Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1904, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Terms, |4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. I 
Six Months, $2. ) 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1904 
\ VOL LXIIL— No. 1. 
) No. 846 Broadway, Nbw York. 
ABATING THE MOSQUITO PLAGUE: 
The summer residents of Monmouth Beach, New Jer- 
sey, have this year accomplished , a work of mosquito ex- 
termination which should have wide publicity because of 
the good results achieved and the practicability of putting 
into operation the same expedients in other mosquito- 
plagued places. Monmouth' Beach is on the New Jersey 
coast, fifty miles from New York. It lies on a narrow 
peninsula between the ocean and the Shrewsbury River, 
and is the summer home of many New York business 
men, who have handsome summer residences there. Back 
of the beach there are great stretches of marsh land, 
which in the past have been the breeding grounds of bil- 
lions of mosquitoes,, and the plague of the insects has 
been a serious detriment to the enjoyment of life at Mon- 
mouth Beach. For several years the use of kerosene had 
been adopted, in the well-known method of oiling the 
stagnant waters where the mosquitoes bred, but while this 
had been attended with some beneficial results, the mos- 
quito destruction had not been permanent, nor in any 
way adequate. This year it was resolved to undertake 
heroic measures which should do away with the breeding 
grounds. The Monmouth Beach Protective Association 
subscribed the necessary funds, and entrusted the under- 
taking to Mr. Eugene Winship, superintendent of the 
Monmouth Beach Country Club. 
The plan adopted by Mr. Winship was to cut ditches 
through the salt marsh of Raccoon Island, which lies 
directly back of Monmouth Beach, and through the marsh 
land to the south of it along the Shrewsbury River, this 
being the territory in which, because of a constant stag- 
nant water supply, mosquitoes multiplied, and whence 
they were borne by the wind to 'great distances. The en- 
tire territory was very carefully surveyed, and a system of 
ditches aggregating 70,000 feet in length was so laid out 
as to drain every pool and permit a circulation of tide 
water throughout the entire territory. A force of fifty 
men, equipped with long, narrow spades, was set to 
digging. The main ditches were so planned as to con- 
nect with the river, while the tributary ways led to and 
from the pools. If a pool was shallow it was dug deeper, 
in order that there might be a new flow into it and out 
from it with every recurring tide. Not only did these 
ditches drain the surface of the marsh, thus removing 
the breeding holes of the mosquitoes, but they admitted 
the killie fishes to every water part of the territory, and 
the hordes of fishes devoured the hordes of wigglers. 
In carrying out this plan, Mr. Winship encountered 
some opposition from certain landowners, men who be- 
long to that variety of the human species which reasons 
that what has been should be, and which is content to be 
bitten of mosquitoes as its forefathers were bitten before; 
it. Such opposition, however, Avas speedily disarmed 
when Mr. Winship expressed a determination to put into 
operation the new mosquito law enacted by the New Jer- 
sey Legislature, which gives local authorities power to 
condemn mosquito breeding places as nuisances, which 
must be abated at the expense of the owner. Indeed, when 
the financial considerations involved were presented to 
the average property owner, he was quite ready to recog- 
nize the advantages of mosquito extermination as a favor- 
able factor in the determining of the value of his real 
estate. On this phase of the subject, Mr. Winship said 
to a New York Herald reporter last April : "If the 
authorities in the various communities which are infested 
by the mosquito pest would look carefully into the mat- 
ter, they would see that from many viewpoints it is to 
their interest to clear up the mosquito breeding grounds. 
They would thus not only be ridding their communities 
of the mosquitoes to a great extent, but the value of the 
near-by property, especially for summer residences, would 
be increased to an extent far in excess of the amount 
which would have to be expended in draining the 
marshes. It is difficult, of course, to say how much more 
valuable New Jersey property would become if there were 
no mosquitoes, but it is safe enough to estimate it at 
millions of dollars. Compared with this the amount 
which would have to be spent to do away with mosquitoes 
is insignificant." 
