30 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 7, 1884. 



made right, and especially if the hall he hardened, five 

 inches of powder may he shot behind short bullets -without 

 danger, discomfort or want of accuracy. 



Not only may so much he shot, but for light bullets there 

 is more necessity for much powder than there is with heavy 

 ones. "With a .'40-caliber round ball the difference between 

 40 grains and 100 grains of powder, as indicated by the fall 

 of the bullet at 100 yards, is enormous. One great cause of 

 this is that the effect of the air's resistance in stopping 

 velocity is increased. As a round ball offers more resistance 

 than a ball of auy other form, and as it has less weight to 

 force its way against the air's resistance, it must be started at 

 tip top speecl in order to make a good flight for any distance 

 beyond 60 or 70 yards. Now if a heavy charge is needed to 

 give good trajectory to a round ball, it follows that the nearer 

 a hah approaches the weight of the round one the greater the 

 necessity of a heavy powder charge to maintain as far as 

 possible the startiug speed of the ball. 



It is said by some that if the heavier ball remains longer 

 in the barrel more pow T der must be burned, etc., and there- 

 fore more force obtained, etc. More force, undoubtedly, 

 because the weight of the ball is the most important factor 

 in momentum or force; but always less velocity. Other- 

 wise it would be like weighting down a racer so as to make 

 him strain his muscles more. 



Short bullets and excessive powder charges 1 consider in- 

 dispensable to a good hunting rifle. Combine these two in 

 a repeater that can be worked as rapidly as the Winchester 

 and I can see nothing more to he desired that is at all at- 

 tainable. T. S. Van Dyke. 



THE PERFORMANCE OF SHOTGUNS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I think that your correspondent, "Backwoods," has started 

 a very fruitful" theme in his communication on "The Per- 

 formance of Shotguns," in your issue of the 24th ult. My 

 experience has been that for "duck and fox shooting and all 

 long range, heavy work, the muzzleloading shotgun goes 

 far ahead of the breechloader in respect to penetration and 

 pattern. An experienced duck shooter, who shoots for the 

 Boston market in this vicinity every season, owns an arma- 

 ment of four double muzzleloading guns, ranging from eight 

 to seventeen pounds weight, and he will not use a breech- 

 loader because ineffective at his ranges. I have heard others 

 make the same criticism of the breechloader. Is it true? 

 Let us hear from those who have had experience with both 

 muzzle and breechloadiug shotguns. Paul Pastnor. 



Burlington, Vt. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In your issue of Jan. 24, "Backwoods" has asked for just 

 what' I want to know; what a shotgun will do. There are no 

 doubt a great many readers of Fohest and Stream who 

 have fired thousands of shots with breechloadiug guns, both 

 at game and the target, let them give us their experience. 



I have been greatly interested in reading "The Choice of 

 Hunting Rifles," and hope that all letters about shotguns 

 may be as plain and instructive as the letters regarding rifles 

 have been. I have sold my muzzleloading shotgun and want 

 a breechloader. I thought I would like a 12-gauge best, but 

 several of my friends who have owned and shot both 10 and 

 12-gauge, advise me to get a ten, and as I can not afford two 

 guns I would like to know which would be best for all pur- 

 poses for quail, squirrels, ducks, and other small game, and 

 if I ever should be lucky enough to go deer hunting I would 

 want to use it to shoot buckshot. 



What I would like to know most is how much further will 

 a 10-gauge kill its game thau a 12, both guns of same grade 

 and bored on same principle. For example, if a 12 will kill 

 at 40 yards, how much further would the ten kill the same 

 game? Buckeye. 



Summit Station, Ohio. 



have in possession, sell or offer for sale any wild swan, mal- 

 lard duck, wood duck, widgeon, teal, butter-ball, Ispoonbill, 

 gray, black sprigtail or canvas-back duck, shall be guilty of a 

 misdemeanor. Pravided, that any person may kill on his own 

 premises ducks or deer to protect "his growing crops. 



Sec. 5. Every person who shall, within the Territory of 

 Washington, between the first day of January and the fifteenth 

 day of August of each year, for any purpose take, kill, injure 

 or destroy, or have in possession, sell or offer for sale, any 

 prairie chicken or sage hen, shall be gmltv of a misdemeanor. 

 Sec. 6. Eveiy person who shall, within the Territory of 

 "Washington, between the first day of January and the 

 first day of August, of each year, kill, injure or destroy, 

 or have in possession, sell, or offer for sale, any grouse, pheas- 

 ant, quail or partridge, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 



Sec. 7. Every person who shall," witbin the Territory of 

 Washington, during the months of November, December, 

 January, February and March of any year, catch, kill, or 

 have in possession, sell or offer for sale, any mountain or 

 brook trout, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Every person 

 who shall, within the Territory of Washington, take, or 

 attempt to take, or catch with any seine, net, wier, or other 

 device than hook and line, any mountain, brook or bull trout, 

 at any time after the passage of this act, shall be guilty of a 

 misdemeanor. 



