24> t$9&] 
517 
DRIVERS AND TWISTERS, 
The Remington Arms Co. has published a most attractive prize 
offer to the shooters competing in the Grand American Handicap, 
April 11-13 next. To the winner of first they will present one of 
their finest hammerless ejector trap guns, value $300. To the 
winner of second, a fine hammerless ejector trap gun, value $150. 
To the winner of third, a fine ejector hammerless trap gun, value 
$100. These prizes are conditional on each shooter winning with 
a Remington gun, and they will be made to order to suit the 
winners. They call attention to the fact that the last Grand Ameri- 
can Handicap was won with a Remington hammerless and U. M. 
C. factory-loaded ammunition, and that history often repeats itself. 
Any information as to further particulars in respect to this gener- 
ous offer can be obtained by addressing the Remington Arms Co., 
315 Broadway, New York. 
Mr. E. D. Fulford, of Utica, N. Y., famous as a mighty man 
with the gun at all times, and in particular famous as the winner 
of the last Grand American Handicap, has officially intimated to 
the Daddy of Them All, who is himself nimble with the gun, 
that he would like to debate the possession of the E. C. cup for 
the world's championship at inanimate targets, his check for $50, 
the needed amount to be posted, indicating that he considers the 
situation serious. The matter is related by Mr. Banks elsewhere 
in our Trap department. 
The averages for 1898 of the O. K. Gun Club, of Kansas City, 
Mo., arc as follows: C. S. Gottlieb .966, C. C. Herman .913, Ed 
A. Hickman .905, W. H. Herman .903, F. N. Cockrill .894, J. N. 
Curtice .883, James Sweet ,854, C. B. Cockrill .826, C. L. Mc- 
Donald .816, J. M, Bramhall and E. O. Hudson .800, F, A. Lamb 
.794, J. W. McCurdy .746, H. S. Fergerson .733, C. F. Holmes .666, 
F. M. Berkey .661, G. M. Walden .600. The officers are; Presi- 
dent, Conway F, Holmes; Vice-President, H, S. Ferguson; Sec- 
) etary-Treasurer, Ed A. Hickman. 
While the Morfey-Doty match was in progress, two young men, 
who apparently were new to the sport, and who watched it with 
eager interest, notwithstanding that they were shivering with coldj 
evolved the following between them: Said one: '"Why is it tnat 
they shoot both barrels at a bird when it is killed with the first 
barrel?" "They have to do that," replied the other, "to make it 
count a whole bird." Both were perfectly serious and watched 
the match with the critical eye which comes from a minute 
knowledge of detail. 
Under date of Dec. 17 Mr. Ed O. Bower, secretary-treasurer of 
the West Virginia State Sportsmen's Association, Sistersville, 
W. Va., writes us as follows: "The West Virginia State Sports- 
men's Association will hold their third annual tournament on June 
20, 21 and 22, under the auspices of the Wheeling Gun Club, 
Wheeling, W. Va. There will be added money and merchandise 
prizes, which will be announced later. For further information, 
etc., address John B. Garden, secretary, Wheeling, W. Va." 
Mr. Piatt Adams, one of the most popular and best amateur 
shots of New York, goes to San Antonio, Texas, to spend the 
winter duck and quail shooting with his brother, Mr. A. W. 
Adams, of Chicago, who is also a famous trap-shooter. Mr. 
Adams may visit Los Angeles, Cal., before his return. The 
Messrs. Adams are skillful amateur photographers as well as skill- 
ful shooters, so that without doubt the outing will be a success in 
its shooting events and in the pictorial history of it. 
Nothing funnier has ever appeared than Mr. Hough's, good- 
natured satire on the craze for pedigree, regardless of the dog 
or his performance, the proclivity for interminable bickerings of 
trifles, and the status of the meat dog as against the dog which 
might be styled as being of the school of the impressionist. There 
is a merry laugh in every line of it. Those who read the depart- 
ment devoted to Game Bag and Gun in our columns will find it. 
Mr. E. S. Rice, of Chicago, entertained a number of out-of-town 
shooters at his home, 5513 East End avenue, on Friday evening. 
In the early evening luncheon was served mid many cracking 
jokes and funny stories, after which they were entertained by 
musical selections on the piano, guitar, as well as vocal selections 
rendered by several members of an operatic company now in the 
city. The host made a pleasing talk. So Mr. A. C. Paterson 
writes us this week. 
