Kansas City daily journal., 1896-12-27
a Grent Game Preserve.

n Great Game Preserve.
Everywhere we went we saw traces of
! game, and we learned that we were in one
| of the best game preserves of the United
States. Jekyl island is eleven miles long
| and about two miles wide. 1t contains H.
600 acres. and this is of such a character
| that it is adapted to all kinds of game.
Thirty-five hundred acres of it are of salt
marsh; $500 acres are of heavy oak and
pine forest; $500 acres are of old Sea ISL
and cotton land, and 1850 acres are of hem
mock and dry savanna land. The result is
that all kinds of game will thrive. The
forests are full of deer and wild hogs. In
the gamekeeper's lodge I saw specimens of
the game which had been shot and they
embraced many kinds of animals and birds.
The deer are found here naturally, but
many Of the birds are imported. The game
keeper said: I'VE get thousands of quail
every year and let them loose. Our mem
bers want to shoot quail, but they do not
thrive well here so we have TO import
them. We let out from 800 to 1000 at a
time, and 1t is not uncommon for dog to
chase up 500 out OF a single cover. We have
so many deer here that we have to put a
net around the club house grounds TO keep
them away from the house. You may see
a score of them walking about near the
houses almost any moonlight night, and it
is no trouble to shoot them"
81 should think that a good sportsman
would soon kill them off," said L
$50 they could" replied the gamekeeper,
''but we have a limit to the amount one
man can shoot. He can only kill so many
quail or pheasants in a day and only so
many deer in a season. During the sum-
mer the game gets very tame, but it soon
grows wild when the members come down
here in the winter, and it is good sport"
Turkey and Pheasant Shooting.
Some of the best sport upon Jekyl island
is in hunting pheasants and turkeys. The
pheasants have been imported from En-
gland. One hundred We're brought over in
1883, and of these only seventy-eight lived.
In one season they laid 1000 eggs, which
were Matched out by barnyard hens. When
the little pheasant chicks had grown they
were turned out into the woods. The next
year 100 more hen rheasants were imported
and now the woods swarm with them.
Wild turkeys are native to the region.
They are found in the oak and pine woods.
They are very shy, and it takes turkey
call to bring them out. 1t is two and one
half miles from any part of the mainland
to the island, and the birds nearly always
stay. In the salt marshes there are plenty
of snipe, and the cotton and grainfelds are
filled with quail. Then there are plenty
of woodcock, plover and doves, so that the
millionaires have no trouble about getting
something to kill.
The Cottages and the Club House.
I spent some time in looking at the build
ings on Jekyi island. The cottages are not
extravagant-that is. they are not ex-
travagant as rich mems homes. They are
rather eXtravagant as cottages, for they
cost all the way from $15, 600 to $780, 900 each.
There is one $4,000 house that has never
been occupied. The millionaire who or
dered 1t built thought he might want 1.
time bIt far n
it. The club house itself cost, am told
about 100000. It is a big three-story brick
building with a tower at one end and with
an immense circular porch running around
II. II is heated by steam and it is now be-
ing lighted by electricity. 1t formerly had
gas, but the result was not satisfactory,
and so the building is being torn to pieces
and electric lights put in. OF course, it
will cost a lot of money to make an indie
pendent electric light plant, but these rich
men can stand ii.
l went through the new apartment house
which is now being built There are about
200 carpenters and masons at work upon it,
and IT Will have, l judge. about a dozen
apartments. 1t is being built with pack
ing OF wool or hair between the walls, in
order that every sound may be deadened
and so that the millionaire of the floor
above may not hear the snores of the mill
ionaire of the floor below. Everything is
of course, of the most luxurious nature
and money is of no object when there is
any question of comfort under considera-
ton. l could write a column about the
beauties of the grounds. / could tell YOU
how boats are employed to carry tall
palm trees from other parts of the coast
that they might be planted on the lawn
about the club house, and l could describe
other eNtravaganCes which are possible
only to the rich.
How the NnbObs Amuse Themselves.
1 could write about the miles of magnih-
cent drives along the coast and tell Won
now these old nabobs sit here and watch
the sea and roll over and over upon the
sand taking sun baths on a hot February
day. l could tell you how the Million
airesses lie with the hot sun shining down
! upon them. Here and there an ankle may
show out, but there are no vulgar ewes to
see 1t. and during the greater part of the
! year even Miss <imansegg with her
golden leg" could lie here in peace could
tell You how these men of money work
up their appetitcs by walking. The Air
here Is pure; It Is full of ozone; and Won
can walk for miles without tirinC. Then
! might speak Il the surf bathing. Think
OF tt-there is surf bathing here in mid
winter and there is hunting and fishing all
the year around. II you don't like SUCH
amusement you can take a drive. and II
you have not your own horses there *
plenty of good stock for hire in the stables
of the club. 1t is true that q double tear,
will cost you 500 month and your hin
for your riding horse will be more than
halt that. Horses are cheap everywhere
else. but where money is king as hero
there is nothing cheap. and even horses
are dear.
And so. as l think again of the beauties
o. Jcykl. I wonder whether President
CleI Gland really went there. It would he