Sec. 8. Every person who shall, within the Territory of 

 Washington, at any time after the passage of this act, trap, 

 net or ensnare, or attempt to trap, net or ensnare any variety 

 of quail, prairie chicken, grouse or pheasant, except for the 

 purpose of propagating the same, or who shall in any county 

 east of the Cascade range of moimtains prior to year eighteen 

 hundred and eighty-seven, kill any variety of quail, shall be. 

 guilty of a misdemeanor. 



Sec. 9. Every person who shall, within the Territory of 

 Washington, atany time after the passage of this act, destroy 

 or remove from the nest of any mallard duck, widgeon, wood 

 duck, teal, butter-ball, spoonbill, gray, black, sprigtail or can- 

 vas-back duck, prairie chicken or sage hen, grouse, pheasant, 

 quail, partridge or other wildfowl any egg or eggs, or wil- 

 fully destroy the nest of any such fowls or birds, shall be guilty 

 of a misdemeanor. 



Sec. 10. Every person who shall, within the Territory of 

 Washington, have any male deer or buck, or any female 

 deer or doe, or spotted' fawn, elk, moose or mountain sheep, 

 swan, mallard duck, wood duck, widgeon, teal, butter-ball, 

 spoonbill, gray, black, sprigtail or canvas-back duck, prairie 

 chicken or sage hen, grouse, pheasant, quail, Bob White or 

 partridge, mountain or brook trout, at any time when it is 

 unlawful to take or kill the same as provided in this act, shall 

 be guilty of a misdemeanor, and proof of the possession of any 

 of the aforesaid animals, fowls, birds or fish, at any time when 

 it is unlawful to take or kill the same in the county where the 

 same game is found shall beprima facie evidence in any pro- 

 secution for a violation of this act, that the person or persons 

 in whose possession the same is found, took, killed or destroyed 

 the same in the county wherein the same is found, during the 

 period when it was unlawful to take, kill or destroy the same. 

 Sec. 11. Every person who shall, within the Territory of 

 Washington, take, Mil, shoot at, maim or destroy any mallard 

 duck, wood duck, widgeon, teal, butter-ball, spoonbill, gray, 

 black, sprigtail or canvas-back duck, at any time between the 

 hours of 8 P. M. and 5 A. M. shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

 Sec. 12. Every person who shall use any sink-box on any 

 lake or river or other waters in Washington Territory, for the 

 purpose of shooting ducks or other waterfowl therefrom, or 

 who shall use any batteries or swivel or pivot gun on boats, 

 canoes, rafts or other device at any time for the purpose of 

 killing any waterfowl within the limits of Washington Terri- 

 tory, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 



Sec. 13. Every person convicted of the violation of any of 

 the provisions of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 

 than ten dollars and not more than three hundred dollars, or 

 imprisonment in the county jail of the county where the 

 offense was committed for hot less than five days nor more 

 than three months, or both imprisonment and fine. One-half 

 of all money collected for fines for violation of the provisions 

 of this act shah* be paid to informers, and one-half to the 

 prosecuting attorney in the district in which the case is 

 prosecuted. 



Sec. 14. All acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are 

 hereby repealed. 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY GAME LAW. 



Editor Forest and stream: 



I send you copy of the new Washington Territory game 

 law, passed at the fall session of the Legislature in 1883. 

 In many respects it is admirable. The provisions conccrn- 

 ingnight shooting and sink-boxes were mainly introduced for 

 the sake of the Columbia River shooting, in which Port- 

 landers are as much interested as though the river was 

 wholly in Oregon. No sink-boxes or swivel-boxes have ever 

 yet been used on the Columbia (that is not to any extent), 

 but no one wants to have them even tried, and fearing some 

 Eastern speculators might introduce them, they have been 

 anticipated. But night shooting is quite common and very 

 pernicious. The law ought to have included swan, as the 

 night shooting is chiefly while in pursuit of them. I hope 

 the Oregon Legislature" (this fall) will adopt all the better 

 suggestions in the Washington law, and set as good an ex- 

 ample by inserting some additional features. The "pheas- 

 ant" referred to in the law will no doubt include the Mon- 

 golian pheasants, which have become quite numerous on 

 some of the islands in Fuca Straits. The canvas-back pair 

 here in the spring, and hence the necessity of protecting 

 them after April 1, which if anything is too late. March 

 15 for all would be better. E. W. B. 



Portland, Oregon, 1881. 



