Dec. 17, 1904.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
BIS 
to the Peninsula one afternoon, and tramped around 
among the swamps where the ducks ought to be, because 
there is plenty of wild rice there for them; but they had 
not come to get it yet ; and not finding anything else ex- . 
cept squirrels to shoot at, and not wanting the squirrels, 
I set up a board to try the gun for pattern, and found 
the pattern to be all right, then started for home. 
There is a wide mud flat here between the channel and 
the city; and just inside of this channel, paddling around 
on the mud flat, I saw a lone duck busy feeding He let 
me pull to within a hundred yards of him without notic- 
ing me, and taking in the oars I let the boat drift and 
got ready to shoot when he would fly. But he was not 
doing any flying. He no doubt had been one of those 
ducks that had put in the summer here; and we had not 
tried to shoot him for so many months now that he prob- 
ably thought we had quit shooting ducks. I was within 
60 yards of him, and yelled at him to get out of that; 
but he kept on fishing. "Then take it sitting," I told him. 
I did not stop to think then that I was putting myself in 
Blunt Old Man's class, and I sent him a charge out of the 
new gun. I had promised to tell the company that made 
this gun whether or not I could kill ducks with it. It 
killed this one. He must have got about all of the charge 
of No. 5 that I sent him. When I had picked him up I 
found him to be a fine redhead, one of the largest I have 
ever shot here. I could not use him after getting him, so 
I gave him away. Cabia Blanco. 
Erie, Pa. 
Views of a Blunt Old Man. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your issue of Dec. 10, Mr. L. F. Brown charac- 
terizes as pot-hunters men who shoot wild ducks sitting 
at rest. Then he says : 
"If one of these pot-hunters were a guest at the club 
house of almost any shooting club, and should fire at 
ducks when they were at rest or asleep, he would have 
a very uncomfortable experience furnished to him by 
almost any club member who saw him. Many clubs pun- 
ish such shooting by a fine, or even by expulsion for a 
new offense after admonishment." 
Your correspondent doubtless sincerely believes that 
this is true. Just as sincerely I believe that it is untrue. 
My acquaintance with duck shooters and my observance 
of their shooting ways tell me that they entertain no such 
finicky notions about killing a duck on the water. Mr. 
Brown says that for doing this a guest at a club would 
be censured. This is mere assertion. I dispute it and 
challenge him to prove it. The burden of proof is on 
him. Let him substantiate the statement by • actual, 
definite citation of the clubs where shooting at sitting 
ducks entails fines and expulsions. I do not believe that 
there are such clubs. Mr. Brown says there are; it is up 
to him to give us their names. 
Your usually intelligent contributor, Charles Crista- 
doro, is all at sea in his remarks on this subject. I did 
not defend shooting a sitting grouse or running quail, nor 
advocate trout dynamiting. It is not necessary to do all 
these things simply because one shoots ducks sitting. To 
put it technically, the approval and practice of water- 
swatting ducks does not involve, nor necessarily imply, 
the approval and practice of the ground-swatting of quail. 
If Mr. Cristadoro will inquire around among his duck 
shooting friends, he probably will find that the majority 
of them are scrupulous about contending for shooting 
flying on upland game, but advocate and practice taking 
a duck any old way. Let him institute the inquiry and 
report results in Forest and Stream. 
One thing at a time. When we have settled about 
the sitting duck, I shall be glad to converse with Mr. 
Cristadoro about the ground shooting of quail. I be- 
lieve that I can show him that his shooting-on-the-fly 
man does not have all the argument of sportsmanship 
on his side. But we will let this pass until after Mr. 
Brown has given us something to back up his ducking 
proposition. 
Mr. Brown wants my name. Why? We are dis- 
cussing principles, not men. It does not matter who I 
am. Mr. Brown might not recognize my name as that 
of one whose dictum on duck shooting would be re- 
ceived as final. Nor i? his inviting me to "come out" any 
answer whatever to the contentions which express the 
sincere convictions of A Blunt Old Man. 
German Forests. 
Nearly one-fourth of the surface of the entire German 
Empire is covered with forests (about 48,000 square 
niles), more than one-sixth (38,000 square miles) being 
xcupied by what the Germans call "hochwald;" that is, 
"orests of full-grown trees. 
