Sbpt. 19, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
226 
The country south of Millbanfc, S. D., has plenty of 
chickens this fall, and is worth keeping in mind. 
Webster, S. D,, is another good chicken point to re- 
member. 
Andover, S. D., is reported to offer better shooting than 
almost any other place in that region, and should be 
looked into. 
Gracevillej Minn., is a cinoh for some chicken shooting 
this season. 
Brown's Valley, Minn., is in good chicken range and is 
worth a visit. 
Ttaverse City, Minn. , is to be kept in mind for chickens, 
and especially for ducks in late September and October. 
St. James, Minn. , is the private tip of a man who knows 
about prairie chickens. 
Esterville, la. , is reported very good this season. 
Fulda, Minn., is a good place to make a note of, and is 
tipped to me by a friend.^ 
Mayville, 1^. D., is well mentioned and is worth look- 
ing into. 
Knox, N. D,, is another good northern point, and the 
birds are spoken of as abundant there, 
I'airchild, Wis., and also Eieva and Mondovia. in Buf- 
falo county, below Eau Claire, are this fall all good 
Eoints to go to. A friend jUst back from there tells me 
e had fine shooting on prairie chickens, ruffed groueie 
. and quail, all in the same day's hunt. Wm, Hurlburt, a 
market-hunter at Eleva, will take parties out. 
tfhe above information is thought to be reliable. It Is 
all gathered from original sources and not from back- 
number railroad folders, of which beware always, In 
each case a shooter has given me the information. 
The North Dakota license law must be borne in mind. 
It may keep many shooters out of that State. 
Any non-resident sportsman visiting any of the above 
points should not expect to have the old days of great 
bags back again. He can have sport, but not slaughter. 
If he can kill ten, fifteen or twenty birds a day he may 
be satisfied that he did not go any further. 
1 have had two days' sport at chickens this season my- 
self and shall speak of the trip later. I mention it now 
to adtise shooters visiting Minnesota from now on to take 
nothing smaller than No. 7 shot, and to have some No. 6 
shells handy. We have found the birds big and strong 
and wild enough in most cases to offer fine sport. Bat 
one covey of small birds has been seen. Some of the 
birds we have killed took a lot of hitting, and it was by 
no means always easy shooting. This is as it should be. 
No State should open its chicken season earlier than Sept. 
1, and by that time most of the birds can take care of 
themselves Well enough to offer sport. So far we have let 
oflly si± birds oiit of fifty-two shot at gdt away (in three 
days), but this fact is due only to the extraordinarily fine 
|hooting of my two companions, Messrs. F. F. and 
Richard Merrillj one or other of whom has kindly wiped 
my eye for me each time of my own numerous misses. 
They are both splendid field shots, though perhaps they 
do not enjoy it any more than 1 do, after years of ab- 
sence from the chicken stubbles. I Used to think no man 
ought to miss a prairie chicken, but find grounds for 
Changing that belief. September birds in Minnesota are 
no lead pipe cinch for an ex-shooter. Each week from 
now on will see them wilder and stronger, and if any 
Forest and Steeam reader wants a hunt this f aU I would 
advise him to start at once. 
Chicago, 111., Sept. 12.— Reports received up to date 
seem to indicate good foundation for the statement offered 
last week, to the effect that 1896 is an exceptionally good 
year for prairie chickens, more especially in the States of 
Minnesota and North Dakota. The latter State will 
probably winter a few more birds than for some time 
past. The common agreement amohg those baCk from 
North Dakota is that there are very much fewer shooters 
there this year than last or for many years past, the high 
non-resident license keeping them out. 
On my way to Chicago from St. Paul this week I saw 
at the depot in St. Paul a crate of fine-looking bird dogs, 
and of course had a look at them to see how they sized 
up. I noticed the name of Walter Dupee on the crates, 
and later saw on the train evidence of the hunting party 
I had guessed at. Walter had been out for his annual 
chicken hunt to Dakota. He dropped off in the night at 
Oconomowoc, and I did not see him personally, but met 
Mr. O. Ross, of Chicago, who, with Mr. McDowell, of 
Oconomowoc, made up the party. They went to Valva, 
on the Soo line, in North Dakota, and took out non-resi- 
dent licenses. They report shooting not of the most 
abundant sort, but enough for a pleasant time. Their 
biggest day was thirty-six birds to the three guns, and 
often they did not do so much, though they did not try 
uncomfortably hard to make a big showing, preferring to 
have a quiet time with shooting when they felt inclined 
to go out. They report ducks and geese very abundant 
near Valva, but these they did not hunt. They say that 
all accounts agree that the license will keep a great many 
out of North Dakota. 
