Ai'Muzg, 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
either within or without the limits of the State, and that 
with the ruffed grouse completes the Hst of the principal 
game birds we have here, and goes further, in my estima- 
tion, toward their protection tlian if the Legislature had 
appropriated another $25,000 for the policing of the State 
with that many additional wardens. As you are already 
aware, the stopping the sale of game has always been a 
hobby of mine, and I wish to thank Forest and Stream, 
and I know every game protector in Minnesota wishes to 
do likewise, for the splendid assistance rendered, and for 
the consistent course that has always been pursued in 
regard to the very foundation of game protection. In 
my estimation this will insure good chicken shooting, 
sharp-tailed grouse and quail shooting for Mimiesota in 
the future. We have also allowed the law to stand in 
regard to black bass and brook trout, which will preserve 
these two species of fish in the same manner similar laws 
will preserve our game. 
"We have also added another chapter to our game laws, 
which, in my estimation, is a twin brother to the above, 
and that is, we have stopped spring shooting, which will 
insure a good supply of native ducks for the sportsmen 
and the farmer's boy in Minnesota, ''.v'e have fought 
those vicious measures for the past three sv">-'siv"^ns of our 
Legislature, and had a bitter fight again this yeai but we 
carried the day, and the whole matter is new before 
Governor Lind, who I am satisfied, will sign the hiii. 
"We have some Senators in Minnesota and some rc'i.''"e- 
sentatives whose names shall be inscribed on the heart? 
of every game proiector in flie State, and for the matter 
of that, on the hearts of every game protector in the 
United States. They have worked consistently and 
earnestly to bring this about. The chairman of our game 
and fish committee in the Senate, the Hon. J. H. Ryder, 
although not professing to be as old a sportsman as some 
of the others, has done splendid work, as has also the 
■Hon. Joe Wood, chairman in the House, but the real 
leaders in this movement have been the Hon. A. F. Ferris 
in the House, and the Hon. J. D. Jones in the Senate. 
Of course tiiey were backed up by a number of others 
who have taken an interest in this matter, but to Senator 
Jones belongs the credit when he was Speaker in the 
House two years ago, of leaving the chair and making 
a speech on the floor of the House in favor of stopping 
the sale of ruffed grouse. That was the entering wedge, 
and the good results from that amendment helped us in 
the fight this session. 
"Of course we had the usual number of fights and a lot 
of crazy amendments introduced. We had an amend- 
ment offered to allow gill netting in all the inland waters 
of Minnesota; another allowing pound nets and the use 
of seines in Lake Pepin, but we fought them all down, 
and have now got a game law that I have no hesitation 
in saying is the best that can be produced in any State in 
the Union, and if the sportsmen and the men who take 
an interest in game and fish protection will stand nobly 
by the commission and the difl'erent game ward^ens ap- 
pointed by them to look after the protection of our game 
and fish, we will all reap the benefit therefrom, in being 
able to go out and catch a good string of fish and secure 
a good bag of birds at any time in the open Reason for 
same. "'^ 
"We also passed a license law, an account of which I 
presume you read in the papers before this. The non- 
resident now coming to Minnesota to hunt deer will be 
compelled to pay a license fee of $25, and the resident a 
nominal fee of 25 cents. ■ The original bill called for a 
license fee of all shooters, but such determined opposi- 
tion developed in regard to the matter, we had to be 
content with a 'half-loaf rather than have no bread at 
all. We also changed the date of shooting deer from 
Oct. 25 to Nov. I, but left twenty days, the same as be- 
fore. No deer can be sold the first five da3's of the sea- 
son, which we consider is a step in the right direction." 
Couldn't Skin the Cow. 
I was speaking a moment ago of Mr. Kemeys, the 
sculptor, who lives at Bryn Mawr, and I am reminded 
by him of the story which appeared some time ago in 
Forest and Stream^ of two hungry Cheyenne Indians, 
who loiocked down a buffalo and thought they had meat, 
only to see it get up again and run away. Mr. Kemeys 
is himself an old-timer, and killed buffalo on the range 
thirty years ago. He tells me that one time he shot down 
a fine cow, as he thought, quite dead. He pulled the 
carcass into shape for skinning, and started in to make 
the incision down the hind leg, beginning at the inner side 
of the hoof. As the point of the knife touched this sensitive 
nerve center, the cow all at once changed her mind about 
dying. With a snort and a bound she sprang to her feet, 
nearly knocking the breath out of the hunter, and then 
running like a deer, she disappeared rapidly from view 
and actually escaped, apparently as good as new ! 
