April x, 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
24 9. 
It is gratiEying to note that in spite of two open sea- 
sons deer seem to be still plenty in this State, notwiih- 
slanding the predictions made on everv side that one 
open season would exterminate them. Only to-day a 
neighbor saw a fine buck and two does a short distance 
irom my house, and several others have been reported 
near by. all quite tame and permitting a close approach 
before they took alarm. The chief obs^acle to increase 
does not seem to be so much the slaughter of the open 
season as the dogs that run at large in every community 
and chase and kill deer. This winter several instances 
have come to my notice, and the State commissioners 
have investigated several cases where deer have been run 
to death by dogs. Kenewah. 
(t 
Concerning an Epithet. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Anent the question propounded by you as to whether 
the writer of this "bit" became a convert to the creed of 
moderation in game killing, because of being called a 
"game hog," he begs to say that he did not; in fact lie 
claims to be a charter member — so to speak — of ilw 
grand guild of game bag reform. He in fact reformed 
long before that inelegant epithet was coined, or even 
before sportsmen generally discovered that the game wu'^ 
disappearing so rapidly that it was necessary to curb the 
piggish propensities of the market shooter and of many 
others who dubbed themselves sportsmen. He, howevev, 
thanks Forf.st and Stream for having in years past, in 
very many ways, taught hifn sportsmanlike methods, 
whiVn teaching" may have perhaps been instrumental in 
bringing about his reformation. 
If you will refer to any of the occasional squibs con- 
tributed by him to your paper during the past dozen 
years or so, you will find him always an enthusiast-- a 
crank if you please — on the subjects of game protection 
and forest preservation, and not much given to the use 
of intemperate language, but he still insists that some 
epithet should be used to designate the "sooner" who 
usually begins shooting a few days .before the season 
opens, and the "pig" who usually kills several times_ as 
much game as he ought in season, so that the lay mitid 
shall not confound these creatures with legitimate sports- 
men who observe the same laws and who are content 
with a limit which any fair-minded sportsman would con- 
cede to be a fair bag for a day's shooting. 
At this late dav when we have so many papers and 
magazines devoted to the subject of field sports, there is 
no "possible excuse for the olea of a want of knowledge 
as to what constitutps a fair and reasonable "take" or 
"has" for a day's fish'nsr or shooting, and when we find 
a fellow who is not willing to confine himself to a decent 
limit, there is no earthlv reason whv fair, legitimnte 
sportsmen should not designate him bv some term that 
wiH ii^dicate that they are not fond of him. S. 
TrO-?, N. v., March 2t. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have read j'our editorial remarks about the epithet of 
"game hog." You are right. Conditions alter cases. I 
don't know that I should like to vear the bristles of a 
true "hog." but yet at the end of the season my score 
stands well up on the slate. Still, it is the work of tnany 
days, and every one of them enjoyed — the birds never go 
to waste. And yet if I only had one day afield during 
the season. 1 don't know as I should quit after three birds 
— one for the wife, one for the boy and one for mvself — u 
I could find more. Your remarks are just, and I doubt 
not that many of thc^e "better men" who cry out so 
loudlv and diliorertfy h^ve at some time had a decided 
curl in their own tails. There are birds galore here — I can 
start fifty grou?e any day. and I don't hanker after them 
ail. There are days when I get one, and -my companions 
get more; yet at nip^ht I don't bae: the knees of my 
trousers chanting thanks to Heaven that I am not as other 
m.en: because, in truth, the only reason I didn't get nnore 
was because I couldn't hit t^-iem. Go ahead— if a man is in 
a condition to try out lard he shows it by pen and ink as 
well as afield. W. 
FnCHBORG, M?S5. 
Philadelphia. — Editor Forest and Stream: I read 
your editorial, entitled "Concerning an Epithet." Mr. 
Schenck's criticism thereon followed in Forest ani. 
Stream of March 25. 
By way of illustrating how variously different minds 
will vary on the same subject, I wish to say that to me 
the editorial seemed sound and its position well taken. 
To me it did not in the least seem to be a defense of the 
so-called "game hog." It deprecated the use of intem- 
perate language in dealing with him. 
