[July 22, 1880. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



495 



thence to Trinidad, then turn about for America, You 

 see I have not yet done half my distance, though I have 

 Brushed more than half my work." 



The Velocity op Shot.— Prof. Alfred M. Mayor, of 

 the Stevens Institute, Iloboken, N. J., has been for some 

 time past engaged in an elaborate series of experi- 

 ments to determine the velocity of shot. The scene of 

 his experiments has been the deck of the famous "Ste- 

 vens B&tteryy" a man-of-war hulk which was never 

 launched, and which has been lying for twenty years 

 where she was first constructed. Prof. Mayer's experi- 

 ments consist, briefly, in determining the time, as 

 marked by the vibrations of the tuning fork, elapsing be- 

 tween the start of the shot and its striking the target, 

 the interval being noted by the opening and closing of an 

 electric circuit. To make the tests thorough and com- 

 plete, a number of shots have been fired with different 

 sized shot, different charges of powder, and at different 

 distances, aggregating several hundred discharges. It. 

 would take a man of Bogardus' build to stand all this 

 without flinching. Prof. Mayer deserves great credit 

 for his pluck in carrying through the difficult task. We 

 have not attempted to describe the experiments, he- 

 cause they are to form the subject-matter of a paper 

 to be read before the American Association of Science 

 at Boston, next month, an abstract of which the experi- 

 menter has kindly promised to furnish for the readers of 

 the Forest and Stream. It will be a valuable and im- 

 portant contribution to our knowledge of the Bubject. 

 We may add that Prof. Mayer is a practical sportsman, a 

 first-rate shot and a pleasant companion. 



How Does a Dog Scratch? — We are constantly re- 

 ceiving the best of evidence that the advertising columns 

 of Forest and Stream are very carefully read. Of course 

 our advertisers all know this ; they find it out in the reg- 

 ular way of plenty of returns for the notices they insert ; 

 hut we are sometimes informed of the fact in a curious 

 manner. For instance, among the cuts now in our 

 advertising columns is that which accompanies the notice 

 of " Cathery's Dog Soap." and represents a dog scratch- 

 ing himself, Now, we had not looked at this picture 

 from an art point of view, nor even had we scanned it 

 for its fidelity to or divergence from strictly correct 

 canine portraiture. To us the picture represented so 

 many inches of advertising space, for which we had re- 

 ceived so much cash in return; and if we had any further 

 thought about the matter it was that the picture of the 

 flea stricken dog would probably accomplish the aim of 

 its author by attracting attention to the advertisement 

 setting forth the merits of this approved brand of soap. 



But it appears thai this cut is not perfect, and its im- 

 perfection has already been noted. A friend of ours out 

 in Wisconsin, who is the editor of a bright paper, and, as 

 (his incident shows, a lover of dogs also, prompted either 

 by love of the true in art, or by jealousy, perhaps, be- 

 cause he has not the cut in his advertising columns, clips 

 out the picture and sends it to us with this note : — 



Beliot, Wis., July 10th, 

 Editor Forest ami Stream :— 



Pray ask Cathery if he over saw a dog- scratch himself standing 



We have hardly time to consult the authority requested, 

 but we are very sure that we have seen a dog scratch 

 himself while standing up. Like one of our correspond- 

 ents, who said the other day that he had heard a snake 

 lu'ss, but he could not give time and place, we find it dif- 

 ficult to fix the exact dog and the exact occasion, and we 

 must leave the query for some of our friends to answer. 

 Who ever saw a dog scratch himself while standing up? 

 ^ . « 1 1 



Wati-.ii. Skates. — The bare enumeration of the de- 

 vices and accouterments designed to assist the modern 

 sportsman in his pursuit of game and fish would furnish 

 a striking catalogue of the fruits of human ingenuity. 

 The latest addition to this stock is the invention of Mr. 

 W. G. Soule, who has succeeded in constructing a pair 

 of shoes with which it is possible to walk on the surface 

 of the water. It Beems that Mr. Soule had been seriously 

 annoyed, as thousands of men had been before him, by 

 the loss of numerous snipe and ducks which fell into the 

 water in places which were too deep for wading and too 

 muddy for boat navigation, He set himself to work to 

 provide some mechanical aid out of his dilemma, and the 

 result is a pair of sheet zinc shoes, soldered air and water- 

 tight, each about five feet long, ten inches wide and five 

 inches deep, and pointed at each end, In the top is sunk 

 a well for the foot, and on the bottom are two propellerB, 

 or gauge paddles, one at each end. These open and shut 

 by the motion through the water as the walker pushes 

 his feet forward. 



The inventor recently gave an exhibition of the 

 "water skates" on the Harlem River, demonstrating 

 their practicability in smooth water. 



