FOREST AND STREAM. 



313 



ARE DOGS PROPERTY? 



THIS is a question Mint must soon be definitely answered 

 and forever settled. Tile case ol Mau&ssoli Smith, 

 Esq., a prominent lawyer of Portland, Maine, whose dog- 

 was wautonly sliol, by ;i scoundrelly neighbor some months 

 ago, is now before (lie couris, and the verdict wo trust will 

 go far toward seeming a, just recognition hereafter of this 

 description of properly and Hie rights of ou iie-is. Mr. 

 Smitb, it will Lie remembered, sued for damages, but failed 

 to recover; whereupon, failing ill legal measures of re- 

 dress, lie look satisfaction, as the saying is, out of Hie hide 

 of bis antagonist. For this personal indignity Hie dog- 

 killer sues lor $0,000 damages ' We should have preferred 

 to see lids ease tried exclusively on iis merits, and an ap- 

 peal taken to a higher court, but we feel confident that Ihc 

 final result, of the litigation will be to e.-,!ablish tbc same 

 right of ownership in ih,gs as is vested in other domestic 

 animals of far less value, and to increase the sense of 

 security in the ownership of such properly. 



A valuable precedent, we observe, was established the 

 Other day at ManllUS, New York, where a most intelligent 

 and valuable dog belonging to Mr. Abraham Shoemaker, of 

 that place, was wantonly killed by a scamp, against whom 

 suit was brought before a Justice of the Pence, and .judg- 

 ment rendered for $13.3. An appeal was taken, and a jury 

 confirmed the judgment wilh costs. We shall look for- 

 ward to the Portland ease with great interest, but not -with 

 undue solicitude, for we feel that at no distant day clog 

 owners will be recognised as having some rights that vin- 

 dictive scamps are thus bound to respect, and that dogs 

 themselves will be treated to that consideration, in kennel, 

 in field, and in transit, which their high status in the animal 

 kingdom entitles them to. 



THE MILITARY CHALLENGE. 



The challenge from Company E, First Regiment, Cali- 

 fornia National Guard, to shoot any military team in the 

 United States at 200 aud 500 yards, which we published a 

 few weeks ago, and which was promptly accepted by Com- 

 pany D, Twelfth Regiment, N. Y. S. N. G-., has aToused a 

 most desirable interest among the Guardsmen of the Pacific 

 Coast, and several of them are now devoting a large share 

 of attention to rifle practice, in order that they may not be 

 unworthy of recognition in our national contests. As an 

 indication of the interest manifested by the riflemen of the 

 Golden State in the match between the two companies 

 representing the most Easterly aud Westerly portions of 

 our continent, we may adduce the fact that the telegraph 

 companies dispatched in full the terms offered by Company 

 D, and at the same time gave due credit to our journal fru- 

 its enterprise in bringing the meeting about, aud publish- 

 ing the conditions of the match. We have not yet received 

 the answer of the Califoruians, but o.vpect it by letter at 

 an early clay, and from what we know of their temper we 

 shall expect it to be an affirmative one. These matches 

 are productive of much good, as they give our Guardsmen 

 an esprit necessary to their efficiency, and urge them on- 

 ward by their desire to attain an honorable position in 

 such contests. As riflemen, our National Guards will 

 compare with any in the world, but lhe3 r must not be con- 

 tent with this, for they ought to be the best shots ou either 

 conlinent, as they have both the means and opportunity to 

 practice as much as may be desirable. 



Rifle contests should not be confined to the Guardsmen 

 alone, but they should also be participated in by our Regular 

 Array. The officers of the latter do not seem to manifest 

 any interest in these matters, at least we do not see them 

 openly advocating them, so we must conclude that they 

 are, to a certain extent, indifferent to the efficiency of their 

 commands as riflemen. 



It has been stated that Volunteers were far superior to 

 Regulars as marksmen, but this statement cannot be ac- 

 cepted in its literal sense until experience has proved it. 

 It is true that those in civil life who use the rifle are more 

 intelligent and more attached to their weapon than the 

 soldiers of the Regular Army, but this fact does not provo 

 that they have greater experience than the latter, or that 

 they know the power and quality of their weapon any 

 better. 



The fact that the Volunteers of England are better marks- 

 men thau their comrades of the line, cannot hold good in 

 this country, as the conditions are almost entirely altered. 

