Jan. is, 1896, FOREST AND STREAM. ©1 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
With Apologies. 
Chicago, 111., Jan. 11.— With apologies to Mr. B. 
I Waters, who presides with dignity and precision over the 
J kennel department of Forest and Stream, I should like 
[to state that this week I took the liberty of reading 
■almost all of his department. This I know is unprofes- 
sional, but I shall not let it occur again — unless he should 
■continue, as he has in the past, to bring it down to the 
I ken of ordinary beings, not dogmen, who are interested 
lin dogs and shooting. What I wanted to get at was sev- 
jeral things, and if so, why. For instance, one gentleman 
[has a good article under the title "Why Field Trials 
■should be Supported." It is news to most lay readers if 
■field trials are not being supported, but if they are, why 
lis there any Why? Is this question in any wise related 
■to another little article in the same issue, by Oapt. O. E. 
■McMurdo, on "Pace in Shooting Dogs?" It is this last 
■article which seems to me is one of the most sensible 
■things ever published in a kennel department. If the 
leditor of Forest and Stream will consent, 1 should like 
Ico dig this article up from the dark and bloody grounds 
■of the kennel world and print it in "Chicago and the 
■West," where all is sweetness and light. Capt. McMurdo 
Isays: 
"Speed in shooting dogs is commonly overrated. There are several 
■other qualities of much greater consequence that do not seem to 
■attract so much attention. As a matter of fact, some of the rather 
■too slow ones show great intelligence and do their work in grand 
■shape. 
"A dog that goes at his top speed can't last long, nor can he do flrst- 
Iclass work. The fact is, he is nervous and in too great a hurry to take 
tt ime to work out his ground properly. He may make a sensational 
■point now and again by almost accidentally catching the scent of a 
Icovey at a few yards that he might have scented at three times the 
■distance had he been going at the pace that he could keep up for four 
■hours. 
[ "The pace that a strong, well-made, high-couraged dog can sustain 
■tor four or five hours is, I believe, fast enough to satisfy any experi- 
lenced sportsman. 
"The four-hour heatB of the late Central Field Trial Club were good 
■tests of pace, as well as other qualities, and demonstrated the fact 
■that fast, nervous weeds do not amount to much as shooting dogs. 
■Some men make a point of never hunting their dogs for more than an 
■hour or so at a time on purpose, to get them into the habit of going at 
■great speed, because they expect (and are often correct in thinking) 
■that great credit will be given them for it; but one would suppose 
■that experience ought to have taught most field trial men by this time 
■that excessive speed is a downright fault." 
That the above are words of wisdom is something sure 
■in the mind of any plain, unvarnished sportsman who 
■goes shooting in the field for his own pleasure and who 
■knows the least thing about shooting from actual experi- 
ence. As such a plain and unpolished soul I wish to 
■chronicle my approbation of them. In common with 
Imany others, I have been much troubled by men who 
■wanted to tell me how fast their dogs were, when the 
Isport at hand was shooting and not coursing. Then, as I 
■have already mentioned in these columns, I have openly 
land ignorantly wondered why the field trials seemed to be 
| trying to produce a sort of dog that nobody who knows any- 
thing about shooting wants to shoot over. I confess I can't 
■see the reason why even yet, though I reckon it is because 
I I ain't a dogman. The meat dog is still my ideal. When 
[we begin to see large, upper-case Whys right in the ken- 
Inel department, and also plain, common-sense statements 
J like that above quoted , it surely does look as though the 
jmeat dog was going to have his innings yet one of these 
Ifine centuries. For all of which I apologize again. 
The War Cloud Thickens. 
The diplomatic situation in regard to Mr. Noel Money's 
[buckskin riding breeches is, I regret to state, becoming 
[strained, and at this writing it seems that it will be diffi- 
loult to avert war between England and America, In 
[support of this assertion I shall be forced to make public, 
[exclusively in Forest and Stream, certain dispatches 
I from diplomatic circles bearing on the matter. Exhibit 
I A is in the form of a communication from Mr. T. A, 
I Divine, of Memphis, Tenn., which states: 
I , "I notice what you say in the Forest and Stream about 
I appropriating Mr. Money's buckskin pants in the event of 
Iwar. That would be a terrible hardship on Money, for 
■to my certain knowledge he had very few clothes, and 
I his mainstay was the buckskin pants. He wore them 
I for three weeks on a hunt without ever pulling them off, 
I night or day." 
Exhibit B consists in unqualified admission on the part 
I of Mr. Divine that Mr, Money left in his care a very fine 
[Irish setter dog, which dog was nowhere to be found at 
[the time Mr. Money started back home in the East. 
Exhibit C comprises certain polite expressions from Mr. 
