Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Tkbms, |4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Gopv, 
Bix Months, SS. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1896. 
i VOL. XLVIL-No. 4. 
! No. 346 Bboadwat, Nkw York. 
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SNAP SHOTS. 
A correspondent who writes of the opportunities of 
southeastern Texas says, '"Tbe feat of two or three per- 
sons going out and killing all the way from 200 to 600 
ducks in two or three days is not at all uncommon.' 
The statistics are somewhat vague, but indicate that the 
man who goes to Texas for ducks must "hie" with rapid- 
ity if he is to get there before these 200 to 600 ducks a 
day fellows shall have cleaned out the supply. 
Rarely if ever have we chronicled a more pathetic in- 
stance of the somber side of forest and stream incident 
than that which is told this week of the death of ex-Gov. 
William E. Russell in the salmon fishing lodge of Little 
Pabos in the Canadian wilderness. This is the tragedy of 
field sports. It might be thought perhaps that the homely 
ways of camp life on a fishing river were too trivial for 
account when we come to the final summing up of the 
character of one who has stood in the light of national 
prominence; and yet the initiated well know that in the 
searching conditions of the camp is found a touchstone 
which proves the real man and reveals him as he is. No 
slight tribute then is that which Mr. Ruasell's angling 
companions bring to his memory when they bear testi- 
mony that in the Canadian wilderness, in the lodge on 
the Little Pabos, he was the same winning personality, 
considerate companion and high-thinking man known to 
his fellows and honored in public life. 
Mr. Avis, who writes of the delights of a dwelling in the 
country for the sportsman, may not lure many converts 
into giving up their town life; but his paper is interesting 
as a new contribution to the discussion which has been 
going on for thousands of years. The charms of the 
country compared with those of the town make up a part 
of the literature which has come down to us from Greece 
and Rome; and the writers of those ancient times dis- 
coursed for all the world as, do those of to-day on the 
delights of rural life. For all that may be said, however, 
in behalf of the country, human society is steadily trend- 
ing toward the town and mankind is gathering into cities; 
each successive census demonstrates this fact, 
The European starling has gained such a foothold in 
this country that it may reasonably be regarded as one 
of the birds which ultimately must be reckoned with as 
affecting agriculture. The place of the starling as a 
friend or an enemy of the farmer has been the subject of 
protracted discussion in Great Britain ; and very recently 
an exhaustive series of investigations has been conducted 
in the county of Fife, Scotland, to determine the food 
habits of wood pigeons, rooks and starlings. The inquiry 
extended through one year, a certain number of birds 
being^ killed each month and their crops ftiid gizzards 
examined. The results, it is stated in the report, of the 
Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of 
Scotland, showed conclusively that "the wood pigeon is 
an enemy of the farmer," and that "the rook has almost 
no claim to agricultural regard." On the other hand, the 
starling was shown to be a useful ally of the farmer. 
Three-fourths of its food is insect, and of the insects con- 
sumed those which are injurious to agriculture prepon- 
derate. "There can be little hesitation regarding the 
starling," concludes the report. "He is a bird rather to 
be fostered than destroyed; he is a benefactor rather than 
a foe to the farmer. Of the pigeon, it may be said that 
he is an unmitigated scoundrel; of the rook, that he is a 
cunning rogue; but of the starling we can say with truth 
that he is our natural friend, by habit and by insticct," 
In his angling sketch to day Mr. Mather exhorts fathers 
who shoot only legitimate game not to give their sons 
guns until the boys shall be old enough to discriminate 
between game shooting and reckless slaughter. The im- 
plication is that boys do wanton killing, while the grown- 
up gunners confine themselves to game. But this is true 
only in part. There are two distinct classes of gunners: 
one is of those who shoot game and game alone, and it is 
in number a very respectable proportion of the great 
army of shoDbers; the other class is of those who having 
a gun in hand kill everything within range. A some- 
what extended observation induces a belief that the indis- 
criminate gunners outnumber those who shoot only at 
recognized game. The youth or the age of the individual 
is not always a factor, for of the spirit of wanton de- 
structiveness maturity brings no abatement; with respect 
to shooting some men never reach the age of discretion, 
nor would they attain to it though they outlived the 
Seven Sleepers, They begin wrong, and go wrong all 
their lives. Their ways are ways of wantonness. They 
are side-hunts embodied in individual guise. And there 
is no excuse nor palliation of their offending. Though 
they call themselves sportsmen, the manly sportsman's 
spirit is not in them. 
THE LESSONS OF THE FIFTEEN-FOOT CLASS. 
The fact is generally recognized among thinking yachts- 
men that the vast sums of money expended in modern 
racing bring back very small returns in the form of use- 
ful knowledge; on the other hand, the return is usually in 
inverse ratio to the size and cost of the boats. The build- 
ing of new yachti for a class involves two issues: that of 
mere sport and that of a scientific experiment of the high- 
est order. Opinions may differ as to which of the two is 
of the greater value, but many will agree with us in the 
belief that every contest of an international nature should 
teach some technical lessons. 
