Oct. t, 1904.3 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
Knickerbocker C C Fall Camp. 
"Heave away, my bonny boys, 
Heave away, heave away; 
Heave away, and don't you make a noise, 
Fc-r we're bound for Australia." 
Humming the above refrain as the)' bent to the task 
of preparing for the cruise, the members of the 
Knickerbocker C. C. "heaved away" with a will, for 
they were preparing for their annual fall encampment 
and regatta, which was held at Hermit Point-on-the- 
Hudson, Labor Day, and the two days previous there- 
to. It is not always possible to start for camp as a fleet, 
and this was no exception to the rule ; but as the canoes 
started from the club house singly and in pairs, cries of 
"I'll see you later" were exchanged, and the cruise was 
started and the craft were ''bound for Australia." 
Hermit Point, as you will see by the cut, is truly "a 
thing of beauty and a joy forever," being one of those 
delightful bits of landscape with which nature has so 
liberally endowed the Palisades of the Hudson. Situ- 
ated about eight miles up the river from the Knicker- 
bocker club house, it is within easy paddling and sail- 
ing distance, and therefore easily accessible to the mem- 
bers and visitors. The ruins of an old pier form a 
Tilting Match — Knickerbocker C. C. Regatta. 
Phcto by A. E. Sanford. 
breakwater, behind which smooth water is nearly al- 
ways found, even on the roughest days. There is a 
wide, firm, sandy beach and an excellent spring of clear, 
cold, sparkling water, which, considered altogether, 
make this spot an ideal camping place, and to which 
it is a pleasure to go, forgetting all business cares and 
live close to the bosom of mother nature, a life which 
is idealistic in every meaning of the word. 
Only a small portion of the encampment is visible in 
the photograph. The tents extended some distance up 
the "beach to the right, and nearly filled the small pla- 
teau up the hill, the dense foliage hiding most of the 
tents on the plateau. 
Three things are uppermost in the minds of the av- 
erage canoeist while in camp: Canoeing, eating and 
sleeping. I have placed them in what I conceive to be 
their proper order; canoeing first, because that is the 
prime object in coming to camp; eating, because the 
a 
i 
"Hermit Point" — Knickerbocker C. C. Camp, 
i Photo by A. E. Sanford. 
exhilarating exercise derived from the use of the pad- 
dle produces an appetite which is nothing short of 
marvelous; sleeping last, because that seems to be 
always the last thought of one who has never under- 
gone the experience — -mere words cannot convey the 
delight which is experienced at rolling up in a blanket 
and lying down on a cot, look out at the sparkling 
beauty of the heavens and be crooned to slumber by 
the sleep-inspiring chorus of the night. On arising 
with the birds in the morning, what would more natu- 
rally suggest itself than a refreshing dip in the cool 
waters of the Hudson? After the dip, breakfast; after 
breakfast, a morning on the river, dinner, and afternoon 
spent in sailing or paddling, as fancy may dictate, then 
supper. In the above list, you have the business part 
of the day's programme, but it would never do to slight 
a very important number on it, the camp-fire. 
As the sun was throwing its last faint rays beyond 
the crest of the Palisades, the boys commenced gather- 
ing material for the camp-fire. An old disused dock 
furnished ten-foot timbers about one foot square, at the 
butt, and these, heaped up in a pile on the beach when 
lighted made a fire which could be seen for miles around. 
After the fire had become well kindled, the boys placed 
their chairs around it in a semi-circle, and to the music 
of club songs, disposed of large quantities of corn and 
potatoes, which were roasted in the embers. Jokes, 
good-natured chaffing and stories, all liberally inter- 
spersed with songs, contributed to fill out the evening 
to the full limit of enjoyment. 
The races were held on Labor Day, which dawned 
bright and clear, with a 15-knot breeze from the N.W. 
and a strong flood tide running. The combination of 
these two weather conditions filled the river with white- 
capped waves, which made the sailing races highly in- 
teresting spectacles, and taxed the skill and knowledge 
of the skippers of the various craft to the utmost. The 
S5-foot event was started ten minutes after the 65-foot 
A Close Finish — Knickerbocker C. C. Race. 
Photo by A. E. Sanford. 
event, and although the course was six miles, the 
smaller class was not overhauled before the finish. An 
idea of the exciting nature of the sailing races may be 
derived from the cut, which shows the close finish of 
the 85-foot class. The paddling events were remark- 
able for their stubborn contests from start to finish, 
there not being more than one length's difference be- 
tween the winner and second man in any event. Ben 
J. Cromwell, Jr., vanquished all comers in the tilting 
contest, thereby becoming champion of the Hudson. 
