254 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



twist the light Express ball with its heavy charge, must, 

 cmterh paribus, at least throw those bolls as true as the double 

 Express rifle, built especially for its destruetiveness at short 

 range. 



In Benton's work on Ordnance is a notice of a target rifle 

 (muzzle-loader) deposited in the museum or armory at West 

 Point, using 100 grains of powder and a conical ball of 200 

 grains (the high proportion of powder to ball of 1 te>2). As 

 the question of heavy charges of powder and light, balls is 

 being discussed, the testimony of the maker of this rifle 

 WOUld be valuable, if lie is now living. The hook is not, be- 

 fore me and the maker's name has escaped me, but he must, 

 have been a maker of some note, or the rifle would not be 

 at West Point. The old muzzle-loading Match rifles grouped 

 their balls very closely, and if this rifle-was a success itwould 

 be valuable information to know the system of grooving 

 used. The maker's name can be obtained from Benton's 

 Ordnance. 



In the interest of the hunting rifles and those -who use 

 them. I suggest that a match be shot during the coming 

 season to test the accuracy of different rifles in using a light 

 hollow or Express bullet. Let the match be both for accu- 

 racy and flatness of trajectory. Let the conditions be for 

 the present patterns of American rifles, with the conditions 

 ef proportion of powder to hall (to he not less thai 1 to 3), 

 so arranged that, the largest shell used by our rifle makers 

 can be used. Arrange SO that the double Express rifles of 

 Great, Britain can compete. I think some of our rifles can 

 compete successfully as to accuracy, and probably as to tra- 

 jectory, with those linns. What the hunter requires in this 

 country is accuracy, flatness of trajectory and dcstruclive- 

 ness all combined. 



Germain to this subject is the best powder for the rifle, 

 and I would further suggest that, at the same time there 

 should be a trial as to the best, powder suitable for the sport- 

 ing rifte. 1 notice Mr. Dittmar proposes such a trial for his 

 powder, and the trial could be extended to include the black 

 powders. Open the competition likewise to the English 

 ier factories. What is needed for the sporting rifle is a 

 powder that will gi\e the highest velocity combined with 

 uniformity of results and freedom from fouling. The cnies- 

 tion of recoil is important, but secondary. Of course, the 

 question of safety is paramount. P. 



Montana, March IS. 1370. 



THOSE GRIZZLIES. 



NO. 1 COHTLANDT ST., April IT, 1BT9. 



Editor Forest and Stkkam : 



There seems lobe a aufereaceof oplnl-m between "Viator " (Mr. C. 

 MesBittr) anil "Bear Taw" ([ don't know his Ural name) as to the 

 number of grizzly bears and other game killed by the former with tlte 

 Express rifle which is now on exhibition at my store. "Viator" 

 claims six grizzlies, seveniy deer and amolupe, two el K and a lynx. 

 The other disputes the claim tor so many, but says it was two grizzlies, 

 sixteen deer aud antelope, and two elk, and positively denies the kill- 

 ing of the lynx. 1 du not pretend to know the actual facts, but l can 

 convince any one who comes to tee the line I hat it looks as If It might 

 do all that is claimed for it by " Viator." It will be on exhibition until 

 sold. Henry C. Kquibes. 



—Read the adv. of Fxpress Bine for 



|^# mid 



Trout, Salvio finitindtis, 



Sainton. Aae,,>r<> Sular. 



Gray aug, ThunanaUua tricolor. 



Sfilmon Tioul, Sahno amfinis. 



Shad, Ale 



Laud-locked &alman,Salmo glova .'. 



FLIES IN SEAEOE IN MAY. 

 Black May, No. 10.— Bodj, Hack; feet, black; wings, grayish hyaline 

 Cow Duno, Nos. lu and 11 — Bads and (eei, brownish yellow ; Wings, 

 yellow gray. 



Great Dcn, Nos. 9 and S.-Eocly, purple In own : feel, gray brown; 

 wings, dark gray hyaline ; seiro, dirk biown, annnlaud with gray. 



