44 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



fAUGCST 10, 1880. 



ing under tbe stove, or in the warm siiu, one that had 

 such a Tirtuous and innocent countenance tliat you 

 ■would have trusted it with untold pitcliers of cream — we 

 have seen Buoh a cat, we say, start quietly out just at 

 dusk, and return to the kitchen in less than ten minutes 

 with a dying woodcock in its mouth. From the stomach 

 of another similar feline Pecksniff we have taken the 

 larger part of an adult quail. 



But house cats that only hunt occasionally are saints 

 and martyrs compared with the domestic cat run wild, or 

 with the utterly irreclaimable descendants of these wild 

 tame cats. Such animals have to depend solely on their 

 own exertions for a living. With them hunting is a busi- 

 ness as well as a pleasure. They are veritable pot hunt- 

 ers. 



The English keeper well understands the injurj' done in 

 the preserves by the domestic cat, and wages against it a 

 war as bitter, and as uncompromising as that which he 

 carries on against its short-tailed wild cousin, or against 

 the stoar, or any of ihe hawks. A similar crusade should 

 be iiiauguiated in this country by all who are interested 

 in the preservation of our game birds. 



The hunting grounds of tbe cat cover all the localities 

 frequented by our feathered game. You may start them 

 as well from the swamp where the cock are to be found, 

 as from the hedges that border the rye stubble through 

 which, at morning and evening, the quail wander. We 

 have come upon them iieacefuUy reposing in the alder 

 i-uns that we were working out late in the season for 

 ruffed grouse, and have surprised tliem on the bordera of 

 the snipe grounds, at their meal on a green-winged teal or 

 a rail. 



Kowhere can they be found in more abundance than 

 in the Central Park. Any one who may ride at dusk 

 along the west side drive or bridle jiath will see Thomas 

 and Tabitha, with all their relations, starting out on tbe 

 war path. The rabbits and the many birds in the Park 

 furnish them with a fat subsistence. Let us hope that 

 Mr. Bergh's proposed anti-cat ordinance may abate this 

 nuisance before long. 



There is one way, and, so far as we kflow, only one, of 

 curing a hunting cat of its fondness for what some of 

 our contemporaries call the "noble art of venerie," and 

 we hope that, during the nest season, all of our readers 

 who may have the opportunity will give it a thorough 

 trial. The rule is one which we invariably practice our- 

 selves, and usually with the best results. It is this: when 

 you see a cat while out shooting, approach it as closely 

 as possible, aim yom- gun at the shoulders or back and 

 pull both triggers. 



It is time that the sportsmen of om' country, and espe- 

 cially of the thickly settled East where cats do most 

 abound, took some active steps to protect the birds from 

 this enemy, the most desti-uctive, after man, with which 

 they have to contend. We are sure that, could the quail, 

 the woodcock and the ruffed grouse sjieak, they would, 

 if questioned as to the enemy of which they stand moat 

 in fear, reply in accents of horror and alarm : — 

 "It is, it is the cat! " 



And the great army of insectivorous birds, the friends 

 of the farmer, the sweet-voiced warblers that cheer us 

 through the spring and summer by their songs, and beau- 

 tify our homes by their brilliant plumage, would take up 

 the siid refrain, and, in tones whose pathos and earnest- 

 ness could not fall to arouse the sympathy of every 

 kindly heart, unite in uttering the confirmatory, the 

 condemnatory, the now classic words: — 

 " They're lisht ; it is the cat." 



Beeeding Quail is Cotinemest.— The experiment, 

 so often tried, of rearing quail in captivity has never 

 been thoroughly successful. The very few instances on 

 record where quad have been hatched and reared in the 

 cage are only enough to show that it may possiblj' occur 

 in exceptional cases. We have often had ijuail lay in 

 confinement, but never set. 



It is said that Mr. Henry Benbrook, a game dealer in 

 Raritan, N. J., succeeded in rearing six quail last year 

 whicli had furnished him up to July 31st with 108 eggs. 

 Some of these were placed tuider a bantam hen, and six 

 youijg were hatched, which are alive and doing well. 



The history of Mr. Benbrook's experiment is as fol- 

 lows : Four years ago he captured two quail and kept 

 them in confinement. The first year the female laid 

 twenty-four eggs, but declined to incubate ; the second 

 year was miproductive, but the third the female laid 

 twelve eggs, and after setting for some time died. The 

 male then took her place and brought off six young, 

 which, as has been said, lived and are laying this season. 



The further results of Mr. Benbrook's (juail culture will 

 be looked for with interest. 



NEBKAfSKA Field Trials.— The Nebraska State Sports- 

 men's AsBOciation jiropose to liold a series of field trials- 

 at their next annual convention at Milford, Neb., Sept. 

 30th, Oct. 1st and 3d. We are glad to see these trials 

 niultiijlying, _ 



— Among'our contributors this week " Nessm^uk " finds, 

 in the pappoose, a subject for an altogether original study 

 of Indian life, and "Bodinea" continues his readable 

 ^» Camp Notes," 



THE AMERICA N-CA NADIAN MATCH. 



