The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1902-08-19
LAKRe rN rHR pRanRr.
They are Deadly Traps for Ducks aad
nave Other Curious Eff cts

naVe other Curious Ell cts.
Just as irrigable and irrigated lands
will produce better and more certain
crops than lands which depend upon
rainfall Tor moisture, so ponds or laNes
go m arid JANUS are the best iuck
Ic.ds In the world. Never on any
NoJnern body OF water are Wild fowls
packed together as on these artificial
Sheets says the New York Sun.
The reason is simple. They are the
only waters within many square milea
OF territory ana ducks and geese 80 10
them because there is nowhere else 20
go.
Within nine miles Of the city of SGn
Antonio Tex. is a lake or pond i5f this
'h5-acter called Mitchells Lake. It
made by damming up the Lower
OF "a natural landfall, and this dam
ilted in a pond a mile long BY
lie wide and shoulder deep IA
a 0r.
II s0.A became rich In duck gress
and eu weeds, and some wild rico
was pl-nted In 1t. Then ducks visited
It in tens of thousands.
They were confined in so narrow q
space that killing them was no trouble
at all. II driven away by repeated
gunare they flew some miles tc the west
or south, and, finding no other water,
returned. Thus on shooting days AZ
Mitchells Lake there was constant
egress and ingress of wild fowls ana
the gunners shot until their heads
ached.
The lake depended upon rainfall and
In dry seasons there was sometimes
not more than two inches of water In
/ It's center and much OF its bottom was
Z dry. in those seasons Iacksnipe pre-
ferred It and settled upon its az in
swarms.
Many times a hundred mallards have
been killed by single gun az Mitch
/ ellis Lake between d0ylight and late
I breakfast, and the snipe have been
taken OF it by the gross. The pond ties
/ l50 miles above the Gulf coast and is a
stopping place for birds which make
I the salt water their winter home.
/ Nine miles south Of San Antonio
near the old Spanish mission and not
I tai from tho San Antonio river, some
men have purchased 800 acres and VIII
make pond similar to MitchelPs Lale.
L Is intended solely for priyato
shooting association. Among the meni-
bers are Rolla Heikes, professional
kANIf-IAtNNNhAr 1T AAlA - ANNAhhf - 'ANhN
man and novelist
These ponds are now being bvlit In
many places through the West and
Southwest The land in those regions
IS cheap, and much Of IL is not tit for
Ianything save to be put under water.
where the course OF a dry creek can
| oe found a creek draining good bit Of
errltory when there Is anything to
lrs n. the construction of & shooting
lake of this kind Is not costly The
airt may be had as low as So an acre.
and building dam amounts TO little.
/ However small a lake OF ihis kind
may be. and however far Ia the desert,
The wild fowls find IL as soon as II has
water and duck feed They do tliis
Though II be 500 miles on the regular
lir lines which they travel In guing
south or coming north, the two routes
being distinct and widely separated
Always. TOO. around these ponds, there
IS d great increase OF wild life aad
vegetation seems 10 spring up TO shell
ter Il. Quails. blue and brown seek the
waters. as do wild turkeys aud doves.
lJacksnipes find il as readily as do the
ducks, geese. and swans Small blrds
ay to IL from no one knows where and
nest by H.
Occasionally FAR out on the brown
lablelands a duck appears which ls
rarely seen away from salt water, such
Is the alewife. or south -s1utheriy OF
Chesapeake Bay. though why and how
they get there is one OF the many unex-
lplained mysteries about fowl Nights.
As the birds visit the new lake pre-
lparatory fauna follow them. and hide
lin the mesquite aad (atclaW which Is
sparse at hrst-foHes bob tailed cats,
1celots skunks, and 50 on Soon acres
which twelve months before were but q
part OF the dusty waste. untenanted
ave by the tarantula and centipede,
show every form OF Wild life Of which
he West is capable.
AZ Secretary MOodys suggestion
cabinet has adopted names for tho
now ships OF war authorized By
naval appropriation bin The
larger ships. 40 Dattlc8hips and
armored cruisers Hill be nDmed
lana, Connecticut, Te1nefec
Washington .but Il IS not yo
which states shall be- chosen
battleshiIs and vice versa r.
gunboais Droyided iof in ifa
be named padlcah anl ih uui
The exact caufe of the dcafN
Hannah Nay Thoupao1 who
boarding iorsc in Chic1eo ~ 5
last while wearing beauty
probably wiii rogc- De- fna .f
hearing evidence Ga Sd
has refused t0 irdfrf nffle.t