102 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



old wooden structures met the srunefate. Below the bridge, 

 as far down as Ead'a llill. there rue many good fishing places, 

 the favorite ones being in the eddies formed behind rocks, 

 water is ten ori ip, Sometimes when 



i a very high there is a heavy current above the mill, 

 and it is often a difficult matter to take a boat up as far as 

 Payne's Eddy, 01 even to the chain bridge, but an expert oars- 

 man can most always aseencl the stream, although the rapid 

 ..•in Tent will make his progress rather slow. Many start out 

 from Georgetown, where comfortable boats can be procured, 

 and get along very well as far as the Mill, where they encoun- 

 ter the current, and soon abandon any further attempt to go 

 tip; consequently, they lose the best fishing. 



The ascent of the rapids, however, has its attending dan- 

 gers, and several times boats have been capsized there, or 

 swept upon the rocks by the swift current, and one or more 

 at the occupants drowned. Great caution, as well as skill, is 

 required to pass the dangerous places, but the boatmen in 

 the neighborhood, wBo make their living by fishing, have no 

 trouble in sculling their heavy bateaux to any point they 

 re. The dipping of shad and herring in the neigh- 

 borhood of the Tittle Tails, during the spawning season, 

 affords a living to many of the country people residing in 

 that neighborhood. They are equipped with a circular net 

 .ill. phed to an iron rim of about four feet diameter, this is 

 fastened to a stout pole twelve or fifteen feet in length, and 

 Lie Bsh are thus dipped up. A good many pursue their 

 avocation from the rocks on the Virginia shore, and others 

 have boats large enough for two persons to dip from. The 

 -.-.nil clipping is at night, and very often the fish- 

 ermen capture many shad and herring during a single night. 

 Kock, black bass, and perch are also frequently taken in these 

 nets. The dipping business is a dangerous one, and it very 

 often happens that the dipper, perched upon some narrow 

 ledge of rook, is over-balanced by his heavy net, and tumbles 

 headlong into the stream. They are generally hardy men 

 and expert swimmers, and therefore recover terra firma, 

 though not without the loss of their net. 



Many persons, in fishing for perch, do so from the rocks 

 along the river bank instead of from a boat. At high tide 

 they often have good sport, but never take as many large fish 

 a- the more experienced fishermen, who have then- boats an- 

 chored over the deep holes, and above eddies, where they 

 take out the larger ones, oftentimes as fast as they can bait 

 their hooks. On many occasions two or three of us have cap- 

 tured over two hundred perch in less than three hours by 

 fishing from a boat. 



The "tackle used for catching perch is very light and easily 

 I always use a fourteen foot rod, braided linen line, 

 and reel; the latter is a matter of convenience. The perch is 

 not a game fish, and therefore the reel is not necessary to 

 give him line, as in fishing for rock, bass, and other game 

 fish. Perch bite rapidly and swallow the hook, but offer no 

 resistance, and are easily taken from the water. Two or 

 : ill hooks (Limerick, Aberdeen, or Kirby) are attach- 

 ed to the line above the sinker, and the best fish are caught 

 near the bottom. 



After spawning the perch start down the river early in 

 May, and at this time very fine ones are caught between 

 n and Analostan Island, where a portion of 

 the liver has a rocky bottom, but as the Potomac at 

 this point is much wider than above, in the neighbor- 

 hood of the' Little Falls, the fish have a larger body of 

 water in which to distribute themselves, and therefore 

 do not. bite as rapidly. They are caught here in water 

 from fifteen to twenty feet deep. Old fishermen declare that 

 it is the favorite spawning ground of the sturgeon, and that 

 the perch stop there, on their return to salt water, to feed 

 upon the sturgeon spawn. 



As the perch season ends, that for rock, or striped bass, 

 opens, and continues two or three weeks. These fish also 

 ascend the river to spawn, and they are taken at Payne's 

 Eddy and many other localities. One of the favorite haunts 

 for them is at the "Riffles," just opposite to Ead's mill, and 

 the bait used is fresh herring cut in strips or live rnmncw. 

 Black bass are also captured near the chain bridge and at 

 t.far foot of the Little Falls, but the favorite places for the 

 latter fish are above tide-water. I will have something more 

 to say about these game and ravenous beauties in a future 

 letter. 



