m 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Holmes, Shaw, Brown & Co., Bordentown, N. J., 



BUILDERS OF 



Fast Iron Steam Yachts, Launches, and Torpedo Boats. 



Biiilxlers of the Famous JLron. Steam Yachts 



CONTINENTAL (50 feet), speed 17.84 miles per hour; PIREFLY (50 feet), 17.94 miles per hour; MINNEHAHA, building (55 feet), 18 to 20 miles an hour. 



YiRGmiA—Blacksburg, Nov. 21.— Quail are plenty here 

 and in fine condition. Ducks plenty on New River— mal- 

 lard and golden eye, called hereabouts "whistlers," and 

 many fish-eating mergansers. 



North Carolina— Newbem, Nov. 30. — A small party 

 of us have just returned from the Lakes with three wild 

 .geese, eight ducks, five of them black ducks, one red head, 

 and two canvas backs, with several small birds, and one 

 loon — not a very large bag, but excellent in quality. The 

 mild open weather keeps the fowl in open waters, but a 

 ■cold snap Will drive them in-shore, where the sportsman 

 will be able to reach his game. Fishermen and others Irom 

 down the Neuse report the Pamlico Sound and Neuse 

 River full of geese and brant, and say they never saw so 

 many before. We started seven deer, but were so unfor- 

 tunate as to kill none, the weather being very unfavorable, 

 high winds with rain . One passed within ten feet of the 

 writer, but not having gun in hand at the time, lost the 

 chance. I. E. West. 



—Messrs. T. C. Van Buren and Mr. Belmont Purdy shot 

 a match at fifty birds each, thirty yards rise, for $150 a 

 side, English rules, at the grounds of the Long Island Gun 

 Club, on Saturday last. Mr. Van Buren used a Grant and 

 Mr. Purdy a Scott gun ; the former was declared the win- 

 ner by six birds after forty -five had been shot at. Several 

 sweepstakes were shot the same afternoon, in which Messrs. 

 M. Van Buren, T. Van Buren, Count Menzelzi, and Mr. 

 Classon were the winners. 



—The members of the Capital Sportsmen's Club of To- 

 peka, Kansas, shot a match November 12th for a silver to- 

 bacco box, the conditions being ten single birds, 21 yards 

 rise, 80 yards boundary. Nine persons shot, none of whom 

 ever engaged in a pigeon match before. Messrs. J. W. 

 Barney and Geo. B. Palmer shot off ties of eight; won by 

 Palmer. Messrs. A. M. Autler and T. D. Sanborn tied on 



six birds. 



♦■ 



Detroit, Mich., December 3d, 1875. 

 Editob Forest and Stream:— 



The first contest of the home and home match between Chicago and 

 Detroit pigeon shooters occurred yesterday, resulting in a victory for 

 Detroit. By the annexed score you can see that some good shooting 

 was done. The conditions were— Two teams of ten men each, to shoot 

 at 25 birds each, at 21 yards rise, from H & T plunge traps, 1£ oz. shot, 

 use of one barrel:— 



CHICAGO . 



Name. Total. 



Hawkins 19 



Morris 19 



Sherman .22 



Phillips 21 



Gillespie 21 



Wilson 20 



Merton 13 



Stagg 18 



Turrel.. 20 



Abbey 19 



DETROIT. 



Name. Total. 



Haskall 21 



•"aniff 23 



Dubois 21 



Long 24 



Stenton .23 



Eldridge 21 



Cristy 24 



Littleton 24 



Baker 23 



Gillman 22 



Total 194 Total 225 



The return match is to come off in Chicago some time in January. 



Tours respectfully, Port. 



[We are indebted to our correspondent "A. J. K." for 

 another report of this match.— Ed.] 



Port Richmond, November 26th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



The third annual festival of the Association was held on the 25th 

 (Thanksgiving day), when the club badge was again competed for with 

 the score below. Prizes-$30, $25, $20, $18, $15 and $7. 

 Shoot for badge, 10 birds each, Staten Island rules, members handicap'd. 



Name. Score. 



Tranter— 28 yds. .. .1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

 Rathyen— 28 yds .. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

 Yreland-25 yds. . .0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

 Dlsosway— 21 yds. 0010001011 

 Piper— 28 yds Ill 101011 1 



Name. Score. 



Tarker- 28 yds. ...1111110010 

 Barnes— 25 yards. .1 110 10 1110 

 Van Clief-^1, yds. .0 011110110 



Hart— 23 yds 0101110 



Reardon-21 yds . .0 1 1 1 1 1 1 



Ties at 30 yards, first miss out— Tranter, 1 0; Rathyen, 1 1, Rathyen 

 winning the medal with his new "Greener." A number of sweeps 

 were shot, also rifle and turkey shootine; Mr. Reardon wianing first 

 prize in the rifle shoot— one of Johnson's parlor health lifts. 



