May S3, 189*?.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
407 
to prejudice people against the proposed Park addition, 
Wliich is preferable: a territory under national control, held 
for the use and benefit of all citizens, or the same territory 
under State control nominally, but really "bossed" and dom- 
ineered over by rich and exclusive owners of "hunting 
lodged," "cottages" and "summer resorts" ? 
Leave this territory as it is and only too soon every lovely 
nook and corner, known and used by all of us on our sum- 
mer outings, will be the private property of genuine "pluto- 
crats." Can a more unbearable monopoly be imagined? 
) ■ • J>. G., ^OWIilN. 
Jackson, Wyo., April 82. 
TURKEYS IN THE FLOOD COUNTRY. 
Our long-time contributor, W. L. Polli, of Mississiptii, sends us (his 
turkey hunting story from hia nephew, Paul M. PoJIc." 
Mississippi, April 23. — 3Jy Dear Uncle Jos: Perhaps this 
may not seem so interesting as other hunting stories I 
have written you, if you allow the result to influence your 
interest; for our game bag came home poorly stocked. 
But as this is not the first case of the kind I will hope to 
the contrary. 
On Monday morning father, Austin Warner and myself, 
went to the Rambler, raised steam, and left for the coal 
barges. There we met Austin's big brother Lawrence, 
who came just in time to get liis hands dirty helping pack 
away the coal. We had about thirty-six boxes placed on 
the launch, and eight in an ancient hut still serviceable 
skiff behind. 
At last, after putting 4001bs. of ice in a model little re- 
frigerator, we started, towing behind the old skiff and 
three of the prettiest little can'oes you ever saw. 
By common consent I was appointed fireman, and Aus- 
tin coal-breaker. Of course we had the delicacy not to 
vote for ourselves, and we even went so far as to positively 
refuse the honors, but our kinsmen were not going to 
allow false modesty to prevent us from receiving the posi- 
tions, so there was nothing to do but go at it with a will. 
Every time I felt lazy, the old steam would go down and 
tell on me, but every time Austin felt lazy I had to break 
the coal myself 
To make the launch go full speed, it took about three 
heaping shovels full of coal every four or five minutes, the 
steam probably averaging about 951bs. Austin felt sorry 
for me, and offered to fire for me awhile. He commenced 
by puttijag in one shovelful and waiting about five minutes, 
and then gradually increasing until he got to two shovels, 
the steam gradually decreasing from ninety to thirty. In 
consequence of slow speed under Austin's firing, I had to 
be reinstated. 
That night we stopped at Little Deer Creek, took a little 
ineffectual hunt next morning, and then raised steam and 
went to Panther Creek, fifty miles higher. 
The water had overflowed almost everything, and the 
only land we found out for miles was a long lonely ridge 
of hills, running north and south, and extending from 150 
to 250ft. in height. Some of the negroes take the high 
water stoically, as if they were accustomed to it; while 
others become panic-stricken at the first alarm, and leave 
for more elevated districts. 
There was one woman living in the hills— about 175ft. 
above the highest possible stage the water could reach — 
who was told that the water would back up the little bot- 
tom in which she lived, and drown her out. She got 
scared, and became wild. She could not get her furniture 
out fast enough to suit her. Scared half to death, she left 
cabin, furniture and all to the care of others, and left for 
the highest hill she could find. It was some days before 
she could be induced to return. 
Should the water reach such a height, a person might as 
well prepare himself for Judgment day, for it would be no 
surprising thing after such an occurrence. 
At Panther Creek we did but little. Father and I went 
out early Wednesday morning, and called as we paddled 
up and down the little stream, without getting an answer 
until nearly 10 o'clock. AVe both got out of the canoe. I 
made the boat fast while father took out his tame gobbler 
and tied it to a bush. We then each stationed ourselves 
at the trunks of two big trees, about 20yds. apart, facing 
the direction we had heard the wild turkey. Father 
called. Oar tame turkey answered. The wild one gave a 
loud gobble and for a few minutes we heard nothing. 
Soon I heard a scratching sound, and saw a great, fine 
gobbler, coming as if to make straight between the two 
trees in front of which father and I were stationed, not 
more than seven steps away. Three more steps would 
place him on the direct line between us, and then neither 
could shoot without great danger. Noting this I raised 
my gun hastily and aimed; but I was too late. A bang! 
The noise of shot tearing the leaves almost at my feet and 
the turkey lay kicking in an admirable fashion. 