■Money to Mr. Divine, such as, "Never mind about the 
[dog. It wasn't your fault he got lost," etc., etc. 
Exhibit D covers Mr. Money's question to me, "Do you 
i think Tom stole him?" 
Exhibit E is covered by the statement in Mr. Divine's 
Letter to Mr. Money, under date of Jan. 4, "It was a great 
I pleasure for me to have you here, I assure you, and I will 
| be lonely till you return again. I will take your advice 
I about the dog. It doesn't bother me any. If I find him, 
fit's all right, and if I don't I shall not worry over it." 
Exhibit F comes in form of Mr. Money's letter to me, 
date of Jan. 7, in which he speaks as follows: 
"Oakland, Bergen County, N. J. — My Dear Hough; 
Knowing your righteous antipathy and your fearless, plain 
speaking in regard to such rogues as dog thieves, I send 
you inclosed a proof of the very elastic conscience of my 
former friend, T. A. Divine. I have little doubt in my 
mind that it was this unholy rascal who took half a ham, 
a whole cheese, my boots and BobO's blankets from .the 
camp in Mississippi. I am really almost sorry that this mat- 
ter has come to fight, as Memphis is too good a place not 
to go there again, and when there you know how hard it 
is to get rid of Divine, and how as long as you are in 
town this man never has any work to do. 
"Did he try to sell you a very handsome Irish setter 
after I left? I'm afraid I'll never see that dog again. 
Bobo warned me against leaving such a good dog in such 
bad hands, but truly I didn't know my man then. What 
a pity a man gifted by nature to such an extent both 
mentally and physically should fall so low. 
"It is lucky it was too cold in camp ever to take off my 
leather breeches, or he'd have had them and your rifle 
"bucket" too. 
"If you consider that by publishing this letter you can 
warn any other fellows to look more carefully after hams, 
cheeses, boots, blankets and dogs when near Memphis 
you have my full leave to do so. 
"Yours faithfully, Noel E. Money," 
In the light of the above special intelligences it must be 
admitted that the war cloud is thickening. For my own 
part, I can not with any dignity recede from my position 
in regard to Mr. Money's pants, although I admit he has 
international law on his side in doubting the wisdom of 
taking any chances while Tom Divine was around. Upon 
the other hand, Mr. Money can hardly depart from his 
position on the Schemburgh line as regards the city of 
Memphis, and the question is rendered more grave by the 
fact that Mr. Divine has swiped his dog, the latter act 
being generally recognized among nations as an overt act 
of hostility. The great issue involved, however, is really 
that of the Monroe doctrine; inasmuch as Mr. Money has 
admitted boastfully that he got his leather pants in Lun- 
non, and asserted that they were better than he could get 
here. We can not, as a nation, suffer foreign buckskin 
pants to find a lodgment on this continent. As Mr. Cleve- 
land has said very ably, there can be no worse calamity 
than that. We must therefore leave the issue as above 
until further light is offered in the regular course of 
diplomacy. 
The Annual Possum Club Dinner. 
To the sportsmen of Chicago there is only one leading 
caterer, and his name is William Werner, alias Possum 
Bill. For six years Mr. Werner has prepared the annual 
winter banquet of the Possum Club, of Chicago, and each 
year he does it better. The dinner this year fell on the 
evening of Wednesday, Jan. 8, and at the hour of 8 there 
assembled at Mr. Werner's place, at 72 Bryant avenue, 
nearly a dozen hungry gentlemen: Messrs. R. B. Organ, 
C. B. Dicks, Charles Wilcox, E. Bingham, J. E. Isgrigg, 
D. Rad. Coover, F. A. Place, George Andrews, W. H. 
Haskell and John La Vally. The first thing called for 
was a look at Mr. Werner's dogs, and he produced them — 
one fine cocker spaniel, one dachshund, one Yorkshire 
terrier and two fine pointers. After a good romp with 
these the members sat down at dinner. The parent of the 
Possum Club never asked his children to sit at a handsomer 
table, nor could one be found anywhere. A huge silver 
epergne filled with holly made the central table decora- 
tion, and this was flanked by two horns of the big horn 
or Rocky Mountain sheep, out of which fell abundant holly 
into a long stream continued midway along the table. 
The effect was very rich and strong and eminently appro- 
priate to the occasion. A new thing on the table this year 
was the procession of diBhes full of fine ripe persimmons, 
which notoriously are the correct thing with possum. A 
good laugh was raised at the expense of the Forest and 
Stream representative, who lately ventured to suggest 
that in the South a possum is always cooked with an apple 
in its mouth. Everybody else had carved possum except 
the Forest and Stream man, who got none, until at last 
the waiters brought in a whole possum, baked brown as a 
nut and with a big apple in its mouth. But he laughed 
best who laughed last, and everybody envied the owner 
of a whole possum. The evening was enjoyable in every 
way. 
