GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH MARLIN ? 

 Washington, D. C. 



Editor Recreation: I am surprised to 

 miss from its accustomed place in our mag- 

 azine the page of our old friends the Mar- 

 lin people. Ever since I have been on your 

 list they have occupied a page — sometimes 

 more — and it seems like losing a friend to 

 miss them now. It has been a peculiar grat- 

 ification to me to read the warm words of 

 praise for the rifle of my affection, which 

 came so frequently from those who wrote 

 for your gun and ammunition department. 



Ever since '81 I have been familiar with 

 the Marlin and its popular predecessor, the 

 Ballard; and, in my humble way, I have 

 been their earnest advocate. The Marlin 

 has had so many things to commend it. 

 For example; the top of the action has al- 

 ways been closed when the weapon was 

 ready to fire; the mechanism has been 

 simple, the shape attractive and the finish 

 elegant. 



Its manufacturers were the originators of 

 the .32-40 and .38-55 cartridges, which at 

 once took first place, both as hunting and 

 target loads, and have continued to hold it. 



It has always seemed to me, the Marlin 

 planted its bullets with more force — load 

 for load — than any other repeater. 



It has been a personal pleasure to note 

 the number of Marlins that were given out 

 by Recreation as premiums, and to read 

 the enthusiastic praises of those who have 

 received them. It has always seemed to 

 be praise to me, and I have felt a personal 

 pride in it all, as if I were the inventor and 

 maker. I think all riflemen feel so, when 

 good things are said of their favorite 

 weapon. 



A hunter's weapon is his other self. He 

 cares for it far more sedulously than for 

 his body. He pats it and talks to it as a 

 rider does to his horse; and when some 

 particularly artistic shot has testified to his 

 own skill and his rifle's faithfulness, he mur- 

 murs all sorts of proud and happy things to 

 it. It is not uncommon for hunters to have 

 pet names for their rifles, and the hermit 

 of the forest feels that his weapon responds 

 to his caresses with a pride not the less in- 

 tense because it cannot be proven. 



It seems strange to us, who so long have 

 been your readers, and who, as each fresh 

 issue of our magazine came to us, would 

 turn eagerly, first of all, to the accustomed 

 Marlin page to see if our friend was still 

 there, even before- we could stop to read 

 what we were so hungry for — I say it seems 

 strange to us to miss it now. All through 

 Recreation's adolescence — while it might 



be a question whether it would live or die — 

 Marlin was there, a faithful friend. Now, 

 when the magazine has reached solid 

 ground, has a magnificent circulation and 

 has immeasurably increased in influence, 

 our old friend pulls out and abandons the 

 field to the Winchester and the Savage peo- 

 ple! It seems incredible! I cannot but be- 

 lieve it unfortunate for us all. 



There must be some reason for it which 

 I do not know; but surely a journal so 

 close to the hearts of sportsmen, and so 

 widely circulated, must be an indispensable 

 medium for manufacturers who wish to 

 touch elbows with the world. 



Be assured " The world do move," and 

 while motion continues there will be Light 

 and Darkness. He who is awake will keep 

 in the sunshine. Darkness is for sleepers. 



W. H. Nelson. 



ANSWER. 



The trouble with Marlin is simply that I 

 raised the rate on him, as on all other ad- 

 vertisers who are using Recreation. His 

 ad had been running at an old rate made 

 when I had a circulation of only 20,000 

 copies a month. His contract expired in 

 December, '98. About the time that num- 

 ber was issued, I wrote the Company call- 

 ing their attention to the fact that my rates 

 had been advanced on account of the 

 growth of circulation. I asked them to 

 pay the advanced price for their space. 

 They replied that they would not pay any 

 more for space in Recreation than they 

 were paying, and that if I insisted on the 

 advance, they would drop out. Conse- 

 quently the January number went to press 

 without their ad. They insist that I should 

 be perfectly willing to print 65,000 impres- 

 sions of their page at the same rate I 

 charged them 2 years ago, for printing 

 20,000 impressions. 



This is just as logical as if I should ask 

 them to sell me 30 rifles this year at the 

 same price they charged me for 10 similar 

 rifles in '97. 



The readers of Recreation are so thor- 

 oughly in sympathy with it that they will 

 stand by it through thick and thin. Other 

 things being equal, they will always buy 

 goods advertised in these columns in pref- 

 erence to those not so advertised, and so 

 long as the Winchester and the Savage peo- 

 ple make as good repeating rifles as any i" 

 the world, and so long as they advertise in 

 Recreation, and so long as the Marlin 

 people do not, just so long can the readers 

 of Recreation be safely counted on to buy 

 Winchester and Savage rifles. — Editor. 