 There the Regulars have comparatively little praetice, while 

 they have much here, as they are often actively engaged 

 with Indians or in pursuing wild animals. This, of course, 

 will apply to those on duty in the West, and they embrace 

 the greater number of the army. To test the matter of 

 proficiency the Regulars should challenge a team of the 

 Guardsmen to shoot at short or long ranges, and, if accepted, 

 the quest ion could then be decided in a particular sense at 

 least. That they have not done it indicates, apparently, 

 that they have no sympathy with such matters, or that they 

 do not think themselves capable of successful competition. 

 This would prove a timidity we should not like to accord 

 them; yet if they do not take part in future contests, we 

 must admit this, or else assume that they lack the very 

 necessary spirit that characterizes good soldiers. Besides 

 the lessons deduced from such a trial of skill, we could also 

 learn the shooting qualites of the various military rifles, 

 and the advantages or disadvantages each may possess. 

 This would be an important addition to our knowledge of 

 weapons ; solwe hope that our Regular Army will organize 

 a ride team, and by a mateh with their comrades of the 

 Nsfruiiui Guard prove the truth Or fiddly pi I&0 Statements 



I igafnatr tBwjJi 



CURLING CLUBS. 



The curlers of Canada equal, if they do not excel in en- 

 thusiasm, the residents of old Caledonia herself, if we mis- 

 judge from their rccenl meetings, held in nearly every por- 

 tion or the Dominion. These were all largely attended by 

 the lovers of the slippery game, many of whom were gen- 

 tlemen of high professional and social distinction. It has 

 been asserted that curling is I he. most democrat icgameul" skill 

 in the world, and this we can readily understand where wo 

 see the artizan and professional man, the humble peasant 

 and titled noble, unite ou the common ground of love for 

 the exorcise. A fellow feeling in this case makes all won- 

 dtous kind, hence all social barriers ate overthrown when 

 curler:- meet. 



In our own country tin; game is now rapidly assuming 

 an importance one would not accord it a lew years ago, no- 

 where we had one club then we have twenty now, aud all 

 are large in membership and devoted (0 their favorite Win- 

 ter pastime. The coming international mutch will cause it 

 to loom up more prominently, as it will then attract mi 

 attention from Hie public lit large wbieh if has not hereto- 

 fore received. The effect of this must be to render it more 

 popular among all classes of people, and to cause il to aS- 

 sume its deserved place in the list of athletic exercises. 

 The clubs of New York were the first to engage in the 

 enterprise of having an intcrnalional " bonspiel," so this 

 would prove that the natives of Scotia in this country do 

 not lose any of their enthusiasm by their isolation from 

 their native land. 



Woodcock in England. — We recently quoted our 

 English correspondent, Jackson Gillbanks, as authority 

 that woodcock were not only marvellously scarce in some 

 portions of Great Britain, hut that they seemed to have 

 become practically extinct in localities where they have 

 been abundant hitherto. Since his letter was written a 

 most remarkable irruption of those birds has taken place 

 into the country, which might compare with the marvel- 

 lous visitation of quails into the camp of the Israelites 

 when they journeyed toward Canaan. We quote from 

 Bell's Life, November 28: " The severity of the weather in 

 Northern Europe, more especially in Norway, the bright 

 clear nights, and easterly winds, have caused au immense 



id 



quantity of I 



to seek shelter 

 coverls. A gr 



parted further inland. 1 

 than a God-send— this 



tifnl birds to arrive in this country, 

 >od in our numerous and spacious 

 umber of them alighted on the Dover 

 ik, and after resting a short time, de- 

 What else can this be considered 

 repopulating, by providential inter- 

 vention, of the depleted coverts? aud who will bless the oc- 

 casion more than those who so lately bewailed their pros- 

 pective loss? 



— Mr. Berghlias organized a new society for the Preven- 

 tion of Cruelty to Children. The objects of the society are 

 definitely stated to he: — ''To bring to justice those who 

 shamefully neglect or cruelly ill-treat children, it is not 

 our intention to labor in the interest of any religious class 

 or political party. Our duty toward the children that we 

 rescue will be performed when the)' are safe in the hands 

 of a Judge, upon whom will rest the obligation of disposing 

 of them wisely." The Board of Officers includes the follow- 

 ing strong names: President, John T. Wright; Vice Presi- 

 dents, Cornelius Vanderbilt, August Belmont, John .1. 

