480 
fJ>B!0.?4, 1897. 
THE STAR RETRIEVER. 
Whkn Jack Frost's busy flneera have begun their work in 
tT-ie valleys and on the hill ides Fred comes up to see me. 
We have hunted far and near, and when the sere and yellow 
leaf warns us that autumn is well on the road, the cares of 
business no longer bind us, and we take down a brace of 
trim 12 gauges and saunter forth. This year was no excep- 
tion, and so a matter of three weeks ago Fred came up to 
ee me. 
Fred dotes on dogs. A dog has great charms for him, 
whether it be the mange-strieken cur of a Canuck or the 
hi ufst- blooded hound in Vermont. And as sure as Fred 
walks in on me he straightway hrings forth the best dog for 
hirds in A''ermont. Last year the wonder was a plain "yal- 
ler dorg.'" But Fred said : "You couldn't heat him for par- 
tridges." And so it proved, for thoueh beaten with every- 
thing, from a birch sapling to a gun barrel, not a bird was 
shot over him during our two weeks' hunt. 
This year the new dog was labeled retriever, and war- 
ranted to swim a mile for a duck; a dog that Fred said had 
just returned from the Dakotas, where So and So had been 
shooting. The dog looked all right, and appeared to be a 
dog of good morals and tremendous appetite. The last vir- 
tue nearly did for him, for be undertook to eat our lunch one 
day and nearly choked himself to death on a string that was 
wrapped about the parcel. 
Of course it was criminality to let the dog's great hunting 
faculties remain so long dormant, so one fine morning in a 
dnzzUng mist Fred and I set out for the Lamaille River, a 
famous place for ducks. A hasty survey of the stream from 
a nearby knoll disclosed a fine flock of ducks feeding in the 
shallows near at hand, and then, with caution and skill that 
would have done credit to an Apache Indian, we wormed 
our way in a very wormlike fashion through a patch of lux- 
uriant thistles, a bog hole, and several alder thickets, to a 
point where we were within gunshot of the flock. 
Springing to his feet, Fred let both barrels fly into the 
flock, and to his great delight four birds floated dead on the 
surface, while the rest lit out for pleasanter climes. At th.e 
sound of the gun the dog made for the game, and after a 
long struggle brought a bird to land, and then gravely com- 
menced an impromptu meal, the other three ducks in the 
meantime drifting down stream at a rapid rate. By dint of 
a club and some strong language the dog was once more 
launched, and this time when he reached the bird, instead of 
returning, he pushed on to the opposite shore in spite of 
stones, clubs and a volley of remarks from Fred, none of 
which, however, the sagacious animal minded in the least. 
The opposite shore reached, he landed and sat down con- 
tentedly to a meal of raw duck, while we watched his 
motions with anything but pleasure that was not in the 
least heightened at seeing the remainder of our bag lost to 
view down the stream. Whistling, scolding or coaxing 
alike he heeded not, but kept right on with his meal until 
fully an hour elapsed, when he deliberately swam across 
and with an extremely self-satisfied air, where he was wel- 
comed with open arms and a club. We were disgusted and 
£0 was the dog, and as we wended our way homeward we 
ruminated over the fickleness of the dogkind in general. 
After that, on our hunts, Echo (for that was our beast's most 
appropriate name) remained at home, and we went back to 
the old-fa&hioned way of getting our duck with a pole. 
Fred went back to the city soon after, but has been out 
ducking since. The dog works better, he says, or to quote 
his letter; "I have rigged up a light pole with reel and troll- 
ing line, and when I drop a duck I cast Echo; he nabs the 
duck and I reel him in." A genius is Frederick. 
Kenewah. 
Milton, Vb.; Nov, 35. 
MAINE DEER AND MOOSE. 
Boston, Nov. 27.— Mr. Dana J. Flanders, General Pas- 
senger and Ticket Agent of the Boston & Maine Railroad, 
with his shooting friends, Eugene Nelson, H. G. Jordan and 
Dr. Libby. have recently returned from a successful deer 
hunt in Maine They went to Ashland, the end of that 
branch of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, and from 
thence into the woods for many miles into a good moose 
country. A moose was the prime object of Mr. Flanders, as 
well as every other man in the party, but the weather condi- 
tions hardly favored them. Thev got into camp a day or 
two before the snowstorm of Nov. 13. The first day in. 
there was jast a little damp snow, but worth nothing for 
tracking. The second morning when they arose there were 
16in. of snow on the ground. The guides admitted that it 
would be hard tramping, and the hunters really found it so. 