Since entering this class, Cromwell's form has im- 
proved remarkably, as only two years ago he was a 
raw recruit; but constant practice has made of him an 
expert in this sport, his foot-work being especially re- 
markable. The race of the Stockwell brothers in the 
tandem doubles was one of the best ever seen on the 
river, and their stroke was a beautiful type of machine- 
like precision. 
Camp was broken about dusk, and as the fleet floated 
down the Hudson homeward bound, the unanimous 
opinion of the canoeists was that the meet had been a 
tremendous success, and the camp and regatta com- 
mittee, composed of Louis Reichert, chairman; W. G. 
Jones, Jr., and M. Ohlmeyer, deserved great credit for 
their efforts to make the camp the success it proved 
to be, and for their -taste in choosing the handsome 
prizes. 
A. C. A, Executive Committee Meeting;. 
To the Members of the Executive Committee, Board of 
Governors and Racing Board : 
The annual executive meeting of the American Canoe 
Association will be held at Rochester, N. Y., October 15-, 
1904. C. F. Wolters, 
Commodore. 
John S. Wright, Sec'y-Treas. 
Why He Changed His Mind. 
"We have an invitation to float down White River 
with a canoe party," said a Nevada contractor to a 
Nevada lawyer. 
"I'm too busy to go — couldn't think of it," replied the 
lawyer. 
"They tell me," continued the contractor, "there is a 
bar about every half mile." 
"A what?" 
"A bar." 
"Every half mile?" 
"Every half mile." 
"How long does it take a canoe to travel a half mile?" 
"About ten minutes." 
"I might arrange to go," said the lawyer. "I need a 
rest. Tell the boys to hold the place for me. I'll be with 
them if I don't break a leg!" — Kansas City Journal. 
Animals at Play* 
When even trout have a form of play, it cannot be mat- 
ter for surprise that both beasts and birds share the 
pleasure which frolic of a kind gives to the cold-blooded 
fishes of our rivers. But the degree in which their sport 
takes the form of game varies. Some animals will play 
with objects, just as a child amuses itself with a cup and 
ball or with a spinning top. Others play in company and 
use the element of competition and mock contests. But 
perhaps the commonest games of all are those in which 
they use their unique powers of speed, flight, climbing or 
diving in a kind of display in which they often combine 
the sense of successful physical achievement with some 
added satisfaction, evidently clear to their consciousness 
of doing this in company. The latter points to a rather 
hightly organized degree of consciousness; but in view of 
the combined performances and displays of certain ani- 
mals, especially birds, it is difficult to think that this 
can be absent. On one of the fine and still afternoons of 
the past winter, in the complete aerial repose which fol- 
lows a day or two of cyclonic storms, when the London 
sky is "washed blue" after the downpour of rain which 
commonly follows these disturbances at a height of some 
300 feet above the Green park, the London gulls were 
engaged in a form of combined aerial play, floating in a 
long series of wide circles of very nearly the same 
diameter, though the number of birds in each varied. 
Though when seen from below this long ribbon-like fes- 
toon of floating birds seemed to be on a plane, they were 
really flying in spirals, rising and descending by setting 
their wings at different angles. As fresh birds from the 
region of the river saw this choregic game going on, they 
flew up in detachments and fell into place, adding to the 
number of circles, until the distance from the first to the 
last equaled nearly the whole length of the park. They 
then drifted slowly westward, maintaining the same order 
and concerted movement, 
There is no doubt that many species of birds, especially 
those which frequent the surface and shores of water, are 
fond of this decorous play. Homer hints at it in his 
description of the happy birds on the Meander. Virgil 
notes the pleasure of the swans in their combined flight — 
Aspice bis' senos Icetantes agmine cygnos. And follow- 
ing Homer's cranes to the continent of Africa, where 
they engaged in winter warfare with the pygmies, J. G. 