 Cisco, Peter Cooper, Wm. E. Dodge, James Brown, Henry 

 Bergh, Eldridge T. Gerry, Robert L. Stewart and Theodore 

 Roosevelt; Secretary, John L. Giffen; Treasurer, Wm. L. 

 Jenkins; Counsel, Eldridge T. Gerry; and Executive Com- 

 mitteemen, James Gordon Bennett, Louis J. Jennings, 

 Henry Bergh, Thomas C. Acton, Wm. M. Vermilyea, Bur- 

 den 13. Sherman, Jonathan Thorne, Joseph Seligman, 

 Wilson G. Hunt and John Howard Wright. 



Ouic Florida Commissioner. — Our Florida Commis- 

 sioner has about reached his objective point — Cedar Keys— 

 aud we presume will shortly send us his weekly communi- 

 cation. We desire in this connection to express our obli- 

 gation and thanks to Geu. Eckert, Geo. H. Mumford, and 

 other officers of the Western Uuion Telegraph Company, 

 who have kindly instructed their agents South to extend to 

 our commissioner such couttesies as will facilitate the ob- 

 ject of our West Coast Expedition. 



— Professor Cope, the eminent naturalist, has been kind 

 enough to send us a report on the vertebrate fossils dis- 

 covered in New Mexico, with descriptions of new species 

 found— the latter being classified by himself. To the lover 

 of paleontology this is an interesting volume, as it is both 

 thorough and concise. 



■*♦»■ 



Write Legibly. — As a great portion of our paper is put 



in type on the day and night of going to press— affording 



little time for revision — we suggest to our correspondents 



the importance of writing plainly, proper names and 



technical terms especially. A little care on the part of 



writers will prevent many errors which otherwise will 



occur, and for which editors, proof readers and printers 



are blamed. 



«■» 



flj^°PosTAGE FBEE,jgJ— After the 1st of January, 1875, 



the Forest akd Stream will be mailed to its subscribers 



free of postage, wilh no additional charge therefor. The 



publishers prepay the postage. 



BREECH LOADERS. 



—Quail can be found 4oad ty the dozen in mdn 



Kansas, owing i<- >- can >< 



: ■. , ■ .... 



OWING to the numerous letters of inquriry which we 

 receive every week from sportsmen asking for OUT 

 opinion as to the best style of breech loaders, their inecban- 

 ifjjn, charges to bo used, the character of the powder and 

 shot, and many other questions bearing on these subjects, 

 Vtfi have concluded to publish sketches ol Hie different, 

 kinds of breech loaders fr.,m lime to time, so that every 

 person can Ibcn judge for himself what sort of gun he 

 needs; how he should use it, and what aro its good and bad 

 qualities. The analyse and assertions wo .shall copy 

 from Hie work of "Gloan," one of our most valued contri- 

 butors, but we shall beg leave to differ from certain of 

 his statements, and we call upon our readers !o give us 

 their opinions on some points also, that is so far as actual 

 experience will permit. What we. aim at in Ibis case is 

 cenelusivo truth, but ere we can bit it we must cause 

 Hie varied experience of our sportsmen to be presented, 

 that they may be compared and s i fled and the proper de- 

 ductions made. Ere entering into a discussion of this weap- 

 on it may not, be uninteresting to glance at its early history. 

 He says:— 



"Breech loading guns are of great antiquity. In the 

 Tower of London; Woo luicli Museum, and in the Museum 

 in Paris, besides the museums of the Conlinent, maybe 

 seen hundreds of such arms, centuries old, and of exquisite 

 workmanship; thus once again verifying that there Ls noth- 

 ing new Uttder Hie sun. 



"In Mr. Lathum's essay, read before the Royal United 

 Service Institution, (quoted in ail able review in B^</niri,i), 

 it is stated that 'Breech, or, rather, chamber loading guns 

 of the fifteenth century, are found in many of the Conti- 

 nental museums. In the Museum of Artillery, at Wool- 

 wich, there is a breech loading pierrier, or patorera, of the 

 time of Edward IV., in 1471. This consists of a direcling 

 barrel, terminating in a square bar or frame of iron, snd a 

 separate loading chamber, with handle, which was fasten- 

 ed in its place for firing by a quoin or wedge of wood or 

 metal.' 



