March 30, 1895. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
245 
paying our respects to the quail, which were"and T are now, 
after the most unprecedented slaughter, and three' weeks 
of cold, the like of which no man in our section has'seen, 
more numerous than ever known, and we shot 'till '"tired, 
and followed by eating to satiety. As a specimeniof what 
we have left, will say that Dr. Taylor and friends flushed 
on the 26th. 35 coveys, averaging one dozen to the covey, 
bagging 54 to the two guns. Dr. Cooper and two friends 
on part of the same ground two days later found 25 
coveys in five hours, bagging 45. We were much alarmed 
for the quail during the cold spell, and in a very few in- 
stances heard of coveys frozen, and while hunting rab- 
bits, found a few very poor, but the weather moderating 
they, I think, pulled through. Other lesser birds suffered 
terribly, and in every hollow tree and sheltered place in 
the woods numbers could be found frozen, principally 
flickers, red birds (cardinals) and doves— the latter I fear 
totally dfstroyed as they were in 1876. In fact, I have 
not seen one in thrpe weeks, though hunting several 
times, and all my friends give the same report. 
That all-conquering little foreign devil, the English 
sparrow, has no casualties on his list, and in numbers 
come every morning to pick up the grain scattered on the 
cistern top for a mocker— a very Chevalier Bayard of the 
feathered tribe— who, with my assistance, dispersing the 
truly True Britons, repaid me with a skirt dance, per- 
formed to Ids own orchestra, and then, regardless of the 
cold, hied him to his home in the tree, as though to say, 
"I'll meet you early in the morning." 
On the 2i Lh, while trying a pointer pup, I heard a once 
familiar note, and following the direction in which he 
flew, soon brought to bag the first woodcock I have 
killed in two years, sent him to a sick lady who cannot 
eat qnail and the last news was that the bird had been 
served broiled at breakfast, eaten, enjoyed, and the 
patient was convalescent. 
Our next sport will be in April, and then our lakes, of 
which we have nearly twenty, covering from ten to fifty 
acres each, will we hope, be full of bream (I think you 
can call him sun fish) goggle eye (rock bass) white perch 
(croppie) and trout (black bass) channel cat, three other 
kinds of cat, buffalo, drum and others, and we do wish 
you could be with us and catch and eat a few of them. 
And now I shall close, with the kindest wishes of Dr. 
Taylor, Sevier Cooper and Messrs. Keichley, Mann, Moses, 
Chapman, in fact everyone you met here, and many 
thanks for the kind thing you said of our people and 
country, and the assurance that the latch string is 
where you saw it when in our midst. We w'il always 
try to keep the big trees and the place for the wild fowl 
to come, love America as if she were our bride, and look 
with jealous eyes upon the millionaire and his attendant 
army of tramps. Benjamin C. Miles. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
WHERE THE DUCKS WERE. 
Chicago, Ills., March 22.— Johnnie Buds worth writes 
me from Rockport, Tex. , under date of March 11 : 
"I have seen but very few. canvas backs and have not 
killed anv since our trip up to Hynes bay. Game is leav- 
ing fast, and there is not much shooting now. 
"The shores ofthe lay are lined with fish killed by the 
cold snap last month. I think that was the coldest 
weather I ever saw." 
Mr. Guessaz writes" from" San" Antonio on March 17th, 
"the ducks are all gone from here," 
WHERE THE DUCKS WENT. 
That is where the ducks were. That was last week. 
kt practically the same time, these birds were in the 
North as far up as the iCe would let tliem go. E. A. 
Turtle, Who killed forty ducks on the Kankakee, said 
he broke our a lot of loose ice and made a hole of open 
water, and the birds tried to get into this. 
Still more marked than on the Kankakee was the main 
flight up the Illinois River. At the Swan Lake club 
grounds and on the Senachwine waters adjacent, the 
ducks Were still more anxious to get into a little open 
water. There was in waiting for them a number of men 
who are in favor of spring shooting, who don't believe in 
it, but will shoot if the others do; who don't believe in 
large bags in the spring; who believe in killing all they 
can at any time; who will shoot in the spring but don't like 
to have it known. You see, there are several sorts of 
spring shooters, though nearly all of them classify under 
the head of these who hold the purely logical belief that if 
they don't kill a bird some one else is going to, right 
away. The main thing, of course, is to get that bird 
killed , somehow, as soon as possible. 
At Swan Lake, if I am given the figures correctly, over 
1,100 ducks, nearly all mallards and pintail, were killed 
by six guns in less than three days. The two Woods 
boys, keepers of the Swan Lake Club, with Charlie 
Lester, and one other gun, whose name I did not get, 
killed 190 ducks in one day. Mr. Paul Stone and Mr. 
