S08 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[April i8, 1903, 
West. As I have earlier stated, it would seem an excel- 
lent substitution for spring shooting prohibition where 
nothing better can be done. This idea and the non- 
resident license seem to be the growing features of 
Western ideas on protective lines to-day. I do not doubt 
that eventually Texas will put a non-resident license law 
upon her statute books. 
Siagiag Mouse No. 26. 
Tiffin, O., April 2. — J. H. Davidson, who conducts a 
grocery store on _ Market street, recently captured a 
curiosity — a whistling mouse. For several weeks past 
noises like the whistling of a canary bird were heard 
in his store, coming from boxes, barrels, etc. Mr. David- 
son had no idea what was the cause of the noise, but de- 
termined to set a trap, and the result was the capture 
of a mouse, which whistled and sang like an ordinary 
canary bird. The little animal was on exhibition at the 
Central fire station till last night, when it died. 
E. Hough. 
Haktfosd Buildiko, Chicago, III. 
Deef and Quail in "Washingfton* 
Keller, Wash., April 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I returned to camp a few days ago from a trip down on 
the Colorado River, where I had a pleasant trip, this be- 
ing the first time I ever wintered in a warm climate. 
The boys in camp tell me that deer have been much 
more plentiful this winter than they have been since the 
opening of the reservation to miners. I tell them that it 
is easily accounted for; the snow has been much deeper 
in the mountains the past winter than it has been for 
several years, and the deer had to come down from their 
old winter quarters, and the whites as well as the Indians 
killed all they could. 
One of the miners killed a fine cougar; it is a fine speci- 
men. Several years ago I claimed in your paper that the 
cougar and the panther, or puma, were two distinct ani- 
mals, and I have had no reason to change that opinion, 
for this skin is about as near like the skin of a puma as is 
the skin of a fox like that of a big wolf. But then I am 
going to allow anyone to think as they please, for I cer- 
tainly ask that privilege. 
Grouse have evidently done well, notwithstanding that 
the snow has been so very deep, for they have made their 
appearance in large numbers. 
As I came home I asked about the bevy of quail that 
was seen on the river last fall ; there were several gentle- 
men present, but no one had seen the birds. If they sur- 
vived the winter some of them should soon be heard, for 
eight out of the eleven were Bob Whites. I do hope they 
survived. 
I have not heard any ruffed grouse drumming; there 
were several on the creek near my cabin when I left. I 
fear they have been killed. 
The pictures of Kettle Falls and that of the Old 
Church remind me that I am getting along toward the 
divide. I was there forty-one years ago, and think I 
will be there again before long. Lew Wilmot. 
Naffows Island CIttb Election* 
The annual meeting of the Narrows Island Club was 
held at the Hoffman House, New York City, on Monday, 
April 13, at 8 :30 P. M. There was an unusually large at- 
tendance of members; the president, Mr. Lawrence, occu- 
pied the chair. After the reading of the usual reports, the 
following officers were elected for the ensuing year : Presi- 
dent, John Burling Lawrence, Jr.; Vice-President, Henry 
Sampson; Secretary and Ti-easurer, Wm. Trotter; Ex- 
ecutive Committee, the officers and R. H. Robertson, T. 
S. Young, Jr., and George Bird Grinnell. The House 
Committee for the year, as appointed by the President, 
consists of Mr. Jones, Dr. Markoe and Mr. Austin. 
— ^ — 
Adirondack Notes. — L 
We were camped in a private car festooned with balsam 
boughs where the blue waters of an Adirondack lake 
showed through the trees, and after breakfast of trout 
and pancakes we all started across the lake and up river. 
Old Skiff, the guide, and Jack in one boat. Old Hi and the 
Colonel, Old Bill and the Doctor, and finally Hank and 
1. Let me stop to say that Old Skiff, usually called by 
the Colonel Old Skiff, after a well-known financier of 
that name, was the father of Old Bill, the Doctor's guide, 
and as villainous an old blasphemer as one could find. 