Following is the full text of the law: 



Section 1. Be it enacted by the legislative Assembly of the 

 Territory of Washington: That every person who shall,within 

 the Territory of Washington, between the first day of January 

 and the fifteenth day of August, from and after the passage 

 of this act, pursue, hunt, take, kill or destroy any deer or 

 fawn, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Every person 

 who, after the passage of this act, shall take, kill or destroy 

 any deer at any time unless the carcass of such animal is used 

 or preserved by the person slaying it, or is sold for food, is 

 guilty of a misdemeanor. Every person who after the passage 

 of this act, shall hunt or pursue deer with dog or dogs, 

 in the counties of Thurston, Cowlitz, Whatcom, Island or 

 Lewis, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 



Sec. 2. Every person who buys, sells, or has in possession 

 any deer or fawn within the time the taking or killing thereof 

 is prohibited, except such as are tamed or kept for show or 

 curiosity, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 



Sec. 8. Every person who shall, in the Territory of Wash- 

 ington, between the first day of January and the fifteenth 

 day of August of each year, hunt, pursue," take, kill or destroy 

 any elk, moose or mountain sheep, shall be guilty of a misde- 

 meanor. Every person who takes , kills, injures or destroys, 

 or pursues with intent to take, kill, injure or destroy any elk, 

 moose or mountain sheep, at any time for the sole purpose of 

 obtaining the skin, hide, hams or antlers of any such animal, 

 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 



Sec. 4. Every person who shall, within the Territory of 

 Washington, between the first day of April and the fifteenth 

 day of August of each year, take, kill, injure or destroy, or 



Sagadahoc County Association.— Bath, Me., Fell. 1. 

 — The annual meeting of the Sagadahoc Association for the 

 Protection of Fish and Game, was held in this city on the 

 evening of the 29th ult., and the following officers were 

 elected: Dr. Chas. A. Packard, President; A. Q. Gond 

 and James H. Mil lay, Vice-Presidents. Executive Com- 

 mittee— S. W. Carr, A. Q. Gond, Geo. H. Nichols, Dr. E. 

 W. Johnson and A. S. Alexander. Geo. E. Newman, 

 Secretary and Treasurer. A special committee was chosen 

 to take such measures as they might deem proper to prose- 

 cute violators of our fish and game laws. The public senti- 

 ment in regard to the necessity of a rigid enforcement of 

 the fish and game laws is growing every day in this vicinity, 

 and we trust ere long the destruction" of our game during 

 the close season will come to an end. 



THE STRICKEN TROUT. 



BENEATH a thnescarr'd oak, whose leafy boughs 

 Still in its age, when summer's sun beats down 

 In heat of day, throw grateful shade above 

 A grassy mound that slopes down to the brook, 

 Just where a little rill, with gurgling sound, 

 Creeps through the tangled grass, on further side, 

 To reach a deep, dark pool, an angler stands 

 In cautious silence, and with bated breath, 

 With rod, and reel, and line of braided silk, 

 Endtip'd with gut and trimm'd with cl osen flies, 

 In hand uplifted for a skillful cast. 

 With circling glance his eye takes in the field 

 Of pastures fresh, where feed the luscious trout, 

 Who dine not always at the stroke of twelve: 

 But rising from their pebbly beds they seize 

 The luckless insects floating down the stream, 

 And straightway turn to hiding-place again. 

 The east is made, and swiftly through the air, 

 With whistliDg sound, the feather'd hooks disport 

 Their gaudy wings, in life-like flutt'ring play, 

 Upon the glist'ning surface of the pool, 

 Above the place where, half embosom'd lies 

 A mossy log, low stretched across the way, 

 And deep below the darken'd waters glide, 

 With noiseless murm'ring, o'er then- oozy bed. 

 Scarce settled they upon the liquid board, 

 When swirling water, and a silv'ry gleam, 

 Sure indicates the game at hand; but haste 

 To seize the lure thus temptingly displayed, 

 Made failure, and invites another cast. 

 The line recovered, now sweeps hack and forth, 

 And glitt'ring wings flit gaily through the air, 



As almost motionless the angler stands, 

 With steady nerve, and eye fixed on the spot 

 Where he again would spread the fatal cloth 

 To tempt this monster trout; or, if. perchance, 

 Through gallantry, should he permit his mate 

 To choose the gaudiest fly, ere he should taste 

 What seems provision for their midday meal, 

 Alas for her! A splash, the water boils. 

 And centric circles, lapping on each shore 

 As tiny wavelets, break upon the sand, 

 And leave no trace of that which went before. 

 With magic thrill the anglerfeels his rod 

 Bend gently through the tightening line, that cleaves 

 With hissing sound the water's darken'd depth. 

 And strains the lancewood tip, as if 'twould break 

 The slender thing in twain ; the reel, meantime, 

 Yields up its silken cord, as now the trout 

 Turns to his lair, and seeks a safe retreat. 

 Where he may gorge the dainty morsel caught, 

 And plurne his speckl'd sides on slimy stone. 

