124 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb, 13, 1897. 
used in some street pavement, probably in the city forty 
inilt'S nortb of there, whence the waves had carrit.d them by 
some proce85> of their own. 
As we could now begin to see unmist ikable evidenceg of 
civilization in the shape of cf-rtain red-paint' d roofs close at 
the water's edge, and deemed this to be Michigan City, we 
were oViliged to go into camp vtry early this day. It was 
before 4 o'clock when we bf gan to look for a p'ace to get 
through the hills into a locality suitable for camping. While 
P-jtti stayed down on the beach waiting for the signal to go 
after water, I went up on the ridges to prospect for a camp- 
ing spot. I found an ekgant liitle flat-bottomed valley, far 
down below the summits of the sainlhills, but unfortunately 
could not discover any gnr-d back log in Jt, nor any pine 
trees for purposes of bedding. In fact we were now almost 
out of the pme country, and into an oak region, where camp- 
ing was a more difflf'ult matter. I left this valley and wan- 
dered on a quarter of a mile, finding several ap >t8whinh had 
advantflg' S, but which also had drawbacks locident upon 
this search, I found myself at the summit of the highest sand 
peak of that pa't of the hills, a veritable mounlbin, which 
we took to be the hi?h peak our fisherman had told us was 
caUed Mt. Tom. Opposite to this, and beyond my littli- val- 
ley, 1 could see a second high peak; and this, later on, Patti 
thought it would he well to call Mt. Jerry. So we called 
them Mts. Tom and Jerry, and camped lietween them. For 
search as we migat we could find no better spot than my 
valley, and it was late and gettiig extremely cold before we 
settled upon the spot. 
We hat a lovely camping spot here, the litHe valley being 
a flat glade which wourd oif pi< t iresqu' ly througli the htlls. 
At its back was a sha'p and high fandhill of pure white 
tand, while on either side limbered hill'^ sloped down more 
gently, the bottom of the valley, some 80 or 100yds in width, 
being covered with sea tered oaks of ferond growth about 
6'n. in diimeter. On a side hill about SOyds. from our tent- 
ing spot was a great diad and seasoned oak, 18in, through, 
from which we determined to construct our back log. In 
order to Oo this we were lorced to cut it in two, or rather in 
three, and f. r this work we found our camp axes quite too 
light and in^ignifi '.ant. 1 would advise anyone going on a 
winter trip to take a good long-handled axe along it' he took 
notning else, for on the ax^ all his comloit will d pend It 
tooK me nearly thre< -q'larti-rs "f an hour to gnaw that gnat 
trunk in two, tor it, was hard a=i iron; and I was forced to 
cut down into it with a "double chip" in order to drive the 
cut entrely tbn ugii the lug While I was at this; annoying 
V ork. Pa'ti was getting water and gathering b( uahsi; "and 
then we joined fore s and iugged the monster log to place, 
and went on abuut putting up the t nt. 
This time we look a bit more care with our tent, for it 
looked liiie snow, and moreover we thought it wouM be 
warmer if the roof were ttietchid tighter so that the heat 
would be r' fl icted down mere evenly. So we put up a regu- 
lar (rame for the tent and strelcbed it over thi>- frame, not 
"tacking it on with caipet tacks," but holding ii down as 
before by side logs and sand. We got it up in very good 
shape, but our bed was not so good as it was- the night b fore, 
since the pine trees were so few and so far from us Wecut 
and hacked and broke down a vast amount of tuel, mostly of 
well-seaijoned oak, accumulating a va^t w(iOd pile; for it was 
now very cold, and we knew we were in for a bitter night. 