The next day still more snow had fallen, and still it either 
snowed or rained ntarly every day tbey were in camp. They 
secured a buck deer apiece, but no moo^^e; the tramping 
was too hard for following them Mr. Flanders says that 
the beauty of the forests, with the 16in, of snow, on that 
second day was sufiicient to have paid for the whole trip, 
even if no game had taetn obtained, 
A big moose was killed near Andover, Me., last week, 
said to have weighed 1 000 bs. A £on of Mr. Aiiger is re- 
ported to have been the lucky hunter, Mr. Herb Knapo has 
killed a big bull moose just below the summit, on the Rum- 
ford Falls & Rangeley Lakes Railroad, within a few days 
aga. This moose was killed not many miles to the east of 
where the one taken to Andover was taken. There are a 
few moose left in that part of Maine, Several have been 
tracked in the vicinity of Metallic Point. When the begin- 
ning of the open season on moose was put forward to Oct. 
15 it was thought that the number killed in the State would 
be greatly lessened for the season. But, as mentioned above, 
the number has been increased in the section of Andover and 
Rangeley, since none were killed in that tection last year. 
The records of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad show that 
during the last fifteen days of October there were killed 
along the line of that road fifty-five moose, while the total 
for the whole month last year was but fifty-nine. The hunt- 
ers have been much more earnest and the guides have bees 
employed to locate moose early even if they have not killed 
them and had them ready for the sportsmen. The snows 
have also been very favorable this year. Special. 
IfDrth Carolina Ducks. 
New Inlet Club, New Inlet Life Saving Station, N, C, 
by way of Hatteras.— Plenty of fowl of all kinds, but no 
weather and no water in the Sound. Edwakd Baizes, 
Wateb Lily, Currituck Sound, N, C„ Nov, 22,— Aa 
predicted by your correspondent on Oct. 27, the opening 
day was a good onej some old-time bags were made and 
almost every hunter was successful. One of the oldest 
hunters here informs me that the shooting has not been bet- 
ter at any lime during the past ten years. There are two 
good reasons for this, which prove the great importance of 
game laws. First, our rest days— Sunday, Wednesday and 
Saturday— are rigidly kept. The second is that the brackish 
water caused by the autumn storms the past two years has 
caused the wild celery to grow in abundance Some of the 
bags made on the first day were as follows: Pierce Hampton, 
one of our best huniers, 130; James W. Hampton 107, John 
S. Midgett 70, L Barco 140, Seth Ballance 145, Wallace 
O'Neal 80. They were principally redheads and ruddy 
ducks; but there was a sorinkling of canvasbacks and other 
kinds. The ducks were very poor on arrival, but are in fine 
condition now. The shooting last week, the third one of the 
season, was quite as good as the first. Currituck. 
Mount Airy, N, C, Nov. 17.— As so many sportsmen 
are misled by exaggerated statements about game in differ- 
ent localities, we desire to state for the benefit of our brother 
sportsmen that we have struck a place where quail are 
found in great abundance, and where we can get all the 
shooting we want. 
We left Irvington-on-LIudson on last Thursday, and ar- 
rived at Mount Airy, N. C, on Friday afternoon. Satur- 
day^ we walked to the hunting grounds, and at no time 
during the day were we more than one mile from the town. 
We found twslve or fourteen large coveys of well grown, fat 
birds Monday we took a team and went four or five miles 
out, and met with fqually as good success as on Saturday. 
To-day we went in another direction, and had even better 
success than before, returning to-night with wtll-filled bags, 
J P. WOODRIFP. 
E. J. Whitehouse. 
TnuRMAN, N. C— I went turkey hunting on Nov. 12, and 
saw lots of turkers. I made the worst shots I ever did make 
in my life, shooting six times, only killing one turkey, whicli 
weighed lOlbs. I was all alone in the woods, and wished for 
some one to be there to share in the fun. 
There are lots of quail, more than 1 have ever seen before, 
and they are the largest ever seen in North Carolina. 
Mr. S. Haskett was out one day last week looking for 
some cows and jumped up three deer. He snapped at them, 
but his gun failed to fire. 
I was out last Wednesday night and caught three coons. 
John S. Habdison. 
The Fox as Game. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I believe you profess to be strongly in favor of game pro- 
tection and the promotion of all legitimate sport in the line 
of hunting. You would say that the man who would trap 
or snare any kind of game birds waa a foe to sport and 
sportsmen. 
Now it maybe that one class of sportsnpen is more worthy 
and deserving of consideration than another cla^s; but I 
think that it makes no difference what game a man hunts if 
he does it in a sportsmanlike manner. There is a large class 
of sportsmen (and I think you will not deny that they are 
the equals in all respects of any other class), which finds its 
chief sport in the use of the foxhound and the pursuit of the 
red fox. 
