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About Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 1908)
i ROGUE RIVER COURIER. GRANTS PASS, OREGON, NQVEBEMR 27, 1908. f'MIL HUNTING I Wfe W THE Wy Mountain Sheep p S THEODORE ROOSEVELT (Copyright, 1M5. by O. P. Putnam'a ione. published under arrannoment with O. P. Futnn.m'a Bone, New York and London.) IQ-IIOUN, more common ly known as mountain Btiwp, are eitreuii'ly wary and cautloua nnl main, and are plentiful In but few places. Tbi la rather surprising, for they aeem to lc fulrly prolific (al t lion Kb not aa much ro aa deer and nnteloM), and comparatively few ore killed by tlio hunters. In nl the Mg-horu cornea next to buffalo and elk, averaging larger than the hlark-tall deer, while aa old ram will sometime be aluioHt aa heavy as a small cow elk. In hla movement he Ih not light and graceful like the prong horn and other antelope, bin marvelloua agility seeming rather to proceed from sturdy Ntrength and won derful command over Iron sinews and muscles. The huge horns are carried proudly erect by the massive neck; every motion of the body Is made with perfect poise; and there seems to be do ground so difficult that the big-horn cannot cross It. There is probably no animal In the world his superior In climbing; and his only equals are the other icclea of mountain sheep and the Ibexes. No mutter how sheer the cliff, If there arc ever so tiny crarka or breaks In the surface, the big-horn will bound up or down It with wonder ful eace and seeming absence of ef fort. The perpendicular bounds It can make ore truly startling In strong con trast with Its distant relative the prong-horn which can leap almost any level Jump, but seems unable to clear the smallest height. In descending a sheer wall of rock the big-horn holds II four feet together and goes down In long Jumps, bounding off the surface almost llko a rubber ball every time he strikes It. The way that one will vanish over the roughest and most broken ground Is a perpetual surprise to any one that has hunted them; and the ewes are quite as skilful aa the rams, while even the very young lambs aeem almost aa well able to climb, and certainly follow wherever their elders lead. To blin the barren wastes of the Bad Lands offer a moet attractive home; yet to other living creatures they are at all times as grimly desolato and for bidding as any spot on earth can be; t all aeasnna they teem hostile to very form of life. Occasionally the big-born come down Into the valleys or along the grassy loes to feed, but this Is not often, and In such canes every member of the hand Is always keeping the sharp- they beat a retreat to their broken fastnesses. At tilght-tlme or In the early morning they come down to drink at the small pools or springs, but move off the Instant they have aatls fled their thirst As a rule, tbey spend their time among the rocks and rough ground, and It Is In these places that they must be bunted. In color they harmonize curiously with the grayish or yellowish brown of the ground on which they are found, and It Is often very difficult to make them out when lying motionless on a ledge of rock. 1 Ti YOUTH'S COMPANION IT MHII HUT Will T HU The Contents of the 32 Issues (or 1909 will Include 50 Siar Articles Mv Men and Women of Dlstlno lion in Muny Vocations. 250 Capital Stories Of Charm-ter and Adventure. Iih lulling Six l ino Sol l.il.v 1000 Up-To-Dato Notes On Current Kvnnta, Natural History anU Science. 2000 One-Minute Stories Bits of Humor and Miscellany The Wcnklv Health Article. Timely Kiluoi lals. The Clill di en's I'aue. etc. Jump CoptVa of the Puptr and WutrateJ Announcement or IVO!) tent hrmm to any addiesg. Free to January, 1909. F.vry nw ubrribr who at one cut out ftiwt nd this ilip ur mention thw pH-r, with 1.73 will rocoiv KKtE All th Uiu! of Th Companion for th remaining wk of 1 ttOH, including th Haauttlul Holiday Numbr. Tha Companion' Calendar for 1909 "In liamtmothrr' (.iardan, tttho- rapKrd in thutaan color. Than Tha Companion for tha 52 weeks of 10 - a lib. .ty of tha bt taadina for avary mam bar of tha tanuir. THE YOUTH'S COMPANION, BOSTON, MASS. SUISCRIPTIONI HICEIVID AT THII 0FF1CL Up tha tllppwry Ice-cnvertA butte w clambered. Time and again they will be mistaken for boulders, and, on the other band, I bare more than