Millais has noted that every evening on the banks of the 
Nuanetzi River the cranes assembled and spent the last 
hours of daylight in aerial play, "floating spirals" over the 
African stream. The "floating" game is enjoyed by several 
species of English birds other than gulls, but not in such 
a combined form. Certain states of the air, when the 
winds are hushed and the sunbeams are bright, invite 
them to the sport. Rooks will ascend at such times to 
great altitudes, soaring in spirals and descending only to 
rise again. But it is the play of individuals in company, 
not in concerted movement. Wood pigeons do the same, 
and occasionally the ravens by the cliffs. The latter birds 
have a form of aerial play peculiar to themselves and 
"tumbler" pigeons. In the middle of a high flight they 
suddenly cease to move their wings, and fall headlong 
through the air, croaking loudly, as if to call attention to 
the joke. The water tournament of ducks, both wild and 
tame, and of domestic geese are a regular part of their 
activities. _ The call to play seems to come to them from 
the sky, just as in the case of the birds which combine 
for aerial games. When the sun is at its brightest and 
hottest, they are suddenly seized with an impulse to begin 
the sport. Beating the water with their wings, they rush 
hither and thither on the surface, and then dive one after 
another, keeping the fun going until they are all out of 
breath. It is very seldom that geese are seen to dive, but 
when playing this game they do so as instantaneously as 
does a dabchick or water hen, though the complete im- 
mersion and descent of so overgrown a bird as a fat do- 
mestic goose must entail considerable effort. 
These combined displays are not common among mam- 
mals. The case of the "waltzing mice" naturally suggests 
itself. These little creatures run in circles incessantly, 
and when a number of them are together they appear to be 
acting by a common understanding. It is said, however, 
that these mice are suffering from an hereditary form of 
brain disease, which makes it impossible for them to run 
otherwise than in circles. But the roe-deer in the woods 
near Cawdor Castle have regular rings in which they 
amuse themselves by running in circles. By far the most 
playful of the young of the various animals are kids. 
They seem to have imagination as well as extraordinary 
activity, and being able to climb or leap on to almost any 
place which takes their fancy, their success in games such 
as "follow my leader," or the well-known one of "holding 
the fort," which is also played by lambs and puppies, is 
great. _ 
Their exploits in this way sometimes cause serious 
anxiety to their mothers, who may be heard bleating in an 
agitated manner when they see one of their adventurous 
young standing on top of a wall, or running over a beam 
lying across a sawpit, during the progress of these games. 
Horses, if not ingenious in devising games, will play at 
almost any age. A mare of 22, which had been worked in 
a brougham in London for nearly the whole of her life, 
was taken down into the country and turned out with a 
young filly in a meadow. The change was so exhilarating 
that both did nothing but play, in a rough way, all day 
long, the old mare being the keener. They pretended to 
fight, pursued one another, and generally indulged in the 
rough antics which are appropriately named "horse play," 
till the coachman separated them, declaring that the old 
mare tired herself more than if she were in the shafts. 
Cattle, on the other hand, never seem to play at all, 
whether young or old. 
National Rifle Association. 
In the opinion of military experts, the action recently taken by 
the National Rifle Association of America at its annual meeting 
at Sea Girt, N. J,, looking toward the abolishment of annual 
membership in the Association and confining the membership to 
clubs or other organizations, will have a most important bearing 
upon the future of rifle practice in this country. Heretofore the 
National Rifle Association has been composed of life members, 
annual members and affiliated clubs. It is now proposed to 
make it strictly a central or governing body for the shooting clubs 
o; the country, both civilian and military, and to confine its 
membership to representatives of these organizations rather than 
to individuals. The Association recommended to the board of 
directors that suitable action should be taken to effect this 
change, and there is no doubt the recommendation will be adopted. 
In treating on this subject, in his annual report, Lieut. Albert S. 
Jcnes, the secretary of the Association, pointed out that, although 
only five years have elapsed since the reorganization of the 
National Rifle Association, there are affiliated with it fifty active 
shooting organizations, representing nearly every section of- the 
country and every class of shooting. Within the last year eigh- 
teen organizations, eleven of them military, five civilian and two 
State organizations, affiliated with the National Association. 
Another action by the Association cannot fail to receive favor- 
able comment from all those interested in rifle shooting, and 
that was the adoption of a resolution suggesting to the board of 
directors the advisability of holding the national meeting of the 
Association at the same time and place with the contest" for the 
national trophy. It was never intended that the contest for the 
national trophy should be separated from that of the National 
Rifle Association, and the act of Congress creating the trophv pro 
vided that it should be shot for under rules and regulations "of the 
national board, which is largely made up of trustees of the 
National Rifle Association. This year, however the national 
of prizes will be greatly increased, as will the attendance, tor it 
is impossible for many of the expert marksmen to take four or 
six weeks away from their business in the fall of the year to 
