14 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 4, 1896 
reason to fear that attempts will be made to repeal the laws 
which have been enacted against the use of nets, weirs and 
seines, and open the waters of the bay to any and every kind 
of fishing. Were it not for this, we should believe that all 
the purposes for which this league was formed had been 
accomplished, and its, further continuance become junneces- 
sary. 
ihat the Dartmouth and Gosnold fishermen will not make 
some effort tending to the continued use of their weirs and 
pounds is hardly to be believed; at all events, the chances 
that they may make the attempt will justify us in guarding 
well what we have with so much difficulty secured. 
We are confident that since seines, nets and pounds have 
been so far prohibited, the fisheries of the bay have shown a 
marked improvement, and we are equally confident that if 
the migrations of fish are not interfered with, it will not be 
long before the normal balance will be restored. 
Officers elected for 1896: President, Dr. Arthur Ricketson; 
Vice-President, Robert Bennett; Secretary and Correspond- 
ing Secretary, George H. Palmer; Treasurer, Dr. Henry M. 
Knowles. Executive Committee: The President and Secre- 
tary ex-officits, Robert Bennett, James H. Tallman, Dr. 
Henry M. Knowles. Arthur Ricketson, President. 
Geo. H. Palmer, Secretary. 
Wholesale Murder Suspected. 
It was dusk on Thursday evening when a woman walked 
along the road near Pompton Lake, at the point where 
stands a little house adjacent to where the Oakland road joins 
the road from the west. Suddenly her attention was drawn to 
^mysterious figures gathered close to the edge of the water. 
There were three men with a lantern. One of them cracked 
the ice with a stone and then the three held a consultation. 
The woman could not see what was being done, but her sus- 
picions were aroused. Looking about she saw a large truck 
standing in the road a short distance from where the men 
were. The men went to the truck and removed some arti- 
'cles which seemed heavy, as it took two of the men to carry 
each one while the third held the lantern and lighted the 
way. The suspicions of the woman increased. With bated 
breath she watched the men from a safe distance, and she 
thought that she saw them putting something into the 
water; this was followed by some splashing and then one of 
the men cried out in a voice loud enough to reach the ears of 
the woman, "Be sure to put them all under." This was 
enough for the woman. She felt certain that bodies of 
human beings were being stowed away under the ice, and 
with a wild shriek of "Oh, my God!" she fled up the road 
and to her home. The men who aroused these horrible sus- 
picions were employees of the Fish and Game Commission. 
The heavy bodies they removed from the truck were large 
cans containing fish, and the men were anxious that every 
fish should be saved. — Hartford Post. 
ht fflenneL 
FIXTURES. 
BENCH SHOWS. 
Feb. 19 to 22.— Westminster Kennel Club's twentieth annual dog 
show, Madison Square Garden, New York. James Mortimer, Supt. 
March 3 to 6.— City of the Straits Kennel Club, Detroit, Mich. Arthur 
D. Welton, Sec'y, 25 Lamed street, West. 
March 10 to 13.— Chicago.— Mascoutah Kennel Club's bench show, 
John L. Lincoln, Sec'y. 
March 17 to 20,— St. Louis Kennel Club's show, St. Louis. W. 
Hutchinson, Sec'y. 
April 20 to 23.— New England Kennel Club's twelfth annual show. 
D. E. Loveland, Sec'y. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Jan. 20.— BaSersfleld, Cal.— Pacific Coast Field Trial Club. J. M. 
Kilgarif, Sec'y. 
Feb. 3.— West Point, Miss.— U. S. F. T. C. trials. W. B. Stafford, 
Sec'y. 
Feb. 10.— West Point, Miss.— The Field Trial Champion Association's 
first trial. W. B. Stafford, Sec'y. 
Sept. 2.— Morris, Man.— Manitoba Field Trials Club. John Wootton, 
Rnc'y. 
ME AND DOC. 
Doc was on his way home from the trials at Newton, 
N. C, and wanted to shoot a little bit, having tired of 
hearing "Point, judge!" and an occasional shot, without 
taking a hand in the shooting himself. 
Doc talks plain, and said to me, "Some folks wrote that 
there were no birds on the grounds of the Eastern Club at 
Newton. Now, I saw the work in the trials, and plenty 
of birds were found, especially when a brace were hunted 
that had any experience on game and wanted to find and 
point the birds." 
