THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN^S JOURNAL. 



rEntertsl Accorfllng- to Act of C»n?res3, la tUe year 1878, by tUe Forest and Stream Piibllalilrior Company, In tba Offlco ot the Librarian of Congi-ess, at;Wa.shIngton.j 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1880. 



CONTENTS. 

 EDrroBiAL ;— 

 Dittmar Aiticlea ; aunning Accidents ; The Engliah Chal- 

 lenge ; Antelope Hunting ; TUe Poor CLiildren's Clirisl- 

 mas J Errata ; A Handlei'a Protost ; How the Press Be- 



gards It 383 



The SvoETsaiAN Toubist -.-^ 

 Hints oil Antelope Huuting ; The Jamestown's ThaokBgiv- 



irig Proclaniatiou - 384 



Natcbai, Histoby :— 

 Oui- Waterfowl ; The Senses of Birds., 385 



FiBH CULTCKE :— 



striped Bass Wantfid ; Some Singular Salmon ; The Penn- 

 sylvania Commiasion ; Shad Hatching and Carp; Hntohing 

 Eggs ; Protect Spawning Lobsters ; Carp on the Table ; 



Mioiiigaa 385 



Sea akd Riteb Fisinso : — 



Eating Neglected Fi^hoa ; The Death ISrap in Shmnecock ; 

 Bauge of the Ontllsh ; Is It the Pole Flounder? Luljanus 



Blad-fordii 387 



TheMigraliouof Fifchea , 3»i 



Game Bao and Gun : — 



DiscuRsing the Game Law ; Our Philadelphia Letter ; Penn- 

 Bylvania Grouse Shooting ; Georgid Khootiug Eesorts ; 

 The Introduction ot Game Eirdb: He Will 5Iake an Affida- 

 ■rit; Wild Geeae at Silver Lake ; Southern Florida ; Weight 

 of Ruffed Grouse : They Know the Season ; Shooting 



Matches ; The Chase : Its" History and La wi. 387 



The Kehsel :— 

 Canine Opinions ; The Bnseinn ScttT ; Mv Experience with 

 Setters : A Handler'^ l''nt:i,t : A C!c?e Shave for Lincoln; 

 Xarceny of ftDoer ; TL '' I L a veracks : Acclaim 

 -tor Sen-ation ; Rei :", i ■ , _ ihVh Challf-nge : Good 

 Dog Stor^e^ ; Kenucj .,■!'- i ima.ats of Dashing Mon- 

 arch and Belle ; Kenuel uiaijageiuent; Current Dog Sto- 

 ries; What Is a Cocker ? 390 



The Bipx^ : — 



Bange and Gallery 396 



Yaohtino AJiD Canoeino :— 



Single Handed Canodug ; Mcasm-ement ; Yachting News. . . 396 

 Answehs to Cobeespondents • 398 



PuULIBnERs' DEPAiltMENT 398 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1880. 



*,* The Forest and Stream yoM to prem Wedmsdayf. 

 Oorrespondenfy are regiimted to mail Omr ■.; • tnvnicatiotu w 

 that they may rcwHi ua before tlmt day. 



— Thin is an exm^eiit Ume to <mR IJk aUcntMn of yonrfriends 

 to tU meriU of the Fohest axd Stream, lie nluiU be licCppy 

 to supply speciimn copies of the paper to any culdre-^m which 

 may be sent usfoi- tlial purpose. 



ThbCentkal Fisn CtiLTirBAi. Society. —Sir. Fred Mather, 

 of the FoBEST ASD Stbeam, is now in Chicago, at the second 

 annual meeting of the Central Fish Cultu]-al Association, a 

 report of which will be given in our next issue. 



We have on hand another liatch of letters respecting the 

 relations between fanners and sportsmen ; and we regret 

 that these are crowded out of our present number. They 

 will be published next week. 



The following aiticles have been repriuted together in 

 pamphlet form from our issues of September 23, September 

 80, October 7, and Derr'nil)er 9, and will be furnished to the 

 readers of this jouriKil upon appliuution : 



"The 'Dittmar Sponing Powdfr.' " 



" Evading Detonation." 



■ ■ The Detonation of ' Dittmar Sporting Powder. ' " 



"The Dittinars' Abracadabra." 



