Sept. 30, i8gg.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
£67 
serious fight. Mr. Gilbert Hartley and Senator Page 
Morris, oi' Dulitth, both agree that the measure will go 
through, and the Hon. D. M. Gunn, of Grand Rapids, 
has withdrawn his opposition. This conipromise site 
covers the Indian lands known as Wimiebigoshtsh, Cass 
Lake, Leech Lake and Cliippewa reservations. The title 
to the standing timber on these lands can be attained by 
Congress simply and at comparatively little expense. It 
is not to be doubted that if the Indians are paid for their 
timber they would rather ae&it Jeft standing than to see 
it cut down. 
These Indians are not to be left out of the calculations, 
■ tlie entertainment committees. At Walker the white 
ri and red men will join in the welcome. There will 
be Indian ceremonials and dances and the occasion will 
be one far out of the ordinary. In short, it will be an un- 
lucky Congressman who is not of this party. 
There is no doubt that this expedition would have at- 
tained very great and perhaps impossible proportions had 
it not fallen at the time it does. At this season we are 
having Dewey receptions in New York, the preparations 
for a big yacht race and arrangeinents for a fall festival in 
Chicago. Still more significant is the fact that many 
members of Congres are kept at home by duties of the fall 
campaign. A great many regrets come which mention 
this duty as the reason for not being able to join the expe- 
dition. The corresponding secretary has letters from the 
President of the United States, the membei's of the Cab- 
inet, from many public men whose names are very famil- 
iar to all, and from many men of thought and science. It 
i« a graceful act on the part of the secretary which sug- 
gests that these documents shall ultimately, on the dis- 
bandment of the association, become the property of 
President James J. Hill, of the Great Northern Railway, 
without whose bold initiative and princely support this 
enterprise could never have gotten beyond its first in- 
ception. 
To-day I went up to Col. Cooper's law office, and there 
behind his big table sat a very happy gentleman. A cigar 
was as usual screwed into the corner of his mouth, and 
as usual his knee was dancing up and down with nervous 
energy as he sat at his desk. Six feet tall, broad shoul- 
dered and clean built as a soldier, with light hair a little 
gray, a blue ej-e which needs glasses now and then, and 
a smooth-shaven face which this morning was beaming 
with happiness — there you had Col. Cooper, the responsi- 
Ijle originator of this movement, and to-day the happiest 
lawyer in all Chicago. He was happy because he could 
see that this movement was already a success, whether or 
not the reservation shall ultimately be set aside. I con- 
fess I gloried in his success, for if one stops to think of 
it. it is"a verv great thing which he has done, to start this 
thing and thus push it forward to such prominence and 
magnitude. It is a work which has taken a great deal 
more time and energy than would ever appear upon the 
surface. I personally know that Col. Cooper has given up 
his entire summer to this w-ork, and he has brought to 
bear upon it so large a grasp upon affairs, so thorough an 
acquaintance with public men, and above all so unflag- 
ging and unselfish an enthuiasm, that he has been literally 
a host in himself. He has met discouragements and hin- 
drances, but has brushed them aside with unconcern. I 
think I never saw a better instance of a man getting what 
he wanted because he really wanted it. Others have 
helped him generously, nobly, but we should place credit 
for this enterprise where credit belongs, with this blue- 
eyed enthusiast, Col. John S. Cooper, of, Chicago. This 
city has always been able to produce a big man when 
occasion demanded it, and Col. Cooper has been big 
enough for this enterprise. He was a happy man to-da,y 
and i am sure all his friends share in his happiness. This 
expedition is a success before it turns a wheel. 
It Still Grows. 
Later.— Sept. 33.— At 11 o'clock this morning there 
were forty-one acceptances from m_embers of Congress re- 
ceived at the office of the corresponding sercetary of the 
association. Less than 150 members have been heard 
from, and should all receive and answer their invitations 
it would seem that at this ratio the party would surpass 
m numbers all anticipations of even the most sanguine 
sort. It is settled that the affair will be a success. 
To-day I talked with Mr. H. G. McCartney, of this city, 
chairman of the camp site committee, and he tells me that 
one very strange fact makes the actual plans of the com- 
mittee still somewhat problematical— no one can be found 
who knows much about that country! It is still too much 
of a wilderness. "Ask me anything about the Woman 
Lake region, below there." said Mr. McCartney, "and I 
can tell you all about it; but I can't find any one who can 
give chapter and verse on that Turtle River region and 
the lakes that run out from Cass Lake, either way. All 
we can promise is that we will go up in there and do the 
best we can, and we feel sure that we can at least round up 
enough boats and men to take out thirty or forty men on 
fishing trips and can give everybody a fish dinner out of 
doors As to a big camp, that remains to be looked into. 