There is an impression abroad that this license law will 
not be enforced, or that is "unconstitutional," or that no 
penalty attaches to a violation of the law, and some papers 
of North Dakota and elsewhere have spread this impres- 
sion as much as possible. Whatever the future of the 
law, it cannot be called unconstitutional until proven so 
by the courts, and the Connecticut case decided in the 
Supreme Court of the U. S. may have some bearing on 
this. It may be safer to give North Dakota a good wide 
berth for the season at least, and let some one else run 
the risk of proving the law valid or invalid. It is certain 
that the State game warden, Mr. George E. Bowers, of 
Fargo, is enforcing the law. He has caused to be printed 
the following in the Daily Argus, of Fargo: 
It has been stated in the public press that there is no penalty for 
JS?^ ^''ol^'^e tlie game laws. Sec. 1643, Revised CodBs, declares: 
"It shaU be unlawful for any non-resident of this State to hunt, kill or 
wound any of the wild animals or birds mentioned in chapter 72 of 
the Penal Code, without having first obtained the permit for non- 
residents herein provided for. It shall be unlawful for anv resident 
of this State," etc See. 7029 provides: "When the performan^ of 
an act IS prohibited by any statue and no penalty for the violation of 
such statute imposed in any statute, the doing of such act is a misde- 
meanor " Sec. m-Z provides: "Except in cases where a different 
punishment is prescribed by this code, or by some existing provision 
of law, every offense declared to be a misdemeanor is punishable bv 
unpnsonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or bv a fine nof 
exceeding $500, or by both such fine and imprisonment." From this 
law ° *PP^*^ ^^^^ ^^^'^^ is ample provision made for enforcing the 
Mr. Bowers writes me a personal letter, in which he 
says that game of all kinds—ducks, geese and prairie 
chickens— is more abundant than for years, and he asks 
jae to copxe out this month &M repeat my fall hunt of laat 
year, taking also a trip for wildfowl into the western part 
of the State. This I would of course like to do, though 
one chicken hunt a season is about all one can expect, and 
like the man who only took one drink a day, "I've had 
mine." I hope Mr. Bowers will be able to do something 
dpfinite by way of stopping the flagrant violations of the 
laws which have long prevailed in that State, once so 
rich, but lately so poor in game. Last year there was 
very little decent chicken shooting in North Dakota. 
Even away up in the Turtle Mountains, where some 
friends of mine went for a long camping trip, the birds 
were so scarce as to offer very little shooting. This year 
these same friends, who were at great trouble to secure a 
training ground for their young bird dogs, found the 
birds so scarce and undeoendable that one of them ex- 
pressed his intention of abandoning altogether any further 
attempt at training any dogs or chickens. This after a 
large expenditure of money, which would willingly be 
doubled if he knew of any place where he could really 
find birds enough to train on. He says he will quit chick- 
ens and hunt quail hereafter. 
The rush has been to North Dakota for so long that 
Minnesota has been benefited, and this year Minnesota is 
a locality of especial interest by reason of the bar on Da- 
kota. It is true, the birds are more abundant than for 
years, but one will not find the shooting of the early days 
by any means. A shooter who is contented with a bag of 
a dozen birds or so a day can find enough places to choose 
from to satisfy his needs. I hear well of Twin Valley, 
Minn., and of Fertile and tJlen. Herman on the Great 
Northern is a point well spoken of at first hand by a 
shooter who was there lately. Another point of which I 
am disposed to think of very higrhly is a little station called 
Hitterdahl, the first stop above Winnipeg Junction on the 
Northern Pacific. This is well up into the grouse coun- 
try, and by the time this matter is in print the big packs 
of grouse will be working slowly to the South. In Oc- 
tober they will be all about Hitterdahl, on their way to 
their wintering place in the timber east of there. At this 
place also there is a series of deep lakes which do not dry 
up, or which did not dry up last year at least, and between 
these lakes there is an excellent duck pass. Not far away 
there was some goose shooting last fall, and should be 
again this fall. The accommodations there are scant, 
and the gentleman who takes a featherbed into camp with 
him might have trouble in getting it fixed lo suit him; 
but a shooter can go in there and have some fun, as near 
as I can get at the facts this fall. 
A. S, Frelinghuysen, of Chicago, and four friends are 
now absent in North Dakota on a special car trip after 
chickens. They are well equipped with arms and muni- 
tions, and should bag game enough to please them. 
If I can be of further service than has already been the 
dase by way of personal correspondence with those wish- 
ing to take a trip into the parts of the West above men- 
tioned, I shall be glad, and shall take pleasure in answer- 
ing all sorts of questions, except those inquiring the price 
of board. I cannot tell without first looking at a man 
how much he is going to eat, and obviously this is a factor 
which should be considered in determining the price of 
board. All those inquiring about the price they would 
probably be Charged for board will confer a favor by in- 
closing a photograph and such other details as will assist 
in forming the proper estimate. E. Hough. 
