FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 15, 1902. 
pies space on the gallery near the Madison avenue end of 
the auditorium. There was a bewildering profusion of 
cartridges, etc., for military rapid-fire cannon, for mili- 
tary and sporting rifles, for pistols of all calibers, and 
wads, shells, primers, etc., for shotguns. Wooden strips, 
perforated by bullets many feet, displayed the enormous 
force of the modern high-power rifle. There was a lot 
of new ammunition in .22, .2^, .28, .30. .32, .38 and .44 
calibers. Messrs. T. W. Morfey and S. M. Van Allen 
will be in attendance a large part of the time. 
Pneumatic Mattress and Cushion Co. 
The space occupied by the Pneumatic Mattress and 
Cushion Co. is devoted to the exhibit of pneumatic mat- 
tresses, cushions and life preservers, for yacht, canoe, 
camp and home use. A photograph showing a pneumatic, 
mattress in the course of construction at the company's 
factory is also on exhibition, Morris chairs and couches, 
provided with air cushions, are much used by the tired 
long, 4 inches deep and 8 inches wide, each holding a 
dozen decoys. The exhibit is in charge of Mr. Joseph 
Coudon, patentee of this decoy. 
Savage Arms Co. 
The Savage Arms Co., Utica, N. Y., has an exhibit of 
the famous rifles, military and sporting. It is one of the 
most popular and interesting exhibits in the Garden. It 
occupies space 23 on the south gallery 
Fred Sauter. 
Fred Sauter, New York, has an elaborate display of 
the taxidermist's skill, in the way of mounted heads, 
horns, skins, etc. 
Other exhibitors were the Hyde Exploring Expedition, 
Markle Lead Works, of St. Louis, shot, targets and target 
traps; Siegel-Cooper Co., in charge of Mr. Frank Law- 
rence, an expert in sportsmen's goods; Leroy Shot & 
THE FLY-CASTING. 
E. J. Mills, of Brooklyn, whose cast of 78 feet on March 8 was the record cast. 
visitors, who find here a good place for rest amid con- 
genial surroundings and associations. Above the ex- 
hibit is a prominent sign, bearing the company's truism, 
"Nothing so rare as resting on air." The exhibit is in 
charge of that affable and amiable gentleman, Mr. W. J. 
Shilliday. 
Chas. D. Durkee & Co. 
The exhibit of Chas. D. Durkee & Co., in charge of 
Mr. Charles Durkee, contains a display of brass and gal- 
vanized yacht and launch trimmings, chief among which 
in point of popular interest are the bell and anchor to be 
used by the German Emperor's recently launched Amer- 
ican-built yacht Meteor. 
Marble Safety Axe Co. 
The Marble Safety Axe Co. occupy space No. 25. and 
have a display of sporting specialties. A show case and 
cabinet are filled with the goods of their manufacture, 
Lead Works ; J. Stevens Arms and Tool Co., in charge of 
Mr. E, R. Northrop ; the Savage Arms Co. 
The Fishes. 
An exhibit of live fish comprises specimens of trout, 
muscalonge, pickerel, dogfish and other species. 
One grateful quality of the show is the woodsy odor 
which pervades the garden, and lends character to the out- 
door element of the exposition. 
Fly-Casting at the Show. 
Following are the scores made in the fly-casting con- 
tests at the Sportsmen's Show to Monday of this week. 
The competitions will extend to March 19: 
Thursday, March 6 — Casting for distance, 75-foot limit. 
Judges— T. K. Mott, C. R. Radcliffe, P. M. Seixas: E. 
J. Mills, 78 feet; W. K. Park, 64 feet 10 inches; L. Tay- 
lor, 64 feet. 
SHELTERS ON THE ISLAND. 
several of them new inventions. The Marble safety 
ppcket axe. called "the handiest tool a sportsman ever car- 
ried," is the best known of these. Another convenient 
little tool on exhibit is the broken shell extractor, which 
slips inside the broken section of the shell, and by the 
jerk of a lever removes the shell. Hunting and fish 
knives, waterproof match boxes, ball-bearing cleaning 
rods, gun sights and other interesting little tricks are 
shown. Mr. W. L. Marble is in personal charge. 
Coudon & Co. 
Coudon & Co.'s exhibit of the Chesapeake folding de- 
coy has attracted much attention. This is a folding de- 
coy made entirely of brass and wood, combining the ad- 
vantages of the solid wooden decoy and the collapsible 
kind, with the additional advantage of lightness in 
weight. These decoys can be seen drifting in the lake 
ready for business, and also packed In boxes 1 6 inches 
Friday, March 7 — Accuracy. Judges — T. K. Tuthill, 
G. F. Diehl, H. W. Van Wagenen, Dr. C. C. Curtis : W. 
K. Park, 27; D. Brandreth, 24; J. Taylor, 17; D. T. 
Abercrombie, 6; Dr. W. Edw. Halsey, 5. 
Saturday, March 8 — Distance, for school boys under 
20 years of age. Judges — W. K. Park, E. S. Osgood, D. 
T. Abercrombie: E. J. Mills, Boys' High School, Brook- 
lyn, 74 feet; V. R. Greenwood, Erasmus Hall, Brooklyn, 
60 feet ; Wm. Cruickshank, 166th Street School, New 
York city, 53 feet; Geo. Frost, Cutler School, New York 
city, 51 feet. 
Monday. March 10 — Distance for guides. Augustus 
Douglas, Flagstaff, 63 feet; Sam Barton, Lake Placid, 59 
feet 8 inches; Louis Nicholar, Penobscot* 56 feet 8 inches; 
D. F. Sperry, Old Forge, 56 feet; Cliff Wing, Flagstaff, 
56 feet; Peter Solomon, Saranac, 55 feet; G. M. Gray, 
Old Town, 54 feet 5 inches; Henry Lamoy, Saranac, 50 
feet 2 inches; G. C. Garwood. Saranac, 51 feet; W. T. 
