70 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



THE INTERNATIONAL RIFLE MATCH. 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 



Devoted to Field and Aquatic Sports, Ph actio ai. Natural History, 

 Fish Culture, the Protkction op Game, Preservation of Forests, 

 and the Inculcation in Men and Women of a Healthy Interest 

 in Out-Door Recreation and Study: 



PUBLISHED BY 



forest and Jf/raw? ffubtishing ^ontpami. 



— AT— 



No. Ill (old No. 103) FULTON STREET, NEW YORK. 



[Post Office Box 2832.] 



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NEW YOKE, THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1877. 



To Correspondents. 



AH communications whatever, intended for publication, must be ac- 

 eompanied with real name of the writer as a guaranty of good faith, 

 and be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Company. 

 Names will not be published if objection be made. No anonymous con- 

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1&~ Trade supplied by American News Company. 

 CHAItLES JTAIXOCK, Editor. 



T. C. BANKS, S. H. TURRILL, Chicago, 



Business Manager. Western Manager. 



CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE COMING 

 WEEK. 



Friday, Aug. 31.— Trotting : Cambridge, 111 ; Parker City, Pa ; Ilart- 

 ford, Conn ; Oskaloosa, la ; Macomb, 111; Hudson, Mich. Baseball: 

 Hartford ire Louisville, at Brooklyn ; Chicago vs Star, at Syracuse ; In- 

 dianapolis vs Chelsea of Brooklyn, at Paterson ; Live Oak vs Manches- 

 ter, at Lynn ; Jefferson vs Star of Greenwich, at Brooklyn, E D. Creed- 

 moor : Infantry ; 2d Brig, 1st Div. Regatta of the Newburg Rowing 

 Association. 



Saturday, Sep. 1.— Trotting : Macomb and Hudson, as above. Base 

 ball: Cincinnati vs Boston, at Boston ; Louisville vs Hartford, at Brook- 

 lyn ; Indianapolis vs Chelsea of Brooklyn, at Paterson ; Star of Green- 

 ville vs Chelsea, at Greenville, J C. 



Monday, Sep. 3.— Base ball : Cincinnati vs Hartford, at Brooklyn ; In- 

 dianapolis vs Auburn, at Auburn: Live Oak vs Rhode Island, at Provi- 

 dence ; Dansville vs Rochester, at Dansvillle, N. Y. Bench Show of 

 dogs, Music Hall, Boston. 



Tuesday, Sep. 4.— Trotting ; St Petersburg, Pa ; Quincy, 111 ; Mystic 

 Park, Boston ; Quincy, 111 ; Amenia, N Y. Base ball : St Louis vs Bos- 

 ton, at Boston ; Chicago vs Hartford, at Brooklyn. Iowa Field Trials. 

 Hampton, la, Dog Show, as above. 



Wednesday, Sep. 5.— Trotting as above, and at Davenport, la. Base 

 ball : Live Oaks vs St Louis, at Lynn. Dog Show as above. Miniature 

 Yacht Regatta, Gowanus Bay. 



Thursday, Sep. 6.— Trotting as above. Base ball ; St Louis vs Bos- 

 ton ; Chicago vs Hartford, at Brooklyn. 



Second Regiment -Connecticut National Guard.— This, 

 the crack regiment of the " Wooden Nutmeg State," began its 

 annual encampment at Gregory's Point, South Norwalk, Mon- 

 day, August 27th. We are in receipt of an invitation to be 

 present, which we shall avail ourselves of. Col. Smith has 

 our hearty thanks for this and other favors previously be- 

 stowed.— Ed. 



. .#, -. 



—We had the pleasure of a call yesterday from Mr. W. H. 

 Roberts, of New Orleans, Editor of the Times, avIio is on his 

 return home from Newport and Saratoga with the expectation 

 of finding a cooler climate. Mr. Roberts is a genial Southern 

 gentleman and a thorough and enthusiastic sportsman. We 

 acknowledge our indebtedness to him for the many courtesies 

 extended, and trust to meet him again, when his visit may be 

 more extended. 



THE arrival of the British Team will give the American 

 marksmen an opportunity to judge of what sort of stuff 

 their competitors are made, who they are, and what may be 

 expected of them ; and the first impression which strikes a 

 critical observer of the visitors and their manner of procedure 

 is, that they have come to win. They arc not tbe junketing, 

 speech-making, merry-witted friends whom we have had with 

 ns in former years, nor do they come boasting of what great, 

 feats they can and will show us. They simply say, " We will 

 do our best ;" and, as they represent the pick of a great nation, 

 where for seventeen years or more the finer grades of target 

 practice have been most assiduously cultivated, it is but fair 

 to suppose that their skill is of no mean order, as their expe- 

 rience certainly is not. In place of enjoying the pleasures of 

 town life, they at once proceed to isolate themselves from 

 all those seductive influences which might tend to interfere 

 with that perfect state of eye and head and hand ; in short, 

 that general healthfulness without which rifle shooting be- 

 comes the merest matter of chance. The greatest pleasure, 

 the most exquisite enjoyment which our visitors can expe- 

 rience, is not to be met in the rounds of excursions, fetes, 

 receptions, and such, but would be realized in a leading score 

 at the conclusion of the second day's work iu the great rifle 

 match. They do not forget that their errand across the seas 

 is to shoot, and if possible win in a great battle before the 

 butts. This single purpose is kept steadily in view, and every 

 move of that veteran shot and thoroughly posted marksman, 

 Sir Henry Halford, is leading to one goal— victory. 



