Oct. 20, 18&4.J 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
339 
PNEUMATIC BOATS. 
A schoolboy once got zero in his reading lesson for 
accidentally transposing the words gun boats and gum 
boots, thereby making a sentence in the history of the 
Civil War read: "Admiral Porter ascended the Mississippi 
in his gum boots." His rendition would not have seemed 
so ridiculous to any one. who had seen the Layman pneu- 
matic sporting boat, which is really a pair of wading 
boots with inflated tops. With these "gum boots" Ad- 
miral Porter could easily have ascended the Mississippi 
and been just as dry as in his gun boats. 
The Layman boat, as it is called, is now on exhibition 
in the window of a Broadway store in New York. 
It is a combination of hip wading boots with a top at- 
tachment, which, when inflated, resembles a large life- 
preserver. When not inflated this upper part may be worn 
like a vest, the weight resting on tne shoulders, and so 
worn would scarcely attract more attention than a vest. 
Few observers seeing a sportsman thus equipped would 
suspect that he carried with him the means of crossing 
the deepest rivers dryshod, or of navigating any waters 
suitable for a small boat. The boat attachment is inflated 
fither by means of a small pump or simply by the mouth. 
It contains four airtight compartments, which of course 
are inflated separately. This insures safety in case of an 
accident. It is asserted that any one of the four com- 
partments would easily sustain the weight of a man, even 
if the other three were punctured. The boat in the water 
draws about 3£f t. , and is perhaps 3ft. long by about 2ft. 
broad. It will easily carry two men, and its inventor 
has taken two or three children with him on short trips. 
SWATHE pneumatic'boats. -*"* 
The advantage of this at first glance apparently superflu- 
ous buoyancy is the great stability gained. It enables the 
heaviest ducking charges to be fired from the boat with- 
out the slightest danger of capsize, and it also enables its 
owner to carry with him a heavy load of game, guns and 
ammunition. 
The boat is propelled by the feet of the occupant. The 
boots are provided with flaps that open when pressed 
backward and close when brought forward for a new 
stroke. The inventor says that the motion is a little tire- 
some at first, but that one soon becomes accustomed to it 
and then it is as easy as walking. 
The boat is provided with a small and inconspicuous 
rudder, which is really a most important adjunct. It is 
not intended to steer the boat, as the word is generally 
understood, and it is not provided with a tiller or hand 
lines. In fact, it is stationary. Its purpose is to keep the 
boat pointed in one direction, as it naturally steers all too 
easily by the feet. Without tins rudder the boat would 
be more apt to turn in a circle than go ahead. 
The circumference of the boat is provided with rings, 
loops and small sockets, which serve a number of pur- 
poses, from towing strings of live fish to erecting a duck 
blind. A storm cape, which fits snugly about the top of 
the boat, is provided for rainy weather. This would also 
be useful when the boat was tried in very rough water. 
That the boat is thoroughly practical is proved by a 
number of tests made by the inventor and also by others. 
A prominent sportsman of Little Rock, Ark. , spent sev- 
eral hours one day in futile efforts to capsize the boat. 
The most he could do was to fill his boots with water. 
The boat remained as buoyant and stable as ever. The 
other day the inventor walked dryshod across the harbor 
of Bristol, R. I. This is open water, 1J miles across, ex- 
posed to quite a sweep of wind, and was rough the day 
the experiment was made. Nevertheless, no water was 
shipped, and the trip was made in forty minutes. 
The weights of the boats vary, from a maximum of 
201bs. to a minimum that only adds 4lbs. to the weight of 
the boots. 
They will prove an addition of great importance to the 
equipment of duck hunters and sportsmen in general who 
wish to visit overflowed lands or bodies of water that for 
various reasons are barred to ordinary boats, and they will 
add one more link to the chain of causes that is lessening 
our game supply, inasmuch' as they will render heretofore 
inaccessible fastnesses open to assault. 
J. B . BURNHAM. 
President Cleveland's Deer. 
