{ 190 
FOREST AND STREAM.. 
[March 8, 1902, 
Railroad Conductors as Quail ' Dealers, 
I have a complaint to make against the conductors and 
trainmen on the Southern and the Atlantic Coast Line 
railroads. These men make a business of buying quail 
at suiall stations along their routes for ten cents "apiece and 
selling them to marketmen in Washington and Richmond 
and other large cities for twelve and a half cents apiece. 
This business is carried on very extensively, sometimes 
carrying from two to five hundred birds and seldom less 
than one hundred. I hardly think that such traffic will 
further the best interests of the roads as far as keeping 
up the game supply along the roads is concerned. 
George M. Pete. 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and 
not to any individual connected with the paper. 
L ' "That reminds me." 
The Red Badge of Courage. 
Speaking of pluck! The fact has been fully established, 
to my own satisfaction, at least, that a ferret, small as he 
is, is susceptible of putting up a pluckier, more persistent 
fight against overwhelming odds than any other animal 
now living, without allowance for age, weight or size. 
I have the highest authority for this claim, and for my be- 
lief in the same, which is none other than that well- 
known big-game exterminator and all round expert in 
matters pertaining to the strength and weakness of every- 
thing that wears fur, feathers or scales, Charles Ste. 
Claire Lennebacker. Everybody knows Charles; when 
not engaged in terrifying the biggest game in Michigan, 
he may uniformly be found successfully engaged in the 
less dangerous pursuit of convincing the traveling public 
that there is but one hotel in Detroit for the self-respect- 
ing class to expect all the enjoyments, comforts and ex- 
citements of home, and that is the Ste. Claire. Charles is 
a mind-reader withal, which is a mighty useful as well as 
ornamental gift, worth untold money to a hotel clerk 
when discreetly used, but few there be that possess it. 
It is almost as good as hypnotism. The moment a newly 
arrived traveler makes his appearance in the spacious 
marble and onyx lobby of the Ste. Claire, this mind- 
reader aforesaid casts his eagle eye over his left shoulder, 
looking due south by east toward the room assignment 
rack, makes some sort of a cabalistic sign to some un- 
seen confederate, and before the approaching guest 
reaches the register has him located, his suit case and 
grip sent up to his room, electric lights on, a pitcher of 
ice water on the inlaid mahogany, together with 
writing materials on the carved desk, and the guest's 
mail and telegrams are properly placed; also, just as 
likely as not, there will be a copy of Forest and Stream 
and a sherry flip on the table within easy reach. TIuV 
simplifies matters for the guest very much, and though 
somewhat mystifying at first, one gets used to these 
things. 
Should a person approach and express a hankering for 
a room with a bath, he is told with that guileless air so fa- 
miliar to many of us, that the last room with a bath was 
given out the day before yesterday, but that a room with a 
beautiful folding bed as well as a charming mahogany 
wardrobe with a beveled plate glass mirror forming the 
panel in the door is quite at his disposal, which causes 
such extreme elation on the part of the guest that he for- 
gets temporarily having had his pocket picked on the 
train, and other troubles, and endeavors to hang up his 
apparel on the folding bed and retire to rest in the ward- 
robe, which he has pulled over for that purpose. 
This, however, is a digression, and inserted, primarily, 
to show that I am at least partially justified in my belief 
in the trustworthiness of my authority on the bravery of 
ferrets, as well as to illustrate the fact that with such 
a man as arbiter of one's hotel destinies, hotel life is one 
giddy round of pleasure and excitement of one kind or 
another, especially if my friend Sutton, the steward, is 
feeling as well as usual, and the market is reasonably 
well supplied with the good things of life and other deli- 
cacies of the season. 
Now, my friend Sutton is not the largest of his species, 
any more than the ferret is the largest of his, but size 
counts for nothing in this world if one only has the cour- 
age of his convictions and is given half a chance. Here 
is a peculiar paradox in the Hotel Ste. Claire: Usually, 
you understand, the steward is the one who does the pur- 
chasing, but, although Mr. Sutton is the steward and a 
partner in the firm, the other partner is the Beyer. 
(That ought to be good for at least one ham sandwich.) 