 With gentle strike the fish is fairly hooked, 

 And feels the sting that fastens in his mouth 

 The strange device, that seemed a living thing, 

 Born but for a day of life's fitful dream. 

 Whose dawn is sunshine, but whose eve is death. 

 Alas! the fatal strike; 'tis now revealed, 

 That barbed steel was hid beneath the fold 

 Of Kings, by man so cunningly devised; 

 And what seemed fair to eat at once, now shows 

 That joys delusive may be robed in gold, 

 Which glitters but to tantalize with pain. 

 In wild affright, the fish around the pool 

 Darts furiously, and, finding no relief, 

 Leaps high into the air, as if to spew 

 From out his mouth the tinseled, cheating bait, 

 That to his hungry eyes has proved deceit. 

 Now sulks he low, to nurse awhile his wrath, 

 Which waxes fiercer as the fight goes on; 

 Then, like an arrow from the bended bow. 

 He shoots athwart the stream to yonder rock, 

 Beneath whose shelt'ring ledge he fain would find 

 Some friendly hand to loose from out his jaw 

 The cruel hook, that tears his quiv'ring fiesh, 

 Or snap the gut that joins it to the line. 

 Despairing now, in agony he flies 

 From out the pool, and seeks yet to escape 

 Adown the rapid's rough and rocky way, 

 Which leads into a deep and dang'rous hole. 

 Where logs and roots oft hid the lurking (rout. 

 And fain would shelter one in saddest plight, 

 Who, stricken with the angler's fatal lure, 

 Now strives witU all his might to reach alive, 

 In spite of rod and reel and silk to boot. 

 But fate yet lingers in the captor's hand. 

 Whose rapid footsteps, though they often sink 

 Deep into miry holes along the bank, 

 Keep with him apace, as, o'er brush and brake. 

 Deftly he bears the bending rod and keeps 

 Taut line on flying captive, lest the hook. 

 From loosened hold, should backward empty fiy, 

 To his disgust, and let the fish go free. 

 The angler's quick-discerning eye detects 

 His victim's last resort, and how to check 

 This downward, mad'ning flight, and save the game, 

 Takes but a moment's thought. On further side, 

 Below a little spur of bank, he sees 

 The current eddying flow, where neither rock 

 Nor log can shield the trout, or rend in twain 

 The thread-like line that quivers in the air. 

 And, plunging in the stream, he wades adown 

 The rapid's fitful rush, while tip of rod, 

 In graceful modesty, stoops low to kiss 

 Its master's hand. The weary, stricken t rout 

 Accepts the cunning ruse as for his good, 

 A resting place at last to find, where he 

 May strength by time regain, while quickly now 

 The angler, reeling up his line, seeks yet 

 To turn the fish's head up stream, that he 

 May still another chance for life try on, 

 And in the further struggle spend his strength, 

 So much exhausted. Gaining now the bank 

 At point below, he gently leads the trout 

 From out beneath the shelving bank, where hg 

 With panting breath in moody silence lay, 

 In hopes that he may take the rapids back 

 To pool above. The strategy succeeds ; 

 And click of reel and swift out-paying line 

 Bu* lengthens out to him life's anxious span 

 One short moment longer. Oh. precious time ! 

 How sweet to him, who fain would linger yet 

 Upon the shore of that dark, flowing tide 

 That bears the soul ;nto eternity. 

 With nerve and muscle strained to utmost pitch, 

 The victim leaps amid the stream, and cleaves 

 The singing waters with his angry tail, 

 In one more desperate lunge for liberty. 

 But, no; the slack'ning line foretells the close 

 Of this unequal strife. The angler now 

 Plies rapidly his reel, through whose recoil 

 The fish and fisher come to closer terms, 

 And gleaming in the sun, on ripples' crest, 

 The stricken beauty yields to greater odds, 

 And ere he is aware, the treach'rous net, 

 A captive lands him gasping on the sand. 

 Canandaigua. N. Y. C. T. .Mitchel, M. D. 



MATERIALS FOR FLY-RODS. 



IN the hope that your readers may give their experiments, 

 I send the following as a beginning, simply suggesting to 

 those who canto give also the breaking strain. Two sticks 

 of the same length, four feet, were used, one lancewood 

 and the other bcthabara wood. One end was held in a vise 

 and the other fastened to a spring scale. They were drawn 

 six inches from the natural line and so held five minutes, 

 after releasing the curvature from the natural line was 

 taken. 



Size. Weight. Power required. Curvature. 



Lancewood % square. 1 lb. 1 oz. 8 lbs. ^ inch. 



Bethabara 13-16" square, 1 lb. 4 oz. 9 lbs. 14 oz. % inch. 



Judging from the above, and allowing the breaking strain 

 to be equal, I should prefer a rod of bethabara wood. The 

 extra weight would be equalized by its greater life, and so 

 may be made smaller. R. H, Dixon. 



