268 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[April 4, 1903. 
gins a storm and filtered through the leaves upon what 
was left of our fire. Already we were late for our ap- 
pcintment, so I woke Tom and we made a kettle of beef 
tea with a few capsules I had in my pocket. Then we 
were off in the mist. What a mist for the complexion ! 
Just the thing for Miss Moose, but one could not see to 
shoot five rods. Finally we worked down to the pond 
and tooted away, but nothing answered us. One must 
not get discouraged, though, and so back we went into the 
woods to cross over a little chain of barrens and try for 
caribou. Mind you, I'd not had a chance to try this new 
rifle of mine, a 7mm. Mauser, on anything, and I'd 
thought I had Avorked hard enough to get a good chance. 
Over a hard sandy ridge we worked under the princess 
pines where the ground was level as a floor and you could 
see to shoot 20 rods. Then down on the other side into 
the marshes. There were plenty of tracks there, and 
paths running from one opening to another, and along 
these we traveled. Suddenly, framed in the trees, I saw 
a white and gray animal intently watching us. He had a 
meek large eyed expression, but it didn't fool me for all 
that. I grabbed Tom and pointed out the watcher. We 
dropped to our knees and I crept up to the line of trees 
through the water and mud of the marsh. Rising 1 found 
an opening for the rifle barrel, and there, in the middle of 
the little barren, were three caribou. I saw one had 
horns; it was lying down, and, aiming at the shoulder, I 
fired. There was a little spasmodic movement of the feet 
and that was all. "You've missed him," said Tom, in 
great excitement. "Shoot quick when he runs," and he 
pulled me by the sleeve over to an opening through which 
he was watching the barren. "No," said I, "I got him. 
Let me go." "You missed him," said he. "You must 
shoot quick," and as he spoke a caribou rose from where 
he was lying on the ground and sort of shook himself. 
Number three stood stupidly watching us. I fired and 
missed clean. Then fired again as quickly as I could re- 
peat and down he went with a little bullet in his shoulder. 
As we walked out the little one that has been nearest us 
ran away, as if for the woods, and then circling around 
returned and lay down beside where the other two were 
dying, and when we got within fifty feet got up and ran 
off. There the two lay quite near together — ^too near for 
any such error as I had rnade — ^but number one had never 
struggled at all, and so it really seemed as if I might have 
some reasonable doubt. Such is luck in the woods. For 
ten days I had "traveled" through the timber and over 
bogs and had seen only one gray covered back glide 
through the shadows far ahead of me on an old logging 
road, while here it seemed the game was only too anxious 
to be killed. It was really too much of a good thing, but 
the lust for blood was so strong that on our way back to 
camp I murdered in cold blood an ancient hedge hog that 
looked for all the world like a small bear. I climbed the 
logs where he lay and looked the shattered thing over, 
and my moralizing Avas hardly flattering to myself. How- 
ever, one should not moralize too much on a hunting 
trip. I did not altogether approve of the tendency, 
and so, after a day to pack and salt down our hides, 
we left our comfortable cabin on Black Brook and 
returned to the lands of high collars and beefsteak. 
Geo. F. Dominick, Jr. 
Game Parks Again. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
It was my intention not to add another word to what 
I've said, but as my kind supporter, Mr. Spears, has given 
me a sly dig under the fifth rib, I feel as if bound to fire 
another shot, even at the risk of wasting powder. 
I have already made it clear that I am not likely to be 
placed in the ranks of "boot lickers" to the rich, though 
I am ready to admit with Mr. Avis that millionaires are 
of serx ice to the country in many ways ; but Mr. Avis 
must consider that I make no war upon their virtues, but 
upon their vices and shortcomings. 
Among their other failings must I repeat the charge 
that during the terrible past winter — on the "widow's 
mite" principle — they did absolutely nothing. Mr. 
Spears has attended to the rest. 
Now, Mr. Spears, I don't know whether your closing 
hint about "religion" was intended for my especial benefit 
or not, but if it was I must defend myself by saying that 
I was only attacking the inconsistency and hypocrisy of 
pretenders. I consider them fair game, and if they are 
they come within the pale of legitimate Forest and 
Stream material. The Great Reformer did not hesitate 
to open his batteries on the rich who failed in their 
duties, on every fair occasion, and I think it safe, and 
the duty, of everyone to follow in his lead whenever 
good can come of it. 
