Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-03
GunnIng in the Marines.

1HH OPENING OF THE szAsoN-rSPPERINa REID
BIRDS AND oRroLAS-rHE FANCY SPORTSMAN AND
THE "Pof HuSr1R,' &C
List Saturday being the first day Of the month
with an r." besifej hlv.ng the distinction OF
o2'ning the oyster season, Was hailed With delight
Dy the gunner AMI sportsman as the oreaing OF
the cunning season, particularly on the mlrShes.
Very carly In the morning the ring OF the shotgun
could be heard All the skiffs and every boat suit
able for conveying gunners over the MARSHES were
eng tged- Some OF them were secured weeks In adj
vance. and not few were built expressly FOR the
occasion. The vast marshes on the Eastern
Branch. extending from the navy yard to Biadens-
burg. MI, were nnmerou;ly patronlzed by the
eager gunners- AL day a line OF crafts OF nearly
every d ripti0H. from the new skiff to the Il At
boat. ami ring sunncrs OF all ages, were seen
making all possible speed for the faid OF opera
tiCns. Every gunner who ccud raise firearm
and water cra!t was on the marsh, and mlny q
department. CLERK was absent from his pest SaIur
day. There was as much variety and contrast In
the weapons borne by the gunncrs as there was
b tween the craft and tie gunners themselves.
modern breecl-lcaling shotgun to the b,uader-
bass f.ipT)vlsed from an Old government Inusket
hored out. and in som, Gases with the stock
tied on with string. The number OF gunncrs
was Father hr-tr than usual, and the number OF
birds killed Rather small. TIL, ort0lan were not
30 numerous, but the reed birds and black birds
were more plentiful than usual None OF the
DiriS were In good cOnd ton, but the quality AS
u TO the aV.rage at this time OF the season. The
fessional gunnerS who took lii tie account OF he
other birds, and consequently more OF these were
Killed Dy the gunHeTS. .: course there were anna
teur5 who killed whatever they could.
SUCCESSFUL HUNTERS
Mr.. VIM Wagner, OF Eist Washington, is sup
posed to have killed the most ortOlan- He took
home eighty seven ortolan. Among the other
successful hunters were Cbas Williams, Richard
ZurhOrst, Prof. Sousa, Chas- Morgan. Mr.. Camp
bell Darlington. and Jno. Wagsaman. The ma
jority brought home less than dozen OTtolan, and
a few reed birds.
the anticipation OF the gunners, particularly the
professional men and government employees, were,
but In few eases, realized. Some OF these gentle
selves with COOL skifIs. breech- loading guns and
hiring men at IRON s. to S. per day to shove them,
and coming out OF the marsh with as few as three
Ortoian. One OF this class, who keeps pack OF
hunting dogs all the year round, to make it hard
for the birds, felt particularly sore when river
urchin showed his little scow by, and, showing
dozen b!rjS, laughed at the fancy gunner for hay
Ing so few.
THE FANCY SHOT AND THE POT HUNTER.
riverman who has been cunning on the
marshes for good many years told STAR
porter that he would like to soy word In reply
to q communication printed recently about spot
hunters" "What want to say ia this" said he:
at is all well enough for those fancy gunneis
with their brench-lOat;ag guns TO talk about pot
hunters killing birds before the season opens but
II they don't do this they get iett, and might
rs; wen stay home Thy talk about the
killing OF woodcocks o. their nests and de-
stroy'ns the Whole .mily; This is no worse
through strip OF country With their mo Iern guns
and killing every bird that gets uD before them. l
one on each side-snd they could load up and fire
SO quick til 1t they killed every bird that got up
When thy go through place first pot hunter
as they call us. might well stay at hcme, be-
Gu g he can't find anything to shoot at" There
was the uSuil accidental peppering OF clum-y or
citent occurred