THE BOWLEY'S QUARTER DUCKING 
CLUB'S PHEASANTS. 
Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 11,— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have no doubt you have recently noticed in 
the Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York papers a 
mention of a most serious disaster which has befallen the 
Bowley's Quarter Ducking Club in the wholesale poison- 
ing by some miscreant of over 3,000 English pheasants 
raised this season by the club on its large preserve on the 
Chesapeake Bay, in Baltimore county, Md. 
As such an outrageous and unprovoked assault on the 
rights and property of a club has, 1 believe, never oc- 
curred before, I think you may be interested to know 
something of it. 
The property of the club, containing about 900 acres, 
occupies the entire peninsula lying on the Chesapeake 
Bay between the eastern shore of Middle River and the 
southern shore of Seneca River, and immediately south 
of Carroll's Island. It is one of the finest ducking shores 
in the country, but as this game has somewhat diminished 
since the great flood of 1893, which rooted up the wild 
celery, the club has given special attention to the raising 
of English pheasants as an auxiliary sport. In August 
of 1894 the great tidal waves which swept our whole sea 
coast from Florida to Mame drowned for us about 800 
pheasants, more than three-fourths grown. This season 
we inclosed two large pens, making nearly ten acres, 
with wire fencing about 10ft. high, and a large portion of 
it roofed in with the same material. In these two "pheas- 
antries" we raised abouc 3,300 strong, vigorous young 
birds of the "ring-necked" variety, which grew and pros- 
pered in the most satisfactory manner, giving us promise 
of the finest shooting every enjoyed by any club in the 
country. About Aug. 3 our superintendent while on his 
rounds found a dead pheasant, and a little further on two 
more which were nearly so, but apparently paralyzed. 
Dr. George W. Massamore, the secretary and treasurer 
of the Maryland Game and Fish Protective Association, 
who happened to be visiting the club that day, immedi- 
ately pronounced it a case of poisoning. 
So violent was the mortality that in three days we lost 
in one pen 1,650 out of 1,800 birds. In a day or two after 
the birds in the other pheasantry began to die, and in a 
week we had only about 300 left of all our promising 
broods. The Maryland Game and Fish Protective Associ- 
ation through its energetic secretary-treasurer. Dr. Massa- 
more, immediately took the matter in hand, and by the 
aid of very persevering and skillful detectives succeeded 
in effecting the arrest of three men, who were committf d 
to Towson jail, Baltimore county, for trial for th.s 
dastardly outrage. 
So interested were a number of the leading sportsme n 
of Baltimore that the service of the writs and the arrests 
were made by Sheriff Cole in person. 
The penalty for the crime is from two to twenty yeai s 
in the penitentiary. 
It has always been the intention of the club to considt r 
its property an a central point, from which the whole 
country round and even distant sections could be fur- 
nished with stock birds, and thus make available toappie- 
ciatit? sportsmen everywhere this splendid game. ' 
Though this is a very bitter disappointment, besides a 
large pecuniary loss, we will enter upon our next year's 
raising with renewed energy, and we hope without fur- 
ther molestation. I inclose a clipping from the Baltimore 
Sun of the 9th inst. which is substantially correct. You 
can use such portion of this letter and clipping as you 
may see fit. All our members are regular readers of 
Forest and Stream, and know how keenly alive it is to 
all that affects the true sportsman. We believe this case, 
from its magnitude and exceptional barbarity, will excite 
the interest and sympathy of sportsmen everywhere, as 
such a calamity is much more than a mere local matter, 
and will materially retard the game interests of a large 
section of the country for several years. 
Nathaniel E. Janney, Pres. 
We supplement President Janney's letter with the 
account given in the Baltimore Sun of Sept. 9: 
At Bowley's Quarter, the thousand-acre preserve of the 
Bowley's Quarter Ducking Club at Bengies, on the Phfla- 
delphia, Wilmington <fe Baltimore Railroad, there has 
been a dastardly and wanton destruction of English 
pheasants and other fowls by poison. 
Yesterday James T. Butler and Eobert Smith, both 
colored, were arrested, taken to Towson and charged, on 
the oath of D. C. Smoot, with entering the private prop- 
erty of the club and maliciously destroying English pheas- 
ants, ducks, chickens and turkeys in the interim between 
July 23 and Sept. 4. 
Robert Taylor, a white man, was committed as a wit- 
ness against the accused, while Butler and Smith were 
taken before Justice Chas. Pielert and sent to jail to await 
the action of the grand jury. 