The area occupied by trees of the pine family is more 
tian three times as great as that .occupied by all the 
virieties of deciduous trees combined. Of the 5,658,000 
aires of deciduous trees, 1,172,000 acres are oak, 467,000 
ares are birch, alder, and aspen, and 4,019,000 acres are 
bech, etc Of the 18,495,000 acres of needle-leafed trees, 
14327,000 acres are pine, 29,000 acres are larch, 5,482,000 
ares are red fir, and 657,000 acres are white fir. 
About 2]/2 per cent, of this "hochwald" is owned by the 
Cown, nearly 40 per cent, by the State, 15 per cent, by 
nmicipal governments, and about 40 per cent, by private 
prsons. 
The entire area devoted to forests is to-day nearly 
20,000 acres greater than it was twenty years ago. Be- 
teen 1883 and 1900 the decrease in the area of forests of 
dciduous trees amounted to 567,000 acres, while the gain 
irthe extent of the forests of pines, larches, and firs was 
76,000 acres. George H. Murphv, 
Vice and Deputy Consul-General. 
Iankfort, Germany, Oct. 21. 
Deer Hunting: in Ontario. 
Iilton, Dec. 5. — So far I have seen no estimate 
fm the chief game warden of the number of deer 
kied in Ontario during the season which ended on 
Nvember 15 last, nor any report of number handled by 
tr express companies. I hunted in the Magnetawau 
seion of the Parry Sound district, from which more 
dr are shipped annually than from any other. On my 
w tQ camp I was told by settlers that there were not 
so many deer as usual, and that a large number had 
starved to death last winter on account of the great depth 
of the snow, and a strong crust which remained on it for 
a long time. Judging from what I saw in the woods in 
the way of tracks and other signs, there were about half 
as many deer where I hunted as there were in 1903. 
Hunters and hounds, however, were more numerous than 
ever. On my way home I was told by express agents that 
the number of deer passing through their hands was much 
smaller than usual. I saw few bucks and a great many 
fawns. One party had seven deer, the total weight of 
which was a little over 500 pounds. The weather 
throughout the season was exceptionally fine. There was 
no rain or snow, and dogs could be run daily. As very 
few hunters were without dogs, there seems to be no 
doubt that the deer were scarcer than usual. 
In my opinon the time has come for a change in the 
game act as far as deer are concerned. Though hounds 
are always used in my party, six out of its eight members 
are in favor of the prohibition of hounding. I would go 
further. I would like to see the killing of does and fawns 
prohibited. In my party there is a rule that all fawns 
must be spared ; but I do not know of any other party 
which has a similar rule. W. P. 
British Columbia Game Law Amendments. 
Victoria, B. C, Nov. 28.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
I think you will be interested to learn that Mr. Haw- 
thornthwaite, member of the Provincial Parliament, has 
promised at the next session of the local Legislature to 
introduce the amendments to the game act advocated by 
the Victoria Fish and Game Club. 
Of these amendments the most important is one pro- 
hibiting the sale of blue, or dusky, grouse, a bird which 
is in considerable demand in the markets, and for this 
cause is rapidly being exterminated. 
It is hoped that other changes to make the game act 
more effectiveNmay be introduced. The efforts to prohibit 
the sale of game have not so far proved altogether suc- 
cessful; but it is hoped amendments may be made which, 
in the future, will make such sales practically impossible. 
J. M. 
A Club in the South. 
New York, Nov. 30. — Editor Forest and Stream: I 
would like to inquire through the medium of your paper 
if ten or a dozen companionable gentlemen cannot be 
found who would like to form a club in a most desirable 
location I know of in South Carolina. 
It is becoming more and more difficult to find large 
tracts of land that can be leased or even purchased. They 
are being taken up rapidly. It is only a question of a very 
few years when no large consecutive bodies of land can 
be controlled in this way. I would like to hear from 
anyone whom this letter interests, or who thinks favor- 
ably of joining a club. Courtlandt Babcock. 
Alligator Lake. 
