Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun, 
Terms, $4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. ) 
Six Months, $2. f 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 14, 18 9 8. 
J VOL. L.— No, 20. 
I No. 846 Broadway, New York. 
The Forest and Stream is the recognized medium of entertain- 
ment, instruction and information between American sportsmen. 
The editors invite communications on the subjects to which its 
pages are devoted. Anonymous communications will not be re- 
garded. While it is intended to give wide latitude in discussion 
of current topics, the editors are not responsible for the views of 
correspondents. 
'Subscriptions may begin at any time. Terms: For single 
copies, $4 per year, $2 for six months. For club rates and full 
particulars respecting subscriptions, see prospectus on page iv. 
JVAJ? AND YACHTIKG. 
The present situation is unprecedented in American 
yachting; and it is no wonder that, as shown by the 
very different action of various yacht clubs, a great 
divergence of opinion exists. Just at the opening of the 
yachting season, when under normal conchtions a very 
large fleet of steam yachts and many sailing yachts 
would be nearly ready for commission in cruising service, 
and the racing division would be ready for the opening 
races, the country is involved in a foreign war of serious 
magnitude and unknown duration. Headed by the 
Larchmont Y. C. at the opening of actual hostilities, 
some clubs at once canceled all the events scheduled for 
the season, and practically abandoned all yachting for 
an indefinite time. The majority of clubs, however, have 
taken no action beyond the formal tendering of their 
stations for the use of the Government; and propose, for 
the present at least, to continue the usual work of the 
active season. 
As the outlook is to-day, on the eve of what may be 
the decisive action of the war, the meeting of the two 
great fleets of the United States and Spain, we see no 
good reason why this is not the wise and proper course. 
Whether a man's position and duty demand that he 
shall stay at home or go to the front is a ciuestion 
which each individual must decide for himself; but after 
it is settled there must inevitably be a very large num- 
ber of men left at home to follow the ordinary avoca- 
tions of peace. There is no apparent reason why, with 
their usual labors, they should not enjoy their usual 
amusements; and whatever may be argued against cer- 
tain amusements as frivolous and inappropriate, yachting 
cannot be included in this category. 
While it is impossible to forecast in any way the final 
results of the war, it now seems impossible that Spain 
can long continue the struggle; and it is not unlikely 
that peace may come before the racing season is fairly 
under way. If this should prove to be the cas«, yachting 
will naturally resume its usual course; and in anticipa- 
tion of such a happy termination, those who are in the 
position to do so are, we believe, justified in continuing 
the work of preparation. If, on the other hand, the 
emergency should at any time assume a more serious 
aspect for this country, it will no doubt be met by the 
prompt and willing abandonment of all forms of sport. 
SNAP SHOTS. 
This is the time of year when the fishing fever takes 
hold upon one. To some people the term "fever" is a 
figure of speech, an exaggeration; but the victim knows 
only too well that the malady is actual and serious. 
When springtime comes, to go fishing is, as William C. 
Prime says, "a necessity" with the angler; and the-seji- 
sation is just as real and as urgent and pressing and 
disquieting as of hunger or thirst. Foriunate is he who, 
having the time and the means, possesses also the privi- 
lege of fishing some stream not yet fished out nor hedged 
about with warning posters. Lake fishing there is for 
all, and in abundant scope; and stream fishing, if one 
may go far from home; but it is one of the angling 
transitions of America to-day that year by year available 
brook and stream fishing for trout is becoming more 
and more restricted. The trespass sign is everywhere, 
even where there are no fish. The unaffiliated angler 
without club privileges finds it more difficult with each 
succeeding springtime to .secure a chance for love or 
money to wet a line in nearby trout waters. These 
conditions have naturally developed the canny trait of 
wariness and a well-pronounced and controlling unwill- 
ingness to report one's luck in quarters which others 
might invade. The wise fisherman who has a good thing- 
cultivates the art of keeping it to himself. Ask him 
where he got them, and the response is a shrug or a 
wink; but not once in a dozen times will definite and 
explicit directions be given — unless the teller has a club 
share for sale. This art of keeping a secret is the mod- 
ern manifestation of that trait referred to by Walton 
when he bespoke a blessing upon them who are "quiet 
and go a-angling." 
Is a sportsman's gun furniture? The question has 
just come up in connection with the customs regulations. 
The tariff law admits free "usual and reasonable furni- 
ture," and under this provision Mr. Robert Quinn, who 
removed from Hamilton, Out., to a residence in this 
country, sought to bring in his gun without paying duty 
on it. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury W. B. Howell 
has decided against this, however, holding that a sports- 
man's gun is not entitled to free entry as part of his house- 
hold effects; and he intimates that if Mr. Quinn is not 
satisfied with the decision he may take the matter on ap- 
peal to the General Appraisers. An ingenious law.ver 
could doubtless make up a good case tor the gun as furni- 
ture, citing the pertinent fact that in this country from 
earliest times it has had place as a customary article of 
household equipment. In the old days indeed the rifle was 
an essential and indispensable part of the settler's ovitfit; 
it held first importance in making and defending the 
home. And in these later days, in scores of instances, the 
sportsman's gun is actually less a field weapon than an ar- 
ticle of home adornment or furnishing. In this connec- 
tion it is interesting to note that our consuls in Belgium 
report in the gun centers there a rapichy growing trade 
in antique and obsolescent firearms for export to the 
United States, where they find a ready market for deco- 
rative purposes. 
