Feb. 9, 1907.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
215 
Quail Shooting in Kansas. 
After a hustle and bustle to catch an early 
morning train one day last November, Mr. 
Dave Gray and I alighted from a train out in 
Kansas to go five miles to the ranch of Mr. 
Evan Evans, where, at 3 P. M. we were sitting 
at a table loaded down by Mrs. Evans with all 
the good things to eat that can be had on a 
farm only. 
Our arrangements were for a friend living 
some eight or ten miles away to bring his dogs 
and shoot with us; but as he was not expected 
until the next morning, we concluded to go 
out and locate some birds for the morrow. 
Selecting a likely looking slough, along which 
were thickets of crabapple and plum bushes, 
it was not long before we heard the familiar 
chirp of quail running. To see or get a shot 
was impossible without a dog, but at this point 
a neighbor came along with a shepherd dog, 
and pointing out a place for me to take a stand 
where I might have some chance, he and the 
dog bolted into the brush and began flushing 
the birds. With the first shot I scored a kill, 
and with the second a clean miss. I was able 
to get only a glimpse between bushes, but the 
third came straight up out of the thicket, and 
1 caught him as he leveled off for another 
thicket. These two I marked down and got. 
The fourth fell apparently dead in heavy grass, 
and we could not find it. 
Not wishing to scatter the birds, we con¬ 
cluded to go further; but at this juncture a boy 
came along on a horse and said that down the 
lane about 200 yards he had seen a large 
covey. We went that way and got four birds, 
the remainder going down the hedge a short 
distance. We followed, getting three more in 
four shots. As we had come out only to sat¬ 
isfy ourselves there were quail in the vicinity, 
we went to the house to sit around the fire, 
smoke, and eat big delicious apples until bed¬ 
time. 
We were to shoot quail in the morning, and 
have a jack rabbit chase in the afternoon, but a 
steady downpour all day prevented both; so 
we sat by the fire smoking, talking and eating. 
On the following day, though it rained in 
spots, it was no trouble for us to get the limit 
without dogs. There was one notable occur¬ 
rence. I took a shot at a low bird going down 
the hedge. It fell, and I thought, immediately 
rose again; however, my partner said it fell 
dead, and to satisfy him I went to the spot. 
There lying on its back was my bird, and as 
I stooped to pick it up, out of the grass, not six 
inches away, jumped a cottontail. The falling 
of one bird had flushed the other, but bunny 
didn’t budge; it was raining too hard for him. 
The last shots for the day and of the hunt 
were just below the orchard. We were one 
on either side of a ravine, where was a tangle 
of plum bushes, grapevines and some large 
trees, when a flutter told us of birds getting 
out of the bushes. I saw T three on the far side 
and took a chance shot as they passed under 
and between trees. Seeing my bird fall, I was 
about to speak, when my partner said he killed 
one and it fell just beyond a certain bush on 
my side. “Well,” I said, “you pick up my 
bird over there just in front of you.” Neither 
knew the other had fired, and each got his bird. 
Still raining, but a good fire, the best of 
edibles and a downy bed rested our tired 
bodies, and cheered our spirits for the jack 
chase on the morrow. This, though a failure 
in the estimation of those who had seen many, 
to us, who had never seen one of those beauti¬ 
ful greyhounds in full swing after a lanky jack, 
with his ears flat on his neck, apparently skim¬ 
ming along the short prairie grass, it was a 
revelation of speed not hitherto thought pos¬ 
sible; and when almost within reach and just 
at the right moment, the jack makes a 
quick side step, turns and dodges all the slower 
dogs, is off in another direction, with men all 
yelling and shouting, the frantic efforts of the 
dogs to stop or turn. The scene beggars de¬ 
scription, and about all one can do is to jump 
up and down and shout with the crowd, like a 
lot of Indians at a corn dance. All is over in 
an instant, by the hound picking up the jack, 
while the first cur dog that comes up takes it 
away, and with taii up and head in the air 
trots toward the crowd as much as to say, 
“Look what I did!” W. H. Shuff. 
Kansas City. 
The Death of Joshua Stevens. 
Editor Forest and Stream:- 
After a long and useful life, Joshua Stevens 
passed peacefully away Jan. 21, at Meriden, Conn. 
He was ninety-two years of age. 
Joshua Stevens was born in Chester, Mass., 
Sept. 10, 1814. He learned his trade as a 
machinist in Chester, where he commenced as 
an apprentice in 1834, working from 5 A. M. 
until 7 P. M. for $6 per month for the first 
year and $8 and $10 per month respectively, for 
the two succeeding years. In the spring of 1838 
he settled with his employer, taking his note for 
$150. Soon after this he took up pistol and 
gun work, which he kept at in some form up 
to his retirement from business in 1896. He was 
probably as familiar with the history of the gun 
business in this country as any one living. The 
modern pistol and rifle began to be evolved about 
1838. Mr. Stevens commenced to work for 
Cyrus B. Allen in a small shop in Springfield, 
Mass., in that year, and continued for some years 
in his employ. 
Early in the forties he met Sam Colt, who had 
in his possession a crude idea of a revolver, 
which after some changes he had patented and 
made by Eli Whitney at Whitneyville, Conn. 
