

258 
In Jones’ Bayou. 
In 1883 I was located eighty miles south of 
Memphis, where I was engaged in the construc- 
tion of twenty miles of the Y. & M. V. R. R. 
By consulting the files of Forest AND STREAM 
of Oct. 19 to Nov. 21, 1895, one will become 
acquainted with the characters in this sketch. 
At the time that I now write of I had thoroughly 
established myself in the good graces of all of 
the Jones Bayou settlers, and was no longer 
looked upon with suspicion. Whenever a new 
man, and especially a city man, goes into a rural 
district he is regarded at first with suspicion. 
No matter how pleasant and affable his manners 
are he is looked on as one who will bear watch- 
ing, and the country lasses eye him with sus- 
picion, and the old dames shake their heads in 
sagacious awe. ‘The only thing that he can do 
is to outlive all of this, and as soon as he es- 
tablishes himself in the esteem and confidence 
of the people he is all right. 
I had hunted and fished with Uncle Martin, 
watched water holes with Uncle Taylor, and 
hunted bears with old man Jones and his four 
sons until by this time I was pretty well under- 
stood. 
Christmas was coming on and we began to 
cast about for some way to amuse ourselves. It 
has been the immemorial usage in the Jones 
Bayou settlement to have a big Christmas dance 
on Christmas night, and all we boys exerted 
ourselves to make this one a success. We deter- 
mined to have a turkey shoot on Christmas day. 
We passed the word around among the girls 
that we were going to have the turkey shoot 
and devote the entire proceeds to defraying the 
expenses of the dance and supper. Also that 
the man who made the best score in ten shots 
was to have the choice of the girls for a partner 
all the evening. This being decided upon, and 
the girls all being willing, we made arrange- 
ments accordingly. The shoot was to come off 
at 10 A. M. and to last until 2 P. M. I was 
elected manager of the shoot and had to see 
to providing the turkeys, digging the pit and 
having rifles and cartridges in readiness, and 
above all collecting the money during -the pro- 
gress of the shoot. Rules were sixty yards off- 
hand at the turkey’s head. 
Christmas day came, a beautiful bright sunny 
day, just cold enough to make one stir a little 
to keep warm, but no wind. There never was 
a more beautiful Christmas day in the world, 
Or one that we had more cause to be thankful 
for. The whole of Jones Bayou settlement, and 
also a neighboring settlement was at the ‘shoot. 
The shoot began. We had four dozen turkeys. 
There were some very fine shots in that crowd, 
but one of the very best shots in the whole lot 
was the man that I was especially anxious to 
see beaten, because this man, John Jones, was 
in love with the girl I wanted for a partner 
that night, and I knew “my name was Dennis” 
if he won the race. I had another grudge or 
two against John that I wanted to settle also. 
Because that entire fall and winter every time 
we went bear hunting I had to pay him to let 
me kill the bear. John was the best hunter on 
the bayou, and knew every lagoon, bayou and 
cattle trail in that county, so of course always 
got to the bear first. Unless I paid him John 
would slip in ahead of the other’ hunters and 
kill the bear every time before the others could 
get there. 
The shoot commenced promptly at 10 o'clock. 
The price was ten cents per shot, cartridge fur- 
nished, and the turkey belonged to the shooter 
if he killed it. The body of the turkey is in 
a pit in the ground, and the head sticks up 
through a hole in a plank. It is not cruel, as 
the turkeys are used for Christmas dinners and 
it is instant death when a rifle ball strikes one 
in the head. The score was about even between 
John Jones, Lem Beavers, Hank Jones, a brother 
of John, and myself. We had each finished our 
sixth shot, John had four turkeys, Lem three. 
Hank three, and myself three. The balance of 
the crowd, with one or two exceptions, were 
shooting wild. not killing a turkey sometimes 
in twelve or fifteen shots. John had his mind 
made up to win the girl. However, being one 
ahead, he felt safe. John and Hank both missed 
FOREST AND STREAM. 