Charles E. Whipple returned Thursday from a stay 
of three weeks at . John F. Haynes's island camp 
in Alligator Lake, Hancock county, Me. His cousin, 
Frank Howard, of Pittsfield, and F. H. East- 
man, of West Springfield, left this city with him on 
November 8, and returned after a stay of two weeks, 
bringing three of the four deer which the party killed. 
On their way into camp they saw a large bull moose, 
which had been shot a few days previously, about three 
miles from Alligator Lake, and which was being hauled 
to Bangor. There was considerable snow in the 
woods during their stay there, and they saw many 
deer, partridges and rabbits, and plenty of moose signs, 
but no moose except the one referred to above. Two 
local parties have already made engagements for Mr. 
Haynes's camp next summer and fall. — Springfield Re- 
publican, Dec. 4. 
The Only Medium* 
Messrs. E. A. Buck & Co., the well-known and reliable 
manufacturers of still-hunting shoes, write to the Forest 
and Stream as follows : 
Bangor, Me., Dec. 6. — Please continue our advertise- 
ment as heretofore, as we consider the Forest and 
Stream the only medium for reaching the best patrons of 
outdoor sports. We have orders from England, South 
Africa, Germany, North Wales, British Columbia, Alaska, 
and other foreign places, and many of these orders we 
can trace directly to our advertising in the Forest and 
Stream. E. A. Buck & Co. 
A Dog's Rose. 
In a recent number of London Nature, a correspondent 
tells a very good dog story as follows : 
"A friend of mine, Mr. W., owns a Manchester terrier 
of which he is very fond, and for that reason receives 
more than doggy attention. The dog passes most of his 
time in the library, where a basket and rug are provided 
for him, but he prefers, when it is possible, to take pos- 
session of his master's easy chair. A short time ago I 
had occasion to call on Mr. W., and the dog was, as 
usual, occupying the chair, from which he was removed 
to his basket. He showed his resentment of this disturb- 
ance of his slumbers by becoming very restless. Presently 
he trotted over to the door, which he rattled by pushing 
with his nose, his usual method of attracting attention 
when he wished to go out. His master immediately rose 
and opened the door, but instead of the dog going out, he 
rushed back and jumped into the chair his master had 
just vacated! The rapid wagging of his tail and the ex- 
pression of his face showed the dog to be very pleased 
with the result of his ruse. The dog has repeated the 
joke once or twice since, with much evident delight of 
himself." 
This would seem to be a .variant of a not unfamiliar 
dog habit. We have been told of occasions when two or 
more dogs were feeding together and one would run off a 
little distance and bark furiously, thus inducing the others 
to leave their food in order to learn what the dog was 
barking at, when the barking dog would slip back and 
eat as rapidly as possibly, thus getting more than his 
share of the food, 
Cabia Blanco's Indian Story. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
When reading this controversy as to whether Captain 
Kelly or Ernest Thompson Seton should be given the 
credit for these bear stories (I would give the credit to 
Captain Kelly; but let him and Seton settle that to suit 
themselves), I have thought of another way in which 
authors (?) sometimes get the credit that belongs to 
someone else. One of these "authors" once took credit, 
without making any bones about it, either, to a story of 
mine. He is welcome to it. 
I was at a small post in New Mexico in 1882, and hav- 
ing nothing to do except carry a mail, which I did for the 
most part after night, and take charge of a small library 
that my troop had, and shoot rattlesnakes — they were 
about all we could find there to shoot — I tried to kill the 
time then, as I often do now, by writing boys' stories. 
I happened to get hold of a boys' paper that had lately 
been started in New York and was running a serial story 
telling the boys all about Indians, buffalo, and the Rocky 
Mountains; and thinking that I knew nearly as much 
about those things as the writer of the story did (what 
he did not seem to know about any of them would fill a 
good sized volume), I went to work and ground out a 
story for the paper, meaning to make the paper a present 
of it. 
Starting my boy hero off from his home in Philadelphia 
with his pecket handkerchief full of supplies that he had 
stolen out of his aunt's kitchen, I took him clear across 
the continent to California, finding him plenty of Indians, 
of course, for him to fight on his way there. My Indians 
acted more like real ones than this other author's did. 
Then, after giving the boy about all the adventures he 
could take care of, I next had him find a gold mine — he 
could not go to California and not find one, of course; 
then I brought him home. The postage on this was about 
$1; postage then was 3 cents, and as I did not care to 
pay another dollar to get this valuable production back 
again, I told the editor that if he did not want it, to 
destroy it. 