His contemporary in age and comrade in villany and in 
obscene and lurid language. Old Hi, was originally the 
village blacksmith, a man of a lost generation, who 
thought railroads were ruining the country. To prove it 
he told us amid flashes of cuss words how as a black- 
smith he had once conducted a nice trade in plowshares 
and harrows, but the advent of the railroad had ruined 
the trade. Now, the Colonel knew considerable about 
railroads, and thought otherwise than old Hi, but as he 
could not swear m competition with him decided any 
discussion of the matter would be unprofitable. Going up 
the river that beautiful May morning, Old Skiff and 
Old Hi lingered within speaking distance of each other, 
so that one. could cheer the other's drooping spirits with 
witty ' references that deteriorated into the most grew-^ 
some of dirty stories, and which they seemed to think 
reduced the beauty of the scene to a state of lowliness 
more easily comprehended by the "sports." Hi's "sport," 
as I've tried to show, was hardly appreciative of his 
efforts, but when night came and we were once more sit- 
ting around our good table, the Colonel would say.: 
"Well, Hi's killed more than a million deer on the 
river, and he's told me about most of them to-day," or 
"Hi says he's caught most 1,000 pounds of trout in the 
hole about the dam, but come to find out this extends 
over a period of fifty years when he and his 'woman' 
camped on the inlet. If the fish were like the ones we got 
to-day, I suppose it would take 10,000 to make up that 
1,000 pounds." Then Jack would tell us about Old Skiff's 
war record. Old Skiff must have been a bit sensitive on 
that point, and fearful that some enemy would get a firsf 
?;hanee at said record, for be always started off to say 
he was "Tender hearted and never took no plunder, no, 
not any ; and when the general told me to take a file of 
men and go burn down Sinders' Mills down to Savannah, 
what did I say to the general, says I, 'You old 
pirate, yfi3 go to hell and burn them mills your- 
self; I'm too tender hearted.' " Now it was May, but 
Old Skiff fiad his rifle along, and I suspect the rifle made 
no bones about being tender hearted when Skiff found a 
deer in the water. Up the river was a long stretch of 
dead timber and flood woods caused by the Government 
dam at the outlet, which, we were told, was put in to 
help the pulp people out with their logs. That the Gov- 
ernment had incidentally destroyed the standing timber, 
to say nothing of the scenery, was of no account. This 
is the manner of governments. But to return to the fishing. 
I began with worms on my flies and was trolling 
deep and had landed three or four fish, when we caught 
up to Jack and found that he had landed about the same 
number with bait pure and simple. We continued to 
work back and forth where the holes were deepest 
under the bank, and managed to get as many more, one 
of three-fourths of a pound, which was high hook so far. 
Then we carried around a quarter mile of rapids and 
shallows, and launched the boat above the dam. Where 
the water ran through the broken down sluice it had 
worn a deep hole, a fine looking place where the shadows 
lay thick in the amber-colored water. "You won't get 
nothin' there," said Hank. "Them other fellers has 
scared what they ain't caught," but Hank was good 
natured, and I wanted to try, so try we did. Two or 
three little rascals popped out, and as we put them care- 
fully back Hank informed me we were not likely to 
see anything larger up in that part of the brook. These 
fish were only about the limit, and it is not great sport to 
pull them out of their quiet homes; however, we worked 
down to where the rocks broke the stream into smother, 
and I cast over a smooth little roll just above where the 
water broke. Over the rocks went the dancing flies, 
and slap, a big fellow hit the stretcher, the line straight- 
ened, and I was leading him over the swift water to the 
surprised and delighted Hank. There was another 
equally pretty place fifty yards below, where the water 
had hollowed out a black hole under a big balsam. I 
could not quite reach it, but by great care of my back 
cast managed to get the flies in the swift water at the 
head of the pool and let the current carry them down. 
This time Hank scored, for the little fellows that came 
up were hardly of a size to take in my No. 8 flies. Down 
lower a quarter pound fish rose nicely to the black gnat 
from under a great log, but I missed him twice, and no 
self-respecting fish will come more than twice. 
We went back to the dam, and found the Doctor and 
Jack hard at work among the infant class, while Old Bill 
and Old Skiff gloated over each baby that came into the 
boat. Those old reprobates would stretch out a four 
inch trout to seven inches if you showed any sign of 
"puttin' of 'em back." My man Hank was of different 
breed, and when I told him to put back the first little fel- 
low he approved strongly, nor did I have to remind him 
again. We now went along up the brook and found the 
Colonel with some twenty-five nice fish, but no large 
ones, waiting for the rest of us to join him at lunch. 
