Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal. Copyright, 1906, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Terms ’ 1 -^h ^ aC ° Py 1 NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1906. 
1 VOL. LXVII— No. 14. 
1 No. 346 Broadway, New York. 
The object of this journal will be to studiously 
promote a healthful interest in outdoor recre¬ 
ation, and to cultivate a refined taste for natural 
objects. Announcement in first number of 
Forest and Stream, Aug. 14,1S73. 
OUR ILLUSTRATION SUPPLEMENT. 
The capital flashlight photo of a deer, in our 
illustration supplement, was made by Hon. Geo. 
Shiras 3d, one August night, on an old logging 
road near Lake Superior in Upper Michigan. 
The alert pose of the animal and the setting are 
extremely effective. 
The shooter and fisherman of to-day cannot 
fail to be interested in the reproductions of those 
illustrations of the sport of Emperor Maxi¬ 
milian four centuries ago, and in the entertain-: 
ing account which Mr. Baillie-Grohman has 
written of the early hunting volume. The 
pictures are quaint and curious with their naive 
disregard of perspective; but they are graphic 
representations of the true sport of their day 
with its pomp and splendor; and they are all 
the more attractive because of artistic incon¬ 
gruities. 
FLY- AND BAIT-CASTING CLUBS. 
More importance than is apparent at first 
thought attaches to the fly- and bait-casting 
tournament to be held on Harlem Mere, in Cen¬ 
tral Park, this city, during the present month 
under the auspices of The Anglers' Club of New 
York. 
When the Kalamazoo Bait- and Fly-Casting 
Club held its big tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich., 
last summer the representatives of all the casting 
clubs present agreed on the necessity of a national 
body which should decide all questions of gen¬ 
eral interest, formulate uniform rules under which 
all tournaments could be conducted, and keep 
the sport clean and free from disturbing in¬ 
fluences. As a result of this conference the Na¬ 
tional Association of Scientific Angling Clubs was 
organized, and eight clubs at once became affili¬ 
ated with it. Of these clubs three hail from 
Blinois, two from Michigan, and one each from 
Wisconsin, Missouri and California. At its first 
opportunity the New York club became affiliated 
with the national body, which is now represented 
by clubs from coast to coast. It was agreed that 
the next annual tournament should be held in 
Racine, Wis. 
The New York club, in sending notice of its 
decision to President Perce, called his attention to 
the fact that it is at present the only club of its 
kind in the East, and as it, in common with other 
clubs, is entitled to only one delegate—its mem¬ 
ber of the executive board of the national body 
—its hope to have the national tournament held 
in New York in any given year was not likely to 
be realized, it being far from the center of the 
country and in the minority. 
President Perce, in reply, stated that it would 
be unfair for mere numbers to count in selecting 
a place at which to hold a national tournament. 
The Fox River Valley Casting Club, for example, 
has a membership of 1,400, while other clubs have 
less than 100. While each club is represented 
by but one member of the executive board, the 
influence of the club having a large membership 
is certain to be greater than that of the club 
composed of few members. Pie has promised to 
take these facts into consideration, and some plan 
looking toward fairness to all clubs will be in¬ 
corporated in the constitution and by-laws of the 
national association, now being prepared. 
In the course of time clubs North and South, 
East and West will become affiliated with this 
association, and it seems that divisions should 
be formed,- each division to claim the right to 
name the officers and the place for the tourna¬ 
ment for a certain year, this right to rotate. The 
clubs in a division should then decide on what 
city would be more favorable. Next year another 
division would have choice of officers and place, 
but should it waive its right for any reason, the 
next division in line would act, and so on, all 
clubs having equal rights without regard to num¬ 
bers. 
The New York club was organized only a few 
months ago and found it difficult to find a place 
to practice in the crowded city—the length of 
time taken to go to an out-of-town site exclud¬ 
ing that idela from consideration; but at last 
permits to cast in two of the public parks were 
obtained, and since the platforms have been built 
daily practice has been had. Inquiries have been 
coming in from all nearby cities and many from 
distant points in the East, and anglers visit the 
park to become acquainted with others and learn 
whether they can take part in this fascinating and 
useful practice of the gentle angler. Already 
the movement that will result in the formation of 
other casting clubs in the East in a short time 
is on foot. East and West the desire for uniform 
rules is apparent. 
It is often argued by anglers that tournament 
casting—fly or bait—is not carried on under 
service conditions. This is true to a certain ex¬ 
tent, but tournament casting, or rather let us 
say club practice casting, is of immense benefit 
to the angler. It teaches him how to cast prop¬ 
erly and deftly, and proves not only what types 
of rod, reel and line are best,' but the defects of 
unsuitable tackle for certain uses. By casting 
with others he learns what his own shortcom¬ 
ings are, and is taught the proper way. Uncon¬ 
sciously he picks up hints and applies them with 
satisfaction and pleasure. Not all tournament 
tackle will give the best results in fishing, for 
some of it is made to withstand unusual strains, 
as in casting fly or bait for distance records; but 
tackle used in accuracy and delicacy casting is 
good enough for fishing, and not a few men em¬ 
ploy their fishing rods and reels in tournament 
work. 
In fly-casting the angler cannot practice too 
much, and competition is the greatest incentive to 
that end; while the angler who practices bait¬ 
casting will become more and more fascinated 
with it while acquiring a wholesome respect for 
a good free-running reel. This is a school for 
anglers, who realize very quickly that none of 
their companions expects them to make long or 
accurate casts at first, consequently there is no 
occasion for “stage fright.” Practice begets con¬ 
fidence, perseverance begets enthusiasm, and this 
in turn leaves one so fascinated with the game 
that he cannot tire of it. Practice casting, unlike 
trout and bass fishing, is always in season. The 
equipment is simple: A half-dozen wood disks 
moored on a pond at known distances or a few 
marks on a lawn, your favorite rod, reel and 
line, and you are ready for practice when there 
is no fishing. A neighbor becomes interested, 
other anglers join you, a club is formed. And 
without realizing it you have a game that is clean, 
instructive, healthful, and replete with possibil¬ 
ities one never tires in striving for. 
The destructive work of cats in relation to 
the small bird supply of the home grounds is 
not fully realized. We have been told to weari¬ 
ness of the ravages of the small boy with a 
gun and the woman with feather dressed hat; 
but as a destroyer of song birds the cats make 
away with more birds in a year than the small 
boys in a century; and kill more small birds 
than all the millinery hunters in the country. 
If the gunner in the woods is justified in shoot¬ 
ing the half wild cats he finds there, the owner 
of a bird haunted yard should count himself free 
to make away with the trespassing cat from the 
other side .of the fence. 
To the cat the Sicilian is a close second; and 
a harder problem to deal with. In New 
Florence, Pa., the other day a gang of Sicilians 
had been shooting song birds; a deputation of 
the State constabulary sought to arrest them; 
the Italians gathered an armed force to resist; 
and in the fight that followed two of the con¬ 
stables were killed and two more were wounded. 
These people bring to America, all their native 
predilection for potting the smallest birds that 
fly, all their poaching proclivities, developed 
through generations of European land tenure 
systems, and all their vindictiveness when the 
authorities attempt to restrain their “sport.” 
W • hear from the South continued complaints 
of the bird-destroying ways of the negro with 
his cheap shotgun; but it is doubtful whether 
the Italians who are in some places supplanting 
the negroes will prove less destructive in this 
respect. There is at least this to be said in their 
favor, that in the course of a few generations 
these foreigners become good Americans; and 
it may be that in the transformation they may 
in time come to share the American attitude to¬ 
ward the useful species which the Audubon law 
classifies as non-game birds. 