Lynn, Oct. 13.— Editor Forest and Stream: Inclosed 
please find chipping from the Lynn Daily Item of Oct. 10: 
The President and party, including ex-Gov. Russell, Private Secre 
tary Thurber, E. C. Benedict and H. W. Gilder, bad an exceedingly 
rough passage from Naushon to Woods Holl, Wednesday, in steam 
launch Coyell, owned by Com. Forbes. No one expected them to 
cross in the face of such a storm. * * * The party had good suc- 
cess deer hunting, Tuesday, at Naushon, and brought home some 
specimens. 
I should like to inquire if there is not a law against 
ki l lin g deer at all seasons in this State. I understand that 
Commodore Forbes owns the island of Naushon and has 
stocked it with deer. Does the law allow that if a man 
does own the deer he can kill them in Massachusetts at 
any time! 1 A. L. N. 
[The Massachusetts law forbids killing deer in the 
counties of Plymouth and Barnstable; elsewhere they are 
unprotected. Naushon is in Dukes county.] 
THE ST. MARY'S LAKE COUNTRY. 
Blackpoot Agency, Mont., Sept. 28.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: I had intended to write you a detailed 
account of my trip to St. Mary's, but finding my time too 
fully occupied, gave up the idea. From Sept. 1 I spent 
two weekB there with H. R. Norris as guide. I killed one 
ram and two goats, and a great many grouse and ducks. 
While skinning my sheep, a ewe and lamb came up 
within 50yds. of me, apparently as much interested in me 
as I was in them. After watching us curiously for a 
snort time they leisurely went up the rocks and out of 
sight. 
The goats I killed on Mount Going-to-the-Sun. 
From pur camp at the head of Munroe's Basin I explored 
Going-to-the-Sun and the basin on its western and north- 
ern sides. I found this basin to contain quite a good-sized 
stream, which is the north fork of the main North Fork 
of the St. Mary's. It contains a series of waterfalls of 
rare beauty, the highest of which is probably 150 to 200ft. 
in height. From Going-to-the-Sun we had a magnificent 
view of the country west and southwest. The Gun Sight 
Pass (named by you) was shown me by Mr. Norris. We 
saw no bear, though found signs quite plentiful. 
The weather was very good, with the exception of one 
storm of wind and snow, in which I lost my hat, getting 
back to camp with a towel on my head, and so raising 
visions of falls and injuries galore in the minds of our 
people in camp, 
Fish were rising only sparingly to the fly, but we were 
enabled to keep our table well supplied, my wife being 
especially proud of a speckled beauty weighing 3£lbs. 
which she hooked and landed. 
At the discharge of the upper lake I had the pleasure 
of meeting Mr. Stimpson and wife, who intend making 
quite a stay in that country. He is the kind of a sports- 
man that makes better sportsmen of all he meets. 
George S. Martin. 
Plenty of Bears. 
Bethel, Me., Oct. 8. — Bears have never been known so 
plentiful in the fall of the year in the vicinity of the 
Rangeley Lakes as this autumn. There have been over 
fifty bears killed on the border of the forests in Oxford 
and Franklin counties in the last four weeks, and not a 
day passes without some being trapped or shot. It is 
thought that lack of beech nuts and berries in the woods 
has caused them to seek food in the open country. They 
commenced depredations in the farmers' cornfields and 
continued it in the orchards and sheep pastures. Twenty- 
five bears have already been killed in the towns of Byron 
and Mexico alone since the first of September. And in 
Bethel and Newry upward of twenty more. If any one is 
3poiiing for a scrimmage with bruin he can be accommo- 
dated by watching on some of these moonshiny nights in 
any of our back orchards. 
Last week Perley Parker, a 12-year-old boy of Bethel, 
shot a bear in an apple tree in the orchard of Howard 
Chapman with a partridge charge in a $3 muzzleloader. 
Gray squirrels are also unusually abundant. 
J. G. Rich. 
If Rabbits Could Fly. 
Boston, Oct. 11.— Editor Forest and Stream: I tramped 
all day through the woods of East Walpole in search of 
ruffea grouse, but never could get within speaking dis- 
tance of him, he is such a bashful fellow. I could just 
get a view of his tail as he would rise on soaring pinions 
and sail away over the treetops. 
I got three simple-minded and confiding rabbits and 
one gray squirrel. If the rabbits could fly 1 would not be 
recording their capture. I found the squirrels very wild 
and only to be captured by still-hunting. 