The bandying of epithets does not appeal to the reason 
of anyone. Their use shows, however, that the one who 
uses them is unpleasantly emotional. A man in bad tetu 
per is never a good judge of what is best for himself; 
much more then is he unfit as a judge to determine wha*; 
is best for others. The calling of names is a grade of 
mental exchanges which is at its best in your Bowery in 
New York, and other places the world over where bil- 
lingsgate takes the place of reasonable argument; and 
this is far more likely to provoke hostility than it is to in- 
duce reformation. Of course, a mild epithet is not to i->e 
classed as billingsgate, though as an expression of ill- 
temper it may be remotely allied to it, but so_ far as hav- 
ing any reforming effects it is exactly like it. Men do 
not like the crack of the whip, figuratively or literally. 
Most men are reasonable and will do right if they are 
pursnaded that a proposition is in itself right; most men 
will purposely refuse to follow any proposition right o.* 
wrong if they are coerced. 
Mr. Schenck interweaves some fallacy in his argument. 
A man who steals is a thief. That is all granted in re- 
gard to the cash, chickens, etc. Those matters are a sub- 
ject of statute law, and have so been from time imm?- 
morial; but when he shifts his ground and deduces from 
matters of statute law that matters of opinion are equally 
well established, he weakens his case by its evident fa'- 
lacy. If I think that my neighbor is killing more bird 4 
than in my opinion he is justified in killing, and there- 
fore, because I think so, am justified in calling him a 
"garoe hog," therg i? no reason why some other man 
who also was displeased in some way with my neighbor 
or myself should not therefore call him or me some other 
epithet, and justify it because in his judgment that epitlnt 
was what he felt like calling him or mc something offen- 
sive, and therefore he was right. 
The phrase "killing more than their share," used by Mr. 
Schenck. carries with it an admission which would seem 
to indicate a denunciation of the "game hog." from th • 
standpoint of individual resentment rather than a philan- 
thropical yearning for public good. 
Your editorial impressed me as a call for other thiiii 
the old methods in dealing with men who killed a quan- 
tity of game, more perhaps than the supply would war- 
rant. How many converts were ever made by the doc- 
trine of objurgation? Let those who thunderously hu'l 
the term "game hog" show how much their pet anathem.i 
has done for game protection. Let them show how manv 
men have restrained their killing proclivities because 
some individual asserted that they were "game hogs.'" 
Let your readers hear the experiences of the reformation 
whose magic lies in the one epithet, the one potent word, 
"game-hog." Men have indeed changed if they will 
cease to do ill and strive to do good at the uttering of 
an epithet. 
Would it not be better to trv the doctrine of reason? 
Whv not show the offenders that their course is really 
prejudicial to the interests of the community and there- 
fore to their own? Why not exercise some forbearanre 
and charitv with the offenders? Why not patiently work 
to have the legal limit made a matter of statute law. 
thereby taking it out of the realm of private opinion 
into that of a fixed rule of action for all? Whv not alsu 
recognize that personal spleen is not necessarily a pub- 
lic principle? , 
If snortsmen are gentlemen, as I believe them to be, 
then their uf-erances, actions and instincts should be 
those of e^entlemen. All need forbearance and charity. 
If T. mvself. am a model in res'ard to game protection, 
perfect in this I mav be an offender in other relations. 
A wise and good man once remarked, "He that is with- 
out sin among you. let him first cast a stone." and that 
voice has been echoing down through the centuries. 
L. A. Childress, 
A Maine Skipper. 
Boston, March 27. — According to special dispatches to 
the daily papers it seems that the shipper of seventeen or 
eighteen saddles, arrested some weeks ago, already men- 
tioned in Forest and Stream, has escaped. He was the 
captain of a small water craft, and was arrested at East- 
port, March 3, for attempting to ship the saddles to Bos- 
ton. He was under $3,000 bonds for his appearance in 
court. On Wednesday last he was again arrested for the 
same offense, that of shipping deer saddles from Cherry- 
field to Eastport and on board the steamer there, doubt- 
less for Boston. The warden allowed the fellow to com- 
plete the unloading of his craft, after he had arrested 
him, which took but a few minutes. He was then al- 
lowed to step into the steamboat office to sign his bills of 
lading. The warden remained outside. Soon the war- 
den, thought that it was time for his man to appear, and 
begun a search for him. He could not be found any- 
where about the wharves or other craft. He then sent 
another officer over the ferry to Lubec to watch for the 
deer shipper there. On the way over the ferry a 
small schooner was passed, and behold, there was the 
little deer-shipping boat hauled up on to the deck of the 
schooner, and a glass showed that its owner was 
there also. _ The schooner was under ftill sail up 
Pembroke River. The chase was abandoned for the. 