I did not hear from him or the story again for the next 
ten years, and in the meantime his paper died a natural 
death. 
In 1892 I happened to pick up a boys' paper which is 
still living, and here found my story with another man's 
name signed to it. All the change he had made in the 
story was to give it a new title. I wrote to the editor, 
claiming the story as being mine, but telling him he was 
welcome to- it and to about half a ton of others that I had, 
if he wanted them. He did not want them then, and 
has not wanted them since. I have tried him or his suc- 
cessor twice since then, only to be told that they had 
a supply of boys' stories on hand. But he wanted that one 
bad enough to cause him to republish it about once in 
every ten years since then, or as often as the boys who 
have last read it have grown up; and their brothers now 
read this story as a new one. Cabia Blanco. 
Forestry Quarterly. 
The Forestry Quarterly, published at Ithaca, N. Y., under the 
editorship of Dr. B. E. Fernow, claims to be the first and only 
professional forestry journal in the United States. Its purposes 
are to aid in the establishment of rational forest management; to 
otter an org?.n for the publication of technical papers of interest 
to professional foresters in America; to keep the profession in 
touch with the current technical literature and with the forestry 
movement in the United States. The first volume was published 
under the auspices of the New York State College of Forestry 
by the students, alumni and faculty of that institution. With its 
second volume, owing to the discontinuance of the college, the 
jcurnal enters upon an independent career, being conducted by a 
board of editors identified with the profession and coming from 
the various centers of professional forestry work. 
While the aims and scope of the Quarterly will remain the 
same as heretofore, a more generally representative board of 
editors is expected to give greater professional interest, render its 
pages_ more authoritative, and increase its serviceability generally. 
It is expected to make the journal of interest not only to 
students and practitioners of forestry, but also to all who are 
interested more or less directly in the management of woodlands 
especially lumbermen and those charged with the forest policies 
and interests of the various States. 
Copies of the first volume, containing 176 pages, may be ob- 
tained on payment of $1. " 
Subscriptions to Volume II. are invited. 
The yearly subscription price is $1, and single numbers are 
25 cents each. 
Life of Father De Smet. 
Mr. Francis P. Harper announces a very important work on 
early Western travel, dealing largely with the American Indians. 
It is I he Life and Writings of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet" 
• v10 ,Ja^ s ] -} s ex Penences and observations made while travel- 
ing^ 180,000 miles, from the years 1801 to 1873. 
The set of four noble volumes of over 1.6C0 pages is made up 
from the original unpublished manuscript journals and letter 
books kept by Father De Smet, and from his printed works It 
's edited by Major Hiram M. Chittenden, U. S. E., and Mi- 
Alfred Talbot Richardson, with historical, geographical eth- 
nological and other notes, to which is added a life of Father De 
Smet. 
The History of the Native Races of North America can never 
be fully written without consulting these writings, as they give 
minute and accurate descriptions of Indian villages, their lodges 
customs, mode of warfare, hunting, games, superstitions, Indian 
tortures of captives, legends and traditions. One-half the ma- 
terial is now for the first time printed. The set is illustrated with 
portraits, views of old trading posts, scenery, etc., and a large 
folding map, showing posts, trails, waterways, Indian tribes etc 
m great detail, on which is marked in red the route of Father De 
Smet. The set is uniform with Dr. Coues' edition of "Pike Ex- 
peditions and Major Chittenden's "American Fur Trade of the 
Far West. lhe published price is $15 net for the four volumes 
Book of Clever Beasts 
Readers of Forest and Stream who have followed with inter- 
est the various discussions in its columns within the past few 
months concerning the writings of Messrs. John Burroughs 
■ ■■ J r 1 > t ii r i i ' "'•"'?• ,, " WIU wel i repay read- 
ing. It is full of humor of a most kindly, but telling, quality and 
we have read it with very great pleasure. 
All communications for Forest and Stream must he 
directed to Forest and Stream Pub. Co., New York, to 
receive attention. We have no other office 
All the game laws and fish laws of the United States 
and Canada are given in the "Game Laws in Brief " 