With thanks to Mr. Spears for his ingenious and kind 
assistance, I am his humble servant, 
DlDYMUS. 
St AUGtfSTiKE, March 15. 
P.difor Forest and Stream: 
If a hog could reason objectively, and could talk from 
his own point of view, what a sizzling outpouring of 
grievances he could direct continuously at all man- 
kind, now and during many generations to come. 
First of all, man has assumed an inconsistent attitude 
toward the hog, for, copying hog nature and appropri- 
ating it as his own, man scoffs at it as the extreme of 
gross selfishness. 
Man points the finger of scorn at the hog in all 
altruistic problems wherein a cheap example is needed. 
He has used the hng in this unkind and unjust 
manner from time immemorial. How thoughtless! 
how Tuijust! Instead of scorn, man owes the hog a 
double debt of gratitude. First, for _ copying hog 
nature without giving in return any credit, and second, 
for the attempt to cast a stigma on the hog when man 
himself far outhogs the hog in selfishness. 
Now, reduced to its simple elements, hog nature is 
largely a matter of getting something for nothing. Let 
a hog invade an apple orchard or potato field, and he 
proceeds to enjoy himself as sole proprietor. Let 
him further have possession for a while unmolested, and 
he considers that he has a common law right of which 
he cannot be justly divested by any power on earth. 
Is not that human in its idea? 
In associating with other hogs, the hog shoulders 
and crowds and roots and squeals to a degree almost 
human in its persistency, though less refined in its 
action. 
These thoughts came to me as I read the masterful 
arguments of Messrs. Didymus and Sears, who de- 
nounce the millionaire for his hoggish nature in root- 
ing in a pasture which they maintain should be free 
for all to root in, with the difference, however, that the 
millionaire pays full value for rooting as an individual, 
while the big herd holds that it should root free. Once 
get the right line of reasoning concerning the hog, and 
it will make clear many things which now seem hope- 
lessly inconsistent and inexplicable. The real differ- 
ences are in degree only; that is to say, there are big 
hogs and little hogs, and often the little hog grows into 
a big hog, whereupon he is just as big a hog as any 
other big hog^ Chas. Day. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Plenty of Ducks. 
Chicago, 111., March 26. — ^The high waters still con- 
tinue in the Middle West, and the flight of ducks is 
greater this spring than has been known for many 
years. It is thought that most of the north-bound 
migration will come up the Mississippi Valley this 
spring. Naturally much of this flight divides at the 
fork of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and it sub- 
divides at the fork of the Desplaines and Kankakee, 
which empties into the Illinois. Within the past week 
the bulk of the shooting has been along the Kankakee 
River. This ancient waterway is naturally the path to 
the southern end of Lake Michigan. Hence the Kan- 
kakee flight has to some extent gotten into Lake Michi- 
gan, which means good shooting in the ToUeston and 
other marshes close to the big water. One might say 
that Tolleston has had as good sport as any club in the 
vicinity; although, of course, one cannot fully measure 
the possibility of that sport, since the members^ shoot 
under the Indiana law, which has a limit of 24 birds to 
the day. 
In spite of the good success which has attended the 
shooters along the Kankakee River, more especially at 
English Lake, where the sport has been exceptionally 
good, it is believed that the best big bag of the week 
was made at New Boston by a Chicago shooter by the 
name of Miller, and his party. These shooters sent in 
during the week a bag of 97 ducks, of which 70 odd 
were mallards, with a few pintails and bluebills. _ It 
would seem that they must have caught the flight right 
at New Boston, and when that is the case there is no 
better shooting in any portion of the Middle West. 
This is the best news I have heard from_ New Boston, 
which was last week offered as a good tip. 
At Fox Lake the sport has been more patchy and 
unreliable. Mr. W. L. Wells, who went up the first 
of the week, got only four bluebills. He met the big 
snowstorm which came on Monday, and says that his 
was the only bag reported in the entire Fox Lake coun- 
try. Since then I have heard of one bag of 27 ducks 
made there, but this may possibly have been done on 
Tuesday, after the storm. 
It is almost certain that the heavy storm of last 
Monday set the flight back to the southward. Now it is 
pleasant again, and the birds ought to be in on Tolle- 
ston, Swan Lake, Hennepin, also on English Lake, and 
other Kankakee clubs, and on Fox Lake. The likeli- 
hood is that the heavy storm drove the birds away from 
the open water into the smaller sheltered lakes, of 
which lower Wisconsin is so full. 