A good manv are afraid to risk Congressmen out m 
camp for fear that they will not enjoy camping, especially 
if it should come on bad weather. You must remember 
that we are going into a country that does not have ho- 
tels and guides waiting for visitors. It is all wdd and 
rude. We don't know how many boats we can get. We 
are sure of two steamers at Cass Lake, one of which can 
carry a couple of dozen passengers, and the other about 
seventy-five passengers. These boats can take the party 
up the lake chain a distance of ten or fifteen miles from 
the stopping place on Cass Lake. The railroad has only 
been through there six months, so it is all wild right up 
to the tracks. Capt Clow is going mto camp a couple of 
days in advance and will try to have 5om« fish hung up 
bv the time Ave get there." 
'Capt. Clow was in the commissary department m the 
Civil War and has fed 15.000 men, so he knows what that 
means. If the fish don't happen to bite very well, he 
would better move on up into the woods when he sees 
the cars coming with the big party, for a hundred hungry 
men will need a heap of duck and muscallunge. The com- 
mittee has asked me to go along and help Capt. Clow get 
the camp supplied with game and fish, but this I cannot 
do, as I must keep closer to the center of the storm belt. 
But what a lark it would be to get mixed un with those 
mallards about now, in the wild rice lakes! I should hke 
to ^hnnf 3 couole of davs for the sake of .saving Congress, 
for I think T could get so many ducks in there that I 
would surely be elected an honorary member at least. 
From the East» 
I receive many letters irbm different parts of the coun- 
try regarding this Minnesota expedition, but the follow- 
ing from Boston, written. by Mr. C. Harry Morse, is of 
special interest. He writes: 
"T have followed with great interest the movement for 
the establishment of the new forest reservation, and in this 
week's Fokest and Stream I find a new hope for the 
success of the project. ' This is no less than the fact that 
the Old Bay State will be represented on the tour of in- 
vestigation by one of her very best sportsmen and out- 
of-doors men. The Hon. John R. Thayer is a lover of the 
woods and waters; a fox hunter himself of the most vig- 
orous type, and a persistent, hard worker for anything 
which he believes in. You are in great good luck to have 
Mr. Thayer a member of this exploring party. I have 
sort of jumped at the conclusion that the other Congress- 
men who have accepted will be equally impressed with the 
desirability of establishing this reservation, and hope it 
may turn out so. I know that an honest effort in such 
a direction, such as I am confident this is, will enlist the 
sympathy of John R. on the spot. And that means that 
he will work for it. I know that you are interested in the 
matter, the same as we all are, and that is my reason for 
writing." 
Movements of Western Sportsmen* 
Chicago, 111., Sept. 22. — Hon. Carter H. HarrLson, 
Mayor of Chicago, will to-morrow go on a little snipe 
shooting trip, making his headquarters at the Maksawba 
club house, in Indiana. Mayor Harrison is very fond of 
snipe shooting and never loses an opportunity to indulge 
in his favorite pastime. He will meet at the club house 
Mr. W. H. Haskell and other members of the Maksawba 
Club and will remain there a few days if the shooting 
should be good. There is a good flight of snipe now in 
on the marshes of upper Indiana, together with a good 
many plover and numbers of teal duck, and unless the 
sudden change of weather to-day should drive the birds 
away there ought to be some shooting. We are having 
a very heavy, cold rain to-day in Chicago and vicinity, 
and what this equinoctial disturbance may mean to the 
shooters is yet to be seen. 
Mr. W. P. Mussey will go to Maksawba Club to-mor- 
row night and may perhaps be joined by Mr. Organ and 
other friends. There has been go^ fishing of late in the 
Kankakee, or in what is left of me Kankakee, and the 
members have managed to find some sport between the 
bass and the birds. 
Our chicken season is well advanced now, and I pre- 
sume it is safe to say that most of the big bags have been 
made. It is pleasant to be able to state that the chicken 
reports show about as many birds this year as last, and 
this would seem to indicate that there is gradually grow- 
ing a better sentiment for game protection in the West- 
ern country. 
Among the unlucky chicken hunters who went out 
early in the season from Chicago Avas Mr. Ernest McGaf- 
fey, who hunted in lower Illinois on a screeching hot day 
and only saw five birds, of which he killed four. 
Mr. C. B. Congdon, of this city, has left for Eagle 
Waters. Wis., for a wrestle with the fiery and untamed 
muscallunge. 
Mr. J. H. Smith, of Milwaukee, is among many bthers 
who have gone to try the fishing near Woodrufl', AVis. 
