202 
FOREST AND STREAM 
e 
;a weekly journal, 
DlTOTiD TO PlKLD AND AQUATIC IS PORTS, PRACTICAL NATURAL HlSTOKT , 
Fisa Culture, the Pkotectior op (Iamb, Preservation op Forests, 
and thb Inculcation in Men and Women or a Healthy Interest 
in Out-Door Recreation and Study: 
PUBLISHED BY 
forest and ffreanj publishing f&omgatig. 
—XT— 
NO. Ill (old No. 103) FULTON STREET, NEW YORK. 
(Post Optics Box 2832.) 
TERMS. FOUR DOLLARS A YEAR, STRICTLY IN ADVANCE. 
Twentj-flve per oent. off for Clubs of Two or more. 
AdYeriWIns Rate*. 
inside pages, nonpareil type, 20 cents per line ; ontalde page, 40 cents. 
Special rates for three, six and twelve months. Notices In editorial 
columns, oo cents per line. 
Advertisements should be sent in by Saturday of each week, If pos- 
sible. 
All transient advertisements must bo accompanied with the money 
or they will not be inserted. 
No advertisement or business notice of an immoral character will be 
received on any terms. 
V Any publisher Inserting our prospectus as above one time, with 
brief editorial notice calling attention thereto, and sending marked copy 
to ns, will receive the Forest and Strbam for one year. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1878. 
To Correspondents. 
All communications whatever, Intended for publication, must, be ac- 
companied with real name of the writer as a guaranty of good faith 
and be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Company. 
Names will not be published If objection be made. No anonymous com 
mnnlcatlons will be regarded. 
We cannot promise to retnrn rejected manuscripts. 
Secretaries of OInbs and Associations are urged to favor us with brief 
notes of their movements and transactions. 
Nothing will be admitted to any department of the paper that may 
not be read with propriety In the home circle. 
We cannot be responsible for dereliction of the mall service If money 
remitted to ns is lost No person whatever Is authorized to collect 
money for ns unless he can show authentic credentials from one of the 
undersigned. We have no Philadelphia agent. 
ir Trade supplied by American News Company. 
CIURIEN ILAI.LOCK, Editor. 
T. C. BANKS, 8. H. TURRILL, Chicago, 
Business Manager. Western Manager. 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE COMfNG 
WEEK 
Friday, April 19.— South Boston Yacht Club Regatta. Boston Blcylo 
Club Run to Squantum. 
Saturday, April 20.— Convention of College Athletes at Fifth Avenne 
Hotel, New York. Boston Blcyle Club Run to Newton. Creedmoor : 
Remington Prize Competition, at 10:30 a. m. ; Skirmisher’s Badge Com- 
petition. at S p. m. Running Meeting at New Orleans. Base Ball : 
Sprlngfleld vs. Holyoke, at Holyoke ; Hornell vs. Star, at Syracuse ; 
Rochester vs. Lowell, at Lowell. 
Monday, April *2.— Running Meeting as above. Base Ball: Rochester 
vs. Manchester, at Manchester ; New Bedford va. Westboro’, at West- 
boro’. 
Tuesday, April 23,— Baltimore Kennel Club Bench Show. Portland 
Yacht Club Opening Cruise ; Savannah Yacht Club Regatta. Running 
Meeting as above. Base Ball : Springfield vs. New Bedford, at Spring- 
Held. 
Wednesday, April 24.— Manhattan Cricket Club, Prospect Part. Y. M. 
C. A. Athletic Tournament, at Boston. Baltimore Kennel Club Bench 
Show. Creedmoor: Waters Long Range Competition, at 1:30 p. m.; 
Wylie Badge Competition, at same hour; Competition for Remington 
Long Range ride, at same hour. Running Meeting as above. 