The DJferett Flights of Ducks. 
Our old friend Abe Kleinman, who knows more about 
ducks in a- minute than most of us will forget in a 
year, says that it is now nearly time for the last flight 
of the bluebills. Abe says that the first flight of blue- 
bills on their progress north-bound, is made up largely 
of the paired ducks, those which are going north to 
get on to the breeding grounds as soon as possible. 
"If you look at the ducks which come in now," he said, 
"you will find that two-thirds or four-fifths of them 
are males. They go in bunches and flocks and not in 
pairs. These are either the old bachelors, those which 
have not succeeded in getting mates, or those which 
have lost their mates in the southern shooting, at points 
below here. These last migrators are in no hurry to 
get on north and will furnish the later shooting in this 
part of the country. You watch the bags made from 
now on and see if there is not a very large per cent, 
of male birds. You will see the same thing if you take 
a glass and examine the flocks out in Lake Michigan, 
off the city. Nearly all of them are males."_ 
I know of no reason to doubt the observation of this 
well-posted and much-experienced duck shooter. 
Snipe are In. 
The first jacksnipe, of which I have knowledge, this 
spring were reported four days ago along the Calumet 
country. The cold snap of this week will stop the 
north-bound movement of these birds in all likelihood, 
but will not send them very far to the south. Abe 
Kleinman tells me that when the jacksnipe has once 
gotten up into the north he is very much disinclined 
to go back south again, his locomotive apparatus seem- 
ing to be not so powerful as that of the ducks and 
geese. In case of a sudden freeze-up, such as we had 
here a few days ago, the jacksnipe does not take a spin 
of a thousand miles or so to the south, but makes 
the best out of his surroundings as he finds them. 
According to Abe, the jacks, in such conditions, hunt 
out some running ditch, or creek, or slough, along 
the banks, of which the ground remains unfrozen and 
where they poke along and make some sort of a living 
until the arrival of better days. Abe says that he has 
known six or eight jacksnipe to be killed at a single 
shot along such a ditch, where they were located by the 
chance hunter. . 1 • 
We will hardly have very good sport at jacksnipe this 
spring, owing to the extreme abundance of water all 
over the country. There will be more than enough 
feeding grounds for the numbers of snipe which are 
apt to pass this way. The devoted hunters who go to 
the Fox Lake country, are expecting now to meet som^ 
snipe along the bogs almost any day. 
The ducks continue to come in, and the main flight 
has now probably reached this latitude. At Tolleston 
day before yesterday, Mr. J. V. Clarke easily made liis 
limit of 24 ducks, and Mr. Hempstead Washburn, who 
also shot at Tolleston, killed 18 birds. Most of these 
were mallards, with a few pintails and an occasional 
bluebill. 
Mr. Lou Clarke, of this city, is recently back from 
Thomasville, Ga., where he had pleasant weather and 
all the shooting he cared for at doves and quail. 
E. Hough. 
Hartford Building, Chicago. IlL 
Legfislation at Albany* 
Tlie Senate passed on March 30 Mr. Armstrong's bill forbidding 
the sale of grouse and woodcock. The measure was amended so 
that possession of this game shall not be presumptive evidence of 
violation by any person who has given a bond to the Game Com- 
missioner of the State. 
Albany, March 28. — Governor Odell has signed the following 
bills amending the fish and game laws: 
Assemblyman Bridgeman's, to allow the spearing of fish in the 
creeks of Otsego and Orleans counties. 
Assembly Doughty's, providing that there shall be no open 
season for Mongolian ring-necked or English pheasants, except in 
Suffolk county, prior to 1905, and that they shall not be taken or 
possessed in Suffolk county from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, both inclusive. 
Assemblyman McNair's, making the close season for squirrel 
from Dec. 1 to Sept. 15, both inclusive. 
Assemblyman Fowler's, providing for the protection of fish in 
Chautauqua Lake. 
The Senate has passed Senator Armstrong's bill, making the 
close season for grouse in the counties of Ulster, Sullivan and 
Greene from Dec. 1 to Sept. 30, both inclusive, and in Orange county 
from Dec. 1 to Oct. 15, both inclusive. 
Ihe Senate Committee on Fisheries and Game has reported the 
following bills: 
Senator Malby's, relative to fishing in Black Lake, St. Lawrence 
county. 
Assemblyman Cowan's, prohibiting the taking of trout and game 
in the counties of Delaware, Ulster and Schoharie for the purpose 
of selling the same. 
