486 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 19, 1887 
A PRAIRIE CHICKEN DIVIDE. 
Wymore, Neb., June 1. — Editor Forest and Sf/ream: Fif- 
teen years ago Dick and I were strug'sling young attorneys 
of this city. We lived on the same block. He had a wife 
and two cMldren. He never hunted. Never fired a gun in 
his life, but could see a "law point " in everv circumstance 
of life. I was a hunter and had a 10 gauge Parker hammer 
gun and a dog. In those days the law business was my 
dissipation, hunting was my business. 
One hot afternoon in August of 1882', at about 4 o'clock, 
I was at home when Dick came over, looking very gloomv. 
and said that his wife and children were all sick, and could 
not eat anything, and he thought if they had a youne prairie 
chicken they might be able to eat that, so he apked me if I 
would give him half the chickens I could shoot if he would 
hire a buggy and take me out. I promptly told him I 
would. He started for the livery stable, but after going 
about two blocks came back and said: "Say, if we should 
only get one chicken under this aTrangeraent. to whom 
would it belong, you or me?" I insisted that in law it 
would belong to me, there would be nothing to divide. But 
he argued that it ought to belong to him, because he was 
bearing the larger part of the expense, etc., so we finally 
compromised. I proposed that we should divide the chick- 
ens in this way, he to have the first, I the second, and so on. 
Dick agreed to this and went after the buggv, but when he 
came back he had a horse and a two-wheeled cart, I bad 
never ridden in one of these carts, but I put in the gun and 
doe and got in and away we went. 
Dick drove, and when out of town about two miles we 
came to a bridge that bad a jump-up of about four inches. 
We struck it on the full trot, and Dick landed straddle of 
one of the shafts, the dog went out and so did the gun. I 
pulled Diek back in, then T gathered up my gun and found 
one hammer broken off. I let the dog walk, and we started 
on. I then talked to Dick a little, but will not repeat the 
conversation here. 
About a mile further on the dog pointed in the road, and 
Dick drove over him, and up went a covey of about twenty 
chickens. I took a shot at the flock, but of course did not 
touch a feather. We watched them down less than a quar- 
ter of a mile away, and went to them. The dog pointed, 
the whole covey flushed, and I pulled the trigger of the 
barrel that had the hammer broken off, but finally ga ve it 
up and pulled the other trigger. The chickens all sailed on. 
We marked them down and followed, the dog pointed, one 
chicken got up, the old Parker spoke and down came the 
chicken. This was Dick's chicken, and he left the horse 
standing and rushed in to retrieve it. He flushed the flock, 
got his chicken, and started to the cart but the old horse 
had started for town. I watched the race, well knowing 
how it would come out. Dick gave it up and came back, 
the horse and cart went to town. I then talked s^me more 
to Dick, and then we followed the chickens. We found 
them, the old dog pointed, thev got up one at a time, and in 
ten minutes thirteen more nf the beauties were retrieved. I 
picked up two. and told Dick he could have the rest of 
thetn. He picked them un, and carried about thirty -five 
pounds of prairie chicken four miles to town. It was aw- 
fully hot; but he got home with his load at last, and never 
asked me to go hunting with him again. 
Dick is now a prominent lawyer of Denver, Colorado, still 
looking for "law points"; but he never shoots, and I pity 
him. I am still here. The chickens are about all gone. I 
am too old and fat to bunt, but T have the little hammerless 
in the oflice, and every once in a while I take it out and look 
it over, point at flies or skeets on the windows, and wonder 
how anything could get away. Then J take nn Fobest 
AND Steeam and read "Men I Have Fished With," and 
" Recollections of Iowa," and dream of happv times long 
gone by. A. D. McCandijE6s, 
P.S. — ^Dick's wife and children got well. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Ate the Cat. 
OHiCAao, 111., June 5 — The prevailing hard times in Chi- 
cago have been the cause of an incident perhaps somewhat 
unique. I recently had some work done by a taxidermist 
who had occasion to give out the tanning of some skins. 
When the tanner, a German by nationality, delivered the 
skins to the taxidermist, he said that he would like to have 
'his money right away, as limes were pretty hard with him. 
He added incidentally that he had just eaten the family cat. 
It seems that the Tiamfraii was away on a visit, her especial 
pet the family cat, being left thus unprotected. The head of 
the family, being out of refreshments of a solid or liquid 
nature, killed the cat, for which he had no special love in 
animate form, and sold the skin, a very fine one, for 30 
cents. He completed the matter by eating the cat, which he 
declared was good. When I expressed some surprise at this 
action on his part, he answered in a most positive manner 
that these questions in gustatory matters were all foolishness. 
