434 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Questions, Answers and Suggestions Department 
By Department Editors. 
If you want to know what to, when to, how 
to, where to, in the field of sport, do not hesi¬ 
tate to write this department for the desired in¬ 
formation. For forty-odd years we have been 
handling inquiries by mail, having originated the 
“ask us” in magazinedom. Hereafter such ques¬ 
tions as are of general interest will be an¬ 
swered in this department. 
Q.—Just what is meant by 12 guage? A—A 
round ball, 12 of which will weigh a pound, will 
exactly fit the barrel of a twelve guage gun, ten 
to the pound will apply in the same way to a 
ten guage gun and so on as sizes vary. 
Q.—Please tell me how to make a duck call. 
A.—A duck call or squawker is made thus: Take 
a tube of wood or metal (bamboo is best) about 
% inch in diameter inside, and 4 ito 8 inches in 
length. Fit a plug 3 inches long to one end, 
split it in two, groove one-half to within % inch 
of its smaller end, the groove being % inch 
wide and same depth. Hammer a thin piece of 
steel, copper or brass 2% inches long and % to 
% inch wide, to increase 'its elasticity. This is 
the tongue, and one end, which should be thin¬ 
ner than the other, should have the corners 
rounded. The tongue is then placed over the 
grooved half, the round end nearly to the ex¬ 
treme smaller end of the plug, and the tongue 
completely covering the groove. The other half 
of the plug should be shortened about 1V2 inches 
from its smaller end, and then being placed on 
the grooved half, thus holding the tongue fast, 
'both should be pushed firmly into the tube. By 
blowing into the other end of the tube the call 
is produced; the tone, degree of firmness, etc., 
being regulated by moving the shortened end of 
the plug in or out as a finer and sharper, or 
lower and coarser note is required. 
Q.—Give me recipe for mosquito or insect 
Indiana 
By E. D. 
There is a general movement among wide¬ 
awake citizens of Indiana, to spend at least a 
part of their vacations within the borders of 
their own state. Every city has its colonies at 
some one of the hundreds of lakes to be found 
in the northern part of the state, and thousands 
of cottages have been built around their shores 
within the past few years. The lakes vary in 
area from thirty square miles to a square mile, 
those that have their outlets in the Great Lakes 
are of greater mean depth, although Wawassee, 
which is within the Mississippi basin and larger 
■than any, has a maximum depth of ninety feet. 
The divide between the Great Lakes and Missis¬ 
sippi basins is low and a hundred years ago it 
was possible to go in a boat from one basin to the 
other without a carry. A few years ago a law 
was enacted, which prohibits the draining or 
lowering of the waters of any lake, either by 
ditches or canals. It was the drainage of Kan¬ 
kakee lake that aroused the public and put a stop 
to further lessening of the small lake areas. 
Attractive as the lakes are, many citizens pre¬ 
fer the streams and have built cottages and 
clubhouses on the banks of the Wabash, Tippe- 
“dope.” A.—Three ounces sweet oil, 1 ounce 
carbolic acid, apply to hands, face and other 
exposed parts every half hour, while buzzers 
are troublesome. After two or three days the 
skin becomes permeated with the dope, after 
which only an occasional application will be 
necessary. Another good mixture is one part 
creosote, one pennyroyal, six parts sweet oil. 
Q.—How can I waterproof a tent. A.—Dis¬ 
solve half pound -each of sugar of lead and 
alum (powdered) in a tub of water.' Soak the 
tent for twenty-four hours in the solution and 
hang out to dry. This not only waterproofs but 
prevents mildew. 
Q.—How can I break my pointer pup of 
chicken killing? A.—Beat him over the head 
with the dead fowl, pass its legs around the pup’s 
neck and tie there for a day. You may have 
to do this two or three times and become de¬ 
cidedly unpopular with the owner of the 
chickens, but three days will cure the pup. 
Q.—How shall I go about it to pot lead my 
boat? A.—Apply a thin coat of linseed oil to 
the bottom, dust on black lead powder and rub 
down smooth. 
Q.—Give me a cure for ivy poisoning? A.— 
Take ordinary bi-carbonate of soda, mix with 
hot water, allow to cool, then rub on affected 
parts. This will usually do the trick in a few 
hours. 
Q.—'Can you give me directions how to build 
a sink or sneak box. A.—These are two en¬ 
tirely distinct models, and, as diagram and de¬ 
scription occupy more space than can be devoted 
to it in this department, full information for 
home construction will appear in next issue 
under Game, Bag and Gun. 