How cold it really was 1 cannot say, but duiing the evening 
when one of us wanted a drink he di'^covered that the water 
in the tin cup at the corner of the tent was frozen nearly 
solid. This was within 8 or 10ft. of the fire, though not ex- 
posed to the direct rays of the fire. The furroundie gs being 
unfavorable here for a camp, we were a longtime — over two 
hours — getting things inio wbat seemed to us comfortable 
shape. We were not so tirtid as we had been the night be- 
fore. Already the air and fxercisewere besinniug to do 
their work for us, so we could see that a few days of this sort 
of thing would harden us up nicely. 
It was an hour after daik by the time we got all our do- 
mestic arrangemf nts concluded and had our smoking supper 
on the Art lit tpot between the fire and the tent. To the light 
of the fire we were able io add further illumination, for dur- 
ing the day Patti had, by strange good fortune picked up on 
the beach a half length of slearine candle, which had come 
from no on* knows where on the common carriage of the 
lake. This candle we placed at our table, making for it an 
excellent candle stick from a i^plit pine boufih, the sharpened 
end of which we ^tuck down in the sand thatconstiiuu d the 
table cloth. In silence, but wilh great celerity and preci:?ion, 
we ate our evening meal fif bacon beefsteaK, bri)wn bread 
and coffee, finishing it off with a fine red apple for dessert. 
Then we said it was good, wiped our knives each on that 
spot of his trousers leg as heriinbefore designated, and re- 
lapsed into ease and dignity for an hour or so before retiring 
for the night. 
The wind had by this time risen to a gale, and, worst of all, 
it came twifting down a little bide ^ully in mch a way that it 
blew the smose right in'o our tent inst ad of away from it. 
Wilh a bit of the muslin of which the tent was made we put 
up a lude side wing, which oroke pattnf the wind away, 
but at best this w&s m^uflicif nt, so we had rather a bad lime 
of it after we lay down t.> shep Patii was so big that as he 
lay flat on his back his nose just cleared the root of the 
tent, and the smoke, following down the slanting roof, 
would stream directly into his eyes, so that he was glad to 
pull the blacket over his head. In the morning we found 
our throats full of smoke, so that our voices had a harsh, 
piratical sort of sound, in good keeping with our general 
make-up Of course neither of us washed hh face or hands, 
and itdoos not occur to me whether or not the siibj-ct of a 
comb was mentioned. With water so hard to nut as we 
found it in Lake Michigan, one isn't going to waste any of 
it in washing. 
It was very cold that night, but strangely enough it grew 
warmer toward morning, the wind then lulling somewhat. 
We both were up often during the night building up the 
fire, and we found our gn-at stack of dry wood none too 
large. By morning our bigbi ck log was burned entirely 
through, and we had to lap the ends to get a goud reflactor 
out of it. All the little solid trees which we had dragged 
up to camp were burned throueh again and again, ard we 
were forced to go out for wood for the breakfast fire. When 
it comes to keeping a fire the size of ours going for twelve 
hours straight, it /squires a lot ot wood. Once in the night 
I felt Patti shivering in his sleep, and so got out and piled 
on (-ome wood upon the fire. At another time 1 awoke 
with a good strong shiver running up my own 
back, and as I got out into the sbarp night air to 
htistle up some v/ood for the fire I was seized 
with a vigorous chill which sent me howling back to 
the blankets. This, however, does not hurt any one, and 
teaches him not to be too lazy or to wait too long after the 
warning of the -first creeping feeling up the back. In a 
camp such as thU it, is no good to curl up tiuhter in the 
blinkets and try to get warm that way. We did not have 
blank< ts enough for that, but had to depend absolutely upon 
the fire. I should think a well m de fire was good to last an 
hour or two hours, according to the kind of wood used. Of 
course if men would take turns stmiiing fire watch it would 
be possible to sleep in perfect comfort until time to go on 
watch, but we were too sleepy to do this, and so let it aver- 
age itself, which it did with something like approximate 
evenness, 1 suppose, each one getting up to fix the fire per- 
haps four or five times during the night, as nearly as he could 
reroemVr, and not keeping track of the times he did so 
when asleep. 