A Lost Cafrfer Pigeon, 
On the chance of its being useful to some one who has 
carrier pigeons, I may print the note from Mr. T. I. 
Phelps, of Greenville, Mich., who writes me : "I have 
in my possession here a carrier pigeon which flew in at 
ray opera house window about two weeks ago. The 
bird has a number on its leg, 'Miles, 5596.' Owner may 
have same by paying charges." 
Jack Sn{pe. 
The jacksnipe are in over all this section of the coun- 
try now, and shooting is merrily going on. The usual 
Kankakee points are yielding their quota, and the prairie 
sloughs west and northwest of this city are showing 
some returns. Water Valley, Ind., is overrun with 
shooters from Chicago. My poet-sportsman friend, 
Ernest McCafferty, has concluded that the pen is not 
mightier than the gim, and yesterday went to Shelby to 
meet the spring run of snipe. I have no doubt he will 
have good luck, for the weather has been just about right 
and conditions are as good as they can be for this erratic 
and undependable bird. E. Hough. 
480 Caxton Building, Chicago, 111, 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach na at tlje 
latest by Monday mi 9g ro»ch earlier as practicable. 
Cwfitucfc, 
Currituck, N. C, April 19. — The ducking season, 
which closed March 31, has been one of the best we have 
had for many years. The natives who shoot for the mar- 
kets have sold far' many thousands more than last sea- 
son, or the season before, while the club members froni 
the North have had ejccellent shooting also. Canvas- 
backs have been specially plentiful, and one of the mem- 
bers of the Narrows Island Club bagged eighty-eight in 
one day, besides many other ducks. This is the largest 
bag of canvasbacks I have known of being shot at Curri- 
tuck in fifteen years. 
Our shooting seems certainly improving under our 
present laws, and our last Representative, the Hon- S. M. 
Beasley, has made still another improvement, viz., no 
shooter is allowed to leave the landing place until sun- 
rise. He has made the open season Nov, 10, cutting oft' 
ten days. This, I think, is a mistake, as the ducks will 
eat the greater portion of the best food during this ten 
days and go on further south. I would much rather see 
the time taken off the spring end of it. In fact, I think 
all spring shooting should be stopped altogether. I had 
a letter to-day from one of New York's best-known 
sportsmen, who spent ten days witli me last spring shoot- 
ing yellow-legs and other bay birds. He writes: "I 
shall shoot no more in the spring. My experience last 
spring proved it to be dead wrong. The birds were all 
mated, and many of them filled with. eggs. I hope to 
see spring shooting abolished." 
Yellow-legs and all kinds of plover are much less plen- 
tiful than usual at this time in April. No large bags 
have been made, thirty-five by my own gun being the 
largest. English snipe have also been exceedingly 
scarce; in fact, they have almost ceased to come this way 
on their northern flight. We have a much larger flight 
in September. I noticed the first flight of curlew to- 
day, but, strange to say, they were going south. 
The fishermen who fish for large-mouth black bass 
have been catching an abundance of very large German 
carp, and no one knows where they come from. 
The catch of sturgeon so far has been exceedingly 
light, and caviar is very high in consequence. 
Shad have not been nearly so plenty as last season, 
but striped bass are unusually abundant. 
" More Anon. 
Bloody Brook, 
I READ in your paper of the 8th Mr. Brown's rather 
slighting reference to the massacre at South DeerfieM, 
Mass., with a feeling of sorrow amounting almost to in- 
dignation, and I thought a few words on the subject 
would be worth at least the writing. There were no 
women nor children who fell that day, but the very 
choicest of the young men — over seventy in number— of 
the towns of Hadley and Hatfield. I am Hatfield born 
and bred, and I write the story as I heard it from the 
lips of the descendants of the same families, possibly of 
some of the men who were slain. 
