414 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Nov. i8, 1905. 
i 
no more of a saint or innocent than is the wolverine, 
which has been honored by Michigan as the symbol of 
the Peninsular State. And what is the wolverine? The 
glutton; the mysterious corcajoa. 
But I will have tO' cut this short. Editor Angell is do- 
ing good work in promulgating consideration and kindly 
treatment for the dumb brutes, but I think he should go 
easy on nirnrod — the nimrod is not so “fierce” as Mr. 
Angell in his innocence would unjustly paint him. 
If any Bible authority is needed as to the ferocity of 
bruin in olden tirnes, I w'ould refer to Kings II., chapter 
2. The children of Beth-el for no more of an. offense 
than mocking the prophet Elisha and calling him a 
“baldhead,” were set upon by two she bears out of the 
wood, which tore forty and two children of them. 
Wm. Fitzmuggins. 
Sierra City, Cal. 
The Massachusetts Association* 
Boston, Mass., Nov. ii . — Editor Forest and Stream: 
On Thursday afternoon the executive committee of the 
Massachusetts Central Committee for the Protection 
of Fish and Game met at the Copley Square Hotel to 
consider legislation for the coming winter. The ques- 
tion whether it would be wise to make an effort to se- 
cure the repeal of the law which allows the farmer to 
snare on his own premises was discussed, and the 
subject of seeking to secure a law imposing a license 
on non-resident hunters was briefly considered. No 
definite decision on either proposition was reached, but 
the committee voted to hold another meeting about the 
middle of next month, and to invite the newly-formed 
clubs to be represented at that meeting. 
The board of government held a meeting at 5:30 and 
A’Oted that a committee he appointed to arrange for a 
proper participation in the meeting of the North 
American Fish and Game Protective Association, to 
be held in Boston early in January, 1906. Ex-presidents 
G. W. Wiggin and B. C. Clark, Dr. Payne and A. D. 
Thayer were appointed, and the name of the president 
was added, he being also president of the North Ameri- 
can Association. 
At the Association dinner Prof. William BreAvster, of 
Cambridge, said, in watching the destruction of birds 
by foxes on his 300-acre place in Concord, Mass., for 
several years, only two cases had come under his 
obser\mtion in which foxes had killed ruffed grouse. 
In his opinion, the fox is mere blamed than he deserves. 
Prof. Edwin De Merritte, of the De Merritte School, 
another of our members, related experiences of his 
boyhood and later days, with rod and _ gun, and, al- 
though a man somewhat beyond the middle period of 
life, declared his ability to make long tramps and his 
fondness for field sports not in the least upon the wane. 
Many topics suggested by the members present were 
elucidated by these gentlemen, the meeting becoming a 
sort of round-table conference, and every one pro- 
nounced it one of the most profitable ever held by 
the Association. 
The president announced the required committee of 
seven to nominate officers for the ensuing year, Dr. 
B. V. Howe being first named and consequently chair- 
man. The next meeting will occur about the middle 
of December, at least three Aveeks prior to the annual; 
which is the second Wednesday of January. 
Your correspondent had the pleasure one evening of 
witnessing an exhibition of motion pictures of hunting 
and fishing scenes that are to be one of the features 
of the coming sportsman’s show, to be given at Christ- 
mas time in Mechanics’ Building. They are sure to 
please, and will be a great addition to the other ex- 
hibits. All those now engaged in preliminary prepara- 
tions for the show are making their headquarters at 
the Copley Square Hotel. 
The Pine Tree State is making a great game record 
this year if all reports are true. Considering the long 
spell of dry weather last month, the receipts at Bangor 
haAm been surprising. 
The long-looked-for snow, however, has succeeded 
copious rains, and recently hunting conditions have 
been prime. For every returning hunter more than 
one goes into the woods. In a couple of weeks the 
season Avill have reached the zenith. Shipments from 
Bangor the past week were 524 deer and 21 moose, as 
against 496 deer and 19 moose in the corresponding 
Aveek of last year. Shipments for the season thus far 
up to last Friday were 2,327 deer, as against 2,229 last 
year. 
On Monday last, the biggest day of the year, there 
were shipped 167 deer and 5 moose. ' 
Two large bucks were secured by W. L. Bonney, of 
Waterville, weighing 215 and 196 pounds, and each had 
exceptionally fine antlers. These Avere obtained in the 
Patten region, where the snow is now 6 inches in depth. 