time being, the officers feeling sure of their man 
later. Other cases are being followed in that 
section, and it is worthy of note that no 
new venison is coming into Boston markets. I am in- 
formed, from authority that cannot be denied, that the 
game wardens have been instructed to stop this shipment 
of deer to Boston at any cost. One case of extreme pov- 
erty has been followed up, and unmistakable signs of deer 
slaughter by dogs discovered. But a family of small 
children touched the hearts of the officers, and the man 
promising to kill his dogs and give up the business, he 
has not been prosecuted. Special. 
Boston Notes* 
Boston, March 25. — The first shooting party of the 
season, for the preserve of the Monomoy Brant Club, left 
Boston on Wednesday for that well-known hunting 
ground. The party is made up of A. H. Wright, Captain 
E. Frank Lewis, R. S. Gray, H. D. Reed, Joseph Dorr, 
Henry Colburn, R. H. Gardiner, and one or two others. 
These gentlemen have visited Monomoy together for 
many seasons, and though they are pleased to style them- 
selves "The Boys' Party," there are several senior shots 
and hunters among them. This is the first brant shooting 
party of the season of_ 1899, there being four or five 
parties every season visiting the preserve for a specified 
number of days. The parties alternate; that is, the last 
party of a preceding season is the first one of the follow- 
ing season. The present season is very late, however, the 
boxes not yet being all ready. The weather has been ex- 
ceedingly stormy and rough, with but little time for get- 
ting the shooting boxes or pits in shape. Members of 
this, the first party, are expecting good shooting. They 
feel that they were too late last year. 
Boston hunters and fishermen seem to be highly pleased 
with sport in Florida the past season. Charlie Brown, 
himself a lover of rod and reel as well as shotgun, pre- 
sents a letter from his shooting and fishing friend, C. H. 
Alden, at Homosassa, Florida, not far from Tampa, on 
the Gulf. This letter says that all the fishing and shooting 
one need ask for can be had in six hours a day, and loafing 
or resting the rest of the time. He says : "My first day 
fishing I took 88 trout, the string weighing i03lbs. ; all on 
my small rod." He does say what sort of trout they were, 
but visitors to that part of the co intry will understand 
that. "My friend has also taken in one day eight red bass, 
weighing 2i2lbs. The same day I took forty bass. We 
have had great fishing from the start. Gunning for wood- 
cock, quail, wild turkeys and snipe here is great sport 
and one is sure of a good deal of success. T have suc- 
ceeded in shooting an eagle, with a spread of 8ft." 
^_ , . Special, 
Massachusetts Notes. 
Danvers, Mass., March 20.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
An act of the present Legislature approved March I, 
provides that "every Lord's Day shall be close season. 
Whoever hunts or destroys birds or game of any kind 
on the Lord's Day shall be liable to Ihe penalty imposed 
for violations of the law during other closed seasons, 
and such penalties shall be in addition to those already 
imposed for violation of the laws relating to shooting 
upon the Lord's Day." 
This will be a little tough for the poor man that is 
confined to his labors six days in a week and would Hke 
to go out in a decent way and get a shot or two. Such 
a man never would have been legislated against. It is 
because of the rough city rowdies who want to go out 
on a spree and shoot every songbird they find, insult 
the farmers who object to their invasion, and finally end 
up the day by shooting 100 shots of black powder cart- 
ridges at a mark back of some church where religious 
services are being held,. That is the reason we have to 
have such laws. , , . . 