Doc's a funny man. He told me confidentially that the 
most perfect work done during the week was when Shad, 
in the Members' Stake, saw a black, white and tan cow 
pointing a covey of pea vines and promptly backed her; 
and another time, when Revenue tossed a rabbit in the 
air, caught him in his mouth, and let him go just for the 
fun of racing with him to a pine thicket. 
Saturday morning, when me and Doc were about to 
start out on our hunt, he did not look well; the horse he 
was going to ride had one shoe off, and the saddle had 
no girth. Doc said he was a poor walker, and seeing a 
big gray horse, a sort of cross between a giraffe and a 
Percheron mare, belonging to me, a suggestion was made 
that he ride this horse and let me walk, and finally, after 
some parleying, Doc said "All right." The day was per- 
fect for quail; no use telling about it, a sort of day when 
you "just find 'em." 
The dogs Jay and Kay, like their masters, had enjoyed 
a good breakfast. The darky carried the camera and the 
lunch and led the horse down the road till we struck the 
fields. 
The dogs were let go; both ranged well and wanted to 
hunt, and after going up the ditch, across the hill and 
down the bottom, we "sorter" watching them, Jay shot 
into the briers and rushes along the creek bank and 
pointed. Doc did not think birds were there, but they 
were. A big covey got up and scattered in the weeds 
and open woods. Several points were gotten on singles. 
Kay, a fine young pointer, not well broken, flushed and 
chased everything for a time, but we did not get many 
shots. In working toward a pine thicket where some 
singles were, Jay pointed another covey, but it was run 
into and flushea by Kay. Then going back again across 
the creek the dogs were found on a point, Jay pointing 
and Kay backing beautifully. The birds were tollowed 
across the hollow, into the open woods and down the 
ditch bank, but, strange to say, we could not find the 
singles, and only found one bird. 
We then saw a fine piece of work by the dogs. They 
were hunting well and intelligently, and in going through 
a big open stubble both made game but nothing found. 
They were lost for a few minutes, and when found Kay 
was pointing and Jay backing. The pointer was rigid, 
his muscles stood out like those of a trained athlete, and 
his head was raised as high in the air as he could get it, 
and with his tail pointing skyward he looked as if he 
owned the world and like the king he will some day 
prove himself to be. Doc felt good, and with a big laugh 
said to me, "This is worth coming 500 miles to see." He 
got a good picture and then set the pointer and the camera 
back by the darky. 
We never saw birds keep quite so close, as after the 
covey was flushed, they settled in the edge of some wire 
grass along the side of a hill near a fence row, close to a 
thin piece of small trees. We walked and hunted all 
along this place over and over again and so did the dog. 
Finally we walked up several, each at different times. 
Coming from the same place, the dog could not smell 
them in the least. 
Doc has a patent on getting on and off a high horse. 
He sits on the horse, gets hold of the stirrup, lets it out as 
long as possible and crawls down, and when he wants to 
get up his stirrup is low to the ground, so he does not 
have to lift his foot high to climb up again. No man ex- 
cept a Jeiseyman can use this method, so Doc Bays. He 
tried to cr03s a ditch, a creek, a brier patch, and duck his 
head under a locust tree with thorny branches, all at the 
same time. After some foreign explosives of the Doctor's 
own making and some laughter, he was finally extricated. 
After crossing the creek, he planted himself on the bank 
and said he would rather eat the lunch than carry it, and 
said also that he was going to rest an hour, and he did it! 
After we ate lunch the dog made game within 30yds. 
of a darky's cabin, the owner standing in the door and 
asking us if we had found the birds that "used" about his 
house. Just then J ay pointed and a big covey was flushed, 
which scattered in the broom sedge between some thick 
pines and oak woods. Some good work was done on 
singles and a couple of clean misses made. 
In working these singles the dog made game, but 
seemed unable to locate well. One of us flushed the 
covey near by and the birds were followed to the creek 
bank; the cover however was rough, so after killing a 
couple of birds Doc said, "Let's find another covey." The 
dog got tired of work ing hard for half an hour and finding 
nothing, and the sun was shining pretty hot. 
We soon found a nice covey, however, in the open 
stubble and Jay pointed them well. The birds were small, 
with a few old ones mixed with them, and when we 
found this out, though they were nicely scattered in 
open pines, we let them off. 
Doc was now shooting in good form; he had his second 
wind and seldom missed. 
