250 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[October 28, 1880. 



hcgan, • the terminus of the Maine Central R. R. Stages 

 evt-ry day Lo Tlie Forks. Stngo fare, .■?3 from Skowbegan to 

 The Forks. l:;.\po!iiie.':. ;■-. :.,'i.i i.. ■ -t iimte. The tirst time 1 



wt'iU .iti.-^,ln 



ilUe 



I I 1 



ys, unci iri}' expenses 

 r J3unk " mid party 

 had better t:dve the iiiosi oi ili.-ir ..miihlrs with iheii) ; pork, 

 etc., thev eiiii bin- in :\Jaiiie. Tlie law is on Jish now. 

 Thi-i-(- lire iileutv of trood ponds where a^aine i.s fpiile plentv 

 u|. liiis way. the liirilHM- :Mn- .„„■ Toes biiek from Carrara 



H-fl^ Ike beiM iV-i m-;. If -LowerBunk" 



and parly ei.inr ' , ,i ,. ;, map and show Ihern 



in live niiuutes |.i "'■ o!:n"- Oi camp out. 



E. M. G. 



LAST ECHOES OF DITTMAR SPORTIKG POWDER. 



8AOKBTT6 HaEBOK, N. Y. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



1 am glad you have exposed the Dittmar Powder Co. I 

 have used the powder two years but am done with it. 



E. A. P. 



OnicAso, Oct. 10. 

 Eif'tor Forest and Stream: 



I read yom- Dittmar powder expose atteiitively,iiuid I think 

 you have done the right tbiug in the right way. There is no 

 escaping your conclusions. M. D. E. 



St. Locis, Mo., Oct. 19. 



Cy yi,ur e./7»«, ui' tile •' Dittmar Powder " I coiiiidentlybe- 

 lie\e you bare saved many valuable lives, and if sportsmen 

 lieed the waruiug there ' will be a large credit due you in 

 future. ^ E." H. 



ITaetfoed, Conn., Oct. 28. 



Editor Fvrcut arid Stream : 



1 join liand.s with you on the raid on the Dittmar powder. 

 I alnio.si blew my sun lo pieces with a cartridgeof it one day, 

 and ttoew away the balauce of my canister. T. S. S. 



Philadelphia, Oct. 2;!, 

 Editor Fared anrf f<tmin : 



Thanks for youi- (iinely words of warning regarding the 

 treacherous Dittmar proMiir. A_ number of us were just going 

 to send over to Kew^ \m-\i tor a svipply to last us during o<rr 

 annual trip West. AVe, however, prefer to remain intact and 

 will order black powder instead. E. F. H. 



fFroiii the .springtii-lfl, Ala.-,?., .V.-h- !-:,i.ihn,.i Homcatmd.] 

 There is young blLiort at the head of the Fokest aud Stbeam 

 now. A lat.e stroke- ol enterprksc is a eoinplete fv^poge of the 

 ' alleged quality of the Dittmar powder. Mr. Curl Dittmar 

 donTitles.s iJjiiilis Ijy tbi.s lime that someone sit the Fokest asd 

 Stkeau oltice knows as much abotit his busines.s as he does 

 hunself, 



WiSKiPBG, Manitoba, Oct 10. 



Editor Forest and HtrKiiti : 



My e.vpericnce with Dittmar powder has been limited, but 

 quite euougli to satisfy any ordinary man. The only time T 

 ever used "it ,-ifter the hist discharge it was difficult to open 

 my gun -, the second time it was more difflcidt, and both the 

 heads of the shells (U. M. C.) were torn off. The thu-d time 

 it started the lireech of mj- gun, and this satisfied me that 

 cither I did nen know how to follow the instructions or there 

 was something wrong with tlic powder. I would not use the 

 infernal sluft'at any price. Fojid as I am of shooting I would 

 rather never fire a gun tigain than use Dittmar powd'er. 



0. H. 



iiosTOK, Mass . Oct. 22. 



, I loadul MVty blas^ shells atid 100 

 iih Dittmar powder Following instructions 

 th( powdci well confined I used a 

 un tbi tA\owada over the powder. After 

 1 1 lereuce to Dittmar powder I con- 

 sainc, and proceeded to withdraw the 

 charges from the shells. I found the powder caked together 

 so hard in the shells as to require digging out with some 

 sharp instrument. I desire to ascertam if there is any 

 danger of the powder exploding tmder these circumstances. 



