Dec 11 1897 J 
FOREST 'AND STREAM. 
46B 
Upon this occasion Mr. Boyden refused to take a 
shot when with us, stating that he preferred to see us 
shoot; but when he was away from us and flushed a bird 
we heard from him, and as on each occasion I slyly passed 
him a bird Mr. Ashmun never mistrusted that he was not 
as good a shot as he was companion. 
Broiled Woodcock. 
It was upon this occasion that Mr. Boyden ate his first 
broiled woodcock, although he was greatly shocked when 
Mr. Ashmun proposed that we have some cooked in this 
way. Mr. Ashmun had a national reputation as a. good 
judge of what was good and proper to eat, but Mr. Boyden 
thought it almost sacrilege to cook the royal bird in any 
other way than to roast it in a hot oven. I forget just how 
many minutes, but Mrs. Kinney— our hostess at Holland 
—knew to a second, and they always came to the table 
done to a turn. 
Mr. Boyden was also a pretty good judge of good living, 
and he and Mr. Ashmun had quite an argument on the 
question, which was finally left to my decision. This I 
promised to give that evening at the dinner table. And 
in order that the grounds upon which I decided the ques- 
tion might be understood, as we arrived at the hotel I 
went upstairs to the north window — where we always 
hung our game— and selected three plump birds, which I 
plucked, and then going to the kitchen I obtained a sauce- 
pan, into which I poured two teacups of milk, to which I 
added a piece of butter the size of an egg and set it on the 
stove, and ordered three generous slices of toast; then 
drawing my birds, I carefully washed the trail and 
dropped it into the saucepan with the milk and 
butter. I then split the birds on the back and 
wiping them dry with a soft cloth placed them on the 
gridiron, and as the fire was just right they were soon 
done to a tm-n— not dried up or burnt, but cooked 
through, and then removed and seethed for a couple 
of minutes in the milk, which was nearly but not 
quite at the boiling point. Meantime the toast had 
been placed on a platter of the proper size, and the 
birds were now laid upon it, breast up, and the contents 
of the. saucepan poured over them, after adding about one- 
half of a level teaspoonful of salt. Then dinner was an- 
nounced, and I carried them to the dining room steaming 
hot, and placed them in front of Mr. Boyden. He looked 
at them rather disdainfully; then helping Mr. Ashmun and 
me, he took the remaining one on his plate, and as he 
made an incision with his knife, I could see his face gradu- 
ally change from its half-concealed look of disdain to one 
of plea,8ed surprise. Then he cut oS a morsel and placed 
it in his mouth, and as his jaws came together he rolled 
up his eyes, laid down his knife and fork, and with beam- 
ing countenauce turned to me and exclaimed: "You have 
missed your vocation, you should have been cook to the 
Queen; that is the very best cooked bird that I have ever 
tasted." 
Col. Skinner. 
A few days after this occurred the Springfield Club had 
a game supper, and in the menu was broiled woodcock. 
Col. Skinner, of the Turf, Field arid Farm, published a 
scathing article upon the sacrilege, as he called it, of mal- 
treating the royal bird in this manner, and held up our 
club to scorn, and called them anything but sportsmen for 
allowing such things to be done with their sanction. Mr. 
Ashmun came to my office with the paper, and read me 
the article, and charged me upon my next trip to New 
York to call upon the Colonel and tell him that he was an 
unmitigated old fool. 
Soon afterward I was in New York, and calling at the 
office asked for the Colonel, and as he was pointed out to 
me I approached him and said that I was commissioned 
to call upon him and tell him that he was an unmitigated 
old fool; then I stopped long enough to note his fast rising 
choler and the amazed looks of those who had heard the 
remark, and added, by the Hon, George Ashmun, who 
said that he was ashamed to acknowledge any one as his 
friend who did not know that broiled woodcock was a 
dish for the gods. As the Colonel and Mr. Ashmun were 
the best of friends and old companions together, of course 
Mr. Ashmun's name set ever>'thing straight, and the 
Colonel promised to put to the test my method, which I 
gave him, and I have no doubt that he found the new 
dish to his taste, for he tendered a handsome apology in 
the next issue, and allowed that age was no bar to attain- 
ing knowledge, and intimated that no one except an un- 
mitigated fool would refuse to acknowledge a mistake, 
especially when so prime an article as broiled woodcock 
was in question. 
Woodcock— Maryland Style. 