Bed SriNNKR, Kos. 10 and 3.— Body, bright claret, ilbbefl with gold 

 tinBel ; feet, brick color ; wings, tray hjal; seta, poleiue trick color 

 Yellow May, No. 10.— Body and feet, pale yellow ; wings, pale yel- 

 low, moltled with brown ; Bene, yellow. 



t'OACBMAN.— llody, peacock herl ; feet, dark red hackle; wings, 

 white. 



Kino or the WATEH.-Sutne as queen of the water, with scarlet body 

 instead of orange. 



gold Spinner.— Body, orange, ribbed with gold tinsel ; feet, pale 

 red hackle; wings, bslght gray. 



Captain.— Body, posterior half, peacock herl, rnterior half, gray; 

 white feet; ted hackle ; wings gray ; setffi, scarlet green and wood- 

 cluck feathers mixed. 

 BciLineR.— Body, crimson ; feet, red hackle ; wings, gray, 

 KiMiDOM.— Body, while, ringed with greeu ; feet, peacock herl, and 

 ; wings, gray, mottled with brown. 

 Painter, Brown Palmer, lied Palmer and Gray Palmer are 

 aide respectively of the colored hackles that distinguish litem. 



The early fly catches the fish. Remember that ; read the 



advertisement of Mr. E. H. Seaman, of Ridgewood, Long 

 Island, whose trout, are beauties; and be wise before, other 

 people get there ahead of you. 



Rangeley Lakes.— A new and popular route to the Range- 

 ley Lakes the coming season will be via Portland, Mechanic 

 Falls, to Canton, over the New Buckfield and Rurnford Falls 

 Railroad; thence up the Androscoggin River to Dex field, 

 Mexico ; the route then follows up the swift river through 

 Box bury aud Byron, through a fine trout-fishing region. The 

 point where this road reaches the Lakes is at the famous Be- 

 mis Stream Camp. The road passes near the four ponds, 

 , have never been fished to any extent. On one of the 

 ,,ui,s, via Farmington, a new narrow-gauge rail- 

 to be built, from Farmington to Phillips, which 

 ace this beautiful village at only seventeen miles from 

 Rangeley City. The work of building this road is to be. 

 pushed as rapidly as possible. The season is several weeks 

 Inter than last year. Oxford. 



Thb Chequamegon,— Former visitors will hardly recognize 

 the Chequamegon Hotel at Ashland, Wis., this summer. Its 

 size has been doubled ; the bluff has been finished and ter- 

 raceJ, and a splendid dock is built right in front of the hotel, 

 »t which all the boats can land. Steam water- works have also 



been constructed. Mr. Sam Fifield, who now presides as host, 

 has secured a first-class set of men lor guides, a plentiful sup- 

 ply of boats, and all other requisites for the accommodation 

 and comfort of guests. 



Vats— Brooklyn, April 24.— J/>. Editor: The letter of 

 "Grilse" in ApTil 17 number would lead one to suppose that 

 there was free salmon fishing in the vicinity described by him. 



I was under the impression that anglers had to lease a river 

 before fishing was allowed. If there are streams free to all 

 tor so much per dUm, without lease, you would doubtless 

 confer a favor on many readers by naming them. Van. 



It has probably escaped the notice of our worthy corres- 

 pondent, although repeatedly mentioned in our columns, that 

 there arc $[ per diem angling privileges on the Restigouche 

 at Matapcdiac Station, on the Intercolonial Railway. Most 

 excellent fishing, with use ol cottage with three rooms, canoe, 

 guidi s, elc , can lie obtained at a very moderate rate by appli- 

 cation to Willis Russell, Esq., St. Louis Hotel, Quebec. For 

 other information relative to rod privileges, lenses, etc., apply 

 to Chief Fish Commissioner "Whitcher, Ottawa, Canada. 



MASSAcm shits— .New Eedfoid, April 26. — Kumerous par- 

 lies have shown fine strings of trout, .1. L. Sisson leading with 

 one trout weighing two pounds six ounces. COKCliA. 



