November 17, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



800 



"Why,"fald the Judge, "I lift, him in 1 hrt boat over 

 there." Now it sn happened thai iD Iho hurry to get lo Hie 

 shooliug, the stiid g'Wiie whs lift under tl>e Stern sluets, 

 where be Was thrown, when fl>st sWit, and 'he Major, in 

 coming from his Bland, bad examined it. B i we Snarly 

 started iff i" the tio.it,. when the bird whs round to be a 

 tame one. We 1 nought it odd, at I he lime, that wild geese 

 could be shot so near ihe ciiy, in fact, right in it. Of course 

 there was a great laugh, and as the Judge, by way of buying 

 our silence, said, " Boys, say not bine auout this and I'll treat 

 to a good oyster supper; it won't do for the story to get 

 abroad, for it it dues, Hie whole town will be invaded by an 

 army of sponstnen." The worst of it is, Ihe Judge does not 

 know who is the owner of the goose, and some poor devd of 

 a poacher may have to bear the blame. 



In order to give the ducks a chance we then moved over 

 to a piece of pin-oak timber, made camp, arid sat down to 

 utilize the lunch we hud brought along "in case of fire" 

 After that, white enjoying the fragrant weed, I proposed 

 to the Major to go over to a large stubble field and try my 

 dog Carl on quail. (Jarl is a thtee year old lemon and while 

 English setter, broken by myself, first on snipe, and then on 

 quail and chicken, and woiks splendidly. We have some 

 good sport, bagging twenty -one quail, then we return to 

 duck shooting, and between 4r.si. aud dark, bagged eighteen 

 teal. 



After supper, over our pipes and their accompaniments, the 

 Major regales us with a history of his deer hunting on the 

 Black liiver Of Aikansns, after which we retire to recuperate 

 for the next dny's battle of the ducks; and so we pass the 

 second day, with the exception that we bave better aud tnore 

 shooting. Our total bag was, for Ihe second day, seventy- 

 four ducks, mostly teal, thirty snipe, besides three chicken 

 hawks. The latter we kill whenever we have a chaDce. 



I have lived in this handsome little city over twelve years, 

 but never saw the shooting so good as it is now, We very 

 reluctantly returned home after two da} s of glorious sport, 

 tired out, but under the impression that we have renewed 

 our leases on life, whatever we may have done in rtgard to 

 those of the ducks. J. A. B. 



RUST SPOTS IN GUN BARRELS. 



Twin Lake, Florida. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



The subject of rust spots attracts considerable attention. 

 I attributed mine to Dittmar powder, of wkicu I used some 

 uutil I became disgusted with it. (How you did squelch 

 that thing ) 1 think much of the trouble arises from neglect 

 to thoroughly dry the gun after ceamng, aud then not 

 forciugtbe oil by great pressure into the pores of the metal. 

 I fiud nothi g so good for this as Brown's cleaner. The 

 rubber cone and disk fit the bore lightly, aud so fill the 

 pores. 1 sprinkle a cotton rag with water, wipe out tt e 

 p wder, dry well, and lubricate well the " Brown" wiih 

 vaseline, which 1 find by far the best lubricant 1 have ever 

 used ; and my guu stands this irying atmosphere betier than 

 by any other p an 1 have tried. I have tried often the plan 

 of laying the gun away alt. r use without cleaniuu. It 'he 

 weather is exceptionally dry, the powder cakes and gives 

 trouble : if moisi, all rkkt. Still it is much more satislactory 

 to me lo know how my barrels look. I used the Laflin & 

 Rand Ducking No. 4 for years and liked iis shooting 

 qualities much, but I think it burns less moist than Dupont 

 No. 1, which is a point in favor of the latter. B. 



Altoona, Pa. — Editor Forest and Stream: I have be>n 

 both interested anil amused in reading letters of parties ie- 

 garding rust spots or fieck es in guu barrels. 



The train of thought of ihe writers has not, in my opinion, 

 been in the light direction. It would take a whole page of 

 your piper lo explain fully the cause, as I see it, of th se 

 spots or streaks in barrels. But I will be as brief as possible. 

 They are due to chemh al action brourilt about in this way : 

 The barrels are was cd out with wat'-r, with rag, etc., 

 fastened to a cleaning rod lipped wi h brass — or it may be 

 brass, nickel or silver-plated — iio m-dtei, the result is ihe 

 same. The rod is moved up and down more or less rapid y 

 for some minutes, or until on examina'ion it is S' en ihat the 

 barres are clean. They may look as clean and hright as it 

 is possible to make them, but the mischie is already done. 