In this respect the two great contests of 1893 and 1895 
were singularly useless; they gave few positive or valuable 
results, and can be set down only as expensive but incom- 
plete experiments. Accepting the popular verdict that 
Vigilant was really much faster than Valkyrie II., and 
Defender than Valkyrie III,, who yet knows how either 
Valkyrie would stand with Britannia if raced in the same 
form, how one would compare with the other, how much 
closer to Defender Valkyrie III. could be brought by con- 
tinued racing, or how much of Defender's speed is due to 
model and how much to a lighter construction than 
Vigilant? 
Compared with all recent contests in the larger classes, 
the race of the pigmies stands forth as marked by all 
that appeals solely to the sportsman, a hard fought battle 
between the pick of two fleets, victor and vanquished 
coming out with equal glory; and to the student of yacht- 
ing the whole contest of the two years is still more deeply 
interesting. Accepting the fifteen-footers as pure racing 
machines, and from their very small size and peculiar 
conditions having little bearing on the advancement of 
the science of naval architecture, or the production of 
cruising yachts or ninety-foot racing machines, at the 
same time it is most gratifying to note the thorough tests 
of types, models and rigs, and the development of new 
principles in design. Of the value of these principles in 
designing at large in aU classes it is too soon yet to speak, 
but there can be no question that the fifteen-foot class in 
the first year of its existence has come nearer to an exact 
experiment than any class, large or small, of the past five 
years. Our earnest hope is that this same general and 
thorough test of a number of boats may by degrees be 
come possible in much larger classes. 
THE BISE OF THE GAME PRESERVE SYSTEM. 
We Americans are just waking up to the fact that it is 
possible to exterminate our other game animals as the 
buffalo has been exterminated, and the extensive growth 
of game parks which the last decade has seen is one result 
of this awakening. Experience has demonstrated that 
even in the wildest portions of the West there is no hope 
for the big game except by the enactment of the strictest 
gam^ laws, and to-day a reflex wave has set in, and many 
of the older sections, on account of their more effective 
system of protection, furnish better hunting and boast of 
more game than do the less accessible regions, which till 
recently were the best game sections of the country. 
Never again will sportsmen hunt on free lands, as they 
did in the days when they could travel for weeks at a 
time without meeting other hunting parties. To-day 
hunters everywhere jostle and elbow each other, and 
there are no regions where the game is free from pursuit; 
no areas which, on account of their distance from settle- 
ment or their inaccessibility, furnish a natural haven for 
the remnant. 
This condition of affairs is perhaps not due so much to 
the circumscription of the wild areas as to the increase in 
the number of hunters, and the better facilities afforded 
them for reaching the game countries. There are still 
vast areas in the United States which will never be per- 
manently cleared or cultivated or occupied by the forces 
of civilization. The value of these wild lands in many 
cases has not increased in recent years, and, stripped of 
their merchantable timber, they can be bought very 
cheaply. They are as perfectly adapted for game propa- 
gation as ever, and aU that is needed to make them good 
hunting grounds is to restrict the hunting to a point 
where it will not be in excess of the natural increase. 
Under such conditions the growth of the preserve system 
is inevitable, for rich sportsmen take this means of assur- 
ing themselves the success they can no longer count upon 
where the land is free. 
More than a year ago we pointed out that the private 
preserves in the Adirondack section of New York occu- 
pied a greater area than the State of Rhode Island. The 
preserve system in this State is constantly growing, and 
is being imitated in almost every State in the Union. So 
much for cause and effect. 
Those who have followed our third annual report upon 
American game parks will have noticed that the game 
preserves naturally classify themselves into those that are 
fenced and those that are not. As a general rule, the 
fenced preserves are found in neighborhoods where the 
game has been exterminated, and the other class in local- 
ities where the causes which lead to extermination have 
made themselves apparent. The fenced preserves are 
notable for their experiments in stocking with exotic 
game, and as a rule their breeding animals are secured 
from outside sources. Such parks are reaUy only in 
their infancy, for very little attention has been paid to 
economic conditions, and few if any have passed the 
experimental stage. 
The unfenced preserves are naturally more numerous, 
and in most cases occupy a greater extent of territory. 
In many Cnses these preserves have conferred a direct 
benefit upon sportsmen in general, for they have fostered 
the game supply and protected it from indiscriminate 
hunting on certain tracts, greatly to the benefit of the 
supply in the adjoining territory. 
As an example, hundreds of sportsmen of the class that 
cannot afford to go long distances for their game will 
enjoy deer hunting this fall on Long Island, forty-five miles 
from New York city, solely as a result of the protection 
afforded the deer by the preserves of the South Side 
Sportsmen's Club and others. These deer would have all 
been killed off years ago were it not for the asylum pro- 
vided by the preserved lands where hunting has either 
been limited or prohibited altogether; but as it is, there is 
a promise of hunting for a long time to come here on the 
door sill of a community of 3,000,000 people. Similarly the 
Adirondack preserves have fostered the supply, despite 
the extremely destructive methods of hunting in force. 
If Congress would take the hint afforded by these pri- 
vate preserves and set aside as perpetual asylums for the 
game, on the plan adopted in the case of the Yellowstone 
National Park, those wild areas already named as forest 
reservations, or if the individual States which are in pos- 
session of suitable lands wpuld designate a part for this 
purpose, we venture to say that a long step would be 
taken in the direction of solving the question of the gam© 
supply. 