The pheasants destroyed numbered about 3,000, and the 
domestic fowls, including chickens, ducks, geese and 
turkeys, numbered 300, The monetary loss is placed at 
$5,000. Most of the birds had been raised on the place. 
They were killed with grain which had been saturated 
with arsenic. Dr. Geo. W. Massamore, assistant State 
game warden, and secretary of the Maryland Game and 
Fish Protective Association, who caused the working up 
of the ease against the suspected men, says he cannot 
ascribe a motive for the destruction of the birds. 
The arrests were made yesterday at Bowley's Quarter by 
Sheriff W. P. Cole, of Towson ; Dr. George W. Massamore 
and T. J. Hardesty, of the detective firm of T, J. Hardesty 
& Co. The men were taken to Towson by Sheriff Cole 
and Detective William J. Eawleigh. The State Game 
Protective Association is responsible for the action taken 
and will assist in the prosecution. The Association had, 
it is stated , started to work upon the case before the Bow- 
ley's Club members generally knew of any losses. 
Dr. Massamore's account of the killing of the birds is as 
follows: 
"On July 22 I went to Bowley's Quarter on business 
connected with the game warden's office and to see the 
progress of the raising of pheasants by the club. The 
young birds are in a space of ten acres, which is sur- 
rounded by a wire fence 10ft. high. In passing through 
this place with the gamekeeper, Donald Mc Vicar, I found 
several dead birds and one that was sick. I remarked to 
Mr. Mc Vicar: 'This looks like poison,' Later I found 
other evidences of poisoning. 
"On July 30 Mr. Mc Vicar brought two dead pheasants 
to town and an autopsy was made, and an analysis by 
Prof. P. B. Wilson showed the birds had died from arsen- 
ical poisoning. 
"On Aug. 6 I went there again and the birds were dy- 
ing by hundreds, and I was told that the other fowls were 
going the same way. On Aug. Ill went to Bengies with 
Detectives Smart and Rawleigh, who, with their colleague, 
Richard M. Brown, got to work. 
"Butler had been dismissed from the club employ and 
was suspected. Later he was reengaged, and he was an 
employee when arrested. Detective Smart personated a 
young man of wealth and leisure, who was said to be a 
relative of Mr. Mc Vicar. The other two appeared as 
tramps. They slept in bushes, and stayed about the place 
and did much watching by night. Smart spent much 
time with Butler, took him on fishing trips, and all three 
of them got into his confidence. 
"Butler on one occasion told Mr. Smart that he (Butler) 
had become a detective and had a commission from a 
Western detective firm. Smart replied that he would 
like to get into that business too. 
"When the case was ripe the arrests were made. 
Poisoned wheat, which had been found, was analyzed, 
and carcasses of dead birds were also examined by the 
professor of chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. 
Poisoned wheat was found in a box in the shanty of But- 
ler. It was found under a bench in the shanty and under 
the floor." 
The Bowley's Quarter Club has had extraordinary suc- 
cess in raising English pheasants, and at least 3,500 were 
reared this season. The club, though composed of Phil- 
adelphians, had agreed to let their place become a hatch- 
ing farm for the State of Maryland, through the Game 
Protective Association, and had offered to furnish stock 
birds to persons who were recommended by the Associa- 
tion. 
Mr. Mc Vicar, the gamekeeper, has had a long experi- 
ence in producing and caring for birds both in England 
and New Jersey. He went with the Bow ley Club about 
four years ago. The club stocked the place with old or 
parent birds, which are worth about $4 each. 
These old birds are kept in a separate pen, and when 
they begin to lay the eggs are taken from them each day 
and saved to be hatched by hens. If the eggs remained 
with the female bird she would stop laying after produ- 
cing fifteen or sixteen, but if the eggs are taken from her 
she continues laying until she has produced forty or fifty 
eggs, enough for three broods. 
After hatching, the young birds are placed in the large 
wire inclosure, where they are tended until they are large 
enough to fly out of it. Those that fail to use their wings 
to go over the wire fence are driven out about the middle 
of September, so that they will become wild for shooting 
about Oct. 1. 
The wholesale killing of the pheasants at Bowley's 
Quarter leaves only about 400 on band, and none will be 
shot or given away this fall, as all that are on hand must 
be used for stock purposes. 
Mr. Nathaniel E. Janney, of Philadelphia, is president 
of the Bowley's Quarter Club. Among other members 
are Messrs. Eobert M. Janney, Harry Bryant and a brother 
of Mr. Bryant, Horace Magee, Marriott C. Smyth and Dr, 
^iddl@, all of Philadelphia. 