Mortimer. 



Philadelphia, December 3d, 1875. 



Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I append a score of amateur shooting which took place to-day. ^ 21 

 yards rise, 80 yards boundary:— 



Geo. Twaddell.-l 1 00 1 1 1 1 1 1-8 W. Twaddell . . . . 1 11111111 1-10 

 Geo. Dixon. . ... .1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1-8 W. Rose 1101111111-9 



Total a 16 Total 19 



This is the first of a series of matches to be shot by the Woodland 

 Sportsmen and Kennel Club. I will report anon our doings, etc. 



C. W. 



_ ***** 



Post op Morgantown, N . C. , November 19th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream :— 



I have been much entertained lately by the articles in Forest and 

 Stream written by admirers of the choke bore, and I smile to think of 

 the fine appearance they would present shooting here, where five birds 

 out of six must be shot inside of twenty yards or they will be out of 

 sight. They would either cat their birds all to bits or miss them en- 

 tirely, principally the latter. I only pretend to be a tolerably fai? shot, 

 but I very of tea meet sportsmen who shoot worse, and yet tbej? will t&lfe 



about having the gun right on the bird every time. Nonsense! A cor- 

 respondent writing in Forest and Stream of November 4th hit the 

 mark when he said, how many men can hit a bird on the wing with a 

 rifle ball? G. H. Moran, M. D., U. S. A. 

 «•**» 



MR. PAPE 



ON THE 



TRIAL. 



ENGLISH GUN 



New York, November, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Since my arrival in this country my attention has been called to an ar- 

 ticle on the late English gun trial, appearing in your issue of Sept. 16th. 

 over the signature of "Fair Play," and believing in the old Latin axiom, 

 ''■audi alteram partem," I have taken the liberty of asking for sufficient 

 space in your columns to reply to the same. The impressions "Fair 

 Play" has collected, appear to me to be from a very one-sided medium, 

 and the circulation of such misapprehensions and errors can in no way 

 benefit American sportsmen; but, on the contrary, be very apt to con- 

 fuse and mislead the majority, who have never cared to wade through 

 the mess of the late English gun trial. The remarks of your corres- 

 pondent, I hold, are an injustice to myself, from being in that position 

 not at all to be envied, assuredly as the maker of the guns which were 

 placed second and third at the trial, and in consequence of this circum- 

 stance I was forced to a line of duty, or accept the position of cringing 

 cowardice when I witnessed the most infamous trickery. I could not 

 hesitate, whether I did succeed or not, my duty was clear. 



First— "Fair Play" asks: "What did the London trial of guns de- 

 cide for sportsmen, anything or nothing?" 



It proved nothing more than what Mr. Walsh of the Field had told us 

 could be done in 1867, that guns can be made to average regularly from 

 175 to 200. The choke bores of 1875 did not average this; therefore 

 nothing new was proven. Seeond— "Was it a big advertising scheme, 

 for some gunmaker?" The private trials wers all got up for the advan- 

 tage of fresh advertising gunmakers, whom the Field stated as having 

 just made a revolution in gun making, by a new discovery. called choke 

 boring, and withheld my letters on the subject, which I wrote to explain 

 that this so-called new boring was nothing more than my old patent 

 boring, which was well known and referred to by the Field in 1867. One 

 of their contemporaries— the Land and Water — published some of my 

 letters, and announced a trial under their own anspices, when the Field, 

 to stop this, hurried their' s forward. 



Third— "How much did the Field pocket by it?" Mr. Walsh gave out 

 at the trial that it was gotten up by the Field for business purposes . I 

 hardly think that they do business for nothing. 



Fourth— "The Field wanted to know what gun in all England was the 

 best to answer the oft-asked question: 'Who makes the best gun?' Not 

 a breath unfavorable has been uttered against the Field for its part of 

 the programme. It wanted the best gun to win, and worked honestiy 

 for that end." If so, why were soldiers allowed to count the targets, 

 who had been disqualified for false scoring at Wimbledon rifle shooting, 

 and who actually put the prize up to the highest bidder, I myself being 

 asked what I would give if I won? The proof of honesty lay in a nut- 

 shell. The targets were the receipts of honesty and the leveller of all 

 disputes; but they had to be hidden from the light of day; they could not 

 stand the gaze of honesty, although the remarks of the Field led the 

 competitors to believe that the targets could be certified, inspected, and 

 even photographed, if required. The unfavorable comments and char- 

 ges against the false scoring that appeared in various sporting papers, is 

 a sufficient answer to such remarks. 