For our American marksmen, and particularly those who 

 are especially charged with the successful carrying out of the 

 International Match, these facts and indications are suggestive. 

 They mean that the very best endeavor only is to be brought 

 forward if th» honors of victory are once more to rest with 

 our home teams. If, after the series of successes which were 

 ours in the days of our infancy as long-range shooters, a dis- 

 astrous second place should now be our lot, it will need a deal 

 of explanation to show that it was not the result of some 

 militating cause which might have been removed had sufficient 

 care and forethought been exercised. When one of America's 

 crack shots, if not the crack shot of America, declares his 

 ability to pick a second team, able to whip the present selected 

 champions, it certainly is that the field of choice is broad 

 enough to enable a proper and discriminative selection to be 

 made. We are not now in the position in which we were less 

 than half a dozen years ago,wheiiit was with difficulty that any 

 team at all could be secured ; now we may sort and reject, may 

 test and try, and hold fast to that which is good. If the eight 

 men, who are nominally at this writing the American Team of 

 1877, think, or a majority of them think, that their effective- 

 ness as the exponents of American marksmanship can be 

 added to by a change of personnel, it should be made without 

 scruple, and those who step down and out should be actuated 

 by a sufficiency of patriotism, of sportsmanlike qualities, to 

 acknowledge that others are better than thej r , and rejoice with 

 us all, and the victory they have hastened by the opportunity 

 afforded others of doing well. 



The coming match, w r e doubt not, so far as the riflemen and 

 rifle managers are concerned, will be fought out in a full, open 

 and above-board manner. It is one of the peculiarities of the 

 sport of the rifle range, like that of the field and stream, that 

 its tendencies are elevating. It demands a healthy body and 

 necessarily induces a vigorous mental and moral growth. 

 There is no royal road to big scores, and one who would en- 

 joy the satisfaction of heading the list in a long-range match 

 must be a genius under the definition of a prominent writer, 

 who defines: "Genius is only the infinite capacity of taking 

 trouble." Sir Henry Halford is endowed with a fair portion of 

 this capa city, and he is certainly taking trouble to keep his 

 men in good trim and form, that they in turn may be able to 

 trouble themselves to good account with the intricacies 

 of Creedmoor winds. 



The American riflemen East and West, North and South, will 

 be happy to welcome their friends and antagonists from across 

 the sea. The coming battle is the more important,as it is 

 fought under those modified conditions respecting choice of 

 team which England sought to impose upon the donors of the 

 Centennial trophy at the match of 1876. To defeat ||is team 

 is to gain a victory over what England and the National Rifle 

 Association have united in acknowledging as the strongest 

 team the United Kingdom can produce. Some are fearful 

 for the hurtful effects of such a success in keeping the rifle- 

 men of other nations away from our champions and the wind- 

 up of international matches ; but we misjudge the character 

 and spirit of the riflemen of Ireland and of Scotland, and of 

 Sir Henry and his men, if we think of them as sitting tamely 

 down under defeat. Being fairly overcome, it will b^ their 

 policy— if they are the true sportsmen we take them— to ac- 

 quire the method of their conquerors, and by sheer hard work 

 woo victory under their banners. 



In any event, the general public may rest assured that in 

 witnessing this match they will see a fine display of nerve, of 

 ripe judgment guiding trained muscles, and as they shout 

 plaudits to the victors, be assured that they are giving honor 

 to whom honor is due. 



That Hvsband of Mink, published by Lee & Shepard, of 

 Boston, is one of the most interesting little sketches it has 

 been our fortune to peruse. It is almost a necessity in the 

 household circle which possesses Helen's Babies. Vl e think 

 we have met Charlie before, and Elsa,— well, w " are aoi S ^Y 

 where her prototype is to be found. 



