3/as. '21, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



817 



sufficiently to reach any of ita vital parts. English express 



; , , ,:; ■,■■ :i ; most sportsmen who use I hem like 



them to handle as much like a shotgun as possible, and as 



rifles of light weight are in great demand in India, to winch 



number arc sent; but there is nothing 



a vent a rifle, double or single, being made of any weight 



ruiied. 



srpress ball has a fare a mount of 



killing power when used against game to which it is suited. 



ii od of mine killed four tigers with only five 



Hi , :, was a .60 double eJtpMBS by ToUey, powder 



116 grains, the bullets Kiev's ordinary express, weighing 84Q 



;ard to the .40-90 repeater, the cartridge could he 

 i much shorter by being made bottle-shaped. 1 do not 

 know that there is any particular objection to th 



i,,.:uvd to the straight one, perhaps a little more 



i t tiiink there is no doubt that the .40-90, when it is 



nes known, will be a great favorite in 



[■Ins the States. In India, the ,40-caliber 



i.- liiH.riiiniiifl- to come into use for small game, as an express. 



; Viy think Hint the bullet need be as heavy as 500 grains. 



, i, government experimental .jti-85-4nt> rifle lias 



been found to have very great penetration with nearly 1,600 



le.i muzzle velocity: for sporting purposes it would do to 



have an express, hnllet much lighter, say 3,10 grains, with 



more weight when penetration is required. 



Bengal Sepoy, 

 England. 



COLD DAYS IN MISSISSIPPI. 

 •• oa Hie snow Hie beautiful snow," 

 B'a very pretty on paper, you know. 

 r piIE weather is hyperborean in temperature here at this 

 X writing— scored a goose egg here Friday night— but 1 

 >L .,-. ] i ,. . ■■ rou saw our and went US — 25 or -^30 



better Well, I don't see how you stand it. A man here 

 could not tell by his feelings whether he had on his prints or 

 was walking around/without them, so far as the sensation of 

 cold was concerned. 



ling down town to catch the early train h ad 

 (Tie eo i ad ward side of his head frozen as stiff as 



lij ieiol "idle lie Was walking half a mile. Yon could 

 M re tmitten it off with a slick as easily as Petal! Slhote off 

 ,n with a sword. The mercury was lower 

 than 1 have ever seen it in this latitude before. Yesterday 



at 1 M ith i" snow, and now there are scw:-u inches 



. gtound, so dry and solidiv crystallized that it might 



, I,,,' i i- ■■■i.i ■■!■ ugar— "A." with any number of 



Xs behind it— "coffee," 



l He ' boys,." old and young, are out en masts alter rabbits. 

 Those thai have come in report that Mr. Lepus cant leap 



but b I under the snow and lies there 



until he is picked up. Saw one fellow with four, all he 

 fouud. and he killed them with sticks. 



If the snow remains long on the ground I fear that the 



suffer, sad that many of them will perish from 



and hunger. In 1870 snow remained two weeks, and 



hundreds of birds of all sorts and kinds died. Thequails 



; ie places were found dead in bevies, just as they had 



The sun is shining brightly to-day , and we hope the snow 

 will soon melt, 



A very large black wolf was killed ten or twelve miles 

 east of this place last, week. It was flip only one that has 

 been seen here within fifteen years. It was killed at a deer 



as it iii" i to slip out ahead of the hounds, 



anil crop was fairly good, and we have had some 

 splendid shooting. 



I lost my : ■ ' a g arly in the season, unci have been de- 

 pendent oil pay friend >g ever since, as I have only 



oneti; i log— K die Helton— in my kennel. 



There are some tine field dogs here, notably Mr. Field's 

 Texas, one of the frrieal pointers I ever saw lie has also a 

 kind of nondescript setter thai comes to the euphonious 

 name of Gopher that ie a rattling field dog. Besides these 

 he has Buldy. a Llewclliu (Beltou IT.— Rbcebe III.). 



Dr. A. J. Borroum has two good dogs, one a LIcwelliD, 

 a grandson of the illustrious Cladstonc; theotlier a grandson 

 oft hat Liraijd doe-, Joe, Jr. 



Then friend Jim Gift has a pointer, old Don, from the strain 

 of "Pious Jeems's" celebrated dogs, that could once gel ffl lj 

 with almost anybody's dog, but he, like his illustrious a i ter 

 i -rowing old, Maggie," Then James has another, a 

 Llewellin. a" thing of beauty, and therefore a joy forever to 

 his handsome master, named for Guy on, Doctor. 



lie is a grand representative of the lordly Llewellins, and 

 should have three or four big L's, and five or six little ones 

 in the name when it is spelled for him. 