Some years ago, when it was suggested that dogs run- 
ning deer contrary to the law should be killed, vigorous 
protest was made by writers who pointed out that the 
dogs were not at fault and that to punish them with the 
death penalty would be unjust and brutal. Since then, 
however, the practice of dog killing under warrant of 
law has been pursued. The statutes of New York and 
other States provide that dogs chasing deer may be 
killed by any person, and that no liability shall attach 
therefor. In the Adirondacks the regulation has just 
been made more stringent than ever before; there all 
dogs which are of deer-chasing proclivities, found in the 
country inhabited by deer, are condemned to death 
wherever apprehended, whether at the time actually chas- 
ing deer or not; and it is made the duty of the game 
protectors to kill them summarily. The new rule is mani- 
festly foimded upon common sense appreciation of the 
nature of dogs and of men. Law or no law, there will 
be deer hunting in a deer country so long as there shall 
be deer and hounds, and men to incite the hounds to 
run the deer. If deer hounding is prohibited deer 
hounds are rightly contraband. Nevertheless it would 
go hard with many a good man thus to part with his 
good dog; and time itself, which heals all wounds, 
would not soon alleviate the bitterness of soul caused 
by the heartless doing to death of a favorite hound. 
An English author points out that the dry-fly writers 
who speculate about the origin of their art may go back 
to Izaak Walton, who wrote: "And when you fish with 
a fly, if it be possible, let no part of your line touch the 
water, but j^our fly only, and be still moving your fly 
upon the water" — not "in," but upon the water. And 
it is further pointed out that Cotton instructs, in fly- 
making: "Leave the wings of an equal length; your 
fly will never else swim true." 
French ingenuity has devised a gun of which the nov- 
elty is that the noise and flash of the discharge are in 
large measure eliminated. Colonel Humbert, the in- 
ventor, has experimented with a piece having a caliber 
of one and a half inches, on to the muzzle of which is 
screwed a block having a bore similar to that of the 
gun, and being in effect an extension of the barrel. In 
the bore of this block is fixed a shutter, which lies in a 
recess in the side of the bore, until on the discharge of 
the gun the ball has passed it, when the gases following 
the ball are forced under the shutter, lift it on its pivot, 
and thus closing the passage prevent the exit of the 
flame and gas. The gas thus checked finds gradual es- 
cape through a number of small apertures on the rear 
end of the muzzle block. In smah calibers a ball is sub- 
stituted for the shutter. This is another way of achiev- 
ing the result sought by the smokeless powderg. If an 
actually noiseless gun were provided for use on game It 
would materially change the conditions and surroundings 
of shooting; and if the Frenchman gives tis a gun which 
has no vi.sible discharge we shall be obliged to morlify 
our stories of the warv loon which dives at the flash. 
Fishermen in St. Lawrence River waters this year will 
have a number of free camping grounds assured to 
them. Under the authority conferred upon them to 
secure lands in the region of the international park at 
the Thousand Islands, the New York Commissioners 
of Fisheries, Game and Forests have already secured 
six plots, and have several others under consideration. 
The lands acquired, with the prices paid for them, are 
as follows, the data being furnished to us by President 
Davis: 
Mary Island, at foot of Wells Island, near Alexandria 
Bay, $5,000. 
Foot of Grindstone Island, seventy acres, containing 
camp grounds of the American Canoe Association, 
$4,200. 
One-half of Cedar Island, at mouth of Chippewa Bay, 
about fifteen acres, $3,000. 
Krings Point, at mouth of Goose Bay, below Alexan- 
dria Bay, thirty-two acres, $2,300. 
Dewolf's Point, in Lake of the Islands, ten acres, $500. 
Cement Point, at head of Grindstone Island, three 
acres, $500. 
The Spanish war is having an immediate and material 
effect upon the forestry interests of the Adirondacks. 
War news and war news fakes have so stimulated the 
manufacture of extras and so increased the regular daily 
issues of some of the New York newspapers that the 
demand for news paper has almost doubled. News 
paper is made of wood pulp, and wood pulp is made 
of Adirondack material. Thus it has come to pass 
that in reckoning up the effects of war consideration 
must be made of the wilderness forest supply, 
The New York Police Department has very unwisely 
abandoned the system of revolver practice under which 
the force was gradually acquiring such skill in shooting 
that an officer's endeavor in the public streets to kill a 
"mad" dog did not necessarily involve the wounding 
or death of human beings on the other side of the street. 
The shooting as conducted was economical in the ex- 
treme. The city paid nothing for the armory in which 
practice was held; the loading was done by members of 
the force; 90 per cent, of the lead was used over again; 
and the direct expense was for paper targets, powder 
and primers; the discontinuance, then, was not due to 
any consideration of cost. It appears to have been 
prompted simply by a desire on the part of the Com- 
missioners to please the men, who complained that they 
were required to learn to shoot when they would much 
prefer to be following their own inclinations in various 
other ways. Under present conditions, then, the force 
may be expected to revert to the former state under 
which the drawn revolver of a policeman menaced the 
lives of all within range. 
A writer in the current Independent sums up this 
history-making epoch for Africa by remarking that we 
are now beholding the subjection of the entire continent 
to European domination, and now for the first time in 
the history of the world is the black race to work under 
the direction and control of the white. European ideas 
will prevail and European ways be enforced. This is 
true even with respect to the game situation. Henccr 
forth the big game of the continent will be conserved 
by rigorous restrictions, such as already prevail in the 
British East African Protectorate and in German East 
Africa. Not only is elephant hunting controlled by a 
strict hcense system, but vast territories are set aside 
as sanctuaries for game, which ivory hunters and sports- 
men are prohibited from entering. Thus one of the 
resources of the native wealth of the country, which in 
the absence of any effective control bade fare to meet 
early ruin, may under the wiser administration of Eu- 
ropeans constitute a source of revenue for decades to 
come, . . 