/^\NEof the most important desiderata connected with the 

 ^-^ life of one who tries to study nature is the faculty of 

 noticing little things which escape the observation of ordinary 

 people. This is, to a great extent, the secret, of the success 

 of many naturalists and scientific men, and is, in fact, one 

 key which opens the doors of Fame to many of our eminent 

 nun in whatever channel their talents run. But it is more 

 especially an essential to the successful study of natural his- 

 tory. Audubon was remarkable in this reaped, as well as in 

 regard to his memory and eyesight. A story is told of how 

 he once, when with a friend on one of his favorite tramps 

 through the woods, called the attention of bis companion to 

 a bird a great way off, and scarcely visible to I lie eye of his 

 friend, but which Audubon immediately recognized by its 

 movements and coloring, giving the genus and species, and 

 marveling at his friend's hick of vision. This was, however, 

 with Audubon a natural endowment, but his fame was es- 

 pecially increased by the accurate and detailed accounts he 

 gives of the habits of the birds he figures so grandly. 



There are countless little incidents which happen to us 

 every day, most of which pass unnoticed, yet many of them, 

 if followed up even in thought, might disclose useful and 

 pleasing subjects for study. Transfer this to the woods, ami 

 there ceases to be a limit to the important conclusions to 

 which a little thing may lead, if caref ufly observed and fol- 

 lowed up. It is this habit of close observation that decides 

 the relations of cause to effect, and aids us in understanding 

 the most intricate, as well as the most simple points in the 

 Natural Sciences. 



We invariably find that he is the most successful hunter 

 who imderstands what effect the various states of the weather 

 ha* upon the game he pursues ; who understands where the 

 ducks or geese will feed when the wind is in the north ; what 

 chances of success present themselves when a stiff, westerly 

 breeze is blowing, and so forth. So must he who desires to 

 study Natural History cultivate habits of careful observation 

 of minute facts. 



An example occurs to us in a little incident of our own ex- 

 perience. We were one day last spring on an ornithological 

 expedition. A pair of crows attracted our notice on a tree 

 near an incipient nest. We had seated ourselves to rest, and 

 while listlessly watching their actions, their movements soon 

 arrested our closer attention, and we then noticed, for tbe 

 first time, that they used green twigs, as well as the dead 

 ones, in the construction of their nest, and to secure the for- 

 mer would wrench the smaller branches from the tree-tops, 

 using their strong beak for the purpose. On the same day, 

 while watching the movements of a fish-hawk repairing her 

 nest for the coming season, we observed that frequently she 

 would sweep to the ground, and skimming slowly, rise asrain, 

 and lly directly to the nest. Upon continued and close ob- 

 servation she was seen to seize, each time she reached the 

 ground, a sod or bunch of grass, and without stopping her 

 flight, bear the object away. One of these observations was 

 accidental, the other the result of our first experience with tbe 

 crows. 



To arrive at definite conclusions we must have facts, and 

 facts which are drawn from careless or cursory observations 

 are, to say the least, unreliable. Another point which should 

 be impressed upon the young observer is the importance of 

 putting on paper all data as soon as possible after their acquisi- 

 tion. 



We are in almost daily receipt of communications contain- 

 ing questions about birds and animals whose descriptions are 

 so meager that it is sometimes difficult to tell whether the bird 

 is a blue-jay or a foolish guillemot; whether the animal be 

 muskrat or silver-fox. Amateur naturalists or persons who 

 take sufficient interest in natural history to send questions con- 

 cerning their observations should make their inquiries more 

 specific. An indispensable thing is a pencil and note-book. 

 In this connection we refer the reader to a pleasing communi- 

 cation in another column, a translation from Pliny, which can 

 be read now so many hundred years after its author's life with 

 great Interest, and profit. Let observations be recorded with 

 all possible detail of time,, place, and so on ; these copied in 

 ink as soon as convenient. 



Aside from their practical value, one who has never tried it 

 can scarcely realize how the interest derived in after years 

 from looking back to past enjoyments is enhanced by bavins 

 these data, kernels of pleasure which were garnered long ago" 

 and which bring more_ forcibly to the memory the dimmed and 

 dimming past. 



Changes at the New York Aquakioi.— We learn with 

 regret that Mr. W. C. Coup, the founder and deservedly pop- 

 ular manager of the Aquarium, has sold his interest in this in- 

 stitution, and has retired from its management. His partner, 

 Mr. Reiche, having purchased his interest, is now the sole 

 proprietor. 



Students, naturalists and the public generally will particu- 

 larly regret that the new management has abolished the de- 

 partment of fish culture formerly so ably presided over by Mr. 

 Fred Mather, and that instead of having an expert to illus- 

 trate, explain and experiment in this important branch, eggs 

 will have lo take their chances and gravid fish will struggle in 

 iuexperieneed hands. Besides tbe interest attached to this de- 

 partment, it was made of practical use in stocking public. 

 waters, having distributed nearly 100,000 salmon to the waters 

 of New Jersey, Long Island, Greenwood Lake and the Adi- 

 rondaeks, besides the interesting experiments with skate? 

 squid and other eggs. 



Mr, R. ,1. Edgar, the well-known treasurer, also retire*, 