Fifth— "How was the decision arrived at— by taking closest pattern 

 and greatest penetration?" The decision, as far as the Greener score 

 was concerned, was arrived at by the soldiers having overcounted every 

 one of those sheets from 5 to 8 points more than the gun had made. My- 

 self and three other witnesses can prove the fact from actual recount- 

 ing; every shot hole was numbered and my name written on the false 

 sheets. The scrutiny was only stopped by the one man power when he 

 found fraud was discovered. 



Sixth— "Fair Play" "admires the way Mr. Greener's agent talks for 

 him, and is ready to shoot against any other gun." If this is not tall 

 talk, I am glad to find the agent so far ahead of the principal. Although 

 Mr. Greener styles himself champion, he has never seen his way clear 

 to accept my challenge to shoot my guns against his; but as his agent is 

 quite good ensugh for me, I will extend the challenge to him, and meet 

 him half -way between New York and home (St. Louis) and shoot two 

 choke bores and two sporting bores against the same number of Mr. 

 Greener's make, tho looser to pay his loss to the nearest charitable institu- 

 tion to where we shoot. Immediate communication with the office of 

 Forest and Stream, No. 17 Chatham street, New York, will be at- 

 tended to. 



Seventh— "Fair Play" says: "The wear and tear tests which the win- 

 ning guns in the London trial were subjected to proves the durability of 

 the system, they standing two thousand five hundred shots unchanged." 

 This argument is most preposterous. The report proves the very re- 

 verse. The winning gun that made the extraordinary score when a prize 

 was to be got shoots for six successive weeks, two days a week, and 

 never once can it make the string of shots given it by the soldiers. Not 

 even once in that time does it come near the scores made by either of the 

 three best guns. It cannot average above the twenty-fourth position of 

 the trial, its total average being only 336.5, not even third, fourth, or 

 sixth rate, and yet we are told this is unchanged. I could not fancy a greater 

 change in the shooting of a gun, and I fancy "Fair Play," would think 

 the same if he purchased a gun that could play such variations; but it 

 played a marvelous tune at the proper moment, which it will never do 

 again. Such writings, so wide of the truth, must confuse, and convey 

 false impressions to sportsmen. The score made by the soldiers for the 

 Greener gun was 405.5; the average score in the six week's shooting 

 336.5, while the second gnn by Pape made 382.7, and the third gun made 

 and bored by Pape makes 376.5; but it must be remembered that scores 

 were changed for the wear and tear test, while competitors had been 

 taught their lesson. "Fair Play" must see something extraordinary in a 

 gun which heads its class one week and cannot average a twenty-fourth 

 place in the next six weeks. If the targets were honestly counted, why 

 did not Mr. Walsh at once confute my charge by turning up the targets 

 and settling the point then and there? Ten minutes would have proven 

 or disproven the charge. He could have Won aay bet of ^50, or my oSm 



to donate the same amount to any London charity if the targets could be 

 counted to show that Mr. Greener's gun had made this score. Seeing 

 that neither justice or reason could prevail, I left for London and took 

 the best legal advice with a view to have a judge's order to seize the tar- 

 gets; but, unfortunately, counsel's opinion was that the targets were 

 private property, and as such no order could be got for their detention, 

 otherwise I should have exposed the infamous fraud. All I had the 

 power to do was to lodge a written protest of the false counting, which I 

 did, and for this Mr. Walsh, in the next class shooting, debarred the best 

 gun of the class as dangerous to life, because it cracked the common 

 sheet iron on the face of the target. Mr. Walsh, by tbis, meant 

 dangerous to the men behind the targets. No such excuse could exist, 

 because the gun had not shot out its round; conditions or no rule gave 

 any such power, and the gun would not have been disqualified had not 

 every man who watched the targets through field glasses made the re- 

 mark that this was the winning gun. In alluding to class 3, the Field 

 states— "Without doubt in our minds, Mr. Davidson, the second in class 

 3, is entitled to be considered the best on the genuine old plan, since his 

 barrels were not choked in the slghtest degree." This gun also was 

 made and bored by me, although exhibited in the name of Mr. Davidson. 

 Trusting that you will pardon me for taking up so much space of your 

 valuable journal, I remain, very respectfully yours, Wm. R. Pape. 