once stalked n te masses of sandstone that ! hare mis taken for sheep. When lying down the big-horn can thus loan everything below It; and both while feeding and resting It Invariably keeps the sharpest possible look-ont for all danger from beneath, and thla trait makes It needful for the hunter to alwaya keep on the highest ground and try to come on It from above. Aa far as lay in ua, on our first day's hunt we paid proper beed to all the rules of hnntlng-craft; but without suc cess. Tp the ellppery, Ice-covered buttes we clambered, clinging to the rocks, and slowly working our way across the facoa of the cliffs, or cau tiously creeping along the nnrrow ledges, peering over every crest long and carefully, and from the peaks scanning the ground all about with the field-glasses. But we saw no sheep, and but little sign of them. Finally wo struck the head of long, winding valley with a smooth bottom, and after canterlug down It four or five miles, rame to the river, Just after the cold, pale-red snn had sunk behind the line of hills ahead of ua. Our horses were sharp shod, and crossed the Ice without difficulty; and In a grove of leafless cottou-woods, on the opposite side, we found the hut for which we had been making, the cow boy already Inside with the Are started. Thronghout the night the temperature aank lower and lower, and It waa Impossible to keep the craay old hut anywhere near freexlng potnt; the wtnd whistled through tko chinks and crannies of the kw, and, after short and by no means elab orate) supper, wo were glad to cower down with oar great fur coats still on, tinder the pile of buffalo robes and bear skins. My alerplug-hag came In very handily, and kept me ns warm as possible, lu spite of the bitter frost. We were up mid hud taken breakfast next morning by the time the llrst streak of dawn had dimmed the bril liancy of the stars, and Immediately nfterwurda strode off on foot, ns we had lieen lmniered by the horse on the day before. This day, though the weather hud grown even colder, we did not feel It, for we walked ull the while with a quick pace, aud tln climbing was very hard work. The shoulders and ledges of the cliffs had Ivcouie romul and slippery with thy Ice, and It was no easy eask to move up and along them, clutching the gun In one hand, and grasping each little projec tlon with tlie other. When on the way back to camp, where the buttes rose bigheet and steepeM. we came upon fresh trucks, but as it was then late lu the afternoon, did not try to follow them that day When near the but I killed n sharptal! for supHr, making rather a neat shot, t'.io bird Wing eighty yanN o!T. The HUM was even colder than the preceding one, and all signs to'd us that we would soon have a change for the worse In the weather, whl.-h made me doubly anxious to get a sheep before the storm struck u. We determined that next morning we would take the horses and make a quick push for the chain of high buttes where we had aeen the fresh tracks, and bunt them through with thorough care. I W'e started in the cold gray of the . morning and pricked rapidly off over the frozen plnln, columns of white steam rising from the nostrils of the galloping horses. When we reached the foot of the hills where we Intended to hunt, and had tethered the horses, i the sun had already risen, but It was 1 evident that the clear weather of a fort 1 night past was over. The air was thick ! and haiy, and away off In the north j west a towering mass of grayish white clouds looked lllie a weather-breeder; I every tblug boded storm at no dls- tant date. The country over which we I now hunted was wilder and more ! mountainous than any we had yet struck. High, sharp peaks and ridges j broke off abruptly Into narrow gorges I and deep ravines; they were bare of ! all but the scantiest vegetation, save on some of the sheltered sides where grew groves of dark pines, now laden down with feathery snow. The climb ing was as bard ns ever. At first we went straight up the side of the tallest peak, and then along the knlfe-Hke ridge which Joined it with the next. The ice made the footing very slippery as we stepped along the ledges or crawled round the Jutting shoulders, and we had to look carefully for our footholds; while In the cold, thin air every quick burst we made up a steep hill cuused ua