296 



[OCT. 7, 1898. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



iB^om a Staff Correspondent.'] 

 Louisiana Paradise. 



Chicago, III., Sept. 23,— An enthusiastic and successful 

 young sportsman of New Orleans, whom we met last 

 winter on our trip South, writes as follows to the Western 

 representative of Forest Am) Stbeam. In his invitation 

 to a shoot he generously joins not only the Forest and 

 Stream, but all the inhabitants of the earth, that is to 

 say, all the Forest and Stream readers. We must not, 

 however, allow him to impose on himself by making 

 public his name and invitation, for he little recks the 

 consequences thereof. It is quite enough to make public 

 the pleasant country of which he speaks. His letter 

 reads: 



"Readers of your interesting paper, the Forest and 

 Stream, and esjieciaUy lovers of the dog and gun, are 

 always anxious to learn of a good country for game. I 

 have surely struck the paradise, and I also have met two 

 thorough sportsmen, in the persons of Messrs. E. Smiley 

 and Wm. Cade, who reside in the very heart of this 

 paradise. 



* 'Quail, snipe, ducks and geese are to be found in abun- 

 dance in the shooting season in this country, which lies 

 about five miles south of Abbeville, Louisiana. It com- 

 prises both sides of Bayou Vermilion. The soil is as rich 

 as any in our Union, the scenery is beautiful and can 

 better be remembered than imagined. 



"A few miles south from Mr. Smiley, there is good deer 

 and bear shooting, and by crossing Bayou Vermilion and 

 traveling about twenty miles west we find many chickens. 



"I met Messrs. Smiley and Cade about six months ago, 

 and learning they were sportsmen, I at once proceeded 

 to get from them all information regarding a chance for 

 a good shoot this coming season. I found them 'true 

 blue' and at once received an invitation for myself and 

 any of my friends to come any time and enjoy some sport 

 with them. I have made six or eight trips in that section 

 since meeting these clever sportsmen. On my last I saw 

 coveys of young quail, the largest in number I ever saw. 

 Imagine the calculations I have been making as to how 

 many I will bag some day this season. Anodrac." 



Chickens. 



Mr. C. W. Lee, of Chicago, drops me a note about some 

 friends of his who are just back from a chicken hunt. 



He says: 



"J. J. Bryant, C. C. Germain, E. C. Hibbard and Charley 

 Kfrn, of Chicago, have just returned from northern Iowa 

 and southern Dakota, where they were in search of chick- 

 ens. They report the chickens plentiful, but owing to the 

 extreme dryness they had to hunt for them in the corn. 

 The dogs got bushed in the stubble and could not work 

 more than an hour at a time, so they gave that sort of 

 hunting up, and did their own flushing. They had a pri- 

 vate car, or rather two of them, and in company with Tom 

 McKenna and Wm. McMartin, of Sioux City, had a fine 

 time of it. They were out ten days. 



"I can tell you about some things, but when it comes to 

 'bushing a dog in stubble' or 'flushing a bird in corn' I 

 must refer you to our friend Waters." 



This question being duly referred to the above-men- 

 tioned kennel authority, receives the following reply: "In 

 good stubble there are no bushes, neyther does one find 

 stubble in bushes. There must be some mistake." 



Some Chickens. 



Mr. Ed S. Nowotny, of Odell, 111., owner of a number of 

 fine dogs, is so kind as to invite the entire Western force 

 of Forest and Stream to come down and shoot over his 

 dogs. He states that chickens are not abundant, but that 

 he occasionally finds a covey, though until within the- 

 past week the weather had been too dry to do much with 

 them. Tn the course of his letter he remarks: 



"From what I learn I am afraid Governor Altgeld was 

 about right when he said it was useless to attempt any 

 further game protection, as every farmer shot game re- 

 gardless of season, and it was only a question of a short 

 time until the game was exterminated. Around here 

 the farmers all shoot chickens at any time. They have 

 been at it for two weeks past (from Aug. 15), but as they 

 don't own dogs I guess there is some game left." 



Our compliments to the Governor. If there were 

 fewer men like him the unequal fight would go more in 

 favor of these birds which cling so tenaciously through 

 all to the prairies of Illinois. 



Plenty of Chickens. 



TIais fall I sent Mr. Reuben Donnelley, manager of the 

 Chicago City Directory Company, up to the northwest 

 corner of Minnesota, in response to his inquiry for good 

 chicken country. On his return Mr. Donnelley writes 

 me as follows: 



"I looked into several towns in the vicinity of Pelan, 

 and finally decided upon Kennedy, where I have been 

 for the past week or ten days. We had the best kind of 

 sport, averaging pretty nearly fifty birds a day, and this 

 with one good dog in poor condition and one useless cur. 