The experiences of Ex. C. F. (Ex-Champion Fudger), set forth 
in this issue of Forest and Stream, are worthy of the earnest 
perusal of trap-shooters. The gentleman who over that nom de 
plume recounts his experiences is one of the best shooters about 
New York, being a good class man in every respect, his greatest 
obstacle to even scores being the fault which he so tully describes. 
His suggestions should be noted with care. 
The bad weather was much against the best performance of 
Miss Annie Oakley, the famous expert with rifle and shotgun, 
and Mr. Frank Kleinz, of Philadelphia, in their match at 25 live 
birds, Charter Oak Park, Gloucester, Pa., last Saturda\\ As it 
was, the race was very close, Kleinz winning by a score of 17 to 
16. Kleinz stood at 30yds., Miss Oakley at 28. Hurlingham rules, 
50yds. boundary. 
The Peters Cartridge Co., Cincinnati, O., has issued a most at- 
tractive illustrated calendar in colors for 1899. Scenes portray- 
ing success with the -wild ducks, the game of the shotgun, and 
the pursuit of the boar and wild elephant, the game of the rifle, 
give abundant food for reflection in respect to what their pro- 
ducts will accomplish. 
Our Reading, Pa., correspondent sends us the gratifying in- 
formation that a new club is to be formed in Reading, with the 
most substantial support in the numbers of the charter member- 
ship. Few sections of America have the shooting activity of 
Pennsylvania. 
John Wright, manager of the Brooklyn Gun Club, announces 
an invitation live-bird shoot on Jan. 10. The programme is not 
yet arranged, but it will be made with a view to the largest 
amount of sport with a reasonable outlay. 
The annual meeting of the New Utrecht Gun Club will be held 
Dec. 29, at Robert Supper's Avon Beach Hotel, Bath Beach. 
There will be a dinner afterward. The club shoots live birds 
Dec. 24. 
The Interstate Association meeting on Monday of this week 
decided that high guns shall govern the divisions of the moneys 
at the next Grand American Plandicap. 
The contest for the Chicago challenge trophy, fixed for Dec. 
20, has been postponed to the 24th inst., at 2 o'clock. 
A merry Christinas to all. 
Bernard Waters. 
Confabulations of the Cadi* — XIV. 
Christmas at the Cadi's. 
It was late evening of a mid-December night, in a year prior 
to that in which the. Egyptian Gun Club meetings were held, in 
the region of Egypt. The good Cadi sat alone by his fireside, in 
a homemade easy chair which his sweet wife, with a mind to his 
special comfort, had cushioned and padded with pieces and 
patches of worn-out garments of many different kinds and qualities. 
To be more precise, he lolled rather than sat in the chair, yet 
without any loss of the natural dignity which he bore at all times, 
whether as king of his own castle or as the leading spirit among 
his neighbors. It was indeed an ill-constructed chair in which 
the Cadi could not hump himself into some posture of ease and 
contentment; but in his own easy chair, made with a special view 
to his repose, he fairly revelled in the pleasure of inertia. How- 
ever, sitting on any chair, log, rail fence, etc., seemed quite to 
the Cadi's compass and fancy at all times. He quite philosophic- 
ally took his comfort on the lines of least resistance. 
Hopie Jane, with her brood of white-haired prospective presi- 
dents, and white-haired prospective brides of future million- 
aires, had passed into dreamland some few hours before, in the 
adjoining room. The candle had long since burned out. All 
was quiet, but for the rag-time melody of the pack of robust 
snorers in full cry in the aforementioned room, and the weird 
buzzing of some large slivers and the irregular thumpings of some 
loose boards which were on the house outside, buzzing and 
thumping in merry responsiveness to the cold, gusty wind which 
whistled dolefully around the corners. To a more imagina-" 
five person there might come fears of wandering evil spirits 
importunately demanding entrance to smash the lares and penates 
of the family; to the Cadi, the grewsorne noises simply brought to 
mind that Hopie Jane had not understood his suggestions, made 
earlier in the fall, that the weathei boarding needed nailing 
before the winter weather set In, 'Nevertheless, it was reasonably 
quiet. The hogs tinder the house pressed fervidly to the base of 
the chimney for the Warmth of it. Excepting a fierce protest 
betimes front a disturbed one, which thought that the warmth 
of the chimney should be a class affair rather than high prizes, 
even they were silent. In short, as measured by the household 
standards of silence in use since the time the happy Cadi had 
become so numerously a parent, absolute silence reigned. 