Hennepin Election. 
Hennepin Club elected officers this week as follows: 
President, W. W. McFarlane; Secretary and Treasurer, 
G. W. Sibley; Directors, W. W. McFarlane, G. M. Sibley, 
N. A. Partridge, G. M. Davis and F. E. Willard. The 
reports showed 2,000 ducks had been shot on the marshes 
of the club during the last season. There had been no 
shooting before sunrise or after sunset, or on Sunday. 
Game Scarce in the Markets. 
Merchants on South Water street here say that game 
was never so scarce and hard to get. They complain that 
Oklahoma is shut up tight and that they can get no quail 
out of there. Kansas is much the same, and is letting 
very little game out to market. Minnesota is called "air 
tight," and no venison is coming from there. This state 
of affairs is by Mr. Bortree, of the National Association, 
thought largely traceable to protective work in the West 
the past season. 
There was a meeting of the executive committee of the 
N. G. B. & F. P. A. on Friday evening of this week. Mr. 
Baird, of the law committee, is drafting an amendment 
which the Association proposes to bring before Congress 
if possible, modifying the Interstate Commerce laws in 
such way that it shall be an offense against such laws to 
ship game out of any State against the laws of that State. 
This if done would be placing protective work in national 
hands. 
La Crosse Bass. 
Mr. Sam, D. McMillan, of West Salem, Wis., paid 
Forest and Stream a visit this week. He speaks very 
enthusiastically of the fly-fishing for bass in the Mississippi 
River near La Crosse, and exacts a promise to sample it 
next August, at which season it is at its best. 
E. Hough. 
909 Security Building, Chicago, 111. 
Cannot Sell "Pet" Venison. 
ChaS. A. Burckhardt, proprietor of the Franklin 
Market in Portland, Oregon, was arrested for having elk 
unlawfully in possession during the close season, and was 
tried for the offense before Judge Geisler and a jury. 
The statute is explicit in setting forth that it shall be un- 
lawful to have elk, deer and other animals in possession 
during the close season, except for household pets, or to 
offer the meat for sale. 
It was on the household pet contention that the defense 
relied for acquittal. The elk in dispute was born in captiv- 
ity at Seattle and afterward figured as a wild denizen of the 
forest in the Gleason horse taming sho w last winter. Later 
Burckhardt purchased the animal and after keeping it for 
ten months slaughtered it at an unfortunate time and 
offered its stall-fed carcass for sale at the modest price of 15 
cents per pound; to be classic— it "was butched to make 
a Portland — not a Roman — holiday." 
The household pet claim was a trifle gauzy under the 
circumstances, although Burckhardt cheerfully testified 
that the elk was just as much a household pet when it 
hung in the market in the cold embrace of death as when 
it leaped and gamboled beautifully in life. The jury evi- 
dently took this view of the matter and brought in a verdict 
of guilty, sustaining the contention of the vigilant Game 
Protector McGuire. 
Burckhardt is deserving of sympathy, as he undoubtedly 
had the elk slaughtered in good faith, believing he was 
within his rights in so doing, but the verdict was a just 
one and will be heartily indorsed by every sportsman in 
Portland and throughout the State. A principle was in- 
volved and triumphed. The principle is that the game 
laws must be observed to the letter and no excuses for 
their violation, however plausible, given a standing in 
court. — Northwestern, Sportsman. 
A RIFLE FOR MOOSE. 
It always pains me to see an account of the losing of an 
animal which has been wounded . The thing which makes 
me enjoy duck shooting less than almost any other sport 
is the fact that so many birds are hit and not killed, It is 
in the shooting of large game, however, that the matter 
assumes much more serious importance. Especially does 
it seem a terrible thing to hit a moose without killing 
him. When a man wounds several animals before get- 
ting one, he is almost certain to destroy more than the 
limit allowed by law; and to any right-minded man the 
presence of a few moose in a wilderness makes it a para- 
dise, where otherwise it would be a desert. I have always 
found that the hunters and guides in the moose country, 
at least the more intelligent ones, regard the needless 
wounding of an animal as a matter of extreme regret. 
They are anxious that the sportsman shall get his moose, 
but they want him to do it without allowing a wounded 
animal to escape. 