Thbbb have been nmnerous reports of hunting accidents 

 ihia fall. The New York Sun, with its ilsual diligence, has 

 collected and published at frequent intervals the acoouutF. of 

 dire calamities in the field. Of the men killed !)>' shot-gun 

 accidents the majority belong to that class who will persist in 

 drawing their loaded guns muzzle-foremost after them through 

 fences, into wagons and out of boats. It is esireniely seldom, 

 indeed, that an accident is reported to have occuired from any 

 other cause than recklessness and carelessness. Common 

 sense would seem to suggest that a loaded gun should not be 

 pointed at the handler himself nor at his companions ; but 

 simple as it is, and easy of observance, it is a rule which is 

 constantly forgotten, and the neglect of which is repeatedly 

 futal. 



THE ENGLISH CHALLENGE. 



THE note from the chaimiau of the Council of the Nation- 

 al Rifle Association of Great Britain, which we publish 

 in another column, gives to our American managers a chance 

 which they should not neglect. Here is an apporlunity to 

 start afresh, free from the many entangling alliances and 

 i;onfusion8 which surround our ill-starred Palma, and to 

 wijie out that wretched Hyde affair of last summer. If prop- 

 erly conducted, this proposed contest could mark the be- 

 ginning of a new lease of life for oiu- moribund American 

 Association and give American riflemen a chance to draw to- 

 gether and score another signal victor}'. We need some.com- 

 mon object in view to invite the somewhat scattered energies 

 of our marksmen. There is too much tendency on the part 

 of Walnut Hill to pull away from Creedmoor, of Brinton 

 and Stockton to -go it alone,' and so on of all the ranges 

 the couutr)' over. This challenge, couched in the form of an 

 invitation, means that the British rifle-makers.at last consider 

 themselves proyi<led with arras fit to cope with those of 

 American manufacture, and the manufacturers of this side 

 the ocean should he ready to show at once that the suprem- 

 acy of our small arm output can yet be maintained. This 

 challenge is the first direct communication between the 

 older N. R. A. and its j'ounger rival. There have been 

 explanations, corrections, etc., before with a long string 

 of misunderstandings which it would be tedious now 

 to go into. Putting all this by-gone matter aside and 

 guarding specially against any cropping up at the present 

 time of these old time wrangles, a discreet management on 

 both sides may now lead to a match wliich shall be truly rep- 

 resentative in character. Ample time intervenes between 

 now and the date fixed for the match for the completion of 

 all details. We have had an experience in the past to teach 

 us what to .avoid in a dozen particulars. The manner of team 

 selection and composition, the vexing question of the cap- 

 taincy, the ways and means and the proper status of the 

 match may all be fixed long enough iu advance to make the 

 actual work on the range and at the match ver3' simple. We 

 might be captious and insist that as an American team had 

 won the Palma, and thai made its conditions as an inter- 

 national championship emblem the British team are bomid to 

 make the match on this side the water. We say all this might 

 be insisted upon, to the fomenting of a very pretty battle on 

 paper and the setting back of rifle shooting in this country to 

 a seriotis extent. Let the Palma remain under its present 

 condition, but let this note from Earl Stanhope inaugurate a 

 new match to be fought at convenient intervals between the 

 picked teams of the two JTational Rifle A.ssociat!ons. 



THE POOR CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS. 



THERE is no charity which appeals more strongly to the 

 heart of the average man than one which helps the 

 little ones, and no charity does better work than the one 

 whose appeal we publish below. So much good can be done 

 by what will appear to many of our readers a very little 

 money that we feel sure that the Children's Aid Society's re- 

 quest for help will not pass nltogether unheeded. 



Sportsmen are proverbiallj'- kind of heart and free of hand, 

 and we believe that at this season, when the nature of every 

 man is a little softened and when kindly thoughts are felt 

 and good wishes exchanged by the fraternitj' Ihroughout the 

 land, there will not be lacking men who will gladly respond 

 to such a solicitation as the following 



CnmSTMAS APPEAL TOE POOR OHILDKEN': 



The bitter cold and snow-storms of winter coming on so 

 early will remind the kind-hearted of the thousands of little 

 children in New York who are homeless and friendless, with- 

 out shelter from the biting storm and frost, half-clail and 

 barefooted, and sleeping often in boxes, cellars or attics, 

 growing up thus for misery and crime. They reach out; 

 hands of silent appeal to the many in this coiantry whom 

 Providence has blessed, and ask for aid and sympathy. 



Who will help the Children's Aid Society to make Christ- 

 mas happier to these unfortunate Utile ones? The best 

 Christmas gift is a home. 



