FOREST AND STREAM. 



267 



Pennsylvania — November 27t7i. — Frank Thompson, Geo. 

 J}. Eaton, and A. E. Chamberlain, have just returned from 

 atrip to Towanda, Pennsylvania. They were the guests 

 of that veteran sportsman, Wm. A. Chamberlain, They 

 report good bags of quail and grouse, and speak in the 

 highest terras of the glorious time the Towanda boys, with- 

 out exception, gave them. 



Indiana — Valparaiso, Nov 21st. — Our quail shooting has 

 been excellent this fall; the birds are full grown and in 

 good numbers. Hon. J. V. Le Moyue passed a few days 

 with me recently, with good success. Mr. Le Moyne 

 shoots over as fine a team of setters as one cares to meet. 

 Mr. John Sergent Cram of New York, came here with the 

 intention of spending a few days at quail, but the elements 

 were against him. The flight of wild fowl is about passed, 

 and the shooting has been extra; fine birda in abundance. 



W. H. Holabird. 



North Carolina — Netobern, Nov. 20*74. — Our waters are 

 rapidly filling with ducks and geese. I have shot several 

 of the former without special effort, as they are quite tame. 

 We are also getting descent bags of snipe on the marshes 

 near the ciiy. Venison has long ceased to be a rarity, the 

 number ef deer seeming to increase, rather than diminish. 



Florida — Pensacola, Nov. 20ih.—Oa a recent two-week's 

 cruise to the eastward I found game very abundant, and 

 if this holds good all over the State our sporting visitors 

 will have fine times this winter. We had good sport with 

 such game as curlews, plovers, snipe, rails, labbits, quails 

 and squirrels, but were disappointed on ducks. Although 

 we visited the best places for them, at the headwaters of 

 both Escambia and Choctawhatchee bays, we saw but one 

 small fiock of mallards and very few teal. It was probably 

 too early lor the choice ducks. It is true that there are 

 plenty of ducks in the bays, but they are so tough and 

 iishy that they are seldom eaten. There are plenty of 

 deer, bears and turkies on the hammocks, and are very fat 

 just now. A good dog is needed for the two former, and 

 plenty of patience for the latter. Brown pelicans are ar- 

 riving from their breeding grounds in the southeast, ana I 

 saw one small flock of rough-billed white pelicans flying 

 from the west. Chasseur. 



PIGEON MATCHES. 



Michigan. — An unusually interesting and closely contest- 

 ed pigeon match occurred in Monroe, Mich., on the 19th inst. 

 Sportsmen had been on the qaivive for the expected event 

 for some days, and when the time arrived, not even the 

 threatening weather and cold wet ground prevented the 

 Driving Park the scene of the contest, from being well 

 filled. The race was between some of the best snots in 

 this State, and the Northwest. Messrs. L. H. Hascail, of 

 Grand Rapids, and Ed. H. Gilman, of the firm of Gilman 

 Brothers, the well known restaurateurs of Detroit, pitted as 

 a team against W. O. Hall and Timothy O'Hare, of Toledo. 

 (Why Charley Mack wants to be called Timothy O'Hare, 

 is beyond my ken.) The stakes were $100 a side, 25 birds 

 allowed each man; 21 yards rise, 80 yards boundary, as 

 usual. Other preliminaries arranged, the follow ing'gentle- 

 rnen acted as judges, Eobert Fulton and J. M. Witmer, of 

 Niagara Falls; referee, Mr. Murray, of Niagara Falls; 

 scorer, Mr. W. T. Clarke, of Toledo, O. The birds were 

 not "blue rocks," but very fresh, strong pigeons, and the 

 sport was excellent. Mr. Hascall's shooting exceptionally 

 good, killing his birds cleanly and completely, two, how- 

 ever, were carried a trifle over t;ie boundary by their mo- 

 mentum, and lost. Mr. Gilman's shots were all good, bar- 

 ring the first miss through a little apparent nervousness. 

 Mr. Hall did not meet his usual average, and made some 

 very bad shots. Mr. McO'Hare must have had an under- 

 standing with his birds, for they got up beautifully for 

 him, a dozen or more coming directly towards him, giving 

 him the greatest number of easy shots enjoyed by any in 

 the party, but this did not make up for the misses of Mr. 

 Hall, and the score stood as follows: — 



L.H.Hascall 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 111011111-23 



E. H. Gilman 1 101110111111111111111! 1-22 



W. O.Hall 00101011101 1011111111111 1—18 



Chas. Timothy McO'Hare. .0 lllllllllllOlllllllllll 1-23 



Very little money, besides the stake, changed hands on 

 the result, but .numerous wagers of bivalves, cigars, and 

 liquid refreshments, were won and lost, The party ad- 

 journed to Strong's Hotel, where dinner was served, and 

 the time pleasantly spent until the evening trains conveyed 

 them to their several homes. Keuka. 



