434 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 1, 1880. 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 



'Devoted to Field and Aquatic Spohts, Practical Natural 



History. Fish Culture, the Piiotectjun ofG jjie, Prehkuva- 

 tion of Forests, and the I NCULCATION in Men and Women of 

 A Hkalthv Interest in Out-Door Keureation and Study i 



PUBLISHED BY 



FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANi. 



NOS. 39 AND 40 PAKK HOW (TIMES BTJILDIKG), NEW TORK 



[Post OrracB Box 8838.1 



^ 



TEKMS.FOCBDOLLABS A YEAH, STBJOTLT IHADTAHCB. 



Advertising Rates. 



, InBide pages, nonparlel type. 25 cents per line ? ontelde page, 40 

 cents. Special three, six aud twelve monthB. Notleesln 



editorial column, 50 cents per line— eight words to the line.and 

 twelve lines to one inch. 

 Advertisements should bo sent In by Saturdayof each week,K 



Ail transient advertisements must be accompanied with the 



monev orthev will not be inserted. 



No advertisement or business notice of an Immoral character 

 •Will be received on any terms. 



•••An vpubl isbe r i dm- r i i u •:: our prospectus as above one time, with 

 brief editorial -ioi ice eii.Iinsf ;itiei:l ion thereto.aad sending marked 

 copy to us, will receii i the Forest axd Stream lor one year. 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1880. 



TO Correspondents. 



All communications whatever, Intended for publication, must 

 he liecorupam'ed with real name of the writsr as a guaranty of 

 jrood faith, and be addressed to Forest and Stream Publishing 

 Company. Names will not he published if objection be made. 

 Anonymous communications will not be rejrarded- 



We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 



Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us with 

 brief noteiol (lirir movements and transactions. 



Not.hlnir will bo admitted to any department of the paper that 

 may not bo read with propriety in the home circle. 



We cannot be responsible for dereliction of mail service If 

 money remitted to us is lost. 



\2tT Trade supplied by American News Company. 



Advertisements.— All advertisements slwuld reach us 

 on or before Tuesday morning of each week. An ob- 

 servance of this rule mil insure satisfaction to all con- 

 cerned. 



THE VICTORY IN IRELAND. 



THE rifle match between the American and Irish 

 Rifle teams at Dollymount, on Tuesday last, added 

 another to the series of American victories, and the list 

 remains unbroken. For some weeks past the brilliant 

 shooting of the Irish riflemen has been a source of 

 much discomfort and some apprehension to many on 

 this side the water. The shooting of the Irish riflemen- 

 ■when the match came off was far in advance of anything 

 shown in their practice ; but on the American side the 

 figures are almost beyond belief, so superior are they to 

 anything now on record in long range shooting. The 

 day, in its climatic conditions, was of course very well 

 adapted to the making of fine scores. The Irishmen did 

 not get the boisterous, rattling, stormy weather to which 

 they are accustomed, nor did the American team get the 

 hot, dry day in which they would have been at an ad- 

 vantage, since they could the better endure such a con- 

 dition. There was a medium day, with an overcast sky. 

 The wind does not appear to have been very difficult to 

 manage, and altogether it seems that tho dozen men, who 

 had schooled themselves to grasp success under any and 

 all conditions of adverse witnl and light, found themselves 

 finally brought to the. test una day to their own liking. 

 Nothing then remained to them, with the fine day before 

 them, than to pile up the bullseyes until, when reduced 

 to plain language, it seems almost fabulous to say that 

 such averages as 315J- and 213J were made ; that no less 

 than five perfect range totals are in the scores, and that 

 but a single miss and a single outer mar the record of 540 

 shots fired. The match will form a bright spot in the 

 annals of rifle shooting, and the series of Irish-American 

 matches seem destined to live on by the very momentum 

 of their brilliancy. 



The match result may be a sore disappointment to the 

 Irish rifle maker, who for four years past has been busy 

 at work in the preparation of his breech-loading match 

 rifle. The old muzzle-loaders had been abandoned, since 

 after repeated trials they were found incompetent to cope 

 with the match rifle in its breech-loading form, as we 

 have it here in America. Mr. Rigby, to be sure, has 

 failed to secure a victory by his new rifle for his home 

 team, but he has succeeded in making for the credit of 

 Jreland a raatoh record , second to nothing ever before 



shown by any team of British shooters. The match was 

 singularly lucky in being such a close one at such high 

 figures. On tho whole, the victorious riflemen were so 

 nearly beaten as to moderate any extra jubilancy, while 

 the beaten riflemen were so nearly victorious that there 

 should not be a shade Of shame in their disappointment. 