Harris, C. P. R., 4$ feet 5 inches, 
Mongolian Pheasant m New York. 
. Watertown, N. Y., March 7. -^Editor Forest and 
Stream : The question has been often asked, Will the 
Mongolian pheasant stand the cold and snow of our 
northern winter? I believe that we have proved after a 
fair trial that they will. In this section the past winter 
has been the worst one for snow that we have had in 
years. The ground has been covered from Nov. 24 to 
March t. The first week in February we had a snow- 
storm that blocked all traffic, and during the rest of the 
month our fields were covered with from three to five 
feet of snow. During the winter we have had steady, and 
at_ times intense, cold, often at zero, and several times 
thirty degrees below. 
Pillar Point, on which these birds have passed the 
winter, lies between Black River Bay and Chaumont Bay, 
and is exposed to the intensely cold west wind that sweeps 
over the vast ice fields of Lake Ontario. There is very 
little cover, consisting of a few stunted cedars on rocky 
ledges, a little hard timber, and the weeds, briars and 
chokeberry bushes along the fences. It is, in fact, as 
cold and unsheltered a spot as could be found in the 
country. These birds have received no aid, by way of 
food or shelter, but "have managed in some way to live 
through the heavy snow of the past winter. 
• Last spring I received two pairs of Mongolian pheas- 
ants, and having a good place to keep them, I decided 
to try and breed some. I had the report of Mr. Brackett, 
of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Commission, giving 
full instruction as to hatching, feeding, etc., and it looked 
too easy, but after one year's experience I have decided 
that the birds understand this part of the business better 
than I do, and that the most satisfactory way to intro- 
duce them is to turn them loose in the spring and let 
them arrange their domestic affairs to suit themselves. 
However, I did succeed in raising seven. These, with 
the old birds, were turned out the 17th of last July. These 
birds had laid about one hundred and twenty eggs, and 
were apparently through laying, as I had found no eggs 
for a week previous to turning them out. 
About the middle of October I was informed by a 
farmer living on the point that he had seen one of the 
old birds with sixteen small ones following her. This 
report has been verified by others who have seen them 
since, and to-day, March 7, I received a letter from Mr. 
E. R. Adams, the gentleman on whose farm the birds 
were turned out, saying that all of the birds I turned out 
and most of the late brood are alive and all right. The 
fact that these young birds were able to stand the cold 
and procure food during a period of three months in 
which the fields were covered with from six inches to 
five feet of snow, is all the proof we need as to their 
hardiness or ability to live in any part of this State. And 
if we can secure a law (which we are trying to do), mak- 
ing a close season in Jefferson county for two years on 
black and gray squirrels, grouse, woodcock and quail, we 
shall stock the county with these birds this year. In 
releasing them I believe that if they are turned out just 
before dark, that they will be more apt to stay in the im- 
mediate vicinity. 
The people of this county have been well informed 
through the newspapers regarding the habits of the bird 
and the law protecting them. We have every reason to 
expect good results from our experiment, as we have the 
farmers interested, and they have promised to help us 
protect the birds. I hope to live to see not only this 
county, but the entire State, well stocked with these mag- 
nificent game birds, for I believe that they will prove a 
valuable addition to our game, and of inestimable value to 
our farmers, as their food during the most of the year 
consists largely of worms and insects. 
W. H. Tallett. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Blinds and Sink Boxes in Illinois. 
Chicago, 111., March 6. — Considerable confusion has for 
some time existed in this State over the construction of 
the clause of the new Illinois game law bearing upon the 
use of artificial blinds and sink boxes "beyond the natural 
cover" in the waters of the State. Many deputies have 
been making trouble for duck shooters who have ven- 
tured to construct any blind whatever of an artificial 
nature, saying that only the natural cover could be used 
as hiding, and this could not be changed from its natural 
state. Any shooter who was ever on a duck marsh will 
know about how much chance this would leave to get a 
shot at a duck, for all shooters know that nowadays ducks 
keep well out toward the open and shun the shore line. 
Yet still other deputies insisted that one could not shoot 
even from a ducking boat, even with'n the cover of the 
natural growth. Still worse, and mor-j irrational, was the 
dictum of certain deputies along the Kankakee marshes, 
who prevented the digging of pits or sinking of blinds 
upon the shores entirely back of the water line,' and be- 
hind the natural cover — a warping of the law quite be- 
yond its original intent, which could have been devised 
only by one of a robust, imaginative power, although 
more than one shooter was actually stopped from build- 
ing a shore blind by these same men, they evidently in- 
tending to keep the poor duck shooter away from the 
outside, inside and middle of the marsh. 
Under these circumstances a sportsman of this city 
wrote to the Attorney-General of the State for an opinion 
on this clause of the law. Mr. Hamlin responded under 
date of March 5, and will no doubt also inform State 
Warden Lovejoy of the opinion, so that the latter may 
properly advise his deputies in the premises. The opinion 
follows : 
State of Illinois, Office of Attorney-General, Spring- 
field, March 5, 1902. — Dear Sir : Replying to your in- 
quiry as to what construction should be placed upon that 
part of Section 1, Chapter 6i,_ of the Revised Statutes of 
Illinois, being an act to provide additional remedies for 
the protection of game, wildfowl and birds, etc., and 
which reads as follows: 
"And it shall further be unlawful, at any time, to hunt, 
kill, entrap or ensnare, or to attempt to hunt, kill, entrap 
or ensnare, or otherwise destroy, any wild goose, brant. 