Colt thought he could save money by having a 
shop of his own and finally started a small shop 
on Pearl street, Hartford, Conn., and there, 
while in Colt’s employ, Mr. Stevens produced the 
first model of Colt’s revolver ever made in Hart¬ 
ford. 
A few years after that Mr. Stevens invented 
another revolver, which he started to make on 
his own account, when Colt sued him for in¬ 
fringement. The case was tried in the United 
States Court in Boston, and although Mr. Stevens 
had the eminent Rufus Choate for one of his 
lawyers, he lost his case and was obliged to quit 
that branch of his business. 
Soon after the commencement of the Civil 
War, Mr. Stevens started the J. Stevens Arms 
& Tool Co., located at Chicopee Falls, Mass. 
From a small beginning this company has grown 
until at the present time it is one of the largest 
factories engaged in the manufacture of fire¬ 
arms for sporting purposes in the world. Mr. 
Stevens was president of this corporation until 
1896, when he retired. In the year mentioned 
Irving H. Page bought the interest which Mr. 
Stevens and his partner, Mr. James E. Taylor, 
had in the business, and C. P. Fay acquired the 
interest which his father, William Fay, had held 
in the .WStevens Arms & Tool Co. 
Mr. Stevens was very proud of the success of 
this business and the popularity and great sale 
of the rifles and guns which bear his name, and 
made frequent trips to Chicopee Falls to keep 
in touch with the business and give the present 
management the benefit of his ripe experience. 
Mr. Stevens had an extensive acquaintance among 
men in military circles and among manufacturers 
of firearms in the past sixty years, many of 
whom have passed away. He was a friend of 
John Brown, and the pistols Brown used in his 
raid at Harper’s Ferry were made by Mr. 
Stevens and sold by him personally to Brown at 
Chicopee Falls, only a short time before the 
historic raid. 
In the death of Joshua Stevens, New England 
loses a grand old man, and the firearm industry 
its patriarch. C. A. S. 
Massachusetts Fish and Game. 
Boston, Jan. 26.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
Senator Heman A. Harding, who rendered ex¬ 
cellent service last year as chairman of the fish 
and game committee, declined to run for re- 
election for the reason, as he tells me, that he 
could not afford to give the time to the service. 
His place as Senate chairman is taken by Hon. 
A. S. Hall, of Revere. The place of House chair¬ 
man, Capt. Dunham, of Nantucket, is occupied 
by representative F. J. Goodwin, of Marblehead, 
who was secretary of the committee last year. 
There are several new members placed on the 
committee, among them representative Griswold, 
of Greenfield, a member of the well known 
Greenfield Sportsman’s Club, and Mr. Dean, of 
Worcester. Good things are always expected 
from members of those sections where there are 
wide awake fish and game clubs. Several im¬ 
portant bills have been introduced by the State 
association and its allied clubs, several of them 
to be considered the coming week. An election 
of officers of the Massachusetts Fish and Game 
Protective Association at the annual meeting re¬ 
sulted in the re-election of Prof. Wm. Brewster, 
of Cambridge, president, and the other officers 
who served in 1906. The annual dinner of the 
association brought out a large number of the 
members. The principal speakers were repre¬ 
sentative J. N. Cole, speaker of the House, and 
Rev. Elwood Worcester, of Emanuel Church, 
both of whom made brief addresses which were 
received with enthusiastic appreciation. Hon. 
George W. Wiggin, in the absence of the presi¬ 
dent, presided and acted as master of ceremonies. 
A novel feature of the entertainment was the 
show of fishing and hunting scenes by a bio¬ 
graph company. Wm. Lord Smith, of Worces¬ 
ter, who has recently spent two years in tiger 
hunting in the Orient, exhibited a large number 
of views taken on the trip and gave an exceed¬ 
ingly interesting account of his adventures. 
Henry H. Kimball. 
Illinois Sportsmen Satisfied. 
Galesburg, Ill., Jan. 27.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The winter in this State has so far 
been very favorable for all kinds of game, and 
in hunting rabbits several times of late I have 
been pleased to note quite a number of coveys 
of quail, all of which appear to be as strong 
and vigorous as they were in November. While 
in Bureau county last fall hunting quail, I was 
surprised at the number of prairie chicken which 
I saw there nearly every day that I was in the 
field. The flocks were not large, but I saw a 
good many birds in sections which a few years 
ago were entirely devoid of these birds. I know 
this to be a fact because I know every foot of 
ground of which I speak. Crows are the worst 
enemy which our game birds have to contend 
with here now, and it looks very much as if 
a ten-cent bounty would be placed on them in 
this State during the present session of Legis¬ 
lature. Mr. James A. Wheeler, our State Game 
Commissioner, offers some very good reasons 
against this movement, but the sentiment of the 
sportsmen over the State generally may over¬ 
rule his objections. Notwithstanding this varia¬ 
tion in opinion between Mr. Wheeler and many 
Illinois sportsmen, we all agree that the Game 
Commissioner’s office is at present better filled 
than ever before. Buck A. Corbin. 
