The tribune. (Rich Hill, Mo.) 1900-1902, 1902-08-14

JAKes M rHu pKerR1.
They ere Deadly Irsps for Ducka "a
have other Curious IN ca
Just a. irricable and irr,ra,sd lana
Win prodNce better aua more ccrialk
crops than lands which depend uDon
feihfAu fUf moisture. ~ ponce Or iakef
made IN Arid lands are the best luck
ponds IN Tie world. Never on any
Northern body Of water are Wild fowis
packed together as on these ARTIFICIAL
sheets, says the New York Sun.
The reason ih simple. They are The
only waters within many square miles
Of territory aad ducks and geese 60 -
them because there Il noshere eiss %
80.
within nine miles Of the city Of San
Antonio. Tex, Il q lake or pnn9 ~ This
Character called Mitchell'a Lake. II
Nah made BY canning up the Lower
end % a natural ianafal. and his CAM
resulted IN a pond q mile long b. a
half mile wide and shoulder deep "a
The center.
u 500 became rich ia duck gress
and edible weedH, and some wild rio.
was planted IN e. Then ducks visited
Il IN tens Of thousands.
They were confined In so narrow n
space that killing them was 10 trouble
az all II driven away By repeated
gunire they few some miles TO the west
or south. and. finding no other water,
returned. Thus on shooting days AZ
Mitchsli's lake there was a constant
egress and ingress Of wild fowls and
the gunners Shot until their heads
ached.
The lake depended upon rainfall, and
IN dry seasons there was sometimes
not o than two inches Of water il
It's Cente and much Of rs bottom was
dry. IN those seasons jacksnipe pre-
ferred Il and settled upon rs al b.
sWarmE.
Many times a hundred mallards have
been killed BY a single gun al Mitch
ellis Lake between daylight and laU
breakfast, and the snipe have been
taken OF II by the gross. The pond Hes
$50 miles above the Gulf coast. and is q
stopping place for birds which make
the salt u their winter home
Nine miles south Of san Antonio.
near the old Spanish mission and not
tar from the San Antonio river. some
men have purchased 800 acres and viii
mako a pond similar to Mitchells Lake
Il is intended solely for q private
shooting associatioR. Among the men
bers are Rolla Heikes. a professional
trap-shoOter. and z. Hough, g sports
man and novelist
These ponds are now being built In
many places through the West and
Southwest. The land In those regions
"a cheap, and much Of It IS not AZ for
anything save 70 be put under water.
Where the course OF a dry creek 2
be found. a creek draining a good bit Of
territory when there is anything 10
drain, the construction Of 8 shooting
lake Of his kind Is not costly. The
dirt may be had as low as 50 an acre.
ana building a dam amounts 10 little.
However small a lake Of this kind
may be. and however far IN the desert,
the Wild fowls find Il as oon as II has
water and duck feed They do tits
though Il be 500 miles OF the regular
air lines which they travel IN going
south or coming NORTH. the two routes
being distinct and widely separated
Always. too. around these ponds, there
Is a great increase OF Wild life aid
vegetation seems 10 spring up 10 shel
Ter IT, Quails. blue and brown seek the
waters. as do wild turkeys and doves
~Jacksnipes find II RS readily as do the
ducks. geese, and swans, small birds
ny to IL from no n knows where and
nest BY IT,
Occasionally far out on the brown
tabi Glands a duck appears which is
rarely seen away from salt water. such
as the ~Alewife, or so~uth-sortherly OF
Chesapeake Bay. though why and how
they get there is q Of the many unG-
blamed mysteries about fowl lishts.
As the birds visit the aew lake pre-
paratoy fauna follow them, and hide
10 the mesquite and ,AtclaW which Is
sparse az nrst-foAea bob stalled eats.
ocelots. skunka. and so on soon acres
which twelve months before were bat a
part Of the dusty waste, untensnted
save b. the tarantulh and centipcee
show every form q wild iile u which
the West Is capable.