[Notwithstanding that the battle has been one thoroughly 

 fought out in the columns of our English cotemporaries, 

 we felt bound to give place to Mr. Pape's letter, not only 

 on account of the subject being one of interest to our 

 sportsmen, but because while the Field trial was fully re- 

 ported in this country we are not aware that Mr. Pape has 

 ever had a hearing. If Mr. P's remarks are not all strictly 

 parliamentary it must be borne in mind that if his version 

 of the story is correct, and he undoubtedly honestly thinks 

 it is, he has much to complain of.— Ed.] 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Log Book of a Fisherman and Zoologist. By Frank 



Buckland, M. A, Illustrated. London, 1875, pp. 400. 



Whoever buys this handsome volume expecting to find piscatory lore 

 will be disappointed, since the only fishing alluded to is that of the sea 

 fish brought to London, and an account of the drawing of a net in that 

 muddy puddle near London, known as the Serpentine, which being 

 cleaned out led to the capture of "about 5,000 roach and tench of two to 

 four inches long, with a few larger ones, and one trout eight inches 

 long." The love of angling must lie deep and strong in the Briton to 

 be sustained by such scanty aliment. 



There is an interesting chapter on the Brighton Aquarium, where is a 

 fine collection of sea fish, among them a grilse, which there, for the first 

 time under the eye of a naturalist, has been evolved from a smolt, show- 

 ing the genesis of the salmon. In another tank is a good-sized octopus, 

 squid, or cuttle, called by Victor Hugo the devil fish, which name re- 

 ally belongs to the giant ray of Southern seas, the vampire of the ocean, 

 Ceratoptera vampirus. Mr. Buckland also gives a full account of the 

 monstrous cuttles recently captured on the coast of Newfoundland, 

 which verify the storiee long current among American whalemen of the 

 existence of these formidable creatures in the Pacific Ocean. 



Our author gives an amusing account of a dinner at the Langham Ho- 

 tel, composed of American game. This began with American oysters, 

 which the writer is good enough to describe as "by no means unpalata- 

 ble." Terrapin soup he thinks * 'exceedingly good," and suggests that 

 terrapins might be made to breed in English green houses, though- 

 whether by slips or cuttings, he does not say. Buffalo meat, quails and 

 prairie hens met his approval, as did also the wild turkey, elk meat and 

 canvas back duck; and here Mr. Buckland was introduced to cranberry 

 sauce, which seems to have agreeably titilated his insular palate. But 

 what a sad picture is presented of the poverty of the British Isles, where 

 a man of mature age and apparently in comfortable circumstances, has 

 hitherto lived in ignorance of this viand! An American sat near him at 

 dinner to explain these strange dishes, and he appears io have stuffed 

 the zoologist with some tough yarns, as well as tender slices, and also to 

 have amused him with our national songs, among them the classic verse* 

 respecting "the grasshoppers that sat upon the sweet potato vine.' 



An interesting part of the book is that devoted to the wild animals of 

 Scotland-the red deer, the wild cat and the wild cattle, if indeed those 

 can properly be called wild, which have been owned, counted, bought 

 and sold with the land for hundreds of years. In fact, the eagles seem 

 to be almost the only wild creatures left in those thickly peopled islands. 

 One sentiment produced in our mind by reading these books by Britu 

 naturalists is, gratitude for being allotted to a country where wild crea- 

 tures of fur, fin, and feather will remain for some time longer.— S. 0. C 

 A Woman in the Case. By Bessie Turner: G. "W. Oar- 



leton & Co., New York. 



Whoever conceived the design of bringing out this young person as an 

 authoress and presenting her portrait as a frontispiece, deserves more 

 credit for the ingenuity of the idea as a source of profit, than for the 

 quality of his wares. Those who are tempted by the catchpenny titw 

 into reading it, will find it even below the average of the mass of weaK 

 novel writing with which we are flooded; and if they have any expecta- 

 tions of finding even an allusion to the great scandal trial, let them at 

 once abandon the idea. If Miss Turner had appeared before the public 

 without such adventitious aids as a delusive title and her own portrait, 

 her efforts would have been worthy of more praise, even if productiv 

 of lees profit. 

 Johnny Ludlow. G. W. Carleton & Co., New York. 



The name of the authorof this book is not given; but why he should 

 keep his light under a bushel we are at a loss to imagine. There is 

 freshness about "Johnny Ludlow" that reminds us strongly of hot 

 Henry Kingsley and "Tom Brown." The sketches are perfect picture* 

 of English rural home life, drawn in that pleasant way which forms 

 such an attraction in Mr. Kingsley's works— notably in his "Stretton -* 

 albeit not wrought in any form of plot. Each chapter is a sketch In it- 

 self, and the old Squire and Tod, and even Johnny himself, eeem 

 old Meads, 