New York.— The Long Island Shooting Club held its 

 regular match for the championshiop B cup, being the 

 eleventh contest, on Thursday last, at the club grounds, 

 Dexler's, on the Jamaica Plank road. The conditions were 

 seven bird each, at 25 yards rise. Dr. Winnie was the 

 winner, killing all of his birds. The following are the 

 scores . — 



Name. Total. 



Dr. Winue 7 



Broadway 5 



Hemming 5 



Martin. 5 



Br. u .•Hk.itlB ,, ■ 4 



Hartshorue 4 



Austin 4 



Name. Total. 



Radin (32 yards) 3 



Blankley ...2 



Gildersleeve 2 



Hughes 2 



Dr. "Sates" 1 



Moore 



GUNS OF HOME MANUFACTURE. 



Rochester, N. Y. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



It is a source of great satisfaction to me that some one has 

 had the bravery to come out in your paper in a defense of 

 home manufactured breech-loading shot guns, and doubly 

 so in the case referred to; first, because it is in regard to 

 one of the same make as my own; second, because it is 

 from this citv. I had watched and waited patiently for 

 yearti for progress in breech loading shot guns, having shot 

 or seen shot many of the very best foreign makes, and I 

 must say that I found none that filled my idea of simplic- 

 ity, strength, and durability of action, to all appearances, 

 as those made by Chas. Green, of Rochester, N. Y. 



Remember, 1 do not say there are no good foreign made 

 guns, for that would be doing great injustice to Messrs. 

 Scott, Greener, Tolley, Daly, Pape, Rigby, and others; but 

 I do say this: that the great bulk of foreign guns sent to 

 this market are thrown together by cheap labor, and very 

 dear guns f or the price. You say they are engraved nice- 

 ly; that is a great mistake. It is not only poor engraving, 

 but they are cheap barrels, cheap stock, cheap locks — in 

 fact everything about the gun is cheap. However, this is 

 not the worst of it; this cheap labor means small wages, 

 and small pay never secures skillful workmen. What is 

 the result?— a poor job at best. Is not such the case? Ask 



your friend who has a cheap foreign gun, and if he has 

 used it one season with any amount of work, I will venture 

 to say that nearly every joint in it is loose. Is such a gun 

 safe? If you must have a gun buy a good one; don't sell 

 your life for a few dollars, but if you must sell it, sell it 

 like a brave man as dearly as you can afford, for by this 

 means you may save it. But suppose you do buy a foreign 

 gun and it does not suit you, your only recourse is with 

 the dealer, who attempts to remedy the evil, but fails. 

 then he says, I will send it back to the maker; so your 

 gun is boxed up and sent to a foreign country to be re- 

 paired, lhat is all well enough, but all this takes time 

 and you may lose a whole season shooting by this means, 

 unless you buy or borrow. Then you have one no better, 

 in fact, not as good as you can buy at home. The idea that 

 America with all her her science, art, and industry cannot 

 produce as good a gun as a foreign country, is idle talk. 

 With some people who are a little airy, it is more to say 

 that it is made abroad than anything else. 



Like some people who have traveled Europe all over to 

 see her grand sights, but who are ignorant of what they 

 have at home at half the money- It is money that carries 

 such people thiough the world and not their brains. 

 Where do we stand to day as manufacturers of breech- 

 loading rifles? Where can you find a man that would 

 think of going to Europe to purchase one? The mere 

 mention of it would be scouted at. Why do we not occu- 

 py as prominent a position with breech loading shot guns? 

 One thing is, we have not struggled for it; another, lach 

 of confidence in home manufacture, which I am sure 

 would easily be removed by a practical test. One great ad- 

 vantage in getting one at home is, you can order it to fit- 

 that is, the stock can be made more or less crooked, extra 

 long or short, plain or pistol grip, and many other little 

 things about which we sportsmen are all more or less no- 

 tional. Let us, then, encourage home manufacture by our 

 patronage, and give our makers who are struggling against 

 adversity a trial, and if they do not do themselves credit I 

 shall be sadly mistaken. F. L. K. 