The Monmouth Beach people spent in the enterprise 
some $1,200, a sum about equal to what had already been 
expended in the kerosene warfare carried on during the 
preceding seasons, and which had afforded only tem- 
porary relief. This new system of ditches, it was 
reasoned, would be in the nature of a permanent improve- 
ment. Once the ditches were dug, it would be required 
in the future to give only such attention as might be neces- 
sary to keep them clean of clumps of earth and tufts of 
grass, and open at the mouths where they debouched into 
the river; and all this could be done by one man at a 
very slight annual expense. The event has borne out 
the anticipation of the projectors. Under date of June 
25, Mr. Winship writes us: 
"The actual results we have obtained have been more 
than satisfactory. There is no doubt, in my mind, that 
ditching and draining, if properly executed, will exter- 
minate the mosquito. Consequently I very earnestly 
recommend its adoption in any and all localities that are 
troubled with the pests." 
What has been done in the case of Monmouth Beach 
might well be undertaken in other places where like con- 
ditions prevail. If the mosquito breeding grounds are in 
marsh land, the man with a spade may be employed -to 
ditch them. If the breeding ground be a swamp or a 
stagnant pond, the work may be more arduous and ex- 
pensive; but nevertheless will it be well worth the doing, 
to- the end that human comfort may be enhanced and life 
made better worth the living. There is here a large and 
profitable field of labor for village improvement associa- 
tions, suburban citizens' leagues, and individual property 
owners and philanthropists. 
NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU. > 
In Forest and Stream of April 30, mention was made 
cf a great slaughter of caribou on the Newfoundland 
coast, the number killed now being reported to be 2,200. 
In that note it w r as pointed out that the Newfoundland 
Government was likely to take some action in the mat- 
ter, looking to the better protection of the caribou. Re- 
cently in the Newfoundland Legislature it was announced 
that a magistrate armed with special powers had been 
despatched to the scene of slaughter, with instructions 
to mete out punishment to the offenders to the full extent 
of the law. Sir Robert Bond, the Premier, intimated 
that the Government purposed to introduce a measure 
that would protect the caribou in future and prevent a 
recurrence of any such outrage. Caribou have been long 
most wastefully slaughtered in Newfoundland, and last 
winter it was a common sight to see carcasses piled up in 
front, of the^'business places of local auctioneers, and the 
venison/fwas sold all winter for a few cents a pound. Not 
many years ago a man sold a hundred carcasses to 
French fishermen for fish bait, and in some years more 
animals have been killed than could be eaten, so that the 
carcasses had to be thrOwn into the sea. It is hoped that 
the measure to be enacted by the Government will stop 
this waste, and that such action will ultimately be taken 
as will preserve the herds of caribou. 
INDIANAPOLIS'! 
While the Interstate Association's great annual event, 
the Grand American Handicap at Targets, held at Indian- 
apolis last week, demonstrated that trapshooting'.is a 
good and approved national sport, it also demonstrated, 
contrary to preconceived opinions of many people, that 
it possesses spectacular features of intense interest to the 
better classes of society who seek wholesome diversion 
for its own sake. 
The numerous spectators were gentlemen and ladies, 
well dressed, refined in deportment, and appreciative ob- 
servers of the competition. The contestants were men 
who have useful parts in the affairs of life. Many of 
them were eminent in business, in politics, in the profes- 
sional and social world, and in the world of finance. 
They were of the substantial classes who give stability 
and prestige to a nation. ; 
With such a conspicuous success in the social phases of 
the shoot under the auspices of the Indianapolis Gun 
Club, the natural query is suggested as to' why it was, so, 
and why some other clubs have not been equally success- 
ful in this respect. The answer is to be found in two dis- 
tinct features of the club — the personnel and the grounds. 