Four representatives of the glass house of Stewart & 
Co., of Marion, Ind., left this week for Woodruflf and 
Minocqua, Wis., where they will fish and shoot. 
Mr. A. D. Early, of Rockford, III., has gone to State 
Line, Wis., for a shooting and fishing trip this week. 
Mr. C, N. Cleveland, of Chicago, leaves this week for 
a trip to State Line, W^is, 
Mr. N. C. Beasley, of Big Timber, Mont., is one of the 
visiting sportsmen in Chicago this week. 
Mr. A. H. Bogardus, Jr., of Springfield, III., is in town 
this week. He is not yet as big a man as his father, but 
is husky enough. 
I\Ir, E. W. Purser, of San Francisco, Cal., is in Chicago 
this week with three friends, and the whole party is buy- 
ing a full line of sporting equipment for their regular fall 
duck shooting trip, northeast of the Golden Gate. 
Mr. W. G. McCarthy, of this city, is back from a 
chicken shooting trip in Minnesota. He had very good 
success. 
Mr. Chas. P. Frame, of New York city, is among the 
guests of this season at Kabekona Camp, Minn. 
Messrs. J. G. Peppard, Crispin Ogleby, H. P. Wright 
and J. W. Barney, all of Kansas City, are at this writing 
at Kabekona Camp. 
Messrs. Geo. P. Miller, W. M. Miller and F. R. Blood- 
good, of Milwaukee, Wis., are now at Kabekona Camp. 
Messrs. Louis A. Ireton and E. W. Wright, of Cincin- 
nati, O., are on the Kabekona register this week. 
Messrs. W. C. Gillespie and A. E. Walters, of Chicago, 
are now at Kabekona Camp. 
Mr. Geo. W. Lawrence, of Carthage, Mo., is spending 
a short time at Kabekona Camp. 
At the above resort the duck shooting is reported now 
as very good on the rice beds, and the muscallunge are 
biting now and then. Messrs. Gillespie and Walters took 
two 'lunge, each of 22lbs., on Little Bo}' Lake last week. 
Bass fishing is very good. Messrs. Peppard and Ogleby 
caught 175 bass in five hours. (These fish are reported as 
returned to the water.) 
At Fox Lake, Wis,, ducks are coming in fairly well and 
the boys are having fun with teal. Redheads and blue- 
bills are just beginning to appear and the northern flight 
is not yet m on Wisconsin Avaters. At Fox Lake the fall 
pickerel fishing W'ith spoon hook is always something 
worth taking into account. This week Dick Newman got 
thirty-one pickerel on one day and Dick Hoover and Tim 
Kenney took fifty-eight the same afternoon. Fox Lake 
is a good deal of an all around sporting place, what with 
bass, pickerel, ducks, grouse, squirrels, rabbits, etc.. and 
friend Hotchkiss, of the Representative, seems Avell lo- 
cated. 
Messrs. James B. Clow, H. G. McCartney and L. W. 
Pitcher will leave next Tuesday night for the Leech 
Lake country, in the capacity of adA^ance agents for the 
Congressioinal expedition, which will leave Chicago Sept. 
:28. Capt. Clow will stop at Walker, Minn., and will ar- 
range for boats and guides. Messrs. McCartney and 
Pitcher will go on into the Turtle River and probably 
pitch the headquarters camp, which will be reached later 
by the expedition. Mr. Clow was making purchases of 
fishing tackle to-day, and I can testify that he is taking in 
enough spoons, gaffs, swivels, Hues, etc., to supply the 
whole United States Congress if necessary. The State 
of Minnesota Avill, if desired, furnish tents, blankets, etc., 
tor the camps, 
Mr. Fred Kaempfer, of 88 State street, our modest and 
most prominent Chicago taxidermist, had the misfortune 
this week of comin.g very near to a complete loss of his 
Avell stocked store. Fire broke out in the night time, and 
it was only by great efforts that the birds and animals 
were rescued alive. The policemen and firemen were busy 
in carrying out parrots, monkeys, ferrets, squirrels and 
other portions of the interesting live stock which makes 
this place one of the features of State street. I am glad to 
be able to say that but few of the little creatures were 
lost, and the damage is less than was at first expected. 
When one stops to think of it, there is nothing much 
more horrible than the thought^ of creatures doubly im- 
prisoned and left to perish in a city fire. I remember that 
my friend John McGovern in one of his novels speaks of 
the burning of a bird store in the great Chicago fire. The 
description is a good bit of writing, and I recalled it when 
I heard of the fire at Mr. Kaempfer's. 
