June 7, 1902.] 
FOREST AND SlirlEAM. 
447 
below the level of the Mississippi. We were stopped by 
a deep gulf. .... , 
"Last Sunday nine of us, well equipped with rope and 
acetylene lanterns, tried to explore the cave. To the 
credit of the party, not a man flunked, though the 
entrance through a very narrow crack is what a darkey 
would call 'juberous.' We followed three galleries in all, 
but did not get to the end of either of them, nor did we 
get down to the drainage level. The cavern is evidently 
large. It is a labyrinth, and we had to use a guide line. 
We will try it again. Were in the cave seven hours, 
took some photographs, and had a good time; but were 
almost worn out when we emerged. One trophy of the 
trip is a four and one-half foot rattler, killed outside the 
cave. The newspapers told a cracking yarn about our 
fight with a rattlesnake far within the cavern, but it is 
a fake." 
In a" story to a local newspaper Mr. Kephart tells of 
more caves' in Missouri than one would ever dream ex- 
isted. You couldn't really blame certain, of her leading 
citizens for going into the bandit business. It makes a 
fellow feel kind of robberish just to read about it. 
Moving West. 
Mr. W. H. Mullins, the well-known metal boat manu- 
facturer of Salem, Ohio, paid this office a visit this week. 
Mr. Mullins is at present on a Western trade trip, but is 
arranging for his annual shooting trip in the West.. 
That is to say, the annual trip which we all of us plan, 
and which we take every six or seven years or so. 
Grizzlies Out. 
Jack Monroe wrote three weeks ago that there was 
o-rizzly sign in the St. Mary's country of Montana, and 
last week Collins Anderson wrote from Midvale, Mont., 
that there is more bear sign this spring in my Two Med- 
icine country than there was last spring. I have not 
heard whether anyone went out for a grizzly this spring 
or not, but believe he would have a good chance there. 
To-day a friend from Utah came into my office and 
calmly announced that he had mv grizzly located and 
waiting for me, about twenty miles from the railroad, 
out in Utah; this being the advice he had from a friend 
out there. I am sorry I cannot get him, but we may 
do some business with him next year. 
E. Hough. 
Hartford Building, Chicago, 111. 
The Arms Used at Santiago, 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In last week's number of Forest and Stream I tound 
an article by William H. Avis, entitled "Free Ownership 
of Guns." Most of this article is excellent, and will be 
heartily indorsed by all who think on the subject, but two 
statements by Mr. Avis are so contrary to fact, I am 
sure he will not resent my calling his attention to them. 
I quote that part of the article entire, so that there can 
be no misunderstanding my meaning : 
"Well-disciplined troops are a difficult proposition tor 
an enemy to overcome. But it has recently been demon- 
strated that an army not so well disciplined, but com- 
posed of better shots, prove far more formidable, num- 
bers equal, than the most perfectly disciplined troops 
who cannot shoot as accurately. This was proved when 
our 23,000 comparatively new recruits, armed for the 
most part with obsolete breechloaders, carried entrench- 
ments and forts manned by 30,000 veterans, armed with 
modern repeaters, at Santiago." . . „ . 
The Fifth Army Corps did the fighting m Santiago. 
It was composed almost entirely of U. S. regulars. The 
term "comparatively raw recruits" does not apply to them. 
Only three volunteer regiments got into the fighting. The 
First U. S. Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders), said by 
the regulars to have done well; the Seventy-first New 
York, of which only the battalion under Rafferty got into 
action, and the Second Massachusetts, which did little at 
Caney on account of black powder. 
Now, as to the "obsolete breechloader" which Mr. 
Avis says our troops were armed with. The troops that 
did the fighting, the regulars, were armed with '98 issue 
of Krags, the infantry with the "long-torn," the cavalry 
with the carbine. This is a modern, high-power magazine 
gun differing from the Mauser only in being of larger (30 
degree) caliber, the Mauser being 27 degrees, and there- 
fore having more "shocking" power, and m loading into 
the magazine, instead of from a clip as does the Mauser. 
The range and power are the same. The powder was 
smokeless. , _ _,.;«. N 
The First U. S. Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders) 
were armed with the same Krag carbine as the regulars. 