A cheerful fire glowed in the old-fashioned fireplace, intermit- 
tingly flashing, ducking, spreading or roaring in sympathy with 
the draughts of wind, as they came in through the floor, the 
walls, the roof or down the chimney, thereby lighting up the room 
fitfully and throwing all degrees of flickering lights and shadows 
on the giant at rest. He was in profound meditation, as indi- 
cated by his posture, stillness and half-closed eyes. 
There is a distinction between contemplation and reverie, as ob- 
served in practice by careful writers. Had the good Cadi been 
in other than humble circumstances, and had the wolf hovered 
further from his door, he might have indulged in reverie in due 
conventional form ; that is to say, his eyes would have been opened 
to their widest limits, showing a large area of whites, with a set 
look into futurity at an angle of forty-five degrees. 
Nevertheless, a hero, who in the Yuletide does not submerge 
himself in reverie, is rather a disappointment to himself and his 
admirers. Your hero in a reverie radiates with romantic possi- 
bilities, therefore is deserving of infinite gravity and unremitting 
attention as to treatment. His situation is one of suspended action, 
with retrospective, introspective, associationai, and prospective 
significance. In the Yuletide reverie, objective life is sublimed 
and beautified. Life's panorama moves through an envelope of 
rose-colored haze, softening all the harsh points, while the con- 
ventional theme is always limited to one of three— first, the 
hero, far back in the years, sees Towser, a dog of supercanine in- 
telligence and superhuman devotion, standing on beautiful points 
on beautiful partridges in a fairy dell, in a mellow sunshine, the 
foliage resplendent with the bright colors of autumn. The hero 
with the eye of reverie sees himself in the aenter of it all, erect 
and with the elastic step of youth, advancing, flushing, shooting, 
killing, gathering the birds, ordering the dog on, and eagerly and 
untiringly striding on and on over hill and through vale all the 
livelong day. In his vision, returning to his own hour, he sees 
the ghostly Towser pointing ghostly birds in a game land of utter 
silence, himself following, gun in hand and a-weary; and he notes 
the difference between the white-haired man of to-day and the 
same man of forty years ago. 
Or, for the second conventional theme, the hero's visions must 
be of a beautiful, blue-e3 r ed goddess, willowy of form and grace- 
ful of movement, who won his first love, or, rather, who had it 
bestowed from mere propinquity — a love which -he vows would 
have been a love eternal had it been reciprocated, and strangest 
of all, he believes his own vow, notwithstanding that he has 
fallen in and out of love fifty times in the meantime, showing 
ho signs that he had constancy for a year, to say nothing of it 
for eternity. Still, the spurning of his love is what he best re 
members, and the smart of the spurning is what has clung so 
tenaciously in memory through the years instead of a lasting love 
which is lost, though the ego blinds him to it. Moreover, later 
years proved that what he thought was a feature of the etherial 
beauty of the goddess was simply the symptoms of her sluggish 
liver. 
Or. third, in the conventional reverie, the hero must bitterly re- 
gret "the wasted years of his youth, wherein in fancy were the op- 
portunities to shine and reap princely profits in the world of 
politics, of law, of commerce— something at least which insured 
large profits with little work. In a reverie, one can accomplish 
a great deal with a small amount of capital. 
But the Cadi was no hero. A dead dog to him was a dog which 
ceased to be useful. A lost love to him was but a piece of 
flotsam which on life's ocean had passed beyond his vision. He 
had no regrets for the lost opportunities of his youth; for, first 
of all, he hadn't had many, and what he had had were humble. 
He further had noted that many men who were inspired with the 
belief that they could and should shine, fotind on trial that they 
were utterly devoid of even the elementary qualities of shining. 
Yet the Cadi was not without some retrospective thoughts. A 
shadow of pain passed over his face. He carefully pulled Off 
his cowhide boots, painted his corns with iodine, muttering that 
if he had to live his life over again he would not force his No. 10 
foot into a No. 8 boot day after day and year after year to please 
Hopie Jane nor any one else. Then, after rummaging about, he 
found a few sheets of crumpled writing paper, leaned close to the 
firelight, and with much care wrote as follows: 
"Egypt, Dec. 15, 18—. 