Thursday, A pril 25.— Baltimore Kennel Club Bench Show. Running 
Meeting as above. Trotting at Toronto, Canada. Base BaU : Spring- 
Held as above ; Rochester vs. Lynn, at West Lynn. f 
When Krr Carson Died.— One of our correspondents, 
“ R. M. B.,’’ is kind enough to inform us that Kit Carson 
died in 1808 and not “ three years " ago, as our paper recently 
stated. (How the years do fly!) "Ho died at Fort Lyon, 
on the Arkansas River. His coffin was made at the fort by 
one of the soldiers and lined by the wife of the commanding 
officer, Mrs. Oapt. Casey. The funeral services were con- 
ducted by the Hcv. Dr. Silton, now at Fort Keogh, Montana 
Ter. The above can be relied on, as I got it direct from 
Capt. Casey, now East on a furlough. He is also stationed 
at Fort Keogh, under Gen. Mills. He has command of Co. 
A, 6th Infantry.” 
THE ALLEGED CASE OF CRUELTY. 
In n lute issue of the Forest and Stkisam and Rod and 
Gun wc had occasion to distent from the notion of the Massa- 
chusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and 
to differ most widely from a decision of tho Boston Municipa 
Court. 
We have received from the President of the Massachusetts 
Society the following letter, published in the Boston Tran- 
script, which wo gladly print : 
“ THE SKINNER DOO CASE." 
•* To Vie Editor of Vie Transcript : Mr. Luchin Skinner, of 
this city, a gentleman, as I am informed, of wealth aud high 
social standing, has twice, through your columns, attacked 
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for 
prosecuting him for cruelty. 
“ Will you kindly permit me to say that the complaint was 
first entered at Police Station No. 4, and an officer of that sta- 
tion was in court to enter a prosecution, but in the meantime 
the owner of the injured * St. Bernard ’ dog had requested 
the society to act, and their complaint took precedence. 
“ The commencement of the difficulty between the dogs 
was not seen by Mr. Skinner. The testimony of the only wit- 
ness that saw it was that l he Skinner dog dropped a bone and 
snapped at the other dog first. 
•• Mr. Skinner, in defence of his dog, which was injured 
veiy little, beat the St. Bernard very severely with a cane, 
and then stabbed him with the largest blade of a four-bladed 
pocket-knife. The dogs then separated ; Mr. Skinner’s dog 
ran home, and the St. Bernard dog ran the other way. 
11 Mr. Skinner followed him a hundred and fifty to two 
hundred feet, kicked him several times, and then stabbed him 
again, as the evidence shows, twice, cutting a gash about 
three inches long. The case was tried in our Municipal Court 
by one of our most experienced judges. Mr. Skinner was de- 
fended by one of the ablest lawyers of the Suffolk bar, the 
society employing no counsel, and was fined forty dollnrs and 
costs. 
«• Mr- Skinner's son called upon our secretary, Sir. Firth, be- 
fore the trial. He could see no reason why we should not abide 
the decision of the court. Messrs. Skinner, senior and junior, 
both called upon me subsequent to the trial, and after careful 
examination 1 could have no doubt the decision was correct. 
"At Mr. Skinner's request, 1 brought the matter before our 
‘directors.’ A committee of five, all widely known to the 
good people of this city, was appointed. They carefully in- 
vestigated, and have, as I understand, unanimously reported 
that the society could not have refused to prosecute the case. 
“The owner of the injured dog, as I am iuformed, has 
since sued Mr. S kinn er for damages and recovered fifty dol- 
lars. It is alleged that the St. Bernard dog was a dangerous 
one, and that Mayor Prince once ordered him to he killed for 
an alleged attack upon a child. The evidence at the trial was 
overwhelming that the dog was not a dangerous one, and that 
in the case in question, when the facts were made known to 
the mayor, he revoked the order. 
“ The facts that Mr- Skinner first beat the dog severely with 
a cane, then stabbed him with a knife, then followed him a 
hundred and fifty feet, and kicked him several times, then 
stabbed him again, and that the dog, during all this time, made 
no attempt to retaliate, would, to dog owners, be pretty con- 
clusive evidence, I think, of the dog’s character. 