Therefore, of the troops who "carried the entrench- 
ments and forts," only three regiments could be termed 
"comparativelv raw recruits." Two of these, the Seventy- 
first New York and the Second Massachusetts, were 
armed with an "obsolete breechloader"— the Springfield. 
For any effect these two regiments had on the re- 
sult, they might have just as well been left at Tampa. 
Henry H. Thorp, M. D., 
Late Trooper and Acting Asst. Surg. 
1st U. S. Vol. Cav. 
A Sensible Way to Put It, 
Canandaigua, N. Y., May 31, igo2.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Reading in your issue of May 31, the editorial 
comment on the Uncertainty of the construction of the 
game law generally and particularly of section 33, I 
take liberty to suggest something that has been on my 
mind for some time. 
If we may take it for granted that in the beginning 
it was lawful to take any bird at any time, and that bird 
protection has grown gradually through express statutory 
enactment providing for close seasons in certain in- 
stances, we will see that for many years the open season 
for wild and game birds was the rule, and protection or 
a close season was the exception. Under these circum- 
stances, and especially while the exceptions were com- 
paratively few and unrelated, it was proper and sufficient 
to regulate such close seasons by special enactment for 
each case. 
But now it seems to me that the conditions are re- 
versed. If I am not mistaken bird protection has grown 
to such an extent that the close season is now the rule 
and the open season the exception, If this is a fact it is 
not possible that the situation calls for a reversal of the 
order of legislative enactment. Why would it not be 
logical now ^to start with some clause as this : "No game 
or wild bird shall be killed, taken or possessed at any 
time, except as hereinafter provided," and to follow with 
express provisions permitting certain birds to be killed, 
taken and possessed at times and under conditions speci- 
fied. 
The scheme seems simple and the idea may not be new. 
It is possible that it has been considered and rejected, 
but I have thought of it for a long time and I can see 
no serious flaw in it. C. 
The President Invited to Hunt] with' Bobo, 
New Orleans, June 1. — An invitation has been ex- 
tended by Governor Longino, of Mississippi, to President 
Roosevelt on his contemplated Southern trip to visit the 
State and take part in a grand bear hunt in the Yazoo 
canebrake. covering a large part of Sunflower, Coahoma 
and Tallahatchie counties. This district is famous for 
bears and is said to be the best bear hunting region of the 
country. 
The Hon. R. E. Bobo, of Bobo, Miss., will be master 
of ceremonies if the President accepts. He is a wealthy 
planter with a fine pack of dogs, has a hunting lodge in 
the canebrakes and has devoted all his spare time since 
1867 to bear hunting. He has a record of forty-eight 
bears for last year and a total of over two thousand. He 
hunts with a hundred or more dogs and his bear hunts 
are the most important events in that part of the Delta,—-- 
New York Sun. . . ^ 
A Rosy Report from Iowa. 
EiKiEWOOD, la., May 29.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
The first brood of young quail are reported to-day. 
My informant said there were twenty in the brood. 
Quail are numerous and prospects right good. 
Six or eight flocks, varying in number from twenty-five 
to 100 of the old-time passenger pigeon, were seen flying 
over here this spring. I myself saw three flocks. They 
were flying low and were easily identified. There is no 
doubt as to what they were. No shooting done, thank 
fortune. 
I have not for twenty years seen such a flight of wild 
fowls as we had here this year. I do not approve and 
have never practiced spring shooting, but the temptation 
was too strong to resist and I took out the gun and 
went to the stream and killed two, enough for a mess. 
As I have not killed a spring duck before in twenty 
years and was very moderate this time, I hope no one 
will jump up and crack their heels together. _ Honestly, 
there were so many of them I couldn't help it. 
Prospects for prairie chickens seems to be better than 
usual. Farmers report them numerous and no poaching 
out of season. 
We have some partridges left, but they have a hard 
struggle to hold their own on account of timber being 
cleared off. 
Squirrels are plentiful here, as it has become unsports- 
manlike to shoot them. They are too pretty to kill. 
No one shoots doves, larks, robins, or anything of 
that kind. H. E. James. 