"My dear kind sir and friend: 
"In conformity with my invariable custom in the holiday 
season, in respect to my friends, I drop you a line to wish you 
and yours a merry Christmas. As I sit here alone to-night, with 
the hands of the clock drawing near to the figure 12, my thoughts 
again and again revert to the happy days— all too few — which we had 
together last month, shooting quail; and also, to me at least, the 
happy hours I passed in listening to yottf improving and edify- 
ing conversations. What a vast fund of wisdom and knowledge 
of the world you do possess! I often have a yearning for a 
broader life than is possible in my isolated condition; but when I 
think of my wife and little ones, and their helpless condition 
if I were gone, I feel reconciled to my lot. I hope that you 
will be with us again next year, when the quail are ripe; sooner 
if you can. A grateful feeling comes to my heart when I think 
of the honor you bestowed on me and mine in visiting our 
humble abode, and of your great goodness in condescending to be 
pleased with our efforts to make your stay a pleasure." 
"That will do for the introductory," muttered the Cadi, as he 
filled his pipe and rested for a few moments. "Let me see — 
eleven kids, Hopie Jane and myself. That's thirteen. Said to be 
an unlucky number. I will write my own postscript first." 
Then he added this to the foregoing letter: 
"P. S.— I wish that you would send me a two-gallon demijohn 
of good whisky, if you can do so without any inconvenience. Send 
the bill with the goods. I would send you the money herewith, 
but prefer to do so later when I collect some debts which are 
now past due." 
It may be remarked, en passant, that the Cadi would never as 
payment accept a cent from any guest who shot with him during 
the season. He might borrow a few dollars of them, to be spent 
for their own greater comfort, and incidentally for that of his 
family. He had found by many years of experience that it was 
better to leave the obligation as an open account, to be drawn 
upon tactfully, according to circumstances. 
"Now for Hopie Jane," he soliloquized. "Mr. So and So will be 
the best man to write to in this case. He seemed to think that 
I should work more and Hopie Jane less. I think this will appeal 
to him," and the Cadi at the end of the second letter wrote as 
follows : 
"P. S,~ Hopie Jane desires that I convey to you her kindest 
fegitrds, The poor little woman has not been feeling well of late; 
I wish to make her feel happy in the Christmas tide. 1 should 1 
make her so of all the world, [or she is a devoted wife; but I will 
have to be less generous than I wish to be, Will you be so good 
as to send me, with the bill for same, one pair No. 7 kid shoes 
for her, twenty yards of best broadcloth, and a winter hat for hef 
which I wili leave to your excellent taste in choosing. I cannot 
get these things here, otherwise I would not annoy you in the 
matter. I will remit promptly on receipt of the bill. 
"C." 
He. wrote thirteen letters, all alike, excepting the postscript, 
and in each instance the goods mentioned were such as the re- 
cipients respectively dealt in. 
The wants of the children all the way down the line were 
considered, and in like manner thoughtfully provided for by 
eleven postscripts to the circular letter, each guest being appor- 
tioned his proper quota of contributions. 
Three days before Christmas the Cadi's humble domicile had the 
appearancse of a rustic notion store. There was a box, containing 
about two bushels of confectionery for his oldest daughter, sent 
by a manufacturer of candies; shoes and cloth for Hopie Jane, and 
a hat, the facade of which was a wonder of flowers and ribbons; 
shoes, gowns, toys and packages of confectionery for the girls; a 
drum, bugle, cheap gun, shoes, hats, suits of clothes, and story 
books, etc., for the boys, though they could not read a line, and 
probably never would. 
The Cadi was then quiet and pleased. Thirteen might be un- 
lucky, but if so it was unlucky for his friends. In the evening, 
after all had retired, he had thirteen letters, which he opened and 
read, each of which acknowledged the receipt of his letter, each 
returned the compliments of the season, and each writer begged 
j that he would accept the goods sent as a Christmas gift; each 
excepting the one which referred to the demijohn; that contained 
a bill; the one thing unexpected. The Cadi glanced over it 
carelessly, saw it called for $10, and $1 more for expressage pre- 
paid, and quite as carelessly threw it in the fire, In the Cadi's 
~ system of philosophy, bills were an unimportant part of a 
transaction. 