Capt, E. W. Paul.— -Capt. Edmund W. Paul, who re- 

 cently died in St. Louis, Mo., was in his day a noted pis- 

 tol shot, whose feats will be recalled by many of our 

 older readers. Unlike the fictitious titles assumed by 

 modern knights of the gun, Capt. Paul's was well 

 earned in the Mexican War, where he commanded a 



Missouri company. Hib fame as an expert with fire-arms 

 was at its height in 1854, in which year he was accus- 

 tomed to send out challenges containing proposals "to fit 

 a dollar to the end of a twig two inches long, and while 

 a second person will hold (he other end in his mouth, so 

 as to bring the coin within an inch and a half of his face, 

 I engage to strike the dollar three times out of five at the 

 distance of ten paces, or thirty feet. I will hit a dollar 

 tossed in the air, or any object of the same size, three 

 times out of five, or a knife blade, placed at the distance 

 of thirty feet. I will wager that no person in the Uni- 

 ted States can be produced who will hit a quarter of a 

 dollar at a distance of thirty feet oftener than I can on a 

 wheel and fire." 



Since the notice of Capt. Paul's death appeared, we 

 have written to several persons, seeking to learn some- 

 tiling of his exploits : and having been so far unsuccess- 

 ful, we shall hope that this brief notice may be the 

 means of eliciting from others some further account of a 

 man wlin so outlived his fame. 



A AYater Cure. — The most confirmed believer in the 

 efficacy of the water-cure treatment would hardly send 

 a patient afflicted with inflammatory rheumatism into 

 the woods to live in a tent beside a stream and undergo 

 diurnal showers. Damp sheots and rheumatism would 

 he mi unheard of combination outside of a fishing camp. 

 Those who know "Bodines," a skillful physician of the 

 regular school, may well be apprehensive that he has 

 gone over to the water-cure people with a fatal sim- 

 pleness ; but we take this Lycoming experience to be a 

 merely temporary freak, incidental to the life of every 

 devoted angler, governed in its periodicity by the condi- 

 tion of the waters and the biting of the fish. 



We are promised a further account of "Bodines"' 



camp life. 



m ' » i — 



The Virginia Camping Trip.— We again call atten- 

 tion to a projected tour through the mountains of Vir- 

 ginia. As stated in our issue of June 24th, a party of 

 gentlemen, or possibly of gentlemen and ladies, propose 

 to start from Lynchburg Sept. 10th and to spend a month 

 in angling, shooting and sight-seeing among the moun- 

 tains, returning to Lynchburg Sept. 29th. The opportu- 

 nity here offered is one in a lifetime, and we urge upon 

 those who would enjoy a trip of this kind to avail them- 

 selves of the offer of our friends, as already detailed in 

 these columns. Communications should be addressed to 

 Maj. R. C. Saunders, Careyswood, Evington, Campbell 

 County, Va. 



Adirondack Map.— Mr. S. R. Stoddard, of Glen's 

 Falls, N. Y., has just issued a map of the Adirondack 

 wilderness, which has been compiled from all the latest 

 and most reliable sources of information. Access has 

 been had by the author to important State and private 

 surveys not hitherto given to the public. The map 

 shows wild trails, carries, ponds, streams, etc., the loca- 

 tion of hotels and camps, distances, and many other de- 

 ails which the Adirondack visitor could not have. For 

 sale at this office, price $1 ; mounted on muslin and 

 roller, $1.50. 



English Angling Streams. — The second paper of 

 " 'RingwoodV Reminiscences of English Rivers" con- 

 cludes this author's chat on this entertaining topic ; but 

 we hope at no very distant day to supplement them with 

 sketches of angling abroad by the same pen. The writer 

 shows himself not only a thorough angler, but a close 

 observer and a good story teller. 



Old Guns.— We intended, at the time we published 

 "Cape Rock's" description of his Waterloo gun, to invite 

 others of our readers, who might have stories of similar 

 interest about various old fire-arms, to narrate them in 

 our columns. There were certainly enough Revolution- 

 ary muskets converted into the arms of peace to furnish 

 material for reminiscences of this character. 



The Rangeley Lakes.— The article published in our 

 issue of Feb. 26th, 1880, entitled " Parmachenee and the 

 Rangeley Circuit," is a complete guide to the Rangeley 



Lakes. 



Mill* 



Wild Rice.— The water in Rice Lake was very high 

 the last spring, and consequently the rice did not come 

 to the surface as early as usual. The prospects are, how- 

 ever, that a goodly harvest will be gathered. 

 ^ ■ > ■ ^ 



—Brooklyn has 10,232 dogs, or 2,(117 more than last 

 year. The license fee there is $2, with a penalty of -fUO 

 for non-compliance. Brooklyn pays, therefore. $20, 464 

 per annum for her canines. 



— The numerous friends of Mr. Jacob M. W itmer, of 

 Niagara Falls, will join us in congratulations upon his 

 marriage on the loth inst, 



New York Woodcock Season.— The open season for 

 woodcock shooting begins in New York State Aug. 1st, 

 except in Oneida and Herkimer counties, where it does 

 not begin until Sept. 1st. 



GAME PROTECTION. 



Summer Woodcock Shooting.— Pennsylvania should 

 now follow the example of her sister States, New Xbrk, 

 New Jersey and Connecticut, and protect the woodcock 

 during the nesting season. 



Connecticut Woodcock Shooting.— The law in Con- 

 necticut prescribes a close season for woodcock until Oct. 