— <$> — ■ 
Proprietors of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
Adirondack Fishing* 
There has been excellent trout fishing in the lakes 
and streams of the Adirondack region this spring and 
it is expected there will be a few weeks more of the 
sport before the speckled beauties finally retire to deep 
water and the cold beds. The large lakes have yielded 
manv trout, and anglers are still meeting with success in 
these waters, but on the smaller lakes the best fishing was 
found very soon after the ice went out. The brooks 
and creeks of medium size have given up many fine 
creels of fish and there are more left. Some good 
catches have been made in the rivers and big creeks, but 
it is anticipated that the liveliest sport on these streams 
is yet to come. During the first four or five weeks of the 
open season comparatively little rain fell in the Adiron- 
dacks, and. as a consequence, after the snow water dis- 
appeared, the streams became quite low. The frequent 
heavy rains of the past week, however, have swollen 
them considerably and it is probable that several days 
will elapse before they subside to their natural level. It 
is believed that when they do begin to run down and are 
approaching their normal volume, the rift fishing for 
speckled trout will be at its best. We have had a great 
deal of cool weather of late, which has probably had a 
tendency to make the trout somewhat backward about 
getting on to the rifts in force, but they may be expected 
as soon as it warms up a little. On May 28 a heavy 
snow storm prevailed in the Saranac country and there 
was quite a fall of snow in other parts of the woods. In 
fact. Crow Hill, a few miles south of Utica, was white 
with snow one morning this week, and the mercury in 
this city was down to 40 degrees, while in the Adiron- 
dacks it dropped a number of degrees lower. 
Several Uticans have recently returned from fishing 
excursions to different portions of the great northern 
wilderness, and all agree in the statement that on the 
whole the trout have furnished fine sport this spring. 
Particularly good catches have been made oil Big Moose 
Lake, in Piseco Lake and neighboring waters, Beaver 
River, Bog River and in the Oswegatchie region. Sev- 
eral remarkably large speckled trout have been taken in 
these localities. One Utican caught a specimen weighing 
4^4 pounds in Beaver River, and a catch of thirty-two 
trout, weighing in the aggregate fifty-four pounds, is 
reported from the same place. A Utican returned from Big 
Moose Lake bringing twelve trout that weighed twenty- 
four pounds. G. Fred Ralph, F. E. Howell, J. F. Calder 
and Ed. Munson, of this city, are home from a trip to 
the West Canada Lakes, and they report good success. 
They caught all the speckled trout they wanted to eat 
during their stay and brought home about twelve pounds 
apiece. In the Saranac and Lake Placid region, the 
Chateaugay country, the Tupper Lake district, and at 
Long Lake, Raquette and Blue Mountain lakes, there 
has been good sport, and more may be expected. Many 
fine salmon trout have been taken this year. The largest 
specimen captured by a Utican this season, was caught 
by Hobart Roberts, "at South Lake, and its weight was 
thirteen pounds. Only one larger fish, a is-pounder, has 
been taken there this year, although in the past they have 
been caught weighing from twenty to thirty pounds. 
The Pine Lake Club, which was formed several years 
ago and incorporated in 1894, has one of the most de- 
sirable hunting and fishing preserves in the Adirondack 
region. The territory owned by the club is not very 
large, as it comprises only 1,200 acres, but included 
therein are two splendid trout lakes and half a mile of 
the east branch of the West Canada Creek, which is a 
famous trout stream, so that the members have the best 
kind of fishing. It is heavily wooded and is a good lo- 
cality for deer, so there is excellent hunting in the fall. 
