August, 1919 
FOREST AND STREAM 
417 
WILDFOWL AND SHELLSHOCK 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
W ILD fowl, alert to the faint bang 
of small arms even fired a mile or 
more away, have no dread of the mon- 
ster cannon, mortars, aerial torpedoes 
and bombs that are fired at the U. S. Ord- 
nance testing station at Aberdeen, Md., 
almost daily. In this enormous reserva- 
tion, where men unless well posted fear 
to tread, the wild creatures of the air 
and many of the others as well are en- 
joying a sanctuary they can find no- 
where else in the East. What is hap- 
pening is in conflict with what sports- 
men dreaded. Those who were looking 
for the worst are now gratified to note 
that the proving ground, where most 
efficient ways of killing human enemies 
are developed, has the redeeming merit 
of stimulating the breeding and encour- 
aging the normal life of ducks, geese and 
swan. From the Susquehanna flats many 
of these fowl are going to the area where 
the shot gun is never heard. 
Colonel William A. Phillips, command- 
ing officer at Aberdeen, has written a 
letter to the Maryland Conservation 
Commission in which he gives the results 
of his observation. A part of his letter 
follows: 
“All the restricted area of land and 
waters of the Aberdeen proving ground 
has been formed into a refuge for 
game. From all that I can ascertain 
there have been large numbers of ducks, 
geese and swan in the waters adjacent 
to the proving grounds. As they were 
not permitted to be disturbed by hunt- 
ers I believe they did not fly as much 
as usual, and consequently the opportu- 
nity for hunters to shoot them off the 
reservation has not been so good as 
usual. This game does not appear to 
be disturbed by heavy artillery firing, 
as I imagine they take it more or less 
as a thunder-and-lighting proposition, 
and very quickly find out that it is of 
but little consequence to them. I believe 
that in a few years this reservation will 
cause a decided increase in the amount 
of game available, as it will prevent the 
rapid and almost continuous extermina- 
tion of the game which has been taking 
place.” 
The Maryland Conservation Commis- 
sion, with its office in the Munsey Build- 
ing, Baltimore, will gladly welcome any 
suggestions that may occur to sports- 
man, growing out of this discovery by 
Colonel Phillips. 
Edwin J. Heath, Maryland. 
MANY WANT TO HUNT 
IN MEXICO 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
I HAVE received so many replies to my 
* letter asking for a partner to join me 
in a hunting expedition which you pub- 
lished in May that I can’t answer them 
all. 
Please say through your columns that 
I have arranged with two men to join 
me and that an account of our trip 
will be published which I hope will be 
of interest to brother sportsmen. If 
any one, wanting to take a trip in these 
mountains, will write me I will be glad 
to arrange with a guide to go with him. 
A guide who speaks English will cost 
no less than $5.00 per day and saddle 
animals and pack animals about $3.00 
per day each. This place is 165 miles 
south of El Paso, Texas, and is reached 
by the Mexico, North Western R. R. 
There is also a good automobile road 
from Columbus, N. M. You can enter 
Mexico with an automobile without pay- 
ing any duty. No license is required to 
hunt here and hunting for all kinds of 
game is permitted at all seasons of the 
year. The climate is so perfect that you 
can go out in comfort any time of the 
year. Hunting is best from October 
until March. Bear, deer and turkeys 
are very plentiful. There are also many 
wolves and lions. Dogs are very useful 
in hunting wolves, lions and bears. Any- 
one who can afford a three week’s or a 
month’s trip can enjoy some fine sport 
in this part of the country. 
Many people writing me have sent 
stamped addressed envelopes for reply. 
American postage is not accepted here. 
Thank you very much for your kindness. 
Leon A. Carruth, 
Pearson, Chih., Mexico. 
Salmon ascending falls in Yakima River 
THE INDIANS’ FISHING RIGHTS 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
A DELEGATION of chiefs of the 
Yakima Indians recently visited 
Spokane to protest to federal authorities 
against the action of Washington state 
officials in putting an embargo on fishing 
within 400 feet of the irrigation dam in 
the Yakima River at Prosser, Wash. 
Countless thousands of salmon annually 
ascend the Yakima seeking spawning 
grounds. The dam offers a temporary 
bar to their progress up-stream and in 
the shallow water below the dam the 
Indians have taken huge numbers of the 
fish. Salmon not used for food imme- 
diately are smoked by the Redmen for 
food reserves. Outside the 400-foot mark 
the water is too deep to permit of the 
fish being captured readily. The In- 
dians’ treaty rights state that they are 
not to be disturbed at usual and cus- 
tomary places in common with other resi- 
dents of the state, and it is on the in- 
terpretation of the treaty rights that the 
case rests. The matter has been taken 
up with the department of the Interior 
at Washington, D. C. 
R. A. Laird, Washington. 
THE TENT GROUND CLOTH 
H aving a ground doth sewed in a 
tent has several disadvantages. For 
example — if you are the owner of two 
or three tents, it is necessary to have 
a ground cloth for each one. Then, too, 
it is not always practical to carry a 
ground cloth. Instead of having a c . and 
cloth sewed in ea.,h cent. ' naU a 
7x7 foot ground cloth .lade up wi'h 
grommets on all four ^ides, spacf at 
6-inch intervals. In each tent I at';...ned 
6-inch tapes along the nottom i,o cor- 
respond with spacing of the grommets. 
The ground cloth then may be tied fast 
to the tent and you have an outfit that 
is virtually dirt-proof. 
When the ground cloth is not needed, 
it can be readily detached. On a go- 
light trip, fni instance, having the grom- 
mets spaced at 6-inch intervals enables 
me to u.->r riic clofh as a pack in transit, 
and by fading it over and lacing two 
' makes a water-proof sleeping 
: ag, thereby making it answer three pur- 
poses. 
James S. Cowley, New York. 
WHAT IS THE BEST CROW RIFLE? 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
M r. mac ILRATH’S article “Crow 
War Declared,” was very interest- 
ing to one who likes to shoot all the 
year round and must be content to stay 
away from the remote places where there 
is real game. 
He suggests using the .22 long rifle 
cartridge. Some years ago I tried this 
cartridge on crows but was unsuccessful 
and concluded that it required a know- 
ledge of sight setting and estimation of 
distances that I did not possess and 
could not seem to acquire. 
The mark presented by a crow’s vitals 
is so small and the crow is so wary in 
this part of the country, seldom offering 
shots at distances below 100 yards, that 
it seems as if the .22 long rifle was not 
quite powerful enough. I should say 
that the .22 Hi-Power with its very flat 
trajectory, accuracy at 100 yards and 
its light bullet would be an ideal crow 
cartridge if it wasn’t for the fact that 
its range is too long for settled country 
and the shells are expensive. The 25-35 
seems too powerful and the 25-20 W.C.F. 
not quite flat enough in trajectory or 
accurate enough on account of its heavily 
crimped shells. 
It would be very interesting and of 
great value to prospective crow hunters 
of limited experience like myself if you 
would publish an article on the ideal crow 
rifle, giving particular attention to cali- 
ber, weight and shape of bullet trajec- 
tory, powder charge, sights and type of 
rifle. And just think of the discussion 
you would start among the gun cracks! 
B Woodruff, Washington, D. C. 
An answer to the above letter will be 
found on the following page. — [Editors.] 