Senator Warneck's, providing that there shall be no open season 
for grouse and woodcock in the counties of Schoharie, Mont- 
gomery and Otsego, prior to 1906. 
Senator Raines', relative to the taking of fish through the ice 
in Canandaigua Lake. 
Assemblyman C. W. Smith's, relative to wild birds. 
Assemblyman Bedell's, relative to the close season for trout in 
Orange county. This bill was afterward advanced to third read- 
ing. 
The Assembly Committee on Fisheries and Game has reported 
the following bills: 
Assemblyman C. W. Smith's, relating to penalties. 
Assemblyman Burnett's, relative to taking fish through the ice 
in Canandaigua Lake. 
Senator Armstrong's, relative to the destruction of illegal 
devices. 
The Assembly has recommitted the bill of Senator Townsend's, 
on second reading, for the protection of wild black bear, to- 
gether with a number of amendments proposed to it, exempting 
from its operations a number of counties. 
The Assembly has advanced to third reading the following bills: 
Assemblyman Cowan's, making the close season for muskrat, 
skunk and foxes in Delaware county from May 1 to Oct. 31, both 
inclusive. 
Assemblyman Stevens', relative to the laying out of private 
parks. 
Senator Bailey's, relative to the powers of supervisors in the 
counties of Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. 
The Assembly has passed the following bills: 
Assemblyman Hubbs', relative to the transportation of fish. 
Assemblyman Robinson's relative to fishing in Hemlock Lake. 
Assemblyman Reynolds', making the close season for grouse, 
woodcock and quail in Rensselaer county from Dec. 1 to Sept. 
30, both inclusive^ 
— « — 
Salmon Culture in America. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your issue of 2ist inst., Mr. Babcock. Fisheries Com- 
missioner, has supplied what Mr. Livingston Stone, in 
his letter to R. B. Marston, of the London Fishing 
Gazette, perhaps inadvertently omitted, viz. : some statis- 
tics on which alone a sound opinion can be formed. From 
these, it would appear that, so far as the Sacramento 
River in California is concerned. Artificial Culture has 
been fairly successful. 
In a river where the present conditions are such as Mr. 
Babcock describes, artificial culture may, for a long time, 
prevent the species from dying out entirely; but with a 
full knowledge of what Salmon Culture, pursued on a 
large scale and at enormous expense for 30 years, has 
done in Canada and the Eastern States, I cannot but en- 
tertain strong doubts that, in rivers where "the establish- 
ment of manufactories, the diversion of waters for irri- 
gation, extensive mining and agricultural methods during 
the past ten years have almost entirely destroyed the 
natural spawning grounds of the Salmon," artificial cul- 
ture can keep alive a profitable business. Even if it could 
do this, I doubt the wisdom of devoting taxes wrung 
from the people to stimulate artificially a business from 
v/hich only a few wealthy proprietors derive any im- 
mediate profit. 
As to the Columbia and other rivers further North, Mr. 
Babcock, following my old friend Livingstone Stone, is 
very chary about statistics; but, like him, deals liberally 
in opinions and assertions unwarranted by figures. The 
ample quotations made from Mr. Stone; from that careful 
observer of Pacific Salmon, Mr. Charles Hallock; from 
the Report of the Commission sitting in British Columbia 
in 1S92, and from letters received during the present year, 
given in your last issue, will enable Mr. Marston to judge 
how much good Artificial Culture can do in rivers where 
the fish are now so numerous that they destroy them- 
selves by overcrowding. 
The writer is strongly of opinion that if those who are 
making fortunes by their canneries and freezers really 
believe they derive any practical benefit from Artificial 
Salmon Culture, they should support the hatcheries them- 
selves, and that the State Governments of California, 
Oregon and Washington, and the Government of Canada 
should no longer tax the people for the special benefit of 
a few wealthy companies who derive all the direct profit. 
Should this and my last letter meet the eyes of the 
scientific gentlemen in England who are opposing Mr. 
Marston's well-meant but ignorant efforts to increase the 
Salmon catch in England, Scotland and Ireland by grants 
of public money for Artificial Culture, they will not fail 
to see, in Mr. Babcock's confidently expressed opinions, 
additional grounds for their belief that so far Salmon 
Culture in Europe and America has produced oodles of 
ova and figures of fry, but very few adult Salmon. 
' ' The Old Angijer. 