Tom Parker, both of Chicago, are credited with 141 in 
one day. Mr. Stone is credited with 86 in half a day. Mr. 
Bangs and Walter Dupee are said to have bagged' 219 in 
one day. I am told that the two boats brought in 240 
in one day. 
This is where the birds went from Texas, where they 
have been hammered at all winter. We. of the North, 
have welcomed them with open arms to a bloody grave. 
It would be easy to criticize the above mentioned gen- 
tlemen, and to say harsh things of those who shoot in the 
spring, and of those who like to make extraordinary 
bags. I wish to make no criticism and to saylno harsh 
word. I only wish to have the figures correctly stated, 
and if they are not correct, I hope we shall receive the 
correction. It is perhaps fol'}' to urge the folly of spring 
shooting to those who like to shoot in the spring. The 
facts are well known to-day among readers of the sport- 
ing press. All I wish to say on the above is to ask two 
questions. Are these gentlemen quite sure that all these 
great birds, mallards and great ducks, ever reached a 
disposition such as a sportsman would wish? Were none 
of those killed on Swan Lake club grounds marketed? 
And are these gentlemen quite sure, after all, that if they 
had the chance to do all that shooting over again, tbev 
would want to do it? 
WHERE THE DUCKS ARE GOING. 
This is where the ducks were, and where they went. 
Now, where are the ducks going? I leave that for the 
gentleman to answer who like such shooting as I have 
tried to *chronicle. ,;: baldly""anfl^truthfully. above. ' 7 In- 
ferences'and'comment on tbe'destination of^the^ducks for 
the future' I leave to'others.^ - - ~ s- — - --- 7,-s- 
"' WHERE SOME OTHER GAME^WAS^ONCE.^^^^ 
F Mr. Fred Taylor, one! of the 'best posted men r inthe 
country on the game of the Indian nations, in which 
region he has long followed the cattle business, told me 
to-day that his annual hunt to the Nations this winter 
was a failure. He says that he went all over the best of 
the game country, clear up between the two Canadians, 
and travelled over a hundred miles around him in every 
direction, yet the country where he once found all the 
deer and turkeys he could ask he found had hardly a 
track. He says the whole region is shot out, and he was 
rather mournful as he said this, too. At the Sheridan 
Roost, where Gen. Phil. Sheridan once used to load an 
ambulance with wild turkeys whenever he felt like it, 
there is no longer a feather of a turkey. Mr. Taylor says 
all this has happened within two or three years. It was 
a great game country until recently, and to get into the 
Indian Territory was long held an equivalent for wagon 
loads of deer, turkey and chickens. Mr. Taylor says that 
even tne cnickens were gone wiiere he once used to see so 
many of tnem. His report was rather gloomy. 
WHERE THE GAME WENT. 
A. gentleman engaged in business on Soutn Water 
street, in this city, told me that for two years after the 
opening of the Oklahoma country the Chicago market 
was flooded with deer, turkey, chickens and quail from 
the Indian Nations and Oklahoma. "We do not get 
very much from there now," he added. ' 
THE PHEASANTS IN TEXAS. 
Mr. H. E. Ambold, of Waco, Texas, to whom I wrote 
for information in regard to the experiment of raising 
Mongolian pheasants at that place, replies; "We are do- 
ing everything possible to make a success of it. As yet, 
we have no birds to speak of, but we hope in a short time 
to have things in shape to take care of a great many." 
Perhaps the experience of Mr. Howard Bosworth, of Mil- 
waukee, Wis. , would be of use to the Texas gentlemen. 
HORICON CLUBS WIN AGAIN. ^ 
Diana club, of the Horicon marsh, won a closely 
fought trespass case to-day. The Questions of title, navi- 
gability of stream crossing the club property, etc., all 
came up. and the result is a Mctory of great value to the 
club. The club lawyers were all ready to go to the Su- 
preme court if they lost this case, but almost to their sur- 
prise, for it was a jury case they won. Three other small 
cases iu the justice courts were won yesterday, in regard 
to which a Milwaukee paper (the Evening Wisconsin) 
has the following: 
"Horicon. Wis.. March 21.— The first cases tried under 
the game law of 1893, prohibiting the hunting of fur- 
bearing animals on the lands of another engaged in the 
raising of such animals, was tried before Justice J. E, 
Sawyer yesterday. The complaint was made by officers 
of the Diana Shooting Club, which holds the famous 
Horicon marsh under lea°es. Three cases were tried, the 
defendants being Max Meiske, Ernest Schriber and Wil- 
liam Molchow. J. E. Malone, of Juneau, prosecuted the 
cases and the defendants pleaded their own cases. The 
defendants were found guilty and were each fined S3 and 
costs, or thirty days in jail at Juneau. Meiske apjjealed 
his case to the circuit court, but the others were conveyed 
to jail by Deputy Sheriff Charles Ward. 