There is also to be noticed that the young gentlemen 
who respond to the calls of the annunciator, unlike some 
others, reach the proper room some time before sunset 
the following day, and when they courteously make their 
salaam with "Good night, sir; anything more, sir?" they 
do not surreptitiously look back to discover if perchance 
there is a dime or a nickel suspended in the air; yet they 
are quite excusable for stopping at the door to ascertain 
if the key is on the right side and casting a business eye 
to windward. 
Where does that ferret business come in? 
Eight here. 
What Charles Lennebacker said in regard thereto, per- 
tinent and impertinent, was as follows, to wit: (Having 
just returned from a short vacation spent amid the wilds 
of Macomb county, he is not under oath.) 
"It was "an ideal rabbit morning, a light snow had fallen 
over night (without injury), the January air was keen and 
exhilarating. (It being the month of January of course 
we could not expect any April or August air.) Rabbit 
tracks were plentiful, even to the most casual observer; 
the winter landscape was fine, and even without a gun that 
tramp through the fields would have been a most enjoy- 
able experience, as such experiences always are to him who 
hath ears to see and eyes to hear. As for me I would a 
little rather have a gun along than not. The path, or what 
^fould hay? been a path had there beca pne t skirted alon^ 
the east side of a thicket of alders and hazel for a distance 
of eighty rods or more, while just beyond were groves 
of second growth oak and poplar. Scattered here and 
there were a few remaining relics of the grand old white 
oak and walnut forests once the glory. of this region, but 
which have long since disappeared before the wood- 
man's ax, the pioneer of civilization. 
"Wrapped in the thoughts which these things sug- 
gested and engrossed in the intense enjoyment of the 
perfect winter day I approached the thicket and soon dis- 
covered in the snow the evidence that Bunnie had been 
on moving parade, and that he was not very far away. 
Crashing through the thick brush, I had not made much 
headway, but now stopped suddenly, as a streak of gray 
flashed across the open, some fifty feet away. No ex- 
planation of this phenomenon is considered necessary in 
this connection; but it Usually occurs when One is creep- 
ing under low hanging branches, and, as in this case, the 
flash of gray passed on unchecked and unharmed. My 
new 12-gauge Parker had no significance whatever under 
these circumstances, but moving more cautiously and 
searching the myriad tracks over the snow, I was quickly 
aware of the near presence of a tuft of gray fur, a long 
pair of ears laid backward, and those large, round, wide 
open eyes of a dozing rabbit. (I know of no other ani- 
mal that sleeps with its eyes open.) The sharp snapping 
of a dry twig under my foot started the sleeper mighty 
suddenly, but modestly as I try to say it, his flight was 
stopped as suddenly, simultaneously with the gun's re- 
port. 
"The sentiment that prevents hypersensitive persons 
from rabbit killing on the score of inhumanity toward 'the 
delicate, harmless, timid little things,' etc., is no doubt 
creditable to such persons' tenderness of heart and gen- 
eral 'feller feelin,' ' but somewhat a misfit up here or any- 
where in the midst of highly cultivated fields of small 
fruits, to say nothing of young orchards representing in- 
vestments of thousands of dollars and days of toil and 
care which are at the mercy of these same little 'inno- 
cents,' to whom the temptations of the succulent tender 
bark of the young trees overcome all scruples of justice 
or consideration for the owners therof— even of common 
prudence in guarding against inevitable dangers to the 
depredators. 
"Bre'r Rabbit is much like humans — when he sets his 
heart on the gratification of a pet desire he is apt to take 
long chances on the consequences. Soon the conse- 
quences in this particular case became very much in evi- 
dence, and a half dozen of the too reckless chaps were 
dangling by the heels. Rabbit signs were abundant, and 
every clump of hazel brush was tolerably sure to harbor 
or or more of the little chaps peering out through the 
branches to estimate the probable amount of danger to be 
feared from this intrusive stranger. 
"Down a lane which ran' between the next fields ahead 
came Joe Barker, a native. He was a rabbit hunter, too, 
and he stopped to exchange a fraternal greeting and a 
remark or two on the auspicious nature of the day. the 
weather and ' the abundance of rabbits and partridges. 
Joe had a shotgun on his shoulder, and a disreputable old 
firearm, it was. But Joe had acquired a reputation for 
hunting rabbits with other weapons than guns, to wit, fer- 
rets, having not the fear of the law nor the game warden 
before his eyes. Just as we met there was a scurrying 
among the bushes in the angles of the fence, and two 
exceedingly animate things made off toward a fallen 
tree, which had lain there so long that its interior was 
well rotted away. It was hollow for some distance from 
the opening. 