Beppo. 

 No danger if you use ordinary care in drawing the loads^ 



PniLADBLPHiA, Miss., Oct IS, 1880. 

 Editor Forigt and Sl/rcaim : 



1 received the Sept. 33, Sept. 30 and Oct. 7 numbers of 

 FoKKST A>'u Stream the day before 3'esterday, and have been 

 so completely absorlied in your able and satisfactory expose 

 e>f the "Diilinar Sporting' Powder," so called, that I have 

 eciireely taken time to sleep. Unless this "stuff" called Ditt- 

 mar powder is like the cat that is reputed to have nine dis- 

 tinct lives it is certainly dead for all time to come. It is im- 

 possible for me to imagine anything that you could have done 

 -that would have brought every .sportsman so completely 

 tmdcr obligations to you as the course you have taken m this 

 matter. How I wish that I could have seen this exposition of 

 the Dittmar compound before I fired the charge that caused 

 the loss of my hand. It is certainly the greatest fraud aud 

 the most dangerous article that has ever been placed before 

 the ptihlic. No one can feel more grateful to you for the 

 part you have taken in this matter than myself. Although 

 your" exposition of Mr. Dittmar's explosive was too late to 

 prevent the almost entire loss of one of my hands (that I 

 would not have given for all the powder that 3Ir. Dittmar 

 cvei had, or ever will mauufactttre), it will show to those 

 sporrsnien who were disposed to censure me, that I was not 

 altogether wrong in reporting my " Disastrous E-vperience 

 Willi Dittmar Powder." If all who have had trouble with 

 this explosive had made a fair and faithful report of the cases 

 the whole thing would have been "squelched" long ago. 

 Yon have taken considerable trouble to get to the bottom of 

 the cause of these explosions with the Dittmar stufl', but when 

 you consider that many lives and lirobs d will say nothing of 

 valuable gmis) may be saved by it, you cannot doubt but that 

 your action will be highly appreciated by all who place any 

 value on their lives. S. P. Kash. 



It would undoubtedly have been to our immediate pecu- 

 niary advantage had we acceded to the demands of the Ditt- 

 mar manufacturers, and, instead of impartially investigating 

 tlie powder, been content with letting them cover up its ch^- 

 acter. B.it the Foeeb'j- anu Strbam is not prepared to evade, 

 at any sacrifice, its plain duty to itj) sutiscribers. 



Ed}ii., F-i, 



Sonii 1 \i 



oapti Ml lis 



Ml ,nid ht 

 iin-ailh" 

 wiih Di 



t.. bi\. 



It I lint, ^i.ii 



1 alticle 



fbid, d n-t 



t . Il-e s 



Black Powdet: Mixed with DmnAT..— Jersey Cilji, 



Oct. 1. — Editor Forest and Stream: I perceive that 

 Dittmar powder is coming into use to some extent in the 

 first barrel in pigeon matches, and with good results on ac- 

 count of little smoke. I have used it to some extent, dm Ihl' 

 the piasi, year, and found it p.leasant and .si-itisraetor<* to use. 

 but too slow in isuilion to siive as i;ood results in tlie field or 

 iit the tra|) as blaek powder. This difficulty, 1 think, is en^ 

 tirely oljviated by a mixture of say equal parts Ijlaek and 

 Dittmar to supply the .sulphur in black powder lo faeilitatF- 

 ignition throughout. It tnims full as clean as pure Dittmar, 

 gives only a moderate recoil, gives as good petietration a,' 

 any (better than the piu-e article), and materially reduces the- 

 volume of smoke. It is for those reasons that I use it in the 

 first barrel in all kinds of shooting, having been obliged tO' 

 give up the pure article for various reasons some time since. 

 1 have been told in a discussion of the subject that priming 

 the shell with say | or A dram of black powder, by putting 

 it in first under the Dittmar, will give a quicker burning 

 powder (as quick or quicker than black). I have tried it, 

 once or twice, l3ut am unable to say whether it is better or' 

 worse from my limited experiments with this. From mv 

 understanding of your exposition of the chemical action of' 

 explosives it w-oiild seem that this would increase tiie danger- 

 by pos-sible detonation, although the methodjjf ini\big the: 

 powder might be free from objection or this method of action 

 in explosion. Please give me the answer in the riitine dis- 

 cussion of the question in yotir paper, or otherwise y out- 

 views on the action and safety of the equal niixluve and the 

 possibilities also in case of imperfect mixing or uniformity oi 

 distribution of the different grains in the charge. 



