268 
FOPiEST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 5, 1901. 
camp with a tiger over 6 feet long and most beautifully 
striped. Jim, with our help, spent the rest of the day 
skinning the tiger, and a good job we made of it, saving- 
all the feet and claws, also the head and tail. As we 
had all the gai^'e the wagon would carry, we voted for an 
early start for home in the morning, for game will not 
keep long in that climate. We killed two more turkeys 
and a lot of pheasants and quail on the way home, where 
we arrived about 5 P. M. We then kept two natives busy 
delivering game to all Jim's friends. 
This is certainly a great coimtry for game and fish. I 
hear that there is a taxidermist in Tarapico who makes a 
living mounting tarpon. There is some talk here of form- 
ing a club for hunting and fishing, Avhere we could have 
all the conveniences of the North without much expense. 
What are needed are good, modern gasoline or naphtha 
launches and gunning skiffs, so as to get around quickly; 
also good bird dogs, and fox hounds would be very use- 
ful also. " ( 
As we are going to visit Mexico City, if I find any 
gunning or fishing there better than here, I will send vou 
an account of it, although I believe Jim when he says 
this is the best game and fish country on the American 
contment. I saw here about all the varieties of ducks 
found North, also all the snipe family from the Esquimo 
curlew to the little tilt-up. besides several of the snipe 
family never seen North, one especiallv about the size of 
the sxkle bill curlew, but with a bill cun-ed upward instead 
of down. Of course one can find game here all the year 
round, but the proper time for hunting here is from No- 
vember to March, as there are thousands migrate North 
each spring, returning in the fall. 
Boston' and 'Maine^ 
Boston, Sept. 28.— Mr. Harry B. Moore, of this city, 
has just returned from a hunting trip to South Dakota, 
where he has been with Dr. French, for several weeks. 
Mr. Moore left Dr. French in that part of the country, 
determined to try the hunting still further. They hunted 
about 150 miles from Minneapolis, on the Chicago, St. 
P.^ul. Minneapolis & Omaha Railway, in the immediate 
neighborhood of the Sioux Indians. They had the best 
of dogs, a good hunting wagon. And such hunting 
even these adepts had never before experienced. They 
shot prairie chickens and ducks till they M'ere nearly tired 
of the sport. These men have hunted in Maine, "in the 
Provinces, in North Carolina and Florida together, and 
they have never found anything to equal South Dakota. 
But I am treading on ground that is to be occupied, for 
Mr. Moore tells me that Dr. French has promised to 
write an account of this hunting trip for the Foee.st akd 
Stream, 
There are some pretty good reports of partridge shoot- 
ing in Maine. Portland, Lewiston and Auburn parties 
go up to Rumford Falls, and from that point go 
with teams further up into Rumford, Hanover, Andover 
and to the east up into Mexico, Byron and Roxbury. 
Rumford Falls reports tell of some nice bags of grouse. 
Although partridges cannot be legally taken out of 
Maine, they may be transported from one place to an- 
other in the. State in open season, if properlv tagged 
with the owner's name. One Rumford Falls hunter 
came down the line last week with a bag of six, taken 
in B3'ron. 
Chairman L. T. Carleton, of the Maine Fish and Game 
Commission, has gone into the woods in the Moosehead 
region with two of his best game wardens — W. T. Poll- 
lard and Frank Perkins. To a daily paper reporter Mr. 
Carleton said: 
"There seems to be a 'Carnival of illegal moose killing 
all through the northern portion of the State, and we 
propose to use every effort to put a stop to it. I am 
here to- give the matter my personal atestion. 
"I won't say that the condition has never been more 
serious, but T will say that it is serious enough, partic- 
uarly in the face of the fact that we had come to believe 
that popular sentiment was rapidly reaching a point 
where it would be impossible for moose to be killed in 
Inrp-p numbers. 
"What is more, this work could not be done without 
the knowledce and assent of some guides. I want to be 
quoted to that effect. There are some good guides, but 
there are lots who now have licenses who have got to 
be weeded out; guides that for a $5 bill will let a 'sport' 
do anything. 