Forest and Stream this season has recorded an unusual 
number of mooBe stories. Anything concerning the 
noblest game animal on the continent is always of inter- 
est, and it has saddened my heart to read the numerous 
accounts of moose wounded and lost. Last week's 
Forest and Stream alone contained no less than five 
instances of this. I believe in almost every case it is 
directly chargeable to the use of too light weapons. I 
have seen several cases mentioned where the .40-82 has 
been chosen for moose shooting. No doubt a moose can 
be killed with this bullet and powder charge. If I had no 
other rifle, and saw a bull moose in the woods, I should 
probably try to stop him with it; but knowing what little 
I do, from my own experience and the statements of 
others, I consider any one almost insane who deliberately 
selects this rifle to take into the woods for this purpose. 
Every lumberman and crust-hunter has stories to tell 
about the ease with which the moose can be killed in the 
spring, when he is enfeebled by the scarcity of proper 
food and the severity of the weather. But I am sure that 
in October, when he is in his best condition, there is no 
other creature in North America which possesses so much 
vitality, so great tenacity of life. The man who expects 
to kill a large moose during the legitimate hunting season 
with anything less than an ounce of lead and 100 grains 
of powder is pretty certain to be disappointed, unless he 
strikes the animal in the heart. If one gets a fair shot at 
a moose which is facing him and can remember to shoot 
low enough, he may do this; but if he gets only a broad- 
side shot he is not likely to strike either heart or lungs. 
I have seen a moose run a considerable distance with more 
than a quarter of a pound of lead in the region of his 
shoulders, and every guide in Eastern Canada can tell any 
number of true stories which go to show that the moose 
dies as hard as the grizzly bear. Anyone who has ever 
seen one of these magnificent animals at close quarters, 
his eyes blazing, the hair on his back bristling and every 
motion showing tremendous muscular energy, has cer- 
tainly wished he had a small cannon in his hands. The 
great bulk of the animal serves as well as a coat of armor, 
as far as immediate disablement is concerned. And there 
are plenty of places where, if a moose runs half a mile 
before falling, it is very difficult to track or find Jiim. 
I know at least a score of cases in which moose wounded 
with bullets as heavy as the .45-90 — most admirable for 
deer — have been lost to the hunter. 
There is another phase of the matter which makes the 
ordinary repeating rifle fall short of being the ideal 
weapon for moose. The company who lead the world 
in the manufacture of repeating rifles state frankly that 
they do not aim to make long-range weapons; that every 
concern which has meddled with long-range rifles has 
gone to the wall, and that their own rifles are made to do 
their work at 200yds. or less. This is undoubtedly good 
business, on the theory of the best average for the great- 
est number; and the number of those who will ever look 
at a moose through the sights of a rifle must be compara- 
tively limited. But the patient few who watch the lonely 
lakes and barrens of the vast Canadian wilderness often 
have opportunities for clean standing shots in good light 
at 300 or 400yds. The broadside of a large moose presents 
fully a 3ft. target, and the man who with a proper weapon 
on a still day, in a good light, shooting over water at 
300yds., sitting or lying down, cannot strike a 3ft. ring, 
is not a good enough shot to go into the woods after big 
game. But if he shoots at a moose at this distance he 
should do it with a rifle that will kill. 
In the old buffalo days, of which, I am sorry to say, I 
saw only the last hours, there was a rifle in considerable 
use for which I have always had the utmost admiration 
and respect. It was not a weapon to play with in one's 
back yard, but it was a rifle that was business from the 
start. This was the single-shot Sharps .45, 500grs. patched 
bullet, 3£in. shell, taking 120grs. of powder. This rifle 
cannot now be bought, but the cartridges are made, and 
last summer, after some correspondence, the Winchester 
people kindly made for me a rifle, single-shot, of course, 
with an extra heavy barrel, taking this cartridge. A 
more satisfactory weapon I have never seen. Contrary to 
what the Winchester people expected, it shoots with very 
little recoil, its trajectory is quite low, and it is extremely 
accurate. Just as might be expected, its windage is 
almost nothing, and of course its killing power is terrific. 
The cartridges cost 6 cents apiece, but when one is hunt- 
ing big game, and does not fire a dozen shots during the 
hunting trip, the cost of the ammunition is of no conse- 
quence whatever. 
In the mania for small calibers, steel bullets, and all 
that sort of thing, I have been expecting to read of some 
idiot who had tried to kill moose or caribou with a ,30- 
cal. Undoubtedly one of these crochet needles, with its 
penetration of countless yards of solid timber, would go 
clean through a poor moose, and he would probably die of 
peritonitis or tuberculosis, just as he would from the 
wound made by a .40-82; but if any reader of Forest AND 
Stream wants to kill a moose or caribou without having 
to follow his victim half way to the North Pole, he can 
rely on the weapon I have described. There are a num- 
ber of English rifles which are equally deadly, but I know 
of no other weapon to be obtained in this country which 
has an equal amount of combined penetration and par- 
alysis concealed about its person. Frederic Irland, 
