736 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 13, 1911. 
One Hundred Years. 
It is not often in this country that we hear 
of a business that was established one hundred 
years ago. Here firms spring up and flourish 
mightily for a time, or fade and fall quickly. 
If they flourish, the man who has built up the 
business is likely to retire, or if he leaves it to 
his son, that son too often lets it go to pieces. 
In Philadelphia things are likely to have more 
stability than in many cities of our land, and it 
is in Philadelphia that there was recently held 
a meeting to celebrate the one hundredth anni¬ 
versary of the founding of the Tryon Firearms 
Company at the sign of the golden buffalo— 
1811-1911. 
The Edward K. Tryon Company, of Philadel¬ 
phia, was established by George W. Tryon, at 
165 North Second street, in 1811. It has en¬ 
dured for one hundred years, and during four 
generations has borne the name of Tryon. From 
the point of view of to-day things were rather 
primitive in this land of ours in 1811. It was 
not very long before Lewis and Clark had re¬ 
turned from their trip across the continent, and 
just before the breaking out of the War of 1812. 
Firearms were all flint locks, matches were un¬ 
known, the flint and steel was the only means 
of procuring fire. 
George W. Tryon, the founder of the house, 
enlisted in the War of 1812, but being a manu¬ 
facturer of firearms he was sent back to his 
shop by the Government on the ground that he 
would be more useful there than as a soldier 
in the field. Later he was associated with J. 
Joseph Henry in the manufacture of repeating 
muskets, and very likely the old-time Henry 
rifle took its name from this Henry. 
The E. K. Tryon Company has celebrated the 
hundredth anniversary of the house by issuing 
a beautiful memorial booklet giving a history 
of the firm, illustrated by portraits of members 
of the concern past and present, and by many 
engravings of old-time arms. The first week of 
January, 1911, was celebrated at the Tryon store 
by an exhibit of rare and interesting arms, a 
banquet and other festivities. This history of 
a fine old house is well worth reading. 
In Louisiana. 
New Orleans, La., April 25 .— Editor Forest 
and Stream: The game commission is consider¬ 
ing the problem of the English sparrow. In a 
bulletin from the Agricultural Department, Prof. 
Dearborn says sparrows have either killed or 
driven away most of the bluebirds, mockingbirds, 
the wren, the thrush, the martins and swallows, 
redbird and various other species that afford 
pleasure and beauty to mankind. It is suggested 
as the easiest way of exterminating them to de¬ 
stroy their nests and eggs by means of a hook 
placed on the end of a long pole. This, he says, 
is the simplest way, although they can be trap¬ 
ped, shot, poisoned, etc. The English sparrow 
destroys flower gardens and vegetables, plants 
and otherwise do great harm in addition to de¬ 
stroying the nests of song birds and frequently 
killing them. Sparrow hawks are not sufficiently 
numerous in cities and towns to make any suc¬ 
cessful inroads on the sparrow. This hawk should 
be protected and every means adopted to en¬ 
courage its increase. Commissioner Miller asks 
the co-operation of the public in getting rid of 
sparrows. 
Jules Moore and Tom Mathews, market hun¬ 
ters and trappers succeeded in capturing a large 
number of alligators during the past ten days 
and bringing the hides to Lake Charles to ship 
to the leather markets. It is stated that the men 
caught the alligators in the marshes near Lake 
Charles. 
President Miller attended the Louisiana Press 
Convention at Lake Charles during the week and 
delivered an illustrated lecture showing the natu¬ 
ral food supply of Louisiana and many handsome 
pictures of song birds, game birds, animals and 
fish. He thought it well for the editors of 
Louisiana papers to know just what the objects 
of the game commission are and to solicit their 
aid and sympathy in protecting birds and fish. 
The big seven-foot alligator, captured at Chef 
Menteur, for Sarah Bernhardt, has been re¬ 
turned. It was shipped by express to New York 
and negotiations made with a steamship com¬ 
pany to transport it to France, but the steamship 
people exacted over $200 for freight charges and 
also demanded food be supplied the alligator in 
transit. The actress demurred and declined to 
pay the bill. As a result the express company 
returned the alligator to Captain Raphe, at Chef 
Menteur. The alligator was intended to figure 
in a press agent’s story. 
The Louisiana game commission has fitted out 
three patrol boats armed with one-pound rapid 
fire guns for the purpose of protecting the fish¬ 
ing grounds within Louisiana territory on Lake 
Bergne. 