I noticed a bluebird among a flock of sparrows; they 
did not desire his.company judging by the way in which 
they would pounce upon him. j- 
One meets the cheery little chickadee everywhere." Go 
to the woods when snow hides the earth and you will see 
his little black head bobbing up serenely. Jay Pee. 
Game in the Rainy Lake Country. 
West Duluth, Minn., Oct. 12.— Lots of ducks with us 
now, and grouse and partridge shooting is very good. 
My last trip through the woods showed an abundance of 
deer, and upon a recent trip by canoe into the Rainy 
Lake country we saw many moose and caribou in the 
streams, often approaching within lOOf t. of them, and pro- 
bably had the finest chance that will ever occur for 
securing pictures of this noble game, but unfortunately 
did not take a camera with me. Shall do so on my next 
trip. Rail and shore birds have been unusually plentiful 
this fall. E. J. L. 
Virginia Quail and Ducks. 
Virginia Beach, Va., Oct. 9.— We commence to shoot 
quail on the 15th. The country is fairly alive with birds; 
some of the quail have hatched three times. Sportsmen 
will find good accommodations here and plenty of sport. 
It costs $5 per day for team, guide, etc., etc. The duck 
season opens the 20th inst. Already large numbers of 
ducks and geese are seen going over at evening. 
E. L. G 
Three Thousand Replies. 
Southern Railway, New York, Oct. 11.— Forest and Stream Pub. 
Co. — Gentlemen: Several issues ago you put a notice in your paper 
calling attention to a book called "Art of Wing Shooting." This notice 
has poured into our office about 3,000 applications for copies of 
this book. We have exhausted the supply we had on hand and have 
written to Washington for additional supply. Will you kindly make 
mention of this fact in your next issue, and should we not receive the 
books will return the stamps sent to us. I was not aware before* 
that your paper had such an extensive circulation, as we are getting 
letters from all parts of the United States and Canada. 
Ales. S. Thwkatt, Eastern Passenger Agent Southern R'y Co. 
Chickens, Ducks and Geese 
are going to be very plentiful along the line of the Northern Pacific 
this season. Make your arrangements to go and get some of them. 
Send Charles S. Fee, General Passenger Agent, St. Paul, Minn., 4- 
oents in stamps for "Natural Game Preserves of the Northwest."— Adv.. 
An error appeared in the advertisement of the Layman Pneumatic: 
Sporting Boat in the last issue of Forest and Stream, whereby the- 
price of the plain boat was quoted at $25, and the boy's boat at $20, 
The correct prices are, respectively, $36.50 and $22. 
OKOBOJl IN SEPTEMBER. 
Blair, Neb., Sept. 20.— Ever since 1 can rememberl have 
heard of the great sport attending bass fishing in Septem- 
ber, and each year 1 have promised myself that I would 
experience that pleasure or know the reason why; but 
somehow when the cool nights and mornings of tnat 
month arrive and news comes that chickens are ripe for 
picking, my piscatorial sporting blood thins very rapidly, 
and I — well, I don't go fishing. In the spring, when the 
opportunity presents itself, no one is a more devoted dt- 
sciple of izaak Walton than I; no hour is too early to 
rise and no one more reluctant to reel up at night; but 
nevertheless Sept. 1 always finds my rods and tackle 
packed away for the year, and I am busy oiling up my 
gun and loading shells for the fall campaign. 
This spring, during our camping trip at Okobo}i, my 
friend George and I had several conversations on the 
subject, both agreeing that it would be a good idea 
to try it, so I was not very much surprised a couple of 
weeks ago at the receipt of a letter from George request- 
ing me to pack up my traps and join him in an effort "to 
get some of those bass things." Accordingly I was ready 
when the train bearing himself and wife arrived from St. 
Paul, and together with my wife, joined him for Oko- 
boji. 