" Subsokibek. 

 The mixture of black powder with the " Dittmar Sporting 

 Powder " quickens the explosion of the charge. Whether it, 

 increases or decreases the probability of detonation, which is, 

 always present when the nitro-ceUulose compound is em- 

 ployed, depends largely upon the way in which the twcf 

 powders are mixed. If the entire charge detonates the ex- 

 plosion would be more disastrou.t than the detonation of an 

 entire charge of Dittmar alone. To load first black and ilieif 

 Dittmar above it is, as you will understfuid from oiu' article 

 of Sept. 23, extremely hazardous. 



FIRST EXPERIENCES IN BATTERY SHOOTING. 



THE morning of the 20th of October, a day long aud 

 wistfully expected, broke cloudy, threatening raii% 

 and consequently, although we had expected to start at, some 

 unearthly hour before daylight, we did not get away before 

 six o'clock. For weeks previously our genial host and myself 

 had narrowed down our topics of conversation to hatinls, 

 stools, fenders, boxes, floats, etc., and when we got on the 

 ground I was very anxious to see the rig set out, my anxiety 

 being whetted by several and repeated detonations (Ditt- 

 mar !) from the West. As we went down the Baj' we drove 

 up an immense flock of ducks, I should think at least seven, 

 or eight thousand, and in what seemed a wonderfully short 

 time my battery was out, and all the decoys, 150 of them, on 

 the spot just vacated by the ducks. After .some alight 

 equilibrial difllcully I got into the box and la}^down. By the 

 way, «■« T.a mnn dir(\ that all the readers of Pokkbt asu' 

 Stbeam know all about batteries. 



And now came the critical 

 settled and peered cautiously o\' 

 it does crick one's neck to do it 

 direction I was not looking in, 

 about a thousand broadbills, s 

 right aud left, over my head, almost, into my face- I made 

 deliroiw gralj for the gun and did actually "manage lo knock 

 down two stragglers, but how I did it must forever remain a 

 mystery. So it went on pretty wT'll all day, the ducks .seemed 

 possessed to run up to the decoys aud get shot at,. 



With an innate modesty concerning my own achievements 

 I am rather bashful in staling my score. Suffice it to say that 

 I bagged somewhere near half a htmdred broadbills, redheads 

 and coots. Had an experienced grmner had my chance he 

 certainly would have got at least a couple of htmdred of 

 the sport-fiu'niBhing bipeds. 



In conclusion, as I can never keep a cake all to myself, I 

 would advise every lover of the gun, so he be not of pot- 

 hunting proclivities, tfl hie him hither, get in battery and 

 shoot, shoot, shoot till his shoulder aches. There are acres 

 of ducks here, and the new law for Shinnecock Bay, which 

 limits the gunning to three days in the week, will certainly 

 insure capital sport for all, and last, but not ieast, mine host 

 can take care of a man. Chalaoo. 



- I had just got nicely 



the edges of the box (liow 

 when all at once, from the 

 me whirr, whizz, clatter,, 

 front, some behind. 



ORANGE POWDER TKIAJ.. 



MiLBROOK, N. Y., Sept. 25, 1880. 

 Edit/tr Forest and Stream : 



The following is the result of an exhaustive trial of orange 

 powder, manufactured by Laflin & Rand, with Tatham's 

 chilled shot, conducted during the present week. The 

 weather was remarkably fine, just enough breexe blowing to 

 carry away the smoke. 



The targets were a counterpart of those which have been 

 used in other gun trials — viz., "a facing of 1^- inch pine, 30 

 inches in width and 40 inches high, on which was fastened by 

 .spring clamps the sheet of paper for recording the 30-inch 

 patterns. In the centre of each of these sheets was drawn 

 a life-size tracing of a duck or pigeon, for the purpose 

 of learning something of the probabilities of killing game 

 of such size at the various discharges. And in the report of 

 the trial the letter K is intended to indicate whether struck 

 in such a manner as would insure killing, or missed. With 

 small shot, including No. 6, the pigeon was used; with 

 larger shot, the duck, which in outline represented a red- 

 head. Through the centre of the facing was an aperture 7 

 by 9 inches, ua the direct rear of which was the test for re- 

 cording the striking force of the pellets, which consisted of a 

 rack slotted at intervals of J of an inch, in which slots were 

 placed sheets of straw-board of uniform texture and thick- 

 ness. At each discharge the number of sheets perforated by 

 any one pellet were carefully noted, and this constituted the 

 record of force for that particular shot." 



