Nov. 24, 1906.] FOREST AND STREAM. 825 
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All the game laws of the United, States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
Ruffed Grouse in Sullivan County. 
New York City, Nov. 15 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: If any one had told me, before I went 
to Centerville, that fifty partridge could be put 
up near there in one day, I would have thought 
that person had some interest in sending me 
there and would not have gone; but that is 
exactly what I did—saw or heard forty-nine, to 
be exact, in one day, not counting those put up 
twice. 
This, of course, was exceptional, and was quite 
a distance from the village—twelve or fourteen 
miles—but in going on foot each day from 
Graham Merritt’s house we put up from ten to 
twenty. Being an indifferent shot, I was glad 
to have such a good one as Mose Hammond 
with me, and between us the first day we bagged 
five “patridges” and three woodcock out of a 
bunch of five that got up, Mose making as 
pretty a double as I ever saw. 
The next day we got the same number of 
ruffed grouse and two woodcock, and could 
have killed numbers of rabbits if we had cared 
to; in fact, we saw so many that we decided to 
go for them on Wednesday and supply the 
house with a dinner. It had rained the. night 
before and every one figured that we would 
get all we cared to carry, but evidently there was 
an error somewhere in these calculations, as we 
saw but three and got two. I did not get a shot. 
Mose “kicked one out’’ and got it, and the 
other one he dug out of a pile of stones where 
the rabbit had holed after as pretty a chase over 
open fields as one would wish to see. 
The young dog we had with us seemed to 
hunt only by sight and kept jumping up and 
clown, looking for them. The old dog found 
a trail and followed it, the young one im¬ 
mediately joining him but giving no tongue. 
Suddenly we heard a terrific yelping, and rabbit 
and hound came into view not ten yards apart 
but 200 yards away. I ran to a knoll arid 
watched the chase. The rabbit was a wonder at 
dodging and finally got away from the young- 
dog, which lost all trace of it, but the old fel¬ 
low came right along at slow speed and trailed 
bunny to the pile of stones, where Mose got to 
work despite my protests and finally got the 
rabbit. I wanted him to let it go and give it 
a chance to get away if we missed it, but it 
went into his pocket without further ado. 
The next day was the fifty bird day. Ernest 
Ivinne, justice of the peace, guide, sportsman, 
and partner of Mr. Merritt, told me he had seen 
thirty or forty birds at a place he would take 
me to if I wanted to go. It was like shaking a 
red rag at a bull, and off we went at 6 A T^T.. 
Kinne, Mose and myself, and after a drive of 
more than an hour we got to work. We had 
not been out ten minutes before we found a 
bunch of seven—and never got a feather. Mose 
missed one sitting in a tree, and he was much 
crestfallen. We hunted a beautiful country, with 
many fine streams which I investigated and 
found them full of trout. I saw a dozen or 
more in one small shallow pool, all over twelve 
inches in length, and saw some solitary big 
ones that would have gone over a pound or a 
pound and a half. I am for that place next 
spring. I will not tell where it is, but Merritt 
or Kinne will take you there if you ask them. 
If any one who reads this should go there, I 
ask him to “keep it dark.” 
That day we got ten birds between us, so 
that there are forty at least left in that one 
spot, and we did not cover one-hundredth part 
of the good country. I am going again very 
soon for a day or two. and am certain to get 
shots at all the law allows one man. At any 
rate, I will bring back an appetite that will last 
for a month or so—and that is what most all 
of us go for. La B. 
In West Virginia. 
Morgantown, W. Va., Nov. 15. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: West Virginia is sadly handicapped 
in the first impression she makes on visitors. 
The railroads entering from the north, west and 
south dive directly into great centers of coal¬ 
mining operations and oil development; and 
while these are great factors in a State’s pro¬ 
gress, the sportsman heaves a sigh of bitter dis¬ 
appointment when he comes into such a region. 
On the east, however, the railroads break 
through the Alleghenies and disclose a wealth 
of rugged, unsettled beauty that is indeed 
Ledge built with a camp ax and roofed with tar paper, 
which had to be carried for ten miles. Preston county, 
W. Ya. 
thrilling. Nowhere on earth are streams more 
alluring or woods more inviting than some of 
those found in our “Little Mountain State.” 
