The Panola weekly star. (Sardis, Miss.) 1882-18??, 1885-03-21
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SPORT Whist u lfl VOL may W.
ell ourselves That question IN thii aee
ol baline " slaughter ahd u hungry
appetite iuf ho1d have wandered
ln MACS hnd- have aeea sport in
many phh.os have taken part There.
ln. moreover sad thlnk I ana ihcre.
tore qualified 20 define whal sport is
I define sport "a being q hunt Ny
man after 4 Wild animal in which skill
"a required "a sccuro the beaat ~ pas.
time whcro fir play must have place,
where tho animal must have chance,
ahd that chance must BE- q fair and nat
ural uue
There Il sport In parirldgc-shooting.
~ grousc.shooing, and such pastimes,
when the animal hunted has q chance
of escaping, but must confess that the
brccch.loadcr heavily handlcaps that
chance.
II aud large bags 80 together, but !
contend that large bags are not sport
Between the true sportsman who works
his moor or turnip4 with pair of good
dogs, aud brings home his twelve or
fourteen brace Of birds In the evening,
and the false sportsman who walks his
moors and turnips with four or five
dogs nj work, and TO whom one brecch.
loader does not suffice for the continual
blazing and slaylng necessary, there Is
a gulf Of the widest dimensions The
former Is q sportsman. the latter a
butcher The former loves air and OK
ercisc no takes a pleasure In seeing his
dogs work; he has tlme TO admire his
surroundings. and TO feel that on the
good noses Of his dogs and on his skill
IN managing those animals depends the
bag Of the day. The latter, on the con
trary, has no time for such reflections.
His dogs aru worked by keepers, his
second gun Is loaded for him by n SER
want. his pile OF cartridges are all car
ripd for him. lilo walks on like me-
chanical wheel. Dogs point In quick
succession; grouse keep rising In thick
cloudsi bang, bang, bang goes the
deadly weapon. Birds are lluttering on
all sides; many fly away, hard hit. but
TO lnger and diet they arc neither
marked down. sought for nor picked
up; they might as well never have been
created for all the good or use they are.
And yet by this generation Of men
such bulchery IL allowed TO mock at
and deride tho name Of sport A big
bag Is voted "capital sport. q small
bag poor fun. and the true definition
of words Is ignored by all.
In the matter Of shooting. what are
We coming to? Take u large battue,
for instance, and tell me II therein lies
true sport. well remember the first
| ever witnessed, and think II will
not be amss here to describe Il and my
sensations
Take this as specimen OF q five
day,i shoot, The beaters got into line,
and tho battue began. What turmoil
ensuedl The beaters shouted and
yelled. aud one long nncohsing fusilado
filled the wood with its deafening roar.
Pheasant after pheasant rose In quick
succession from the corner near which
stood. The golden youth near me was
busy. lIe had three guns aud two
leaders; the latter hard at their wor''
Of loading. unloading, and handing i'lc
guns 10 their master. Down came tij
pheasants In showers. their bright,
glorious plumage mixed up In culver
Ing heaps In their dying struggleg.
MANY fell with only bro..ol
limbs or shattered legs / sa
them crawling around me. | counted
eleven at one time swimming about
Ia a little lake hard By, Into which
they had fallen. Then came the hares.
Here, there and everywhere saw them
running. terror-stricken and conius !.
To escape was impossible; the nettln I
prevented that Many were shot
through the loins or otherwise maine |.
and crawled about screaming and In
helpless misery. The sporting lord -.
ferrud 10 had over forty Of these wretch
I'd creatures around Very few were
dead, most Of them dragging themselves
along by their forefeet, their ears back,
their eyes distendcd. Rabbits found
themselves In n similar plight. Onc
poor hare came dishing into the net
close 10 where stood, and became In
exlrieably involved. lie had not been
shot nj. 'Poor brute, | will save youl
life II can" said, and tried TO un.
wind him. inexperienced. | bungled
over the task. and when at length sue
ceeded in extricating II, the animal wa
dead. Fright had killed the poor beast
whose timid nature il thus tortured BY
man. And so the battue went ON. II
course II time tho massacre came TO al
end. the beaiers arrived on the scene
and with their sticks aud bobnailee
boots put an IN end 10 the struggling
qulyering. dying beasts around. Sever
al among them we're carrying animall
still living. which they had picked VI
and had not troubled to kill.
Such was the scene that horriiied my
sporting instincts and filled me will
disgust. As gazed on the piles Of fu
and feather. and heard the congratula
lions Of the men on the "magniiicen
sport afforded. and the laughter Of th'
ladies. who had viewed unmoysd thi
horrible spectacle. I wondered wha
our good old sporting ancestors wouls
have thought could they have riser
from the dead and looked upon tha
scene.
Those who have hunted big game
who have faced the tigers dsadl,
spring. who have bearded the angrl
lion. without being protected by hun
dreds u beaters or mounted on tam
elephants those. In fact. who hay'
wandered amid Nature In her wildes
scenes, and drunk In the excitement o
that real sport which Ia fraught witt
danger. and who have met The vii
beast on eYen terms those who knos
well what true sport Is. reeoil il
disgust and absolute lostbing from III
cruel. unmaDly. and cowardly butch
cries which are made TO defame the fai
fame of snort In these latter dava =