Speaking of broiled woodcock reminds me ot an inci- 
dent that has often amused me since, although at the time 
it did not amuse me at all. I was quail shooting in the 
northwestern part of Maryland, near the Potomac Kiver 
and was stopping at the house of a small farmer. One day 
while crossing a small creek one of my dogs pointed a 
woodcock, and after bringing it to bag I turned down the 
run and in a short time I had seven of them. The next 
morning, when I was about to start, I asked the farmer's 
wife if she would broil those birds for supper, and as she 
gave a ready assent and said that she knew how it should 
be done, I gave the matter no further thought until it was 
nearly night, and I was returning tired and hungry, when 
I thought of the toothsome dainty awaiting my coming, 
and my wearied frame at once braced up and the tired 
feeling left me, although my hunger rapidly increased. 
Upon arriving at the house I found supper nearly ready, 
and hurriedly fixing up I was soon seated at the table,' 
and you can imagine my feelings, for I have never been 
able to express them, when I found that the good wife 
had mistaken the word and boiled the birds instead of 
broiling them. She had put them in the kettle with the 
potatoes and turnips, and all were boiled together. I re- 
member that I experienced a deep feeling of pity for the 
poor little things as they laid there among the potatoes 
and turnips, with their necks curled up in disdain and 
their legs pointing straight in the air, as though they were 
calling upon heaven to punish the foul wrong that had 
been done them; and I also remember that I had no 
woodcock for supper, but fell back on the mut- 
ton. One of them I took on my plate and tried 
to eat it, but had to give it up, and in order that 
I might not wound the feelings of my hostess I smuggled 
the larger portion of it into my pocket, and that evening, 
fls I wandered along the banks of the Potomac, I silently 
committed the bird to the calm depths of the beautiful 
river. The next day I found two of them in my lunch, 
and I dug a grave under the green turf and laid them side 
by side, their little necks still curled in disdain and their 
little legs still pointing straight toward the heavens. 
What became of the remaining four I never knew, but I 
do know that since that day," whenever I order broiled 
woodcock, whatever the cook does to them she does not 
boil them. 
An Iowa Lunch al Fresco. 
How well I remember my first broiled woodcock. I was 
in Iowa, some twenty miles northwest of Davenport, 
shooting chickens. As it was a hot September day, I quit 
shooting about 10 o'clock, and driving to a creek where 
there were a few scattered small trees, I selected the 
largest one, which afforded quite a respectable amount of 
~ shade, as a halting place, and turning my horse loose to 
get his dinner, I proceeded to make preparations for my 
own. I always carried a box in the wagon which usually 
contained ample materials for a lunch, but when I had 
time and was not too hungrj^ I very often built a fire and 
made a pot of coffee and broiled a chicken or teal, and as 
on this occasion time and appetite were in about the right 
condition, I gathered some dead branches and started my 
fire, and selecting a brace of the youngest chickens 
I proceeded to dress them by pulling off the feathers, 
skin and all, and soon had them ready for the grid- 
iron, which was a piece of coarse wire netting about 
15in. square. I had had this made to order, and always 
carried it with me, and found it to be one of the most satis- 
factory articles in my kit. After the chickens were 
dressed, I remembered that there was a woodcock in the 
wagon that I had killed the previous day, and thinking 
that it had hung long enough in the warm temperature 
then prevaiUng, I dressed it and placed it on the gridiron 
with the chickens, and as my fire had burned to coals and 
was ready, I cut some forks from the tree and stuck them 
in the ground in a square inclosing the coals, laying over 
each one the wire loop on each corner of the gridiron. 
With a sharpened stick about 3ft. in length I proceeded to 
turn my birds, and then to turn them again until they 
were done to a turn, when I sprinkled a little salt on each 
and piled them in a pyramid upon a tin plate of crackers, 
and as the coffee was boiled and settled dinner was ready. 
The lunch box was also my table, and a newspaper 
served as table-cloth. This arrangement, I flattered my- 
self, was about as handy and convenient as could well be 
planned; for when I wanted pepper or salt or anything 
else that was in the box all I had to do was to take off the 
dishes and table-cloth and open the box, and then I was 
without the trouble and fatigue of getting up and going to 
the wagon after them. My carpet was a brown linen lap- 
robe and my chair one of the wagon cushions, so you see 
that my outfit was a combination of simplicity and useful- 
ness that bordered on the luxurious. My plates were tin 
unbreakable, easy to wash, and the four took up no more 
room than one earthen one would. Napkins I always 
picked off' the trees, as this saved washing as well as wear 
and tear. In the matter of cutlery I must own to rather 
an extravagant outlay, as I had six knives and as many 
forks. The main reason for this lavish display was that I 
could not buy less than this number without paying the 
same price that I had to pay for the six, so in order to 
have my money's worth I took the M'hole set. I made it 
up in spoons, as one of these did duty for all hands, and 
at meal time was always to be found in the sugar bowl 
which was a tin cup, unless I had too much company' 
when it was a piece of paper. I had but four of these tin 
cups, but they served a threefold purpose, as they were 
used for tea, coffee and water, as occasion required. These 
articles, together with two tin shakers for pepper and salt 
comprised the outfit— not a very elaborate layout, but it 
was satisfactory to me, and I never heard a single one of 
my numerous guests find a word of fault with it. 