The claim is made by the hunting club that by killing 
the musk-rats it is noticed that the beat duck hunting is 
destroyed, as the small lakes grow up to vegetation, 
while "if the rats are unmolested they keep the small 
ponds and la,kes clear of vegetation, making fine resorts 
for the mallards." 
SOME WOOD BUFFALO. 
The "Winnipeg Commercial" of late date has the fol- 
lowing interesting brief note in regard to the buffalo of 
the great North country, supposed to be practically ex- 
tinct: 
"Roland Spcord. trader, arrived last week in Winnipeg 
on his way to Montreal, with a stock of wood buffalo 
skins, having come all the way from the Great Slave 
Lake, a thousand miles north of Edmonton." 
Distances are great in that country. But I wish Roland 
Secord, trader, would tell us something about how he 
gets those skins and where. 
THE SALE OF GAME IDEA. 
Pennsylvania has this month stopped the hunting or 
pursuing of grouse for the purposes of sale. North Da- 
kota has forbidden the export of game from the State for 
sale or other purpose. And there are others. The Forest' 
and Stream idea on these matters seems to be growing in 
a suspiciously rapid fashion. 
PURELY PERSONAL 
Eddie Bingham, of Montgomery, Ward & Co's gun 
department, wilely knotvn among the shooters of the 
country, and prominent among the Chicago guild, is no 
longer the Eddie Bingham that he was. Last week he 
was married, and he is a luckier and better Eddie Bing- 
ham than he was, 
Charlie Willard, of the Colts Co., was last week held up 
by foot pads and very badly iojured in the struggle that 
ensued. He was going home late at night, and carelessly 
passing between two men on the sidewalk — which the 
Chicago man does not do late at night — he was seized by 
one of the men, who threw an arm around his neck and 
held him while the other struck him a number of heavy 
blows in the face and over the head with what he sup- 
posed to have been a sand bag. Mr. Willard was badly 
hurt and much disfigured. The robbers got very little, 
for they were frightened away by passers-by before they 
had gone through their victim's pockets. Mr. Willard 
saved his watch, but he got a dangerous beating and in 
a dangerous way. I imagine he would have been glad 
to be loose for two seconds with one handful of a good 
Colt six-shooter. 
Mr. Fred. Quimby, of the Empire Target, New York 
City, was here during the week past. Mr. S. A. Tucker, 
of the Parker Gun, told me he was to be out on his coast 
trip by this time. Mr. Ben. Bush, of Kalamazoo, where 
the celery comes from, has recently visited Chicago in 
the interest of his electric trap pull. 
Mr. W. Trilby Mussey (we p all him that because he has 
had himself photographed with his feet in the picture, a 
sort of full dress altogether) volunteers to me the in- 
teresting shooting note that one of his colored boys at the 
billiard hall had been to South Chicago and had shot the 
eagle bird. I'hadrnot heard'ofXany^eaglelbird'being'seen 
in these^ parts 7 of 'late. - 
THE STORY OF A LETTER. 
This morning I received a letter with the post mark of 
Brackettville, Texas. Jan. 21. It was directed to me in 
care of the New York World, New York City. It was in 
what is technically known as bad order. It was en- 
dorsed "Not here," and "Not found" in about seven 
different hand writings. In the lower corner was "112 
W. 104 St." On the back of it was endorsed "Opened 
by mistake by Dr. N. S. Hough." (I don't know who he 
is, but he must be a nice man) . Then the letter was shut 
together by a strip of official IJ. S. court plaster. In all 
it shows twelve different post office stamps on it, all of 
which I do not doubt mean something or other. Evi- 
dently this letter had had a hard time. But now note 
the excellence of the postal service, and also note the ex- 
cellence of Forest and Stream. This morning when I got 
my much travelled letter, it had in it the following note 
from the Inquiry Department of the New York Post 
Office: "(N. Y. 107 I. Ed. 4—20,000.) New York Post 
Office, N. Y. Inquiry Department for Missing and Dead 
Letters. March 20, 1895, E. Hough, Esq., My dear sir: 
Enclosed appears to be for you. Yours in F. and S., J. 
