The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-11-17

layer of delicate flesh color, and upon this she
outlines her network of light blue veins This
is curious country, particularly In regard to
its women. AS Mr.. Labouchere touchingly
queries-upon hearing that out of ten people
brought up one morning last week at the
Marylebone police court nine were women
arrested for being drunk and disorderly-
"What other country can equal this?"
Hunting In Chesapeake Bay.
Baltimore News.
There is probably no more beautiful sheet Of
water in the world than the Chesapeake bay
and with the numerous rivers which flow into
it, it affords amusement for thousands, and
food for many thousands more. At its head
are the famous Susquehanna flats, the favorite
feeding ground of wild ducks, especially the
canvas back. These flats cover a space three
miles wide and several miles in length, pro-
ducing an abundance of wild celery, the favor
tie food of the ducks, which probably gives
them the flavor which is so much admired by
epicures, this flavor being in a measure lost
when freezing weather drives the ducks farther
down the bay where the wild celery does not
grow. The water on these flats is from five to
eight feet in depth, and at low tide the bottom
is exposed to view in some spots. The canvas
back is very deep diver, and it is said that
the red head, which is the next in point of
excellence, feeds with them and robs them of
their food as soon as they bring it to the sur
face.
A large proportion of the population of
Havre de Grace which is only few miles
above the flats, make a business of fishing in
summer and ducking in winter. The legis-
lature of Maryland has fixed the time for the
shooting to begin on the LIST of November, each
boat being required to take out license and
gun only three days in the week. This is done
to prevent the ducks from being driven from
their feeding ground. It is only On the flats
that sink boats are allowed to be used. These
boats are very simple in construction, being
nothing more than boxes long enough for a
man to lie down in, and having canvas wings
on frame attached by hinges to the boat,
which, by means of pieces of iron are sunk to
a level with the water. Decoys are then put
out, and, drawn by them, focks of ducks come
so near the gunner that he has no difficulty in
killing them with gun of small cllibre AS
on the first day of the season and carried to
Havre de Grace to be shipped by rail to diff
ferent cities. Duck shooting in this way is
not regarded as mere sport, but as a means of
gaining livelihood, it being anything else but
pleasure to lie for several hours in a coffin
shaped float with cold Northwestern blowing
and driving snow storm binding and wet
ting the hardy gunner.
River points on which comfortable blinds
have been built are the favorite resorts of the
sportsman. Nearly all the best points are
rented by clubs, who build a cabin on the
shore and repair to it as they may have the
opportunity. An evening spent in one of
these cabins or cottages is an occasion of rare
enjoyment. Around warm stove or open
fire three or four congenial spirits gather.
The prospect of a favorable wind and good
shooting in the morning is discussed. Each
one has story to tell, or some wonderful
achievements to relate concerning cunning in
We olden time when game was more abundant
and professional cunning scarcer. Towards
bedtime some one suggests hot punch, and
none say nay, but excessive drinking is not
INDUCED in, for to be good marksman one
must have "level head and a steady hand. ="
The dawning day finds breakfast over and the
sportsmen in the blind waiting the first flight
Of ducks Very often it is day of waiting,
for adverse winds do not incline the game to
fly, or they do not notice the decoys; but an
ticipation is pleasant, and bracing air and ex-
ercise is an excellent appetizer for an early
dinner
1t is singular fact not yet accounted for
that when the ducks are first driven from the
flats the largest proportion pass by the mouth
of Bush river and enter the GunpoWder, where
large numbers are killed as they fly over the
railroad BRIDGE but here it takes a good
marksman, good "claimer" and strong gun
to bring them down, and if the sportsman will
compare the empty shells from his breech-
loader with the number of ducks bagged he
will generally find that he has not more than
one duck to every eight shots fired Already
this season an immense number of blue wing
or teal have come to the flats, and shooting at
them has commenced in the rivers and creeks
Some days ago Mr.. Walton, who lives sort of
hermits life in cabin on Bush river, killed
twenty-five pairs of the blue wings in few
hours, but somehow he always knows just
when to find game and how to secure it. The
marshes at the head Of Bush river have
abounded this fall with reed birds and rail or
sora, as they are called in Virginia These
birds feed on wild oats, and their flight is so
sluggish that it requires very little skill to
bring them down From whence they come and
whittier they go, is still a mystery, for after
the first frost not one is to be found where the
day previous they were abundant Later in
the winter swan and wild geese make their
appearance, a few having already come as a
sort of advance guard. These will sometimes
be drawn by decoys but they are generally
killed at night by rowing on them with large
reflector lamp attached to the bow of the boat
The light seems to confuse them, and they do
not attempt to fly away Geese not being
divers and not having the long necks of the
| swan, fly into the creeks to feed at night. and
sometimes afford good shooting in the evening
and early morning, as they leave and return to
the bay. One moonlight evening, some years
ago, the writer and gentleman from Hartford
county, had two hours constant shooting at
| geese entering Romney creek, but the powder
few were killed Around the marshes at the
head waters of the bay quantities of snipe and
woodcock are found in the spring and sum-
mer, and even sportsmen from New York are
attracted by the advantages which these
| grounds offer for game.