Fiftj'- dollars will send three homeless children to homes iiv 

 the country. One htmdred dollars will put sh"es on seventy- 

 five barefooted little boys or girls. One himdred dollars will 

 give 120 hungry children a hot meal for a month. 



Sm-ely those who have homes and friends and every com- 

 fort will enjoy Christmas better for feeling that tliey have 

 made it happier to the homeless and friendless orphan. 



C. L. Brace. 



Secretary Children's Aid Society, 19 East 4th st. N. Y. 



Gifts of clothing and provisiosis may be sent lo the Central 

 Office, 19 East Fourth Street, New York, or will be called 

 for, if the address be forwarded. 



Donations of money may be inclosed to either of the un- 

 dereigued. If they are in checks or post-oflice orders I hey 

 can be made payable to the order of George S. Coe, Treasurer. 

 Wm. A. Booth, President, Third National Bank, 30 Nassau 

 street; George S. Coe, Treasurer, American Exchange 

 National Bank, 138 Bioadway ; 0. L. Brace, Secretary, 19 

 East Fourth street, New York. 



Ajiteiope HdSting. — The letter which we print this week 

 from the pen of "Tirador," is by all odds the very best con- 

 tribution to the literature of this branch of hmiting that we 

 have ever read. While we do not entirely agree with the 

 writer on all the points he gives, we still feel that his article 

 furnishes a great amount of most useful and practical infor- 

 mation. In a few words he gives one of the most important 

 'iirections for success in hunting the antelope. '^ Bon^t he 

 ill a hurry," he says, and the man who hears this in mind 

 will get many more shots, and much better ones, than he 

 who is eager to shoot at his gatne the moment he sees it. 



In the early days of our antelope hunting we have too 

 often crawled up to the top of a hill, firedatthe first antelope 

 that appeared in sight, and then seen the rest of the band 

 jurapup almost at our feet and galloj] away over the hills 

 followed by a few wild and iuetfectual shots. Take time, 

 therefore, and locate yom game well before you shoot at it. 

 We have always used and prefer a double-barrelled field 

 glass ;tbout the size of an opera glass rather than an extensi- 

 ble spy-glass, such as is recommended by "Tirador;" butthis, 

 after all, is much a matter of habit. A man uses best what 

 he is most accustomed to. 



Errata.— Iu our last issue, eighth line of article "The 

 Dittmars' Abracadabra," for " our compound " read " their 

 compound" In second column, last line but one of quota- 

 tion from Dittmars, for "eflfect" read " affect." Page 364, 

 first column, thirteenth line from bottom, for "manufacture" 

 read "manufacturer"; three line^ below, for "manufac- 

 tures" read "manufacturers." 



These were manifest typographical blunders, comi^aralively 

 trivial and unimportant beside the gross perversions of truth, 

 of which, as we showed last week, the Dittmur Powder 

 ^Manufacturing Company, No. 2, have been guilt)-. 



A Handler's Protest.— The communication published ir> 

 another column from the hmdler of Nat and Smut at the re- 

 cent field trials meeting speaks for itself. We have no desire 

 or intention to go into the merits of the case, nor to comment 

 on the results of the trials further than we have already done 

 in the very full report published in our issue of last week. 



That report was written without fear or favor and events, 

 were recorded as we saw them. From that report our readers 

 (an draw their own conclusions. 



We have more than once in these columns expressed our 

 appreciation of the difficulty of a judge's position at all dog 

 shows, whether on the bench or in the field, and we desLi-e 

 now to record our thorough belief in each and every one of 

 the gentlemen who occupied this position at Robin's Island. 



There is not, nor can there be, the slightest possible doubt 

 that each one of the judges desired most ardently to see the 

 best dog win, and whether or not these gentlemen saw things 

 differently from the handlers, reporters or spectators, there 

 !s no doubt that they gave the decisions which seemed to 

 them proper. Every one who entered a dog knew, before the 

 running, who the judges were and every one laiew furthe-r 

 that their decisions would be final, and while there can be no 

 harm, now that it i.s all over, in discuspnig the results of I lie 



Oliver Fisher Wwohester, the founder and President of 

 the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, died at the ripe 

 age of seventy years at his residence at New Haven, Conn., 

 last Friday, December 10. His career was one of small be- 

 ginnings and proud achievements; his life-work well rounded 



and complete. An extended sketch of Mr. Winchester's life meeting, this should be done in a temperate way and with 

 vriU appear in our next issue. \ due respect for the honest convictioDB of others. 