Butchers and grocerymen, who did not understand the Cadi's 
system of business, classed him as a dead beat; yet he could pass 
so justly on the differences of his neighbors; was such a master- 
hand at making speeches at barbecues, at Decoration Day and 
other gatherings, and was such a good shot and companionable 
fellow generally, seeming to be esteemed and having so much credit 
with men who lived in great cities, that they murmured bur 
little, and that only among themselves. When a stranger came 
to town and asked if any one knew the Cadi, the reply was always 
in the affirmative, with the return query, "Do you?" If the 
stranger was a decent-looking fellow and disclaimed acquaintance 
with the Cadi, the resident then would add, "The Cadi is a nice 
fellow, hut if you meet him don't lend him any money." In 
nine cases out of ten, if the stranger made the Cadi's acquaint- 
ance, in less than three days he would do. the very thing against 
which he was cautioned, and thereafter had a life interest in that 
distinguished philosopher. 
Although the Cadi knew that his credit was bad, since he had had 
many 1 rude rebuffs from his creditors when he had tried to add 
to what was already a large indebtedness, he bore no malice 
against his traducers, and would willingly have forgiven them and 
resumed business relations on the old lines. As it was, he per- 
mitted them to do the worrying, while he affably sawed wood in 
other quarters. Therefore, he had time for contemplation, but not 
for reveries, whose subjects were abstractions which were in the 
clouds so far that they would not bear the mildest analysis from 
the practical standpoint of himself as the head of a lovely family. 
The eleven rosebud mouths of his eleven beautiful children, and 
their affinity for corn bread and buttermilk and rabbit, to say 
nothing of bacon and still less of turkey, was a constantly recur 
ting fact, and quite as constantly a difficult recurring problem. 
Also Hopie Jane's beautiful teeth, which in the days of -his court 
ship ever reminded him of a row of pearls, which in time, by dint 
of repetitions, she came to believe were pearls really, he discovered 
in later years were for a special purpose of grinding up corn 
bread and bacon, and that to a degree of grave concern, in so 
much that it was always interrogatory as to the ways and means 
of obtaining a new supply. Teeth viewed as works of art or 
adornment are quite different from teeth viewed as grinding im- 
plements; the romantic and the realistic do not harmonize on this 
point when pearls and bacon come in conflict. . The matter of teeth 
was a serious problem in the life of the Cadi, or to be more pre- 
cise, it would be serious but for the industry of Hopie Jane and 
♦the superb nerve of himself, despite his being an invalid. 
Early the next morning he sent out verbal invitations to Moke, 
Le Loup, Ephraim, Coxey, and other of his shooting friends and 
boon companions, " to each one and his family to appear at the 
Castle Cadi to partake of a royal Christmas dinner, and to fail 
not on their peril. Rumor of the good things was already a sub- 
ject of gossip; and the dinner and the invitations being an annual 
event for several previous years, they were quite expected and quite 
as promptly accepted. 
A rare collection of spavined, knee-sprung, hide-bound horses 
were tied to the Cadi's front fence on Christmas Day. Without 
doubt, they would have been put in the barn had there been one 
Some were covered w'ith tattered blankets; others, uncovered, 
pawed and whinneyed in horse protest. The Cadi's guests had 
arrived. Hopie Jane, wearing her new three-story hat, had re- 
ceived them with repeated handshakes, assisted by the Cadi and 
all the children, the Cadi chewing cloves and the children chew- 
ing gum. The Cadi immediately took the men folks into the 
lodge to show them his Christmas present, and when they re- 
turned each was wiping his mouth on his coat sleeve or chewing 
a clove. In the house, most of them sat gingerly on the front 
edge of the chairs, feeling stiffly uncomfortable in their best 
clothes, though they attempted to he sociable by making many 
grave remarks apropos of nothing. The children in particular 
fretted in their finery, and their anxious mothers fretted still more 
as they observed the smearings of candy and' gum on their chil 
dren's clothes and the imminent danger of the smearing of their 
own best gowns. 
The Cadi's eldest and largest daughters had by force of arms 
dressed themselves in the gowns intended for their younger sisters 
because said gowns were much tighter around the waist, and 
being so, had all the best qualities which they desired in a gown. 
Their feet, short and thick and lumpy, were encased in long and 
narrow neglige shoes. The boys were dressed in their first knick 
erbockers, which showed off their slender shanks and huge feet to 
great advantage. After a few moments, the ladies settled down 
to a more critical inspection of what each other wore, and felt 
happy and happier accordingly as they found that they were bet- 
ter dressed, or discovered some defect in the dress of each other 
A mighty brawl soon started among the children. The visiting 
children had got their hands on some toys, possession matured 
into an assertion of ownership, which in turn led to a short but 
clamorous dispute, followed quickly by a general and active hair 