to pant for breath. We had gone but a little way before we saw fresh signs of the animals we were after, but It was some time be fore we came upon the quarry itself. We left the high ground and de scending Into a narrow chasm walked along Its bottom, which was but a couple of feet wide, while the sides rose up from It at an acute angle. After following this for a few hundred yards, we turned a sharp corner, and shortly afterward our eyes were caught by some grains of fresh earth lying on the snow In front of our feet On the sides, some feet above our heads, were marks In the snow which a moment's glance showed us had been made by a couple of mountain sheep that had come down one side of the gorge and bad leaped across to the other, their sharp toes going through the thin snow snd displacing the earth that had fallen to the bottom. The tracks had evidently been made just before we rounded the corner, and as we had been advancing nolselesly on the snow with the wind In our favor, we knew that the animals could hive no suspicion of our presence. They had gone np the cliff on our right, but as that on our left was much lower, and running for some distance parallel to the other, we concluded that by run ning along Its top we would be moat certain to get a good shot. Clambering Instantly np the steep side, digging my hands and feet into the loose snow, and grasping at every little rock or frozen projection, I reached the top; and then ran forward along the ridge a few paces, crouching behind the masses of queerly-shaped sandstone and saw, about ninety yards off across the ravine, a conple of mountain rams. The one with the largest horns was broadside toward me. his sturdy, mass ive form outlined clearly against the sky, as he stood on the crest of the ridge. 1 dropped on my knee, raising the rifle as I did so; for a second he did not quite muke me out, turning his head half round to look. I held the sight fairly on the point Just behind his shoulder ntul pulled the trigger. At the report he staggered and pitched forward, but recovered himself and crossed over the ridge out of sight We Jumped and slid down Into the ra vine again, and clambered up the op posite side as fast as our lungs and slippery Ice would let us; then taking the trail of the wounded ram we trot ted along. We had not far to go; for. up old Manltou, who can carry any thing and has no fear, and the big horn was soon strapped across his back. It was a fine ram, with perfectly-shaped but not very large horns. The other ram, two years old, with small horns, had bounded over the ridge before I could get a shot at him; we followed his trail for half n mile, but as be showed no signs of halting nml we were anxious to get home we then gave up the pursuit. It was still early In the day, and we made up our minds to push back for the home ranch, as we did not wish to le caught out In a long storm. The lowering sky was already overcast by a mass of leuden-gray clouds; and It was evident that we had no time to lose. In a little over nn hour we were buck at the log camp, where the 'ram was shifted from Manltou's back to the buck board. A very few minutes sufficed to pack up our bedding and provisions, and we started home. Mcr rlfleld and I rode on ahead, not spar ing the horses; but before we get home the storm had burst, and a furious blizzard blew In our teeth as we gal loped along the last mile of the river bottom, before coming to the home ranch house; and as we warmed our stiffened limbs before the log fire. I congratulated myself upon the success ful outcome of what I knew would lie the last hunting trip I should take dur ing that season. The death of this ram was accom plished without calling for any very good shooting on our part. He was standing still, less than a hundred yarda off, when the shot was fired; and we came across him so close merely by accident Still, we fairly deserved our luck, for we had hunted with the most patient and painstaking care from dawn till nightfall for the better part of three days, spending most of the time in climbing at a smart rate of speed up sheer cliffs and over rough and slippery ground. Still-hunting the big-horn hi always a toilsome and labo rious task, and the very bitter weather during which we bad been out bad not lessened the difficulty of the work, though