The shad and herring fisheries of the lower Potomac, which 

 have formerly given employment to a large number of per- 

 sons in the spring, and, until within a few years past, sup- 

 plied this section of the country with those fish, have been 

 gradually failing, and from present indications there will be 

 very little effort made by our seine haulers this season in 

 prosecuting that business on the shores of the Potomac. 

 From the experience of the past few years they are disheart- 

 ened. Some of the most extensive fishermen are desirous of 

 pftllino out their seines traps, boats, and other property at 

 less than > if] jssible to find purchasers. Hundreds of 

 laboring men. who have heretofore been employed at the fish- 

 lissppomted, and are seeking other employ- 

 ment. Quite a number of landings have been abandoned, 

 and will not be worked at all this season. 



Wild ducks were beginning to re-appear in large numbers 



on the waters of the Potomac and Chesapeake, until the re- 



. Lich seems to have retarded their flight in 



.don. A heavy gale a few nights ago played sad 



havoe among the ducking blinds down the river, but re- 



beii g ma . and it is thought the ducks will be 



plentiful in a week or two. 



In a recent letter I referred to the eagles and owls caged 

 in Franklin Square, in this city. C i the new Bem- 



ad grounds, does not favor 

 of keeping them Gaged. It eoste about $40 per 

 i feed them, and of late, had it not been for the per- 

 sons residing near- the Park who sent food to the buds, they 

 would have been starved to death, there being no money 



to feed them. Col. Casey has offered to give them to Prof. 

 ' the Smithsonian Institute. If he does not want 

 them, and no one else asks for them. Col. Casey intends that 

 they shall be set free to roam where they desire. They must 

 be disposed of in some way this week. 



lifie. 



SUB-CALIBRE RIFLES. 



THE question of fitting a rifle-ban-el within the barrel of 

 a shot-gun, and thereby converting the latter into a 

 weapon which could be used for large game, is a question 

 which is at present being very generally agitated. For our- 

 selves, we think that while the scheme is perfectly practi- 

 cable as far as the mechanism is concerned, it would yet 

 make a nondescript piece, that would possess but very little 

 value. For instance, if the gun was wanted for long trips 

 and mixed shooting, where would the rifle barrel be carried ? 

 Under the barrels ? Then why not have it made a permanent 

 fixture, as in the Baker gun. It certainly could not be car- 

 ried in the barrels, if small game was to be killed. As a rule, 

 but few combinations of this kind prove to have sufficient 

 practicability to bring them into general use, although there 

 is no question but that, at the present time, there is a large 

 demand for something in the shape of a combined rifle and 

 shot-gun. We have had a number of letters on the subject, 

 extracts from two of which are given below, both from old 

 gentlemen. One writes : 



"Although my rifle-shooting days "are evidently about 

 passed away, I take a lively interest in your rifle columns. 

 I was particularly interested in the brief article of "B. L.' 

 last week, under the above caption. 



"Just, fourteen years ago 1 took a Sharp's army carbine, and 

 cut out the grooves, making thereby an excellent small-box, 

 breech-loading shot-gun. After a. long series of experiments 

 I succeeded in making a compound powder and shot cart- 

 ridge, with which in this small box gun I made the best pat- 

 terns'! have ever seen. 



transforming the army carbine into a shot-gun, I 

 made a rifle barrel that would slip into the short barrel from 

 the breech. Of course the lifie calibre was very small, taking 

 I think about 250 round bullets to weigh a pound. With 

 this diminutive gun I killed nlore small game than with any 

 other gun I ever owned, and I have owned and used everaJ 

 valuable rifles and good shot-guns, and have been ai count! ' 

 a successful hunter bv all my acquaintances. I took this 

 gun to the Sharp's Pine Works, then at Hartford, and urged 

 the company to manufacture double guns of 10s calibre, and 

 fit therein rifle barrels of any calibre that might be required. 

 Some members of the company were decidedly favorabli to- 

 ward the scheme, but the president opposed it, and nothing 

 further was done. 



"For my hunting I would much prefer such a gun, with 

 one rifle barrel of large calibre and the other small, to any 

 weapon yet in use. "Mmautaii." 



