668 



NEW JEKSEY. 



monia among cattle in the State, the Governor 

 appointed William H. Sterling to carry out its 

 provisions. At the time of his appointment 

 the disease, so far as known, existed only in 

 the northern and eastern portions of the State. 

 Wherever it was known to exist, veterinary 

 surgeons were sent to make a correct diagno- 

 sis, and the cattle were preserved in all cases 

 where it could be done, and none destroyed 

 except it was absolutely necessary in order to 

 save the herd, or to prevent the spread of the 

 contagion. In all cases a strict quarantine was 

 maintained. All cattle entering or leaving the 

 State were also inspected. 



A plan was adopted by Governor McClellan, 

 the object of which was to so improve the 

 efficiency of the militia of the State as to se- 

 cure a body of troops that would in many re- 

 spects bear comparison with the regular army. 

 The estimate of the number of reserve militia 

 of the State, based on the census returns of 

 1875, is 248,127. The number organized in 

 regiments, companies, and battalions is 3,180. 

 These compose two brigades, divided into one 

 battery of artillery, two Gatling-gun compa- 

 nies, and seven regiments and one battalion of 

 infantry. A school for commissioned officers 

 and another for non-commissioned officers were 

 instituted, and attendance was stimulated. Very 

 soon a commendable increase in promptness 

 of attendance of the enlisted men at the drill- 

 rooms began to be noticed. An effort was then 

 made, although hitherto without success, to 

 obtain from Congress a larger appropriation 

 i of arms, etc., for the militia. Meantime much 

 attention has been given to rifle-practice, in 

 order to improve the marksmanship of the 

 troops. An officer was sent through the State 

 to instruct the National Guardsmen in the use 

 of the rifle in their armories preparatory to 

 practice on the ranges, of which there are two 

 in the State. In order that he should do this 

 successfully, it had been necessary previously 

 to devise a way of making armory practice 

 essentially similar to that on the range. It 

 was necessary that the same rifles, with the 

 same sights, should be used in both instances ; 

 yet 75 feet was as long a range as could be con- 

 structed in most of the armories. The targets 

 were easily reduced to a size that would make 

 it as difficult to hit them at 75 feet as it would 

 be to hit a target on a range at 200 yards. 

 To prevent accidents in the armories from the 

 premature pulling of triggers, screens that 

 could not be perforated by a rifle-bullet were 

 set up at a distance of about 25 feet from the 

 firing-point. These had holes cut in the center, 

 just large enough to give to the marksman a 

 full view of the target. Lest the continual 

 crack of the rifles should prove a nuisance to 

 persons residing in the neighborhood, it was 

 found necessary to reduce the charge of pow- 

 der in the cartridges from 70 grains, the or- 

 dinary range-charge, to 6 grains. This was 

 found sufficient to drive the bullet reduced 

 from 420 to 230 grains to its work. The same 



cartridge-shell was used, but it was filled nearly 

 to its mouth with a brass cylinder perforated 

 from end to end to allow a train of powder 

 to extend back to the percussion-powder at 

 the base of the cartridge. In this way practice 

 in the armories was made to take the place of 

 range-practice. After this style of shooting 

 was introduced it became popular. Officers 

 and privates were eager to practice. The prac- 

 tice in the armories, however, had two detects. 

 The reduced charge of powder reduced the force 

 of the recoil, and the rifle was the more easi- 

 ly held to the bull's-eye, and nothing had to 

 be allowed for windage. A marksmen's badge 

 was established, which any National Guardsman 

 could win by making 25 out of a possible 50. 

 Beckoning by the number of marksmen's badges 

 won, there has been an increase in marksman- 

 ship this year over last year of more than 300 

 per cent. This has encouraged the General In- 

 spector (Sterling) to institute a contest at long 

 ranges, the distances to be from 800 to 1,200 

 yards. He has also in view, should this long- 

 range contest give favorable results, to attempt 

 shooting at 1,500 yards. This distance would 

 lack only 260 yards of a mile, yet he is of opin- 

 ion that the effect on the men would be bene- 

 ficial, because it would aid in teaching them to 

 judge of distances, and because it would be 

 properly preparatory to another object he has 

 in view. This is to teach them to shoot at 

 objects they can not see, as, for example (in 

 actual warfare), at soldiers behind a battery, 

 when the elevation of the rifle must be such 

 that the bullet, having passed over the inter- 

 vening object, will descend toward the objects 

 to be hit. 



The work done by the Fish Commissioners 

 during the year previous to April consists of 

 58,000 landlocked salmon hatched and liberated 

 in lakes in the northern part of the State ; 

 2,500 black bass distributed to lakes and ponds ; 

 1,665,000 shad hatched and liberated in the 

 Delaware Eiver ; 225,000 California salmon 

 distributed early in 1878; 500,000 California 

 salmon hatched and partly distributed ; 43,500 

 brook-trout purchased and distributed; 200,- 

 000 brook-trout hatched and nearly ready for 

 distribution ; 100,000 whitefish in the hatch- 

 ing-house. The Commissioners deem the in- 

 troduction of black bass into the State an event 

 of the utmost importance. Their presence in 

 the Delaware has aroused some opposition 

 from those who feared that they would se- 

 riously diminisli the number of young shad. 

 Bass live mainly above tide-water, and the 

 young shad, after being hatched in the head- 

 waters of the rivers, must, in making their 

 way to the sea, pass through the regions in- 

 habited by the bass. It is not now generally 

 believed, however, that any considerable num- 

 ber of infant shad are sacrificed to the vora- 

 cious appetite of the bass. It is true that bass 

 prey upon other fish, and it is equally true 

 that they will eat young shad ; but it is the 

 opinion of close observers that they will not 