their next shots and Lem and I scored a turkey 
each, so Lem, John and I were now even with 
four turkeys each. John scowled an ominous 
scowl, as he now realized that I was trying to 
beat him. I made out as though I had no in- 
terest in the affair further than making a good 
score, but John knew better. 
Our turns came again and I missed. John’s 
face glowed with excitement. The muzzle of 
his Winchester described some pretty large 
circles before he fired, but I saw the turkey 
wilt and knew he had killed it. Lem looked 
at me in a sorrowful kind of way, gritted his 
teeth, and stepped up to the line. He had his 
old muzzleloader ready. Lem was as steady as 
a rock wall, and I knew that turkey’s head would 
fly at the crack of that old long rifle. Sure 
enough it did. The interest of the shoot was 
now centered in the four-handed contest going 
on. Hank missed, so dropped back with me. 
My turn again, and I killed. Then John missed 
and Lem and Hank both killed. It was getting 
pretty costly for the turkey shoot, as all the 
others had stopped and were watching to see 
who would win the girl. 
Lem was now one ahead, and we were all 
on our ninth shot. John, Hank and I were tied 
with five turkeys each. We all missed on this 
round, as the game was getting very interest- 
ing, and all were more or less excited. Now 
came the last chance and the shot was to decide 
the day. John stepped up with a swagger, and 
much assumed sang froid, banged away and 
missed. I could have shouted, I was so glad, 
but did not. Hank missed, and there was a 
shout when Lem failed to connect turkey head 
with bullet. Now my turn. I almost prayed 
as I walked up to the line I was so anxious to 
kill that bird. There was a breathless moment, 
then a shout went up from the crowd. No tur- 
key head could be seen; it had been shot clean 
off. Lem and I were tied and John was beaten. 
Lem was as happy as I was, and his blue eye 
twinkled as he said, “Well, old pard, we will 
have to shoot the tie off, I guess,” 
I was now at ease as I knew John would not 
have first choice of girls at the dance, and I 
did not care whether I killed or not, but my 
luck was with me and I killed my bird. Lem 
walked up and missed, I am sure intentionally. 
The shoot went on until all the turkeys were 
gone, ard I had something over $50 in my 
pockets as the proceeds of the shoot. After 
paying fifty cents each for the turkeys I cleared 
up twenty-seven or twenty-eight dollars and im- 
mediately took the money and all the dead tur- 
keys belonging to Lem and myself to Mrs. 
Beaver’s house, where I lived. 
I found half a dozen young girls and as many 
married women busy at work getting things in 
readiness for the dance, and supper, as it was 
to come off at Mrs. Beaver’s house. She had 
a large house fot that section of country. If I 
remember correctly it had six good sized rooms 
and a spacious hall. 
All the women were anxious to know who 
won the handicap, and I noticed that one of 
the young ladies blushed pretty deep when good- 
hearted Lem blurted out, “Why, that durn city 
cuss of course.” We had hired a string band 
from down at the railroad camps where there 
were a good many negro musicians. I, of course, 
asked Miss Nellie if she would be my partner, 
and she could not refuse as I had won her fair 
and square. She was the prettiest girl on the 
bayou, and a general favorite, 
We had the dance and the supper, both of 
which would have done honor to many a city 
home, as far as civility and gentility are con- 
cerned, and all went off in nice shape, and when 
I took Nellie home and bade her good night, she 
said, “Mr. Wingfield I am awful glad you killed 
so many turkeys.” A. B. WINGFIELD. 

IN THE WOODS 
or in the mountains, no matter how far from 
civilization, fresh milk can always be had if fore- 
sight is used in packing the outfits. Borden’s 
Peerless Brand Evaporated Milk in cans keeps 
indefinitely until opened, and answers every pur- 
pose. It is pure, rich milk, condensed to the 
consistency of cream, put up without sugar and 
preserved by sterilization only.—Adv. 

[AUG, 17, 1907. 
Tern Island Bird Reservation. 
On Aug. 8 the President signed a new order 
creating the Tern Islands (Bird) Reservation. 
This is the eighth reservation for birds created 
by President Roosevelt. The Tern Islands 
Reservation embraces all of the “Mud Lumps,” 
so-called, in and near the mouths of the Mis- 
sissippi River. These “Mud Lumps” are islets 
more or less temporary in character and created 
chiefly by sedimentary deposists from the river. 
They seldom exceed an acre in extent and are 
elevated from five to eight feet above high tide. 
They are occupied during the breeding season 
by large numbers of brown pelican, royal, caspian 
and other terns. Many thousands of the various 
species are breeding successfully in these places 
every year. The islands are totally useless for 
commercial or agricultural purposes and are re- 
served for the purpose of protecting these birds. 
The islands are placed under the charge of the 
Secretary of Agriculture, who appoints wardens 
whose duties embrace frequent trips to them, 
putting up warning notices and otherwise pre- 
venting trespassers from visiting or molesting the 
birds, either out of curiosity or for collection of 
plumes or eggs. The tecommendation for this 
reserve was strongly endorsed by the National 
Association of Audubon Societies for the Pro- 
tection of Birds and Animals, whose expert 
ornithologist and field agent visited this coast 
and filed an exhaustive report on the bird breed- 
ing qualities and feeding ground of the native 
fowl along that section of the coast. Creations 
of reserves of this character are now strongly 
endorsed and supported by the American sports- 
men everywhere and by all protective societies. 

Deer in Connecticut. 
Mirrorp, Conn., Aug. 11.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: In your last issue mention is made of 
seeing three deer on the New Haven break- 
water a short time before, and now I have to 
report two deer seen in this town within the 
week. These two animals were seen on Tues- 
day, Aug. 6, on the property of Mr. James Lyons. 
Neither one had horns, but both seemed in good 
condition. The.lessee of the lot drove them out 
of it, but in a short time they returned and had 
to be driven away again. They manifested no 
special fear of man. 
I think jt was a year ago this summer that two 
deer were discovered swimming in Long Island 
Sound not far from Woodmont, a settlement be- 
tween this and New Haven. Some men put off 
in boats and are reported to have captured them, 
brought them ashore, shut them up in a barn 
during the night, and then. turned them loose 
again. 
Only a few weeks ago H. C. Hammond, who 
resides west of this town at a place called the 
Plains, saw a deer in one of his lots. 
There seems no doubt that deer are largely 
on the increase in this State. OBSERVER. 

The British Columbia Season. 
Vancouver, B. C., July 20.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: We had a very severe winter here, but 
the game seems to have wintered well. Deer 
are undoubtedly on the increase, and sheep are 
also increasing rapidly in some districts. 
The pheasant shooting season will be start- 
ing in October, and gives every sign of being 
the best that we have yet had. 
Our importation of black game and caper- 
cailzie promises to be a great success. At 
least one nest of black game is known of and 
two of capercailzie. One of the latter has 
hatched out. 
The red salmon fishing has commenced on 
the Campbell River and a number of the small 
species of salmon (Cohee) have arrived. but the 
big fish will not arrive for a couple of weeks 
yet. Large numbers of tourists are up there fish- 
ing already, from all parts—New Zealand, 
United States, England, etc. 
All things taken into consideration, therefore. 
this season gives every promise. of being the 
best this Province has yet seen, from a sport- 
ing point of view at any rate. 
A. Bryan WILLIAMs. 






















































































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