Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-25

Where, oh, where, are the Hebrew children?
Where, oh, where, are the Hebrew children
Where, oh, where, are the Hebrew children?
All gone from the Promised LandP'
And because why? Why, because they
went after other gods, and did not keep
the statutes and commandments of Moses;
(which man Moses was very meek, above
all the men upon the face of the earth"
But what has this to do with the denizens
of Eagle Creek? Pardon short quota
ton from the Pentateuch;
whatsoever parteth the heof, and is cloven-
footed and cheweth the cud. among the beasts,
these shall We eat. Nevertheless, ye shall not
eat the camel. because he ehewelh the cud but
-divideth not the ho0f: nor the swine, because,
though he diyideth the hoOf, yet he acheweth
not the cud; nor the hare, because he cheweth
the cud, but divideth not the hoof.''
The above is portion of Moses Flaw OF
the beasts, to make difference between
the beast that may be eaten and the beast
that may not be eaten," as he expressed
himself. But before proceeding to COM
ment upon the sacred transcription, let me
explain for the benefit of many unassum-
ing common people, that the word share
translated into Whiskey Diggin's English
means about the same as the well-known
and euphoneous polysyllable 'Jackass-
rabbit" which is not only more agreeable
to the plebeian ear, but also more suscepti-
bic of being recognized by the plebeian eye
At any rate, l shall allude to the beast
hereafter by abbreyiating the later term
into jack-rabbit, jack and rabbit; not
because | lack the moral courage to call
b.,tac oc
respect for breyity OF course, a little
ham or breakfast bacon occasionally, or
even little roast pork or sausage now and
then, is not absolutely injurious to the
health, but generally speaking, the Mosaic
rule Is, without doubt, an excellent one to
follow. / would even go so far as TO affirm
that it is better to follow it strictly than
not at all; at least for Moses sake, if not
your own, do draw the line on jack-rabbits.
In the first place, the jack-rabbit is not
edible on general principles, not including
general appearances, In the second place,
he is Y. G. all around, even in the atmos-
phere "Then why shoot him ?" you in
quire. For the same reason that you
should shoot fly-up-the-creek or a mud
hen. If you have leisure for hunting, you
have leisure, too, for reducing it to sci
ence; and if you have no ready motive for
shifting rat-tailed squirrel, you should
smite him first and think up motive
afterward. In brief, you should go in
quest of skins, skulls and skeletons. We
want skull and SHELTON, of course-sev-
eral good specimens for preserving and
setting up il divers attitudes half dozen
skins for experiments in tanning and
tuoing, perhaps, and any number of them,
possibly, for other purposes. Though the
fur is not of very fine or heavy charac-
ter, vet it will answer for some things,
while your experience with it may save
you some valuable trophy in the future.
Besides, we want several carcasses every
once in a while to bait our traps with and
one or two to dissect for anatomical pur-
poses, to say nothing of soft paws for
brushes, brains for taioing skins with, ETC.
Still, if we have mother excuse for tax
ing the field, we may, as a last resort, feed
the poultry, the vultures and the owls
with them, ad- infnitum. The true lover
OF outdoor SPORT however, must have,
usually, some useful or scientific incentive
to action; what nobler one could he have
than that of looking up through Nature
unto Natures God, by way of the zoolog-
ical kingdom, the woods, the fields, the
flowers and the trees; while the brisk,
pure breeze is tanning his cheek, bringing
back the roses Of health, and kindling
anew the fires of love for mortal life To
the stomach-worn, householder, smoke
cured, microbe-eaten, malarial shaken IN
habitants of our towns and cities, Nature
is ever reckoning, "Come unto me, all We
that are weary and heavy laden, and |
will give you rest" How many heed the
signal in time? Who does not like to
hunt-when there is any game in pros
pect? How the game will multiply, if
instead Of hunting for the pot only, We
enlarge our field of action by including
all manner of birds and beasts within the
list OF our legitimate prey What science
Is cheaper, what science more God-like?
The incentive ordinarily lacking to in
duce a more liberal patronage of the
double-barreled shotgun consists simply in
preserving some valued relic of the hunt
ing expedition-skins, skulls or skeletons.
The skin of any bird or animal may be
taken off whole for subsequent preserva-
sion or setting up, anointed with solu-
ton of arsenic, filled with cotton, dropped
into paper horn, in the case OF most
birds, and laid away in trunk containing
some anti-moth preparations-all in the
short space of one hour, by any careful
person after very little practice. Skulls
and skeletons give much less trouble, the
heads and carcasses being placed in water,
or lime water, wherever convenient, until
deeomposition enables the operator to finish
the lob, subsequent bleaching and wiring
together of the bones being also necessary.
Men who have both money and leisure
can afford to employ a taxidermlst, but
should never forego the pleasure OF hunt
ing their own specimens.
Let me now illustrate: The morning Is
dull and gloomy, threatening rain as US
ual. l have fed the poultry, pailed the
COW, foddered the horses, thrown out the
manure, chased the stray cattle out OF the
pasture. planted some radishes, pumped
some water, swilled the pigs, killed a
chicken. and poisoned tomcat, eaten my
breakfast. read, smoked, and talked, until
indoor life is no longer bearable; there Is
no profitable work at hand, and 1t Is bad
day for birds, so methinks I'll take a
pasear after some festive jack rabbits. Ac-
cordingly | shoulder my rusty muzzle-
loader. fill my pockets with munitions Of
war-shot. powder, caps, and wads-swing
decapitated grain bag attached to band
of the same material, over my other
shoulder, glance suspiciously at two green
ish looking caps on the gun, and strike out
nonchalantIy up the gulch, not expecting
to scare up anything within half mile, of
course. / am, therefore, strolling leisurely
along with half-crownless derby on the
back of my head, ~. D." pipe clutehed
firmly between my several teeth, and an
old Prince Albert coat oscillating from my
back, soliloquizing after the following
fashion:
@The storm still continues to rage ex-
cept when it lets up to gather strength for
fresh effort; the Payne break IS open as
usual: Waterman is out in a pamphlet,
- e not ont in boat soon. NAV con-