"At this rate it won*t be long before there won't be a 
deer or moose in our vast forests, any more than there 
is a caribou to-day. We consider the situation sufifi- 
cientl'"' alarming- to give it our undivided attention for the 
present. As chairman that duty devolves upon me, and 
T shall investigate the matter thoroughh^ 
"A verv large number of cases have been brought 
to our notice; an unusuallv laree number. At Kelley 
Pond, near Ragged Lake, five deer have been shot and 
left to rot. and a short distance avfay, at Barrv Brook, is 
a fine moose. Another moose lies dead at Dole Pond, 
on the north branch of the Penobscot, and there is an- 
other at Prong Pond, near Moosehead Lake. At Moose 
Brook, right on the shores of this lake, is a dead bull, 
and there are also dead moose at Eagle and Camcongo- 
moc lakes. Tn addition, among others, there are two dead 
moose in Washington county, and two more in Aroos- 
took county. 
"With our limited anoropriation we cannot of course 
have extended g-ame warden ser\nce. and I am convinced 
that it will be necessarv to absolu*^ely prohibit the taking 
of arms into the woods durinor the close season. I be- 
lieve vi.sitors Avho would not violate the laws are coming 
to understand this more and more, knowing that it js 
the only way to protect the game from the lead of 
van/^^ls, who shoot, for what reasons T cannot tell. 
■ "We have got to put a stop to all illegal killing, 
wherever ft is being carried on, without regard to the 
persons interested, We have erot to stop the use of 
deer meat in, sporting camns during the close season, 
and we propose to do it. Warrants are already out for 
several pronrietors. which means that we have taken the 
int-*-iative in this matter, and propose to carrv it through." 
The above is ven^ imnortant. because it practically 
acknowledges what manv peoole mtich interested have 
for some tim_e known in resrard to poachinpr in Maine. 
Mr. Carleton also come? down to ius*- what T have for a 
long time contended through the Forrest and Stream 
nnd otherwise: that the only way ta s.'^op the illegra! kilt- 
ing of game by fishermen and summer visitors is to ab- 
solutely prevent the carrying of guns into the woods in 
close season. If a man were caught with burglars' tools 
in his possession, and burglary had been corhmitted, he 
would be the first to be suspected. It is also important 
because showing that at last the Commissioners are 
awake to what has been going on year after year, and 
that they propose to stop it. Mr. Carleton is entirely 
right about many of his licensed guides, and some of the 
summer hotel and camp proprietors. I hardly believe 
that matters in that respect are any worse in the Moose- 
head region than in many another section of the State. 
If Mr. Carleton could note, as I have noted for years, 
the utter carelessness or sang froid with which fishermen, 
tourists and summer boarders arm themselves with the 
best of rifles, of deadly caliber, when starting for Maine, 
when the season is closed on all game, he would be still 
more confirmed in his opinions as to the amount of il- 
legal killing done, and that the only way to stop it is to 
deprive the dishonest visitors of the weapons they pro- 
pose to use. 
Sept. 30. — The open season on deer in Maine begins 
Oct. I, and a good many hunters are preparing for 
their early fall shooting. Saturday three gunners passed 
through the Southern Terminal, on their way to Maine. 
Each had a dog — a bird dog — and a rifle and a shotgun. 
They were full of enthusiasm. Their names they did not 
care to give for publication. If they were successful, they 
would report their good luck to me. More hunters than 
usual will early be after the deer, and there comes up 
again the old fear that hunters may shoot each other. 
The fatality was terrible last year; may it be less this 
year. It will be remembered that the State passed a law 
last winter, intended to reduce the number of these 
shooting accidents. The principal clause of the law 
reads: "Whoever, v/hile on a hunting trip or in the pur- 
suit of wild game or game birds, neglectfully or carelessly 
shoots or wounds or kills any human being, shall be pun- 
ished by imprisonment not exceeding ten years, or by 
fine not exceeding $1,000." 
Another law also provides that non-resident sports- 
men may not hunt game in Maine without being accom- 
panied by registered guides. This law does not apply, 
however, to camp owners, either by lease or purchase; 
to owners of timber lands, who may hunt on their own 
lands without registered guides. Greater restrictions than 
ever are to be put on to the shipping out of game; ex- 
pert wardens and inspectors will be posted at Bangor 
and all the other big game-shipping points. The Com- 
missioners are determined to stop the shipping of big 
game into the Boston market. They made a great stride 
in that direction last year, and will do better this. Again 
tile Lacey bill makes the receiver of game here liable 
for game illegally killed or shipped. The marketmen 
generally refused to receive it last year. 
Special. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Fall Game Season. 