Then Dr. Sauford has a good and steady old pointer, Hur- 

 ricane, now tamed down to a mild zephyr, bred by the writer 

 and trained by that emperor of sportsmen, Col. Gordon. He 

 has also a half Laveraek. Leila, that is fast, staunch and 

 ■ ivlish. Mr. "Will Thompson has a fine pointer, aud owned 

 ■',,. .■■■niricent Irish red setter. He had the misfortune to 

 have tin- setter killed by a passing train a Few days ago. 

 Mr. A. L'eits has a good pointer, Mr. Hardy Green has a 

 splendid setter, a native, given h'un by the writer. This dog. 

 Lam , is one of the son find wdl hold a point for half a day. 

 On one occasion his master was shooting with a doctor from 

 New Orleans. Larry was missed aud could not be found. 

 The doctor sal on a fence half a mile from the others. Green 

 yelled to him: 



-Doe. , do you sec anything of Larry over there''" 

 "Ye8, la-re' he is.' 

 "What is he doing?" 



"Nothing but standing here like a fool in the grass." 

 ■May be he is pointing?" 



i,.ig. thunder, he is just, standing still." 

 Send him On then." 

 "High low, Larry! He won't go." 



Then the doctor walked up to him, and about twenty quail 

 whirred up from under his feet. 



The last" dogs to be mentioned are those that belong to the 



writer. Nellie Beltou, a rattling little lady, fast, staunch. 



steady and a stayer, prettily marked, standing on her points 



all the grace, or whirling to them with all the deadly 



of her illustrious grand sire, the incomparable 



■lone. 



iGu i ! -n is the little boy dog Guvon's Kowe (Pembroke 

 — Gift), that is as smart as a' puppy can be, and well grown 

 tu his age and handsome to boot. 



Last year I could have added Guyon's Rock, one of the. 



very best field dogs I ever shot over — now, gone, alas to the 



/rounds. The best, blood of the best 



Llewellins flowed in his veins, and he was the dog to win 



the love of any man. In the prime of life he has passed 

 away and "his like I ne'er shall look upon again." 



Everybody was prophesying a mild winter. Christmas 

 Day w.-is bright and sunny, "with not a speck of cloud, and a 

 south wind mild as the breath of May. * The, mocking birds 

 sang, but for the bnrc and leafless trees you might have 

 thought it an Indian summer day. We rode in the dog-cart 

 with the girls, and sailed boats tin the big carp pond. 



New Year's night a roaring wind came down from the 

 north and almost chilled t lie marrow in our bones, and it 

 has not let up to this writing. 



If the wind gets around to the south it will take it about 

 a week to blow- back the breath of Boreas that has already 

 gone down that way, and make it warm again. 



We hope for a little relaxation in old winter's grip before 

 long, and then if all the birds come out safe we will go afield. 

 "t hold it best whate'er Detail, 

 I feel it when I sorrow most, 

 "lis better to have quail on toast 

 Than not to have a quail at all." 



Gu vou. 



CntttNTH. Miss., Jan S. 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



AX unusual number of Canada geese are stopping in the 

 Delaware Paver this winter. This would indicate an 

 open January and February, which has not been the case 

 thus far, Snow upon snow has came upon us, and as 1 

 write we are having a storm which will add to the covering 

 with which our State has been liberally presented, and 

 cause more distress among the ground game of Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



It is said by the game dealers of Philadelphia that no 

 quail are being sold since the 15th of this month, but a run 

 through the market shows the contrary. Our law says in 

 Sec. 33: "Any person may sell or have in possession anj r 

 pinnated grouse, commonly called prairie chicken, ruffed 

 grouse, commonly called pheasant, quail or Virginia part- 

 ridge, ami woodcock tor a period oi fifteen days after the 

 time limited for killing the same has expired, and shall not 

 be liable to auy penalty under this act." Jan. 16 was the 

 last day of the. limit, and yet I can purchase at any stand in 

 Philadelphia all the quail I want at ; $3.50 per dozen. We 

 miss the work of the Philadelphia Sportsmen's Club. Such 

 open yiolal ions of the game law were not dared when the 

 organization had its eyes upon the dealers. 



The sportsmen of Harrisburg, Pa., are much pleased with 

 the new clause relative to duck shooting in the Pennsyl- 

 vania game law. which allows this sport only on Mondays, 

 Wednesdays aud Fridays of each week. This will greatly 

 benefit the waters of the Susquehanna in the neighborhood 

 of (heir city, and attract many fowl from below. At one 

 time the best of duck shooting' could be had in this section, 

 but the sailing on them with tugs and boats of all sorts 

 (which is now' also illegal) and the continual harra.ssing of 

 them by night and day has almost ruined the sport. 



Homo. 



THE PERFORMANCE OF SHOTGUNS. 



X SHOULD like some of your correspondents of a practi- 

 cal turn, to let us know" through your columns what we 

 may expect in performance of afairbreechloading shotgun. 