[While we agree with our correspondent that home man- 

 ufacturers should be encouraged, and also go so far as to 

 say that we see no reason why as good shot guns should 

 not be produced in this country as abroad, we do not agree 

 with him that "the great bulk of foreign guns sent to this 

 market are thrown together by cheap labor, and very dear 

 guns for the price." On the contrary, we think that the 

 majority of guns sent to this country by respectable mak- 

 ers, and sold for fair prices are excellent specimens of work- 

 manship. Cheap labor by no means necessitates poor 

 work. Some of the most delicate fabrics and perfect 

 specimens of man's handicraft are produced where labor 



is the cheapest. — Kd ] 



«*..>. 



Singular Gunning Accident.— A correspondent sends 

 us from Roudout the following account of a very remark- 

 able accident: "While a young man named Oscar Van 

 Steenburgh was hunting partridges in the vicinity of Aunt 

 Treen's Lake, Ulster county, N. Y., he laid his loaded gun 

 on the ground, and wishing to indicate to a companion 

 where the gun lay, he threw a small stone at it, which 

 struck the hammer and fired the gun. The charge of shot 

 passed through the upper part of Van Steenburgh's left 

 thigh, lodging in his underclothing. His thigh was badly 

 wounded, but his escape from death was marvellous." 



— The beach at Good Ground, Long Island, has once 

 more been broken through by a recent storm , giving Shine- 

 cock Bay an inlet, so that there is promise now of better 

 duck shooting in that region. 



— Isaac M. Bradley keeps a good sportsmen's house at 

 Eldred, Sullivan Co., New York, where he guarantees good 

 deer shooting, and trout fishing in season. 



htm mtd ^vagyinQ. 



FACTS ABOUT FURS. 



IT is of course well known that the animals which 

 supply the fashionable world with the most beautiful 

 lurs are inhabitants of the arctic or northern regions ; the 

 temperate, and tropical zones only affording skins which 

 are more adapted for leathers, as the hair, though often 

 splendid in colors, is harsh and short. The two great fur 

 hunting grounds of the world are Russia, with its Asiatic 

 dependencies, and that immense tract of country in North 

 America from which so many of our furs are procured. 

 The most aristocratic of the different varieties of fur are 

 supplied by northern Europe and Siberia, the Russian 

 sable taking the lead, though its standard value and merits 

 are closely approximated by the sea otter and one or two 

 oth^ of the larer species of the fox. The Russian sable is 

 distinguished from its American rival by the length and 

 fullness of its fur, which is soft and glossy, and very much 

 darker in color. The skins are very expensive, and, as 

 four or five are used in the construction of an ordinary- 

 sized muff, the price is too high for general indulgence. 

 Even the minute coverings of the paws are esteemed of 

 sufficient value to be joined together for linings. The por- 

 tion of fur lying under the jaw, which is lighter in tint 

 than the other parts, is united to similar pieces, and is 

 known under the name of sable gills. About twenty-five 

 thousand skins are annually collected in the Russian terri- 

 tory. There is an extensive private demand for the sable 

 in Russia, which compels the majority of fur fanciers to 

 supply their wants with the more abundant varieties of 

 marten skins, which are included under the same generic 

 name. 



Of these the Hudson Bay sable ranks highest, as it is an 

 excellent fur, the superior qualities being scarcely inferior 

 in intrinsic beauty to the Russian. The color, however, is 

 always some degrees lighter, and consequently the art of 

 the dyer is required to adapt them to the standard of 

 beauty. To the same family belong the baum, or pine 

 marten, always found in the depths of some extensive 

 forest, remote from the habitations of men, and the stone 

 marten, so called from its selecting rocky places for its 

 favorite haunts. Both are denizens of Europe. The skin 

 of the former species is brown, the throat alone being 

 yellow; that of the latter presents several shades of bluish 

 gray, being generally assimilated to the color of the rocks 



among which it is found; the throat, however, is pure 

 white. The fur of either is soft and good, and may be 

 dyed with advantage. 



The French excel especially in the preparation of the 

 stone marten, which is often known by the name of French 

 sable in consequence. It is much colder in tint than its 

 rival, the pine marten, which, in the manufactured state 

 closely approximates the finest sable. Among the inferior- 

 representatives of this family may be included the fisher, a 

 North American animal, larger than the sable, with long, 

 full fur; the mink and the kolinsky, or Tartar sable, which 

 is occasionally made up in the natural state. The ermine 

 is peculiar to northern Europe and Siberia. This_ little 

 animal is always hunted in the winter, when its coat is of a 

 snowy hue. At other periods of the year it is a dull 

 brown, and closely resembles the common weasel of this 

 country. The miniver is simply the white ermine studded 

 with small black tufts taken from the paw of the Astrachan 

 lamb. 



Scarcely less attractive than the ermine, and abou', equal 

 to it in value, is the grebe, a fur, or rather down, taken 

 from the breast of a duck which inhabits the Swiss lakes. 

