June 8, 1907.] 
Fifty Years Ago. 
\ Cincinnati, May 12.— Editor Forest and 
! Stream: The growing scarcity of both game 
and fish throughout so large a portion of this 
country is quite in contrast with the conditions 
LI of fifty years ago. In my boyhood days, when I 
first became a lover of both the rod and the gun 
and tramped the woods and about the lakes and 
streams of central New York, it was no trick 
at all to catch a fine mess of fish in a short time, 
and black and gray squirrels were “plenty as 
blackberries” in almost every suitable woodland, 
and in the covers were numerous ruffed grouse, 
or partridges, as we called them, also woodcock 
and snipe on their favorite grounds, as well as 
quail and plover on the uplands, and many a 
choice bag was easily obtained. Passenger 
pigeons were very common, and at times in flight 
so thick as to form dense clouds almost obscur¬ 
ing the sun for hours in continuous passage as 
they went to and from roosts or nesting places 
to their feeding grounds, and myriads were killed 
with guns and poles and other methods, while 
F the numbers that were taken alive by netting was 
enormous. In Potter county, Pennsylvania, 
where I did my first trout fishing, the streams 
I were in those days veritably alive with trout of 
good size, and deer and bear were plentiful and 
frequently seen. 
: In 1857 I went to western Wisconsin when the 
i La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad was under 
1 construction, and as its terminal was then at 
Portage City, the trip from thence to Sparta, 
I about seventy-five miles, was made by the side 
! of the drivers of the old time Concord coach, 
who handled their four horse teams .with spirit 
and dexterity. The country through which we 
j'l passed was but sparsely settled, and the wilder¬ 
ness was quite in contrast with the densely popu¬ 
lated counties of central and western New York. 
Sparta was then but a small place, although the 
county seat, but located most favorably on the 
La Crosse River, with two or three of its tribu- 
| taries near, one .of which passed through the 
I town and furnished good power for a grist mill, 
j The town rapidly advanced in size and impor¬ 
tance, and when the railroad was completed it 
! became the shipping point for wheat, much of 
| which was hauled sixty to seventy-five miles to 
I this market. * 
i As I had completed an abstract of titles of 
I. all lands and lots in Monroe county I then had 
| an occasional half day of leisure in which to in¬ 
dulge my sporting propensities, and having made 
, the acquaintance of an unique character, “Old 
; Doc.” (last name forgotten), a veritable Izaak 
L Walton, then about sixty years old, below medium 
1 height and weight, wearing big bowed glasses, 
! and having a full white mustache and long and 
: very curly beard, and who knew every trout 
! stream for miles about, I was fortunate enough 
; to win favor, and accompanied him on many 
I trout fishing expeditions during the next few 
j years. I have fished with many, but have never 
; known a person who could equal Old Doc. in 
enticing the wary trout to lure. In those days 
I he could catch three to my one, but as he was 
j in poor circumstances, and caught to sell—and 
trout were, plentiful—I was well satisfied with 
J the proportion that I gathered in for myself and 
I fi'iends, and could carry mine in a basket, while 
1 the old man trudged home weighted down with 
both basket and good sized bag slung over his 
shoulder. On Farmers Creek, that ran through 
f wild meadow land, were many rattlesnakes, and 
I well remember a most remarkable jump that I 
j 9 nce ' rna de, when in sneaking up to drop a line 
into a favorite bend, I inadvertently stepped 
upon a big rattler and instantly acted on impulse 
of the moment, and then gave up the idea of 
! fishing any more until I had found a club and 
despatched the snake. 
| In the early fall there was plenty of sport 
to be had among the partridges and prairie 
! chickens that were everywhere in the vicinity, 
1 especially w«re the chickens in great numbers. 
I Many a morning have I procured a fine bag of 
| one or the other and sometimes qf both, going 
not over a mile from town, and' returning in 
i time for breakfast and business. It makes me 
. hungry to recall breakfasts made of a nice young 
1 fi> r d broiled with a bit of salt pork skewered 
( 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
to it to give it flavor as it was cooking. 
A few years afterward I traveled with buggy 
and team over northern Wisconsin and Min¬ 
nesota. . I w T as seldom without rod or gun, and 
at certain seasons had both with me, and hav¬ 
ing trained my horses to stand under fire, would 
pick up a number of birds each day from shots 
offered along the roadside, and they were always 
welcomed at my stopping places. With a leather 
bucket hung to an axle, whenever I crossed a 
brook, I would offer water to my team, and 
when the stream looked inviting would give the 
horses a rest while I tried for trout or other 
fish, and by putting them with grass in the shade 
under the seat they were usually in good condi¬ 
tion when arriving at a town. 
North from Menominee, in Dunn county, and 
also in St. Croix and Polk counties, Wisconsin, 
were , some rare trout streams. In- Minnesota, 
with its innumerable little lakes, there were bass 
and perch ever eager to accept a bait, and fine 
strings were easily obtained, with never a 
thought that the day would come when the 
w r aters then teeming would become so depleted 
that but few could be caught in an entire day’s 
fishing. As I passed over those beautiful prairies 
in southern Minnesota, then but sparsely settled, 
and the settlers much excited over the terrible 
massacre by the Sioux at New Ulm, I had little 
idea of how great a change would take place 
as I found twenty-five years later, when fine 
farms, thrifty orchards, and good buildings occu¬ 
pied so much of. what had been wild land. 