 In using the rod its brass tip is rubbed against the inside of 

 the borel with sufficient friction to leave a very slight 

 coating ot brass in sireaks in the barrel, aud from the locking 

 motion given ihe rod when nearly out of the breee ■ and 

 held up at arm's )eng>h these streaks are more likely to be al 

 the breech thau in the middle of the barrel. 



No a, what have we that will start chemical action? Be- 

 ginning at the outside we have either iron or steel — the bar- 

 rels ; next, a very thin layer of moisture ; next, a very thin 

 streak or layer of brass from the ch aning rod. Aud there 

 we have all the elements to start chemical action— a perfect 

 galvanic baitery on a small scale, whose lirsi and almost in- 

 siant action is to oxidize the clean, raw and finely finished 

 chamber. 



The moisture between the chamber a' d thin film nf rra=s 

 is not sufficient to keep up the action very long — just long 

 enough, perhaps, to give a sbght dullness to the part affected"; 

 and this would not be noticeable until the nexl cleaning is 

 through with. It is sufficient, however, for at every subse- 

 queuf cleaning more brass and water is sure 10 be added to 

 that dull or roughened spot, 10 be again acted upon, un il 

 finally you notice a very pronounced case of gun freckle", 

 anywhere from iV itch to 12 inches in length, according as 

 the moisture and biasshave been in chemical action with the 

 chamber. 



if sportsmen will call to memory the fact that any two dis- 

 similar metals supplied with water will star chemical action 

 — and thus oxida'ion of one of ihe metals— they will at once 

 see the foundation tor the theory here advanced. 



As a remedy for treckles throw away brass-iipped c'eaning- 

 rods and use iron tipped or plain wooden ones, the L-ttier 

 prefeiable at all times. 



He who cleans his gun the most with bra c s-tipped rods is 

 the one who is most troubled with rust spots, streaks, tc. 



MaBKH. 



Wauseon, 0., Nov. B.—Mtlttor Eotc.it and Stream: I 

 have read with interest, your correspondence on the subject 

 of 'gun measles." I have had a Utile experience, and mat 

 inclines me very Strongly to the belief that pom powder is 

 generally responsible for ihe trouble. I have a line Clttbrough 

 that 1 shot for three years with good ductting po*-di 

 up to last spring it i ever "broke out." In an evil hour I 

 listened lo the advice of a friend who insisted that a cheap 

 (40 cent) powder for sale by one fit out grocers was equal to 

 that J. had been ahootfiig. I tried it-, used >' 



had before in e'eaning, etc., and found out at once that it 

 injured my barrels. It vai not rust ; but something in Ihe 

 composition of ihe powder eat into the barrels. I firmly 

 believe that if I had ttevi r used cheap powder my gun would 

 have been " well" to-day.— W. II. II. 



Buffalo, Nov. 6. — Editor Forest and Stream : I own a 

 Fox double barreled gun, which is now ns free, from rust in 

 and outside as when I purchased it, six years ago 1 am un- 

 able to decide whether Ibis is due to the admirable finisi of 

 the barrols or my own special precautions, which are simple 

 and cause but little trouble. It is well known that salt 

 water is more detrimental to bright barrels than any other 

 agent, and as the gun has been accidentally much exposed to 

 it wi hout suff r ng thereby, I will give your readers the 

 b neflt of the fact. It formed part of my outfit when I 

 s'arted lour years ago on a collecting journey to the coast of 

 Labrador, where I was unforn.na'e and suffered shipwreck, 

 which in its course damaged and deluged more or less all of 

 my baggage with floods rrf salt wa'er. Forover twenty-four 

 hours everything was afloat in the cabin of the schooner, 

 which had beeu stove in by ihe breakers, and more or less 

 damage was naturally ihe result of this occurrence. On 

 leaving Boston I had fortunately taken the precaution of ■ p- 

 plying lo the gun a thick coat of mercural ointment inside 

 aud outside, and when this was removed, after saving ihe 

 gun from ihe greedy s^a, I was both pleased and surprised to 

 fiud that not a speck of rust had gathered on it. Since then 

 1 simply give the inside of ihe barrels and other troublesome 

 places about the triggers and plungers a good coat of oint- 

 m< nt whenever I set it aside for any lentrht of time, and have 

 Ihe satisfaction of avoiding the rust difficulty without any of 

 the painstaking labor so many of my friends take with their 

 guns, which, notwithstanding, are always more or less 

 speckled. Fi r cleaning the barrels in the busy season I use 

 ale hoi in preferenc to gasoline or petroleum The corners 

 around the plungers I always leave fill d with a thick coat- 

 ing of the mercurial ointment.— Chas. Linden. 



