

THE AUTUMN FAIRS. 
ee ae 
OW come Ceres and Pomona, with their laps heaped 
full of golden store—sheaves of ripened grain, cornu- 
copias of luscious fruit, and huge round yellow pumpkins 
for dissection in the winter days. The seasonof Agricultu- 
ral Fairs is at hand, and soon the treasures which the fruit- 
ful earth has yielded in their abundance will be displayed in 
tempting line in every town and city throughout the land, 
inviting the senses of sight and smell and taste, but for- 
hidden, all, by the stern injunction to “please touch noth- 
ing on the tables.” What attractive charms surround the 
exhibition always! What a fulsome odor of deep-hued 
plums, rare-ripe peaches, and voluptuous grapes pervades 
the atmosphere of the gas-illuminated corridors ! 
All through the summer months the denizens of cities 
have Juxuriated in the shade of their rural retreats, and 
watched the grain and fruits develop into full perfection 
under the vertical sun whose rays they so zealously avoided ; 
and now, with the advent of autumn, their return to town 
is greeted with the grateful ingathering of the harvest, 
spread out in lavish profusion, as if to rebuke their impa- 
tience of the midsummer heat and convince them, though 
man proposeth, how wisely God disposeth. Verily, ‘““He 
doeth all things well.” 
Already- the great annual fairs of the American and 
Brooklyn Institutes are announced for October ; other an- 
nouncements will follow in rapid succession of Fairs to be 
held throughout the length and breadth of the land. The 
farmers and gardeners are anxiously watching their choicest 
grafts, and waiting for the maturing of their carefully culti- 
vated tubers, hopeful of generous awards for excellence of 
flavor and magnitude of specimens in the coming exhibi- 
tions. The good offices of these Agricultural Fairs are mani- 
fested in ways direct and practical. The prizes offered 
stimulate a generous emulation. The scientific knowledge 
gained and imparted by demonstrative proofs of the adap- 
tation of fertilizers to certain soils, and of new modes of 
tillage, is most valuable and comprehensive. Indeed, there 
is no reward of toil so intrinsically satisfactory as the* re- 
turns of the husbandman’s labor. It is simply the talent 
well applied that is returned to the investor, increased a 
hundred fold. 

oe 
RATHER STRAIGHT-LACED, 
——_+—— 
ARIOUS charges were brought at the close of last 
week against a Rev. Mr. Hegeman, a pastor of the 
Congregational church, of Paterson, for a violation of 
church discipline, and among them was one for playing 
base ball. Mr. Hegeman stated that at Andover, Massa- 
chusetts, and at New Brunswick College, during his colle- 
siate studies, and even when he had a church in charge, he 
had played at base ball, and he said ‘“‘that had he the slight- 
est idea that it was inconsistent with his position as a min- 
ister of the gospel he would have stopped playing.” 
Everything, in a case of this kind, depends upon the com- 
pany in which this game, or any other athletic pastime, is 
played. If for his health a clergyman should wish to use 
the exercise of a gymnasium the most straight-laced people- 
could find no harm init. Suppose some worthy man, a 
muscular christian, should wish to strengthen his arms by 
striking ata sand-bag. Is he to be suppressed, and have 
anathemas hurled at his devoted head, because pugilists use 
sand-bags ? If a®clergyman should want. to play base ball 
with gentlemen, his social peers in every respect, there can 
be no possible harm in it. 
bat in hand, and the Bishops take no notice of it. Are we 
so much better in the United States, more pious, more con- 
scientious—have we a broader charity, than our English 
brethren ? 
As to the other charges brought against this gentleman, 
we haye nothing to do with them, but certainly in regard to a 
clergyman’s playing base ball we can see no harm in it, al- 
ways proyiding reverend gentlemen will be careful who 
they are playing with. We do not mean to say that the 
nines or elevens must be made up entirely of deacons, or of 
members of the Young Men’s Christian Association, but 
they must be composed of men who have gentlemanly in- 
stincts and associations. With somewhat of a horror for 
the sporting parson, we have rather a predilection for the 
clergyman who is not afraid to enjoy himself in a rational 
way with the bat and ball. 
The changes public opinion has made in regard to both 
the mental and physical life of the clergyman have been 
undergone of late years. Fifty years ago, if a clergyman 
had wr:iten anovel he would have been read out of the 
church. To-day, among our most brilliant novelists cler- 
-gymen take the lead. His physical or domestic life, even 
his method of dress, have undergone changes. Regulations 
as to the number of buttons, the necessity of a white cra- 
vat, are not now considered as important as they used to be. 
His amusements also differ widely from those indulged in 
by our father’s pastors. A man cannot always read divin- 
ity, or Greek, or potter in his garden, or strain his eyes 
over a microscope, or play on the flute or organ. The 
pent-up energy of many honest men must find a safety 
valve in some kind of rougher, more lusty amusement, and 
nature seems to point men to athletic sports as the one best 
adapted to clergymen. We donot mean to say that they 
shall fly exclusively to base ball or cricket any more than to 
billiards, or ten pins, or croquet, but should they do so we 
think that many very honest and well-disposed persons, al- 
ways providing clergymen will be careful of the company 
they play in, will see no more harm in it than we do. Asceti- 
cism and self-mortification are things of the past. They 
made religion a mysticism. A little more exercise may 
perhaps give vigor tooursermons. Physical strength al- 
ways improves the quality of the mental fibre. . 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
: OT 


