Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-12-16
P0ACHING AS A FINE ART.
A CURIOUS CHAPTER IN ENGLISH
RURAL HISTORY.

the Game Laws of Great Britain-En-
listing the Aid of County JuSticeS, Milk
men and Some Of tile FarmerA
Poaching is one of the fine arts-how Zine"
| only the initiated know-and the successful
poacher Is always a specialist. He selects one
kind of game, and his whole knowledoe of
woodcraft is directed against it. In autumn
and winter the man who devotes himself TO
'fur" knows the whereabouts of every hare
| in the parish-not only the field in which il
is, but tue very clump OF rushes in which is
its form" As ppss goes away down the
turnip rig, he notes her every twist and
double, and takes in the minutest details
lie Is careful To examine the "smootsn and
gates through which she passes, and these
spots he always approaches laterally. He
leaves no scent Of hand nor print of foot, and
does not disturb the herbage All this with
view 10 his silent work After this it need
hardly be said that the intelligent poacher is
always a naturalist. The signs of wind and
weather he knows, as it were by heart and
this is essential to his silent trade. The rise
and wane of the moon, the rain bringing
tides, the local migrations of brds-these
and hundred other things are marked in his
unwritten calendar. His outdoor life has
made him quick, and taught him much ready
animal ingenuity. He has imbibed an i'm
menSe amount of knowledge of the life of the
ieids and woods; and he is that one man in
thousand who has accuracy of eye and judg
nlent sufficient TO interpret nature Alright
EXTENSIVE PREPARATIONS.
In summer pOachers make and repair their
nets Tor winter Use. Large hare nets are
made for 81 ties, smaller ones for rabbit bur
rows and ''smoots." Partridge nets are also
necessarily large, having sometimes to cover
half "a field. Although most of the summer
the poacher is practically idle, it is at this
time that he closely studies the life of the
fields aud makes his observations for winter.
tie gets occasional employment at hay or har-
vest, and for his darker winter profession
treasures up what he sees. He is often intro
duced TO the heart of the land, and misses
nothing when he gets the opportunity. In
autumn he is engaged to cut down ash poles,
or 10 fell young woods, and this brings him
Ia the covert. Nothing escapes his notice,
and in the end his employers have to nav
dearly for his labor At this time pheasants
partridge and grouse are breeding, and are
therefore worthless; so with rabbits and hares
Every poacher knows that the difficulty
lies not 50 much in obtaining the game as in
transporting it safely home. Their dogs are
yards in advance, so as to give warning of
any ones approach. II police constable or
keeper is met on the highway, the dog i'm
me,iiately leaps the fence, and under its
cover, runs back TO its master. Seeing this,
the game bag is dropped into a dry ditch,
and dog and man make OFF in different direc-
tons County constables loiter about unfre-
quented lanes and bypaths at daybreak The
poachers know this, and are rarely met with
game upon them. bitches, stacks and ricks
afford good hiding places until women can be
sent TO fetch the spoil. These failing, country
carriers and early morning milk carts are
useful to the poacher. In one sleepy village
known 10 us, both the postman and parish
clerk were poachers. The latter carried his
game ia the black bag which usually held the
funeral pail The smith at the shoeing forge
was the regular receiver, and there were few
in the village who had not poached at some
time or other. The cottage women netted
fish, and shut their garden gates on hares and
rabbits when they came down to feed in win
ter.
PRoPITIATING THE FARMERS
Except for immediate use, poachers seldom
keep their nets at home. They are slowed
away in church tower, barn, rick, or out
house. As to the poacher's morality with re-
just where he draws the line. He lives for
these to be repealed, and yet his native phi
losoDhy tells him that when this time comes
game will have become wellnigh extinct.
Upon the ground game act he looks with
mingled feelings; for, after all, are not rab-
bits and hares the chief products of his
nghtsi The farmers now get these, and
the poacher's field is limited. They engage
him, maybe, TO stay the ravages upon clover
and young wheat or to thin the rabbits
from out the pastures. The poacher propiti-
ates the farmer in many ways. OCCASIONALLY
in the morning, the farm lad finds half q
dozen rabbits or a hare dropped behind the
barn door. How these come there no one
knows or asks. The country attorney is
sometimes submitted to like indignity. In
crossing land the poacher is careful to close
gates after him, and he never breaks down
fences He assists cattle and sheep which he
finds in extremity, and leaves word of the
mishap at the farm. Is it likely that the
farmer will dog the steps of the man who
protects his property and pays toll for do
ing it,
1t frequently happens that the poacher Is
not less popular with those whose interests
he more directly serves 1t is even asserted
that more than one of the county justices
have in some sort a sneaking affection for
him. The same wild spirit and love Of sport
take him to the fields and woods as his more
fortunate brethren to the moor and covert
1t is untrue, as has been said, that every
poacher Is mercenary wretch who invari-
ably sells his game. He as frequently sends
in a brace of birds OF a hare to a poor or sick
neighbor. He comes in contact with the law
just sufficient to know something OF its bear
ings When charged with being in posses
sion of game" he reiterates the old argu-
meut that rabbits are vermin.
The pugnacity of the pheasant is well
known TO the poacher, and out of this trait
he makes capital. He takes under his arm a
game cock fitted with artificial spurs. These
ARE attached TO the natural ones, are sharpas
needles, and the bird Is trained how to use
them Upon the latters Growing, one or
more cock pheasants Immediately respond
and advance 10 meet the adversary. A
single blow usually sufiices to lay low the
pride Of the pheasant, and in this way half a
dozen birds may be taken, while the poach-
er's bird remains unhurt
The most ingenious plan adopted by poach-
ers, however is also one of the most success
full II time and opportunity offer there is
scarcely any limit to the depredations which
II allows A number of dried peas are taken
and stepped in boiling water; a hole is then
made through the center with needle or
some sharp instrument, and through this a
stiff brfstle is threaded The ends are cut off
short, leaving only about a quarter of an
inch Of bristle projecting at each end The
peas are fed to the birds and are greedily
eaten. In passing down the gullet, however,
a violent irritation is set up, and the pheas-
ant is finally choked In a dying condition
the birds are picked up from beneath the
hedges, TO which shelter they almost always
run. The way is a quiet one and is preferred
by poachers If brutes enough to use it, be-
cause it may be adopted in the roads and
lanes where the birds dust themselves and
does not require trespass. London Spectator.
1T WON'T BAKE BREAD. In other
words. Hoods Sarssparilla will not do