THE American victory over the C:anadian team at 

 Creedmoor, last Saturday, was not an unexpected 

 event to either of the two teams. The visitors hoped 

 rather than anticipated a victory, and that they had 

 really made intelligent preparation is evident in the av- 

 erages of C" G leached by them. la the long series of in- 

 ternational matches there has never been one with less 

 preliminary pother. It was a quiet, simply conducted 

 display of fine shooting, such as American rifles and 

 American riflemen are capable of making every day. Of 

 course all this excellence, which seems to be so easily 

 accomi)lished, really means a vast deal of preparation. 

 To take a glance at the flags which flutter about on the 

 staffs, judge from their motion the force and diiectionof 

 the wind whicli is affecting them, and then express that 

 force in turns of the vernier sight and windage screws, 

 seems to be a very easy performance : but the ability to 

 do so was only won by the gentlemen at Creedmoor last 

 Saturday by days and weeks of practice on the ground 

 Thousands of bullets were sent spinning down the range, 

 the performance of each carefuUy noted, and then, from 

 these data, the rules drawn, the conclusions reached, 

 which enabled such good results on Saturday last. 



The match was a novelty in being without a referee. 

 Each team intended to do its best fairly and honestly, 

 and expected the other to do the same, and with this 

 spirit prevailing an officer of supervision was a mere 

 superfluity. 



The Canadians went home with that measure of satis- 

 faction which comes of a good deed gallantly performed. 

 They had missed success, but they had deserved it, and, 

 were the conditions of the Elcho Shield contests such as 

 to admit a Canadian team, that trophy would no doubt 

 soon take a transatlantic trip. They go back to the Do- 

 minion with the right, well earned, of being considered 

 worthy antagonists of the Creedmoor shooters, and 

 richly deserve the courtesy of a return match on their 

 own grounds next year with their foes of last Saturday. 

 It certainly does begin to look as though the prestige of 

 American victory, which has now been held for six'y ears, 

 was to be broken by a Canadian team. They have that 

 pluck which carries them through one defeat on to the 

 next charge, and almost equal our friends the Irish 

 marksmen for the vigor and determitiation of their bids 

 for championship over the Americans. 



The scores are worth study. On the Canadian side it 

 will be seen that the shooting is well bunched, and that 

 but a half dozen points separate the highest and lowest 

 scores. On the American side the work is more strag- 

 gling, but still there is no extensive gap seen. The 

 marksmen there are not jilaced as one would suppose 

 from their previous practice, but the secret is told in the 

 report of the match, which attributes the lugh position of 

 Mr. Waters to his implicit reliance on the judgment of 

 his coach. Of course that gentleman is capable of mak- 

 ing a creditable showing in individual shooting, but 

 there is a certain clement of strength in the advice and 

 counsel of a good coach, and this was added in this case, 

 giving the first place in the match. The valuable coach 

 sits at tiie scene of action, and becojnes, as it were, the 

 reservoir of the experience of each shot, and from this 

 fund of information properly digested the next member 

 of the squad may draw. If he fails to do so, it is to his 

 loss, and in the team of the future, when even more than 

 now victory may depend on a single shot and its result, 

 the office of the coach will be magnified, and the value 

 of an efficient assistant in that position be duly recog- 

 nized. 



Thp. Wimblkuun ^UKIiIN« Scandal.— The develop- 

 ments at the late meeting of the British N. R. A., toticli- 

 ing false marking, should be rarefuUy conned by the 

 managers of our Creedmoor meetings. It is the simplest 

 tiling in the world to secure a perfect system of checks 

 in the sig..alling of shots, while, at the same time, the 

 marking could be prontpt as now, with the record as 

 effective in all respects. The target of to-day is far 

 from being sensible in theorj' or practice, and there is an 

 ojjportunity for some clever inventor to bring into exist- 

 ence the target of the future, which shall tell each rifle- 

 man instantly on the deliver}^ of his shot precisely where 

 it has struck and its value in a system perhaps less arbi- 

 trary than the present, and more discriminating without 

 becoming more clumsy. It is not an inviting commen- 

 tary upon the standing of the troop of the British Army 

 to see them stooping to the taking of bribes in the 

 fashion hinted at, and the very safe inference that 1880 

 has not seen the opening of the deceitful system only 

 makes the scandal the greater, as it seems to throw 

 doubt upon the performances of former years. There 

 is need of more exactness when records are making on 

 the rifle field, and some of the clubs over the country 

 are far from paying much attention to form and order in 

 the making up of scores. So derelict are some that 

 then- reports of practice bear strong traces of the amenda- 

 tory pencil at the shooting stand. 



. mi * • mm 



Delawaee Game PfiOTECTiJN.— The heads of 1,769 

 hawks were returned to the Somerset Commissioners, at 

 a cost to the county of $884,150. 