Outings 
Moffett. 
canoe and Kankakee rivers and their tributaries, 
while many others occupy tents and houseboats. 
The lakes contain bass, crappies, ring perch, 
pickerel and other varieties; the rivers contain 
bass, channel cat, flathead cat, buffalo, German 
carp and other varieties. The Kankakee has been 
famed for years because of its great pike, indi¬ 
viduals of which have been caught that weighed 
thirty-five pounds. 
A range of hills crosses the state from north¬ 
west to southeast, where the picturesque White- 
water valley meanders through them to the 
Ohio, west of Cincinnati. South of Terre Haute 
the hills are pyramidal and such is their shape 
as far as Johnson and Brown counties. Noted 
landscape artists have been painting the scenery 
of Brown, Morgan and Johnson counties for 
many years. Brown county is known among 
the artists of the country as the “Switzerland 
of America.” It has a population of but five to 
the square mile, the rugged character of the 
thickly wooded hills barring cultivation of the 
soil and population. In the hills are found short 
streams, free from sewage and factory waste, 
which are full of bass and the delight of the fly 
fishermen. There are hundreds of small streams 
anyone of which contains placer gold, not rich 
enough to warrant the mining of it as a busi¬ 
ness, but rich enough to be absorbing .to the 
tourist prospector. Nuggets worth from one to 
five dollars are common finds and nuggets worth 
ten and twenty dollars are frequently found by 
hunters after a storm, along the slate beds of 
the streams. Brown county gold is distinctive in 
that it has an engraved appearance. Some geol¬ 
ogists believe the gold is being made in the 
hills by incrustation. They hold such theory be¬ 
cause the hills are made up of talcose slate, 
rich in chlorine gases. 
A 2 3-4 carat diamond, a fine white stone, was 
found last fall in a branch of Bean Blossom 
creek. State Geologist Blatchley’s last annual 
report records the finding of 23 valuable dia¬ 
monds in streams of Brown and other hill coun¬ 
ties. Besides there are found garnet rubies, 
opals, and other stones of the crystal quartz 
group of semi-precious stones. 
The cave region of the state lies northeast 
of Evansville. Wyandotte, Marengo, and Twin- 
caves are the principal caverns. The Wyandotte 
has been explored for several miles. It contains 
streams, extensive galleries and large chambers 
of lofty height, from the roofs of which hang 
great stalactites which are met from their floors 
by equally great stalagmites. 
Indiana has as many miles of improved roads 
in fine condition as any state. Its lakes and 
streams, its caverns and picturesque scenery, can 
be reached by motor and traction out of any 
city in a few hours. It is a manufacturing and 
agricultural state. The climate of its hill sec¬ 
tions is delightful and recuperating. It has fine 
fishing and boating. It has the Wabash and its 
pearls and placer gold and diamonds, free to the 
tourist prospector. If any of the “resort” states 
afford more attractive diversions for the vaca¬ 
tion period, the magazines and newspapers have 
not given them publicity. 
EMPIRE BUILDER IS ARDENT HUNTER. 
Mandan, N. D., Sept. 11.—James J. Hill, “em¬ 
pire builder,” although 75 years of age, is not too 
old to enjoy a duck hunt, according to the hunt¬ 
ers returning here from Dawson, where he with 
his son, Louis Hill, spent three days hunting 
ducks at the Lee Pettibone reserve. 
His anxiety to get a good bag caused his son 
more worry than the' hunting itself. 
Monday “Jim” completely forgot that he is 
well along in years and started out with a driver 
and a rig for the morning shoot at the lakes. 
It began to rain, one of those disagreeable, 
drizzly, damp, uncomfortable rains, that make fine 
duck weather. Louis became worried over his 
father, had the high-powered automobile unloaded 
from the palatial private railroad car and with 
chauffeur started off on a search for him. 
The famous railroad man was found standing 
in water up to his knees in the rushes, dropping 
mallard. When asked whether he wasn’t afraid 
of rheumatism, and whether he didn’t think they 
ought to go back, he turned on his son with a dis¬ 
gusted look, stood regretfully watching the ducks 
flying for a few minutes, then shrugged his shoul¬ 
ders and said : “Well, come on, I’ve got the limit, 
anyway .”—C ourier-News. 
