June 15, 1893. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



nights aboard. After a while we managed to talk him 

 into a comprehension of the situation. 



"How was it," he finally wanted to know, "that you," 

 addressing me, "and W. are enabled to relieve each other 

 so promptly in relating your yams? As soon as one gets 

 tired the other begins." 



"Oh! We have a string imder the mattress connecting 

 each other. When I am about through I pull, and W. 

 begins; when W. tires he puUs and I resume." 



Marx, especially, wanted to sleep along with Mack, and 

 as he is a born sleeper from away back, he was not long 

 in developing the premonitory symptoms. Mack, how- 

 ever, had "caught on," and when the heavy breathing 

 would begin he would nudge Marx vigorously — 



"Marx, Marx, wake up, W. is pulling the string. Marx, 

 Marx— Marx, Marx, oh! Marx, P. has pulled the string. 

 Here, here, wake up and hear P. tell his panther story. 

 Wake up, Marx, wake up, that won't do, here is something 

 too good to let get away. We want to bottle it. Just 

 listen. W. is going to tell some more about his trip in the 

 Gulf of Mexico to the snapper banks. Wake up." 



By such nonsense we kept all aboard awake until 11 

 o'clock, when the two M. L.'s proceeded to jjull the string 

 on their own account, at least Mack did. Marx was slow 

 to aid him until about 13 o'clock he lost all patience at 

 being punched and talked to,'when he hustled out of bed 

 in a hurry, and with much pretense proceeded to make 

 and drink a cup of strong coffee made from hot water 

 which he drew from the boiler. It was evidently his 

 game to join Mack at last, and if possible outdo W. and 

 ne. That is the way it looked, though it may have been 

 me big bluff. W. and I then shut up like two clams and 

 not another word could be gotten out of us. We were 

 ^Ared of the string, and Marx and Mack quit, claiming 

 victory. Soon all were asleep. 



Did I say all were fast asleep? Well, hardly! I should 

 :iave said one man was fast asleep. And that was Marx 

 Loewenberg. He is a champion snorer as well as a soimd 

 ^leeper. JMarx and Marx alone .slept. But the rest — well, 

 we just tiunbled in bed and could not sleep at all for the 

 infernal noise Marx was kicking up. It took the combined 

 afforts of three of us for two hours to keep Marx suffi- 

 ciently toned down to allow us any rest at all. Finally 

 we managed to get to sleep. 



In the morning at daybreak we were again ready for 

 the teal, at least all were except Ma.ck, who was stUl suffer- 

 ing with his numerous maladies. Marx went out but I 

 think it was Llndel' protest— he was not altogether recov- 

 ered. 1 had hoped to get with him alOne for a brief 

 period that morning in some unfrequented .spot, after 

 which I think he would have inflicted a hmnan being 

 with that snore of his no more for ever. He sententiously 

 declined to accompany me to a neighboring lake which I 

 urged as being quite a duck I'oost. 1 had to go to the lake 

 alone, where I got wrongly located but nevertheless had 

 an exciting shoot as night came on. A great many flocks 

 came in to roost, and though but a small portion passed 

 or lit within range of me, I got many shots, and went 

 back to the Rambler not altogether dissatisfied. 



In the morning Marx first went to my deserted blind of 

 the day before, which, not proving to be good for a morn- 

 ing shoot, he soon deserted and went down to W., as I 

 had done the day before. W.'s blind, however, did not 

 ai¥ord a good shoot, and but a few birds were obtained. 

 At noon aU were on hand promptly for dinner, after 

 which Mack and Marx exchanged positions, the former 

 going down with W., while the latter remained on the 

 launch. 



On the next and the last morning it was clear and cold. 

 At daybreak W. and I were in the lower blind, having 

 left tiie other two on the launch. We found the ice well 

 formed a considerable distance from shore. We had this 

 to break to fi-ee the decoys, which were also white with 

 frost. The frost was removed by pushiug them under 

 the water for a moment. Only one flock came in, and it 

 was in such a hurry to get away that we failed to get a 

 shot. 



At 7 o'clock we took up the decoys, paddled to the 

 Rambler, raised steam and Avent home. The trip up 

 stream took six houi-s to make. On the wav the two 

 invalids recovered considerably. Mack got entirely well. 