English curates take the cricket - 

PROFESSIONAL OARSMEN. 
wT ES 
E print a letter to-day from one of our most promi- 
nent boatmen, upon the vexed question as to what 
constitutes a professional or amateur oarsman. The pro- 
priety of his writing under a nom de plume is obvious, 
though his real name is confided tous, under our rule. We 
are sorry that we cannot determine this question to the satis- 
faction and harmony of everybody. Our private views 
with regard to it are most clear, and accord with the gen- 
eral tenor of the accepted definitions. Asa boatman at 
Yale, as long ago as 1850, when College Clubs were first form- 
ed in this country, and as a quiet aud interested observer of 
the progress of boating ever since, we have had abundant 
time to mature our convictions as to what constitute the 
essence and equity of governing rules. 
In creating a code, the first requisite is well grounded in- 
tegrity. The framers should be honorable men, above sus- 
picion or the shadow of reproach, and above any sordid 
motive whatever. Their purpose should be to excite an 
honorable emulation, with a view to a perfect acquisition of 
the art—offering prizes, not to be desired so much for their 
intrinsic value as for the honor, excellence, and prowess, 
to which their prossession bears testimony. The laws that 
govern should be adhered to and enforced with uncom- 
promising rigor, and entries or applications for entry to 
Regattas or the ranks of Associations should be jealously 
scrutinized. There are always men ready to creep in and 
take advantage of any flaws or inadvantencies in a draft of 
rules that may enable them to reap pecuniary profit, and 
too much vigilance cannot be used to keep them out. We 
know that the difficulty in adopting a universal code that 
shall be binding and permanent, arises solely from the 
efforts of these professionals to play upon these who are 
not as proficient as themselves in the art of rowing. 
Heartily glad shall we be when one accepted set of rule 
shall be recognized throughout the country as the universal 
standard. The college clubs having cut loose from the 
professionals, will tend to hasten such a consummation. 
This element of professionalism must be eradicated from 
all amateur clubs and associations, whether they be base- 
ball, cricket, or boat clubs, or else we shall find the road to 
eminence and proficiency clogged and obstructed at every 