Montreal, Canada. — Editor Forest and Streim : Ru=t 

 spots in gun barrels, my experience his led me to believe, 

 are caused more by the quality of oil used in cleaning the 

 gum ban anything else. Some imeagol was gnat ly troubled 

 to keep the inside of my gun barrets bright. I accidentally 

 left an ir.oi wire in the bottle of Rangoon oil that I was 

 u-ingon my guu, and ihis wire, in a week or so, becamp a 

 nu-s of rust. I was then satisfi d that I had discovered the 

 cause if Ihe rust spots, and on mentioning the fact to one of 

 our best gunsmiths, a descendant of the celebrated Man- 

 ton, my belief was c nfirmed. and a receipt was given me 

 for preparing a gun oU that 1 have used wiih the best of suc- 

 cess since Ihe method ot preparing this oil is as follows: 

 Go to a glue nianiif ictory and get a botlle of pure neat's-foot 

 oil, put into this some thin s'rips of sheet lead, then set, un- 

 corked, in n. light, place— in thesun if possible. After a thick 

 sediment has settled, leaving ihe oil above it clear and trans- 

 parent, pour • ff the Ciearoiland strain ihrouth several thick- 

 nesses of ch an linen, and you have a gun oil free from acids 

 or faity matters 'hat turn rancid when exposed to the air. 

 Stanton says you should keep kero-ene oil out of your gun 

 unless the gun is in constant use. Let those who are 

 troubled with rust spots put a brLht iron wire into the oil 

 they are using and see how long it remains bright. 



Stanstbad. 



TIIOSE FOUR WILD-U yTS WITH ONE BULLET. 



Fall Brook, San Diego Co., Cal., Oct 24. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



1 see by your last issue 'hit a paragraph h'is been going 

 the rounds of tne papers about my kiilini four wild-e is at 

 one shot. That article was put in the Ban Dieao Union bv 

 one of its regular corre pondents who saw ti e cats. There 

 was nnthm* remarkable ab ut ihe "flair, except the finding 

 of four cits iu just the right position, a thii g ihat might 

 not occur i tain m my lifetime. Finding them si, the rest 

 wax ensy enough, as anyone who has experiment d with ex- 

 pansive b'dls well knows. There w re, however, some 

 features ab ut it of considerable in'eres' and value perhaps 

 to t iosc using or intending to use expansive halls. 



For the pa t y ar I have been using round balls in huntins, 

 and a* some of your readers kuow I am foolish enough to tie 

 out of the fashion in regard to calibre of my rifle, using 

 one th r shoots an ounce round ball, No. 16 slut gun g-uge, 

 a''0Ut .65 ritle eauge I h 'Ve beeu experinv ntimr with round 

 balls, wi h different sized holes bar d in the rronl, to see if I 

 Can make a ball 'hat will expa d on the "paunch" of a 

 deer, yet pass behind the shoulder or other thin parts wiih- 

 out expa* sion. Th& results have si far been very sat s fac- 

 tory in g neral, but veiy unsdisfactory In some eases, the 

 whole result d< pending upon ibe depth and diameter of the 

 h"le in ihe bullet (just as I said iu a letter 1 1 Forest and 

 Stream some time si ce), and n"t upon velocity. Tha'- a 

 round ball, wh n big enough, ca'i be in de into the most ter- 

 rific of expn>s halls 1 have, however, ful'y proved by experi- 

 ments outside • f the wild-cat sffair. That, however, is a 

 fair simple of what it wdl do. The affair was as follows: 



While going alter some deer I had the evening before 

 killed too lab- to tiring home, I saw at a distance a hum-h of 

 wi'd-cats on a Ha' rock. Wild-cds aie an in<iitniion hre, 

 and I always when hunting let l hem, as well as coyotes, 

 go unshot a . But wben not hunting. I often stir up any 

 that happen along my way. Tne chance to 'ry my cxpan- 

 s ve roun.l ball wa-i too good to lose, so I started for a sure 

 shot at them. Wearing mocfa-ins, it was an easy matter, 

 baung ihe wind iu my f vor too, lo reach a bush witbin 

 forty yaidsof iher ck. There 1 conhi plainly see a motherly 

 old cat of some thirty p U"ds weigh', and three kittens 

 of about the sta of ihe ci y Thomas, 'hit Winds Ins mellow 

 horn rhus expressively what time the weary editor 'am 

 would sleep. The old one lay in the form nf a oescen-, 

 with the three kit ens lying in he centre li'<e r«di> of the arc 

 fi need I y the mother, all three vigorously engaged in matu- 

 tinal imbibition. 