Jay now flushed a big covey that settled along the lower 
edge of open pines and grass. A number of pretty points 
were made and some good work done with the guns, 
when going across the big road the dog pointed a covey 
which scattered in thick weeds along the edge of a swamp, 
and as they were walked up Doc bowled them over. He 
chuckled to himself every time the thought came into his 
head that he had a horse to ride back on. Well, about 
this time he was in the field just above the road. There 
was a steep embankment down to the road, and he did 
not care to risk depriving his patients of their family 
physician; so he said, "Catch the horse as he comes down," 
and gave him a cut with a switch. He was not caught, 
and made a bee line for home, and he was not headed 
either! To say that the "medicine man" looked blank 
was putting it mildly. If by mistake he had given his 
best paying patient a dose of poison he could not have 
looked worse. He collapsed completely, and the only 
thing that brought him round was, "Where is Jay?" He 
said he saw him going up through a cornfield, and we 
followed him at once. 
There was a deep ditch ahead of us bordered with briers, 
and we almost fell in, and had a hard scramble to get out 
of it. We found the dog pointing again on top of the hill 
in the edge of a stubble field. My! What a covey was 
flushed. We both missed clean. The birds scattered 
nicely in the brown sedge not far off. We then had 
some splendid shooting on singles, and as it was growing 
late and we had three miles to walk, we started for home. 
Across the meadow and over in a big field Jay was mak- 
ing game, but not locating quickly enough, and working 
out of our line of direction. He was called off, but soon 
after pointed a large covey. We killed two, but did not 
follow them. Going through the woods and over into a 
small stubble field, Jay worked by foot scent and came 
back behind us and pointed his last covey for the day. 
We gave them one shot, called the dog to heel and quick- 
ened our steps toward home. The rosy tints left the sky, 
the moon glistened on the leaves, the lights glimmered a 
welcome from the windows, a big blazing fire, a hot sup- 
per, a kind of happy, contented, half -weary feeling, a 
sound sleep, and the Doctor's last day's hunt of the year 
is over. Tar Heel. 
Ranging. 
Field trial clubs have succeeded in doing a great deal 
to encourage the breeding of wide-ranging dogs. Wide 
ranging is one of the most important points in a high 
class dog, but if his performances in that line are not 
under control they will not recommend themselves to the 
sportsman who wants to en joy good shooting. It is be- 
cause many field trial dogs, though they range wide and 
go at a "killing gait," fail to do good bird work, and don't 
hunt where they are wanted to, that many men say that 
they are no good for shooting over. If a dog has not 
been taught to range to hand (that is, hunt where he is 
directed) and beat out his ground with judgment, and 
without losing time in watching or coming in to his 
handler, he is a nuisance, and unfit to shoot over. 
A dog ought to be taught to range just as much as 
to be stanch on point or anything else. On the 
prairies or in any open country it is very easy to teach 
a high class, intelligent puppy to range rignt; but in 
such ground as we usually find in the South it is diffi- 
cult and takes a great deal of time. I do not think that a 
Derby puppy ought to be expected to range correctly; if 
he points, backs and is reasonably obedient, that is enough 
to expect from him, and too much ranging drill would be 
liable to spoil his natural inclination to range wide, but 
an all-aged dog ought to be under perfect control and 
range wide or close, as the nature of the ground requires. 
It is impossible to lay down any rule as to how far a dog 
should range under certain circumstances, except that he 
should not keep out of sight for any length of time or too 
far to hear the whistle. Q, E. MoMt/rdo. 
A REVIEW OF THE YEAR. 
In the year which has just passed there have been 
many changes in canine interests from a competitive 
point of view, both as they relate to the bench and the 
field. Field trial interests in particular have undergone 
great changes. Nearly all the field trial clubs east of the 
Rocky Mountains suffered financial loss in holding their 
competitive events, many of them being brought face to 
face with serious deficits. In this connection it is proper 
to mention that Forest and Stream many months ago 
called attention to the fact that nearly all field trial clubs 
were giving larger prizes than they could afford, and that 
sooner or later their erroneous financial management was 
sure to end in a deficit which in time was sure to dampen 
the enthusiasm ahd club interest of the members or 
cripple the club, or even disorganize it. Without going 
further back than the past year there are lessons enough 
to show that the financial methods of field trial clubs need 
remodeling. 
The large prices which were demanded and paid for 
setters and pointers a few years since no longer exist. 
Undoubtedly the large prices were harmful to breeding 
interests in the end, since but a few relatively could 
enjoy such expensive luxuries, thuB gradually the sport 
grew out of the financial reach of the men of ordinary 
means. 