"It is probably to the early part of Henry VlII's reign 

 that we should refer the very curious pistol shields, or 

 targetts shielde with gonnes," of which many specimens ex- 

 ists in the Tower; but no examples of the kind have been 

 found in any foreign collection. 



"The shield is probably intended to protect the gunner 

 in firing from the small loopholes of fortified places, called 

 mcurtrii'ries, and the barrel generally occupies the centre of 

 the shield, in place of the boss or spike which is usually in 

 this position. There is a small aperture covered with a 

 graiing in the upper part, for the purpose of taking aim, 

 and a handle in the lower half enables the gunner to direct 

 the weapon. A separate loading chamber, containing the 

 charge, is pushed in at the breech, and a cross-bar or frame, 

 which turns ou trunnions, is shut down and retained in its 

 place by a spring or boit to secure it while firing. If you 

 compare this plan with that of the breech loading paterera, 

 you will see how veiy simple is the adaptation of the 

 method already in use for cannon." 



"A larger weapon of similar date and construction, said 

 also to have belonged to the king, but of inferior work- 

 manship, is in the Tower. This has a much larger bore, 

 •79, and is furnished with a spring bolt to hold the hinge- 

 piece. The barrel is three feet six inches long, and is 

 styled in the early catalogues the 'fowling-piece' of that 

 monarch." 



"A breech loading trestle-gun (a. d. 1500) was hooked 

 by an anchor about the end of the last century, and 

 is delineated in the Archcebgicu Brittanica. In 1497 

 breech loaders were used at the scige of Boppard, in Ger- 

 many. 



"By the records of St. Etienne, in France, it is shown 

 that the French monarch, Henry IX, shot with a breech 

 loader in 1540. 



"In 1661 the Marquis of Worcester took out a patent in 

 England for a breech action on the cut-screw principle, 

 which is thus described:— 



"An invencione to make certain guns or pistols which in 

 the tenth part of one minute of an hour may be recharged; 

 the fourth part of one turne of the barrel], which remains 

 still fixt, fastening it ;ts forceably and effectually as a dozen 

 shrids of any screw, which, in the ordinary aud usuall way, 

 require as niany turns." 



"This system has been subsequently repalented, and the 

 specifications describe the working parts lo be a male and 

 female screw, having parts of their circumferences cut 

 away to the bottom of the thread, whereby one slides with- 

 in the other, and is engaged with a small turn.' 



"There are several specimens of this kind of breech 

 mechanism in the Woolwich Museum, and, among others, 

 one of German manufacture, of the date of 1700, wilh a 

 combined lock to work with either flint or match. 



"Abraham Hill, of the "City of London, Esq., and Fel- 

 low of the Royal Society," in 1661 patented six different 

 systems for breech loaders. The first described "a new 

 way of making a gun or pistol, the breech whereof rises on 

 a hindge, by a contrivance of a motion undei it, by which 

 it is also let doun and bolted fast by one and the same 

 motion.' There are two specimens of this gun in the 

 Woolwich Museum. Another plan of Mr. Hill is, 'for a 

 gun or pistol! which is charged and primed at. a hole under 

 the sight or vizier, at the upper end of the breech, and 

 shuts with a carhidge or roundish plate of iron, and with- 

 out the sicrht of vizier.' 



"Pcpy, "in his diary of March 4, 1664, says:— 'There are 

 several "people trying a new fashioned gun brought my 

 Lord Peterborough this morning to shoot off often, one 

 after the. other, without trouble or danger.' 



"But M. Lcfaucheux, of France, is entitled to the honor 

 of making the breech loader available as a sporting gun in 

 modern days. By originating the cartridge, he virtually 

 recreated the weapon. It was used quite generally for 

 many years on the Continent in the shape in which M. 

 Lefaucheux put it, before it was introduced into England. 

 Wheu, however, it was first taken to England, it was weak 

 in mechanism, and did not shoot near as well as the Eng- 

 lish muzzle loader. In addition to which, the English 

 powder was stronger Hum the Continental, and the loads 

 were heavier. So that the 'French Onilcli Gun,' 66 it 

 , Ih-ii derisively called, shut poorly, soon rallied ill itt 



, ,..,-■ .i, :l 

 Il ' • '■ ' 