1 weakened moat decidedly. Had there been no spurs to 

 prick ihe sides of my intent those blissful pussies might still 

 be livintr, and the newspaper si issorer be. compelled to fall 

 back upon ihe wild man of ihe woods covered wiih hair, etc., 

 the child ea'en by the escaped bon, the s a serpent, or some 

 othn- standard filling for a short column. But there were 

 two spurs. The first was the far-off sound of a friend's flock 

 of sheep with whose tender lambs the feline dame was proba- 

 bly in the habit of n pairing the wear and tear of her fl shly 

 tenement. The other was the fact that they lay in such a 

 position that the neck of ihe kitten nearest me formed the 

 centre of the bunch— that was too strong a temptation. 



Now then, given a round ounce, hall w.kh a flaring hole run- 



ning half way through it about three-ten'hs of an inch wide 

 at the month, reducing the weig t from 480 t about 400 

 grains of lead, wiih about 200 tr'ainsnf he newt piwder, 

 coarse and fine mixed, behind it; a No. 16 r iss "h il-gun shell 

 filled fu I, and any one who kn ws anything nf Express rirles 

 aud expans ve balls can readt'y solve Ihe 'problem. At fht 

 report here was no getting off ihe rock no scramhli g off, 

 no tumbling off. The rock was swent cle n in a twinkling. 

 Nothing was visible but some fine fur floating awav trom it. 

 On the other side of the rock lay llv four, sione dead. The 

 ball struck the nearest one in the nick, expanding at once. 

 The two otte r kittens W' re struck in the bead, neck, breast 

 Hiid paws with splinters of the ball while the main portion 

 of ihe ball, the part behind Ihe hole, struck theold one amid- 

 ships and passed downward toward the tail learing away half 

 the lower part of the body. There was nothing ex raordi- 

 nary in the affair except the finding of the cats in that posi- 

 tion, and in having such a rifle. Wildcats are rar ly 'ound 

 elongating maternal dugs, snd such a killing shot could not 

 be made with a common rifle. Th>- cats once fourd and the 

 rifle at hand any blockhead could have done the re«t 



• ^ T S. VanDyks, 



NOVEL UUN1T.NU MEiauDS. 



New York, Nov. 9, 1881. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



The lollowing paragraph is from the Albany Argus : "A 

 Chautauqua hunter scooped the insid • out of a lartje pump- 

 kin, cut a c uple of holes through which he could se'-, and 

 slipping the shell over his head, waded out to where a flock 

 was swimming, unconscious of dang r. Grabbing a goo«e 

 by the legs he genly drew her under, and so proceeded until 

 Bone were leU to tell the ta'e." 



This is somewhat after ihe manner in wh'ch the npgroeR in 

 Cuba capture wild ducksor, as they term them, Florida dicks. 

 Anumbei of large gourds re placed on 'he surface of a fresh 

 water pond, and are permitted to floit ab ut. food beinjj at 

 ihe same time scattered on ihe water. The ducks very soon 

 settle among tt e gourds, for the purpose of procuring ihe 

 bait. Whatever fear they may ut ffist have in consequence 

 of thennnSHalapppearance of the gourd* quickly vaui-hl-mg, 

 'hey finally regard the queer obj cis as a necessary accompa- 

 niment to the much desired f od. V\ hen the birds have be- 

 come sufficiently accustomed to their mr ouulii gs a negro 

 pmces upon h'S h al, like a ca o. half ag>urd, resenhln< 

 those float ingupon ihe pond, and, wading in among ht ducks 

 from a dis'ance, with merely his ey-s and nose out of ma 

 w ater, captures one or more in the manner above described. 

 As to proceeding until none are left to tell the tale, I have my 

 doubts, as it would probably take a 1 mg time to dro vn t 

 duck, or even iu wring its neck , under wa'er, a d wh 1^ it 

 lived it could, I Hunk, creale sucu a disturbance as would 

 frighten »way nny others in the mimed a e vi .'inky. 