Western Game Prospects. 
We are now just at the natural shooting season of the 
year, and some interest centers on the game supply. This 
is without doubt or question an era of non-resident shoot- 
ing, and never in the history of the West has there been 
so much non-resident traffic as there has been this fall. 
Happily, this seems to be a good game year, the times be- 
ing good in this respect, as in all business ways. As I 
have noted before, the chicken crop does not seem to be 
below the average of the last couple of years. The pin- 
nated grouse is a doomed bird and is gradually passing 
away, but on the other hand the sharp-tailed grouse is not 
yet so closely shot down and there are still a good many 
sections of the country where there can be found pretty 
sharp-tailed shooting. The flight of ducks this fall, I 
should say from all available information, is not below 
that of last year. We have had a little rain in September 
and the birds seem to be coming in over this part of the 
West in numbers fully as great as at any time during the 
past few years. As to the flight of the wild fowl, how- 
ever, it is very difficult to make prognostications. The 
Northern flight comes down in waves, and sometimes the 
first one is the heaviest of the season. We should log- 
ically expect better duck shooting thirty days later, but 
what it will be at that time cannot now be told. As to 
snipe in the Western country, that is another problem. 
A, good many birds have come down now, but the fall 
flight of'thc jacks is always even more irregular and er- 
ratic than it is in the spring. Quail in all parts of the 
Middle West are a splendid crop this year. Illinois, In- 
diana and lower Michigan are alive with them. Ruffed 
grouse shooting in the West is much as it is in the East, 
a thing tantalizingly delightsome, now with abundant re- 
ward and now with hope deferred. I hear more of ruffed 
.grouse shooting in this part of the Western country than 
formerly, though I am inclined to think that is because 
more men are taking to that form of shooting. The bird 
itself probably holds its own in the settled or semi-settled 
parts of the Middle West. It is very abundant in upper 
Wisconsin, and many thousands of these birds are killed 
each fall in that State and shipped to Chicago. These 
birds are usually killed in the pine woods country by 
shooters who tree them with dogs and shoot them from 
the tree. I think the ruffed grouse is growing in value in 
the eyes of sportsmen in the States of Wisconsin and 
Michigan. E. Hough. 
480 C.\XTO}f Building, Chicago, 111. 
Maine Forest Fires. 
Boston, Sept. 23. — The forest fires are out, and the 
.great danger to the hunting regions of New England is 
oven The abundant rains that have fallen, beginning 
on the 2oth, haA e set aside all immediate danger, and 
with the ordinary rainfall of autumn all danger for the 
season. The timber regions have suffered greatly in 
Maine, and the suspense that has hung over camp own- 
ers, hotel men, and above all, timber land owners, has 
been great. Fires have been burning for weeks in 
many sections, and it has been only throu.gh Avatching 
day and night, and often tremendous effort, that they 
have been kept from spreading. A dangerous fire has 
been raging for nearly a week on the lower easterly 
shore of Moosehead Lake, claimed to have been set by 
the carelessness of sportsmen. Many acres have been 
burned over, and a great deal of game destroyed, to 
say nothing of the loss to the timber OAvners. A Bangor 
dispatch last evening says that the fire j,s entirely out. 
Great fires have been raging in the Chesuncook region, 
and hunters haA^e been driven out of the woods. These 
fires are also out. In many sections in Aroostook counl y 
fires have been raging, and timber land owners have not 
been slow to accuse hunters of setting these fires. It is 
reported that they will make an effort at the next Legis- 
lature to have more stringent l?iws passed in regard to 
employing guides and the kindling of fires. It is even 
threatened to urge the passage of laws preventing all 
hunting during September and October. It will be re- 
membered that this is the first season of the law permit- 
ting the hunting of deer in September by buying a li- 
cense, and the timber land owners are down on this law, 
and will ask for its repeal. 
Boston, Sept. 25. — Albert N. Burnham, of Haverhill, 
started out early in September. There were three others 
in the party; George. E. Fletcher, of Melrose; John 
Blount, of Everett, and Horace Aldrich, of Melrose. 
Their purpose was big game — deer, and possibly moose 
Their destination was Third Lake, in the northeast cor- 
ner of the State, and less than forty miles from the head- 
waters of the St. Croix. Between Third Lake and that 
river is a watershed particularly smampy and covered 
with a dense forest of evergreen trees. Mr. Burnham left 
camp and his companions in pursuit of a moose, which' 
an Indian had promised the day before to help him hunt. 
He lost his way; not findig either the Indian or th« 
moose. Failing to get back to camp, he traveled for seven 
(lays through swamp and underbrush, all the time keeping 
