, 1890-03-13
SPORT FOR THE GODS,
A Quail Pot-Pie Is a Dish
for a King.
ROMANCE OF QUAIL SHOOTING.
Maurice Thompson. the Poet ana
Naturalist, Describes It's
Deighs.

wintry suggestion into ones blood, |
one feels little too vigorous to be
sentimental, too restless io stay IN
doors, and yet too lazy to work. .
Then Il is that the dog and the gun
are both comfortable and protitnblc' .
The person who takes no account OF
the savage element just under the
surface of the highest cnlighlcn-
mcnt, is not yet acquainted with
life. In the tissue olman's nature,
made incradlcable 10y hcrcdity,
turks the spirit Of the beast of pS'y,
which in fact man Is. You 90 to
your table and MUNICH your lamb
outlet, your beef steak, your boiled
chicken, or your pork chop, and
never dream that you are doing
just what the savage lion aud mcrci-
less tiger do. NOu are, In fact, de
vouring your prey. The dcmuro
and lovely girl, mincingly plucking
at her bit os salmon or trout with
her silver fork, Is not one line IT,
moved from the otter or the fish
9tAAh ~ Eb lhl ain Nil' AlFHN
concerned. II matters little with the
quail whether It's dead body is eaten
by q prowllng fox or by young
man at Delmonico'-. The ihtted
calf would as soon he torn 10y the
wolf Us by the friends of prodignl
or the guests ut II wedding or Il bar
becue. The cage! ictchcs the carcass
of lamb or of II hare 10 its young;
man fctches sirloin or n porter
house cut to his. A quail pOtpic Is
II dish for "a King, or, for that mat
ter, for u sovereign American, and
quail-shoOting Is "a
SPORT FoR THE GODS,
and for all other free and happy cit
izens Of n fairly governed common
wealth. The hum and whirr Of
strong wings, glimpse of IA bcvy In
full flight, tingling of the blood, n
rapid aim, a double shot, and who
cares for TourgucnicaTs sentimental
confessions. | wonder If Tourgucn-
ieil was vegetarian? Usually those
fellows who write so hy-lerically
about cruelty to game birds and the
/ like ARE sticklers for high wOOdcock
and for quail ON toast, a man may
grow too nervous and sentimental
To care for shooting or angling, and
so may condemn ~ brutal the kill
ing OF game and fish, but observe
that the softest-hearted. instance Of
the kind rarely declines his chicken
or his piblets, his trout or his chow
der. Sometimes | wonder how these
tendcr-hcartcd but tough-stoluached
philosophers expect anyone TO
have II bit of faith i'm their
sincerity. Its seems like eating u
| cow and crying over u quail To ono
who keeps his head cool. Some
men keep birds in pens and call
| tlcm poultry; these they Kill and
scll To men Ike Tourgucnicil. who
worry over the cruellies uf the
sportsman. If the birds had their
| say, thcy might choose 'the chance
Of cyading the sportsman rather
than accept the certain death offered
/ by the pOultrynau who used to
/ furnish rougucnlcn7s table.
[ think t.at | should rather bo u wild
| deer than 10 lie u calf s'all-icd TOR
/ the market. The shoes we wear are
| the iiayiugs from Our prey. This is
realism | am writing. How do you
likCit?
But quail shooting has It's romance
which IL Just as true us Its real ism.
\ healthy souled man H. rather apt
to hc a keen sportsman and hut
name person. have heard of u
very rich man who writes volumin-
ously upon humanity and charity
and goodness, and yet sends his
daughter into the fields to
WORK LIKE \ SLAVE.
Over AGAINST this | remember tire
less and Killing sportsman who sent
u sicR girl the qunil he killed, and
who Kept his own daughter in the
house, aud he was not rich ut all.
Life II deeper than philosophy, and
humanity II not to bc expressed in
the terms Of hysteria or hypochon-
dria.
know an old pointer dog who
likes 10 hunt quail, and eat them,
too, know II man who eats them
grccdily, but dcpncates shooting
them. Asa safe companion ! pre-
fer the dog. Upon the whole sin
ccrity Is not casy to simulate sue
ccssiully; but | should think that II
man might be- cunning enough TO
become vegetarian before lac sets
himself up las II critic of those who
believe in shooting quail before they
eat them.
like sixteen gauge shotgun for
quail, brccchlOader, of course
bNuhle-barrvlcd, and not over six
and . half pounds In weight. Let
the day be II litllc cloudy with the
wind IN the south, for then the birds
lic well to the dog and fly steadily
I when flushed. They look larger,
too, In the soft light of such day.
There Is IL nutty fragrance and II
| fruity mcllOwncss In autumn
weather suited To the vigorous mood
ofthe healthy sportsman, acting us
q restraint upon him, keeping him
from over cNortlon. Wire fences
studded with angular barbs are not
/ so pleasing to sit upon ms the old
fashioned worm fences were, but the
same blue violets grow along
the untitled rlbband between
the fields, and upon the whole
lhesport has more real pleasures and
fewcr hlndranccs now than Ii had
when game birds were plentier. a
| heavy bug IL the smallest item lon
the catalogue ofn shooting days in
cidcnts. y bcvy of twenty birds
scattered In u level stubble-Iield,
and dog with high tail and a