Now the sad part of it all is, that the native 
vandal and foreign elements of our population 
have in defiance to good laws and poor game 
wardens, gradually driven in the game until 
only here and there does the hunter or natur¬ 
alist find a bit of forest primeval. Randolph, 
Hardy, Preston and a very few other counties 
l ave deer and bear left in them. Almost all of 
the western part of the State has left only the 
cottontail rabbit and the gray squirrel, and not 
many of these. The reason is simple—coal 
mines. The smoke which rolls up from the 
coke ovens in such nauseating clouds, settles 
down on our forests and fields, coating every¬ 
thing with a poisonous, sulphurous coat. We 
have no nuts and no berries, and hence no 
game. Why, even the weeds do not produce 
enough seed to entice Mr. and Mrs. Bob-White 
to go to housekeeping in such counties as 
Marion and Harrison! Our streams, also, were 
dynamited relentlessly during our railroad-con¬ 
struction times, and when the fish tried to re¬ 
cuperate their depleted ranks, they were met by 
gushing volleys from coal mines, steel mills and 
pulp mills. 
Thus our fine mountains and beautiful streams 
are prostituted. But not all of them .are so. As 
has been mentioned, the eastern part of the 
State as yet has not trembled beneath the Attilic 
feet of the coal baron and oil king. Cheat 
River still retains the wonderful clearness which 
earned for it its name; and in its depths are 
some of the gamiest of black bass. Parts of 
the mountains along Cheat River are extremely 
rugged—so much so, that the heavy timber has 
not grown sufficiently valuable to entice lumber¬ 
men to despoil them. In one of these places 
the writer penetrated with ax and cooking 
utensils and spent many happy days. Game is 
not plentiful in the common acceptation of the 
word. But there is enough to lend that ineffable 
charm of the game-inhabited woods. The old 
diamond-back "rattler” is here, but be is not 
dangerous, because he always politely tells you 
that if you don’t look out he might bite you. 
Now these conditions, adverse in the extreme, 
have not depleted the ranks of real sportsmen 
in West Virginia. Only the fittest survive here, 
it is true; but in the world of sports only the 
fittest should survive. Hence, among the lovers 
of the rod, the gun and the camera in our State 
you find many who come back from a week’s 
hunt in the mountains to boast of three 
pheasants, or six fine bass! But is not that 
kind of man the simon-pure article? Here’s to 
the good fellow who accepts your invitation to 
go hunting to your happy hunting grounds and 
who, after a hard day’s hunt, when you return 
with a pair of quail apiece or maybe only one 
pheasant, delightedly praises the beauty of the 
woods, the freshness of the air and eagerly asks 
how soon another such trip can be arranged! 
• ClIESNEY RAMAGE. 
A Massachusetts Game Dinner. 
North Brookfield, Mass., Nov. 15.— Editor 
Forest and Stream: This organization was only 
started in its career last March, but it has been 
growing in size and importance ever since. It 
has reached the century mark, and is still grow¬ 
ing in a healthy way. It has finely fitted up 
quarters in the Walker block on North Main 
street in the pleasant village of North Brook¬ 
field, which satisfy the demands of the artistic 
eye and allow the members to swap stories of 
the trout pools and partridge and woodcock 
covers thej^ have known and loved. Here are 
to- be found magazines pertaining to the fish 
arid game part of the world, as well as to the 
doings of the people in general. 
Each member has a pass key, by means of 
which he can gain admission at any time, sure 
of a pleasant and comfortable place to rest 
and refresh himself and to commune with con¬ 
genial sportsmen. The organization has been 
instrumental in stocking the. streams and cov¬ 
ers with fish and game. A quantity of quail 
distributed in various parts of the section of 
country, also Mongolian pheasants and finger- 
ling trout attest to the spirit of the Associa¬ 
tion. They have been kindly and generously 
treated by the members of the State Fish and 
Game Commission. 
The president of the organization is Hon. 
Theodore C. Bates, who has been an enthusi¬ 
astic and successful manager of the affairs of 
the members, and who has spared no expense 
to make them contented and happy, contribut¬ 
ing freely of his time and money for that end. 
Last August they had a banquet in the woods 
at Bates Grove, which was a great success and 
which the president took special pains to make 
pleasant for the members, causing a concrete 
bake hole oven to be constructed for the oc¬ 
casion, and contributing himself much toward 
the feast of the day. 
So enjoyable was the August feast that it 
was determined to have a supper in Castle 
Hall, and the date was fixed for Monday, Nov. 
5. Most elaborate preparations were made for 