A Canadian correspondent from Toronto writes, that ho 

 has died having rifle barrels made to fit inside of his shot- 

 gun, but that it did not work, lie says : 



••Th e two barrels did not shoot alike from the same sight, 

 and at 100 yards, I could not hit aboard two feet square with 

 both barrels : with one rifle barrel in one shot-barrel it did 

 very fairly. I have had three double ritles, and not one of 



however, that some of the American rifle raaau&ctutera do 

 not make double rifles. ' With their perfect machinery, and 

 their true way of working, they could make a double rifle 

 shoot correctly at the first time of e eryfondof 



deer hunting, and have taken U days yearly at it for the fast l'i 

 years, and although I sun now nearly 70, I get keener fOJ ii 

 as I grow older. In my rifle the rilling is something like the 

 Rigby plan, that is, not cut sharp, but running, so as to have 

 no sharp corners. I then cut a hit oft the muzzle for » bul- 

 let mould. These bullets I immerse in hot grease I 

 ing; the contraction of the lead just gives room foi I 



is, that I cannot protect the caps from getting damp, and many 



double-rifle is the best for bu.-h hunting: you nev.v get timrc 

 than two shots, and you don't require to take the rifle Brora the 

 shoulder, and with your left eye shut you can see the deer 

 through the right ; but I don't approve of keeping 

 open, as you.can't look through the sight of a rifle with both 

 eyes at the same time. I have had a rifle from • 

 brated maker, and I have a it) calibre of Sharp's now, which 

 is the best shooting rifle 1 avel owned. I think at 111 rods I 

 could kill 50 turkeys with 5U shots (if there was no wind). 

 •• Wry respectfully, "Toko.nto." 



y can send' their subscription tickets to us and we 

 for them, guaranteeing in each instance that the 

 scores will not be such as will bring their names into noto- 

 riety. 



JIjxev's Ctatxecv. — , A rifle match in the lying down posi- 

 tion has been commenced at Miley's Brooklyn range. 'Hie 

 following ai i i bet ires made so far out. of a possible 50, 

 shooting at a Wimbledon target graduated to 120 feet: P. 

 P. Pike, 45 ; Bansom Bathboni of tl • Team, 44; 



J. W. Wtdlis, 44; A. H. Anderson, 43 : 11. Stanton, £2 : J. 

 P. Burns, 12 ; Col. B. E. Valentine, 42 : E, B. Cast i ' 



A match for members of the press commenced on M in ■ 

 day evening of last. week. Several handsome prizes are- 

 offered for both matches. 



RIFLE NOTES. 



The ItraEBNATioNAn IMaxch.— The following circular has 

 been sent by the Amateur Rifle Club, of New York, to rifle 

 clubs throughout the country: 



-An invitation haB boen received by tbii ehi 

 riflemen of Ireland to the Tittunen of America, to shoot a match in 

 . under aimilac oolidiiiooa Dl ta. .,-:,., ^oreruiny trie irinh- 

 American matches of 18TS-C. ... 



Will your society iend one <i more man to xepn lent 

 contests a. a ; rh, i team, will be required to 



u] , it is expected his dub frill (provide for Mm to 



Please lav this matter before your society, and ctairrnunioate Its an- 

 swer before the 1st of April ntrai., a? it is necessary that this club 

 should know by that lime whether a representative team can be got bo- 



Tbe Amateur Folic I 



rifle eluL,3 of America 

 By order of the Ext 



•e the active co-operation of the 



:, Jr., j Committee. 



Conmn's GiiiEEBS.— We write our caption, but "Oonlin's" 

 . in Liable fire fiend a: 

 his rapacious jaws and swallowed the earnings i 

 Wherefore, We call upon all good riflemen, and upon lite 

 ,-, aeons other friend > >, like oui 



ei, idmirers, to respond to the call 

 appointed for the purpose, for a 

 ed to -Tames B. 

 riflemen, which opened at 

 •T. Nd. 207 Bowery, on Sfttnrd 



late, to amount to over forty. If 

 era eere too bashful to shoot in public them- 



— The American Bod and Rifle Association of Jamaica, L. 

 I., held their annual meeting and elected Ofiicera last week. 

 The officers are as follows : President, George H. breed; 



Vice-President, John Fleming : Treasurer. Charted". Stewart; 



Sec ae. Samuel S. Avmur : Executive Committee. John 



II. Sutp'htu, John 51. Crane, Theodore Rogers, William 8, 



lames P. Daroy, Albert J. Watkineon and William 

 S. Eh a .aid oil'. Their first match this season will take place 

 in April. 