Chicago, 111., Sept. 28. — The shooting season is un- 
der full swing by this time, more especially as regards 
the water fowl. The abundance of game this fall seems 
to be Ytry general all over the West, for some unknown 
reason, and we are having our share, or more than our 
share, of game in this old corner of the world. The 
teal flight has hung around Fox Lake all the week, but 
the great bodies of birds, which came down about ten 
days ago, have broken up and are scattered around over 
the country. The teal came in this week pretty much 
all over the Kankakee country, where there is marsh 
enough left to furnish food. The old club grounds of the 
Maksawba Club offered very good shooting all through 
the week. Few of the members went down, as the In- 
diana license has put a damper on Chicago enthusiasm. 
Mel Fancher, one of tlie best-known pushers of the Mak- 
sawba Club, has been anxious to have some one come 
down to have a go at the birds, but is still lonesome. 
Jacksnipe have appeared along with the teal all over 
the better Kankakee marshes. There are a few jacks 
in and around the edges of the Fox Lake country. The 
Skokie marshes north of town have a few jacks and 
plover. Any one wanting plover would better go to 
the town of Custer, near the Kankakee, or at least this 
is given out as a hot tip by Dick Turtle, who is sup- 
posed to know. 
Off fof the Dakotas. 
Mr. W. H. Mullins, of Salem, Ohio, manufacturer of 
the celebrated Mullins metal boats, is in town to-day 
collecting the last items of his outfit for an extended trip 
in North Dakota. At St. Paul. Minn., he will be joined 
by Mr. D. C. Shepard, who takes Mr. Mullins to his 
private shooting lodge, near Devil's Lake, N. Dak. 
Mr. Shepard writes that he has never, in his experience, 
seen greater abundance of wild fowl than is in that 
neighborhood at present. A gentleman, 74 years of age 
himself, Mr. Shepard, on one of his hunts last fall, bagged 
nearly sixty birds in one day. He tells Mr. Mullins that 
this, perhaps, may be his last hunt, and he hopes it will 
be a good one. Let us hope that Mr. Shepard may hunt 
very many years more, and that Mr. Mullins may be 
with him." The latter is looking well and hearty, and 
expecting very mUch of his trip. He likewise threatens 
to go out to my bear ranch and kill a grizzly next spring- 
Then he has also lost a moose, and a few other things 
which would seem to bid fair to keep him interested in. 
life for quite a while yet. 
Mr. Chas. Antoine will start for the Northwest about 
the same time as Mr. Mullins. He goes, however, to 
South Dakota, after chickens, and not ducks. He will 
make Watertown his headquartiers, and expects to have 
gome fun with the big grouse. In this he is quite cor- 
rect. Chicken shooting in October is a different and 
sportier affair than the same thing thirty days earlier. 
He will probablv find the birds all packed, and too wild 
for work with the dog. but there ought to be opportu- 
nities enough to give him good fun. 
Il«Qo!s Qaait. 
I heard to-4ay at a gun store that two gentlemen, who. 
for obvious reasons, wish their names kept private, last 
week tried to see whether the Illinois game law would 
y/Qxk in regard to qvail It vvQ^^ed- They paid a^boui^ 
$50 and costs apiece, having been caught with quail in 
their possession. Now they claim that the Woodcraft 
Magazine is wrong when it says that quail are not pro- 
tected. They have got another glance at Woodcraft 
coming. Thev will find the law correctly stated there. 
It seems as though the papers could never make it plain 
to everybody just how this Illinois law stands. If not 
satisfied with the law, as it is stated in the Woodcraft 
A(lagazine, follow the example of these gentlemen; go 
out and try the law yourself, and see if it doesn't work. 
Understand, this is in regard to having birds in posses- 
sion, and under the old construction of the law, which 
holds tha^ the former law is still in force in regard to 
some of its effective features. 
As to the quail themselves, they don't seem to care a 
fig about the law. There are more of them this fall than 
we ever saw in Illinois. Thus my friend. Warren Powel 
says, writing from Christian county, "There is the big- 
gest crop of quail T have ever seen. I had very fair 
chicken shooting several evenings, but the chickens are 
getting wild now. I tried shooting chickens by moon- 
light, but did not lay up very much money at it. We 
are trying to observe Nov. i as the opening date for 
quail down here, and I do not think many of them will 
be killed before then." 
Tom Divine Joins the Gon Brigade. 
There comes this week a rather startling and wholly 
interesting item of Memphis- information. Everybody 
knows Tom Divine— dear old Tom Divine— the best- 
natured and best-hearted railroad man that ever did live. 