It is an amateur association of gentlemen who are inter- 
ested in trapshooting for sport's sake. The grounds are 
equipped to meet fully the demands of competition, and 
to insure the comfort of visitors. The latter feature is 
commonly neglected or omitted by many clubs. Well 
dressed ladies and gentlemen, who are accustomed to 
neatness, comfortable accommodations, and aesthetic sur- 
roundings, will not patronize any sport which has not 
these essentials. The finest opera, lecture, or what not, 
would be a failure if the audience was provided with 
muddy standing room, crowded and jostled constantly by 
others, with obstructed view as a constant. 
The Indianapolis Gun Club has set a standard concern- 
ing the essentials which make a tournament pleasant to 
the contestants and make it of interest to the public. 
The grounds were pleasant to look upon. There was 
plenty of room. Chairs and cool, open, tents provided 
comfortable seats. Admission was by ticket without cost, 
but no objectionable people could enter. Of course, all 
clubs who hold tournaments cannot provide such com- 
modious and well equipped grounds, nor can such clubs 
hope to* gain the esteem and attention of the best people 
of society. 
The club which aspires to secure the G. A. H. for 1905 
will perforce have to be prepared to offer inducements 
equal to what the Indianapolis Gun Club provided in the 
way of grounds and equipment for the great, event last 
week. The full success of the G. A. H. requires that its 
public features are important and merit recognition quite 
as much as the features which are purely competitive. 
RUSSELL SAGE ON VACATIONS. 
'To a recent vacation number of the Independent Rus- 
sell Sage contributed an article on the "Injustice of Vaca- 
tions," in which he wrote : "During the eighty-eight 
years of my career I have not once taken a vacation. I 
have never been an advocate of what some term the 'vaca- 
tion habit.' When I was a boy the practice was not in 
vogue." He could not see anything legitimate in a vaca- 
tion; clerks had no right to ask one; they were better 
off without it ; a man ought so to love his work that he ' 
would not want a vacation. "If I had a thousand 
tongues," he declared, "I'd preach 'save time' with them 
all." 
In the current number of the Independent the editors 
comment upon the ungracious way in which Mr. Sage's 
anti-vacation notions have been received by the' press. 
The argument of a large proportion of the critics, they 
say, may be reduced to the following syllogism : "I want 
a vacation ; Russell Sage does not want a vacation. 
Therefore, down with Russell Sage." Which will ap- 
pear tO' most sensible men as simply carrying out the 
Scriptural injunction to answer a fool according to his 
folly. . 
For may it not be said that the unfavorable criticism 
and scant courtesy shown simply voiced the prompt popu- 
lar recognition of the fact that a person who has never 
taken a vacation should be the last on earth to presume to 
pass judgment on those who do take vacations? What 
can this man, who has spent all his life accumulating 
money, know about vacations? and why should anyone 
ask him to write of something he shows himself so 
densely ignorant of? If advice were wanted about making 
a million, one might very well seek it of Russell Sage. 
But the fact is that there are multitudes interested in 
knowing where, when, and how they may achieve their 
vacation this summer, lo one who is concerned to know 
how he might. make a million, or who would care to make 
a million, if in the accumulation of it. lie converted him- 
self into a, money grubber incapacitated for enjoying the 
good things of the outdoor world, which calls to him 
with, a thousand tongues to come out of the city streets 
and look upon the green fields, and thread the forest 
mazes, and cast his fly in the foaming rapids. 
Like Boston, Chicago, Paris, and other cities, New 
York now has a refuge for the shelter of friendless dogs, 
decrepit horses, and other helpless domestic animals. The 
Bide-a-Wee Home has been established at Yonkers Park, 
adjoining the city, for the reception and care of such 
creatures. There is in connection a hospital for the dogs, 
and the horses are provided with shady pasture. As op- 
portunities offer, permanent homes elsewhere are secured 
for the dogs. The institution is supported by subscrip- 
tion, and is under the direction of a board of New York 
women, whose names afford a guarantee that it will be 
well conducted. The Bide-a-Wee Home plan should be 
welcomed by owners of old dogs and old horses, who 
recognize that their pets have outlived their usefulness, 
yet who cannot bring themselves either to put them into 
other hands or to end their lives, _ 