The Irish Rifle Association seem to entertain considerable 

 hope in the government for the changing of the laws in re- 

 lation to the Volunteer Act, in order to allow their country- 

 men to be represented in the future competitions for the 

 Queen's prize at Wimbledon, as the following letter of Major 

 Leech's to the Editor of the Dublin Times wall show : 



LlacLiK, March. 1, 1877. 



Sin:— 1 beg to inform yon that at a meetiua of Hie council of our As- 

 sociation, held ihie day ( March 1st .), the subjoined rceoulution- were 

 unanimously adopted: 



"That the Council, allhoasrh deeply iae.re.-aed Ell our proposal, which 

 promises to extend In other parts of 'the IJiM-h Empire, for the attain- 

 ment of skill in rifle shooting, desire to leave the initiative In the bunds 

 of the government." 



'■Thai, in view of the impending di-enssion in Parliament ol the pro- 

 posal to extend to Ireland the provision? of the Volunteer Act, aa now 

 extended m England, a depntil a ■ rts what 



Course the Government intend L« adopt, and to urge them to make s..me 

 concession, with a view to enable residents in Ireland to qualify to 

 shoot in al! volunteer competitions at. Wimbledon. ,1 



^ K. B. Leech. 



Moby's Ga±lhbt,— The following b B record of the beat 



si. ml 'in i i i.rL ■ hi ... .'I.. t,.: v. Alar . 101 a. i ii 



..ami. need on the 12th of Jiaroh . id ends en the 15th of 

 Ajril— 1 ying down position, dial inoe 120 feet, Wimbledon 



target reduced in proportion, ten shots, possible 50 : 



Name. Total. I Name. Total. 



W. n. Dougherty 48 J. F. Bums 45 



i. ii. Anderson to ! R.Bflthbone 15 



game §ag an d gun. 



GAME IN SEASON IN MARCH. 



Hares, brown and gray. Wild duck, geese, brant, &c. 



LOW-PRICED GUNS. 



EDrrort 

 Asl 



New Yobk, March 13, 1877. 

 Forest and Stream, 



igh and low-priced guns attract the attention of many 

 r correspondents, I send yon my experience in the 



id a stubb and twist Manton from 1832 to 184.C, 12- 

 bal coal me sixtj pounds sterling. From 16 to . 



in bore, that, cost a little more I io a 



q Ely, ID-bore, that cost thirty-five tlol- 



'..■ used a breech-loader, 10-bore, laminated 



tade by Whitney, of New Haven, that cost forty dol- 



izzle loadeo 



i the Ely— which was 



■ I B a a 



ach- 



i.hr 



Eli Whitney, about eight years ago, b 

 loading sporting guns by macbii 



' . to the trade 

 machinery to make his military i i:! 



aspect, I never Baw, and Prof. Baird, of I mitt 

 ted out ei'^ht or Un nntn 



them, and told mb that he always hi i toy n 



ports of tin in. 



Remington low-priced guns are made by machinery, and 

 each gun is more perfect than Can be made by hand. 

 When brass sheila were fiiBt made in this oonnti 



connected v. o ' e;e manufactory, and spent some 



weeKs in. testing different ...i:. a. 1 o ■■l.v one hnn- 



, .; ,r i hat were by the best English 



. pound and upwards, of 10 and 12-bore, and found 

 but. elev.ui ouns that had bi Dtly alike. They 



were made by hand, and e . 

 barrel, and lie veiT loose in tlie other. Te 

 fill now, btlt this difference cannot exist in a machine-made 



° I recently saw a bill for making one model riil 



| | J460 h ling h ad-made, and it tld 

 pare with one of (Jolt's Berdan, that they r. 

 to fill a eontraet with the llussian Govern. i, 

 and let nie a. M I ;re, that Colt's Berdan i Eiflfr, cab 



-. an shi I military rifle yet n 

 The cost of making guns by machinery i- so much less 

 than by hand, and I hi y are better made, that they must get 

 profitable to make, with increased consumption. So far not 

 much profit has been made. 



I consider all cost of eiv i 



shot-gun as superfluous— tile same as a book for s-1, or 

 bound iuBussia andextn 



$50 is in ornament, hand : b that can 



aftbrdithavea rigntto; fo ' ten ' ; you will 



,,,,,!,,,., h , .i .t 1OT STBBAM In 



all but high-priced 

 The best mjlitar 



.... 



.... 

 #20. C - V - 



[Our correspond i 

 nal opinion, that i ■ ' Le with the same 



