GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



MORE POINTERS FOR PETERS. 



Wichita, Kan. 

 J. H. McKibben, Sec'y, 



Peters Cartridge Co., 

 Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Dear Sir: — I notice in May Recrea- 

 tion a copy of a letter from you ordering 

 your advertisement in that magazine dis- 

 continued because of an article appearing 

 on page 300 of the April number. I have 

 always been an admirer and promoter of 

 the Peters goods, and was just on the 

 point of ordering some of your new 22- 

 7-45 cartridges; but the tone of youf letter 

 seem- so childish I am impelled to 

 ask u that is the only reason why you 

 withdraw your ad from the best sports- 

 men's journal in the country. If so, 

 and if you can read impartially several 

 other letters in May Recreation, in which 

 the goods of other manufacturers are 

 much more severely criticised, I think 

 you will admit you have no occasion what- 

 ever to withdraw your ad. 



You surely would not expect to sub- 

 sidize or control a man like G. O. Shields 

 by a little advertising patronage. 



The pride of his friends is that his 

 motto, like that of the Boston Post, is, 

 "With a mission and without a muzzle." 

 Of what value are our friends if they do 

 not point out our faults, in order to pro- 

 tect us from our enemies? 



Of course, if you have other reasons 

 for withdrawing your patronage, which 

 it seems almost certain you must have, 

 it would be more manly to state them. 

 If you will read the May number of 

 Recreation you will find several other 

 makes of guns, cartridges, etc., much 

 more severely criticised than yours in the 

 letter you mention. 



I have a Winchester repeating shot gun 

 and have the same fault to find with the 

 Peters shells that Mr. Radcliff recites; 

 but I did not consider it a fault of your 

 shell particularly, because the shell was 

 not used in your gun. Naturally, the 

 Winchester people would make a shell 

 for their own gun which would work bet- 

 ter in it than those of another maker. 



I hope you will have the manliness to 

 acknowledge your fault, in the next 

 Recreation, and regain the confidence 

 of your friends throughout the country. 

 We certaiuily have patronized you so 

 largely in the past that we have con- 

 tributed in no small way to the present 

 success of your company. 



Yours truly, 

 A. J. Applegate, 

 Pres. Wichita Gun Club, 

 and Member L. A. S. 



Columbiaville, Mich., April 29, 1901. 

 Mr. J. H. McKibben, Sec'y, 



Peters Cartridge Co., 

 Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Dear Sir: — In the May number of 

 Recreation I note, with unbounded sur- 

 prise, that you have cancelled your ad- 

 vertisement in that journal. I feel safe 

 in saying you have made a mistake 

 this trip, for there are no 3 sportsmen's 

 journal published from the use of whose 

 columns a manufacturer of sporting goods 

 can derive so much benefit as he can from 

 advertisements placed in Recreation. 

 Then, too, look at the rank injustice of 

 your action. Most manufacturers like 

 honest criticism, which enables them con- 

 stantly to improve their goods; but you 

 stop your advertisement because forsooth, 

 the journal in which you advertise prints 

 a few lines from a reader who sees a 

 chance for improvement in your cart- 

 ridges. He finds they do not work just 

 right in a certain type of gun, and says 

 so. This is merely a simple statement 

 of facts and is in no way intended to dis- 

 parage the output of your company. The 

 manufacturer who hearkens to fair criti- 

 cism of articles of his make, and then 

 straightway sets about to improve them 

 is a sure winner, for all progressive 

 sportsmen will arise and call him blessed, 

 and will also hasten to buy his goods. 

 No, Mr. McKibben, your methods might 

 go in China, where the people all look 

 backward and where no progress is ever 

 made, but in America one must keep up 

 with the caravan or take chances of be- 

 ing left far behind. 



For the publisher of a magazine to 

 withhold criticism of an article simply be- 

 cause he is running an ad for the maker 

 thereof savors of unfairness to the gen- 

 eral reader. I sincerely hope Recrea- 

 tion may never become so effete and one 

 sided as to refuse to allow its subscribers 

 to express their honest convictions 

 through its pages when they so desire. 

 You would better call your action in the 

 matter a mistake and continue to adver- 

 tise in. the only magazine that can give 

 you adequate returns for your money. 

 Yours respectfully, 



A. L. Vermilya. 



Camp Hill, Pa., April 29, 1901. 



Mr. J. H. McKibben, Sec'y, 

 Peters Cartridge Co., 

 Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Dear Sir: — I have just been reading 

 the May number of Recreation, and al- 

 though I have no criticism whatever to 



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