After lunch the Doctor and I tinkered my rod, which I 
had carelessly broken on a fingerling, and then, after 
dividing up the brook so that we could all fish, we 
started off in the hot. bright afternoon to try our luck, 
it was no use. I didn't want to catch those little fellows, 
and then the bright light was an awful handicap on the 
open brook, so Hank and I started down, fishing as we 
went. The small fish we're j umping everywhere. I" be- 
lieve you could have caught a barrel full up that brook, 
but the fair sized ones were few and far between. Down 
below the dam, at the head of the Stillwater, I got a half 
dozen very nice fish, bright in color and firm in flesh, 
and good little fighters, too, so that when evening came 
my fifteen fish outweighed and outclassed anyone else's, 
though the Doctor had sixty odd. Coming down the 
river I missed several good strikes, one fish coming out 
from under a log that Hank pointed out on the way -ip 
as a good place and which we approached with great care. 
He was better than half a pound, possibly a pound, and 
so I hated to make a flubdub and miss him. Altogether 
T missed too many. Hank said I was throwing too lon.g 
a line. Something was wrong, but the string I had was 
altogether beautiful, the day had been one of pleasant 
changes, my guide was a clean-mouthed and enterprising 
backwoodsman of optimistic temperament, and so we 
were happy. He told me there was plenty of .good work 
in his part of the world for any man who would work, 
and no one needed to starve. His only complaint was 
against the pork trust, which he afterward acknowledged 
might not be so much the cause of the advance in "fried 
meat" as was the price of corn, but anyhow he thought 
he was agin the trusts. The day had been a great suc- 
cess. My friends had, however, one reason for lament. 
Hi and Old Skiff drank the last of their supply of so- 
called whisky, which looked like pure spirits, early in 
the morning, and by 10 A. M. their flagging zeal needed 
bracing up. There was no bracer forthcoming, and they 
consequently had pains in various places and aches in 
other spots all the rest of the day. Hi would call out 
to Old Skiff to know how he was "feelin'," and recom- 
mend a little whisky as a cure "fer the misery in 
his head," and how it happened their supply of medi 
cine got "upsot and they ain't had no drink since early 
morning." This discussion gave rise to the breaking 
upon my narrow horizon of a sovereign remedy named 
"Five Drops," so named because you took that amount 
on a lump of sugar. It was great for "rheumatiz," said 
Hank. He knew "A woman who weighed 300 pounds 
who was took so bad with rheumatiz that you couldn't 
move her, and she took Five Drops and in some two 
months she was well and spry as ever. So I bought it, 
one hundred doses for a dollar, and cheaper than most 
any doctor, and do you know, sir, it done me a heap of 
good. I give it to one of my sick sheep and doubled 
the dose, seeing it was a tough old he, and do you know, 
sir, he got right up and chased me outer the barn. Did 
you ever take it? Five Drops. You get it down to New 
York" 
That afternoon there was an aged citizen working 
along the railroad burning dead timber, "clearin' up," he 
said, and I stopped on the way to the car to pass the tim^ 
o' day and warm my hands by his roaring fire. It was 
a marvel to me that anyone should want to farm Or live 
in such a hard climate as this, and I so expressed myself 
to the old man. "Yes, sir," said he, "it be pretty freezin', 
come winter, and the season is short. Can't raise no corn 
of any account. I had a fine farm way back yonder," 
and he pointed with a huge poker over his shoulder to 
the south, "and I says to my son, 'Son, I'll give ye the 
farm, and two sheep and a steer and three cows and the 
team (and one of them horses was as fine a horse as 
you'd care to see and worth near $100), yes, and seven- 
teen hens and two roosters and a sow pig, I'll give you 
all this,' (an', sir, the farm had thirty acres cleared), 'I'll 
give you all this if you stay here and settle down and 
live here.' But he wouldn't stay, sir, and so we sold out 
and drove over here, and now he wishes he hadn't come 
to so freezin' a place." Come to find out this rural scene 
was only some ten or twelve miles away in the moun- 
tains, and not, as I had first supposed, where the seasons 
were long and the corn could grow. So I stood there 
and we talked about the trees and the snows of last win- 
ter, and the trout, until Frank called me to dinner, and 
then I hated to leave the old man for fear he'd fall into 
his fire. 
The next day I wanted to try Mountain Pond. They 
all said it wouldn't pay to fish it, but we ought to walk 
up and see it. There's nothing in walking up to see a 
pond where you understand it's no good for fishing, but 
the more I heard about it the more I wanted to fish it. 
Few went there, it was too much of a climb, a nasty place 
to lug a boat to, etc. So Hank and I started this windy 
afternoon and waded up the dryest part of the brook. 
The first tramp to such a place is always the longest, and 
my efforts to keep reasonably dry added to the trip. 
