108 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



fMtJKOHlO, 1881. 



tn 



lb 



is only 



r action t 



>f 



ISS 



si 



ell may 1 



c 



£h 



list 



j a pressui 



barrel ! 



int. Yet 



.V 



coining inertia by the sudden application of force, as the gas 

 of powder, etc., "are not. analogous. The motion must tlierd 

 be imparted from molecule to molecule; whereas, in the case 

 of gravity, the force is exerted eponctery individual mole- 

 cule at ihe same time. I -lit can the inertia even of a mole- 

 cu e be instantly overcome? 



Yon eamml. escape this by saying Unit 

 negative agent, and is already neutralized 

 gravity. We all know thai a No 12 b 

 filled half full ot No. 10 wads that would 

 of 00 pounds or over l.i fwrce ihem tliroi 

 hand. This pressure, too, would have to i> 

 ehame of powder wili blow then out of the gun 

 velocity, and with very little recoil. Put in three 

 shot so loosely wadded I hut one pound pressure by 

 force it through the gun barrel and it will twive E 1 LI 

 and will nearly unjoint your neck with recoil it yn 

 out with powder. In the one ease we have 50 p >unds (a 

 constant resistance too'; of friction, In the oilier we bavu 

 only oue pound of inertia. Tb'e friction is truly a negative 

 agent. But about the other there is a stubbornness that Beeuis 

 terribly positive when you conic to oxperime i wiih it. 



This is further exemplified by ihe fact that with no amount 

 of powder, however quick or however ai 

 faster as the ball advances 

 to a ball twice the weight 



city 



you ci 

 Nw 

 der? 

 true, 

 the bit 

 thesa 

 in the 

 force 



That gravil 

 But the po\ 



il is hslf-wa< 

 ne tiling. 5 

 powder adds I 

 s mainly Inst it 

 agent besides the ti; 

 motion from molooiil 

 explain the great 



iged, to burn 



u imparl the initial velocity 



id btil I of same calibre that 



,ly a moderate charge. 



iv'ny overcome this any more than pow- 



5 constantly acting on every molecule is 



r force when once developed and when 



p the barrel is extremely near to doing 



it ihe ball be wry long a great, increase 



ittle increase to the velocity, and the 



i recoil. There is here some resisting 



ic lost in imparting Ihe increase of 



o molecule. That is not enough to 



Ifcivniv between the veleoitr of 



tie 



ouu 

 and ; 

 in the 



1 stron" 

 matter is I 

 escape fre 

 vi.Tlud i 



nd one and a hall' ounces between a short ball 

 one; nur-t not Iheevira resistance be looked for 

 mile itself/ 



>• suspect that the more philosophical state of the 

 is: The ball tends in fall at the instant of its 

 i the muzzle, but as force canno! instantly be con- 

 equilibris for a fraction of 



time during which it will be driven on a level line 



The experimental proof or disproof of this would "t course 

 be very difficult. I doubt if any instrument could be made 

 without great care or expense that would test the question. 

 I suggest tlie following, however, as the nearest practical 

 approach to ii : 



Take a very accurate ritle anil sight it at icn feel with the 

 finest globe or telescopic sights to a dark line the exact dis- 

 tance below another dark line that the line or the axis of the 

 bore is below the line ol sight Load it with the heaviest 

 charge of powder consistent with accuracy and a round hall j 

 none of the. slow lumbering long range balls If you do not 

 know how to make a round ball work in a breech-loader 

 al one to nearly the same weight, or, 



whittle down 

 what is better. I 

 then sight at the 

 line of (ire ami Ii 

 lei. Then begin 

 possible, and im 

 drop of the bail, 

 —much longer i< 



In 



i/.lc-loadei 



iirly i'f'n 



rfeet fi 



Until 



sfr 



irge calibi 

 yoU will gel tie 

 ol perfectly paral 



oti< 



i Unm sou would suppose— at which you 

 cm delect absolutely no" mil whatever. 



