FOREST AND STREA M 
by biting the heart, as I stated; and some of the 
brutes could have disposed of any deer or car¬ 
ibou that ever walked by the same method. 
Once I found a yearling deer that had just 
been killed by a wolf, and the fangs had not only 
touched the heart but penetrated it from both 
sides. There was not another wound of any 
kind on the body. At another time, in following 
the trail of the hunting pack at daybreak, I saw 
a full-grown buck thrown from behind by a wolf, 
and absolutely paralyzed by a snap over the 
kidneys. 'When I examined the buck, a moment 
later, the backbone was broken as by a blow from 
a sledge-hammer. 
On Saturday, May x, 1915, in the little hamlet 
of Bradley, in Sullivan county, New York, on 
the beautiful and renowned Neversink River, a 
stream which he loved devotedly and of which 
he had written much that was beautiful, Theo¬ 
dore Gordon, famous as a contributor to Forest 
and Stream and other publications, passed away. 
Theodore Gordon was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., 
on September 18, 1854, and was in his sixty-first 
year at the time of his death. On account of 
poor health he had spent the greater part of the 
past thirty-five years on and near the streams 
Neversink, Beaverkill and Willowmoc, in Sul¬ 
livan county, N. Y. He not only was an ardent 
and expert fisherman but was also without a 
doubt the most proficient fly tier in the United 
States, having made a life study of this art. He 
was a man known by nearly all the trout fisher¬ 
men of the United States and by many in Great 
Britain, as he had fished the streams and rivers 
of England for trout and salmon. 
Writing of the lamented death of one of the 
most notable authorities on fishing and outdoor 
sports in America, a friend living near Liberty, 
New York, says: 
“I knew Mr. Gordon for years and have spent 
much time with him. Always I found him most 
courteous and eager for new suggestions on fly 
tying and experiences on the streams. In the death 
of Theodore Gordon the world has lost a man 
who was loved by all who knew him, a man with 
fifty years of experience which he was always 
eager to give to his friends.” 
This little eulogy is not overdrawn. Readers 
of Forest and Stream who for many years have 
been familiar with Mr. Gordon’s writings, will 
feel a personal loss in his deatn. He leaves a 
vacancy which it will be difficult to fill, but a 
memory which will live as long as the gentle 
sport of angling exists. 
Forest and Stream makes some apology for 
presenting in this article the only portrait of Mr 
Gordon that could be obtained. It was taken 
twenty-five years ago, in Savannah, Ga., and 
and shows the subject as a younger man, al¬ 
though the general features are easily recogniz¬ 
able. 
It is not necessary, therefore, to consult m> 
inner consciousness, or to experiment with a 
grapefruit in a keg of flour, in order to discover 
what the timber wolf can do. What little I 
know about the animal I have learned by follow¬ 
ing his trail uncounted miles through the snow, 
by seeing him occasionally at work, by exam¬ 
ining scores of his victims ana noting their 
wounds and their measurements. If any of your 
correspondents know the wolf in this way, I 
shall heartily welcome their observation. For 
there is no other American animal about which 
so little is known, and so much foolishness 
written. WM. J. LONG. 
Hendersonville, N. C., May 14. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Some days ago I received a letter telling me 
of the death of Theodore Gordon. I had been 
THEODORE GORDON. 
An Earlier Portrait of the Well Known 
Angling Author. 
corresponding with Gordon and had a letter from 
him but a short time before, written in his usual 
cheery manner. Although I had never the pleas¬ 
ure of meeting Mr. Gordon, I have felt from the 
first letter I received from him that I knew him. 
It was a very pleasant friendship, and one greatly 
appreciated by me. 
I feel that I have lost a friend—one though 
never seen was loved and honored. No man 
could write as Theodore Gordon wrote without 
drawing those fond of God’s creations to him. 
He was a true man, and a true sportsman, and 
one who will be greatly missed by all who knew 
him in person and through his pen. 
ERNEST L. EWBANK. 
355 
SEA GULLS AS BOMB DROPPERS. 
Asbury Park, N. J. 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
A recent article was going the rounds of the 
local press in New Jersey in which it was stated 
that much trouble was being experienced by a 
bridge and turnpike company in Ocean county 
below Barnegat on account of the mysterious 
sowing of broken clam shells on the turnpike 
bridge approaches, to the detriment Of automo- 
bilists going that way. That a watch had been 
set to catch the perpetrator, when it had been 
discovered to be done by sea-gulls feeding in the 
nearby waters. The gulls had used the hard 
roadbed in which to drop the hard-shell clams 
from a height to break them open and thus get 
at the clam-food to eat. 
To a great many persons this seems to be a 
ridiculous story and told to impress gullible peo¬ 
ple, but strange to say, it is one of the best 
authenticated facts known in connection with this 
peculiar marine bird. The sea-gull has claw feet 
or talons, large and strong, although the nails 
do not grow very long, and while it sets on the 
water like a duck it does little swimming because 
it does not have web feet, but constantly flies 
from spot to spot, diving and feeding in the salt 
water. It will also feed in fresh waters near 
the sea. 
Its food largely consists of sea-clams, which it 
takes in its talons, rises to a height over the land 
and drops on a hard spot to break the shell and 
get the clam inside to devour. It is one of the 
most interesting sights to watch them at this 
work, as they display intelligence about it that 
would do credit to human. 
Mr. Wm. H. Flaherty, of Brooklyn, who is best 
known to the public as the great marine diver 
and the man who has built more lighthouses on 
the coast than any other person, told me of his 
watching the gulls working at the mouth of 
Shark River on the Monmouth Shore, where he 
was engaged in some government jetty and bulk¬ 
head work recently. He said the sands-pit at the 
mouth of the river was covered with broad con¬ 
crete piles ready for placing. The gulls would 
take the clams from the sea and drop them upon 
the concrete piles, and then swoop down and 
devour them. 
The interesting part of his story, however, is, 
that a gull with a clam would fly a hundred feet 
in the air, drop the clam, swoop down to find 
it had missed the piling and fallen into the soft 
sand. It would snatch up the clam again and 
try it over, this time soaring from fifty to an 
hundred feet higher. Often a gull would miss 
the piles and try it over half a dozen or more 
times before breaking the clam, and each time 
would soar higher than the time before, evidently 
going by the experience of the height required to 
get force enough to break the shell. Their being 
able to search out the hard places on shore is 
the remarkable part of the whole performance. 
WILLIAM K. FENN. 
CERTAINLY UP TO DATE. 
Cincinnati, Ohio, May 10, 1915. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have read Forest and Stream from its first 
appearance to the present time, and for many 
years been an occasional contributor. Permit me 
to congratulate you upon the recent change. It 
is certainly up to date. Long may you enjoy its 
prosperity! ' E. S. WHITAKER. 
Passing of A Noted Angler-Author 
Theodore Gordon, One of the Famous Authorities on Trout Fishing, 
Answers the Last Call 