I was about to sit down to my frugal repast when I saw 
not more than ten rods away a horse and carriage, in 
which were a gentleman past middle age and a young 
lady, and as they were coming directly toward me I sus- 
pended operations until they arrived, and the gentleman 
inquired the direction to Davenport, stating that they were 
driving from Tipton and had somehow lost the road, and 
for an hour had been driving across the prairie in vari- 
ous directions without finding a single trace of civiliza- 
tion or seeing anyone until they saw my team, when they 
came over to obtain the desired information. I pointed 
out the proper direction and then gave them a cordial in- 
vitation to take dinner with me. The gentleman hesi- 
tated, but I saw the young lady nudge him with her 
elbow, and, although I was quite young in years, I was old 
enough in such matters to know that Tshould not have to 
eat my dinner alone. The result proved that I was right 
for I quieted his fears that they would be robbing me of 
my dinner by pointing to the plate of birds and telling 
him that I had plenty of crackers and cheese to help out 
with. They both very gracefully accepted my invitation, 
and alighting from the carriage he introduced himself and 
his daughter, and we were soon seated around the festive 
box. I carved that broiled woodcock in my very best 
style, and placing each half upon two crackers in their tin 
plates I passed one to each of my giiests and then helped 
myself to half a chicken, all the time keeping a bright 
lookout to see just how broiled woodcock tasted. 
The gentleman wajs the first to satisfy my curiosity, and 
as he put a piece in his mouth I was satisfied that it was 
excellent; but when, a second or two later, the young lady 
placed a morsel between her lips, I knew it was the" most 
delicious and toothsome dainty that I had ever tasted. 
How those black eyes did light up, and as she flashed 
them on me they went through and through me some- 
thing like the X rays. Then she extolled my skill as 
cook until I blushed — I often blushed in those days— then 
she begged me to tell her just how it was cooked, assuring 
me that she had often cooked game, but had never su(> 
ceeded in producing anything so exquisitely nice as this. 
That settled the broiled woodcock question so far as I was 
concerned, and to this day whenever I am so fortunate as 
to enjoy the luxury, I again see the flash of those won- 
drous black eyes and again experience sensations that, 
when blended with those that conie from the perfect en- 
joyment of this perfect gem of gastronomic art, leave noth- 
ing to be desired, except perhaps another glance from 
those brilliant orbs and another bit of that toothsome 
dainty, broiled woodcock. ' 
Now, I am not writing a cook book, nor giving points 
for the benefit of Delmonico's chef, whom I hold in great 
esteem and have a profound veneration for his great wis- 
dom in this line only if he could be induced to hold his 
hand with that dash of Chartreuse or Burgundy and serve 
his woodcock in their own delicious, natural flavor. I, for 
one, should esteem it a special favor, and I have no doubt 
that many others also, whose palates are not vitiated by 
frequent contact with these and similar chemicals, would 
be pleased with the omission and unanimously vote him 
the c?i£f of cooks. I am merely jotting down these notes 
for the benefit of such good fellows, as I have often met, 
who do not know that when they are far from the "mad- 
ding crowd" in the recesses of the trackless forest, or on 
the boundless prairie, with scant rations, they can in a 
short half hour, with the aid of a fire and a trifle of salt, 
conjure up a sumptuous feast that cannot be excelled by 
even Delmonico's famous chef. Shadow. 
flO BE CONTINUED.l 
THE ST. LOUIS GAME MARKET. 
MoNETT, Mo., Nov. 27.— Editor Forest and Stream: I in- 
close a report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of Nov 7. 
Please note what is said of quail shooting and sale of game 
in close season. Your paper is very popular in St. Louis, 
and some notice should be made of this in your editorial 
columns. G. T S 
This is the inclosure: That St. Louis is the principal 
game market in the United States, a walk along Third street 
in the produce and commission district will show. More 
rabbits are shipped to St. Louis, sold in St. Louis and eaten 
in St Louis than in any other city on this continent. 
The West, the Southwest, the Northwest, and at some sea- 
sons of the year every State in the Union contribute to the 
pampered palates and the appetites of the people of St. Louis. 
