Evening star., 1898-11-23
WHERE GAME ABOUNDS
Mountains in Vicinity Of Cumberland Para
disc for Sportsmen.
Some Surprising Bags Brought In by
Hunters-A One-Armcd
NimrOd.
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star


CUMBERLAND, Md. November o. 1898.
Wild game of all kinds is unusually plen-
tiful this season. and few hunters have re-
turned without well-flled game bags. The
mountains of Maryland. West Virginia and
ennsylvania, all to be reached in a few
hours travel from Cumberland. are fairly
alive with bears, deer, wild turkeys, heas-
ants quail, woodcock rabbits squirrels,
opossums, raccOons and other game. The
woods of West Virginia are, perhaps. the
mol populous because of the law prohibit
ing the killing of deer and wild turkeys
until 1901. These species of game have
multiplied wonderfully and have been de-
stroying the farmers crops In fact, moth
ing can be left in the open field. -Ae tur-
keys raid the corn shocks and consume
barrels in a very short time They are seen
as many forty and fifty in a flock, and
are quite tame as the result of not having
been chased and shot at. The farmers COM
plain greatly and threaten to slay the for
ayers in self-defense. Sport in West Vir-
gnia is limited to squirrels and rabbits.
John Steganious, the famous one-armed
hunter of Hancock. Washington county.
Md. has killed already this season thirteen
wild turkeys. One day last week he killed
four, the largest dressing fifteen pounds.
Mr.. SteSanlO Is doubtless the most eX-
pert hunter, considering his physical dis
ability, in the country. His right arm is
Off close to the shoulder and with his left
he does all his work. With pole he can,
with his one arm, take a skif across the
Potomac when ii is greatly swollen in
dash. He can load gun in an instant, and
wary Indeed must be the turkey or pheas-
ant that escapes him. Mr.. Steganious pos
sesses great strength in his one arm. 1t
is true that ii serves him better than does
many mans two He is a horn hunter
knowing the habits of game perhaps as
well any man in the country. He knows
exactly when to go into the woods for the
kind of game that he desires to kill, and it
is rare indeed that he returns empty
handed.
A few bears have already been killed in
this section. Jacob Slabaugh recently trap
ped two-year-old black bear at Potomac
Spring, near the famous Fairfax stone, in
Garrett county. The bear weighed nearly
800 pounds, and, it is thought, was the
mate of the one still roaming in the same
locality. Bears are plentiful in the noun
tains in Bedford and Somerset counties,
Pennsylvania. north of Cumberland. Sew
eral have been slain and placed on the
market at Bedford
Several deer, shot by hunters herea bouts,
have been brought to Cumberland. James
and George Carson were husking corn near
Piney Grove, this county, when to their
surprise a deer bounded across the field in
which they were working. They seized
their guns and gave chase. James fired
twice with No. shot at a distance of thir-
ty yards, and after running about twenty
yards his prize fell dead 1t was fine
young buck, weighing 105 pounds.
Messrs. De Warren H Reynolds and Fer
dinand Williams of the Cumberland bar, in
a hunt on Mr.. Reynolds farm four miles
north of Flintstone, succeeded in bagging
five pheasants three partridges four sQuir-
rels, tWenty-seven rabbits and one wood
cock. Wild turkeys and deer are abundant
on Mr.. Reynolds premises, but he neither
shoots them himself nor permits others to
do so.
Rev Quinton C. Davis, pastor of the
First Baptist Church, Cumberland, who is
a crack shot reports rather novel expert
ence. Last Saturday he succeeded In bring
ing down a pheasant at which he had been
shooting for four years. The bird was I'M
usually game, and its body bore marks of
previous "pepperings."
Two huntsmen brought to Cumberland
one day last week $50 pheasants and 300
rabbits The local market is glutted with
this sort Of game. One hunter living near
by in West Virginia killed in one season
150O gray squirrels.
To give an idea of the abundance of game
the results of a few hunting trips are de-
tailed:
Paul Ritter, C. Lond and Lynn Reid of
Cumberland III a days hunt in West Vir-
ginia killed twenty-one rabbits A. F. Par
ker and George Beall shot in hunt along
the South Branch twenty-five rabbits.
Charles McMullin, William May and
Orange Gordon killed wagon load Of game
while hunting in the Cumberland valley ten
miles north of Cumberland. They bagged
six raccoons. eighteen rabbits, one SOUR
rel. twenty-one quails, one woodcock and
four pheasants.
Harry Mckinley and Harry Miller cap
tured in Bedford county a raccoon that
weighed twenty-three and one-half pounds.
This was an unusually large specimen.
Wild ducks are reported abundant on the
rivers and creeks.
1t pays to read the want columns Of The
Star. Hundreds of situations are filed