314 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



ducks may be found in abundance during the season. A 

 gentleman just returned from there informs me that the 

 duck shooting especially could not be excelled . There are 

 many such places all along the Potomac, and it is a won- 

 der that some of these farms have not been purchased by 

 clubs of sportsmen, as property in Virginia at this time 

 can be bought at such low prices. 



For the past ten days the weather in this locality lias 

 been exceedingly cold, the mercury sometimes standing 

 only a few degrees above zero. As a consequence the par- 

 tridge shooting has not been so good as heretofore, the 

 birds having been driven from the fields to the swamps and 

 thickets to seek shelter from the cold and high winds. 



The Baltimore bench show, which takes place next 

 month, is already exciting some interest in this city, and it 

 may be safely predicted that there will be a large attend- 

 ance of Washingtonians at the exhibition daily. From all 

 accounts the affair promises to be an interesting one, and 

 the gentlemen having it in charge seem determined to make 

 it a success. 



The recent cold snap has covered all the ponds in this vi- 

 cinity with ice, and skaters during the past week have 

 been enjoying themselves. Babock Lake, a sheet of wa- 

 ter covering four or five acres, just south of the Executive 

 Mansion, is the favorite resort, and it is filled with a merry 

 crowd all day. A proposition is now made to have it 

 brilliantly illuminated, that the sport imay be kept up after 



night. Occasional. 

 -«.•«- 



porting Jfutes S\ om M^ r0 ^- 



» 



FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. 



London, December 4th . 



FOR a non-hunting man the reports in the sporting pa. 

 pers of the runs with this that and the other pack of 

 hounds in various parts of the country, must seem to pos- 

 sess an uninteresting amount of sameness, and he wondei s 

 at the enthusiasm with which each detail of the sport is 

 described. How hard, then, must it be for the reporter, 

 unless he possesses sporting proclivities of the most marked 

 character, to dish up each day of his existence, at least 

 during the hunting season, the same report for his readers. 

 The chosen ones for the labor must indeed be possessed 

 not only of unlimited enthusiasm, but must be almost 

 ubiquitous as well, hunting to-day with one pack and to. 

 morrow with another, or as it would almost seem with both 

 at once. Now that the season is in full swing, no doubt 

 the city man, who would hunt it he could, as well as the 

 country gentleman who does hunt, and who likes to know 

 what sport his neighbors are having, finds it the most inter- 

 esting department of his country paper. If old Squire 

 Western were alive how he would open his eyes at the 

 hunting of to day as compared with the sport in his time. 

 Horses and hounds appear to have increased in speed to- 

 gether (and foxes, too, perhaps) until a "fast twenty min- 

 utes" with a fashionable pack is nothing more than a 

 steeple chase with an indefinite finish and no penalties or 

 allowances. I am wrong about penalties. A desire to be 

 with the first flight, or one of those mishaps incident to the 

 hunting field which we only wonder do not happen more 

 frequently, sometimes brings some one to grief. Many an 

 heir has found himself unexpectedly in possession through 

 this means, and scarcely a week passes without one or 

 more serious accidents being reported. And yet there is a 

 fascination about hunting which 13 irresistible; the very 

 danger providing the excitement and the hot blood bring- 

 ing a sort of recklessness which calls for the special interpo- 

 sition of Providence on more occasions perhaps than is 

 imagined. Among the accidents reported during the past 

 week was one which befell "the beautiful Mrs. Rousby," 

 the actress, ^hose romantic career on the stage has been 

 as much discussed on your side of the water as on this. 

 While returniDg from hunting with the Duke of Beaufort's 

 hounds her horse stepped on some rotten ground and fell 

 with her, bruising her badly, but not preventing her from 

 appearing the same evening in the play which is familiar to 

 Americans, "Twixt Axe and Crown." Another accident 

 occurred to the huntsmen of the Heythrop hounds while 

 crossing a field in which a steam plow was at work. A 

 wire connected the plow with the engine, and against this 

 his horse stumbled and fell. 