In the morning when we broke camp we marched to the 
top of "Mount Tom" and had a good look over the wide 
strip of rough country about us. The lake was quieter now 
and lay wide and blue be^ow us. Almost at our feet, it 
seemed, we could see the buildings of Michiaan City, about 
three miles away. Between us and the town there were the 
same long, deep gullies, the same white sand dunes and the 
same scrubby timber to which we had now become accus- 
tom* d. Across this country we started for our las^t Itttle 
march. To our surprise it was impossible to find a place on 
the lake side of the sand dunes where it would be poshible 
to slide 01 scrtimble down to the beach without too serious a 
risk of injury. We kept along on top of the ridges until at 
last we fouod ashallower gully whi h led down to thob ach. 
Then we pressed on toward the red roof of the life-saving 
station at the town. 
All alone the upper edge of the beach for a distance of 
more than half a mile at this part of the lake shore we found 
soft ground with wnter oozing up through it. This we dis- 
covered to be a series of the seeping sorings peculiar to this 
sandhill region. Not far from this trickle of water we saw 
a high an i regular bank of fine gravel, graded as regularly 
as though terraced for a lawn front, and running bacfi some 
distance until swallowed up in the all-devouring sand, 
thousrh leaving a perfectly fiat surface large enough for the 
building of the finest residence. This odd eminence was 
some 30ft. above the level of the lake. The front of this 
gravel bank or bar was many hundreds of yards long where 
plainly visible, and it set-merl even and flat-topped all along. 
Perhaps geologists could show how the bii^ glaci^'r which 
came down across this country at some distant day dropped 
here the fine pebbles it had been carrjing. Then the sand 
blew all over the gravel bar and covere i it up, no one knows 
for how many miles of its course, along what is n >w the lake 
shore Thus a dam was made between the spring wateis of 
thi country inland from the lake. Further up the lake, in 
the dirsci jn from which we had come, tbe spring waters 
and marsh waters were beaded back by the wide fraudhills 
and herded together into large streams, the G-and Oalumei, 
or the little creek which we called Patterson's River. At this 
point, where the reach of sandhills was narrower, and where 
the gravel bar was least covered by the sands, this nland 
water had strained through the vast natural dam, trickling 
through the wide gravel bar and so seepiog out at its foot 
upon the lake side of the ridges. At least, this was good 
enough geology fr)r us, and we wondered how long it would 
be before another river broke through the sandhilk and give 
the perch and suckers a chance to run up into the grass 
lands in the spring. According to my own earlier explora- 
tions, made along the Little Calumft some years ago with 
Alex Loyd, and continued last summer with i)r. HoUenbeck, 
of We^tviile, Ind., we were now at a point about twelve 
miles north of the head of the Calumet River, the same dis- 
tance from some fioe ba«s fishing, and not any further than 
that from a lot of intt vesting little creeks, all of wnich pitch 
down the sharp front of the big dam the glacier left still fur- 
ther ioland, to keep the Kankakee River from running into 
Lake Micotgan, which it has for a long time been trying its 
best to do. 
It was about 11 o'clock in the morning wh^n we arrived 
in Michigan City, and were able at length definitely to con- 
firm the unaulhenticated rumor that this town is located on 
Lake Michigan. Of course, since we could lay claim to 
this, we felt as though we had really discovered the place, 
although we found there a Government lighthouse bearing 
the cut stone inscription "1858 " There may have been a 
few people along through here at that time, but as a good 
many of them are probably dead or have ruoved away from 
the place it was time the place was bemg discovered again, 
so we discovered it. 
As we went up the street of the sandy little city, p ople 
came lo the windows and looked out at us, and on the street 
folks paused to staie at the tramps who wore axes and 
knives and carried packs and c ffee cups. We sneaked into 
the deput waiting room as quickly as possible, but were 
hunted out there by the reporters of the two rival news- 
papers, who wanted to know if we were surveying a rail- 
road, huniiag tor moonshiners, or what, anyhow. When 
we told them we were out for fun they shook their heads 
wi'h dnubt and apparently thought we were j.ikine "What 
would you do that tor m the winter time?" they asked. I'm 
sure I don't know what they said about it, but 1 don't 
believe they believed the truth. 