The preserve is situated in the eastern part of the Ar- 
thurboro Patent, in the town of Morehouse, Hamilton 
county. Pine Lake, after which the club was named, is 
a beautiful sheet of water upward of a mile in length 
and from a quarter to half a mile in width, fed by 
springs and spring brooks, and well supplied with both 
speckled and salmon trout. There are four pretty islands 
near the lower end of the lake and the shore line of the 
latter is broken up by numerous little bays. On the west- 
ern shore a neat and conveniently arranged club house 
has been erected. The other lake in the preserve is 
known as Snowshoe, or Little Pine, and is not as large 
as the other, but is justly celebrated for the big speckled 
trout which it produces. It is a curious fact that so far 
as is known there were never any fish in Snowshoe Lake 
until it was stocked with speckled trout soon after the 
club was organized. The members have now been catch- 
ing trout there for nine years, and for eight years the 
fish caught averaged one pound in weight, and there 
were a good many of them. This year they have fallen a 
little short of that average. The first fish ever caught in 
Snowshoe Lake was taken by Judge Watson T. Dun- 
more, of Utica, in May, 1893, and it was a speckled 
trout weighing 3% pounds. Since then a number, weigh- 
ing plump 3 pounds apiece have been captured there, but 
none quite up to the first specimen taken. The first 
time that Egbert Bagg, the present secretary of the 
club, ever fished in this lake he caught two speckled 
trout in successive casts, each of which turned the scales 
at precisely 2^4 pounds. The aggregate annual catch 
of trout in Snowshoe Lake for the years the club has 
been in possession, has been as follows: In 1894 there 
were 147 trout taken weighing 150 pounds ; 1895, 79 trout 
weighing 72 pounds ; 1896, 28 trout, weighing 38 pounds ; 
1897, 9 trout, weighing 16 pounds ; 1898, 18 trout weigh- 
ing 29 pounds; 1899, 24 trout, weighing 36^ pounds; 
1900, 83 trout, weighing 85 pounds; 1901, 175 trout, 
weighing 124 pounds. The total number of trout taken 
by the club members in both Pine and Snowshoe lakes 
from 1894 to 1901, both inclusive, was 1.532. the ag- 
gregate weight being 1,279 pounds. Pine Lake produces 
fine speckled trout, but thus far the club members have 
caught their biggest specimens in Snowshoe. It is said 
that John French, many years ago. captured a soeck'ed 
trout in Pine Lake which weighed 7 pounds, and about 
1868, Dr. M. M. Bagg, of Utica, brought to creel >.ne 
on that lake which tipped the beam at the 4-pound notch. 
Salmon trout, or lakers, as they are commonly called, 
have been caught in Pine Lake weighmg as high as 7 
or 8 pounds. Judge W. T. Dunmore, Dr. C. M. Hitch- 
cock, A. B. Gardner and Wm. E. Owen all of Utica, 
purchased the Pine Lake property originally, and were 
the founders of the club. The present officers of the 
organization are: President, Hen. Watson T. Dunmore; 
Vice-President, Dr. James G. Hunt; Secretary, Egbert 
Bagg; Treasurer, Jeremiah Gomph. A party consisting 
of the following named gentlemen have recently returned 
from a successful fishing trip to the club preserve : Dr. 
C. M. Hitchcock, Dr. James G. Hunt, Robert Hunt. W. 
E. Owen, Jeremiah Gomph, A. T. Whiting, Frank H. 
Clark, all of Utica; Philip Gomph, of Albany; W. S. 
French and W. M. French, of New Hartford. During 
their stay they employed Theodore and Fred Remcnda, 
of Morehouseville, as guides. The party report that the 
fishing was good and they made an excellent catch, the 
trout being of nice size. In the first week's fishing they 
took 135 pounds of speckled trout. The fishing in Pine 
Lake has been better than usual this spring. It has been 
observed that in years when the best fishing is enjoyed 
the trout run smaller than they do in the years when a 
less number of fish are taken. It is only about seven 
miles from Pine Lake to the famous Walton Falls on the 
outlet of T Lake, about the same distance to Piseco 
Lake and five miles to Matteson's Mountain Home. G 
Lake, which is in another preserve, is VA nrles distant. 
W. M. French, who is a veteran angler, fished in Pine 
Lake forty years ago and he has always considered it 
one of the best lakes in the Adirondacks for big trout. 
He says that many years ago he caught speckled trout 
there weighing from 5 to 6 pounds. He and hi, brother 
went there one day many years since, and caught a pack- 
basket full of trout. There was some snow in the woods 
at the time and they buried the trout in a bank of it, 
leaving them there while they paid a visit to G Lake. 
They had good luck at the latter place also, and filled an- 
other pack-basket with trout. It was. all done in one 
day, earlv in the spring, soon after the ice had left the 
lakes. The brothers probably had from 120 to 130 
pounds of dressed trout to show for their day's fishing. 
W- E- WOLCOTT. 
Utica, N. Y., May 80. 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Foresi and Stream Publishing Co., Ntitft 
York, apd gqt tq mi wyiwdwl connected with the paoer. 