Speaking of accidents, the Calcutta Englishman mentions 

 the death of a Mr. Langdon of Narvada, who was killed by 

 a tiger which had been committing much mischief in the 

 villages of that district. Mr. Langdon appears to have been 

 armed only with a pistol, and could make but little insist- 

 ence. Another sad case whick recently occurred in India 

 is that of Mrs. Stevenson, wife of the Conservator of For- 

 ests, Cochin, who was killed by a wild elephant at Pala- 

 pully, near Trichoor. She was traveling with her hus- 

 band on horseback with a number of coolies when the ele- 

 phant suddenly appeared . Mrs. Stephenson being fright- 

 ened, jumped off her pony, and fell, and before she could 

 get out of the way the elephant rushed on and trod on 

 her neck. Death was instantaneous. 



The irrepressible Mr. Greener (W. W.) is again in print, 

 if indeed he is ever out of it, and as the occasion is one 

 of interest to American sportsmen as showing some of the 

 workings of the gun trade, I will refer to it briefly. It 

 seems that a firm who deal largely in guns of various man- 

 ufacturers, inserted for sale in their catalogue several 

 "Greeners." Mr. W. W. of that ilk, knowing that they 

 had none of his make, denounced it as a : fraud, 

 the fem m question admiUetl that they 



Mr. W. W. publishes a correspondence showing 

 that this J. H. Greener has not made guns for yeais, but 

 for a royalty allows some other maker to use his name, the 

 object being, apparently, to palm off an inferior gun 

 through the means of a popular name. This may solve 

 the riddle which has puzzled your sportsmen for so long, 

 viz., how guns bearing the names of Greener, Scott and 

 other welllmown makers are sold at auction for little more 

 than what the duties on a fine gun would amount to. 



A very liberal piece of newspaper policy is that of the 

 Newcastle Daily (Jhronicle, which is willing to devote the 

 sum of £200 to determine the vexed question of who is the 

 champion sculler of England. This is offered in the shape 

 of a £100 challenge cup and £100 in money prizes, of 

 which, in addition to the stakes, the sum of £50 goes to 

 the winner. The competition will be open to all scullers 

 who can reasonably claim a right to enter, and from the 

 entries six competitors will be selected to row. The first 

 race for the cup will be some time in March, on the Tyne, 

 and if six enter will be decided by three trial heats with a 

 final heat on the succeeding day. The great Universities, 

 Oxford and Cambridge, have had their races between their 

 "trial eights," a preliminary trial to bring out their best 

 men to place in each boat preparatory to commencing ac- 

 tive work for the great race in the spring. None of the 

 boats are complimented very highly on their form, but 

 this could scarcely be expected to be up to the mark as 

 yet. By-the-bye, I notice that a "Member of the Regatta 

 Committee of the Centennial Regatta" has addressed a let- 

 ter to the Field relative to the report of the event, which 

 appeared in that paper. The gentleman confines himself 

 entirely to the questions of fact regarding the results and 

 incidents of the races, without going into the question of 

 the conduct or misconduct of the Field representative, 

 which he might have done, and thrown some light on the 

 animus by which that person was actuated. 



It is suggested now that the North Pole may be reached, 

 if it is reached at all, by means of ba'loons. After going 

 as far as possible with the ship, balloons are to be sent up 

 at intervals, each carrying a small sledge, which could be 

 dragged on the ice by the balloon; but nothing is said 

 about the wind blowing the wrong way, or does io always 

 blow towards the Pole in high latitudes? In this connec- 

 tion it is interesting to note that the remains of a balloon 

 have just been found on the coast of Iceland. In the car, 

 it is said, were some human bones, forming an incomplete 

 skeleton, and a quantity of undecipherable papers. It is 

 thought that this is one of the missing balloons dispatched 

 from Paris during the seige. The sportsmen of the late 

 Arctic Expedition do not appear to have found much 

 game in their winter quarters. A few musk oxen and owls. 

 But then there were the trout; at least after several hours' 

 patient exertion one of the officers caught three small fish 

 resembling trout. How thick the ice was as that particu- 

 lar spot is not stated, but it would have been enough prob- 

 ably to have astonished some of your pickerel fishermen, 



Capt. Allen Young of the Pandora has presented to the 

 Zoological Gardens the Esquimaux dogs brought by him 

 from Netelik in Whale Sound, the highest inhabited lati- 

 tude in the world — 77 deg. 13 min. North. They possess 

 the same characteristics as all the dogs brought from high 

 latitudes, with the sharp pointed ears of the wolf and jack- 

 al, and have the same appearance as the dogs found all 

 along the eastern coast of Asia. One can understand why 

 dogs whose habitat is the Arctic region should be supplied 

 with such a heavy coat of fur, but why the dogs of Can- 

 ton should be provided with the same covering is a mystery 



I have never had explained. That they do is beyoDd ques- 

 tion, and the only explanation I can give is that they must 

 have been brought from the north of China by returning 

 rice junks; but why have they not adapted themselves to 

 the climate and changed their coats? Quien sabe, 



Vacjctero. 