The afternoon of that day found our little party of four 
disconsolately gathered on the lake shore watching the 
waves pound tne landing stage to pieces, and it didn't 
take us long to make up our minds that we would have 
no fishing that day, for no boat would have floated many 
minutes in the heavy sea. Wending our way back to the 
hotel in an unpleasant frame of mind, we met a gentle- 
man just returning with a dozen tempting looking jack- 
snipe, which he claimed to have shot on the shores of the 
Gar chain of lakes. He averred that he had only seen 
fourteen; but George and I thought he did not look bike a 
man who would kill everything in sight, so we concluded 
to just look around a little ourselves. Hastily donning 
shooting coats and boots we started forth with visions of 
full game pockets. We walked and walked, and then 
walked some more; but no jacks could we find, and at 
length having made the circuit of the lakes — some ten 
or twelve miles, we concluded that hereafter we would 
not rashly doubt a brother sportsman's statement; and 
voted ourselves a couple of chumps. We saw a few ducks, 
but with the exception of three they were entirely out of 
reach. Of these we did manage to pull a couple down 
out of the clouds; mine being a male woodduck that in- 
creased my respect for the far reaching powers of my new 
gun. 
The second day dawned with every promise of fine 
sport and we started early and fished long, the wind, 
however, soon died completely away, leaving the lake as 
still and glassy as a mill pond, and though we all worked 
diligently the results for the day were only a couple of 
fair sized bass, half a dozen pickerel and four ducks 
shot by my wife. 
The third day we started for a bed of marshes in East 
Okoboji, a long pull from home, but reached there only 
to finu the^wind rising so rapidly that our ability to hold 
the boats against it soon ceased and we reluctantly turned 
back. 
After a hard pull of three miles against the wind we 
reached the opening to the Gar lakes and started in. It 
was bad enough in the spring; but hard as our progress 
then was, it was no circumstance to the present time, 
the lakes are at least lift, lower than in June, and the 
weeds in First Gar Lake resembled an unmown meadow,, 
the channel did not have Gin. of water in it, but made up 
for the lack of water with a couple of feet of sticky mud. 
Landing our passengers and sending them around the 
shore we managed to drag the boats ttirough. After all 
our exertions, nowever, Middle Gar Lake, our objective 
point, proved as windswept as the larger lake and our 
labor was for naught. George did manage to land two 
good sized bass, .but the others of us had not even a 
strike. 
Coming back through the weeds I missed the only good 
thing of the trip — a flock of eighteen blue -winged teal 
almost knocked my hat off. My gun, of course, was not 
in reach, and before I could get my hands on it they 
were half a mile away. They probably realiz d my harm- 
less condition for they passed within twenty-five yards of 
me and not five yards high. 
The fourth and last day was but a repetition of the 
others — a regular gale blowing all the while, no fishing 
possible and ducks too scarce to bother with. We held a 
council of war which resulted in our starting for home 
that night, thoroughly dissatisfied with our first fall fish- 
ing trip. The only gleam of sunshine was the discovery 
of a couple of ideal duck passes that we may try when 
the fall flight begins. W. 14. H. 
Some Good Surf Fishing. 
MORRISTOWN, N. J., Oct. 12. — It is with much interest 
that I occasionally read of fine fresh-water fishing in 
Forest and Stream, and thinking that your readers 
might also like to hear of some salt-water work with rod 
and reel that was good enough to suit the most ardent 
surf angler, our friends Guild and Hulit not excepted, I 
append the following as the result of four partial days, 
being of about five hours each, by four rods: 
First day — 150 croakers, sea trout and kingfish. 
Second day — 70 bluefish, averaging lOlbs. each; 12 red 
drum averaging 201bs. each. 
Third day — 6 blues, averaging 31bs. each. 
Fourth day — 2 blues, averaging 21bs. each; 40 sea trout, 
croakers and kingfish; 39 red drum, averaging 201bs. 
each. 
Then two rods landed the following, fishing one tide 
each day: 
First day — 5 red drum, averaging 12ibs.' each; 12 croak- 
ers and sea trout. 
Second day — 44 red drum, averaging over 201bs. each, 
the largest of which fell by good luck to the rod of the 
writer and weighed 571bs. This, I believe, has never 
been equalled with rod and reel, standing on the beach 
and casting in the surf; one rod taking 24 and the other 20. 
Third day — 16 red drum, averaging 151bs. each; 2 blues, 
averaging 51bs. each. 
Fourth day — 9 red drum, averaging 151bs. each, and 
not one of these fish was wasted. Bio Reel. 