I have just tried ibis with a ritle which I have used for the 

 past three years and which lias gained me many deer by its 

 immense level reach ,' practically so) which I would have lost 

 if I had had to make any allowance for distance. It is a 

 breech-loading 16-bore (.65cal.) double express, probably 

 the first one made in America made to order for me by 

 Nicholsix. Lefever. Alter trying everything else from .35 

 up. bunting with all the boasted American "sporting" rifles, 

 having all the work in hunting crippled deer that I wauled, 

 and having fed enough bu 



tes, I have killed 



never hunted for fifty yards 



the body. I can truly sav 



gle 100th part of an "inch 



ed to jeer at 



150 odd deer with this and 1) 



one that was struck aiiy whe 



that I would not have it a Sing 



smaller. To the suiail-bore men > 



this 1 can only say 1 have tried all yours. Have you tried mine? 



This ritle is extremely accurate, but as I had no telescopic 

 sights and only coarse globe sights, aud as 1 shot at consider- 

 able distances and had to use a [air-sized bullseye, the ex- 

 periment was not as close as 1 would desire. But the fol- 

 lowing was the resell : 



Righted to cut at ten yards Ihe lower edge of an inch bulls- 

 eye (so as to get the line of sight ami the centre of the line of 

 Are parallel) I" could detect no dropal fifty yards At seventy- 

 five the ball was in the lower edge of a l vo-inch bullseye; atone 

 hundred at the lower edge of a four- inch bullseye. Th 



nd ball. 



ached with heavy parehmen , 

 f Eagle Duck No. 2 and II /.- 



xcd. The ball weighed just 

 ever ball »viit from' any r'ille. 



ernl shots being less than one 

 seems impossible for this ball 



i! anvwheve. though of course 

 rat of facilities ft 





tin- ill 



. 3 pra 



than that 

 Length of barrel, 

 pounds. 



iy be t e truth as 



iwing of a bullet 



fact, as nearly all 



natural point 



with a hardened rn 

 well greased", wiih si 

 ard's Electric (finest | 

 one ounce and went a 

 ihe horizontal vuriati 

 inch at ne hundred j 

 to have touched the Ii 

 it may have risen a hi 

 getting • verything ex; 

 of a shot-gun properly Loaded [i 

 iweuly-nine inches; weight of ritl 

 A word as |o point, blank: A hi 

 to an actual natural point blank. c 

 on a level line for any distance, tli 

 hunters with Ihe ritle well 1; 



blank. The above experiment shows this. The words 

 nt blank," which have been so much ridiculed 

 .-scientific, shouid be retained as expressing a 

 I highly ii eful fact. I would define it to bu 

 Malice ul which a rifle withoni any rise of the 

 I the regu ation bullseye for thai, distance. Un- 

 der this d finitinn the point blank of uiy rifle would be one 

 hundred yards and much farther if held over the centre or the 

 bullseye without being held above the uppei edge. 



Major Merrill has relaxed his usual caution about exactness 

 in his use of words, eel. In speaking ..f trajectory he should 

 have specified the rifle, ball and powder used I g« a 

 very different trajectory with my rifle from the one he there 

 speakB of . At one hundred and seventy. five yard?, sighted 

 level as before, the drop was oidy fourteen inches below the 

 centre of an eight-inch bullseye This would catch a seven- 

 inch riDg the whole distauce and make it almost impossible 

 to miss a deer up to one hundred and forty yards by any mis 

 take of distance. Tn fact I hold square on everything with 

 level sights right up to that distance. 



"natural pi 

 by the ullr 



practical an 

 this: that ( 

 ball will strike 



The trajectory of a ball depends almost entirely on the re- 

 lation of the weight of the ball to the calibre. The relation 

 to the weight of powder is trilling compared with this. Bul- 

 lets may lie designated as Nos. 1, 2 and 3. No. 1 would be 

 Ihe round ball, the lightest one ever used. No. 2 would be 

 about twice its weight (of the same calibre of course). No. 3 

 would be three times its weight No. 2 is about the size of 

 the Wimhestei- ball, while No 3 is about the size of the 

 Greedirjoor bull. These proportions are perhaps not exact, 

 but nc<u!y enough so for Our purpose. 



Kuw, by do possible amount of powder can you drive No. 3 

 to one, hundred yards on as-fUt & trajectory as you can No. 2. 