 — -*•*• 



Christmas for the Poor Children. — The following is 

 the honorable record of the Children's Aid Society's work 

 for the past year. What a deal of good has been accom- 

 plished! There were during the past year 111 the six lodg- 

 ing houses, 14,584 different boys and girls; 266,665 meals 

 and 198,618 lodgings were supplied. In the 20 day and 



II evening Industrial Schools were 10,345 children, who 

 were taught, partly fed and clothed; (481,303 meals were 

 supplied); 3,989 were sent to good homes, mainly in the 

 west; 1,770 children were aided with food, medicine, etc.,. 

 through the "Sick Children's Fund;" 2,195 children (aver- 

 aging 157 children per week) enjoyed the advantage of the 

 Seaside Home. In the Girls' Lodging House 464 girls 

 have been instructed in the use of the sewing-machine; 

 there have been 8,102 orphans in the Lodging Houses, and 

 1,165 of these provided with homes. Total number under 

 charge of the Society during the year was 33,347. 



This Society wishes to give a merry Christmas to the 

 children under their charge. It desires to distribute thou- 

 sands of shoes and garments among the children of their 

 Industrial Schools, and have pleasant festivals fcr these 

 poor little ones. They propose, if money be sent, to give 

 good Christmas dinners in the Lodging Houses to the street 

 boys and girls, and they solicit donations from the charita- 

 ble, gifts of clothing, provisions, books, money, etc, which 

 may be sent to Charles L. Brace, 19 East 4th street. 



, . ««£4» 



—The hotels in St. Augustine, Florida, this season are 

 generady much improved, and their accommodations supe- 

 rior to any previous season. 



\ifle. 



Ladies at the Targets. — It has become quite the fash- 

 ion for ladies to practice rifle shooting. At many fairs 

 regular matches are shot between teams of young ladies 

 selected according to nationality or otherwise. The Florida 

 Press mentions a match recently shot near St. Augustine 

 in which two ladies participated as partners to two gentle- 

 men and made the highest scores, the shooting being done 

 at 100 yards at a target 19^ inches square with a three inch 

 bullseye. A ladies Rifle Ciub is talked of. The same 

 paparsays: "A rifle match took place on last Saturday 

 afternoon, south of the Barracks, the following gentlemen 

 shooting: Capt. Keunett, Dr. Terril, Capt. Pratt, Lieut. E. 

 L. Zaiinski, Mr. D. Hilger, Col. Bainbridge, Col. Tracy, 

 Mr. Maynard, and Mr. May. The range was 100 yards, off 

 hand, and prize, a turkey. Mr. May, of the steamer Bache 

 won by 19 points, out of a possible 25. Another match 

 will take place this afternoon." 



Harvard Rifle Cltjb.— At a meeting of this club last 

 week it was voted that the regular fall championship match 

 take place Saturday, December 16. To give interest to the 

 match competitors will be divided into two classes; to the 

 first any member will be admitted, to the second none 

 who have ever made a score of 38 or more out of a possible 

 50 in any match whatsoever. Of course no second-class 

 man will be entitled to a first-class prize. It was also voted 

 to award a prize to the member having the highest average 

 for the year, provided that he shall have shot in at least 

 three matches. 



— Col. J. A.. McDonald, Captain of the Scottish rifle 

 team, which recently visited the United States, has been 

 appointed Solicitor Geueral for Scotland. 



The Gallery Championship. — The Gallery Champion- 

 ship for the City of New York, was decided last Friday 

 evening, December 16th. The two best shots of theZetller 

 liifLe Association were matched against the two best of 

 Coulin's Gallery, each man to shoot one hundred shots 

 (ten shots per target), with rifle and ammunition from their 

 respective galleries. The shooting was at a 200 yard 

 Wimbledon target, reduced for the distance, 110 feet. 