"It was the consensus of opinion that at least one of 
the rabbits had gone for the lOg, but this was open to 
doubt, because tracks led not only to the entrance, but 
past it, and on both sides; further search showed quite 
plainly that one had gone into a very handily situated hole, 
which was probably the little chap's family abode, or 
bachelor's quarters, as the case might be. Ways and 
means were discussed for dislodging the rabbits. 
"Joe was wary, and evidently had something on his 
mind. Finally, he took courage, and, evidently impressed 
by the conviction that he could trust me, cast a cautious 
glance around and said : 'If you not tell nobody, I show 
you way for git two rabbit ver' quick, you bet; but you 
mus' sware you be mum, you hunderstan' ?' 
"The necessary convincing assurance was given that 
his confidence would be respected. Then in a twinkling 
Joe produced a ferret from one of the capacious pockets 
of his old reefer. _ This interesting addition to our hunt- 
ing force was intimate with his job in ten seconds, 
theoretically at least, though there were destined to be 
some surprises. After one or two preliminary skirmishes, 
the ferret made a dash for the interior of the log. He 
was gone about thirty second; when he emerged, he was 
accompanied by an odor that filled three townships. I 
have smelled that variety of smell before, at close range, 
too, but I never had the misfortune to encounter anything 
to match this for density and all-pervading powers — 
never. Nothing like it ever assailed the human olfac- 
tories. That skunk was simply a sixty-horse-power skunk 
with triple-expansion-compound-condensing engines oper- 
ating under a pressure of not less than three hundred 
pounds to the square inch, with all valves open ! 
"The ferret shook his head viciously, gave two or 
three emphatic sniffs of disgust, and immediately re- 
entered the lair of the loud-smelling beast. Here is 
where the ferret's philosophy, reasoning, pluck and in- 
stinct showed themselves with the greatest strength and 
brilliancy, especially the instinct; he rightly judged that 
there could be nothing worse in store for him in the 
way of smells — he had run up against the limit in that 
line — and now there was a little score of revenge to be 
settled, so in he dashed again. 
"He was absent about a minute this round, but re- 
appeared minus his enthusiasm and more or less of his 
fur. Nothing daunted, however, he took a deep, long 
breath of fresh air, of which he evidently stood in need, 
and made another sortie. Once more he made a mad 
daeh to seek his enemy. He found him still doing busi- 
ness at the old stand. Heavens and earth, what a smell! 
The stink pots of Egypt were as violets compared with 
this — that old log could give them cards and spades and 
still have margin enough to supply the nations of the 
earth. 
"This last dash of the ferret was, to my mind, impru- 
dent and superfluous, not to say risky, hut \% proved | 
howling success.* This time he had with him upon 
emerging the entire perfumery factory, and as he laid the 
fragrant trophy proudly at — my feet? No. thanks, not 
by a large" majority. I was thence in rapid but disorderly 
flight — whew ! Many of the inhabitants flocked to the 
scene, aroused by the volumes of odor, under the im- 
pression that a mineral well like the Mt. Clemen"; variety 
had been struck on Duncan's farm. That ferret just 
strutted up and down with unutterable Dride mingling 
with the smoke of battle, cocking his little red eye up 
with _ the unmistakable expression: 'Well, I won out 
all right, boys, on this deal, btit if you've got any more 
rabbit holes to explore with skunk annexes, you can 
get some other chap to take the job beside yours truly.' 
"About this time a cutter hove in sight with two or 
three of the natives, who, recognizing Joe about the same 
time they did the smell, called out : 'Joe, it's a dead give 
away; a blind man could tell what game you are hunting 
to-day.' " Keuka. 
* The remarkable thing about this incident is the well-lcnown 
fact that a ferret will not stand for a second within sight of a 
shrunk, much less attack one anywhere. He will not even drag 
u rabbit from a hole, where he has tracked him, but will fasten 
his teeth into the back of the rabbit's neck and suck his blood 
until the victim passes in his checks. The rabbit hole is a very 
nice, warm, comfortable place for the ferret, and as likely as not he 
will curl himself up after his rich meal of rabbit's blood and stay 
there, dozing for hours, while the hunter remains outside on th« 
surface, guessing and freezing. 