 During the past few years, and especially last season, the 

 grebe has advanced in favor. This glossy skin ranges in 

 color from creamy white to silver gray, and is highly 

 prized on account of its durability. The chinchilla is in- 

 digenous to South America, the best specimens coming 

 Irom Buenos Ayres. This fur, which has been popular 

 throughout Europe for many years, is now much admired 

 and largely in demand in th.s country. 



Of the fox tribe the black and silver fox skins from the 

 arctic regions are very precious and wonderfully expensive. 

 As a superior lining fur these two styles are inestimable. 

 The cross, red, white and blue foxes are less rare, conse- 

 quently they are not so expensive. There has been con- 

 siderable discussion regarding the degree of relationship 

 existing between these differently-colored foxes. They 

 have been generally regarded as distinct species, though 

 many old trappers have asserted that the same l'tter will 

 afford furs of three distinct, colors, the animals also being 

 positively different in character. 



The men who trap and otherwise procure the several 

 varieties of expensive fur-bearing animals lead lives replete 

 with the severest hardships and the wildest kind of adven- 

 tures; while those who enjoy the pleasure of wearing the 

 beautifully prepared furs are usually surrounded by the 

 most enjoyable comforts or life. — From the Hat, Gap and 

 Fur Trade Review. 



-*>*•** 



Treeing Coons.— A contributor sends us the follow- 

 ing:— 



"A correspondent in one of your late issues mentions 

 the capture of a coon weighing twenty pounds eight ounces, 

 and inquires about the weight of the largest specimens. 

 Four years ago my dogs "bounced" a coon in the vicinity 

 of Fairfax Court House, Va., about nine o'clock in the 

 evening. They treed in five minutes, and our darkey guhie 

 shook down a coon, which yielded after a short fight with 

 the dogs. His weight was a fraction under twenty eight 

 pounds. It was in the early part of the season, and the 

 beast was abnormally fat. 



"As an unusual incident in coon hunting I send this: 

 We were about twenty-five miles from Chrisiiansburg, Va., 

 last September, when one of our dogs treed at least half a 

 mile from where we were standing. Arrived at the tree, 

 the game was plainly visible about twenty feet from the 

 ground. The fourth pistol shot brought him down to a 

 desperate fight with three dogs. But instead of a coon, as 

 we fondly hoped, our friend turned out to be the largest 

 woodchuck I ever saw." 



ht MmmL 



GUN SHY DOGS. 



WE are almost weekly in receipt of letters from our 

 correspondents asking for information as to the 

 best mode of curing the defect of gun shyness in dogs. 

 This difficulty has increased very much within the past 

 few years, in consequence of breeding much more than 

 heretofore from imported dogs, too many of which are in- 

 bred to such an extent as to make their progeny delicate 

 and of a nervous temperament, and very liable to be gun 

 shy. Yet that so many dogs are gun shy is frequently in. 

 consequence of bad management of their owners, or those 

 who first take them to the field. In former times, when 

 dogs were not so finely bred, and inbreeding was an ex- 

 ception to the general rule, gun shy dogs were seldom met 

 with. It is, however, owing frequently to the careless 

 manner in which pups are raised, and then taken to the 

 field to be shot over that they are gun shy. When pups 

 are three or four months old they should be taken out for 

 exercise frequently, taught to get over fences, and where 

 they may hear distant guns fired, and other noises, and 

 then when taken to the field to be shot over, a few shot 

 with light loads should be fired at the distance of two or 

 three hundred yards, and then gradually shortening the 

 distance, and with heavier load; this will convince the pup 

 or young dog that the gun will not hurt him, and gun shy- 

 ness seldom follows. But when a dog has become gun shy 

 it is in consequence of Irs fear that the gun, or the report 

 thereof, will in some way hurt him. To convince him 

 what the gun is for, and that it will not hurt him, is the 

 only way to effectually cure him of the defect. Many 

 years ago we owned a very beautiful thoroughbred milk- 

 white pointer about eighteen months old which, although 

 a good worker in the field and quite staunch on game, was 

 gun shy, and after the first shot he would invariably come 

 to heel and remain until the gun was laid aside. This dog 

 we cured at the first trial in this way: We loaded the gun 

 with barely powder enough to wound a small bird sitting 

 at fifteen or twenty yards distance, so as to make just as 

 slight a noise as possible, then placed the gun in the hands 

 of a friend, and taking the dog along a hedge where cat- 

 birds and other small birds are found, and inducing the 

 dog to notice them, watching him carefully to see when 