"Meat is meat I" said he, conclusively. I had never looked at 
the matter in exactly this way before. 
Western Game. 
Mr. Joseph Irwin, of Little Eock, Ark., spent a couple of 
days in Chicago this week, on his way to Boston and other 
Eastern points. Mr. Irwin is manager of the Capitol Hotel, 
at Little Rock, and a very well-posted shooter. He says 
that the deer and turkevs in Arkansas suffered very severely 
during the overflow this spring. The residents were out 
along the bluffs of the streams in numbers, armed with all 
sorts of firearms, and the deer were shot down by scores and 
hundreds Numbers of t^e deer were thus forced to leave 
their native feeding grounds, and scattered out over the 
country back from the bottoms, where they had not been so 
abundant before. The wild turkeys suffered very much 
It was not the least difficult to kill them in quantities, as a 
boat could be run directlv under the trees where they had 
taken refuge. As the birds had no place to go except to 
other trees they were loth to fly, and often the entire flock 
could be shot out of a tree. Mr. Irwin saw in one lot twenty- 
eight turkeys which had that day been killed and brought 
into market, and every one of these was wet, showing that 
they had all been shot out of trees, falling into the water. 
The prospect for quail next season he reports to be very 
good, and the bass fishing is now excellent near Little Rock. 
Mr. Irwin brings up the curious fact that in Arkansas the 
open season begins on Aug. 1. Surely, that country must 
need all its fruitfrdness. 
Mr. J. G. Smith writes me from Algona, la. , that the sea- 
eon will be a very good one for pairie chickens. There 
was a.great deal^of water in upper Iowa this spring, but the 
nesting grounds have dried off since then, and during May 
there was very little rain, so that it was a fine month for the 
birds. Mr. Smith reports that the lakes and sloughs have 
fllled up again with water, po that he expects to see a flight 
of ducks during the coming fall. 
A Seal Round-up. 
I take the following curious item from the press despatches 
from San Francisco. The idea of branding the seal herd 
would seem to be a new onp, though there is room to doubt 
that the pelagic sealer will be much deterred in his work by 
the possibility of getting in a large line of damaged goods. 
The dispatch reads : 
San Francisco. Cat., May 23 — Dr. David Starr Jordan, who will be 
the Aniprican scientiflc representative at; the Pribylov Islands this 
summer, says? that as the British Government has not come to satfs- 
faetory terms with tbe United States for the protection of fur seals 
in Behringr Sea the TTnitecI States will begin this summer, through the 
Fur Seal Oommission. the work of braiidiup: the female seals on the 
Pribylov Islands. This will spoil the skins of branded seals, and so 
stop nelaeic sealinar by making- it unprofitable. One of Dr. Jordan's 
assist^ants. Elmer Farmer, expert electrician, has invented an elec- 
trical machine for brandiner seals, and if it proves satisfactory it will 
do a great deal t^'ward settling' the seal question. There is a possi>^il- 
ity that the female seals may be corralled on one of the islands dur- 
inV the sealina season. This will necessitate building about two miles 
of board fence, and it is not certain yet whether lumber can be pro- 
cured. It will be done if possible. 
Cultivated CInsene. 
All trappers from North Carolina to Maine, and from 
Wisconsin to Mississippi, know the value of the ginseng 
root, so fondly loved bv the heathen Chinee. This rare and 
valuable root is something of a source of revenue to woods 
dwellers in the wilder parts of the country. Naturally, in 
these progressive days, so valuflble a product cannot be over- 
looked in commerce. A Mr. Page, an Illinois farmer, has 
been experimenting for some time in the cultivation of the 
ginseng plant in a domestic state. Like other purely wild 
creatures, the gin.=eng plant resented this sort of thing, and 
at first Mr. Page failed signally ir '•^is efforts to tame it. He 
studied the plant, however, in North Carolina and West 
Virginia, and has lately made a success in raising it. He has 
formed an arrangement with a New York capitalist to go 
into ginseng farming operations in the State of North Caro- 
lina, where he expects to make a good many thousands of 
dollars an acre from his land each year. E. Hough. 
1206 BoYCE Building. Chicago. 
SPRING SHOOTING. 
TorojhTO. Canada, June 10 — Editor ForeM and Rrenm: 
The opportune and common sense article of Mr. W G. Van 
Name, in your issue of June 5, has opened the way for all 
true sportsmen to join in the crusade against snring shooters 
and pot hunters of high and low degree. To prove the 
necessity of some such action being taken and the beneficial 
results that would accrue therefrom, it is only necessai-y for 
any doubtiag Thomas to board one of the numerous pleasure 
steamers starting from the American shore of Lake St. Clair, 
where soring shooting prevails, and uote the ab«ience of birds, 
especially waterfowl, until the dividing line is passed, when 
he will notice that the bays and mar.obes on the Canadian 
shore where spring shooting is prohibited, are teeming with 
ducks of every description, many varieties breeding there. 