Everybody knows that Tom is, or was, the claim agent 
m the South of the Illinois Central Railroad. Everybody 
would naturally suppose that he would live and die in 
railroad harness A few friends have known that Mr. 
Divine's health has suffered from close application to 
his business. Now comes the advice that on Oct. i Mr. 
Divine leaves his work with the Illinois Central Railroad 
and joins the big and able corps of experts who work 
for the Winchester Repeating Firearms Co. One hardlv 
knows which side to congratulate most. Mr. Divine'"s 
work will take him out over the South and among the 
large and continually growing army of shooters in that 
section. There could not be a better man in that capac- 
ity, and that he will make friends goes without saying, 
Mr. Divine was for a long time captain of the Memphis 
Gun Club, and was the moving spirit in the famous 
Memphis tournaments, than which better conducted or 
liigher class shoots were never given in America. Now, 
if Mr. Divine can forget there ever was such a thing as 
a desk, or a telegraph wire, or a lawsuit, and if he will 
.go on a prolonged riot of quail shooting for a month 
or so, he will get into good shape again; and, after that, 
everybody south of the Ohio River would better keep 
his hand on his pocketbook, unless he feels like buying 
a gun. 
Gone West. 
Mr. D. J. Hotchkiss and wife, of Fox Lake, Wis., 
passed through Chicago this week, en route for the 
White River country of Colorado, for a big game hunt 
with friends who are on the inside, and who will surely 
make the hunt a success. 
Gone South. 
Mr. W. I. Spears, of Ingram's Mill, Miss., and mana- 
ger of the big game preserve which extends from that 
point almost to Byhalia, stopped at the Forest and 
Stream oflfice this week, on his way home from the field 
trials in Manitoba. He has been up there for two or 
three months in the interest of the Avent kennels, and 
has gratified his love of the chase by abundant coyote 
hunting. Mr. Spears is one of the most enthusiastic 
fox hunters of the South, and he is charmingly located 
for a gentleman of sporting proclivities, whether he be 
a lover of the fox hound or the bird dog; 
Gone East. 
Mr. Alfred Marshall, of this city, has gone to, or will 
soon start for, Fredericton, New- Brunswick, on a trip 
for moose. Mr. Marshall asked me if I thought he could 
get a moose out in Minnesota. I told him that in view 
of the short legal season for moose hunting in that State, 
T thought he would be safer to go to New Brunswick. 
He will try to get hold of big Adam Moore, Uncle 
Henry Braithwaite, or others of the splendid guides who 
were out at the sportsmen's show here last winter. I 
advised him to write to Mr. W. T, Chestnut, at Frederic- 
ton, as most of the guides are apt to be out in the woods 
at this time. 
As to St. Louis. 
Mr. Horace Kephart. that very enthusiastic and well- 
posted sportsman of St. Louis, is now just recovering 
from a long and severe illness. Finding that he was 
going to pieces at his work, he did the sensible thing of 
taking his wife and going into camp, quitting the city 
altogether. They camped in the Ozarks for several 
weeks. Mr. Kephart says that he is feeling much stronger 
now, and able to go back into the harness. The climate 
of St. Louis is enough to make anybody want to go to, 
the Ozarks, or somewhere else. 
The Elements. 
Night and storm and darkness have their might to-day, 
as they did in the time when the poet wrote of them. 
On Feb. 27, four duck hunters were struck by lightning 
while out shooting not far from Ashland, Wis. Two of 
the party were sons of Prof. Burr, of Beloit College. 
George Burr was brought to town unconscious. The 
others were severely stunned, but not fatally hurt. 
-To cap this freak of the elements comes the story of 
a party of thirteen men who were drowned by a cloud 
burst in Texas. The men were out prospecting and hunt- 
ing, and camped in the dry bed of Alamito Creek, in Pre- 
sidio county. The cloudburst occurred fifteen miles up 
the stream from them. A flood of water came down in 
the night, when all the party were asleep, and every man 
of them, thirteen in all, met death. The flood was some- 
thing terrible in its power and destructjveness. _ In the 
area of the cloudburst there were gullies cut into the 
ground fifteen feet deep and thirty feet wide. A cloud- 
burst in Texas, a sandstorm in Arizona, a snowstorm in 
the Northern Rockies — all these he mighty, and ofttiraes 
iateful tfiings. E. Houqh. 