From St. Louis venison, bear meat, quail, pheasants and 
wild ducks are shipped broadcast around the country within 
a radius of several hundred miles. St. Louis rabbits find 
their way to New York and help make that city the second 
greatest rabbit consuming market in America. 
If all the veniaon that is shipped to St. Louis during any 
business day in December were combined and made into one 
animal that deer would be 40ft. high and 60ft. long. 
For five months of the year the local receipts of rabbits 
will average 1,000 dozens, or 13,000 rabbits per day. Com- 
bine all these rabbits into one and he would be 165ft. long 
and 93ft. high, big enough to make a stew which would feed 
the population of a city. 
The receipts of ducks will average 200 pairs a day. These 
would make a water fowl 34ft. long and 91ft.' high, big 
enough for a man who never saw a gun to scatter shot' into 
on his first try. 
During the game season 400 dozen quail are daily shipped 
into this market. These would make a Bob White 46ft. 
long and 23''t. high, big enough to eat up half a dozen 
pointer or setter dogs at a gulp as easilv as a quail of the or- 
dinary size would pick up half a dozen pine cones. 
Of pheasants 200 dozen a day comeinto the market. They 
would make a bird 41ft. long and 16ft. high, a bird big 
enough to fly for miles with forty men perched upon his 
back. 
The open season began last Monday. Quail, grouse and 
venison cannot be killed after Jan. 1 in this State, and in 
those two months the local dealers receive enough to last the 
consumers until about the first of April, Of course it is 
frozen and stored in refrigerators. 
Ducks, wild turkeys, rabbits and squirrels can be slaugh- 
tered until the first of March. Rabbits for the St Louis 
market come from Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. The 
black-tailed Montana jacks find a readier sale than do the 
local cotton-tails only because they are better lookers. Rab- 
bit eaters say the meat is no better. 
Quail come from Missouri, Illinois, Kansas and the Indian 
Territory. Nat Welzel, president of the St. Louis Game 
and Poultry Co , who is considered the best-posted game 
man in town, says his advices are that birds have not been 
as plentiful in twenty-five years. 
Wild turkeys come principally from Arkansas, but many 
are shipped here from old Mexico and other far Souihem 
points. 
The bulk of the venison comes from what is called local 
territory— that is, the woods and swamps of Missouri, Kan- 
sas, Arkansas and the Indian Territory. Bear meat comes 
principally from Arkansas, but the black bears of Minnesota 
are bought by commission men because of the value of the 
fur. 
Until the Dingley tariff law went into effect a great deal 
of game was shipped in from Mexico. Now there is a tariff 
of 3 cents a pound levied on game importations, and very 
httle comes in from Mexico as a consequence. 
Canvasback ducks come from Chesapeake Bay, with a few 
from Southern waters. Teal ducks come from Utah, and 
redheads, a toothsome and tender variety of good siz'e are 
killed on the bays and inlets of the coast of the Gulf of 
Mexico. 
Pheasants come from several States, but Texas supplies the 
greater proportion. J. J. Long, a dealer in general mer- 
chandise at Mobeetie, Tex., has a dozen hunters in his em- 
ploy, and for several years he has shipped more prahie 
chickens than any man or firm in the United States. 
Most of the big St. Louis game dealers have their own 
hunters at work kilhng for them. 
"We have ninety hunters on our staff," said Mr Wetzel 
"and they keep us pretty well supplied with game of all 
kinds. They generally begin shooting quail thirty days be- 
fore the season opens and keep it up from thirty to sixty 
days after its close. We have three branch houses and a 
hunting house-boat on the St. Francis River. The game is 
generally shipped to us in relrigerator boxes packed with 
ice, and we put it through a regular course of refrigeration 
just as meat is treated. This refrigerated game can be kept 
a year or two if necessary. 
"I regret to say the refrigerating facifities of St. Louis are 
not good, and most of our game has to be shipped to Chicago 
for the freezing process. 
"The way we get our ducks is quite interesting to those 
who do not understand. Ducks summer in the North and 
o^^'iu^'^mu^''®^ weather begin their winter migration 
South. They foUow the cold weather South, and our hunters 
follow the ducks. Thirty days ago our men were waichine 
the ducks on the Northern lakes and in Canadian waters 
When the ducks started South the hunters started down 
with them. Ducks stay in the same water a week or two on 
a stretch, or until the weather changes drive them on When 
they stop flying, on these pauses in their journeys the hunt 
ers shoot. By the whereabouts of our hunters we can tell 
where the ducks are until they wind up, about Christmas 