Hadley and Hatfield, then under the one name of 
Hadley, were settled first; then the settlers passed on up 
the river, some twelve miles to Deerfield, with the prom- 
ise that if they were troubled by the Indians they should 
receive assistance from Hadley. One day . in early fall 
word came to Hadley that the common enemy had ap- 
peared about Deerfield, and eighty of the young men, 
under strict orders not to break ranks until past all dan- 
ger of attack, were sent to the aid of the settlers there. 
On reaching Deerfield they found no signs of the enemy, 
so started homeward. Arriving at what is now South 
Deerfield, then an unbroken forest, they found the vines 
of the wild grape so loaded with ripe clusters that they 
could not resist the temptation to stop and eat their 
fill, so most of them stacked their muskets and climbed 
into the trees with that intent, and while so occupied and 
wholly defenseless were attacked by the Indians, who 
had been following them, and over seventy of their num- 
ber were killed. ,So freely ran their blood that day that 
the waters of the little brook on whose banks they were 
ran red with their blood. Hence its name of "Bloody 
Brook" to this day. A little monument with the names 
of the slain now marks the spot. 
I think in all the annals of Indian massacre with which 
our land abounds there are none more pitiful than the 
tidings the few survivors of that day must have borne to 
the little hamlets down the river. I think it was the 
Iroquois tribes of Canada that the settlers were then 
fighting. Possibly I feel different about these things, for 
that I number among my ancestors on the maternal 
side one who fell in the fight in the Rhode Island swamp 
when King Philip's power was broken. 
Pine Tree. 
Tennessee Wild Turkeys. 
Bledsoe County, Tenn. — I see nothing in Forest and 
Stream from this section of the country in regard to 
game. While the country is not noted for good hunting 
yet there is quite a lot of game here, especially of wild 
turkeys. Part of Bledsoe county is on the Cumberland 
Mountains. I spent last fall and winter hunting here, and 
had good sport. I killed somewhere between seventy- 
five and eighty turkeys and seven deer, to say nothing of 
pheasants, which are quite plentiful. The oldest moun- 
taineers tell me that fifty years ago there were vast herds 
of deer; and lots of black bear were to be found in the 
great gulches of the mountains. But Bledsoe county has 
never had a game law, and hunters from a distance have 
made this a resort so often that the game has been com- 
paratively all destroyed. 
This part of the mountains is quite intei'esting on ac- 
count of its imposing scenery and many beautiful little 
streams, the most noted of which is Cain Creek. This 
is right in the heart of the mountain ; and on the banks I 
made my camp and enjoyed one of the happiest hunts I 
had experienced in a long time. The first morning after 
I reached Cain Creek and built my camp I had the good 
fortune to bag as fine a buck as ever sportsman killed. 
The ground was still white with frost although the sun 
began to fall. upon it. I saw far down a glade the antlers 
of a buck bobbing and glistening in the sunshine. He was 
coming straight down on me. so I waited until he came 
within close range, then gave a low sudden bah. 
The old fellow paused for a moment, but in that moment I 
sent a soft-nose bullet whizzing through his neck, and his 
race on earth was done forever. J. W. Drane. 
Eastern Massachusetts. 
Danvers, Mass., April 16. — Yesterday was the last day 
of the shooting season, closed on black duck. I think 
about the usual flight was in. I heard of a snipe being 
seen yesterday. 
There has been an unusual big catch of muskrats up on 
Ipswich River, one man trapping and shooting thirty- 
five in one day. A few wood and black duck have been 
shot on these meadows. Most of the spring birds are 
here. Frogs came out of their holes orf the 14th. I do 
not hear of a quail, but they will commence to whistle in 
about a month, and I will let you know how they tune up. 
John W Babbitt. 
Trouting Near Home. 
Ten miles northwest of the "City of Elms," as the crow 
flies, and in the county of New Haven, lies as grand a 
section of country for the propagation of American game 
birds as the sun ever shone upon. Green, rolling fields, 
foliaged hills, enchanting valleys; dark, heavily wooded 
ravines, and seared, precipitous, semi-mountain sides 
greet the eye. In places placid pools and lakes, most 
of them artificial, glisten in the sunlight, mirror the 
rugged hillsides and reflect the fleecy clouds dreamily 
drifting athwart the summer skies. 