 Nor can you drive No. 2 as far on a' level as No. 1, provided 

 that No.'] is large enough tn have sufficient actual weight as 

 well as relative lightness. The more you increase the length 

 of ball the less elTeei does tie- powder have upon the initial 

 velocity aud the more effect does n have upon the shoulder, 

 tin the other hand, the lirhter I he ball in proportion to the 

 calibi e the. greater the effect of the powder in increasing ve- 

 locity and ihe greater quantity you can shoot. Had the ounce 

 of lead I used in the experiment, above mentioned been cast 

 int.oa.44 ball and find from a Ciecdmoor rifle with six 

 drams of powder it would have, dropped at least eight- 

 inches under the murk al one hundred yards, and the man 

 behind the rifle would have dropped eight or ten feet some- 

 where else. 



•But unless the light ball has actual weight it will lose its 

 velocity very fust. And this actual weight can be given only 

 by enlarging the calibre. Any attempt to increase it by 

 lengthening the ball only reduces its velocity at short range, 

 increases the recoil ami less-ens the amount of powder you can 

 use. 



The trajectory you want must be governed entirely by your 

 requirements of the rifle. You cannot combine a good short 

 range and long range rille it the calibre be small. The length 

 of hall required to make it hold its momentum for a long 

 flight will imike entirely loo much drop between SO and 150 

 yards, ihe ticklish point (not where ihe most gallic is killed), 

 but where the most chances to kill occur, and the most misses 

 also from undershooting and from ovei shooting in trying to 

 avoid undershoot imr. 



II von lighten the. ball enough to overcome this last trouble 

 then it will be too short range. Thai is.it will not have 

 enough actual weight to hold out well to '300 yards and over. 



And tins is .me of the reasons why I don't bow in blind ad- 

 oration lo the w ierful .44. I'm out of the fashion I kuow, 



but not only like the hunt to end when I g t a shot instead 

 of one-th id of the lime just fairly b. ginning. I not only 

 like lo spare noble animals useless suffering aud frequent 

 waste, lait I like a good long level ranee with the possibilities 

 of shooting well Up to 400 yards or over if necessary. I gen- 

 erajly use a short Conical bull b, h;ni> ihe weight of the 

 round ball with live drams ot powder This gives a better 

 trajectory beyond 2U0 yards than the round ball, and under 

 that distance is cldse enough to it. for general shooting and is 

 less affected try wind. 



I agree with Major Merrill exactly as to the distance of 

 shooting on .game, but at the same time one should have a rifle 

 that wilt rjerforni well At double 140 yards. And to get a 

 good 140 ya d trajectory without losing il on the next 140 is 

 the sole and only question is lo Hie trajectory ot hunting 

 rides. And I have found no trouble ill solving it at least to 

 my own satisfaction. 



Since writ'ng the above it has occurred to me that some 

 will say a 10 bore gun cannot burn six drams of powder, and 

 that il is of no advautagc lo be able to shoot such large 

 charges. The answer to this is that though a less proportion- 

 ate amount is burned in a large charge than in a smaller one 

 a greater actual amount is nevertheless burned. I have never 

 hud any doubts on ibis point, but to settle the matter i have 

 just tried the round ball with rive drams of the same mixed 

 powder. At 100 yards the balls dropped/Off an inch from the 

 place where six drams bad placed them, and at 175 yards 

 six inches. T. S. Van Dike. 



WHY DID BE DO IT? 



I'lllt EXI'EEIENOK OF A "DlTTMAll Kl-OCTINO PflWDBR. VlOTtM- 



A l.THOLGIl we have had information of many serious 

 J\. accidents with the 



Fo 



ed pr 



• Dim 

 lept. S3 ■ 

 cxplanat 



sporting powder," wliich 

 vlru in consequence of the 

 on oi tin: real nature of that 

 I) we have thought that the 

 mid be of little value Were 



compound its use was 

 publication of such ao. ,. 

 the powder still employed for sporting purposes these acci- 

 dents might serve 08 useful examples, warning the foolhardy 



Tumi risking t 

 compound, 

 ger of thai 

 reasons we 1 

 lowing case, 

 some month 

 repeated im 

 thai i hey be 



v siands. t 

 ■al with a 



)l puhh.-hed il 

 igh the main fact 



They are nu» .. 