 Creedmoor rutes governed the match. The match com- 

 menced at eight o'clock, and continued till two a. m. Some- 

 times on. sitle and then the other would lead a few points, 

 and the match was finally decided by the last round of leu 

 shots. 



To show how closely contested the match was, the 

 first 50 shots per man, possible 500, Conlin's Gallery led 

 by 6 points, and on the last 50 the totals were tie, Conlin's 

 winning by the 6 points. The following are the scores and 

 totals per learn : — 



conlin's gallehy— Capt. J. B. Biydenburgh. (Possible 50 per target.) 

 Name. Score. Total. 



Charles A. Chcever 39 46 43 44 45 39 44 41/ 45 46. ...431 



C. E. iiiydeiiburgti 40 42 45 H 43 41 4j 43 44 46.... 428 



Grand total 859 



zEiTLKiKS RIF1.K association-— Capt. J. L. S. Kellner. 



Name. Score. Total. 



C. a. Zcttler 45 45 43 U 46 40 48 45 42 45 441 



M. ii. Engle 38 41 40 43 42 40 39 45 44 40. . . .412 



Grand total 853 



Conlin's Gallery victorious by six points. The follow- 

 ing will show the number of points lead per side, at the 

 end of each round:— 



Name. 1st. 2d. 3d. 4th. 5th. 6th. 7th. 8th. 9th. 10th. 



Conhn 0036663006 



Zettier 4 200000410 



Average shooting per man: Chas. A, Cheever, 43 1-10; 

 C. E. Blydenburgh, 42 8 10; C. G. Zettier, 44 1-10; M. B. 

 Engal, 41 2-10; possible 50. Average per team, 42.95, 

 Conlin's; 42.65, Zettler's. 



After the match, Frank Lord, the noted pistol shot, 

 showed his skill with some of the finest shooting on 

 record. Distance, 60 feet, 20 paces, with pistol he hit 

 two common musket caps, in three shots, and three bullels, 

 size of old fashioned musket bullet, in six shots. This 

 shooting was witnessed by at least thirty persons. 



Creedmoor, Jr., Range. — This popular daytime resort, 

 Broadway, corner Warren street, for off-hand shooting, 

 will commence its regular winter season matches next 

 Tuesday, the 26th, which will be subscription match day. 

 Terms of match: Distance, 100 yards; position, off-hand; 

 rifle, any of 32 calibre or under; number of shots, 7; en- 

 trance, 50 cents; one-halt the entrance money to be di- 

 vided between the three highest scores; enter as many 

 times as you please. The day following, Wednesday, the 

 27th, will be pool shooting. Tickets, 5c each, one-half the 

 money to be divided among those making bullseyes. These 

 matches will be open for entries on those days,' from eight 

 a. m. to six p. m. On Tuesday following will be com- 

 menced a series of matches for gold coins, the terms and 

 particulars of which will be published next week. There 

 lias been a number of improvements made in this range, 

 which will add greatly to the comfort of its patrons 

 Among others, .the Dittmar powder only is used, making 

 little noise and no smoke, thereby doing away with the ne- 

 cessity for any draft or circulation of air to carry off the 

 smoke, which makes this underground retreat a comfort- 

 able contrast to the biting air of the upper world. There 

 has also been added a second room, comfortably lighted 

 and seated, which makes it possible to avoid the crowded 

 state of* the single room of last winter. Mr. Fisher has 

 secured the services of his brother to take charge of the 

 range, and the patrons of rifle shooting, now that Creed- 

 moor, Sr., is closed for the season, will meet with every 

 attention, and there will be no delay for want of markers. 

 The range is open daily for practice from eight a. m. to 

 six p. m . 



—Major H. S. Jewell, Inspector of Rifle Practice of Ihe 

 Fifth Brigade, Brooklyn, has made his annual report to the 

 Adjutant General of the condition of rifle practice in his 

 department, showing the number of marksmen who quali- 

 fied at the Creedmoor during the past season as follows: 

 Thirteenth Regiment, 34; Fourteenth Regiment, 30; 

 Fifteenth Battalion, 25; Twenty-eighth Regiment, 20; Sep- 

 arate Troop Cavahy, 15. 



—The Secretary of the National Rifle Association has 

 prepared ihe iWim$ for renewal by afiiau&J' saembeis -'?'' 