It is reported that deer are being hunted with dogs 
in the vicinity of Pushaw Lake. 
Fifty Ohioans are in the Oxbow country and will 
return about Nov. 20. 
A few of the Boston hunters returning with deer are ! 
J. S. Wilcox, W. R. Woodward, E. S. Farnsworth, j 
Fred L. Taft, W. H. Moody, E. S. Gifford, H. C. 
Pickering and B. W. and A. S. Stark. Messrs. Picker- 
ing and A. S. Stark secured moose, as also did A. H. 
Locke, of Salem. 
Two Newtonville men, C. M. Howell and Henry B. 
Morse, brought out a remarkable kill — a 700-pound 
moose, two bears weighing 200 pounds each; four deer, 
a fox and twelve partridges. Most of these were found 
in the Roach River country. 
Dr. G. G. Furnell, of Waverly, Mass., has secured a 
large buck in the Dead River country. 
Another hunter who had remarkable success is H. 
E. Newell, of Haverhill, who has brought back a moose, 
two buck deer and a bear. . . 
A 14-point buck was shipped, at Bigelow station by 
C. C. Fisher, of Union City, Ind, 
Mr. and Mrs. J. K. Halson and son, of Boston, secured 
a moose, two deer and a fox. 
Sixty deer and five moose were shipped from- Patten 
the past week. ; • 
It is reported that in the herd ‘of caribou at the foot 
of Katahdin are a young fjujl, two cows and a calf. 
A. O. Claflin, of Newton Center, and twelve other 
Bay State sportsmen are at Patten. 
A. ,H. Shumway, of Taunton, while making a stay 
at Billy Hobb’s camps, secured a moose. 
B. R., E. T. and H. R. Symonds, of Reading, got 
two deer each. There is luck for hunters in New 
Hampshire these days. 
J. T. Hall, of Boston, got a deer in Holderness and 
Amos Merrill, of Warren, shot his third bear for the 
season the past Aveek. 
Bert Cook, of Tilton, has captured his tenth fox 
for the season. Selectman E. J. Young of the same 
town has captured four mink this fall, and at Thornton 
H. E. Colby secured two deer. 
I should have mentioned that in Massachusetts 
several sportsmen have had good days on woodcock. 
A hunter from Hopkinton told me he got sixteen one 
day, and Prof. Brewster expressed the opinion at the 
meeting, that native woodcock have been on the in- 
crease for a fcAV years. The anti-sale law is bearing 
fruit apparently. In Massachusetts, it Is no longer one 
of the two “vanishing game birds” in the Professor’s 
opinion. H. H. Kimball. 
Woodcock in China. 
In certain parts of central and southern China, the 
woodcock is a constant and frequent visitor and is found 
occasionally in sufficient numbers to repay one for a day 
spent in quest of this greatly prized spoil of the gunner’s 
sport. In the districts more remote from habitations 
there still remain occasional woods of fair-sized pine 
trees that have been allowed to come to maturity with- 
out interference. These exist chiefly in ravines and near 
the summits of the hills, in places more inaccessible to 
the wandering wood cutter, to which fact they owe their 
safety. It is in such spots that the woodcock are most 
numerous, being found, however, invariably close to 
Avater, either stream or pool. At the same time in some 
of the higher valleys or nullahs where no pine are found, 
but only low bushes and heather, cock may be occasion- 
ally flushed; and indeed.it is in such places where they 
are most likely to be seen and brought to bag, as the 
thickly Avooded nullahs are difficult for dogs to work and 
not less difficult for the sportsman to get a shot in, or to 
retrieve his bird if dropped. In fact, in spite of its 
name the Avoodcock is by no means sO' partial to forest 
or heavy woodland, although no doubt he seeks shade 
during the daytime. In China, at least, this appears to 
be sufficiently afforded by a few Ioav shrubs or even by 
patches of high grass. 
A curious trait may be mentioned, moreover, namely, 
that woodcock are not averse to the near neighborhood 
of human habitation, for on more than one occasion they 
have been flushed just outside the inclosing wall of the 
small walled hamlets that dot the plains of China. This 
wall is nearly always supplemented by a broad moat, 
Avhich together form a means of resistance to robbers 
and pirates. Along the edges of these moats where the 
people, of the hamlet are constantly passing and where 
children and cattle are often straying about, woodcock 
may constantly be found in the Ioav bushes that usually 
fringe the margin ; but Avithout dogs it is often impos- 
sible to find them, so close will they lie. Once flushed, 
however, they go right away to the nearest woods unless 
shot, Avhich they usually are, as they offer an easy chance 
in these circumstances. The vicinity of these moats is 
generally then a sure draw for a coclc, and even a couple 
may sometimes be found in the same place or near to 
each other. 