 Some three years ago. I disposed of a, most excellent muzzle- 

 loader. 10-gauge, on the performance of which I would risk 

 heavy odds, and replaced it with a breechloader, same 

 gauge, made by an American maker of considerable promi- 

 nence. Although I have handled this arm considerably 

 since, as well as other breechloaders of high pretensions, I 

 am disappointed as to their performance. I think they lack 

 in both force and closeness of distribution. At least, that is 

 the result of my experience. Notwithstanding, we load 

 them with charges that would be considered rat her steep in 

 the Old muzzleloader. 



Chokeboring I consider an abomination, the gun I speak 

 of above was'chokeborcd: I had the choke taken out of it 

 by a competent gunsmith: it improved its shooting fifty per 

 cent., and that not from a few chance trials, but heavy 

 work at both game aud a crucial test at the target. "That 

 may have suited the peculiarities of that particular gun," 

 say' the savauls. Granted, but the reverse of the proposition 

 may also be, true— chokeboring may suit particular guns— 

 when we have so many high sounding titles for modern sys- 

 tems and so-called improvements In the breechloader, we 

 naturally look for corresponding excellence of performance 

 in the field. 



In these remarks, I confine myself strictly to the shooting 

 qualities of the arm, The ease and rapidity of manipula- 

 tion and many other advantages of the breechloader must 

 be conceded. 



There are hundreds who are better posted than I am. Let 

 us have a fair, square record of performance, practical, not 

 theoretical, and oblige some sportsmen in the Backwoods. 



West YmoraiA. 



WHITE-BREASTED BEARS. 



IN Forest AND Stream of Jan. 10, allusion is made to 

 black bears with white spots on breast, as having 

 grizzly proclivities, and being more ferocious than others of 

 The black race; and the editor remarks that the Indians of the 

 Northwest Coast believe them to be more dangerous. 



I have killed almost a hundred black hears, and have never 

 seen but one with a white breast. I will tell the circum- 

 stances, and you can judge about his ferocity. 



It was the beginning of the fall hunt, and I was looking up 

 new wounds to set my traps. I had been out from home 

 more than a week in the mountains alone, and had spotted a 

 line into this new region many miles from my regular hunt- 

 ing grounds. 



I was near some small ponds on the top of a mountain, and 

 was trying to follow down their outlet which ran under 

 ground a part of the way. The day was cloudy and drizzly, 

 and as it was past noon and T had taken my breakfast quite 

 early, 1 felt quite hungry and looked around for a suitable 

 chance to kindle a fire to' cook tea and a partridge, which I 

 had shot just lief ore, A very large birch tree being just 

 there I prepared my partridge, and after kindling 

 my fire I sat down in front of it, with my back 

 against the big tree, and commenced roasting my 

 bird while my tea was boiling. My gun stood against 

 the tree, with" the case on it, as it rained a little. While 

 broiling the bird I basted it with a little butter which Iliad 

 left, thinking how much better off I was than the Indians, 

 for they could not have butter to baste with or salt either. 

 I "While cogitating thusly, 1 heard a, small twig snap behind 



the tree. Supposing if to he a rabbit, 1 said to myself, 

 "There's a rabbit, and if I bad you here I would roast and 

 baste you," but I did not look around, I pared so little about 

 it. Just then a large stick snapped, making a noise like a 

 small gun. This startled me. I knew- some large animal 

 must be there, and on the impulse I dropped my partridge 

 and jumped into the air and turned around before touching 

 the ground; and there was a bear within four feet of me, 

 and the nest look I noticed the while spot in his breast, and 

 for the life of me I could not tell which was the most fright- 

 ened, the bear or myself. A few heavy leaps and he d 

 peared in the thick woods, even before 1 could get the case 

 off I he gun, and my appetite followed the hear off. 



I had a steel bear trap with me and set it beside that tree, 

 and the next time I. came lo lend my traps I had him; f knew 

 him by the white spot. 



He probably smelted the roasting meat and did not see me 

 until I jumped up; but the savage part of that bear I never 

 discovered, J. G. E. 



Bethel, Maine. 



REBOUNDING LOCKS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



■'Sinkboat's" letter about rebounding locks interested me 

 very much, as it treats of a question 1 have for four years 

 been experimenting to solve. During that time I have tried 

 the locks of every gun that I could get hold of, to see if a 

 cap could be exploded by raising the hammer as far as it 

 will so without catching on full cock and letting it go with- 

 out touching the trigger. I regret very much that I did not 

 keep a record of the guns so fried. However, the result was 

 all one way, so a record could have added little to the value 

 of my experiments. I suppose I hat few men outside of the 

 gun trade handle as many guns as I do in the course of a 

 year, and as I improved all opportunities to make the test 

 the number of guns must have been considerable. I will not 

 attempt to say how many, but am sure it includes specimens 

 from all the well-known makers, except Dougall. Various 

 kinds of primers were also tried. 