In my journeyings I frequently saw groups of 
deer crossing the road, or near on either side; 
often met Sioux in Minnesota, and Winnebagos 
and Menominees in Wisconsin, and on several 
occasions visited their villages when they were 
celebrating their green corn or other dance fes¬ 
tivities. In Wisconsin the Indians gathered and 
brought to market great quantities of blueberries, 
whortleberries and cranberries. The little Indian 
boys would pick up pennies by exhibiting their 
skill with bow and arrow, the spectators furnish¬ 
ing the coin to be inserted in the top of a split 
stick stuck in the ground, at which the kids 
would take turns in shooting, and it became the 
prize of the one who knocked it out. The In¬ 
dians wore buckskin leggins, calico shirts and 
breech cloths, and a blanket which was worn 
winter and summer, completed their attire. 
When .1 first , visited St. Paul it was a small 
town doing quite, a big trade, and the streets 
were thronged with the great clumsy wooden 
block-wheeled ox carts from the Red River of 
the North, a sight never to be forgotten. What 
great changes have been wrought since fifty 
years ago! Railroads across the continent, with 
their branch lines, have been the primal cause 
of opening and developing the entire country. 
1 elegraph and telephone communications have 
been established, and teeming cities, with manu¬ 
factories, electric lights and crowded street cars, 
have taken, the place of towns that struggled for 
existence in the pioneer, days. New and im¬ 
proved mechanical machinery and implements 
have taken the place of crude methods and pro¬ 
gress is marching onward to yet more perfect 
results. 
Few of the present generation realize the 
grand advance that civilization has made in the 
LJnited States since fifty years ago. 
E. S. Whitaker. 
Deer in Town. 
Providence, R. I., May 27 . — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The inclosed clipping from the Provi¬ 
dence Journal of May 26 may perhaps be of some 
interest: 
“Possiblv through the belief that its presence 
at Roger Williams Park might prove of interest 
to the persons who will visit Providence during 
Old Home Week, a lonesome buck deer wended 
its way on to Westminster street near the Hoyle 
building yesterday morning at 10:30 o’clock, and, 
after frightening horses and pedestrians, became 
scared itself, seeking refuge in a barn in the 
immediate vicinity. The animal’s entrance into 
the barn was noted by various human pursuers 
and escape was cut off by closing the door. 
The captors of the animal began to wonder 
what to do with the deer, finally deciding that 
897 
the Police Commissioner should be informed of 
the disturbance the creature had provoked among 
the citizens and horses of the vicinity. Secre¬ 
tary Gee, of the commission, was not aware that 
the police department possessed facilities for 
keeping deer and decided that the animal would 
come within the province of the city department 
of parks, with thq result that Superintendent 
Fitts was notified. 
“Ihe deer was an object of much interest to 
those who knew of its capture. A wagon loaded 
with a crate finally arrived at the barn and 
preparations were made to cart the animal to 
the park,. that it might take an important role 
in the doings of the park menagerie. Then an 
unforeseen difficulty presented itself, inasmuch 
as it was found that the crate provided for the 
deer’s transportation was far better fitted for the 
transportation of small dogs and kittens than 
for forest game animals. After a while, by the 
use of considerable mental calculus and trigo¬ 
nometry, the problem was solved and the wagon 
drove away with the crate just about as full of 
deer as it could be. 
“Just where the deer came from before strik¬ 
ing Westminster street is not recorded. It may 
have come from the direction of South Provi¬ 
dence along Pearl street. Needless to say, the 
creature was just as much afraid of the horses 
and pedestrians as they were of it. Last night 
the animal was placidly cropping grass in the 
park.” 
This is, I believe, the second deer within a 
year that has been captured in the principal 
streets of Providence. Henry S. Chafee. 
Death of Judge W. K. Townsend. 
Judge William Kneeland Townsend, of the 
Second District United States Circuit Court, died 
Saturday last, in New Haven, Conn. He was 
in his fifty-eighth year. 
Judge Townsend was one of the most distin¬ 
guished men in Connecticut. Born in New 
Haven in 1849, he gfaduated from Yale in the 
Class of 1871, studied law and received the de¬ 
gree of L.L.B. in 1874, and that of D.C.L. in 
1880. He was corporation counsel for the City 
of New Haven, was appointed Judge of the 
United States District Court for the District of 
Connecticut, in 1892, and in 1902 was promoted 
to be Judge of the United States Circuit Court 
of the Second Circuit. He was Professor of the 
Law of Contracts at Yale University, was a con¬ 
tributor to the magazines, and was the author 
of several legal works among which are: “New 
Connecticut Civil Officers,” “History of the 
American Law of Patents,” and “Trade Marks, 
Copyrights and Admiralty.” 
Judge Townsend was a keen sportsman and 
extremely fond of outdoor life. On a number 
of occasions, accompanied by his wife, he made 
big game hunting trips to the high mountains 
of the further west and had a deep love for the 
mountains. He was a member of the Boone and 
Crockett Club. 
Judge Townsend was a man of great personal 
charm as well as of brilliant intellect, and the 
sweetness of his nature impressed itself on all 
with whom he was brought in contact. 
Hunting Without a Gun. 
Mr. F. T. Webber, of Los Animas, Colo., sends 
11s the following: 
“In Forest and Stream of May 11 the ques¬ 
tion is raised as to the possibility of capturing 
of ruffed grouse without the use of gun. That 
reminds me! In 1888 at Silver Creek, Nebraska, 
when I was feeding the barn lambs and old 
ewes from our Wyoming herd, I spent much time 
with the gun among the quail. 
“One morning after a light fall of snow I was 
among them in the brush surrounding our corrals 
(wffiere they assembled to feed). Raising a 
covey I marked them down and going to the 
spot I could barely discern in the light snow the 
spot where they had disappeared, but by thrust¬ 
ing my hand in the snow and following the direc¬ 
tion of flight I secured five beautiful birds. 
Then, apparently conscious that something was 
wrong, the balance of the covey sprang into the 
air and extended their flight.” 