The re<3oil s-.-as n;i :;ijii ,1 Iiy a machine similar to that em- 

 ployed bv the L . - ''Uie two years ago. " The gun 

 was secin-ed h-, • ' 'ips, tightened by thumlxscrews, 

 to a hinged slid.-, ., .i,.: !, ,,-,: iree to move only in the line of 

 fire. To the breeeb oi ibe guu a leather strap extended on 

 cither side and was fastened by means of a double wedge, 

 wllich held a sobd i)ud firmly againsi the beel-plate. 'VXna 



leather strap took the chief strain of the recoil. Above the 

 gun aud fa.stened at one end to tlie liii"""l 'li''" -I'-'l at the 

 other to the frame work of theraacliii- jlaiue, 



on the scale of which, smeared with |.. : iicl ihe 



distanee to whieli the gun and slide V, 'I - - r lo- rhe 



force of the explosion," and when at rest :i .j.risiaiil strain of 

 si.xty pounds was kept on the balauee. When once in posi- 

 tion the gim could be loaded and fired as often »s required 

 without reinoval." 



The powder used was furnished by Laflin & Rand aud con- 

 sisted , of; Orange Rifle. FG, (iraiiL'C Duckintr No. 2 and 

 Orange Ducking No. 4. Tatham's chilled shot Nos. 3, 4, 6. 

 7, 8 and 9 was used. One of W. W. Grccncr'snew trap guna 

 10-bore, choked, and weighing 8J lbs., was tie weapon. 



0B.1KGE POWDEB. 



•20 shots, JO yards.— Summary ol averages. 

 Chaise Average. Force. K.K. RecolL 



R.B. L.B. H.B. I.B. II.B. VB. B-B. li.a 



Orange Blfle.FG.— !!<: drs. 



l}.f oz. No. 7 sliot 21T 224 IT ITJ, lO 10 S8 8T 



Orange Ducking No. 't. — 



4,1^ drams, IV oz. No T 



shot 224 287 J7Ji ITJS 10 10 90« 90 



Orange Ducking No. 4 -4^ 



-dramSjlKoz. No. Tshot.SSii 251 it isji lO to 69 Kta 

 Tatham's Chilled Shot. 

 20 shots, 40 yards.— Summary of averages. 

 Oi.iuLi- Till, Idng No. 2.— 



' rviOt..i 300 40O 10 11 10 to Ml 89 



!'■ ■•' • :■'■■- ' ^ oz. No. 8 



- 29(1 1W7 12 12 10 10 00 MX 



i-u-.-'.-clt. uu.-i;,- oz. No. T 



snot ....,,..235 MT liK 18V 10 to S9 ST 



Powder do.— i>^ oz. No. a -^ 't 



tii't ...las us 23 aa lO lO oi si*,- 



Powder do.— Ijf oz. No. 4 



shot.. lOS Ua 30 30 10 10 02 84 



Powder do.- 1J< oz. No. S 



shot 95 90 37 37,i«' 10 10 81 92 



I confined my tests to chilled shot, as its superiority over 



soft is now so universally ackuowdedged that any tests of soft 

 shot for publication would be utter nonsense. Two pink 

 edge wads over powder and one black edge on shot were used 

 throughout, and metal shells exclusively." 



In an after trial I verilied satisfaetordy that between two 

 perfectly straight cylindrical-bored guns of precisely the 

 same gauge, lliere is, and can be, no cWTcreuco as regards the 

 shooting. I have given this question a great deal of time and 

 close attention, and hope to give you at some near day a re- 

 port. 



I have also demonstrated to 1113^ satisfaction that Orange 

 powder has no equal, as regards strenglli and cleaiilitiess. I . 

 have experimented during tlic pa-si, sis momhs with nearly 

 every brand of Amerit^m powder, and would scud you a copy 

 of tiie details if it were not for occupying so much of your 

 valu.ible space. " W. .1- Stobt. 