Movements of the Fishing Fleet.— The number of fish- 

 ing arrivals reported at this port 1ho past week has In en ;JG— 



II from the Banks and 25 from Georges. Three of the Bank 

 arrivals were from codfishing trips, bringing 290,0001bs., 

 making seven arrivals in this blanch of the fisheries this sea- 

 son, the total receipts being o75,0001bs. The receipts of 

 BaDk halibut for the week have beer 325,0001bs. Geuraes re- 

 ceipts, 55fj,0001bs. codfish, 20,0001bs. halibut.- Cape Ann. 

 Advertiser, Apiil2S. 



Connection — The Harlfoid Daily Couranl chronicles that 

 Mr. Albert S. Hibbatd, while hunting for muskiats last 

 Thursday afternoon, at North Uadley, Mass-., saw lying near 

 the surface of the water a large muscalonge. He shot it, 

 when two fish came to the top. The water being shallow, 

 he jumped in and succeeded in capturing both. The weight 

 of thelaigerone was 14|lbS. and the smaller G£lDB.j total, 

 211bs. at one shot. Frank Clark shot one the day belore 

 weighing 81bs. 



Our Connecticut friends may consider that the r-pproved 

 way of capturing muscalonge. It was all right so long as 

 the man was equipped only for muskrals. But the usual 

 method is to take the fish with a hook. 



New yoKK—Jii'ettevillc, A pi il 22.— Snow is still three feet 

 deep in the Saianac Woods, anti the lakes are covered with 

 very thick ice. Our brethren need not arrange to go to the 

 woods until about the 12th or loth of May. Will telegraph 

 you when the ice moves out, so that ihe news may make 

 glad the hearts of Ihe impatient ones, of whom J am chief, 

 being anxious to stait on mv twintj'-sevtnlk annual trip. 



J. B. R. 



— Bobbing for flounders and eels attracts numerous 

 anglers to the Harlem River on a sunny afternoon. 

 Having once baited his line, and fastened his pole into a knot- 

 hole on one of the broken-down wharves, which line Ihe water 

 just above High Bridge, the would-be fisherman lies down, 

 pulls his hat over his eyes and goes to sleep. After a sound 

 nap of half an hour or so, he pulls in the line, puts on a new 

 bait, and indulges in another snooze. He never finds any fish 

 on bis hook j a pair of very small boys in a very small boat 

 under the wharf take care of Ihem. For a] dole'e far nitrite 

 there is no better place in the world than the decaying piles 

 of a Harlem River wharf. 



Onondaga Fishing Club. — At the last meeting of the 

 Onondaga Fishing Club, of Syracuse, N. Y., 35 new members 

 were elected, making the membership of 1he club l?ii, which 

 •will soon be increased lo 200. 'Ihe following officers were 

 elected: President, Reuben Wood; Vice-President, Alex- 

 ander II. Davis; Secretary, Frederick S. Wicks; Treasurer, 

 Wm. G. Anderson. 



Florida— llomomitof, April 14. — The latest novelty here 

 was the hooking and landing of a large sheepshead on a troll- 

 ng line, baited with a roach. J. W. 



Mississippi — Corinth, April 28. —The disciples of Walton 

 are out. in force, and some fair strings of perch and black 

 bass have been taken. I heard this morning for the first 

 time this spring the love note of Bob White, from the green 

 wheat. That he may multiply and replenish the eanh is the 

 wish of GtreON. 



IlilNOIfl— Chicago, April 22. — borne parties netting in 

 Pecatonica 1 liver caught three fine California Salmon below 

 the dam, at, Freepbrt, 111. They were nearly two feet long, 

 weighing 5^1bs., 5|lbs. and about Gibs. They wen' Undoubt- 

 edly trying to get above the dsm. Caught April 12. 



Noisman. 



A Legal Twist. — It lakes a Syracuse lawyer to dodge the 

 galling trespass regulations. The Standard relates this of 

 one of the lego] lights of that city: 



A go' id story is told of a prominent attorney residing in this 

 city. While fishing a day or two since, he pointed out to his 

 companion a sign-board, remarking, "The fellow that put 

 that up is a liar." 



" Why ?" asked his companion. 



" Because that sign reads, 'No fishing in this brook,' and I 

 caught the best trout in my basket directly under that board." 