In every case the hammer was raised and let fall from 

 five to ten times on the same cap, yet I have never been able 

 to explode a single one, though all were slightly indented by 

 the striker. The guns ranged from the cheapest and meanest 

 to the very best of American, English and German makers. 

 As to exploding a cap by a blow" on the hammer, I agree 

 with "Sinkboat"' that it can be done; but the blow must be 

 a, severe oue. such as is little likely to happen by accident. 

 After exploding a few caps and breaking a hammer I aban- 

 doned this particular line of investigation as too liable to 

 injure the guns. I would like to know if others have made 

 similar experiments. My experience may have been in the 

 nature of a "run of luck?' as such occur "in scientific experi 

 ments as well as in card playing. 



It has, however, been sufficient to satisfy me that the 

 rebounding lock makes a shooting iron as safe as it ban bo 

 unless w T e reduce it to the condition of the proverbial one 

 that had neither lock, stock nor barrel, yet was still con- 

 sidered dangerous. J. M. Tbact. 



Greenwich, Conn. 



The Trespass Law. — Senator Otis's bill introduced into 

 the Senate at Albany, Jan. 17, amends Section 10 of the 

 Laws of 1879 (of New York) so as to read as follows: "Any 

 person who shall trespass upon cultivated or inclosed lands 

 for the purpose of shooting or hunting any game protected 

 by this act, or shall take any fish from private ponds or 

 private streams not stocked in "whole or in part by the State, 

 after public notice has been given by the owner or occupant 

 thereof, or person or corporation leasing or hiring from the 

 owner thereof the exclusive right to shoot, fish aud hunt 

 over said lands, as provided in the next section, shall be 

 liable to such owner, occupant or person or corporation 

 leasing or hiring from the owner thereof the exclusive right 

 to shoot, hunt or fish thereon— in addition to the actual 

 damage sustained — exemplary damages to an amount not 

 exceeding £25." Section 17 of said act is amended so as to 

 read as follows: "The notice referred to in the preceding 

 section shall be given by personally serving upon any person 

 a written notice not to trespass upon said lands for said pur- 

 poses, or by erecting and maintaining sign-boards at least 

 one foot square, upon every fifty acres of land, upon the lot 

 lines thereof, or upon the shores or bank of any lake, 

 stream or pond in at least two conspicuous places on the 

 premises. Such notices to have appended thereto the name 

 of the owner, or occupant, or person, or corporation leasing 

 or hiring the exclusive right to shoot, hunt or fish thereon. 

 And any person who shall tear down or in any way- deface 

 or injure any such sign-board, not having the right to do so, 

 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and in addition thereto 

 shall be liable to a penalty of $25." The act is to take 

 effect immediately. 



Geohgia Game.— Macon, Jan. 2.— In our section, our 

 game birds, more particularly quail, have been in goodly 

 numbers. Owing to pot-hunters, however, the supply has 

 been greatly reduced, and in many places coveys are small 

 and very wild. I have hunted but little this season, and had 

 poor sport. I went last week part of three days and bagged 

 tort} quail. Unfortunately for our best sportsmen, we have 

 a large number of hunters who kill indiscriminately every- 

 thing thev can, and at this rate our game birds will soon be 

 exhausted. I thank the Fobest and Stueam for enlarged 

 views on this subject, and wish you had two hundred more 

 subs aribers in our county. Ducks have been found in small 

 numbers owing to warm weather and low streams. Squirrels 

 and other small game iu fair numbers. A negro man took 

 alive a gray eagle near the city recently. The bird measured 

 seven feet from tip to tip, was eating a pig when fired on by 

 the man, and being only slightly wounded attacked the 

 negro's dog, severely wounding him, from which he after- 

 ward died.— J. H. J. 



TPSH.AMTI. Mich., Jan. 10.— At the annual meeting of 

 the Ypsilanti Eod and Gun Club, held Jan. 8, the following 

 officers were elected: President, Prof. James H. Shepard; 

 Vice-President, James C. Martin; Secretary. Don C. Phil- 

 lips- Treasurer, Guy Davis; Executive Committee, D. P. 

 Shuler P. C. Sherwood, David Dodge; Referees, William 

 Mallion, Dan Gates; Scorer, S. P. Hutchinson. Our gun 

 club is in a most prosperous condition, numbering fifty mem- 

 bers.— Don C. Phillips, Secretary. 



Montgomery, Ala.— Our market is full of live and dead 

 quail. The shooting never was better. Ducking on the 

 river very poor this year, owing to the lowness of the nver. 



Only. 



