The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1936-08-06
Boob44ss
Ddvi/A2
Mtun52As
The Japanese Idea of Doing Things
in Reverse English.

/ INVITED by Tokyo sportsmen
l. to have a go at duck hunting,
l accepted provided he would
supply me with a shotgun and
some shells.
1--WE have no use for the fowl
ing piece or ammunition" he
replied.
'They are for barbarians. Come
unarmed, just as you are and with
good appetite. The sport begins
after luncheon"
Why argue. When in another
mans country it becomes good
form to take whatever is handed
out by the inhabitants.
So, the next day, by appointment,
I was picked up in Toxic at IL IN
the morning and driven forty-five or
fifty miles into a section cut up by
rivers, fresh and salt, and dotted
with numerous ponds and marshes;
lust the sort of a layout where
water fowl foregather, at least in
my country. I discerned many
birds in flight and floating.
"What about dog?" l asked,
Just to make conversation.
Unnecessary and nuisance"
No gun. no ammunition, no re-
triever. I began to wonder if the
Japanese served mallards, teals,
canvasbacks and sprigs In cans.
The outlook for the day in the open
was indeed depressing.
Bags Share at Table.
About 1890 we dropped into a
small valley opening toward the sea
and brought up in beautiful grove,
at what appeared to be a club
house, on the edge Of a slough that
was an ideal hangout for ducks
with pedigrees. Luncheon, ample
and with all the fxings that ''hunt-
ers'' expect and prefer, was served
in a spacious room that opened on
a verdant stretch of marshes and
canals, visible through large win
dows. Not a single appurtenance
usually found in gun clubs in other
lands was visible
After consulting with what ap-
peared to be a game warden, my
host gave out the information to
those assembled, nine in all, that
plenty of birds were coming in and
that the ducking would be top
notch.
Bunk" thought I, turning my
attention to the edibles, which were
superior and varied, and the sake
which was of the best. At least l
bagged my share at table.
Immediately following the black
coffee we were requested to step
out and start something. The game
warden led us in single file two
hundred yards more or less down to
fve-foot water way fringed on
either side by a six-foot bamboo
hedge open at the top. The hunt
ers" disposed fifty yards apart, al
ternated right and left. Numerous
ducks, all unconscious of our prox-
unity, were quacking along the
stream in Japanese. 1t was just
too bad that they had been coaxed
by a previous distribution of corn,
rice and other cereals into this ave-
nue. of betrayal.
Perhaps 1 ought to state, here
and now, that each sportsman
was armed with a net four feet at
the opening and about five feet in
depth, fastened to a ten-foot pole OF
light bamboo, with which he was
expected to crack down on any
duck attempting to escape.
Ducks Get Break.
From the direction of the open
slough, boatman, polling his way
slowly up this creek, flushed ducks
in singles and pairs and small
fiocks.
With wild quacking, reaching for
the exit with beating wings, the
birds rose, only to be slapped at
by meters, ambitious to capture
the moving meat in closely woven
meshes.
1t gives me great pleasure to re-
port that not one swipe out of ten
succeeded in stopping duck from
making his getaway. Not a single
teal, fastest rising duck known, was
brought down" or even winged.
Mallards and blacks, slower on the
uptake, ran into some bad luck. The
total bag for seven hunters" over
a period OF fifteen minutes of ac-
ton, in which perhaps hundred
birds took the air, was nine: five
mallards, three blacks and one
sprig. I missed fifteen straight, but
severely wounded the bamboo
hedge.
Having shot (at) thousands OF
water fowl in many quarters Of
the world, I am convinced that a
butterfly net gives Mr.. Duck a bet.
ter break than 315 drains of smoke.
less powder and one ounce OF
chilled No. 6. Perhaps the Japan.
csc are out to promote the cause
of conservation among wild life
And I'm back of them, too.
In the classical Japanese drama
all the female parts are played by
men. No woman is permitted tt
tread upon the stage even during
rehearsal. In their modern comic
opera productions all male part:
are played by women. Such {
thing as a leading man" is quite
unknown, nor has it ever been sug
gested that one be allowed to oper
his trap.
Copyright.-wNU Service.