for the full oir 

 , record in this ii 



the Dittinar detonating 

 j warn against the dan- 

 lead issue. For these 

 ii uinstances of the fol- 

 iiinc to our knowledge 

 en only in response to 

 instances and a request 



personal investigation on 

 our partand amply substantiated' by the proper documentary 

 proof now in our possession, the facts are as follows : 



On ihe first day oi last July a glass ball match was shot at 

 '•]3uck'e Hill," Summit, X.'J. Among those present were 

 E. O. Delany. Job Swain, George Sisco, C. W. Brainstedaud 

 J. Ahem. The contestants were all shooting under thesaiue 

 conditions of powder, shot. eb.. and eaie was therefore taken 

 to insure for each Ihe proper charge. In deciding a tie it 



wasE. G. Del.. 

 others Job Swa 

 gauge" 3^ drams i 



Shot'. When l>, 



ny i 

 : shock which 1 



s turn to shoot. 

 ■arerully n 

 ' tlittuiar s 

 Ihe mm, a 



' lied tl» 

 led Job Swa 



vad 



In the presence of the 

 red out with a Dixon's 

 ng powder," with which 

 ■J.- loader, putting in two 

 iver the charge of 1J oz. 

 :ger the gun burst with a 

 ilenlly lo the earth. 



tcrr... . 



The second tinker of Delany's left hand was blown off at the 

 middle joint and Ihe first and third fingers of the same hand 

 torn open. No oue else was injured. Delany's band— what 

 here w;^ left ol ii -was dressed by Dr. Whittiugham, of 

 Milbuni. X. .1. il was entirely useless for several months, 

 mid is now (March 5) al limes exceedingly painful. 



The powder used had been procured at the office of the 

 Diurnai- Eowder Manufacturing Company, No. 24 Park 

 .'.ew York, the week before, i. e., the last week in 

 It was sold in a -sealed can," the " seal" beinginlact 

 until broken by Job Swain, who himself look the powder 

 from the can when the gun was loaded. The powder was 

 that manufactured, sold aud '•warranted" by the present 

 Dittinar Powder Manufacturing Company. 



I .... 



The bursted gun belonged to George Sisco. In compensa- 

 tion for his loss occasioned by their detonating compound, 

 the Dittmar Powder Manufacturing Company's agent, Justus 

 Von Lengerke, gave Sisco another gun. " V\hy did he do 

 it?" The Company must have known that this act was an 

 acknowledgment that the cause of the accident was the det- 

 onation of their nitro-cellulose explosive. 



The Dittmar Powder Manufacturing Company's agent, 

 Justus Von Lengerke, also immediately after the accident 

 sent word to the man who had been maimed by their powder 

 that 'he Dittmars would pay all his expenses. "Why did he 

 do it ? " They must have known that this too, was an ad- 

 mission that the man, who had been crippled for life, owed 

 his misfortune to the detonating compound which had been 

 sold by them in a "sealed can." Tne reason, probably, was 

 that the manufacturers, who were just, at that time endeavor- 

 ing to explain away the Nash accident down in Mississippi, 

 thought that the best way to deal with this accident nearer 

 home was simply to hush it up. However, the question 

 quoted above is one which we will leave every intelligent 

 man to answer for himself. 



There is another question which is not. more difficult of 

 reply. Delany's "expenses" were to be paid by the Com 

 pany. In addition to the physician's fee, the accident and 

 consequent enforced idleness entailed a loss to Delany of 

 several hundred dollars; but up to the present (March 5), with 

 the exception of a letter from the Company's agent, Delany 

 has heard nothing more from them. When their agent prom- 

 ised to pay the crippled man's expenses, why did he not do it ? 



HOUNDING AND STILL HUNTING 



Near the AninoNDAOKS, Feb. 1. 

 Editor Formt and Stream : 



I have noticed in late issues of the Forest and Stbkam 

 quite a number of articles in relation to the hounding of 

 deer in the Adirondacks, in most of which the writers are 

 opposed to that mode of hunting, giving as the principal 

 reasons that it is more destructive of the game than other 

 ways of hunting them, drives them out of the country, and 

 besides is an unsportsman-like manner of hunting. All this 

 I claim is not the fact by any means. There are three ways 

 of hunting the deer practiced to any extent in the Adiron- 

 dacks --still bunting, hounding and floating or jack-light 

 hunting, as we call it here. Now, any one who has ever still 

 hunted knows that it cannot he followed to any advantage. 

 before the leaves are oil* the trees, wliich is not much, if any, 

 before November, at a time that but few, if any, sportsmen 

 come to the Adirondacks from the cities and large towns. 