VVhile batum* list summer in the little bay call d Pipe's 

 Cove, neai Greenpct, Long Island. I noiked a cooi, -!o*ly 

 Swimming toward tne sho e, some three bund ed yiirds from 

 me. I knew that he was a wounded or nnm tog It rd, *>h ch 

 could not fly. Finally he reached the shore, r ^o d on 'lei 

 sand, about two feet from the w ter, and occupied hi" self iu 

 arraug ng bis le«thers. Remembering ihe Cuban s(. erne just 

 mentioned, I re-olv. d to make a i effort to c-iptur.- ih. -oll- 

 ta'y wa derer, although I was, i f course; unprovid d wuh 

 any vegetable disguise. Ho L first went down the hay , in the 

 wnti r, (as much of my head and hotly beiu^ hidden as possi- 

 ble) until nearly opposite 'he coot, wh n I slowly advanced 

 toward ihe shore. v\ hen within ahout ten fee of the bird, 

 ihe waier b ing then too shallow to further conceal my body, . 

 I «rose, and made an tff a-t to "shoo " him back on ihe shore. 

 Of c itVse ibis met wuh no success. He quickly plunged mto 

 t e water in front oi bim, and, after scurrying aVui fr m 

 side to side for a second, in signt, dar ed between my legs, 

 aud made his escape During the period of my approach, 

 or while I remained motionless before him, observing Ins 

 pluuiaire aud actions, my head alone caused not ihe sbuii est 

 fear, although he certainly saw and particularly u |U»«1 if. 



Alkali. 



NEBRASKA FLY^xY SHuOTING. 



Limooln, Neb., Oct. 28. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Few notes have appeared in your valuab'e jomnd fr m 

 our promising State oi the ga.ue q lestion. >uid a cks -ioiioa 

 of a lit le i uut, occupying three days last week, uj>y head a 

 few oi the seeke'S after Sue shooting this way. 



To begin: N brasna is a prairie S ate, and the Platte 

 River runs Ihe entire length of the State from West to East. 

 .Not exaetly runs . iiher, hut scatters over a grea 1 de.tl of 

 country, leaving numerous -aud bars iu is bed upon wnieh 

 • uiring Ihe spring and fall milli us of geese a i I diiiks bass 

 during ihe day and roost a night, leaving the river iwice 

 each day to fee i in ibe fields. 



A party ot five -por sm n— prohably no city CDUld furnish 

 an equa' number as eager for a hunt— started f on Lincoln 

 list week via the B. & Al R. K- in Nelir sua for Ji ualii, 

 105 miles west, and our railroa i friends pm u- iu • bar e of 

 Uou ttictor Hutc insou who. had he been a millioiwi e, 

 would have le his train run itself and gone too, but wuh due 

 considei ation for his family and pocketb aik he kpt in ra iu- 

 mand of his train, and every time he passed t nough the 

 tr-iu h- would announce to us that he "hoped we would tret 

 off at the next sta i n as it made him sick to think of us." 



Juniata wi.8 reached in lime for supper, and next morning 

 v- e very comfortably saiid ourselves in a spring wagon 

 hi aded for the Platte River, sixteen miles away. 



The ride over was an unusually pleasant on", as "Lord" 

 Hastings, the legal light nf our parly, Had an extremely aife 

 aud varied assortment of stories i o dra' from and he drew, 

 ioo, amazing y often on account of a number of [heni concern. 

 ing persons who had come from the vicinity of "Ba;h, you 

 kuow," where our 'purveyor" was non. 



At the P atte we were qu irte e i with friend Foote, a model 

 fanner, and husband and lather i f as intere-iing a family S3 

 one would meet with in our State His home lead is on El.n 

 Island, aud d ought is never known, cons q lently i e lw a 

 weullhv mm aud abundantly surrounded wih comforts f 

 life His estimable wife sjon prepared us a dinner to which 

 we did ample justice. 



The aften oun was 3pent in patroling the river and inciting 

 the ' fly-w<y8" of the geese, as they went to and r^-in rued 

 from the fi Ids, roua inn up at nwht with twenty-tw'" geese, 

 The next day set in cold and damp, aud Ihe ge.-so lelt 'he 

 river a' daybreak oql to return til late at night, as il was 

 as comfortable for them in ihe rjelds as in the river. 



Our blinds were all properly constructed on the. hos, and 

 the hcore for that day uiti not ■ guttllRK 



Vious. 