 Marx wovfld limp occasionally after reaching Vicksburg. 

 He kept this up spasmodically for two or three days, when 

 finally he recovered altogether. 



After all, we could not blame either mtich for kicking 

 in the traces under the existing conditionPv We had 

 almost too much weather and altogether too much lob- 

 lolly. The mud especially was horrible, to say nothing of 

 the wind, tlie cold, the rain and the snow; 



Since our return Mack has fought shy of xia when we 

 Were planning for another hunt, and Marx has not been 

 conspicuous as usual. Mack Sa^s be may take another 

 hunt, on a rising river, but on a falUng one, never. 

 Should he go out again, Which I doubt his doing, I shall 

 take out a snug accident pohcy on his life, and would 

 advise his family doing the same. As before mentioned, 

 he is not a river man. He don't get along on water 

 smoothly at all. A jolty swinging train of cars fits his 

 talents better. On the river lie is liable to Swamp a boat 

 or fall overboard at any time, and as he could not swim 

 it would be a job of no mean magnitude to rescue him, 

 especially tf the accident pohcy had been properly 

 attended to. As to handling a canoe, he just can't do it. 

 The canoe generally under his manipulations goes some- 

 where else. It took him an hour one day to retrieve a 

 duck which he had wounded while W. was off on a tramp 

 to get warm. From our blind Marx and I could see him. 

 It was a season of enjoyment for us. Any way, Mack 

 is a funny man. He kept us in a rollicking good humor 

 on the whole trip. I suspect that even W. and I would 

 have gotten in the dumps over tlie many adverse condi- 

 tions had it not been for him. He must go with iis agatu, 

 when we propose to even up with him on points where 

 we failed thLs time. He shall be promoted to fireman if 

 Marx is not along. 



We will take Blarx again also, but he must take along 

 some rheumatism medicine and sleep on the roof. We 

 just can't have that snore of his on the inside any more, 

 ViOKBBUiMJ, Mississippi. W* L. P, 



Iowa Birds. 



ROOEWELL, la., May 31.— Oiur spring has fiuallv come 

 and with it fine prospects for a good stock of chickens for 

 this fall. We have liad excellent jacksnipe shooting this 

 sprmg; they have been here ia double the numbers of 

 any previous jear, W L 



"FOREST AND STREAM" AT THE FAIR. 



A Good and Timely Omen. 



June 3.— The big white birch facsimile sign which 

 surmounts the Forest and Stream exhibit at the Fisheries 

 Building has done a very wonderful and beautiful thing, 

 and one which is an omen of a very good and timely 

 sort. It has put forth green leaves! The sap locked up 

 in the cold boughs when they were wrought into shape 

 last winter has now under the waroith of spring begun 

 to move and three very distinct shoots of green are now 

 in sight upon the lower rail of the sign. The paper itself 

 has done more, it has not only put forth leaves but has 

 some fruit, but that its sign manual shoifld go ahead by 

 itself and show such life, and push and go, is a happy 

 proof of the depth to which the paper's roots take on, 

 and of the strength of the vital force which feeds it. 

 This is the Forest and Stream year— you hear that 

 everywhere. The paper has broken all records, discarded 

 all uselessnesses, kicked out of all ruts of journalism and 

 gone ahead by itself outside of competition. That which 

 has "Forest and Stream" on it is bound to grow, as this 

 pretty httle miracle of the sign shows. In hoc signo 

 vincit. 



The "Forest and Stream" Visitors' Register. 



Two days ago a little register was put in the Forest and 

 Stream space, whereby now stands a dainty silver hand 

 holding up an invitation to all interested in sports to in- 

 Sf^ribe their names. This visitors' book is to be a fixture, 

 and it^is hoped that none will neglect it. 



A City of Dreams. 

 The Fair grows steadily in interest as the finishing 

 touches go on. The leaves and flowers are now coming 

 out, and are still bright and fresh, before the scorching 

 summer days. June is a good time to come to the Fair. 

 It is all like a city of dreams now, and no one can regret 

 the vision. 



June 10. — The Lefever Arms Co., of Syracuse, N. Y., 

 write me in regard to their exhibit at the World's Fair — 



doubtful if there will be room to publish even these bare 

 names each week, and the attendant in charge has been 

 obhged to develop a faculty of answering questions with 

 both hands. This will be necessary also for the Lefever 

 attendant, and of course as useful. 