If the fox were himted only in a legitimate manner, this 
sport might be prolonged indefinitely, but under the abom- 
inable work of the trapper the number of foxes is steadily 
growing less, and in the course of twenty-five years the 
grand old sport of foxhunting will be almost unknown in 
the northern part of the United States. Yet notwithstand- 
ing this, such a paper as Forest and Stream advertises a 
wonderful fox trapping secret. 
It hardly seems possible that such a paper as Forest and 
Stream, which takes such a high stand in matters of game 
protection, should, for the sake of a few paltry dol'ars 
which may be obtained from the sale of the book containing 
this secret, be willing to assist in the extinction of the 
gamiest animal in the United States, and thus deprive a 
large class of sportsmen of the best sport on earth. 
I know the fox is not protected by law, but in some sec- 
tions of the world, notably in England, there are unwritten 
laws which prevent the trapping of foxes as certainly as 
would the strongest writt«,'n law. 
1 WiLLARD H, SULLITAJff, 
Clinton, Me. 
Ontario Deei", Grouse and Bass. 
Belleville, Out , Nov. 26. — The deer hunting season in 
this district was a fjirly good one Nearly all the parties 
closely approached the legal limit of two each, and several 
bears were shot. While a considerable number of fawns 
were killed, some very large bucks also fell to the hunters' 
rifles, among whkjhwere two giants of the (reported) weights 
of 351 and 306lb8. respectively, I do not vouch for these 
figures 
Ducks have not been so numerous in many years— particu- 
larly black ducks. Even thus late in tbe season there are 
large numbers of them in the Bay of Qainte, and they are 
in prime condition, 
Ruiled grouse have been very scarce, owing to a heavy 
rainstorm which occurred when the chicks were too young 
to find for themselves. 
As to black bass fi hing;' it was beyond precedent, Wm, 
Ormond, our most famou* angler, caught eighty fish which 
would average nearly 21 hSt on one day in September, and 
two days later his catch numbered sixty. As soon, how- 
ever, as the fishermen learned the facts, their gill nets were 
set on the bars, and catc hes were small thereafter. It is to 
be regretted that the law does not prevent such vandalism. 
R. S. B. 
A Watei'proof Match Safe. 
New YonK —Editor Forest and IStream: Sporting and 
woodcraft boots advise everyone away for an outing in the 
woods to provide himself with a waterproof match safe. 
You might get drenched by rain or by capsizing from a boat. 
If the nearest dry match is twenty miles away you are in a 
sad plight indeed. Men going to Klondike need dry matches 
quite as much as tVod a ad clothing. 
1 searched New York city for two weeks this fall for a 
waterproof maich safe, and learned there is none in the 
market. I inquired in theJargest sporting goods houses and 
in rubber goods stores ; oae house referred me to the other. 
I repeat: there seems to be no such article in the market. 
I was bound to have one, notwithstanding. I found it 
with .lohn Campbell, 2iJ8 Lexington avenue (surgical instru- 
ment maker). He calls It an ic >d of orm duster. 
It is a screw-top, hard-rubber case. Remove the sieve 
from screw top, put in a leather washer, and you have a 
pocket case that will contain thirty matches absolutely 
waterproof. It has cylindrical shape, if in. long and ^in, in 
diameter. Costs 75 cents. F, M, Bauer. M,D, 
Proprietors of fishing resoHs will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
The "Game Laws in Brief." 
Thk current edition of the Game Laws in Brief (index page dated 
Aug. 1) contains the fish and game laws for 1897, with a few excep- 
tions, as ihey will continue in force during the year. Aa about forty 
States and Provinces have amended their laws this year, the Brief 
has been practically done over new. Sent postpaid by the Forest 
and Stream Pub. Co, on receipt of price, 25 cents. All dealers sell it 
THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM. 
BY FRED MATHER, 
^Concluded.)' 