There was much to criticise in the manner of the selec- 

 tion, and on the principal that success justifies the means 

 for its accomplishment it might be proper to keep silence 

 on that topic now. In time it may be of interest to know 

 the facts in the case, and the Fokest and Stekam has 

 accordingly put on record in its columns not only the 

 manner of selection, but its opinion of the mode. There 

 are many details of tho match of which the notes sent 

 by cable, and from which our account of the match is 

 written, fail to inform us. It is not at all unlikely that 

 with closer pushing the American team might have done 

 even better — possibly have turned the 1,300 point — but 

 there was no defection in the line. The team displayed 

 that best sign of a well organized body — shooting in a 

 bunch. With an area of differences of but six points in 

 a team of six men, the American squad may be regarded 

 as showing no stragglers. There were no laggards in the 

 party. In the Irish team there are but eight points of 

 difference ; and it is a curious fact in connection with 

 the match that John Rigby, the Nestor of rifle practice 

 in Ireland, should have had the lowest score in the whole 

 dozen experts at work. 



It is hardly fair to say yet that the inferiority of the 

 new Rigby breech-loader is established. It may bo that 

 the gentlemen of the home team at Dollymount have not 

 yet learned all the fine points of their weapons. They 

 certainly secured the finest sort of work from them, and 

 we must confess that the experienced John Rigby, with 

 the lesson of the American breech-loader before him, has 

 met the problem of a first-class long range rifle success. 

 The real truth is that for a dozen years — from 1863, when 

 the Elcho Shield matches were established — British shoot- 

 ers generally were content with a very wide margi 

 of misses. It was expected that a certain number 

 of the shots fired were to go wild of the target. It 

 was the American rifleman who first seriously made the 

 "highest possible" his goal, and toward it he has at last 

 succeeded in pushing the riflemen of Great Britain ; those 

 of Ireland being the more ready to learn the lessons 

 which Americans had to teach. Again and again the 

 aged pupil has tried to surpass the youthful instructor, 

 but success lias thus far leaned only in one direction, and 

 the naturally buoyant spirit of the Irishmen will no 

 doubt sustain them now, and urge them to be "up and at 

 'em again." It is to be hoped that they will soon give 

 Creedmoor another visit ; and while we may not promise 

 them such a day as the 29th, they may perchance happen 

 upon the Irish day they are so long expecting, and beat 

 us on our own range. 



The high character of the scores brings up a question 

 which has often been dis< Missed— viz., tho advisability of 

 so modifying the means of discrimination of excellence 

 that finer differences of merit may be discovered. Per- 

 haps this may be met by a lengthening of the distance 

 fired over, or perhaps the carton 3ystem may be adopted. 

 When there are so many bullseyes made in a match it 

 becomes a fair matter of inquiry whether some way of 

 deter m ining the relative value of bullseyes is not in order. 



Walnut Hill, Bennings and Creedmoor have put for- 

 ward admirable champions, who could after a two weeks' 

 siege of Irish hospitality pile up such scores as are found 

 in our rifle columns. It is not likely that a stronger Irish 

 team than the present will ever be pitted against the 

 Americans. The Irishmen have improved wonderfully, 

 and it speaks volumes for their merit when out of the 370 

 shots fired by her champions not one will be found in the 

 outers of the target. 



Col. Bodine may now return home to the warm wel- 

 come which he is sure to get. He has shown himself to 

 be the "Old Reliable" in meeting the best team ever or- 

 ganized against American riflemen and seeing them one 

 dozen better in the way of scoring. 



Apart from all shooting interest in the match, it has a 

 special importance as a means of making two great peo- 

 ples better acquainted with each other. The Irish people 

 are proud to welcome a really American body of citizens, 

 under whatever pretext they may visit the old country ; 

 and if the match has no other significance it at least 

 opens a broad current of friendship and good will. 



THE FLY-CASTING TOURNAMENTS. 



Otra Rifle Supplement.— In addition to the exhaust- 

 ive account of the Irish-American match, published in 

 our Rifle columns to-day, we furnish our readers with an 

 illustrated supplement, showing the exact position of 

 each shot fired by the two teams at the 800, 900 and 1,000 

 yards ranges. For these diagrams we are indebted to the 

 courtesy of the New York Herald, which, with nsual 

 enterprise, displayed on its bulletin board each stage of 

 the shooting, while the match was still in progress, and 

 on the following morning published full scroes with the 



Much interest in the match was manifested in this city. 