 Most of the birds which we got were grouse instead of 

 chicken, which gave us splendid sport. The shooting in 

 the brush gave us much more diversified sport than or- 

 dinary chicken hunting. We also got into a country 

 where there are considerable elk, moose, etc., which some 

 day I hope to get better acquainted with during the later 

 season. 



"I thank you very kindly for your attention, and if 

 there is any further information that I can give you in 

 regard to shooting in the vicinity we visited, I would be 

 more than glad to do so." 



I am glad Mr. Donnelley had good sport. It is with re- 

 luctance than I direct any one for a sporting trip, because 

 it is so nearly impossible to tell just what luck any one 

 will have, even when he bases his trip on the most care- 

 ful information obtainable. 



After Chickens. 



Mr. H. 0. Wilbm-, of Philadelphia, leaves this week on 

 a fortnight's trip after chickens, ducks and geese, and on 

 my advice will very possibly go up into pretty much the 

 same country as above mentioned, though for wild fowl 

 he may go so far West as Devil's Lake, N. D., which is 

 better for fowl. I ti-ied to get Mi-. Wilbur and his party 

 to take advantage of what seems to me the nearest a cer- 

 tainty for a good ducking trip of anything I now know of. 

 My old shooting acquaintance, BiUy Griggs, the greatest 

 market-hunter and best duck shooter on earth without a 



doubt, is just back from some mysterious trip or other 

 South. This week he called at my ofiice and said he was 

 not going to shoot in the North at aU this fall, but was 

 going back home to Browning. He also said that he 

 would be willing to take a party of gentlemen up into 

 some good duck coimtry he knows of in the Northwest. A 

 party under Billy Griggs's care would get the best of the 

 shooting. Mr. Wilbur had already made other plans If 

 any one else would like to go out with BiQy I will be glad 

 to establish commimications. This I do because Billy 

 Griggs has always seemed to me more gentlemanly than 

 many a man in a different business who would decry his 

 business, and because he knows his business better than 

 any one else does. 



Plenty of Ducks. 



There is plenty of ducks on the Horicon Marsh this f alh 

 Percy Stone tells me he has been up twice since opehing 

 day. His second trip was for two days, and he bagged 90 

 ducks in two days' shootings quitting at 10 o'clock each 

 morning. His wife was in the blind with him the second 

 day. Last week Gov. G, W. Peck, of Wisconsin, was up 

 at the lower club, of which he is a member, and Mr. 

 Stone had the pleasm-e of locating him. Gov. Peck got 

 33 ducks in the morning's shoot, Mr. Stone bagging 48. 

 Shooting on the upper club grounds is reported equally 

 good. 



During the course of a pleasant little visit with the little 

 favorite, Miss Annie Oakley, and her manager, Mr. Frank 

 Butler, at the close of the Wild West performance the 

 other evening, it transpired that both were anxious to 

 have some duck shooting this fall after the closing vip of 

 the Wild West show for the season. At once I invited 

 them to use my shares in the upper Horicon club, where 

 they would be certain of shooting any time before the 

 freeze-up. Yesterday I spoke to Mr. Stone of this, and he 

 adds the invitation of the Diana or lower club. "Annie 

 Oakley can own the whole marsh and both club houses," 

 said he, "any time till the marsh freezes. Have her and 

 Mr. Butler and any friend of theirs come up any time." 

 Although Miss Oakley's visit will be late in the fall, all 

 the club men will hope she catches a good flight and has 

 a pleasant time. 



Mr. Stone stopped at the Forest and Stream corner at 

 the Fair long enough to cany off for his two club houses 

 two of the prettiest of the Forest and Stream big photo- 

 graphs, "Morning on the Horicon Marsh" and "In the 

 Tules." He said he wanted them worse than Forest and 

 Stream did, and so it seemed superfluous to argue over it. 

 Incidentally he remarked that in the three late suits against 

 club men at Waupun the club men were fined ,|10 and 

 costs each in the justice court, Of course they appealed. 

 In return the club arrested a poacher under tlie posted 

 lands law and had him fined $39. He appealed also. The 

 appeal cases come up before Judge Sloan of the Circuit 

 Court at an early date. The club men have lio f eaf of thfe 

 result, as the law seems clearly on their side; 



Af-auhd Chicago. 

 Mr. M. F. Emilio, of Boston, is in the city for a short 

 time, and wished while here to have a little duck shoot, 

 "somewhere within 100 miles of Chicago." At any date 

 this is a hard order to fill in these times of scarcity of 

 birds, but in early September it is a practical impossibility 

 as the local birds are all killed and the northern birds not 

 yet in. I directed Mr. Emilio to Water Valley, on the 

 Kankakee, as being the best open ground at short dis- 

 tance, and if he goes let us hope the northern teal may 

 possibly appear to show him that the glory of the old 

 marsh is not altogether gone. Probably he will get no 

 shooting at all. 



