82 
signs of tlie shy ones. This was of course dis¬ 
couraging, to say the least, but we had to put 
up with it and leave it at that. Our hunt gave 
us three chickens and we never saw feather 
again of the rest of them, nor did Farmer 
Brown, nor yet Daniel. 
“I can't for the life of me understand it,” 
uttered Fred as we trudged bravely homeward 
close on evening of that day. “There they were, 
right at our feet, you might say. We saw them 
rise, and we thought we saw them come to 
earth, and yet when we hunted there we could 
not see them, hide nor feather.” 
“There is only one reasonable answer to the 
proposition, Fred,” I said, having weighed my 
conclusions carefully. “The birds might have 
stayed here had they been unmolested, but they 
know what chilled shot is. It is safe to believe, 
isn't it, that they have continued their migration 
to whatever point they had in view before they 
lit here.” 
The night settled down very chilly, and when 
the last rays of light were going out in the far 
west, a wind arose that swept the land with a 
forbidding tone that sent a thrill tingling through 
me. The storm winds! How the tall trees 
around our cabin swayed and sighed that night; 
and how the moan went down the chimney, but 
the fire held its warmth and we smoked on, still 
talking and thinking of our success and failure 
with the chickens. But best of all I now let my 
thoughts run to the days to come—the winter 
days at Wood Hollow. As I sat there by the 
fire I could see myself saying good bye to the 
marts of men. I could see myself again enter¬ 
ing Wood Hollow cabin. I could see a roar¬ 
ing fire, while without the land lay overspread 
with a crystal white blanket. I could see tracks 
in the snow, and could hear again the trees 
swaying out their old tunes. I could see—but 
my pipe had gone cold! 
New Bird Sanctuary 
Fairfield, Conn., has io acres of hilly country, 
set apart for birds and entirely given over to 
them. 
This bird reservation has been placed under 
the friendly care and protection of Mrs. Mabel 
Osgood Wright, author, for it was through her 
fondness for birds and her labor for them that 
the place came into existence. It has been named 
“Birdcraft Sanctuary.” 
The first precaution necessary to safeguarding 
was the building of a cat-proof fence about the 
whole place. The strong wire meshes extend be¬ 
low the ground, where it is firmly anchored, five 
feet up into the air, where the top is turned back 
away from the grounds, preventing any animal 
from surmounting it. The gateway is of granite, 
representing an old English cathedral tower in 
miniature. In the top of one post of the gate¬ 
way are to be found eight complete and separate 
apartment houses for the birds. The other post 
is much lower and its top is hollowed out, form¬ 
ing a high and safe drinking basin and bathing 
place for the birds. 
Just within this gateway is an artistic low 
structure, or bungalow, fitting so perfectly into 
its surroundings that it may seem to have grown 
FOREST AND STREAM 
More About The Kentucky Reel 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I read with much interest the authentic and 
truthful account of the “History of the Kentucky 
Reel,” in the January number of Forest and 
Stream.. The facts and data were obtained by 
the writer of the article during an interview with 
my old friend, J. L. Sage, of Lexington, Ken¬ 
tucky. The account agrees exactly, so far as it 
goes, with the history of the Kentucky reel as 
given in my “Book of the Black Bass.” 
During my residence in Cynthliana, Kentucky, 
many years 'ago, I became quite familiar with the 
origin and evolution of the Kentucky reel from 
information derived from many old anglers of 
the “Blue Grass” region. Years afterward, when 
soliciting exhibits for the Angling Building of the 
Chicago Words Fair, 1 called on all of the makers 
of the Kentucky reel, among others, Mr. J. L. 
Sage, who gave me, in almost the exact words, 
the account as given in the article referred to. 
In this connection I might add that I bought 
and borrowed a large and complete series of Ken¬ 
tucky reels, which was exhibited in the Forest 
and Stream booth in the Angling Building. 
This exhibit was composed of reels of the 
several makers, in various sizes, in brass, silver 
and German silver. It is a pity that the collec¬ 
tion could not been kept intact, and deposited in 
the United States National Museum. Owners of 
some o'f the borrowed reels, however, would not 
have parted with them under any consideration, 
regarding them as precious heirlooms. 