“ Mr. Skinner, as I have before remarked, is, I understand, 
a gentleman of age, wealth and high social position, and was 
doubtless laboring under intense excitement ; but I cannot see 
how any of these circumstances would justify this society in 
refusing to prosecute. The letter of our secretary to the 
editor of the Forest and Stheam, referred to in Mr. Skinner’s 
letter, was written in answer to a letter of inquiry from the 
editor, and its publication was not the act of our secretary. 
“Geo. T. Anoell, President of the Society." 
To coilfute the arguments of the President of the Massa- 
chusetts Society, Mr. Skinner sent to the Boston Transcript a 
communication which the Boston paper declined publishing, 
though allowing its fairness. This communication states that 
there were two witnesses. We quote : 
“ Allow me to say there were two witnesses, namely, the 
small colored boy who was with the so-called St. Bernard, and 
a student of the Institute of Technology, a sou of one of our 
prominent merchants, and both testifying at the two cases in 
court. The latter witness, a gentleman of unquestionable 
character, testified twice to the effect that there was no bone 
whatever ; that the large dog came from behind him, and im- 
mediately attacked the other one, who was in front of wit- 
ness, not twenty feet from him, walking quietly along next to 
the wall, and threw him down- The 6mall dog then got 
away and ran off at full speed, followed by the other. Mr. 
Angell knew of this before the case was tried at all, as my son, 
in the presence of Mr. Williams, stated it to him, even to the 
name of the witness referred to above, and Mr. Angell re- 
marked that he knew his father by reputation. 
*■ Second : I utterly deny having kicked the dog even once, 
let alone several times. 
“ Third : Mr. Angell states that the 'St. Bernard ' was or 
dered to be killed by order of Mayor Prince for an alleged at- 
tack upon a child, but when the facts were made known to 
him the order was revoked. The order was for the dog to be 
killed or removed from the city within twenty-four hours, and 
he was removed. Mr. Utz went to the mother of the boy who 
was bitten, and got her permission to bring the dog back 
under the following conditions, i. e. , that the dog should be 
kept under chain, and when on the street should go muzzled. 
Mr. Utz agreed to this, and engaged that the dog should do 
no further mischief, and, further, paid the doctor's bills and a 
sum of money to the parents. All of the above was testified 
to in Court. At the time of the affair with my dog the 4 St. 
Bernard,' so-called, was neither muzzled nor under chain, nor 
was he with any one responsible for his actions Let the pub- 
lic compare Mr. Angell's assertions with the above, and judge 
for themselves. Your obedient servant, 
Boston, April 12. "S. Skinner." 
We have received a large number of-letters from prominent 
sportsmen and sympathizing friends who have known the de- 
fendant for thirty years as a gentleman merchant of probity 
and honorable position. Wc have not received one letter to 
question the action or the legal decision in the case. The ver- 
dict is, that any sportsman having a valuable dog to protect 
would have done precisely as the defendant did. The vener- 
ble years (seventy) of the gentleman assailed should shield 
him from from an imputation of Impetuosity or bad blood. 
Aside from his uniform even temper and amiability, Mr. 
Ethan Allen, of Pomfret, Conn., who raised Mr. Skinner’s 
dog, conies forward to testify that lie was a timid, harmless 
creature of 30 to 40 pounds in weight, and not at all likely to 
insult or make faces at the big St. Bernard, whoso record shows 
that he is n dangerous dog who had been once condemned to 
death by the Mayor for injuring a lad. Mr. James H. Bow- 
ditch, also of Pomfret, maintains that it was Dot the attacking 
dog, hut the dog's master who was to blame iu not having 
him under his control. He adds : 
“ Nevertheless, we maintain it was necessary to give tho 
dog no quarter. A simple rebuff would have been entirely 
wasted ; a vigorous onslaught was just wbat was needed to 
show the dog his duty then and in the future. Mr. Skinner 
most assuredly deserves the thanks of the public for bis effort 
against canine lawlessness, and wo already hear a general out- 
side verdict of total acquittal." 