step. Our fields and courses will become arenas for betting, 
wrangling, and imposition. . 
—— + 
PIGEON SHOOTING. 
Se eke 
IGEON shooting is an amusement that is followed in al. 
most all the Northern States. Many clubs have been 
formed, matches take place almost every day in the season, 
and thousands of birds are killed. Looking, however, into its 
attraction as a matter of sport, little or nothing can be said 
in its favor, when put in competition with the more noble 
and manly enjoyment of the sports of the field. The lib- 
eral mind feels a temporary repugnance at the idea of first 
confining, and then liberating hundreds of tame birds, to 
be shot at byemen who are only practicing. The question 
is frequently asked, ‘“‘ how am to learn to shoot on the wing 
unless I shoot from the trap?” It is true, it is a good pri- 
mary school for the young sportsman, but why not use 
the “ Gyro-pigeon?” Oh, he says, there is no fun in that; 
in fact there is no fun unless he kills a living thing. 
Shooting tame pigeons from a trap cannot be called any- 
thing else than a cruel pastime, as when the trap is pulled 
the bird hops out, frequently commences to ‘“ peck” on 
the ground, and in order to make the bird rise, the lookers 
on are requested to “get him up” by throwing stones, odd 
pieces of turf, &e. In the Western States they avoid much 
of this cruelty, by netting wild pigeons, as they invariably 
fly direct from the trap. We would suggest if there must 
be trap shooting why not import some twenty pairs of ‘blue 
rocks” which is essentially a game bird, and would tend 
somewhat to lesson the cruelty, for there is seldom a bird 
that does not fly instantly the trap is sprung. This affords 
but an indifferent idea of the sportsman’s humanity who 
indulges largely in trap-shooting, as it is the most infatua- 
ting and expensive amusement the sportsman can possib] y 
engage in, for one day very seldom terminates without the ar- 
pointment of a second; one extravagance, as certainly en- 
genders another, to the utter exclusion of economy, which is 
upon all similar occasions generally laughed out of coun- 
tenance. We wish to discourage this kind of shooting as 
much as possible, and uphold the more substantial thing, 
that is to say, to range the forests and streams, or beat 
through the prairie grass and brush with a couple of steady 
setters. 
——-—— > 6 ~~ 
Mercuant Naturauisrs.—The Pall Mall Guzette says: 
‘“There is in Hamburg a mercantile house as devoted to 
the interests of science as to those of trade. Messrs. Godet- 
froy, South Sea merchants, employ their fleet of five-and- 
twenty merchantmen not only to carry on their business, 
but to obtain information of all kinds relating to the geogra- 
phy, ethnology, and natural history of the South Sea Islands 
and Australia for a periodical published by them from time 
to time, and to collect curiosities for the museum established 
in connection with it.” The contributions science has de- 
rived from our merchants in the United States has been im- 
mense. There is no reason why just such a dual capacity 
as belongs to the Messrs. Godeffroy of Hamburg, should 
not be more universal. Among our captains of steamers 
and sailing vessels, there is a growing taste for the natural 
sciences, and hardly a day passes but that some one of our 
museums does not receive from them some curious addition 
| to their cabinets. 




























A BETTER METHOD OF TRANSPORTING 
CATTLE, 
RES 
E welcome any amelioration made in the transporta- 
tion of animals, and call attention to a new stock 
car now running on the P. C. R. R., the invention of a 
Mr. MeCatthy of Salem. The car is thirty-six feet long, and 
accomodates sixteen head of cattle or horses. The ani- 
mals face one another. Arrangements are made to feed and 
water in the car. This car has been running since May, 
from Chicago to New York. There is something worse 
than cruel in the usual method of transporting cattle, for 
which the railroad companies themselves are responsible. 
The average loss of catt’e, when badly handled, amounts 
to fully ten per cent., and one would think that the self-in- 
terest alonemight prompt the graziers to employ better 
methods of transportation. With thisnew system of trans- 
portation ina car load weighing 42,250 pounds, the shrinkage 
in cattle is immensely reduced, the saving being almost enough 
to pay for one-half the cost of transportation. One matter 
of transportation entirely overlooked by most of our for- 
warding companies, is that of live game. The sending of 
animals, such as deer, for stocking parks, has been accom- 
panied so far with untold trouble. In fact many express 
companies refuse absolutely to take charge of animals 
of any description. Perhaps it would be worth their while 
to pay greater attention to this matter, and to facilitate 
their transmission. The sending, too, of dogs, is not as 
carefully done as it should be, and theprice asked for ship- 
ping them generally too high. We have, however, nothing to 
say against the treatment of dogs, as cases of abuse are 
exceedingly rare. All railroad men, especially express 
men, seem to love dogs, they almost always feed and water, 
and if anything over abundantly, but the boxes they are 
stowed away in, especially in the hot weather, sometimes 
makes them suffer dreadfully. A person who ships a dog from 
here to Chicago in very hot or very cold weather, generally 
gets his dog in such a wretched condition that he is not fit 
to work fora long time. Strange to say, in England the 
transportation of dogs is no better, and complaints of 
downright cruclty to dogs on the railroads are frequently 
made public. ; 