Many men claiming to he sportsmen are sailing under false 
colors. Many who are members of so called hunting or 
sportsmen's clubs, are in a large meawre responsible for the 
continuance of spring shooting. Which is the most to 
blame— the market hunter, who, in many instances is too 
ignorant to know that he is doing wrong by shooting game 
during the breeding season for the support of his family, or 
the so-called, educated, fashionable mpmber of a sportsman's 
club, who knowingly does wrong from selfish motives? 
Where should the example come from? Let us act up to the 
•orecept " Where much is given, much is required." Let us 
hear no more of this class of sportsmen unblushingly send- 
ing accounts to Forest and Stream, of the hundreds of 
ducks or snipe killed by them when unfit for food and rest- 
ing from their long and weary flight on the way to the 
breeding grounds. But, says the advocate of spring shooting. 
"If we do not shoot ducks, snipe, plover, etc., on their way 
to their breeding resorts, others will!" This is neither a 
valid or reasonable excuse. A thief might, in the same man- 
ner, justify his stealing on the plea that if he had not stolen 
the articles some other thief would. 
When reading the miserable exploits of would-be sports- 
men shooting a poor doe or fawn with the aid of jack lights, 
I cannot help comparing it with burglary and dark lanterns, 
and conclude that the jack lighter has missed his vocation. 
Ranger, 
THE INVASION OF MINNESOTA. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
For my text, permit me totakf the following from "Chica- 
go and the West" of June'12 : "These gentlemen should have 
very good sport from all accounts, and I look upon their 
trip with some curiosity, considering them in a manner the 
advance guard of the army of sportsmen who, T predict, 
will invade Minnesota as a new hunting and fishing terri- 
tory." 
The hearts of all sportsmen should thump and thump 
again with gladness at the information that Minnesota can 
be invafled by anyone as a new hunting and fishing terri- 
tory. Every year of the x>asX twenty or more that State has 
been literally overrun with fishers and shooters. In the 
open sea.son,* baggage cars are crowded with dogs and camp 
paraphernalia, the passenger cars have a generous patronage 
of various costumed shooters, from far and near, in every 
point of the compass. The roadways throughout that State, 
so quiet most of the year, afford transit to the farm or livery 
wagon laden with camners and camp outfits, or shooters 
and their dogs in search of grounds for the day's sport, or 
fishers on their way to what is thought to be favored waters, 
and hurry as they may, there usually is some one before 
them. 
The best known sections swarm with shooters and fishers; 
whole sections are shot out in a day or two after the season 
opens, and so it has been for years; the State is raked over 
from corner to corner for its birds and fish every year. And 
yet it is about to be invaded as a new hunting and fishing 
territory. 
Already the State has passed a law discriminating against 
shooters from States which have non resident license laws, 
There cannot possibly be the absurdity of a new invasion, 
but if the same old invasion grows larger with the danger 
imminent that the non-residents shall strip the country of all 
its game instead of a reasonable quantity, the time is short 
before Minnesota has a law similar to that of Dakota 
governing non-resident shooters. 
I would be obliged if you would tell me just what parti- 
cular part of Minnesota has not been invaded bv hunters. 
Please write the information and send it securely sealed, 
that I may have a chance to make a break for the favored 
country. Don't put it in your paper, where others may see 
it, or 1 won't get a fair start. Grumbler. 
■ Pheasants and Quail for New Jersey. 
The May Report of State Fish and Game Protector Charles 
A. Shriner records a distribution of ring-necked pheasants, 
generally in lots of twelve, to these points ; Beach Haven, 
Oradell, Trenton. Saipm, Glassboro, Woodbury, Fleming- 
ton, Asbnry Park. Port Elizabeth, Bridgeton, Millville, 
Manumuskin, Alloway, Hainesport, Browus Mills, Colum- 
bus, Mt. Arlington. Newfoundland, In all cases where such 
arrangements could be made the birds were placed on prop- 
erty where no shoo*^ing will be permitted for a year or two, 
in order to give the birds an opportunity to increase. In 
many cases farmers owning adjoining properties agreed to 
prohibit all shooting for a year or two and placed the birds 
in inclosures for the purpose of collecting the eggs; the lat- 
ter were placed under hens and the young broods permitted 
to find their wav into the fields and woods. In this way, it 
is hoped, that this attractive and valuable bird will become 
acclimated in this State and afford spoit for others than 
wealthy members of clubs. The birds were introduced in 
this State a number of years ago and experience has shown 
that in many places they have done 'srell, considerable num- 
bers escaping from the preserves in the northern part of the 
State. The southern part of the State seems admirablj'' 
adapted to the wants of the birds, and with judicious pro- 
tective legislation there seems no reason to doubt that the 
birds will shortly take the place in a great measure of the 
fast-disappearing indigenous partridge. 