THKOron the Maise Woe'os. — Mr. Thomas Sedgwick 

 Steele's canoe trips have now extended oyer an aggregated 

 distance of more than 600 miles. He has just returned to his 

 home in Hartford from a second tour tliruugh the Maine 

 woods. We clip from the HariJord Tirneis the following 

 brief account of the trip : 



The party this sea.con in addition to himself consisted of 

 Colonel Lytnan B. Gofl', of Pawtucket, K. L, Mr. Steele's 

 brother-in-la-vv, and three guides, one of the latter the must 

 celebrated Indian guide in the Maine re>,dons. The tourists 

 left the Kineo liouee, Jloosehead Lake, with three birch 

 canoes, September i;i, and reached Woodstock, New Bruns- 

 wick, (Jctobei 20, having paddled over fotu- hundred miles ' 

 through the vei-y lieart of ^Maine. 



Those who are familiar with Mr. Steele's work, "Cauoe 

 and Camera," whicli courains the large map two feet square, 

 can easily follow- this last trip throni,di the west l.iraneh of the 

 Penobscot to Chesuneook lake, and ilienee llirouijh the Um- 

 bazookus stream, and the recomited dilbciilties of Mud Pond 

 Carry toChamberiin Lake. At this point, last year, Mr. .Steele 

 turned south, exploring the mysteries and beauties of the 

 east branch of the Penobscot, but this season the piu-ty fol- 

 lowed a northerly course, through C'hanflierliii, Eagle and 

 Churchill lakes. Tiuning directly east tliey canoed 'through 

 Spider Lake, crossed Osgood Cai"ry to Echo and the Man- 

 sungim lakes, and following the windings (A the ^Mansmigim 

 River entered the Aroostook -(vaters. After passing the towns 

 of Masardisand Prcsque Isle, they lauded at, r'aribou, JVIaine, 

 where they took cars to Woodstock, New Brunswick, and 

 thence home. The hardest part of the trip T\'as experienced 

 through the swamps and over the moiinttuns Iving between 

 Churchill aud Echo lakes, which, althonsh onlv fifteen miles, 

 took the party over a we«k to accomplisli. The season has 

 been the driest Maine has experienced in years, and from first 

 to last the canoeing of the stream was "attended with great 

 difliculty. On reaching the head of the ^lansimgtui stream 

 the party were finally obliged to camp several days and build 

 "shoes" or sleds for the Uiree canoes. For over tbirty-flve 

 mile-s the canoes were dragged through theiied of tlie streams 

 before they reached sulflcient depth ijf water to float them, 

 making an unexpected delay in the toiu-. The first coldsiiap 

 of the season occurred September 24, while the tourists were 

 in camp on Churchill Lake, forming ice an inch in thickness 

 in their camp kettles and about the borders of the lake. 

 They captured thirteen otter, beaver and mink, bcfdtles 

 other game and fi.sh. The journey was double the length 

 of last year's, and the autumnal scenery was equally en- 

 chanting. The tourists made several important geocTaphical 

 discoveries along the trip, which will be of interest here- 

 after. 



Camless Handling op a Gun,— The English journals 

 report another lamentable accident from carelessness -with a 

 gun, the victim being a soldier of high standing and a V. C 



We consider it a duty to chronicle such accidents in order 

 to impress upon each reader the possibilities -which go -with 

 the habitual use of a gun. We can none of us be too carefu'J 

 The following from the London Tefscraph, bears directly on 

 this point r 



Another lamentable gim accident is recorded, causing the 

 death of a gallant soldier and wearer of the Victoria Cross, 

 Col. Hackett, late of the Royal Welsh Fusileers. A rabbit- 

 gun has destroyofl the valued csisfenoe of a man who was 

 present at the siege of Sebastopol, obtained the medal for the 

 assault on the Redan, served all tlrrourr], the Indian mutiny, 

 and won the badge for disiiiigmslied valor ;ii Lticknow, where 

 he rescued a wounded em-poral ol his own i-eg-iuieut, in spite 

 of a hcayj^ fire from the enemy The d.rceased officer had 

 been out rabbit-shooting, and in getting over a hedae appears 

 to have been cai-eless enough to drag his gnu ihrougli by the 

 barrel, whereupon the piece exploded, aud its contents lodged 