A good many of our frit-nds have asked us since what 
made us go out tramping around that way and lying out in 
the snow in ti.e winter. 'What did you get?' they say, 
and then "What did you go for?" Yet others ask how 
much game we saw. We saw one rabbit, one grouse, one 
squirrel and a f» w tracks. Not a very big net result if that 
were all. But Patti and I figured it out that that wasn't 
quite all. E. Hough. 
120B BoYOB Building, Chicago. 
Shall the State Propagate Game? 
We think that it is no more than fair that the State now 
make an appropriation for the establishment of a game 
hatchery for the purpose of propagating game. What 
might be done is only conjectui-e at present, because the 
propagation of game has never yet been well attempted in 
this State. The State could easily afford to appropriate $ 1 0,000 
and go into the business of rearing game birds — the birds 
to be given to regularly organized and incorporated game 
clubs for purposes of stocking. As it is now, certain private 
individuals pay for the liberation of game birds in various 
localities. Why not the State? The State helps the fishing 
interests; why not the game interests? Pheasants can be 
propagated, quail can be, white hares can be, and perhaps 
other garue and game birds. It is singular that the State 
has never attempted to restore moose to the Adirondack 
region. 
All of these ideas are possibilities and would be interest- 
ing experiments for the State to undertake, — Auburn (M. 
T.) Admrtisff)'. 
AMID FAMILIAR SCENES. 
&{ior Forest and Stream: 
There is a charm in squirrel hunting that exists in no 
other kind of hunting. It takes one into the woods when 
nature is in her most pleasing mood, and it revives the en- 
thusiasm of long-past boyhood. It has been said that 
squirrels are boys' game. It may be so; but what is the 
sportsman but an overgrown, dignified boy? His first les- 
son began with squirrel hunting, and, though he may have 
come to regard it as insignificant compared with his higher 
education, he looks back lovingly and longingly to the old 
days, and would return to them if he could. 
And as the squirrel season is the first to arrive, it gives 
the sportsman an excuse to go into the woods with his gun. 
He has been so long ''chained to business," and the fever 
has takeu such a firm hold of him, that he is glad of any 
excuse that will bring relief and a day spent in the pursuit 
of his pet enjoyment. 
And he will naturally seek his favorite haunt. Every 
sporhsman has a favorite haunt, and that is the one he 
usually selects for his fir.-t day's outing. So when the 
Ist of last September ushered in the squirrel season 
I gladly took the morning train to spend the day 
among old familiar scenes, and an hour's ride brought 
me to the sleepy little village which, but for the 
barking of good-natured dogs that brings the women and 
children to the windows when a stranger passes through, 
would seem deserted. Where the "men folks" keep them- 
selves I have never yet found out, for it is seldom that I 
see any, always, of course, excepting Uncle Lisha, as I 
have come to call him, the village shoemaker, who sits 
facing the door of his little shop, the better to see and greet 
passers-by. An honest and good-natured little old man is 
Uncle Lisha, who lives at the end of the town, I have not 
missed a September visit to this place in twelve years, and 
have come to anticipate the old shoemaker's greeting and 
chat as one of its pleasantest features. He sometimes 
wonders at my persistent returns after so many unsucce.ss- 
ful trips, but I have never tried to satisfy his curiosity. 
The axiom, "It is not all of hunting to hunt," would not 
do it and might cause a complication of ideas in the old 
man's mind that would be still harder to disentangle, so I 
evade the question and note the change, if any, that a 
year's time has made in his locks and wrinkled visage. 
The kindly beam in his eye never fades, though his stoop 
may be more noticeable than when I first saw him. Kind 
old man, I would not see him any older nor younger. In 
the vernacular of the present day, "He's all right." 
