414 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



in quest of water-fowl. It should always be kept in tin canisters, 

 and never be trusted to paper, which of itself has a tendency to 

 absorb dampness, to say nothing of the danger of having packages 

 of powder carelessly wrapped in old newspaper and lying about. 

 A package of this kind, containing nearly half a pound of powder, 

 we know of having been thrown into the fire by a thrifty house- 

 wife, who mistook it for a bundle of rubbish that she had collected 

 up in a similar paper a few moments before, for the purpose of 

 consigning it to the flames. \ The consequences of this unpar- 

 donable carelessness on the part of the sportsman might have 

 proved very serious to us all, had not the accident been observed 

 by a brother chum sitting close by, who, with admirable courage 

 and presence of mind, seized the burning package with the tongs, 

 and, rushing with it to the window, which had been opened a few 

 moments before for the purpose of taking an observation of the 

 weather, threw it out, where in a moment or two it exploded with 

 a tremendous noise, but fortunately did no mischief. 



It is almost useless for us to warn the sportsman to be careful, 

 when drying powder, to expose as/ little as possible at a time to 

 the fire, or he may blow the roof off the house, and perhaps blow 

 himself out of the window. With proper caution, there is no 

 more danger in drying powder than there would be in heating so 

 much sand ; but in the hands of a careless or reckless person the 

 process would be rather hazardous. 



PROPERLY LOADING THE GUN. 



The art of rightly proportioning the charge for our piece is not 

 so easy a matter as many suppose ; but, on the contrary, it requires 

 considerable judgment and experience to ascertain the exact 

 quantity of powder and shot that a piece will best carry. If we 

 wish to ascertain this fact conclusively, a series of experiments 

 should be instituted immediately after the purchase of our gun; 

 in truth, every sportsman should settle this important fact to his 

 entire satisfaction at once, as we can assure him that much of his 

 success in shooting depends upon the proper loading of his piece. 