THE ANTHRACITE'S FAILURE. 



THE most successful case of misrepresentation 

 through the innocent instrumentality of the press 

 which has ever come under our notice is that of the re- 

 puted economy in consumption of fuel of the Perkins 

 system, or rather his adaptation of the pipe boiler and his 

 special engine. It seems high time that the pubUo were 

 set right in this matter before they are wheedled into 

 taking stock or investing in any " rights " for American 

 territory. 



Everybody reads FoKEST ASD Stkeam. Major Deane, 

 the secretary and agent of the Perkins Steam Engine 

 Company, reads it, and the company itself anxiously 

 looks for its aiTival every week. After waiting pa- 

 tiently for an explanation from Major Deane relative to 

 his astonishing want of famiUarity with engineering as 

 displayed in a letter of his to a reputable manufacturing 

 concern recently, the JIajor cannot blame us for assum- 

 ing him to be altogether a novice in such matters, and 

 therefore incapable of exjilaining away the serious blim- 

 der which has gone on record against him. We did not 

 insist upon an answer appearing in this journal, and 

 would have been perfectly satisfied had he seen fit to ad- 

 dress his communication to any other publication, bar- 

 ring, of couisf, sundry infiuite.ssimal sheets which are 

 not generally recognized as fit mediums through which 

 to discuss such important questions as the economy of 

 fuel consumption. But the Major has remained silent, 

 and it will now be our turn to speak and to place before 

 the public some very tmpalatahle facts concerning the 

 very pecuUar management of the Perkins monomania in 

 America. 



From the departure of the Anthracite from England 

 up to date, her affairs have been conducted in a manner at 

 once ludicrous and wide of the truth, whether known or 

 unknown to the persons in charge. Ludicrous, because 

 the Perkins Engine Company seems to have regarded 

 the American people and their engineers as so many 

 Zulus, cai)able of being readily reduced to the desired 

 state of gullibility by the romancing of pei-»ons entirely 

 unfit to speak intelligenth" upon the subject of her mis- 

 sion, leaving the source of information in no better 

 hands than those of a hired fireman and a garrulous old 

 Scotch engine driver. Wide of the truth, because 

 Major Deane has exhibited photographs of yachts and 

 ferryboats as examples of vessels using the Perkins ar- 

 rangement, whi n every engineer in America is aware of 

 the fact that both engines and boilers of those vessels 

 have long ago been discarded and consigned to the scrap 

 heap and spherical boilers with the usual type of com- 

 pounds substituted. And further, wide of the truth be- 

 cause Major Deane has gravely expressed his confidence 

 in some trials recently made at the Brooklyn Nasiy Yai-d, 

 " because thorough experiments had been carried out on 

 her in England with the result claimed of one horse 

 power per hour per pound of coal burnt." And yet the 

 results of the English trial have only been figured up a 

 few weeks since, the accounts of the trial spread broad- 

 cast over here being purely assumptions, which the re- 

 port to hand does not bear out, which it in fact directly 

 disproves. 



The vainglorious assertion about " creating a revolu-* 

 tion in engineering " is clap-trap pure and simple, for, as 

 we will show, the boiler and engine of the Anthracite 

 turn out to be not a whit more economical than the prac- 

 tice noted aboard any first-class ocean steamer wl en Uied 

 under equally favorable conditions. We do not wish to 

 convey the idea that Major Deane wilfully circulated 

 what he did not believe himself ; there is no reason what- 

 ever to question his perfect good faith, but we hold that 

 he has fallen a victim to the windy tales of those about 

 him. The fact remams that these stories were allowed 

 to pass into print, and that the press has become the in- 

 nocent means of disseminating misleading news through 

 the failure of the Perkins Company or its agents to 

 contradict what some of them must know to be false and 

 an imposition. The whole thing smacks strongly of an 

 advertising dodge, and shows that it is still an easy mat- 

 ter to gull the lay press, providing the romancing be 

 brazen enough to partake of the sensational. In view of 

 the facts herein contained, many esteemed but too gush 

 ing contemporaries will have some trouble ui '-craw- 

 fishing out o' de hole," and " crow " ought to be their 

 prevafimg food until the visit of the Anthracite shall 

 have been forgotten, and her hideous outline faded from 

 public memory. 



The Perkins Company niade a grave mistake m send- 

 ing out persons in its interests who are not engineer.^, and 

 those persons made another grave mistake in seeking 

 counsel and championship at the hands of ignorant incli- 

 viduals whose names are born on prison books, in place 

 of directing themselves to sources more reputable and 

 more capable. The Perkins boiler wiU never be adopted 

 in America : it wUl not even be introduced ; it is not 

 worth it. As for the Perkins engine, we cannot bring 

 ourselves to speak of it in serious language. 



Concerning the recent trial at the Brooklyn Navy 

 Yard, the wordy versions of success are empty of facts, 

 and have no otliei- foundation than a reporter's im- 

 aginative brain. Nothing has yet been determined, only 