Our friend Roll Organ is a hal^d man to kiU. He has 

 been blown up by powder, drowned and frozen to death, 

 and a few days ago was shot. He and his ftiend Mr. 

 Hanson were on the way down to Mak^saW-baClub; when 

 some miscreant fired a rifle at the ti-ain. The ball grazed 

 Mr. Hanson and scared him a plenty, striking Mr. Organ 

 in the neck and making a wound which might easily have 

 been fatal. It didn't rattle Roll very much. The impres- 

 sion is gaining ground here that Mr. Organ was born to be 

 hung. 



What with two train robberies and two horrible train 

 accidents within the last fortnight, and this last wanton 

 attempt at a senseless crime, the firing of a rifle to injure 

 some unknown person on a passing train, it may be said 

 that Indiana is doing well toward establishing a reputa- 

 tion. The robbers of the first and more important hold-up 

 escaped into what is called the "black swamp" of the Kan- 

 kakee, over near the quaU country of which we usually 

 have good news in the faU. That is, the detectives think 

 the robbers took to the swamps. If I were a robber, as I 

 am a newspaper man, I would not go to the Kankakee to 

 hide, wild as it is. I would make straight for the crowded, 

 horde-packed, humanity-sodden streets of Chicago. Prob- 

 ably these robbers did. Anyhow, they have not been 

 discovered, whereas the Centi-aUa robbers, and the other 

 gang who last week held up a train away up in the wilder- 

 ness trout country of the Michigan north peninsula, are 

 aU now safely in jail. The wild country around here is 

 growing too tame. If I were to rob anybody, I should 

 make for certain mountains I know of in New Mexico, 

 whose secret it may for prudential reasons be well not to 

 disclose. 



No Longer Wild. 

 In fact, the country is no longer wild enough anywhere. 

 Last week the Cherokee Sti-ip was opened to "settlers." 

 The Indian goes from his last ground. The last of the 

 game goes swiftly from even that barren countiy now. 

 We are no longer wild. Let our robbers head for Chicago. 

 There may even be a homesteader in the nook I have been 

 saving for myself out in New Mexico. 



A Long Time from Civilization. 



From a Winnipeg, Man., paper the following is handed 

 me by a friend just back from that country. Capt. BeU 

 has certainly seen the wilderness in his long absence 

 from civihzation, as the following would indicate: 



"Capt. J. Bell, of the Hudson Bay service on the Mac- 

 kenzie River, is registered at the Queen's. He has been 

 several weeks on the road,, coming across to Athabasca 

 landing and driving in to Edmonton, a distance of 3,000 

 miles. He is now on his way to Chicago and England. 

 His district is peopled by the Ghapyanes, Slavies and 

 Dog Rib Indians, besides the Esquimaux. He states that 

 every one hving in that portion of the Dominion is appa- 

 rently in a healthy state, although the Indians are not 

 increasing. Their only employment is hunting furs for 



the company. The fur trade is as good as twenty years 

 ago. The captain was in Winnipeg during 1876, coming 

 up on the old Ontario, then in charge of Capt. Robinson, 

 now commanding the Beatty steamboat Monarch, After 

 a few days' visit Capt. Bell continues his journey to the 

 south." 



About the Deer. 

 Mr. Paul Blatchford, of E. W. Blatchford & Co., shot 

 works, Chicago, is laying plans for a deer trip this fall 

 and will probably go to the North Peninsula. Deer were 

 reported fairly abundant in upper Wisconsin until within 

 the past ten days. There is no telling what effect the 

 wide-reaching and disastrous forest fires may have had. 



? ? ? ? 



And, by the Way, has t3l:. T^honias, the Chicago divine, 

 eYer paid that fine for the two illegal deer he killed in 

 Wisconsui? 



A Growing Family. 



Sept. 29. — Montgomeiy Ward & Co. have added an- 

 other shooter to the hot class family of shooters who live 

 on the fourth floor gun department. This time it is 

 F. P. Stannard, late of the Stannard Arms Co., Milwau- 

 kee, and long known as a shooter. Mr. Stannard goes 

 into the mechanical department, where his skill as a 

 practical workmen will find ready appreciation. 



The Jerome iVIarble Party. 



The special palace hunting car "Yellowstone," bearing 

 tne 1893 Jerome Marble Shooting party, left this city last 

 night, Sept. 28, over the Chicago and Northwestern R. R. , 

 bound for Canby, Gary, Clark, Henry and other points 

 in South Dakota, after grouse and fowl, of which cer- 

 tainly they will make good account in that country this 

 year. This is the twenty-third annual shooting party 

 under Mi'. Marble's management, and in all the whole 

 United States has been covered by the trips of this pal- 

 atial outfit. They are out for thirty-five days this time. 