Gayler." * 
I do not, just at this moment, place in my memory the 
gentleman who is so good as to write me the above note, 
and if we have met I beg his pardon for my remissness in 
this. But I thank him very sincerly for getting this let- 
ter to me, and I thank him for the expression "Yours in 
F. and S. So it took F. and S. to find the consignee after 
all. 
As to the letter itself, it has a certain interest, and I 
give it. 
Fort Clark, January 25, 1895. E. Hough, Dear Sir: I 
saw in a late number of the N. Y. "World" your article 
on the winter excursion in the National Park on the Yel- 
lowstone, and your successful attempt to photograph the 
remnant of the buffalo. I wish to obtain a few specimens 
of your work, supposing it may be your intention to give 
the public the benefit of it, and will kindly put me in the 
way to do so. If otherwise, I beg you to put aside the 
request of an old buffalo hunter who has no claims on a 
stranger for special courtesies. H. S. Kilbourne, 
Major and Surgeon, TJ. S. A. 
It is a further feature of this mysterious letter that the 
signature is a trifle blind, so that I am not sure that 
Major Kilbourne is Maj. Kilbourne or somebody else. In 
any event. I trust I shall reach him more easily than he 
did me. Of course I put my unknown inquirer in pos- 
session of the fact that the Forest and Stream story of 
the Yellowstone trip was the one he really wanted to 
read, and I imagine that since he is an army man and an 
old buffalo hunter, he will about wind up by becoming a 
Forest and Stream man for the rest of his natural life, 
and before long will be signing himself, "Yours in Forest 
and Stream." Of course, anything Forest and Stream 
can do for Maj. Kilbourne. (if this is Major Kilbourne) 
will be done promptly and gladly, and thanks to the friend 
of Forest and Stream in the N. Y. Post Office, the mail 
route now will be a trifle less grapeviney. E. Hough. 
909 Security Building, Chicago, 111. 
LAW-BREAKING IN NORTH CARO- 
LINA. 
Poplar Branch, Currituck Co., N. C, March 7.— Edi- 
tor Forest and Stream: A curious state of things has for 
some time prevailed on this coast, which calls for atten- 
tion by the authorities, as it threatens human life,, and 
has already caused more than one assaul t with intent to 
kill, and many violations of the statutes for the protec- 
tion of game. For a long time night shooting for wild 
fowl— which is prohibited by law— has been constantly 
practiced in the waters of Currituck and adjacent sounds, 
marches belonging to various owners have been in- 
vaded and much damage done, and, in at least two cases, 
watchmen employed by one of the shooting clubs have 
been shot at. 
As is well known, the extensive marshes of this and ad- 
joining counties have largely passed into the hands of 
clubs of northern sportsmen. These clubs protect their 
property— which is useful for only gunning— from 
poachers by watchmen who during the shooting season 
live on the marshes, patrolling them in boats -the only 
means of getting about. Much of the feeding grounds 
for geese, ducks and swans consists of coves, creeks, and 
ponds which are thus pretty well guarded, but for the 
open waters there is no protection, either by day or night, 
for neither State nor county provides officials to enforce 
the game laws. 
In this community there are a number of worthless char- 
acters, who pay no regard to the laws, and who shoot by 
day or night on the property of other people, whenever 
they deem it safe to do so. The clubs of this county 
have been greatly troubled by these "marsh rats"— as 
they are called here— and there has by some clubs been a 
disposition to deal leniently with them, in the hope that 
good treatment would make them ashamed of them- 
selves and induce them to abandon their evil ways. But 
mild measures were wasted on these fellows, and they 
have become bolder and bolder so that at last they have 
come to act as if thev were the owners of the marshes. 
At the Swan Island Club they at length became so ag- 
gressive that the superintendent, seeing that something 
must be done, took to sitting up nights with a rifle, and 
whenever he saw the flash of a night-shooter's gun he 
would fire a rifle shot at the light. The singing of these 
rifle balls did not prove agreeable music to the poachers, 
and they soon deserted the Swan Island marshes. 
The Carrituck Club has also had its burdens to bear. 
"Marsh rats" shot on their property until the force of 
watchmen was doubled, and then not daring to con- 
tinue to shoot, they broke the locks and carried off the 
chains of the ditch gates, and generally made themselves 
as obnoxious as possible. 
Until this year the Narrow's Island Club has not been 
greatly annoyed by these depredators but its turn came 
at last. During the past season two of the watchmen 
were shot at and one was chased about the island he was 
on with blood curdling threats of what his fate would 
be if caught. The result of this was that the Narrow's 
Island Club offered, in one case, a Teward of $200, and in 