The game commission has decided to plant a 
large amount of wild celery in the marshes and 
prairies and other p'aces where the ducks feed 
in Louisiana. The planting wiil begin the last 
of August, and it is thought this plant will 
mature in time for the ducks which will migrate 
here in October from the North. 
The Opelousas Gun and Rod Club, of Opelou¬ 
sas, La., has invited Governor Sanders, members 
of the game commission, levee boards and other 
organizations and officials to a repast to be served 
at Second Lake on May 9. The object of the 
meeting is to devise ways and means of ridding 
the Courtableau and tributary streams of water 
hyacinths. The club members state these hya¬ 
cinths obstruct navigation and also kill and pre¬ 
vent game fish from increasing. An energetic 
effort will be made to eliminate the hyacinth 
growth. 
Hunting Notes. 
Berkeley, Cal., May 1. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The meadow lark is on trial for its 
life this season, and much depends upon the re¬ 
port that will be made to the Fish and Game 
Commission during the year as to whether or 
not a law will be passed by the next Legislature 
removing this bird from the list of protected 
birds. Investigations are now under way to de¬ 
termine what damage these birds do in the agri¬ 
cultural sections, and whether this is over¬ 
balanced by the benefits done by them. Grain 
growers assert that the lark does much damage 
to his crops, and a watermelon grower from 
Tulare says the birds damage his crop by drill¬ 
ing holes into the ripening melons. At the last 
session of the Legislature a bid was drafted per¬ 
mitting the killing of the meadow lark in all 
parts of the State, but that met with such a 
storm of disapproval that all of the counties 
were then eliminated but eleven. When the bill 
with this amendment was voted upon it was lost 
by a small majority. The credit for the victory 
for the bird should be given to Miss Libbey, of 
Redlands, “the little lady in brown,” who spent 
several weeks at the State Capitol representing 
the Audubon Society. 
C. L. Crellin, of Pleasanton, Cal., has em¬ 
barked in the business of raising pheasants and 
has just built a seven-acre pen to accommodate 
the birds. He has been instructed in the busi¬ 
ness by the superintendent of the State Game 
Farm at Hayward, R. Argabrite, and plans to 
release a large number of the birds in the 
vicinity of Pleasanton as soon as he has suffi¬ 
cient on hand. A preserve of about 4,000 acres 
has been formed and it is believed that pheas¬ 
ants will thrive there, as conditions are very 
satisfactory. Golden Gate. 
Spring in North Dakota. 
Galesburg, N. D., May 2. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: We have had a very cold spring, but 
geese have been here in larger numbers than in 
many years. The late Legislature passed a law 
allowing shooting of geese in the spring through¬ 
out the State, but I understand it does not go 
into effect until July 1 next. 
Notwithstanding this, however, many were 
killed this spring and many ducks were also 
killed. This law was passed in spite of the pro¬ 
tests of an official of the Audubon Society, and 
I do not believe it to be in accord with the 
wishes of a large majority of the residents in 
the State, but where will you match the idiosyn¬ 
crasies of State Legislatures? 
Prairie chickens are quite plenty hereabout. 
One can hear their booming in the house with 
the door shut of a quiet morning. There should 
be excellent shooting up here this fall. 
J. P. Whittemore. 
English Women to Ride Astride. 
The English correspondence of the New York 
Sun has this to say of a subject often discussed 
in Forest and Stream : 
“While the court is at Windsor for the brief 
Easter recess, Princess Mary is taking further 
lessons in the riding school attached to the castle. 
She is already expert in handling a pony and 
has never shown any trace of the nervousness 
which for many years characterized Queen Mary 
and which has prevented her from ever really 
enjoying riding. 
“To the delight of all votaries of cross saddle 
riding, Princess Mary is being taught to ride 
astride and she wears a divided skirt. King 
George has pronounced views on the ordinary 
method of teaching girls to ride, considering it 
dangerous and ungraceful. His approval of the 
cross saddle for women will mean that it will 
be adopted in riding schools and throughout the 
country. 
“As a matter of fact the King was the original 
instructor of his daughter in this way of sitting 
on a horse, for the first time she mounted a pony 
it was her father who lifted her on the boy’s 
saddle he had had made for her, and it was he 
who led the pony down Main avenue at Sand¬ 
ringham, pointing out to his daughter the proper 
way to sit and to hold the reins.” 