Father said: "Paul, I wanted .to give you the chance but 
was afraid to wait any longer," and looked upon me 
beamingly. But I had not seen him until he was very 
close, while father had seen him running along about 
40yd8. off and waited until he had gotten nearly between 
us' Well, that was the only chance I had on the trip, and 
I lost that one, so you know my success. 
We stayed at Panther Creek until Friday, but killed no 
more game, excepting a few squirrels. 
After we had gone over to the Sunflower River we heard 
a good many turkeys, but the water was over everything 
and they would not come to us. Father slipped in on one 
and killed it with his Marlin rifle. 
It is very exciting to be in a position where you can see 
about three turkeys and hear five or six, to call and get 
one or two to answer; but do nothing more. It is humili- 
ating, though, when you leave the turkeys, without a 
single exception, still where you first saw them. You be- 
stow all the blame on the high water, of course, and then, 
turkey hunting is not so very grand a thing after all. 
Monday found us at an entirely different place. It was 
at Dowling Bayou, fifteen miles higher than we had ever 
been before with our little launch Rambler. 
In the morning we aU heard turkeys, and most of us got 
a glimpse of them. Father shot four times, rewarded each 
time by seeing how fast a wild gobbler really can run, 
when safety lies before and danger behind. One came 
so near that a person would suppose it wanted to engage 
in friendly conversation. 
That day Austin and myself beat Lawrence Warner in 
three successive boat races. Every time we would leave 
him bobbing in the curl of our waves, and every time, ex- 
cepting the last, he proposed amendments to the con- 
ditions governing the race. The thu-d and final race satis- 
fied him, and created in father (an interested witness) a 
desire to show his skill. Every one is the same. Filled 
alike with overweening conceit, we would each want to 
try our own hand, and after being beaten we generally 
succeed in getting very good excuses. 
The boat Austin and I used was far the heaviest, weigh- 
ing about llOlbs; that of L. W.'s weighed about 561bs.; and 
that of father's, the Amateur, "tipped the scales" at 801bs. 
Austin and I had one advantage. We used one pair of 
oars and a paddle. This counterbalanced our own exces- 
sive weight, and nearly all that of the boat. So, you see, 
looking at the thing in a straightforward, candid manner, 
we were about equal. 
^ye had been victorious in three races, all with the same 
person; although in spite of father's apparent eagerness 
the other did not come off for several days. 
The next day L. W. had to go home. We paddled about 
twelve miles in order to reach a railway station. The 
morning before he left he killed our little hen that 
weighed about 9^1bs. We were sorry to see him go, 
though he did call Austin and I "little humpy doodles," 
and managed to get us to wash the dishes, while he benev- 
olently sat down to enjoy a novel. 
The following morning the "little humpy doodles" pad- 
dled and rowed in turn twelve miles to the station pre- 
viously mentioned, and twelve miles back, in order to 
mail a letter. 
About this time a break in the levee was reported, and 
it was expected that the little land that yet remained out 
would be submerged in a few days. This news was given 
us by two men who were paddling through the woods, 
gathering their stock off the ridges. 
One day Austin and I were paddling complacently out 
of a thickly wooded slough, up which we had been nearly 
two miles, when, accidentally looking back, we spied 
father, paddling for all he was worth, for it was evident 
that he considered this the time for his boat race. As 
soon as he noticed us watching him he slackened his speed 
and attempted to give us the impression that he was "tak- 
ing it easy." If we turned a bend and looked right sharp 
through the intervening bushes, we could see him pad- 
dling with great vigor. This he kept up until he, too, had 
turned the bend, when he would be appearing to go nicely 
and smoothly, without effort. We made no attempt to 
prevent his catching us. We knew his game, and that he 
was playing it uselessly; for it was our intention to allow 
him to come up within about 20ft, before we should our- 
selves begin to pull hard. 
Come he did. When, within 200 or 300ft. he threw aside 
all pretense, put his whole force in his oar and beat the 
water in great swirls. We let him come. When nearly 
in the given distance, he gave on awful yell, scaring every- 
thing in hearing, and even startling us. He supposed we 
had backed ■ down and the cup was his. He passed the 
danger line cutting the water at a great rate. 
We commenced. He still gained slowly — more slowly. 
He stopped gaining. He began to lose slowly — more 
rapidly. Everyone strained every muscle. We soon 
turned the bend, leaving him rolling in the waves to 
contemplate in silence the deserted appearance of the 
horizon. 