 V Moonlight.— Oalfield, Wi8., April 12.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream.: 1 have fished, hunted and camped out for the 

 past twenty years, and during the late war 1 served fi.ur years 

 and a half in the Western Army. During that time we 

 marched 8,000 miles ; nearly always without tents or cover- 

 ing of any kind, sleeping in the open air. We also passed up 

 and down the Mississippi from New Orleans to St. Louis 

 eighteen times, and across the Gulf four times, always sleep- 

 ing on the upper deck with my men w T ith no coveting but our 

 blankets. In all that time I never knew of any ill effect of 

 sleeping in the moonlight. Never knew or heard of a ease of 

 moon blindness or distortion of the features. Bare seen 

 wagon loads of Irish beef exposed night, after night and never 

 heard of it, being injured by the rays of the moon. With this 

 experience I look upon the ill effects of the moon as all moon- 

 shine. Hoeican. 



This subject has now been ventilated enough to satisfy the 

 most moony of our correspondents. The old salt who origi- 

 nated the discussion has incontinently retired from the cham- 



pionship of his theory, and we will allow him to dwell in un- 

 obtrusive seclusion. 



Feugusok's New Jack Lamp.— We have been shown one 

 of the new model camp, jack and boat lamps, inanufactmed 

 by Mr. A. Ferguson, the patentee. It is well and strongly 

 made, and is a great improvement on the old model lamp .It 

 can be adjusted to the head, boat or staff by suitable fixtures, 

 burns either lard, sperm or signal oils eight to ten hours with- 

 out, refilling, and cannot, be extinguished by wind or rain. It 

 is very compact, and weighs so little that it can be Carried 

 without, any trouble. The other articles manufactured by 

 Mr. Ferguson, or for which he is the sole wholesale agent, are 

 highly spoken of by those who have used them, especially his 

 Improved Rust Preventer, of which he has sole! a large qruan 

 tity during the past season, and the demand is steadily increas- 

 ing. See his advertisement. 



IIoi.hebtok's, Fly Books.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Will you allow me a little space to pour forth my wroDgs, as 

 it were, lou know I take considerable pride in the (ly book 

 that I got up some two years ago, and which has been so well 

 received by my brother-anglers. Well, I have before rne an 

 imitation of one of them, made, I believe, by a former clerk in 

 my employ, and which is simply disgraceful— clips loose, 

 leaves cut crooked, and in every way calculated to give a bad 

 impression of my book. They say imitation iB the sincerest 

 flattery. If they would only make a good copy I would not 

 care; but goods like these will certainly bring discredit on 

 Holberton's fly books. The new clip I now use is a great im- 

 provement on the Hyde clip, and cannot possibly come out ; 

 but even the other would hold if fastened with care. My own 

 book — the first ever made— is in perfect order yet, although it 

 has seen two or three years' hard service. W. Holbekton. 



New York, April 28. 



Trout, Thunder and Eloqdneoe.— Editor Eore.il and 

 Stream: It was July 4, 1872. A crowd of 300 or 4.G0 back- 

 woodsmen and women were assembled to do honor to the day 

 on the banks of the Beaverkill, near Camp Honeymoon, wdiere 

 the writer hereof spent two delightf ul months. While wait- 

 ing for the band, the orator of the day, etc., a dapper little 

 gentleman, with the loveliest, set of fishing-tackle, waded out 

 in the pellucid stream in front of the crowd to exhibit his 

 skill 'In fly-casting and trout-catching. He was an adept. 

 With unerring skill he dropped his red hackle over the rip- 

 pling water, and ever and anon a half-pound trout would rise, 

 hit that fly a tremendous clip with its tail, aud, after turning 

 a complete back somersault, took the fly in its mouth and met 

 its doom like a hero. The crowd looked on and applauded, 

 and the handsome little fisherman renewed his efforts with a 

 zest that showed he appreciated his audience and the work 

 before him. He was last filling his basket, when, with a. 

 boom which shock the earth, came a peal of thunder. Quick, 

 like batteries opening a battle, came sulphurous flashes and 

 thunderpeals; but the fisherman heeded it not— far flew his 

 flashing line, until, all at once he stepped into a bole not 

 fathomed, and went down, down out of sight. A gasping 

 gurgle as he rose, and then he found he had no audience. 