From a careful reconsideration of the whole matter from 
the evidence before us, we aro more convinced than ever of a 
very great injustice done Mr. Skinner. To make this sorry 
business even worse, the owner of a dog (lamb-like, accord- 
ing to the ideas of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals, a dog, however, which from trustworthy evi- 
dence is in the habit of attacking children and dogs indiscrimi- 
nately), the possessor of this gentle brute having brought a 
suit for damages against Mr. Skinner, this gentleman has been 
mulcted a second time. A very significant fact worth re- 
membering is that Judge Churchill, a second Solomon, deoided 
on the merits of both cases. 
A perusal of the communications addressed us explains the 
whole unfortunate business much more clearly than would 
ten pages of commentary on our part. 
We must decline opening our columns further for the dis- 
cussion of this case, believing that it would rather tend to the 
discredit of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals, and at the same time he a reproach to 
current Boston justice. 
THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF FIELD 
SPORTS. 
NDER this caption the April numbi r of the LouimiUe 
Medical News presents the subject of out-of-door pas- 
times aud recreation to the medical fraternity iu a new light. 
It urges upon the profession tho regular employment apd pre- 
scription of exercise and kindred hygienic remedies ns a part 
of their pharmacopoeia. It urges the doctors to deal less in 
physic and more in natural forces. It presses upon them the 
importance of using and stimulating those vital forces which 
nature has implanted in man, and which, if properly treated, 
will enable the invalid to recuperate and become whole. 
The remedies most frequently prescribed by the Saviour in 
curing tho sick in his day were exercise and bathing. “Go 
to such a place and wash seven times 1” The places were re- 
mote, and much muscular ensrgy was necessary to reach 
them. But hope and confidence inspired cheerfulness and 
perseverance. Persistent effort set the blood in circulation, 
and the vital machinery to work ; it opened the pores, threw 
out the poisonous secretions, and placed the patient in the 
best possible condition to render liis bathing efficacious. Re- 
peated ablutions made the cure complete. We do not re- 
member that the Saviour or His disciples ever prescribed pills 
or physic. 
We trust Dr. Cowling’s appeal to the physicians will be 
heeded, and that the effects derived will presently manifest 
themselves all over the land. We shall hope to see every 
limp and disjointed invalid at the watering places become 
elastic tourists, full of vigor and enthusiasm and a desire to 
live. We shall wait for the spreading of the gospel of the 
Forest and Stream, according to the Medical News of Louis- 
ville, all over the land. 
Wo believe we can, with fitting humility, take some measure 
of credit to ourselves for having inculcated (according to the 
original prospectus of our paper) a love of out-of-door recrea- 
tion and sport in our true men and women ; and also for 
having suggested to our learned contemporary the thoughts 
which he has placed under the caption which stands at the 
head of this column, and of his essay in the Medical News . 
Our reward of effort comes in the harvest gathered from the 
seed sown, and the following surely indicates a good crop. 
We quote: 
“ One of the best periodicals published in this country is the 
Forest and Stream, of New York, devoted to the chronicling 
of field sports, etc. It is a wonderfully well conducted 
paper, comiDg out once a week with its immense pages filled 
with material from the best of pens all over this country, 
sparklingly edited and finely illustrated. No one can read 
its life-like sketches and not have stirred within him the love 
for nature which lies at the bottom of every good man’s heart. 
But it was not because it brought such delightful pictures of 
the forest and field and stream to us, who ? cooped up in city 
life, had so little opportunity of sxperioncing the reality, that 
we have made this notice of it in our pages. It was because 
it reminded us to point out a valuable and neglected mode of 
cure, and to place the medical aspects of the interests which 
it advocates before our readers, that we have been led to 
notice it in these columns intended for profcssioual eyes. 
“ The practitioners of rational medicine should take care not 
to narrow their armamentarium down to the exhibition of 
drugs. Our catholic dogma that whatever has cured may do 
so again recognizes many more forces than the dispensatory 
affords ; and some of these, it must be confessed, are better 
handled by our heretic brethren than by ourselves. The 
hygiene of the water-cures and the imaginative element of tho 
homeopathic method are not to be despised . One thing is 
certain, that there is no more powerful agent in the control 
and cure of disease than amusement, Of course one cannot 
laugh away a small-pox, or drive off a rheumatism by a few 