 1st. Last year the season was observed v ry generally 

 by the better class of sportsmen through the State, but 

 it was found that the pot-hunters took all the birds, and 

 when October came there were no birds to shoot. This 

 vear everybody shoots, sportsmen and pot-hunters alike, 

 and the "effect has been that even earlier shooting has 

 been practical than when the law was up July 1st. Then 

 the season was generally observed : now all hands be- 

 gan to shoot in the latter part of June. 

 ♦ 



Delaware Woodcock Shooting,— Dover, Del., July 

 1st. — Editor Forest and Stream: — Since summer wood- 

 cook shooting is in order, perhaps you will allow a Deia- 

 warean to say a word on the subject, particularly as 

 Maryland and Delaware have had to shoulder the charge 

 of allowing their half-fledged long bills to be slaugh- 

 tered. We have been shooting woodcock since the 1st of 

 this month (as provided by the State association), and 

 have, yet to see the first Half-fledged cock or the one to 

 be caught by putting salt on its tail. Is it not rational 

 to suppose that sportsmen would prefer hunting in the 

 bracing and invigorating fall, to the hot, sweltering 

 tramp through sawgrass and briar and along branches 

 where millions of mosquitoes and sheep flies hold high 

 carnival, raising innumerable welts on the reeking neck 

 and torn hands of the intruder, and where the ever 

 ready and faithful animal is often forced to seek a shady 

 spot for a moment's rest, and will open his mouth to re- 

 ceive a few drops from your precious flask of wa ter or 

 tea to quench his thirst?" But this cannot be ; we must 

 shoot in the season provided by our State laws or be con- 

 tent to find a few stragglers in the fall. Many have 

 written on this subject, but none of them criticise a 

 Southern law from a Northern standpoint. Our seasons 

 are earlier than those of Northern New York, Massachu- 

 setts, Connecticut, etc. Our children mature earlier, and 

 so do our birds. 



Has the Delaware Game Protection Association noth- 

 ing to say, pro or eon, on the subject ? 



Everett Von Culin. 



A New Canadian Preserve. — Hay Bay, Ontario, 

 once a famous ducking ground, but of late years overrun 

 and ruined by game-baggers, is to be preserved like Long 

 Point, Lake Erie. A company, composed of the owners 

 of lands bordering on the bay, some residents of Napa- 

 nee and one or two denizens of Belleville, has been 

 formed, and the shooting ground will be carefully pro- 

 tected, wild rice planted, and other means taken to in- 

 duce the ducks to frequent the bay again. 



Migratory Quail in Missouri. — The Jefferson City 

 Sportsmen's Club have received an importation from 

 Messina, and have turned them loose in the vicinity of 

 that city, some at the farm of Dr. Mo Workman, eight 

 miles west of Jefferson City ; some near. Castle Rock, 

 some near Osage City, on the Ewing farm, and some in 

 Callaway County Sportsmen in Missouri and Kansas 

 are urged to look out for the birds, and to secure their 

 protection so far as may be possible. 



%mt[* |?## &t[tl ffutj. 



JULY IS A ClOSE MONTH FOR GAME. 



— Address all communications to " Forest and Stream 

 Publishing Company, New York." 



Game Prospects. — We shall thank our friends to send 

 us notes on the game prospects of their respective locali- 

 ties. The very open winter would seem to warrant the 

 hope of a large supply of birds next fall. A Washington 

 friend tells us that birds have not been plentier in that 

 region for many years, and the brief notes we have re- 

 ceived from other parts of the country point to the same 

 conditions elsewhere. 



New Jersey — Hammonton. July 3d.— The last heavy 

 rains have damaged the quail crop mightily, and the 

 prospect for good shooting in this neighborhood is poor. 



L. W, S. 



Snipe at Good Ground. — Good Ground, L. I., July 

 18m. — Bay snipe are flying fairly now, and some big bags 

 have been made. Mr. C. E. Perkins, of Hartford, Conn., 

 killed forty-seven large snipe on the 17th, and it looks 

 very much like a good season here, as more snipe went 

 North this spring than usual. William N. Lane. 



Fernaneina Gun Club.— Femandina, Fia., July lofh. 

 — The Femandina Gun Club was organized on the 7th 

 inst. , with the following officers : President, F. B. Papy ; 

 Vice-President, Dr. A. C. Ford ; Secretary, Dr. J. D. 

 Palmer; Treasurer, H. B. Dotterel ; Attorney, H. J. 

 Baker. 



Connecticut— Tolland County, July 12th.— The coun- 

 try about New England and the Middle States has been, 

 according to reports, very dry this season. The highlands 

 of Connecticut, in this section, have been favored with 

 abundant showers for the past two months, and the 

 growing crops were never in better condition, Wood- 

 cock are very plenty, coming here from all the dry sec- 

 tions north of us, and the law is well kept. The shoot- 

 ing here in October will be better than for many years 

 past. This is always a favorite locality , no better. I doubt, 

 can be found in the country. Mars. 



This statement conflicts with the reports we havu re- 

 ceived as to the supply of birds in other parts of Con- 

 necticut this year. 



Michigan Deer Hunting.— Esffiiroba, Mich., June 

 11th. — Deer unusually plenty on northern peninsular; 