However, finally we came out on the pond, half a mile 
long, nearly as broad, and with lilypads all over it, except 
right at the outlet. It was a perfect place to float for 
deer, and many the white-tail, Hank said, had there taken 
his fatal look at a bright light. The sun was bright, 
the hour was about 2 P. M., and the water shallow, but 
not too clear. I tried a cast of black-gnat, brown-hackle 
and Parmachenee-belle around the outlet. Nothing doing. 
Then on the other side of the boat toward the pads. 
Nothing. Then toward the shore, and slap, a quarter 
pounder came up. I snaked him into the boat and got an- 
other, a trifle larger, and that was all. We fooled along 
and I suggested a spoon, for the Doctor said that once 
he'd seen a man who said there were some big trout in 
that little pond. It was a casting spoon, and we put a 
cornmon garden hackle on it, but the wind blew us where 
it listed, and the paddle was not able to keep us straight. 
My, that was a whale ! Where he turned in the water the 
swirl was as big as the head of a barrel, but I missed 
him and he wouldn't come again. That, however, was 
enough. They were there, so we backed off into the 
pads and let things quiet down. I rigged up with the 
same flies, only smaller. No. 10 hooks, except the tail 
fly and wormed them (shame on it). The wind blew 
stronger and there was quite a little sea on. Soon a fish 
rose, a half pounder, I cast over him with the baited fly, 
making no perceptible splash in the wind, and I had him. 
Again I did it, another about the same size, and the most 
brilliant fish I have ever seen. Soon they were really 
jtunping all around us. There waS no time to bait up; a 
big one came up and I missed him, and then I got caught 
on a pad and had to paddle over and loosen the cast. 
While doing so with the hackle two feet out of water, a 
ten-inch trout jumped out from among the pads within 
his own length of the boat, for that fly. He went up 
straight in the air higher than I ever saw such a fish go, 
but fell short of the fly. This showed the anxiety I liked. 
Back we went into the pads ; up and down the line went 
the flies, and they took first one and then another. I 
tried a Montreal, instead of the hackle and they took it as 
v.'ell. Slap, a whale. This time the hook went in and he 
gave us quite a tussle, i^ pounds, and a beauty. Bang, 
another big one, and a good battle again, 1^ pounds, and 
several running between half and three-fourths pounds; 
but then a beauty, say half a pound, and all sunset color 
and bronze that I was holding in both hands, admiring 
liis rainbow hues preparatory to knocking him on the 
head, jumped overboard with a little twitch of his tail, 
and must have told his brothers all about it. The wind 
began to drop, and with it the fish ceased to rise. We 
had one or two more medium sized ones, but the fun was 
over. We stayed, however, till the shadows lengthened 
across the water, long enough to see three deer come 
into the head of the pond. It was like old times, when 
the sight of a deer would drive me nearly crazy with ex- 
citement, and I paddled up as close as possible, till they 
threw up their white flags and ran. Then we crept 
quietly out of our boat and started down to the car, 
frightening a hedgehog into a small balsam and stopping 
to watch his slow motions, so much like a rickety old 
man. My catch counted up only fifteen. There should 
have been five or ten more, but they were the most 
beautiful fish I have ever seen, and gave me as much 
sport as any I ever caught. 
The next morning the pirates appeared with four fine 
lakers; they said they had found "the old man" set out 
by some wicked person from down river and pulled it in 
the night. I had my suspicions, but have noticed such 
things are usually done by "a feller who lives down 
river," and so, no doubt, they were in the main correct. 
The Doctor told me the pirates were old friends of his. 
representative citizens, who had done just right to "pull 
the old man," and he, for one, was in favor of this kind 
of local protection by public sentiment; that those fel- 
lows from down river should lose their set lines and their 
fish, too, for fish illegally taken didn't belong to them, 
and he, for one, thought they would never put in a 
claim. He was right, they didn't, and so he kept them. 
.That day we tried Mountain Pond again, but only took 
some seven or eight fish. We had a pleasant afternoon, 
however, over a smudge, the Colonel, Jack and I talking 
over quiet outdoor things and former good times under 
the balsams and laying up a store of ozone, which, I am 
sorry to say, was altogether too little for poor Jack, 
who within the year has joined the great majority. 
Evening found us in the car again, and next morning we 
pulled into the Grand Central Station with a better color 
and some very pleasant recolkctions. 
Oeo- F. Dominick, Js. 