In the neighborhood of the coast ports, where there is 
a sprinkling of foreign residents, the woodcock is found 
in the local markets, being trapped or shot in fair num- 
bers by the Chinese, as they fetch a good price when 
they can be disposed of to Europeans. But further in- 
land the Avandering Chinese gunner Avould probably not 
waste a charge of powder on one, his mode of procedure 
being in general to “brown” a flock of anything (mag- 
pies as offen as not, Avhich are sometimes seen forty and 
fifty together). The bird, then, is in such districts very 
seldom "molested and possibly returns from year to year 
to the same districts if not to the same spot. While on 
the subject of Chinese shootists, however, it is not to 
be supposed that they are indifferent^ shots. Far from 
it, as anyone who has seen them shooting snipe in south- 
ern China or pheasants in the north can testify._ The 
Chinaman for the most part fires only from the hip too-, 
not from the shoulder, when shooting game; and in spite 
of this fact and also that the best of their arms are old 
rusty, converted matchlocks, they make marvellously 
good ^shooting at times. 
The Avriter has seen them more than once, out after 
snipe, when these birds were wild, as they indeed can 
be in the bitter north winds of mid-China in winter, 
following the flight of the bird while the complicated ar- 
rangement that i.gnites the charge was in process of com- 
bustion, a second or two only perhaps, but sufficient in 
the way of a “hang-fire” to considerably nonplus a for- 
eign sportsman. The barrel is a very long one which 
possibly accounts for these old weapons making at times 
the most astounding long shots, and the kick is such as 
to inflict a severe blow, which is primarily the reason 
that the hip-shot is so universal. B. O. Bay. 
Pennsylvanians Atmy. 
Harrisburg, Pa., Nov. 10. — There never before has 
'>een so many hunters in this State as this fall, and the 
mmber of serious accidents is appalling. The opening 
'f the rabbit season last Aveek was the cause of so much 
ravel that on some of the railroads special cars carried 
len with dogs and guns notwithstanding the short 
eason and heavy dog tax in this State. _ The interest in 
utdoor sport and recreation is increasing rather than 
ecreasing. I hope to send you a more complete report 
oon. tl- A. Surface. 
Economic Zoologist. 
THE MANY-USE OIL 
leans' out poAvder residue, Lubricates, never- gums; 2oz. bottle ICc. 
—Adv. 
Munchausen Only* | 
Editor Forest and Stream-^: 
Will not the readers, of your candid and always trust- j 
worthy journal sympathize with me in a protest against' 
the degradation of our sporting literature in the follow- : 
ing fashion : ' 
“BEST GAME SHOT IN THE WORLD. 
“London, Oct. 31. — Though fifty-three years old, Earl ,; 
de Grey, upon Avhose estate at Dagowill the Prince of,. 
Wales has recently been shooting, still ranks as the finest ] 
game shot in England. Indeed, it is the general opinion j 
here that he is the best in the Avorld. 
“AnyhoAV, he has killed more game than any other liv- 
ing sportsman. Ten years ago it had amounted to 
316,699 head. Comprised in this list were 111,900 pheas- ' 
ants, 84,400 partridges, 45,500 grouse, 26,500 hares and’ 
about as many rabbits. In one year alone his ‘bag’ 
amounted to over 19,000 head. 
“In Yorkshire he once shot 500 grouse in a single day' 
and on another occasion brought down 750 pheasants. 
In Wales, between sunrise and sunset, he once disposed' 
of 950 rabbits. 