Should any others of the Forest and Stream family be 

 missed in the crowd at the Fair, it will be taking no lib- 

 erty but conferring a favor to ask a Forest and Stream 

 man to call around to look at the exhibit. Any delay 

 after that must be ascribed to a press of matter of all 

 sorts tha,t is unprecedented in the history of this paper or 

 of any paper of this class. Forest and Stream has not 

 only broken the advertising record, but the news record, 

 and the enterprise record, and the cleanliness record, and 

 several other sorts of records. But I digress. 



E. Hough. 



" Forest and Streaji's " Bureau, Angling^ Pavilioii, World's Fair. 



ABOUT THE PRESERVE SYSTEM. 



San Francisco, May 30.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 It is gradually dawning upon me that the man who 

 writes for newspapers or papers of any kind stands in the 

 position of the fellow who has only to show his head to 

 find a dozen other fellows armed with shiUaleys ready to 

 hit it. 



I am led to this conclusion in taking a second glance at 

 your issue of the 11th and discovering a communication 

 that I had overlooked, sailing into my humble self for 

 some notice in my "Commentaries" on the question of 

 the recently enacted game law of this State, and also 

 some remarks intended to be sarcastic in the sporting col- 

 umns of one of our daily papers hei-e. In the latter article 

 I am charged with being a bloated aristocrat, belonging 

 to sundry such shooting clubs here, that propose to mo- 

 nopolize the best shooting grounds and exclude "the down 

 trodden" from any show. It is the old argument of the 

 demagogue, and the writer poses as the champion of the 

 "poor and lowly." The chances are that the writer never 

 shot a duck in his life, and characteristic of the chap who 

 undertakes to wi ite learnedly of the things he knows 



"FOREST AND STKEAM" IN II'JSTIG LETTERS. 



which exhibit, by the way, I had already visited and 

 made notes upon, and intended to mention this week, or 

 as soon as tnis crael war for space in Forest and Stream 

 is over. The salient points of the exhibit are well taken 

 up in the letter, nor do I. consider that even the manufac- 

 turer of these goods has written praise too high. The ex- 

 liibit is a very pretty and attractive one, and well worth a 

 visit from any one interested in guns. The letter follows: 



SVBACiusE, N. Y., June 3,— AA''e read with pleasure your World's Fair 

 eonimuntcatiotis to Forest anI; Btreaji. We regret we have not had 

 ,an attendant at our exhibit to malre you fully familiar with it. With 

 a view of giving you some information regarding it we are tempted to 

 take the liberty to write you regarding the same. 



We have not attempted to make a large display as to numbers, but 

 to present a few gUns of each of the grades we manufacture, and we 

 flatter ourselves that for quality of work no exhibit of the kind wiU 

 outrank oUrs. You will observe that we have broken adrift from the 

 conventional method of displaying our guns and have placed them in 

 position where the material and workmanship can be shown to best 

 advantage. 



The sid'e View which we present gives a favorable opportunity to 

 examine the external ornamentation of the gun. You will notice in 

 the higher grades the delicacy of the checkering and engraving; it 

 will bear the closest inspection under a magnifying glass. You will 

 notice also the inlaid gdld work and engraving are of the highest 

 class. 



We have a number of automatic ejector guris in oilr exhibit, and vie 

 are the onl3' American manufacturers of guns to make an exhilolt of 

 self-ejecting guns. You will find in our exhibit a number of guns of 

 the $400, S300, S200 and §150 grades as well as guns of the lower 

 grades. 



The sectional view of the ejector gun, as we understand, attracted a 

 great deal of attention, as has also the high grade gun finished and 

 left in the bright condition— not browned or case-hardened. 



In evidence of the improvement in double barrel shotguns, please 

 examine the three old guns ; there are descriptive cards attached to 

 them. 



Two of them are over 100 years old. One of them was built in 1783 

 by Twiggs & Bass, of London, for Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, 

 who was Commissioner of the Treaty of Peace between the United 

 States and Great Britain. 



We beUeve that a careful exammation of our exhibit will satisfy 

 any one that sportsmen need not go outside of America for high 

 grades, for we think no gun on earth can outshoot ours and none can 

 excel it in symmetry of proportion or in artistic workmanship. 