This law will make quite a fuss with the beach bird 
shooters around Ipswich. All along that coast snd trib- 
utaries are summer cottages that are owned by city 
people. Saturday afternoon the sportsmen all come up 
to their shanties and have a grand old time all day Sun- 
day, with more or less shooting, It is an out-of-the-way 
place, and probably disturbs no one, but there is a good 
chance to make it unpleasant for them if one is so dis- 
posed. . 
The brant shooting season wul open in Chatham, on 
the Cape, this week. The first party will be of Boston 
gunners, who will occupy the club house for a week. 
Then other parties will come for six weeks or so. Off 
Morris Island is one of the best feeding grounds on the 
coast. Most of the shooting is from large boxes sunk 
in the sand and live decoys are used. The Monomcy 
Branting Club was organized more than thirty years ago 
and more than 10,000 birds have been killed. It has 
a krge membership, each memjjer paying $rS for one 
week's board and guide whether he goes or not. This 
fee is used to support the club and to pay the expenses 
of preparing and caring for the blinds. 
Reports oii quail are not very encouraging; ^on't hear 
of any dead, or even live ones very often. 
John W. Babbitt. 
Vermont Deer. 
A Townshend correspondent writes under date of 
March 2x to Commissioner Jno. W. Titcomb: "The deer 
in this section of the State are doing finely, and are on 
the increase. There are three yards within five miles of 
this village. Parties keep coming to me saying that dogs 
are chasing the deer every few days ; also in the towns of 
Winhall, Wardsboro and Grafton that dogs are doing bad 
work. Two have been kdled by dogs in Winhall, and 
steps must be taken to stop it. There must be in the 
first yard, only-one and one-half miles from the village, at 
least twelve or fifteen. The other yard they say has eight ; 
did not say how many in the third yard. So you can 
see they are doing very nicely, and I am glad it is so. 
"H. T. E." 
Commisioner Titcomb has just captured a poacher in 
Essex county who had killed a call moose near Island 
Pond, and is now under $200 bail. The head of the moose 
was confiscated. 
Mongolian Pheasants in Virgfinia. 
Charlotteville, Va.. March 21. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I regret to say, in reply to your inquiry, that 
the Mongolian pheasant enternri.=e of our gun club has 
not been "what we expected. While it has not been an en- 
tire failure, it has not been an absolute success. The 
birds didn't seem to nest, and aside from that, we think 
the "pot-hunters" destroyed some of them. 
The gun club, however, are not entirely discourae-ed, 
but are goino^ to give it another trial this summer. The 
climatic conditions are all right, but the fault may have 
been with the birds themselves. The change from the far 
West (Wisconsin is where the birds come from'^ to the 
South mav have had all to do with it. that they didn't 
nest. Probably some of your readers may be able to shed 
some light on this phase of the matter. 
While the partridges suffered a great deal during the 
cold weather, and a great many were frozen, reports from 
the country are that there is enough left for this year's 
crop. J. H. F. 
Spring Ducks and Sitting Hens. 
In sprina there is no sport in shooting ducks the way 
the blue bills work here. They are like a lot of sitting 
hens, and there would be about as much glory in shoot- 
ing the former. It is no trick at all to shoot from 50 to 
100 ducks a day, and any man who will shoot that mnny 
ducks a day cannot expect to be considered anything but a 
game hog. Two dozen ducks a day is enough for any 
man to shoot, and a man who is not satisfied with that 
many is no sportsman. Of course, a market-hunter 
wouldn't be satisfied with that, but then such people 
wouldn't be satisfied as long as there is a duck unshot. 
Prohibit the sale of game at all times, limit the bag to 
twenty-five ducks a day, prohibit spring shooting at least 
for two years, and stop open water shooting, that's our 
platform.— Fox (Wis.) Representative. 
A Woodcock in Philadelphia Streets. 
Philadelphia, March 23. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
While passing Seventeenth and Chestnut streets I was sur- 
prised to hear that sound pleasant to every sportsman's 
ear. the woodcock's whistle, and looking up saw thejtjrd 
going north, dodging under the trolley wires, then rising 
over the buildings. It is an uncommon place to see this 
bird on the wing, but it is not an uncommon thing to 
see game of all kinds at the groceries and provision deal- 
ers offered for sale. When will this ever be stopped? 
C. R S. 