“In America many people would regard feats of this’ 
kind as mere slaughter rather than sport, but English, 
folk do not so consider them, and Earl de Grey is Eng- 
lish in everything. His wonderful knack of bringing- 
down birds completely dazes strangers Avho go away and 
explain to their friends their firm belief that he ‘simply;^ 
can't miss.’ ” 
Now, what is the use of publishing such impossible rot; 
as this? Is anybody expected to believe it? One mo-] 
ment of mental arithmetic w'ill suffice tO' show that alL 
statements made are inordinately outside of the limit of; 
credence or physical accomplishment. Beginning at the' 
age of ten years only the sum total of 316,699 head of 
.gan-ie would require an average of 736 units for every 
day of the Earl’s life, while the phenomenal bag of 
19,000 head for one single year aaouM require the killing ; 
of fifty per day for the year ro-.md, close seasons and all ; 
ai-id any man w’ho would attempt to kill 950 rabbits in 
a day, one at a time, no matter hoAAq would drop from 
exhaustion. The exertion Avould require the slaughter 
of two rabbits per minute for eight consecutive hours — a i 
test of physical endurance seldom paralleled in glass-ball 
shooting thirty years ago. 
Does the concoctor of this “astonisher” fancy that he 
is doing a smart thing? And A\hy will editors persist- 
ently decline good matter as “not available” and print 
such stuff as this? for certain it is that it is almost im- 
possible to market anything but sensational, abstruse or 
hyper scientific stuff in any magazine to-day, nO’ matter 
how reputable its past record. 
The hardship of it all is that such literature finds a 
ready market in reputable newspapers and magazines, and 
most of it is concocted by young people Avho have never 
had any field experience, but merely read up enough to 
post themselves on sporting events and sporting A^ernac- 
ular, so as to give an air of plausibility to what they- 
write. 
I have seen t.hem in the libraries myself, cramming.. 
Such impostors are driving honest and experienced ra-: 
conteurs out of the magazine field. Even the most care- 
ful of them continually make blunders which anyone 
Avho knows the ground can readily detect. For example,! 
I recently read a very well put up sketch of a Kiowa 
home, but the baby cradle was OjibAva ! Of course the 
ordinary reader would not detect the misfit; yet, he 
Avould be apt to prefer a correct statement to a substi-i 
tute for truth. 
Isn’t it time that the press took up this matter for- 
the sake of purity in sporting literature, as well pre- 
A^ent our gentlemen from being, made fools of? 
Charles LIallock. : 
How to Cook Coots. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
To sportsmen who at the end of a day’s duck shoot- 
ing find themselves proud possessors of a pair of coots, i 
sheldrake or old squaAA- in place of the black ducks they 
''had hoped to bring home, 1 send this word of hope. „ 
The fishy taste of any of those birds may be removed, • 
but the game flavor retained, by following these direc- 
tions, Avhich I haA'e recently obtained from the well ' 
known game cook, Mary Walsh: 
“Pluck and draAv the birds immediately; don’t allow] 
them to han,g Avith the entrails in. Wash thoroughly 
Avith cold water, both outside and in. Cut off the tail 
for about one inch with the fatty tissue at the base. > 
Sprinkle with pungent white pepper both inside and .out, , 
using- two teaspoonfuls to each bird. Place in the ice- 
box but not touching the ice, and keep for at least one , 
Aveek, better ten days. Then wash Avith salt water . 
(handful to the pint), dry and roast for twenty min-] 
utes with an apple placed in each bird. Then serve, re- , 
moving the apple before placin.g on . the table.” 
I would add that a friend and myself have just had. 
the pleasure of eating a pair of white-wmged coots 
cooked in this manner, and jiot only was there no taste 
of fish, but the game flavor of the birds was preserved, 
w'hich is not so Avhen the old method of par-boiling is 
used. Henry H. Thorp. 
Cleaning Rifles. j 
Opelousas, La., Nov. i . — Fiditor Forest and Stream: 
Through the - Forest and Stream I Avould like to hear ! 
from some of the readers on the following subject, how \ 
to keep clean and bright the barrels of rifles using the 
very highest power smokeless powder? I use the .30-40 
U. S. "box magazine carbine, the .303 Savage and the , 
Luger .automatic pistol. Even though I keep my firearms, 
in good shape, always clean, I can never keep the .barrels 
of these rifles free or clean. The powder seems to leave, 
a residue, a kind of gum, that I find impossible to re- ' 
move. In using the black and the low-pressure poAvder-' 
it is always a simple matter to clean the barrel of a rifle, 1 
but using the kind that is used in the ..30-40 and the ..30] 
U. S. G. rimless or the .303 I have never been able to S 
keep my rifle barrel, shining, even though I have used 
this kind of arm for a number of years and have tried 
every means that I nou]c} thiitk pf, " John P. BoAgni. i 