To restore the sport to a healthy, sound basis the prkes 
must be made smaller and the entry fee reduced accord- 
ingly, so that it will be within the means of the average 
sportsman, and bo that the clubs also will thus have a 
reasonable chance of "paying out." 
Forest and Stream clearly pointed all these things out 
long ago, and while they were admittedly true, the com- 
petition of the field trial clubs for patronage prompted the 
risking of chances which were not in accord with sound 
policy. Now that such systems have worked out their 
legitimate results, the times are favorable for all the 
clubs to adopt a new and sound financial policy. 
In last January, when Mr. P. T. Madison, the secretary 
of the U. S. F. T. C, read his report at the club's annual 
meeting, the first paragraph was as follows: "In making 
my annual report 1 am pained to say the past season has 
been a disastrous one for field trial clubs. The great fall- 
ing off in entries and starters made it difficult for clubB 
to get through and survive," etc. This of itself should 
convince field trial managements that the old systems of 
finance, which were good in their time, are not good 
under the new and changed Conditions of field trial 
matters. 
In this Connection the professional trainer holds that 
the prizes are So small now that even if they win they do 
no more than pay expenses. This must be taken more as 
a general statement, and as such bearing on but a part of 
the case, for at all times there can be but few winners as 
compared to the total number of handlers who compete. 
To join in the competition is quite as expensive to those 
who lose as to those who win. But, aside from this, the 
records show that handlers win much more than their ex- 
penses. This, however, is a perversion of the issue, for 
after all field trials are not gotten up solely with a view to 
paying the expenses of the winning handlers, nor is the 
money to be considered all the value they receive out of 
it. They have much advertising which adds greatly to 
their regular business; they often make sales at the trials; 
the value of the winning dogs is increased ; general inter- 
est is stimulated, which in turn makes business for the 
handlers. If the entry fees are reduced it will make it 
much easier for the handlers who lose as well as for those 
who win, and for dog owners in general. Ssurely the in- 
terest of all concerned is the real interest to consider. 
The Southern Club canceled its contracts and declared 
its February trials off recently. If the Continental Field 
Trial Club had run at Newton in November last it 
was sure to lose several hundred dollars. The United 
States Field Trial Club pluckily ran its trials in the face 
of a certain loss of several hundred dollars in November 
last. All these are material instances concerning the mat- 
ter under consideration. 
The pointer has added to his good standing in public 
esteem, his competition during the past season rating well 
up to the highest standards. Of all the breeds, the pointer 
in the past few years has made the greatest improve- 
ment. 
The excellence of the setter competition has been grad- 
ually declining in the past few years, considering it as a 
whole, although there are individuals which still show the 
highest class of setter work. 
The Irish setter has shown good capabilities in the com- 
petition afforded him, but the admirers of that handsome 
breed have not given the support to the Irish setter trials 
that is necessary to give their favorites a proper oppor- 
tunity. The Irish setter trials, too, would have a greater 
importance and be a more accurate index of Irish setter 
interests if the fanciers of that breed would take a mate- 
rial interest in field work and field competition. It 
would also be a gain if they were to compete in the trials 
open to all setters and pointers. 
The chicken trials given by the Continental Field Trial 
Club proved a great success, though the contestants from 
the United States side of the line were hampered greatly 
by customs regulations and exactions, all of which was 
pointed out by Forest and Stream as being probable 
when Manitoba was first under consideration as a place for 
the club's chicken trials. So great was the success that 
the club has decided to hold another trial on chickens this 
year, on the United States side of the line, however. The 
permanency of the chicken trials is doubtful, as the sup- 
ply of birds is very variable from year to year, and also 
variable in numbers in one locality as compared to 
another year after year. Their season is shorter as com- 
pared to the quail season; the preparatory work of the 
dogs must be crowded into a short period of very hot 
weather, August and September, and the journey is longer 
and more expensive in comparison with that in respect to 
the quail trials. They, however, come at a time when 
there is no other shooting, when the spirit is eager for 
sport after many months of enforced rest, and the sport is 
in itself more or less of a novelty to the shooters of the 
South and East. So long as it holds the interest of sports- 
men the chicken trial will be a success. 
In connection with the success of the chicken trial, it 
is proper to mention that a radical departure was made in 
the financial feature of it, the fee being $<i0 both in the 
Derby and All-Age Stake respectively, and the purse in 
each was $350. The same reduction or a similar one in 
the entry fees of the quail trials would have a eimila 