Ages ago, when nature first fashioned these hills, she 
left huge, basin-like depressions in places on their tops. 
Then vegetation started, and generations of snow an<l 
rain washed waste and loose vegetable matter into these 
depressions. For centuries this matter decayed and set- 
tled, until those huge, natural sponges called marshes 
were formed. These absorbed and held the moisture of 
the snows of winter and rains of summer. Then springs 
burst from the ground. Through fissures in the rocks, 
and winding their way over uneven surfaces, tiny, infant 
streams commenced to trickle. These gradually inter- 
mingled until small brooks were formed, which, as they 
increased in volume, tinkled on their way like tiny silvery 
bells. Gaining strength with each new reinforcement, 
their bell-like voices blended in a deeper babble; then, 
plunging from the hillsides, these larger streams inter- 
mingled until one grand trout brook was formed. To- 
day this brook flows through the woods and valleys, tum- 
bles with rush and roar down gloomy ravines, where the 
sunlight scarcely penetrates, brawls over boulders in 
foaming cascades, lingers to smile at the heavens in 
flower-strewn meadows, laves emerald banks where gol- 
den cowslips bloom, and finally plunges into West River, 
which empties into the Sound. 
Part of the section of country through which this 
stream flows is the town of Bethany, a place of 700 in- 
habitants. This population is widely scattered, for it is 
strictly an agricultural district. Here are the Wood- 
bridge Hills, famous for their delightful scenery. The 
stream flows through the valley partly formed by these 
hills on the west, and the West Rock Range on the easr. 
I know a story connected with this stream, and the spirit 
moves me to tell it to Forest and Stream. 
One beautiful May morning two men, armed with rods 
and hnes, might ...have been seen' crossing the fields and 
heading for the West Rock Range from the Hamden 
side. They were both tall and long of leg. One, how- 
ever, traveled easier than the other, because he was more 
used to that kind of exercise. He who had had the least 
practice was a well-known New Haven druggist. The 
other person was myself. 
H. stopped under a blossom-laden apple tree, tipped 
his straw hat to the back of his head and said: "Whew! 
This is new work for me." He mopped his heated brow, 
sniffed a good draught of the blossom-scented air, and 
continued: "How far is that brook, did you say?" 
"Three miles, at least, from here." 
"And we'll have to climb that range?" 
'•'Certainly." ' ' 
"Humph! How long will it take to get there?" 
"Forever, if we stay here." 
' PI. mopped his heated brow again, and we started on 
our way. The climb to the top of the range was ener- 
vating, even for me. My druggist friend is not a strong 
man, and he was ready to lie down when we reached the 
top of the range. As I felt somewhat that way myself, 
we rested awhile, then descended the western side. 
Our way now led through emerald fields, where dew- 
drops sparkled on grass blade, violet and buttercup., The 
sweet songs of bluebirds, robins and wrens filled the 
scented air, and the morning sun kissed the newly 
foliaged hills with a tender touch. A soft breeze breathed 
out of the southwest, and toyed with the snowy apple 
blossoms, bringing sweet incense on its wings. 
About 8 o'clock we reached the banks of the brook. 
Here we found large gangs of men building a huge dam 
across the valley at that point. This was for the purpose 
of forming a large artificial lake for the New Haven 
Water Co. 
H. was my invited guest, and I advised that he begin 
fishing looyds. or so ahead of me. I helped him rig his 
line, and when I was ready to fish he was out of sight 
down the brook. I feared that the commotion of the 
rnen building the dam might have scared any stray fish 
froni that vicinity, but decided to start in near them and 
trust to luck. A beautiful cascade, about 8ft. in height, 
fell over a small ledge, and was shattered into a mass 
of creamy foam on the rocks below. It then rushed into 
a deep, dark pool, and a likely looking spot was this 
for trout. It was here I first wet my line, but fish as 
faithfully as I would I could get no strike. Pulling the 
tops of my hip boots up as far as they would come, I 
commenced to work my way cautiously down stream. 
Many likely looking spots were patiently tried before suc- 
cess crowned my efforts. Finally a spot was reached 
