely Lake, and 

 these ponds it is proposed to restrict from any fishing 

 except Avitli the fly. I hear that it is also likely to be pro- 

 posed to enact a laAv assessing every sportsman Avho visits 

 Maine a license fee before he can be alloAved to hunt or 

 fish in that State. With the fund thus raised it is pro- 

 posed to better protect the fish and game. But I am glad 

 to be able_ to state that some of the best friends of the 

 sportsmen in Maine, and men whose opinion are much to 

 be respected in such matters, Avill oppose any Sort of 

 hcense system. 



Pickerel Fishing. 



There are accounts of good pickerel fishing on the 

 Charles at Dedham. One of the local fishermen. Ohver 

 Smith, caught thirty-two good ones tlie other day through 

 the ice. He also lias a sood record of some 800 cauglit 



