GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



Anybody can shoot all day, but a gentleman will quit when he gets enough. 



SERMON ON THE MERLIN. 



C. B. MAXWELL. 



Verily I say unto ye, Jews and Gentiles, 

 there was a rich man named Bellard that 

 said to himself, "1 will make a gun, yea, 

 verily, I will make many guns. I will 

 make good guns, so that the shepherd may 

 have means to protect his flocks, the pion- 

 eer may have means to secure his living, to 

 protect the widows, the orphans, from the 

 savages and the wild beasts. I will make 

 guns to shoot once, and set an example in 

 moderation that it is not manly to slaughter 

 for the sake of seeing blood run. Yea. 

 verily, I will make my name great among 

 men of many nations." 



Then, afte'r much prayer and fasting, he 

 was rewarded with great success, and his 

 name was blessed, and his fame was soread 

 over the land, and his guns, for their many 

 good qualities, were much sought after 

 from far and near. 



But in his own good time the Lord took 

 Bellard to dwell with His elect, and said, 

 "Well done, thou good and faithful serv- 

 ant." 



Th'm again it came to pass that an un- 

 godly man, named Llerli 1, coveted the hon- 

 or and the riches of the good servant Bel- 

 lard, and said unto himself, "Behold. I will 

 build up a great name for myself. I will 

 be honored of men. I will improve on the 

 handiwork of the misguided Bellard." And 

 it came to pass that this ungodlv man did 

 go to the widow and the orphans and did 

 trade them out of their inheritance. Then 

 went he. to the synagogue and stood up to 

 be admired of men and posed as a wise 

 man, and did pray both long and loud, with 

 much self-praise. He meditated both long 

 and thoughtfully and said, "I will make a 

 gun that will shoot many times, that the 

 veriest game hog may exterminate all the 

 creatures that creep and walk on the earth ; 

 and I will make my domain a howling wil- 

 derness. I will have the advantage of my 

 predecessor's reputation and with mv vast 

 knowledge will make a gun that will ex- 

 terminate whole armies at one discharge ; 

 yea, verily." 



Then it came to pass that the ungodly 

 Merlin sang the praise of his guns from 

 the street corners, from the house tops, 

 from the hill tops, with much loudness of 

 mouth, and many were deceived and fol- 

 lowed the false prophet. 



Then it came to ©ass that the wise men 

 of the nation said, "Wherefore this man 

 maketh much noise and deceiveth many, let 

 us investigate." And the wise men and 



the priests weighed Merlin in the balance 

 and his goods, and his men servants, and 

 his maid servants, and his ox, and his ass. 

 and found them wanting ; yea, muchly. 



And it came to pass that the nation, be- 

 cause of his loud mouth and much brag- 

 ging, did condemn the ungodly Merlin. 



Then in his wrath he said, "The nation 

 be dod dund. I will not repent nor im- 

 prove my evil ways. Verily, I will force 

 them to bow down and worship me." 



Then it came to pass he was loudlv 

 cur: d by men of all nations as a false 

 prophet, and his guns came to be a sign of 

 damnation to the owner thereof. And manv 

 men lost their religion by trusting to the 

 handiwork of the false prophet. And again 

 I say unto ye, many men lost their souls 

 by blaspheming, because in their ignorance 

 they had purchased of his goods. And 

 when a wise priest and a leader of men. 

 named Coqninut, did pray with Merlin and 

 try to show him the evil of his way, and 

 with tears in his eyes did beseech the said 

 Merlin to follow the noble examnle of his 

 predecessor, the ungodly Merlin did blas- 

 pheme, and because of his hardness of heart 

 say, "Get thee behind me, thou ex-game 

 hog, and get a mighty move on, or I will 

 smite thee off the face of the earth, and all 

 thy tribe of sportsmen, with my iaw bone, 

 as Samson did with the jaw bone of another 

 ass. 



Then the sportsmen of the nation rose up 

 as one man and said, "Dowm with the 

 hypocrite !" 



And it came to pass that in the last days 

 the Lord, who loves justice, did consign the 

 ungodly Merlin to the bottomless pit. And 

 there was much rejoicing throughout the 

 land thereat. Amen, 



HIS FAVORITE LOADS. 



Nothing but a sheet of paper or some 

 similar target will tell the true story of a 

 charge of shot. A few lucky shots at game 

 prove nothing. Of course, your target 

 must be backed with something to test 

 penetration. For that purpose I have never 

 found anything better than soft, clear pine. 



In judging smokeless powders, strength, 

 quickness, cleanliness, noise, recoil, smoke- 

 lessness and pattern are to be considered. 

 Bursting strain is not considered, for when 

 properly loaded some of the high grade 

 powders are dangerous. E. 6. makes too 

 much smoke, too much noise, has too much 

 recoil, is rather slow, and load for load 

 gives less penetration than most other 

 bulk powders, While liable to bunch 



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