Quail were distributed, generally in lotri of 100, to Oradell, 
Trenton, Salem, Glassboro, Woodbury, Flemmgton, Asbury 
Park, Bridgpton, Midvale, Stockholm, Hainesport. Mt. 
Arlington. This is about one-half of the total number of 
birds ordered, but the failure to deliver the rest was wholly 
unanticipated, aesurancps haying been received that every 
order given would be filled. Considerable disappointment 
on the part of a number of persons to whom birds were 
ordered sent was the consequence, but under the circum- 
stances this could not be avoided. As with the ring-necked 
pheasants the birds were placed where there was good reason 
to believe they would not be shot off by pot-hunters and in 
a number of "localities where birds were placed no gunning 
will be permitted for a year or two. The birds all came 
from the northwest, and consequently it is to be expected 
that they will not only withstand the rigors of our winters, 
but that they will increase. All were large and hardy birds, 
an exceedingly small number being lost in transit. 
Pheasants in Texas. 
Petty, Tex., June 8. — Editor Forest and Stream: At a 
meeting of the Waco Pheasantry Club, thanks were voted 
to the Legislature for protecting pheasants for five years 
from the gunners. The secretary reported over 200 young 
birds hatched and in a thriving condition. The best 
success has been attained with English ringnecks. A 
quartet of ringnecks in wire-mesh coops have produced 150 
eggs, most of which hatched well under hens. The chicks 
are healthy and feed well on anything commonly used for 
food among poulterers. Millet seed is particularly good. 
The club has distributed ef'gs in other parts of the State. 
The supply is not equal to the demand, and no more eggs 
will be sent out. After the spring broods are two years old 
the club will turn them loose in McLennan and adjoining 
counties for the general good of the State There are no 
birds or eggs in the hands of the club for sale. The object 
is to start the pheasants as a Texas bird to supply the place 
of the extinct prairie chickens. The Pheasantry Club are 
putting their power in the right direction, and we hope 
with the aid of all good citizens and our recently enacted 
game law that the pheasant industry may grow to enormous 
proportions in this State, as we see nothing to prevent the 
naturalization and increase of this valuable game bird. 
Should the club succeed in their efforts to get a supply of 
pheasants planted in the Brazos bottoms it will induce others 
in other parts of the State to make an effort in that direc- 
tion, and we sincerely hope ere the five years' close season on. 
these birds will have elapsed that they may have been scat- 
tered all over the State. F. E. W. 
Proprietors of flshing resorts vdll find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
ANGLING IN QUEBEC. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The prolonged and quite unprecedented season of rain that 
has marked the present spring proved very discouraging for 
anglers going into the northern woods Fly-fishing has been 
far from good in most cases, consequent upon the exceed- 
ingly high water in both rivers and lakes. A number of 
good fish have been taken, but the large proportion of the 
big ones have fallen to the share of the troller. Lake Ed- 
ward has yielded, and is still yielding, about its average 
quota of trout from 3 to 51bs. weight But the record of the 
season, and for the matter of that, the record of many sea- 
sons, has been made this spring upon the Triton Tract. 
A distinguished party of anglers from Syracuse, N. Y., 
arrived here a night or two ago from their club waters on the 
Triton Tract. Notwithstanding the disagreeable and un- 
favorably wet weather of the last few week«, which caused 
Grand Lake Batiscan to rise no less than a foot and a half in 
two days, the party secured very good sport The Hon. 
William B. Kirk, ex-Mayor of Syracuse, killed three trout 
in one day that weighed ISlbs., and also caught the heaviest 
fish yet reported from the Tract— a brook trout of Qlbs, 
This fish was caught on a trolled buck hair fly made by Mr. 
McHarg, of Rome. N, T. It took nearly half an hour to 
kill and was finally netted by Master Edgar Gregory, the 
»young son of the proprietor of the Yates House, of Syracuse, 
who is a true chip of the old block. The fish is to be care- 
fully mounted and is a beautifully bright- colored specimen 
of our Sahno fontinalis. Another fortunate angler wa'^ Mr. 
M, 0. Pierce, of Syracuse, who caught one trout of 8i]l>s. 
and another of 6|-lbs. The party 'saw a magnificent bull 
moose, wMcli CftBiS within 150ft. of them. Some of their 