The day passed, the next did likewise, the next and the 
next, and he made no further allusion to that race, nor did 
he express any desire to try another. 
One morning, while Austin and I were paddling around 
in the overflow, we found upon the gallery of a deserted 
cabin a lot of eggs, and consequently chickens. Austin 
wished to take the eggs. I told him that the negroes had, 
perhaps, left them there intentionally for the purpose of 
hatching them. He tried to convince me in the negative, 
and I wavered. I am not obstinate, and will listen as 
readily as any one to a good, sound argument. But just at 
this moment we discovered that the nearest house had not 
yet been deserted, and thought that possibly the occupants 
might be observing our actions. Considering the matter 
carefully, we concluded to do without four eggs apiece for 
supper that night for the sake of right. 
That day we packed our things and returned home. I 
urged upon father the necessity of fixing the pump before 
we started. The thing had caused some very unpleasant 
sensations, as far as I was concerned, on the trip up 
stream. I had just put on a lot of coal and raised the 
steam to lOOlbs., when the pump absolutely refused to put 
any water in the boiler at all. 
There is no especial credit in getting blown up. That 
method of death does not suggest itself in very pleasing 
terms. In fact, one is strongly tempted to jump overboard 
and take a good cold ducking in preference to taking it by 
piecemeal. None of us, however, jumped overboard; and 
as the pump was at last induced to work, we felt consider- 
ably better. 
It is not conducive to overflowing happiness to hear the 
steam roaring under the draft of a scorching fire; to see the 
water gradually sinking in the gauge; to hear the pumps 
turned on full force and yet fail to stop that water from 
sinking in the gauge; to see it sink persistently below the 
danger line, continue, and gradually recede from sight; 
the damper up, the pump clanking as fast as she can go it, 
and every precaution taken. 
The putting up of the damper cooled the fire, which, by 
not converting water into steam so rapidly, allowed the 
water to accumulate in the boiler and reappear in the 
gauge. Owing to this I am sitting here writing to you, 
instead of lying piecemeal in the bottom of Sunflower 
River. Paul M. Polk. 
Another Arkansas Preserve Opportunity. 
Little Rock, Ark., May 7. — Ediior Forest and Stream: 
In addition to the game preserve mentioned by Mr. Claflin, 
there is another one that can be obtained. There is a tract of 
land in Faulkner county, embracing Adams Lake, Greens 
Lake and Gold Lake, and parts of Gold and Palarm Creeks, 
pin oak flats and duck marshes that can be obtained in tracts 
from 5,0U0 to 20,000 acres in a body. The lakes and streams 
are well stocked with bass and other fish, and in the woods 
is a good supply of deer and turkeys, and quail and ducks in 
abundance in the season. The Grassy Lake Club has 
bought Clear Lake and about 1 000 acres of marsh planted 
with wild rice this sea.son, and will be glad to cooperate 
with sportsmen in securing more of this territory. 
We have a comfortable club house on the tract, about 
three miles from Mayflower, which is twenty miles from 
here, on the Ft. Smith Railroad, with three trains each way 
daily. I will be glad to furnish any information to parties 
interested. J. JVL Rose. 
ON WATER AND RUNWAY. 
{Con cluded from issue of May 1.) 
The nest day we all started out about 10 o'clock to try 
another section of the lake. Nutting and I had to climb a 
hill like the roof of a house. His stand was just on the top 
of the hill, mine further over where I could look down 
toward another part of the lake. Lefebvre, with a guide, 
took the dogs, with instructions to wait sufficiently long 
until we all got proper positions, which would take some 
little time. After the guide placed us he went along with 
the rest of the party, leaving two at some runways, and 
just as he was portaging the canoe to the other lake the 
dogs passed with a deer the other side of them. They 
were just about three minutes too late. There was about 
Sin. of snow on the ground and cold, drizzly showers were 
passing every little while. It was lonesome work standing 
under a tree waiting for something to turn up. Pretty 
soon I heard a noise to my left, but to my disgust found it 
was Lefebvre with his guide perambulating around to find 
if any deer were moving. I told him he should have 
stayed on his runway, or put himself in some other place 
and not come where hunters were already stationed. He 
moved off. When about 200yds. away I saw him stop 
under some trees apparently examining something. 
Later he told me that a big buck had been sleeping there. 
A little after I heard the dogs coming, in fact saw them 
way over on another hill, going toward Nutting, but they 
and the deer passed way below him and then doubled 
back, so he did not get a shot. 