 To show where and how they travel I append the follow- 

 ing from their itinerary: 



"The stops beyond CMcago being uncertain and de- 

 pending on the reports we receive in regard to the game, 

 we do not confine ourselve,s to any particular date in our 

 movements. The route will be through Illinois, Iowa, 

 North and South Dakota. Along this route and short de- 

 viations from the main lines we expect to find prairie 

 chicken, quail, jjlover and nearly all varieties of ducks 

 and geese. A stop of five days will be made at Chicago 

 on the return, giving the members of the party an oppor- 

 tUnit}^ to visit the World's Fair. Leave Chicago via Erie 

 Railroad at 7s45 P. M., Oct. 39, arriving in Worcesterj 

 ]\Ia,ss., Oct. 31. 



"The entire tirip will be made in the private hotel cal'S 

 of the Worcester Car Co. Tliey ate models of luiuly ahd 

 convenience, each car accommodating eighteen persoils. 

 The Paige removable lower berths are used in these cars, 

 which allows the main saloon to be converted into a draw- 

 ing room, furnished with upholstered chairs, affording a 

 freedom and convenience not obtainable in the ordinary 

 s-leeping-cars. It is also used for dining purposes. At 

 night it is converted into a luxurious sleeping-car with six- 

 teen double berths. There is also a private stateroom, 

 with double parlor folding bed for those desiring exclu- 

 siveness. At one end of the car is a large observation and 

 smoking room, convertible into a private stateroom at 

 night, with double upper and lower berths. There are 

 also two large private toilet rooms, one for the exclusive 

 use of ladies and one for gentlemen. Each car is there- 

 fore complete in itself, with drawing room, dining room 

 and sleeping accommodations, each car having thre« com- 

 petent servants — porter, cook and waiter, Three meals 

 per day will be served at regular hours, prepared by flrst- 

 class cpokSj and the table supplied with the best tiie mar- 

 ket aifords, equaling any of our first-clans hotels. Our 

 train wiU. be special throughout the trip. The baggage 

 car win be attached to om" car for our especial use the en* 

 tire trip." 



The members of the party are as follows; A, W. Gif-; 

 ford, Worcester; D, F. Eddy, Dorchester; L. Eddy, Dor- 

 chester; W. H. Hutchinson, Lynn; Mrs. W. H. Hutchin- 

 son, Lynn; K, M. Gilmore, Lexington; Willard Nye, Jr., 

 New Bedford; Mrs. Jerome Marble, Worcester; Jerome 

 Marble, Worcester; Mr. Howland, Springfield; R. M. 

 Smith, Boston; Mrs. Hannah Streeter, Worcester; E. 

 Storey Smith, Brookline; Miss Annie B. Clark, Brookline; 

 Miss Marion Cutter, Brooldine; Miss Emma Cummings, 

 Brookline; Charles Bell, Springfield. 



A Small Egg. 



A Chicago contemporary this week uses a page of 

 brevier to report the doings of the six persons who made 

 the so-called "national convention" of sportsmen. It is 

 a good thing to foster infant industries, but in this case it 

 does look as though a great deal of incubative bosom had 

 been wasted on a rather small egg, and not very many of 

 it. 



North Woods. 

 Mr. J. W. De Long and wife, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 

 passed through here some days ago on their way to Trout 

 Lake, Wis., where they expected to put in some pleasant 

 time with the muscallonge and other birds. The promised 

 report of their doings not being forthcoming, it seems 

 likely that they are still lost in the North Woods. 



Just IVIention It. 



I just want to mention something. Owing to the press 

 of business and the many personal and social engage- 

 ments of this busy World's Fair time, when one wants 

 to see every friend he has in the city, the time for writing 

 has been very short. Still, the material for writing has 

 been so abundant that it is fairly as much a question of 

 chance as of judgment, what to write about for FoiiEST 

 AND Stream. This sets me thinking. When the Forest 

 AND Stream first started jts Western office on its young 

 and uncertain legs, five yeara ago, its sole representative 

 had to get put and hustle to get the news. To-day this 

 same office has more than one chair in it, and is in a state 

 of vulgar and disgusting prosperity. Occasionally its 

 denizens go out and in a leisurely and dignified way 

 knock off a piece of news, but most of the news comes 

 straight to the ofiice, and they have to hustle to keep 

 away from it, because the authorities at New York refuse 

 to double the size of the paper and so give Chicago a 

 cliance. Each week the news notes go into certain portly 

 envelopes, and toward the end of the week these fairly 

 split their sides with bits of white paper which show 

 mighty well which way- tJie wind isj blowing. It's blow- 