Then we go to the fresh water tanks in the gallery, 
and see enormous bullheads and albino bullheads; pirate 
perch, suckers, Irish roach, golden tench, tadpoles, crayfish, 
white perch, Swiss lake trout, brook pike and yellow perch 
from Prospect Park, Brooklyn, which look to weigh I J-lbs., 
the largest that 1 ever saw. Here is a tank of "mud pup- 
pies" from the Great Lakes, perhaps a dozen of them lying 
huddled in a corner next the glass, and only betraying the 
fact that they are alive by the waving of their prominent 
outside gills. Naturalists call this beast "proteus," because 
it has occasionally changed its form, and has a dual devel- 
opment, just as it a tadpole could breed without changing 
iuto a frog and breed in that state also. As in the case of the 
hermit crab, I could write a volume on this larval salaman- 
der, but will only say : Imagine an animal about afoot or more 
long, with four legs and a tail, much like a hellbender, with 
a mass of brilliant red gills outside its head, which are in 
constant motion and are entirely unprotected. The tad- 
poles of the salamanders and other reptiles are in the same 
condition for a short time only, but this animal may grow 
to its full size, live, breed and die in the tadpole state, or 
may absorb its gills and appear in a new role. In the latter 
case the older naturalists gave different names to this curi- 
ous beast, which is capable of reproduction in its immature 
state, and so we have the names siredon, axolott, ambly- 
stoma, etc , for different species of this same "mud puppy' 
which the fishermen on the Great Lakes call "lizard." 
In this connection I wish our schools would teach children 
that a lizard has scales, lives on land and climbs fences and 
trees, while similar forms with smooth skins live lu the 
water or under rotten logs or leaves, and are properly known 
as salamanders, newts, efts, etc., the latter name being some- 
times corrupted into "evet." A tanii or two of salt water is 
found on this side of the gallery, and one contains those deli- 
cate little things known as sea horses, because their heads are 
so like those of the "knights" in a set of chess men. Some- 
times it needs a long search to find the little fellows among 
the seaweed, where they cling by their prehensile tails, and 
only move their pectoral fins to pass the water from their 
gills. When they swim they stand upright and use the 
dorsal fin as a propeller. Surely they are funny fellows, but 
they don't know it. At least, the male sea horse never 
suspects it, for in the place of an anal tin, which Mrs. S. H, 
has, he has a pouch like a kangaroo or an opossum, into 
which purse Mrs. Sea Horse drops her treasures in the shape 
of eggs and then goes off to gossip among the kelp and 
bladder wrack while her lord (V) not only hatches the little 
sea horses in his incubator, but actually starts out with about 
fifty of them twined about his tail, nose, neck, and those 
many projections on his anatomy that possibly may have 
been put upon him for this purpose and not for ornament. 
After a careful study of the sea horse 1 think his lot far 
superior to that of the Brooklyn father who patiently 
trundles a baby carriage, in that city where the baby car- 
ria.ge has the right of way and the pedestrian has none. 
But the anemones and the living corals claim attention, 
and what is more beautiful than the sensitive sea anemone? 
They are literally the "flowers of the sea"; rooted to the 
rocks, expanoing when seeKing food with their many tenta- 
cles, or shrinking to a flat bit of jelly when sated or alarmed. 
They are among the most interesting invertebrates; they 
vary in size, shajpe and color, as well as in their disposition 
to display themselves. 
Before reaching the salt-water tanks in the gallery, we 
come to some table tanks, and find both fresh and salt-water 
tortoises and turtles. There are the two species of soft- 
shelled turtle from the Lakes and the West; the savage snap- 
per and the yellow-bellied "flider" of the South, which is 
used to extend and expand the terrapin stew in Baltimore, 
Philadelphia and New York, where the genuine article sells 
for $60 to $90 per dozen for "counts" which measure 6in. 
on the under shell. I do not blame the "slider" in the least 
for passmg for a "diamond- back" in this case, and I would 
do the same under the circumstances. With this in mind, 
the green turtle, which has only its green gelatinous "cali- 
pee" to distinguish it from "mock turtle," made from calves' 
heads, seems to be a poor relation, although it often attains 
a weight of over 6001bs, Then there is tne hawksbill turtle, 
with its shell-plates overlapping, like shingles on a roof. I 
said : "Although men refuse to eat jour flesh, they value the 
plates on your carapace. You are the only member of your 
tribe which contributes anything in the way of ornament to 
mankind, and now the makers of celluloid articles imitate 
your shell so closely that only an expert can tell the differ- 
ence, and, therefore, you are not much in demand to day." 
Passing to the salt water side of the gallery the naturalist 
becomes n'ore interested. The fishes are not so large and 
that is one of the charms. Here we come upon many 
familiar species and others which are strange. Without 
enumerating them all we will look at the toadfish, not hand- 
some, but owning a good open countenance into which it 
can take small fish, crabs, or any other form of aquatic life. 
The oysters and clams are uninteresting unless one has time 
to observe the way they create currents in the water in order 
to pass food to their mouths, and the casual visitor never 
notices that Young horsefeet not over Bin, broad scramble 
over each other and get thrown on their backs, where they 
struggle for a long lime before they can right themselves in 
their clumsy "way, and the porgies swim above them in per- 
fect contentment, never noticing their troubles. 