Proprietors of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
Chautauqua Lake Ice Fishing* 
Fr07ti the Jamestown, N. Y.. Eevening Jotemat, Feb. 7. 
It is probable that every muscallonge in Chautauqua 
Lake that made a move Thursday found himself flop- 
ping helplessly on the ice in le£s than ten minutes from 
the time he started. 
This theory is justified from a careful inspection of the 
lake Thursday morning, for, from the outlet to the inlet 
the broad expanse of ice was covered so thickly with 
fish coops that it made one think of a long level meadow 
covered with haycocks. 
Thursday was really the opening of the fishing season. 
It was one of the days the fishermen will hereafter date 
time from. Long before the first beams of the morning 
sun had lighted up the eastern horizon the hosts of en 
thusiastic fishermen could be seen on the shores of the 
lake making preparations for the coming day. By sun- 
rise the lake view from the surrounding hills looked like 
an immense ant heap. As far as the eye could reach in 
every direction could be seen moving specks on the 
white snow covered surface. These specks were the men 
putting their coops in position for the day. They were 
everywhere.. Between Celoron and Greenhurst there was 
a colony that fairly honeycombed the ice with fish holes. 
Opposite Lakewood there was another large colony, and 
above in Ashville Bay the coops were huddled as close 
as tenement houses in the slums of a city. 
From the Ashville Bay colony to Stow there were in- 
tervals of unbroken ice, but these intervals were not far 
apart. Cheneys Point had a number of coops and there 
were individual coops all the way between. 
The bay south of Bemus Point was another favorite 
spot for the fishermen. Fully 100 coops were set within 
the radius of a mile from the shore at Phillips Mills. 
Another colony was located in the lake between Bemus 
Point and Long Pointy and still another above Long 
Point. Dewittville Bay was filled with fishermen and the 
lake space between Point Chautauqua and Mayville con- 
tained coops enough to catch every fish that dared to 
roam from his winter home. Altogether it is safe to say 
that there were fully 20 per cent." more coops on the lake 
than ever before and that fh^ fishing is fully 20 per cent, 
better than that of some of the preceding seasons. 
Of course every professional fisherman in Chautauqua 
county is out on these fishing days. In ice fishing it is 
difficult to draw the line of demarcation between the pro- 
fessional and the amateur, so great is the fascination of 
the sport to all who engage in it, but in a general way 
the professional is this year outclassed in numbers by the 
amateurs. These amateurs come from every section of 
Chautauqua county and from western Pennsylvania as 
well. Jamestown is represented on the lake by two or 
three hundred enterprising amateurs and not a few 
strictly professional fishermen, and it will therefore be 
readily seen that the native — the man who resides on the 
shore of the lake 365 days in the year — is greatiy out- 
numbered. 
In the olden times this crowd of foreign fishermen 
would not have amounted to much. The superior skill 
and unflagging patience of the resident would have out- 
weighed superior numbers in the matter of making 
catches, but now all is changed. The foreign fishermen 
know all there is to know about this fishing game. They 
have studied it in all its aspects. Some of them have 
read up on the habits of the muscallonge until they seem 
to have developed a special sense that instinctively leads 
them to the best spot to capture the largest and liveliest 
fish. The local fisherman, however, holds his own pretty 
well. He can crawl out of bed at 5 o'clock in the morn- 
ing, haul his coop out on the ice, chop a hole, set the 
coop, build a rousing fire inside, eat a hurried breakfast, 
and then climb inside the coop and sit as silent as a statue 
from daylight until dark, moving only when some fish 
pokes an inquisitive nose in the hole. 
The average amateur is hardly up to this kind of a per- 
formance. He is too restless. If he -doesn't see a fish in 
15 minutes he wearies of the task and gets outside to look 
around. If in an hour or so there is nothing done he 
hunts a new hole and thus misses the 40 pounder that 
passed over the route ten minutes after he left. When 
he finally gives up empty handed and hauls his coop off 
the ice he frequently wonders why Jim Blank who had 
the hole next to his made such a magnificent catch, while 
he never saw a fish,, and says things about the luck §Qra* 
people har«, 
