The record-union., 1891-01-18
PETE AND ELS CANNON.
The Veteran Hunter Takes a Shy at
Ex-County Clerk Hamilton.
He Then Proceeds to Tell why He
is the Enemy of the
"Ballee. Duck.

Well, I see our old friend, Billy Ham
ilton. is on the rampage again, and has
been hauling me and my cannon over
the Goals in the columns of the RECORD
UNION.
Billy must be getting old.
In days gone by, when I knew him
well, he was different man than he is
now. He wouldn't tell a fib then, nor
would he connive to hurt the feelings of a
friend. But he's changed now, Billy has.
In his interview with a RECoRDUNIoN
reporter, published on the lst inst, he
says he did not apologize to me for taking
part in that so-called indignation meet
ing" when I was SO roundly abused for
using a cannon" in my business as a
market hunter.
Well!
l considered that he made all the apollo
gy necessary between friends. Again he
says that told him my gun was a No.
4-gauge bore. He is either mistaken or
is fibbing again, for some purpose of his
own or the clique he is in with. What
did tell him is this, and L think they are
almost the precise words / used: 81
sometimes call my gun Il No. 5, but l
think it is only stamped on the barrels as
a No. g." Is it likely that in the wrangle
about the
SIZE OF THE GUN
I would tell him the gun was two sizes
larger than it is? Mr.. Hamilton further
states that he has good authority for stat
ing that Eberhardt's information that my
gun is number three gauge bored out TO
a number two is correct. Again, he says
that when the north wind blows, what
hunter in this city has not heard the roar
nj PntA lof, ~ vi llnr.
The gall of him!
He says that the roar of my artillery
can be heard within a radius of ten miles.
Now, dear reader, do you not think this
is drawing pretty long bow? Now, MIR.
Billy Hamilton, would like to ask you
what you expect to gain by slandering
and telling stories about me and my gun.
Have you knowledge enough to under
stand that you must not publish a lie
about anyone? A SANDER is held good
for an action at law. DO you think that
you can prove any assertion you or Eber-
hardt have made to be true? l defy you
both to do it. Ii you do not prove that
you have spoken the truth l viii brand
you both as pair of whopper tellers, and
Sacramento's four hundred will give you
the cold shoulder. Let me give you q few
facts Which you can digest at your leisure:
My gun is number six guage, but is a
triJte larger in the muzzle-about one-half
number larger, guess.
l have never used or owned q larger
gun. Messrs. Flohr and Eckhart say it
is a number six gauge.
never killed or sent to market at one
time LOCO ducks, or half OF that number.
| I have not killed eighty-four ducks at
one shot in the two last years.
The roar of artillery was not the roar of
my, gun, 1t must have been the roar OF
| bad whisky in your head, Billy. Messrs.
Cox IL Clarke have been clearing ont the
Bannon Slough and removing logs and
old StumpS and brush from the banks of
| tie slough To promote the draining of
their property of-which, several thousand
acres are under water. For this purpose
large quantities of
DYNAMITE WE'RE USED
In blasting, and this was the roar of ar
tillery that Billy Hamilton and the little
boys and girls heard. Now, Mr.. Hamil-
ton, you are getting cornered up a little.
VIII you get hot again? VIII your eyes
bug out like a pair of Roman candles? =?
They might furnish you little light on
the subject. Now, Mr.. Billy Hamilton,
if you have been mislead by other parties,
why not come out frankly like man
ana say so, and let the ISLANDERS rest
where they belong, for you can prove
nothing that you allege. | have given
| you direct challenge. ] am not joking.
I'm in dead earnest, and | want you TO
know it. You are trying to involve Mr..
| Routier in getting a billpassed by rush
| ing it through the Legislature before it
can be well considered.
| This attack on me is only pretext for
an attack on the farmers of this valley.
But viii speak of this part of it when !
have done with you, Mr.. Hamilton.
| You say that l am thinning out the
! ducks. This is so comical that any one
who knows anything about the class OF
ducks here now would not pay the slight
est attention to what you say, except to
| grin at you.
And now, MesSrs. Editors, and you,
dear readers, who have been watching
the dark plots of these fellows from the
start, but do not know their objects, it is
a spiteful attack on me. Let me tell you
that this is only an indirect attack on the
| farmers of this valley. These sturdy
fellows are the backbone of Californ a
and are the men who have built up and
supported the cities of this valley, and
! they need all the protection the laws can
| give them. Floods and dry seasons have
done their work on these gallant fellows,
and to-day most of their homes are
mortgaged; but still they struggle on,
| bravely determined to succeed, and they
will do it in time. 1t is not many years
since the law for the protection of ducks
was done away. This was unwiSe, be-
cause some of our game birds needed pro-
lection, and the next Legislature amended
and passed the present very effective law
for the protection of game.
| THE DESTRUCTIVE BALLEE.
Now, dear reader, let me explain why
| this law was abolished.
The widgeon, or "ballee," as this duck
is sometimes called, is the entire cause
of all the trouble the ehard-working farmer
has to contend with, being very gregari-
Gus in its habits. 1t goes in immense
swarms to the grain fields, where they
destroy everything around them, fre-
quently running an entire field of grain
/ in few days and there is no protection
against them. / have seen these destruct-
| i've birds on the grain, where they could
| be counted by the acre, and figures are in
adequate to give any idea of their incredi-
| bic numbers, and to say that few hunt
ers could make any impression in thin
/ ming them out is absurd.
The farmers have tried every means to
protect their grain, but it is little use, the
| birds in the night and about daylight can
be seen making their way to the tules.
The widgeon is not like any other
duck. His habits are distinct and pecu-
liar, and he is more like the wild goose
than the duck, and his home is not on the
water with the other ducks, but in the
pastures and grain fields, where he eats
and destroys nearly everything that is
green. This is why he is such a terror to
the farmer who raises grain. The breed
| ing grounds of these birds are some
| thousands of miles from here, and in the
great northern lakes and swamps they
breed undisturbed, the long cold winters
| preventing all vegetation from growing
except the mosses and spongy growth5
belonging to this family but the short,
warm summer fills the lakes and swamps
with an abundance of insect and veg
etable life, on which these birds fatten
and raise their young.