In the cold It was much less ex hausting than it would hnve been to have hunted across the same ground In summer. No other kind of hunting does as much to bring out the good qualities, both moral and physical, of the sportsmen who follow It. If a man keeps at it It Is bound to make him both hardy and resolute: to strengthen his muscles and fill out bis lungs. Mountain mutton Is In the fall the most delicious eating furnished by any game animal. Nothing else compares with It for Juiciness, tenderness, and flavor; but at all other times of the year It la tongh, stringy, and worthless. PYROGMPHY GOODS Shsss. Clemens Sells Drug's Wherein Thay Dhferod. I. BrnOy Blaekwell, one of the pio neer of bar sex In medicine, beard yeas physician deliver fierce dia tribe against epenlng the doors of the proftoaton to women. When be ceased, she asked: "Will yon please tell me one reason why they should not practice medi viner "Certainly, madam. They haven't the muscle, the brawn, the physical strength." "I see, sir. Tour conception of a sickroom Is a slaughter bouse. Mine la not" The Courier has the largest circula-:-, j- r.,.,, -yt , ,f mv inre". The Rogue River Nurseries Are strong on TOKAY GRAPES, having about 250,000 fancy cuttings that are rooting nicely in the reddest of lands. We are ready to contract for fall delivery at prices that will surprise you. We are as well prepared to fur. nish you with anything in line of trees and general nursery stock. Conklin Building Grants Pass Or. TREES ! TJXl:i34 ! TREES BUY YOUR TKEES FROM "Old Reliable Albany Nurseries" and you are sure of getting just what you order. We grow our trees for quality not cheap prices. GEO. H. PARKER, - Agent Office with J. E. PETERSON The Development of the Remington is the History of the Writing Machine New Models 10 .nd 11 Now Ready Model 10 with Column Selector Model 11 With Built-in Tabulator Remington Typewriter Company (lacorporalej) New York and Everywhere HV fourul him luring on hit tide. in I rxiHvtPil, wo found Mm lyltiR on hlii si.le a couple of humlrvd yiirils U yonit the rliikv. his eyes already s'ltiej lu death. The bullet had jfiuie lu l hind the shoulder mid railed clean throuch his IhhI.v crosswise, Rolrg a little forward: no animal less touch than a mountain ram could have pone any distance at all with such a wound, lie had most oMIkIubIj- run round to part of the hill where w e could bring up one of the horses without v.rv much dlfliculty. Accordingly I brought J "Tour of the Tourist" REMARKABLE event in the history of automobiledora was the tour of more than thirty Tourist cars from Los Angeles to San Francisco and return, August 12th to 22d, 1908, carryina 94 men, women and children. This tour differs radically from any previous automobile run in that practically every car was operated by its owner instead of a professional driver, thus demoratrating simplicity and ease of operation, and proving forcibly that the Tourist is an owner's car so simple in operation and mechanism as to enable the novice to negotiate the severest test to which an automobile could be put. This more-than-a-thousand-mile-run was successfully accomplished without mishap or accident, and will live long in the annals of automobiledom as a glowing testimonial to mechanical genius and constructional ability. T fW Model Model ttSpsJ, Tti Type "K" Tooting Cu, tht powefut, itady X aten giant which earned nxh aa ennabU rapotatioa the part lew yean, it a two-cylinda car ol mind ilila ability. Ill cotutructioa U th my acme ol timpticity, and tot accompWhmenU hav earned lac its makep woiloVwidt TkW car. beautifully finohed in a choice of four colon 21 H. P. BTe-panenger remorabla toooeau, ii SI300aLo. Aaaelea, TourUt Can are corered by a very Ibenl ruarantce, and wtth the factory UeetUadlo rep lac all pam ukkly. I R. S. MSON Agt., Grants Pass Oregon. The Type "O" Teurt RoacUer mptmmt. aVe aak aaurioa point in two-cylindec automobile eoentrucboav All the faacarec of the now fanow model "K" aM hea loaded waa tha racy, due kne ol nS hiejVpncee toed iter. ftothmg on the market today eaa coarpeee favorably with the typo "G lot all mnm oriceebibty. atyle, leliaUliry and w price. . , ThU car with a laeW finuW trunk oa mat tail lot tt Wo ramble teal oa Cnmk. S132 and with double iadmdael eeaM oa Mu,SI3Sa F. O. B. Lo An 'V