Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-02
CHESAPEAKE POT-HUNTERs.
A Raid on MaryIanders Who Hunt Duck
with Cannon.

Sporting circles at Baltimore were
| thrown into state of violent
| excitement last week by the news
of partially successful raid on the pot
hunters of the Susquehanna river. The
| duck shooters, duck vendors and duck
consumers have been talking of nothing
| else all day. The raid was planned at the
instance of the gentlemen sportsmen of
| New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore,
and was executed by Mr.. John s. Semmes,
lawyer of this city, who, by the way, is
a nephew of Captain Raphael Semmes, of
the Confederate privateer Alabama, a
Philadelphia detective and two Baltimore
detectives. The result of the raid was
the capture of two huge guns, by means
of which the ducks are slaughtered at
| night by hundreds while at rOOst in the
water.
Those who are not familiar with sport
on Chesapeake Bay can hardly appreciate
what damage these pOt-hunters do. The
band of pOachers which was raided had a
| rendezvous on Spesutia Island, which is
about six miles below Havre de Grace.
There were about twenty of these big
guns in the gang, and it is estimated that
they killed five hundred ducks every night,
These guns weigh one hundred and fifty
pounds apiece, and are trained over the
bows of small skiffs. They are made on
the same pattern as ordinary foWling
pieces, but the bore is something tremend-
Gus, and they carry from a pound and
half to- two pounds of No. shot. The
man who navigates one of these skiffs lies
on his belly and propels it with two short
paddles. He has string attached to the
trigger, and when the gun is fired the re-
coil sends boat, man and gun back
through the water fully twenty feet.
When the river is covered with ice these
skitts are set on runners, and are propelled
by their steersmen with remarkable dex-
terity and swiftness. 1t is against the law
in Maryland to use cOntrivance of this
kind for killing ducks, and the penalty is
heavy fine and Imprisonment.
1t is commonly known that around Car
roll and Spesutia Islands, on the Susque-
hanna, are the best ducking shores. These
shores are valuable and are owned by in
dividuals or clubs composed of New
Workers, Philadelphians and Baltimoreans
who spend the better portion of their time
when the season is on, gun in hand. Last
year the pot-hunters got so bad that the
Ducking Association had a law passed
at the last Legislature increasing the pen
atty and rendering pot-hunters little bet
ter than thieves and burglars. This, how
ever, did not effect the desired result, for
at all times of the night around the
mouths of the GunpOwder, Back, Bush
and Susquehanna rivers the heavy boom
VI lllC NuChluS DE QGdTU.
The raid was therefore organized. and
Mr.. John Semmes was given the aid of a
Philadelphia detective and sent on the
mission. The scheme worked admirably.
The detective about month ago went
down to Havre de Grace and very cleverly
ingratiated himself into the good fellow
ship of the pot-hunters, many of whom are
influential men around Hartford county.
He went with them down to their strong
hold on Spesutia Island, lived with them
and shot ducks with them for COUPLE of
weeks. The two guns captured were
brought to Baltimore and DESTROYED.
They were both loaded, and thirty
drachms of powder and a pound and a
half of shot were taken out of each.
There are at least eighteen more of these
huge night guns in possession of the gang,
which are adroitly hidden. These may be
captured yet, for the last of the fight be-
tween the sportsmen and the pot-hunters
is not over.