Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1910-11-12
ANfNT THE CARELESS
USE OF GUNS In THE WOODS

bis gun and blaze away at some
tree or stump, nine cases out of ten,
with dense brush behind. ] once
saw a disguised hunter pull up his
gun to shoot. when we came to
straight piece of road--I knocked his
gun barrel up and reminded him
that we had no team. He wanted
to know what meant. Suppose
there is someone coming up that
road, you don't know--and you kill
him. thefirst thing you should do
(before a mob hung you, which
would be to good for your would be
to take his body home to his people,
who will care more for what is
left of him than you seem to care
for any one alive. That put bug
in his ear and set him thinking.
A young fellow was tracking a
deer in snowshe had on moose-hide
packs, and only occasionally when a
branch slipped off his clothing did
he make any noise. He came to a
logging road, which the trail cross
ed, and not fifty yards from him
stood man with his gun cooked
and at his shoulde-, "don't shoot"
the young man cried bnt the other
had dropped his gun to the hollow
of his arm and JET the hammer
down. "No danger" he said ~
never shoot until am sure what
I am shooting T lose game that way
sometimes. but thank God | never
killed man.. Is this always the
case? No indeed. 80 percent of the
men and boys who roam the woods
TODAY with cum, when they
should. be in an asylum for incom-
petents, would, have killed this
young man and be sorry for it after
wards
Tn some states the accidental kill
ing of a person in.the field or woods
! is considered as manslaughter, and
the "killer is dealt with accordingly
If human life is so cheap and
there is no penalty for killing few
persons more or less--what about
killing cattle? If this indiscrimin-
ate. would be deeimator of his inn
mediate fellow beings would only
stop to think, when he pulls up to
shoot at noise in the brush, that
it may be some ones COW and that
if he killed 1t or wounded it SO it
would have to be killed, the owner
would give him a jolly good heat
ing and break his gun over a rock,
then he would not shoot, This
idea Of shooting at a noise in the
brush, how preposterous, if this is
what YOU are out for give it up,
leave your gun at home and bring
phonegraph to record the sound,
and an ak to cut the brush. Then
the man who made the noise and
moved the brush can sit around the
supper table with his wife and little
kidlets and tell them of the days
trip in stead of Icing on the cool
ing board al Alexander's morgue,
with bullet hole through him.
One word more and | am done.
There will be lot of good fellows
(mighty good fellows too) who will
read this and dub it "rot'. All
right. 1t shows that they have
read it, that's all / care about, just
to have it read Personally / don't
care for their opinions one way or
| anOJntr, anu IL nldheS no ullleIohVe
what they think of me. My object
is to set the careless man and boy
to thinking, and then when they
hear noise in the brush they will
think of the "rot' which | have
written, and some ones life will be
saved. PARK HOLLAND
Note-Next week Dr. Holland
will have an article on The Care.
less and Discriminate Firing OF
Guns to "Try Them.
! Alaska's Coast Region.