The Indianapolis journal., 1903-12-13
wITCHERY, OF THE QUAIL.
Impossible to Resist the Cali Of MINI
BILE 'sBOb White"


New York Tribune
In one of the tumble-down counties of
midland Virginia there are three grown
men. Each is the head of a family, each
is sane on all subjects except one. each is
prosperous-as prosperity is reckoned In
that indolent land-and each is on the point
or reslgning his position, one as a rail-
road conductor, one as a teller In bank,
the third as a surgeon in railroad hos
p1tal. Out OF the morning mist on the low
lands, from the twilight shadows Of the
silent fields OF broom grass and sage, they
have heard the call of the quail. They can
than could the little silly children resist
the enchanting melody Of the Pied Piper
OF Hemelin, and on Thursday, when the
commonwealth temporarily lifts its pro-
tectorate on its feathered tribes, these
grown men will heed it and, leaving their
sanity, their families, and their prosperity,
they will follow it,
No one who has not lived in the Old
Dominion, or who has not sojourned there
long enough to come under. the influence,
can conceive of the bewitching spell this
solemn little note casts upon the Virginian
who has inherited one drop of the old sport
ing blood of his ancestors. These three men
are merely three in hundreds who will do
precisely the same thing within the next
few days All summer, when the young
cOvies have been rehearsng in the corn
fields. they have listened without the slight
est inclination or desire to unsling their
guns or call their dogs, but the moment
rhe first frost turns the little scrub oaks
into flaming banners and the plump per-
simmon loses its pucker and its skin begins
comes upon them, and they will struggle
against 1t with about the same degree of
success that attends the efforts of VIC
tim of some patent drug. .....
For twelve years the railroad conductor
has been warned by the corporation that
employs him that If he left them again his
resignation would be accepted as perma-
nent. and each year he has assured his
employers that he had not the slightest de-
sire to ever go pa fridge shootin'" again.
Only month ago he told the writer who
burg to Roanoke, that he had had the bar
rels of his shotgun cut off and the butt
shortened two inches for his youngest boy.
i've done let Tom Carter have my best
''an' 1 shu amt goin' partridge shootin'
no mo-. Use had my share, anyway" Two
days ago his confidant on that trip received
loaded with No., shot and certain brand
of smokeless powder. The request ended
with this apoiogetic postscript: II only
a week this year.
The case of the bank teller and the
hospital surgeon are scarcely less virulent,
although each insists that he is merely
taking his annual vacation. This expiana-
tion would be far more plausible were the
vacations Of two weeks not invariably ex-
until
after the holidays
However Indifferent the native quail hunt
er may be to his costume-it generally con-
sists of a faded cutaway coat and faded
blue jeans-or however inexpensive his out
fit may be, he lives up to the ethics of the
field with punctiliousness that his North
ern brother might well emulate, and he
generally takes a fastidious interest in the
manners of his dog. An instance of this
courtesy was brought home to a New
Yorker last fall In a manner so forcibly
that he will not soon forget the lesson.
He was following his pointer through big
open field of sage, when he ran across a
native whose dog was Quartering the same
| field. The local dog found his birds first.
| needless of one of the incest points of
canine etiquette, refused to recognize his
rivals point, and, sneaking a full length
| in front, claimed the birds as his own. In
| the same spirit, the Northern man as
sumed that it was his first shot, and, flush
ing the eoyey ,,1s ne ,s let go and missed with
| his gun to his shoulder. In going after
| the single birds the order was reversed, the
Yankee dog finding first and having his
point broken by the Southern dog. Instead
| of putting the birds up, however, the native
| crept stealthily up to his dog. grabbed him
| by the collar, and. jerking him back
are yo' birds, sah," he said; my dog stole
| them from yo' dog 1t is yo'ah first shot. "
| When the New York man meets a stranger
in a quail country now he takes particular
L
a covey without cheating before he essays
| to put them up first.
Nor is the quail hunting habit confined
| to the enfranchised citizen of Virginia. His
1 dog, whether 1t be a pointer or a setter OF
| a compromise between the two, is likely
l TO become more violently addicted to the
| habit than his master. Hundreds of prom.
| ising young dogs, not satisfied with limit
| ing their sport to the time put in by their
owners. go off into the fields alone and be-
| come what are known as "self-hunters.'
F.. bo ia mi
| ly the "self-hunter' is what the weaver
| is to the equine family, or the morphine
| fiend to the human race. Neither medicine
/ nor chastsement nor moral suasion is OF
| any permanent use II the "self-hunter'
| is chained up, he will fret and worry him
| self into a mental and physical wreck in
| week; he will neither eat nor drink, and II
| confined long enough, he will actually dit
| of starvation. Young dogs that have beer
| shot over only few times in the fall anC
| are permitted to run loose over the coun
| try when the young birds are unable TO fly
| and can be easily caught, are the mos
| likely victims of the habit.