In the early days every man and boy knew how to use a gun. It was a
necessity of life. It brought in meat for the family. The regular
business of every holiday was to go to the woods and kill. The free
life of the woods, the pleasure of ranging about for a purpose, and the
excitement attending success in bagging game were among their greater
pleasures.
Now we live in cities mainly. Even the country boy has less regard for
the gun. The game and many of the birds and animals that are not game
have been killed off, so that country boys now wish to give them a
chance for their lives. Probably the worst murderers of songsters and
innocent animals are the ignorant city youths who get only a day or two
in the woods in a year.
Guns have been "improved" to such an extent that whether the gunner
has any skill or not everything in sight can be killed because of the
rapidity of fire and the number of chances for killing. A gun has been
invented which pours a steady stream of rapid fire as long as you hold
the trigger. It was invented for killing men on the battlefield; but
there are other guns nearly as destructive that are used for "sport."
Public schools, Audubon societies, women's clubs, and other humanizing
agencies have so modified the ideas of boys and young men that there
are but few who hunt for sport.
The cheapening of the camera and its perfection for amateur use have
placed a new shooting apparatus in their hands, and many young people
of both sexes are now more or less expert in making exposures and
developing. A shot with a camera is worth more than a shot with a gun.
You have to eat or stuff the unfortunate bird or animal you shoot with
a gun. When it is gone you have nothing to show for your skill.
The shot with a camera gives you a handsome picture with many
thrilling details to relate. If you wish to boast you have the
evidence at hand to corroborate your statement. The pictures last
indefinitely, are easily stored, and may be duplicated at will.
Camera presents last Christmas far outnumbered the guns given. Boys and
girls much prefer the new sport to the old. With the aid of the bicycle
in getting about the country, young people are making trips to the
country with loaded cameras and bringing in much more satisfactory game
than they used to get with guns.
The skill some of them have manifested in getting a focus on some shy
resident of the woods or fields is indeed remarkable. Imitations of
brush heaps are made out of light stuff that may easily be carried
about. These may be placed before the residence of a rabbit or
woodchuck for several days before the attempt is made to get a shot
from beneath. A great deal of caution is sometimes necessary to get
the subject accustomed even to a strange brush heap, so he will act
naturally at the instant the snap is made.
Two young Englishmen made a mock tree-trunk of cloth, painted its
exterior, cut holes in it for observation and for the camera, tricked
it out with vines, spread it out on a light frame so they could set
it up where they chose, and got so many beautiful and scientifically
interesting views that they have written a book that has had a large
sale. It is embellished with half-tone engravings made from their
collections of photographs, and is a most delightful and useful
addition to one's library. It is entitled "Wild Life at Home," and
is published by Cassell & Company of New York. It has met with such
popularity largely because it has appeared just at the time when so
many young people are turning their attention from the killing of birds
and animals to the more pleasing and humane business of catching their
likenesses in their native haunts.
Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, of Washington, a distinguished naturalist, has made
many photographs of wild life in the United States, and embellished
his own works with reproductions of these pictures which are so very
interesting and difficult to secure.
The telephoto lens is a great help in taking the more timid subjects.
Audubon used a telescope to get the most familiar glimpses of these
little inhabitants of the forests long before the dry plate was
invented. What would he not have given to have been the possessor of a
means of taking instantly all the details and attitudes of the wild
birds he loved so well!
The camera is now adding daily to the accurate knowledge we possess of
the things of nature, and every young person should own one and become
familiar with its rare qualities and usefulness. It is very gratifying
to think that sport in the woods now means something superior to the
old bloody work our boys formerly pursued with guns. With a copy of the
book above mentioned a boy is equipped with suggestions and directions
enough to keep him busy and well employed for several seasons.