As stated in the article cited, George Snyder 
(not Sneider), made the first reel, and I might 
add, the first multiplying reel in the world, as 
all English reels at that time, and down to the 
present day, were, and are, single-action reels. 
George Snyder was born in Bucks County, 
Pennsylvania (not in Switzerland as Mr. Sage 
imagined), and went to Kentucky in 1803. His 
son, David M. Snyder, was a druggist in Cyn- 
thiana when I resided there. He often talked with 
me about his father, and the invention of the 
reel. He owned his father’s favorite reel, a 
jeweled one, which I had in my possession until 
his death, I sent it to his nephew, also a 
druggist, in Louisville, Kentucky, after the Chi¬ 
cago Fair. 
George Snyder was an ardent angler, and was 
President of the Bourbon County Angling Club, 
in 1810. After his death, his two sons continued 
making reels occasionally, one of Which is now 
in my collection. I beg to refer any one inter¬ 
ested, to the account in the “Book of the Black 
Bass,” wherein is shown correct and careful 
drawings of the different reels, together with the 
gearing and working parts. Also portraits of 
several of the oldest reel makers. I might add 
that in my collection is a brass reel made by Mr. 
Sage, the smallest that I have seen, being classed 
as No. 1, just the reel for a lady, or any one pre¬ 
ferring a very light rod. It is perfect in every 
respect. 1 have also probably the first reel Mr. 
Sage made, a brass click reel, marled 1848, which 
he used in fly-fishing for black bass, in which art 
he was an adept- Mr. Sage was not a watch¬ 
maker like the other reel makers, but he was a 
good mechanic, and often made reels for his 
friends. 
JAMES A. HENSHALL. 
at Fairfield, Conn. 
there. This bungalow is the home of the care- 
taker, whose province it is to keep all birdland 
well guarded and well supplied with food. There 
are many little birdhouses on or near the bunga¬ 
low, and lunch counters, too, all ready to serve 
meals of corn, crumbs, suet, seeds or nuts at 
any hour. 
On going through the wire fence, one finds the 
nesting places of cat-birds and thrushes hidden in 
the low bushes near the ground. Suddenly a 
peabody bird darts out from a bush at one side 
and flies to a nearby tree, where he can watch 
the callers as they follow the winding trail down 
to the pond, where the water birds may build 
in the rushes or the tall tangles. There are bird- 
houses of all sizes and kinds fastened to the 
trees, from one small enough for the tiny house 
wren to one large enough for an owl or a duck. 
There is food everywhere. Suet is tied to the 
branches and there are large lunch counters on 
the ground, sheltered from the weather by a 
thick shield of cornstalks. These enclosures re¬ 
semble a tent with the front thrown open to the 
warm sun. On this snug floor are to be found 
sand, cracked corn and nuts. There are berry¬ 
bearing trees and shrubs in large variety which 
furnish the birds with many a favorite meal. 
Besides the pond of running water provided by 
the city of Bridgeport, there are rocks hollowed 
out and kept filled with water. 
Although part of the mission of the “Birdcraft 
Sanctuary ’ is to interest and to instruct the 
people of the surrounding country in regard to 
its bird life, its primary object is the preserva¬ 
tion of native birds, both for the sake of their 
beauty and their song and because of their eco¬ 
nomic value. In order that the feathered tenants 
of the sanctuary homes may be left in perfect 
quiet during the nesting season, the grounds will 
be closed to the public in the spring and early 
summer. 
Undoubtedly the most beautiful and ingenious 
and one of the most useful applications of nitro¬ 
cellulose was that developed in 1889 by Count 
de Chardonnet in the manufacture of artificial 
silk which far surpasses the product of the silk 
worm in brilliancy and luster. In the Charonnet 
process cotton or purified wood fiber is nitrated, 
dissolved, forced under heavy pressure into 
filaments by extrusion through fine orifices into 
a setting bath and finally treated to remove the 
nitric acid and restore it to the condition of 
cellulose. Dyed and woven into tissues and 
fabrics of surpassing beauty it has become one 
of the chief adornments of Everywoman.—The 
Little Journal. 