= eens 
Alas! alack and wella-day! There comes from Eng- 
land and Scotland most, saddening news, somewhat 
forshadowed in our last number. The grouse, at least for 
this season, were not. Hearken unto the wail of the lead- 
ing sporting authority: ‘‘We question whether the most 
gloomy anticpations pictured the havoc and devastation 
which has reigned amongst the game during the present 
year.” If it is bad in England, it is worse in Scotland, and 
sportsmen march sadly over the fields with reversed arme. 
Usually bags are reported, and 100 to 120 brace of birds 
fallingto a single gun at the opening of the season were not 
uncommon, but on this 12th of August, sixty brace of birds 
is the biggest number.- The wet season, bringing with it 
disease, has killed the grouse, so say the game keepers. 
One learned authority states, that the sand so neccessary 
for the digestive organs of the )irds, they could not find, 
all the sources of it having been covered over with mud. In- 
numerable skeletons of dead birds are described as “blanch- 
ing the fields.” ‘Inthe whole course of my shooting, twenty- 
eight years,” writes a saddened Ayreshire gentleman, ey 
never knew such a bad season for grouse.” Want of birds 
is almost a national calamity in England, felt by gun manu: 
facturers, cartridge makers, and railroad companies. Strange 
to say, not a single authority advances the only opinion 
about this dearth of birds which has any reason in it, 
Very certainly the long rains have hurt the birds, but what 
the able English correspondent of the New York Timex 
states seems to us to best account for the searcity. The 
birds have been killed off too fast and no race of crea- 
tures could permanently survive the annual slaughter to 
which grouse have been subjected. American sportsmen 
are surprised when they hear of eight or ten dogs, used by 
English gentlemen, in hunting acover. With their keen 
scent, and admirable training, not a foot of ground escapes 
the dogs. The field is as methodically laid out by them as 
a checkgr-board, Add to this the consummate skill of the 
sportsman, the excellence of his weapons, the rapidity of 
his fire with the breech-loader, and no wonder the birds 
are exterminated. When a natural accident like that of sicix- 
ness attacks the birds, what wonder is there, that so few 
grouse are left? What is surprising is that there should be 
any left at all. As it is, the best thing our English brethren 
of the gun can do, willbe to ‘‘ cease firing,” and to give the 
poor sickly birds a chance for next year. After all, the old 
sportsmen were right, and they can now say to the younger 
school, ‘‘we told youso, What with your battues and 
your breech-loaders ! if you keep on, the time will come 
when the British grouse will be as rare as the antedifuvian 
Dodo.” 
If the sportsman is disconsolate the cricketer is now in 
his glory, and innumerable elevens, dot all the rural com- 
mons, and mighty scores are heralded, and amateur run- 
ners are making rapid time before admiring audiences, 
The crack Polo players are on the moors now, and their 
bruiscd ponies are getting over their soreness, but speak it 
not too loudly, some of those sad scape-graces, the volun- 
teers, have been at it again aping the manners of the dandy 
cavalry officers. Think of it, but speak not of it in Gath, 
for the most aristocratic game Polo, the cyndsure of nobs, 
has been played by those wretched fellows the First Kent, 
R. V., on donkeys. After this let all the Right Honorables 
burn their polo sticks and turn their little steeds to the 
knockers, for the glory of Polo, its lovely exclusiveness, has 
departed.” 