 They had fled to a big barn to escape the rain. He followed, 

 and joined the chorus of " Hail Columbia Happy Land — if 

 this ain't true, may I be lammed 1" The lone fisherman then 

 read the Declaration of Independence, and the writer hereof 

 orated. 'I he first was Sawyer Van Sickles— the second was, 

 yours ttuly. Nip Buntline. 



Cape Cod Tumcey. — The boneless codfish industry is 

 yearly assuming larger proportions. According to the market 

 editor of the Boston I/erald, fully one-half of the prepared 

 salt, fish sold in the United States is now put up in the bone- 

 less style. It is labeled "Boneless Fish," and "Boneless 

 Codfish," the difference, besides the price, being that one is 

 cod and the other is not. " Boneless Fish" is made of any 

 kind of dried salt fish, excepting codfish, and it usually sebs 

 from 35 to 60 per cent, lower than boneless codfish. It is 

 most commonly made of hake, eiisk or haddock— the ll< sb Of 

 these three approaching more nearly to the appearance of cod- 

 fish than that of any other denizens of the briny deep. Its 

 largest market, is in the West and South, aud no doubt many 

 buyers of it imagine they arc purchasing genuine codfish. But 

 in New England it meets with a less ready sale, since it, is 

 more difficult to deceive a Yankee in the matter of codfish, 

 and he is generally willing to pay a few cents more per pound 

 for the real article. The boneless fish and boneless codfish 

 put up in Boston take the highest rank in the trade. In the 

 busiest season, from September to January inclusive, some 

 200 hands are employed in putting up boneless fish and cod- 

 fish, and they probably prepare in this wttv not less than 

 75,000 out of the 200,000 quintals of cod, hake, haddock aud 

 cusk that are handled by the fish merchants of Boston per 

 annum. 



A (It) eal Story, not an Eel Stohy. — Editor Eoresl 

 and Stream : Beading account in issue of April 3 of an eel 

 getting away with a railroad switch-key, reminded me of 

 this : Just two years ago, Messrs. G. B. Sproule,W. P. Shaw, 

 and myself made a hurried trip to some small lakes about 

 forty miles north of Beterboro, for lake trout, as they 

 are called, a handsome fish weighing on an average three 

 pounds. We fished by catting holes through the ice, with 

 about eight feet of line attached to a pole, two feet long, 

 baited with chub and minnows, taken from PeterborO, packed 

 in snow. While we were busily engaged attending to "bites," 

 all fishing in different, parts of the lake, Mr. Shaw hooked and 

 secured a nice three-pound trout. In landing the fish he 

 saw something dangling From its mouth, and found it to be a 

 piece of gut, with a small pistol cartridge fastened on for a 

 sinker. A trout hook was also tied to the gut, and firmly 

 hooked in the fish's mouth. This new article of fish food 

 was carefully stowed away in Mr. Shaw's pocket until the 

 day's sport was over, when we all met. The piece of gut, 

 with hook and sinker attached, was then produced. The 

 tackle was at once recognized by Mr. Sproule as being the 

 " tail end " of a rod and line used in the same lake by Mr. 

 James Little just a week before. Mr. Little had been fishing 

 with fair success, when he got a " loud C&ll " from this trout, 

 and, in his eagerness to secure the prize, did not use the 

 necessary precaution. I have heard of instances where mae- 

 kinonge have been taken with one or two trolling hooks and 

 gpcions hooked in the mouth ; but that large one, which is said 

 lo have his mouth silver-plated, from the fact of his "gelling 

 away" with so many favorite tails, I have not been able to 

 lake yet, but hope my friend W. P. Shaw may meet with 

 him and be as successful as be was with Mr. Little's trout. 

 G-uelph, Canada, April 9. C. A Post. 



How to Fasten Thout.— Mr. Edttori Most anglers, after 

 considerable practice, make very good easts, though few seem 

 to understand the most successful method of booking their 