 At that time the sporting season is considered over by the 

 sporting houses in this part of the country at least. But 

 very few sportsmen come here for the purpose of still hunt- 

 ing at. any time. In the thirty yea' 8 and over I have lived 

 near and frequented the. Adirondacks, 1 have not known of 

 a dozen different ones cominghere from a distance to stillhimt 

 deer, and have seldom known of any hunting being done in 

 November, except by residents of this aud adjoining counties, 

 and a few market-hunters. 



Of the two other methods of deer hunting, hounding and 

 floating, the first is by far less destructive of the deer, will 

 not any more tend to drive them out of the country and is a 

 far more sportsman-like way of hunting. I was camped last 

 season from the middle of June to the last, of October on the 

 16-mile level of the St. Regio River, and kept a record of 

 the number of deer killed while I was there, on the level and 

 ponds in the vicinity. By floating in June, 17 were killed ; 

 in July. .3 By hounding in August, 4; in September, 4; in 

 October, 4. I heard by Mr. Phelps, of the Blue Mountain 

 House, who also kept a record, of four more being killed by 

 hounding after I left. 



In August and September quite a number of parties came 

 here and hounded deer that did not get one, although I 

 knew of only one case in all where the dogs did not water 

 the deer somewhere And I will say here that it is not, by 

 any means so easy a matter to gel a deer by hounding as 

 those who write against it would have one believe. It is 

 seldom one gets a chance to "grab one by the tail" or 

 " knock it in the head with a club," before it. is shot, and 

 when a party puts out the dogs in the morning they are not 

 sure of having venison for supper by any means, as many 

 who tried it on the 16-mile level last season season can certify. 

 Deer have many ways of fooling both dogs and men, some of 

 which I could give here, but space will not permit- 

 By hunting deer by floating, as it was practiced last season 

 and always has been ever since I have been a frequenter of 

 the Adirondacks, is the means of destroying half as many 

 more at least as are killed at the time, because the fawns are 

 left to starve when the does have been shot. I would like to 

 ask what is more unsportsman-like than to be paddled up to 

 within a Tow feet or yards of a deer and then to Are a load 

 of buckshot into it. As likely as not it will be a doe, which 

 is suckling a pair of twin fawns. In hounding the deer has 

 some chance for his life, but by floating ho stands watching 

 the deceitful light, unaware of any danger until shot down 

 in his tracks, or, as is frequently the case, wounded unto 

 death when be will hobble back into the alder bushes and die 

 and is left to rot or make food for wolves or foxes. I found 

 a two-year old buck last season that had been shot and left in 

 that way on the level. 



As to driving deer out of the country by hounding, it is 

 all bosh. I admit that where deer have been hounded in a 

 locality for any length of time they will leave and go back 

 into tl e unfrequented parts of the wilderness, but no more 

 than they will bv beiug fired at in floating, as by my record 

 you will notice but two deer killed in July, although there 

 was more hunting then than in June, when so many were 

 killed and shot at that they all left the level. But they will 

 always return to their old feeding grounds after a while, as 

 they did last season— the last of August and first of Septem- 

 ber. It is for this reason of hunting deer with dogs that 

 most of the sporting-house proprietors arc so opposed to it, 

 for when parties come near their vicinity and hunt with dogs, 

 as they generally do the first of the hounding season, it drives 

 the deer awav from their vicinity, so 'hat their guests don't 

 have so good a chance to buck -hot. them by floating, and 

 but tew are killed in that month, wliich I consider all the 

 better for the preservation of the game. In my opinion the 

 first of September is early enough to admit hounding deer, 

 and floating ought to be prohibited altogether. Still hunting 

 I believe to be the most sportsman-like manner of hunting 

 deer; but as I have stated above, but seldom sportsmen come 

 heieata time when it can be practised to any advantage. 

 And, therefore, I should not think it advisable to prohibit 

 hounding altogether. 

 Some may wish to know why I do not complain of those 