 Great throngs were gathered before the bulletins in the 

 afternoon, and even delayed going home until they had 

 a copy Of the Telegram with its target Illustrations, 



IN our Sea and River columns to-day we publish 

 a communication calling attention to the lack of 

 interest manifested in the fly-casting tournaments at 

 the New York State Convention, and to the insufficient 

 provisions made for the trials. The writer expresses 

 what has long been in the minds of the anglers of the 

 State, and now that the subject is Started, we trust 

 that it may be taken up in earnest. 



Angling is, par excellence, the solitary recreation of 

 contemplative minds, and the Lone Fisherman is, 

 by general acceptance, the type of the craft. But that 

 is hardly a sufficient reason why the competitors at our 

 annual fly-casting tournaments should be so limited in 

 number and so severely let alone by the other dele- 

 gates present. The truth is that this part of the week's 

 programme has been given too much the character of 

 a side show, the success or failure of which had no 

 appreciable effect upon the eclat of the occasion. 



An examination of the records of the convention for 

 the years 1873 to 1880, as contained in the Forest and 

 Stream, shows that the numbers of competitors in the 

 fly-casting tournaments have always been meager, rang- 

 ing from six to ten, and never exceeding a dozen. This 

 representation is in striking disproportion to the num- 

 ber of skilled fly-fishermen in the State, and to the 

 claims of the delicate acomplishment itself. The day 

 of small beginnings, which was not to be despised, has 

 never given place to the greater things which should 

 follow. 



This is manifestly wrong ; it is putting the art of cast- 

 ing the fly on a plane decidedly below its merits. 



We shall not attempt to point but where all the 

 blame rests, for of that we are not fully convinced our- 

 selves; but it is enough now to suggest that the rem- 

 edy lies with the anglers themselves, and to designate 

 one or two changes which are of imperative impor- 

 tance. 



For the past ten years it has been generally under- 

 stood that the first prize in fly-casting would, as a mat- 

 ter of course, go to one of two men, who, year after 

 year, divided the annually dwindling honor between 

 them. The first thing to be done, then, is either to bar 

 out from the competition those men who have had 

 things all their own way for so long, or else to provide 

 another competition where less expert anglers shall have 

 some chance of winning a prize. True, neither Mr. Seth 

 Green nor Mr. Reuben Wood entered the lists this year, 

 and it may, therefore, be objected that the drawback we 

 have mentioned did not exist at Seneca Falls, and the 

 field was open to all. But the interested public had hail 

 no assurance that Messrs. Green and Wood were not to 

 compete ; nor has it any assurance that they will not 

 compete next year. Until it is understood that a compe- 

 tition in fly-casting does not imply a competition with 

 these experts the trials will be sparsely attended, and 

 will excite little interest. The Seneca Gun Club, who 

 had in charge the arrangements for the last convention, 

 conscious of this trouble, sought to obviate it by adopt- 

 ing the course we have suggested ; but at least one of 

 these experts very naturally retorted that the club was 

 overstepping the bounds of its authority. We trust that 

 those who do have the authority will consider the subject, 

 and by taking early action insure a greater success in 

 1881 than in years past. 



Mr. Seth Green and Mr. Reuben Wood have fairly 

 earned a position outside of the ordinary fly-casters. 

 Their skill and deftness are acknowledged, and they may 

 safely rest on their laurels. Should they voluntarily offer 

 to withdraw from the regular yearly competitions, aud 

 instead give an exhibition of their art for the entertain- 

 ment and benefit of the younger anglers, the action 

 would be at once appreciated as graceful and becoming. 

 An expression of this kind from them in the Forest and 

 Stream would have a vaBt deal of influence in determin- 

 ing the success of the anglers' tournament on Long Is- 

 land next year. 



The second thing required is that fly-fishermenthrough- 

 out the State should manifest their interest in this mat- 

 ter, and so elevate the importance of these contests. 

 When their charms are suitably presented, they will be 

 acceded to and provided for. Then, prizes which legiti- 

 mately belong to the successful competitors with the rod 

 will not be given for excellence in other branches of 

 sport ; nor will the fly-casting be ignored and slighted. 



— After a brief and fitful existence amid the beautiful 

 surroundings of Springfield, Mass., our late esteemed 

 contemporary, Out-Door Sports, has succumbed to the 

 inevitable and gone over to the majority. The general 

 complaint was too much localism, which led to inanition, 

 the immediate cause of the untimely taking off- In 

 short, the field chosen by our friend was so utterly devoid 

 of the nutritive herbage necessary to newspaper subsist- 

 ence that the melancholy event we now chronicle was a 

 foregone conclusion. We tender to those who watched 

 over Out-Door Sports, as well as to those who did or did 

 not support it with their subscriptions, substantial conso 

 jitlon at the rate of $4 per year, or f 3 for six month t, 