The old covered wooden bridge which spans the roman- 
tic little stream just beyond is not the least of the many 
attractions of the place. One time it was painted red, and 
may have been considered a prettier bit of architecture 
than it is now, but the ravages of time and weather have 
left but few traces of its gaudy coat in the less exposed 
parts,'and its licliened arcliways and weather-worn sides 
have for my eyes a greater pictnresqueness than any mod- 
ern structure. It echoes my footsteps with hollow but not 
unpleasant sound as I pass through it, and once did 
friendly service as a shelter when the raging storm came 
upon me. Some dav the old bridge must be torn down 
and a modern one will replace it. If that occurs during 
my time I shall be sorry to see the change. 
A beautiful stretch of winding road, hedged on either 
side by rail fences, intertwined and overgrown with briers, 
with here and there by way of variety a wild apple or 
crabapple tree, makes the journey a pleasant one. No 
fence is so picturesque to my eye as an old rail fence. 
They are associated with the memory of my boyhood days, 
when I vainly chased squirrels upon them, or played in 
the corners, and the days seemed brighter and lemger than 
they do now, and no woods seems complete without its 
surrounding rail fence. Few country roads nowadays 
have the old time picturesqueness. One can hardly find 
one to expose a dry plate on without including in the 
view a row of telephone poles, or worse, a barbed wire 
fence. 
The walk seems short — though it is a little more than a 
mile — when 1 reach the fork of the road where stands a 
moss-grown, vine-covered old house, the home of two 
elderly maiden sisters whose acquaintance I made on the 
occasion of my first visit, twelve years ago, when I stopped 
for a drink of water on my return from the woods. They 
call me "the city man," and are not surprised at seeing me 
when I stop now to inquire of their welfare, and, instead 
of water, I am welcome to a glass of cold, sweet milk or 
buttermilk, as I choose, by going to the spring house for 
it. It is as cozy a place to live as two such old ladies know 
how to make it, and one can readily imagine how much 
more pretty it may be earlier in the seas-^ n, when the beds 
of flowers and vines of honeysuckle and hollyhocks are in 
full bloom. I wonder how many more times I shall greet 
them. They have both parsed their sixtieth year, yet live 
alone and care for their little home better than most 
younger persons w^ould. They are comfortably possessed 
of worldly goods, and in their simple, Christian life, with 
the aid of hired help when needed, keep the place as snug 
and trim as heart could wish. I am on such intimate 
terms now that I venture to banter them on their partner- 
less life, and with a good deal of old-time coquetry am 
assured that "they are fully able to take care of themselves 
a while yet," and I gue.ss they are; but I hear there is a 
romance connected with their past, and I must find out 
what it is on my next visit. If they won't tell me, perhaps 
Uncle Lisha will. I wish them many more years of their 
simple, happy life. 
It is here I turn from the road and cross a wide field to 
the woods that I know so well. Just inside I discover the 
new stump and fresh chips and brush pile of what last year 
was a noble oak tree, and looking further my eye is greeted 
by others, and I detect vacant spaces in every direction. 
The sound of a chopper's axe falls unpleasantly on my 
ears and a sense of gloom overtakes me. I feel as though 
I should not have my gun with me lest I do the chopper 
harm. I do not want to see the despoiler of my old friends, 
the trees, and I avoid his direction. I go on to the other 
side and reach my customary resting place. The old log 
against which 1 leaned my back the first time I came here 
and dozed into si ep while watching a hickory tree near 
by has flattened to a soft and spongy mound. I recline 
upon it now and retrospectively recall that beautiful Sep- 
tember day as vividly as though it was yesterday. I do not 
know how long I had slept when a falling piece of bark 
struck my hat a sharp blow and awoke me. Overhead the 
hoarse chirr-r-r of a gray squirrel drew my attention, and 