Pardon this commuQication. We trust it will be of service to you 

 in giving you points for your letter to Forest and Stream. We expect 

 wiiiiu a few days to have a representative at our exhibit. In the 

 interval, anytlims you can suggest in way of hints to us regarding it 

 will be aceept-fible. Lefever Arms Co. 



Upon the method employed in the display it would be 

 difficult to suggest improvement, just as it is difficult to 

 make additional comment after the above. A good, able- 

 bodied assistant, however, to answer questions and speak 

 understandingly of the merits of the goods shown, will be 

 f ound^a distinct benefit to any exhibitor. 



They Are Valuable. 



As an advertisement alone these exhibits at the Fair are 

 of unquestionable value, and more piersons see them and 

 notice them than would at first be supposed. For instance, 

 it may be said for Forest and STREAit (which, by 

 the way, Ls the only sportsmen's paper of its class 

 enterprising enough to have an exliibit at the Fair, and 

 incidentally also the only one to benefit its advertisers by 

 telling about their exhibits) that the persons stopping at 

 its corner far outnumber the widest first estimate. It was 

 once thought weU to publish the names of visitors which 

 drop down upon the Forest and Stream register so rap- 

 idly, but the book has so filled up each day that it seems 



nothlilg about he t links it the popular thing to sail into 

 any sort of an association that happens to be wiUing to 

 pay for its sport— a crime of itself. 



The principle could as consistently extend to any other 

 luxury that a man is able to indulge in. What right has 

 one man to own and drive a horse when others are un- 

 able by being less fortunate in the possession of the world's 

 goods to drive horses? What right has one man to own a 

 yacht if his neighbor cannot afford to indulge in the 

 pastime? Shooting clubs pay pretty dearly for their 

 sport, and those who are able to pay for it are as much 

 entitled to the privileges money gives in that direction as 

 in any other. 



It is enough to make a dog sick to read aU this talk 

 about equal rights and the deprivations of the poor man. 

 There is very little in the way of luxuries that the rich or 

 poor do not have to pay for, and as sporting is a luxury 

 those who indulge must pay the fiddler. But it is simply 

 wasting time to continue the argument, and all this talk 

 about one class of men who propose to be free from all 

 restrictions because they are unable to indulge in luxuries 

 that men of means can afford, is simply rot. 



As to the charge that your humble servant argues from 

 the standpoint of a bloated aristocrat and bond holder, in 

 his remarks about the California game law, it faUs to the 

 ground when the fact is, by vntue of having been long 

 absent from the State, he is not a member of any one of 

 the shooting clubs charged with monopolizing the shoot- 

 ing grounds in this vicinitj^ has not pulled a trigger for 

 five years, and has no more pri vileges in that line than has 

 the "down-trodden," whom these writers commiserate so 

 pathetically because they seek to pose as the champions 

 of the dear people. It seemed to be the popular thing to 

 oppose the bill, therefore certain newspapers did it, with- 

 out any idea of its merits and caring less. They ought to 

 feel greatly obliged to me for giving them a head to hit 

 and supplying the editorial shillaley with practice. 



PODGERS. 



LA^VRENCE, Mass., June 4. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Many a good man just hugged himself and felt good after 

 reading "A Maine Paper Answered," by Mr. Henry O. 

 Stanley, in Forest and Stream of May 4, saying that the 

 lakes of Maine were practically free in spite of clubs and 

 preserv'es, because of a wise law. In this week's "Snap 

 Shots" the first thing you do is to throw a little cold water, 

 by saying that the system is likely to grow; and with, 

 giant strides, too, as you aver; and you mention a few of 

 the ways of making lovers of natm-e in freedom imhappy. 

 And in spite of a just law, too. That men can be found 

 with heaiis so small as to seU themselves to warn off 

 others and make folks uncomfortable, is pitiful. And 

 you say not a word to condemn such meanness. You 

 should be impartial. But if you must be partial, you 

 should throw yom- infiuence on the side of freedom and 

 justice. Freedom. 



Minneapolis and St. Paul 



Are reached most directly from either Chicago or St. Louis by the 

 Burlington Route. Daily vestibuled trains with Pullman sleepers, 

 0hair cars (seats free) and BurUngton Routa dining cars.— .^cfy, 