If Joe had not disturbed that buck the chances are when 
the dogs were coming with their music he would have got- 
ten up, when I am quite positive I would have seen him, 
and had he moved away, his natural course was to pass 
down the valley below me. Joe spoiled it, though. About 
1 o'clock the guide summoned me, as nothing had been 
heard of the dogs, and the party wanted to go home. 
After dinner the weather looked a little better, so we 
decided to try where we were the first day. Hudon, 
George Clement and Beaulne went with the guide in the 
canoe. Lefebvre and Joe Clement went with the dogs in 
the same direction. Nutting and I with a guide were to go 
away around a point, taking our stands between the main 
lake and another small lake, where the neck of land 
was only about three acres wide. This was considered the 
best stand, since if the dogs started the deer on the moun- 
tain the chances were they would run a while, passing by 
us for the other lake. We duly arrived and took up our 
stands, waiting patiently for the deer. We heard the dogs 
once coming, but they changed for some unknown reason, 
not coming our way. We left our stands about 5 o'clock 
and made for home. On arrival just about dusk we found 
they were all in except the canoe, but no luck. On in- 
quiry as to who were still out we found Lefebvre, Beaulne, 
Hudon and two guides were supposed to come along in the 
canoe with the dogs. 
Joe Clement had been with that party. He had a great 
story to relate. He claimed he was on a point for his 
stand, Lefebvre and the guide having left him there with 
the boat, they taking the dogs into the woods. After wait- 
ing there a considerable time he heard a shot some dis- 
tance away: a little after he heard an awful noise, between 
a bellow and a growl. It must be a bear. He was scared. 
He looked to make sure his boat was all right, then hear- 
ing this terrifying noise again, he cut for the boat, jumped 
in and rowed as fast as he could for the club house". 
He was then getting anxious about the others, especially 
as his brother George was still out. Asked as to whether 
he had heard any other shooting, he said he had heard 
several shots; did not know but that the bear must have 
captured some of them. 
They were about two miles away — five people, their 
game and two dogs, to come back in one little birchbark 
canoe. We went for him for deserting his party, as at 
least two of them expected to come back with him. The' 
bear was his only excuse. 
As it was getting dark I told the other two guides to go 
out in the skiff and bring some of them back, and see 
what was the matter. 
After they had started we heard several shots where the 
hunters should be, which we took to mean they wanted 
help. We fired some shots from the club house in answer, 
and called to the guides to fire from their boats as soon aa 
they got a little further, to let them know that help was 
coming. Clement was greatly worked up, blaming him- 
self for having run away, and of course we chaffed him in 
good style. Finally, about 7 o'clock, the two boats re- 
turned. 
It appears that Beaulne, to whom I had lent 'my rifle, 
was sitting on a big windfall watching his runway, when 
the first thing he knew two deer disappeared behind the 
roots of his windfall and stopped there. He remained 
perfectly quiet and cool, so he says, waiting for them to 
show on the other side. Finally, within about 10ft. of 
him, he saw the side, part of the head and shoulder of one 
them. Taking steady aim he fired, when down went his 
deer, a very large doe. The othgr disappeared. The 
guide, hearing the shot and Beaulne cheering, made 
toward him from his runway when he ran onto three other 
deer. He had his shotgun with a load of buckshot, and 
promptly fired at one of them, which fell. He started 
toward it when it jumped up, and he after it. It was a 
small one, and badly wounded. It made an awful bleat- 
ing, and finally got away from him. This was Joe Clem- 
ent's bear that had scared him home. This made six deer 
for the party. 
The next day we went back to where I had shot mine. 
Nutting took a stand near the lake, Whiteford in my old 
stand, I taking Joe Clement's stand, who said he had had 
enough of bear and deer, so would stay on the island near 
the club house and hunt partridges, which he did without 
any success, except that he got lost around the other side 
of the island, got completely turned around in 280 acres of 
an island, and becoming scared fired some signal shots 
which a farmer heard from the other shore, and started 
him right for the club house where he thankfully arrived. 
Lefebvre look a stand with a guide over the hill from 
me. Beaulne had developed a bad cold, so he would not 
stand on a runway, but would go with the guide and put 
in the dogs. 
I was on my stand about an hour when I heard a noise 
up the brook a bit. I brought my rifle to a ready, but 
soon saw Lefebvre with his guide coming my way. Just 
then we heard the dogs coming right toward us. Joe 
called out, "There they come," jumped under a bush, saw 
