£04 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 10, 1884. 



bOMETniNG About the Ofopsxm.— 1 have closely watched 

 the habits of opossums and have discoveied some interesting 

 traits concerning them. On one occasion a large male opos- 

 sum was captured in a trap set for rabbits. On Jilting the 

 lid the animal was found to be curled up and apparently 

 asleep. When disturbed it slowly raised its head, opened 

 its mouth, and in this position awaited coming events, 

 although it did not offer to bite. In about five minutes it 

 closed its mouth, slowly restored its head to a more com- 

 fortable position, and closed one eye as if a single optic was 

 enough to note what was transpiring. On being roughly 

 handled it opened its mouth widely and made a low hissing 

 sound, but did not uncoil its body. Although the animal 

 undoubtedly realized that it was" a prisoner, it seemingly 

 had no fear of death, as it made no effort to escape, although 

 entirely uninjured. After waiting an hour and seeing no 

 signs of feigning death, I left the door of the box-trap open, 

 and walked off some distance where 1 could see the trap and 

 be unnoticed by the animal. In about five minutes the 

 'possum yawned, stretched its limbs, and then standing up 

 took a survey of the surroundings and walked away. 1 ran 

 toward it, when it quickened its pace, but I overtook it and 

 seized it by the tail, when it crouched down, partially coiled 

 its body and extended its jaws. When I threatened to vio- 

 lently strike it (without doing so, however), its head slowly 

 sank down, its eyes closed, its breathing was affected, and 

 the condition of the body indicated a temporary paralyza- 

 tion through fear producing temporary unconsciousness. I 

 have made scores of experiments of reviving opossums 

 when apparently dead by a sprinkle of cold water, and it 

 always restored them to consciousness, having the same 

 effect as on a human being in a fainting fit. The opossum 

 is lazy and timid, and not as intelligent as the otter, raccoon, 

 muskrat or marmot, and in my opinion its habit of feigning 

 death is more attributable to fear than cunning.— Naturalist, 

 %n Oermantoicn TeleguipJi. 



» 



THE PERFORMANCE OF SHOTGUNS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In the remarks of correspondents on the "Performance of 

 Shotguns," 1 find nothing as yet to settle the question as to 

 what is the proper bore for shotguns, as each man has his 

 particular size. I have used shotguns for the past twenty 

 years, including muzzleloaders from 10 to 20-bore, 

 and breechloaders from 10 to 16-bore, and my choice, 

 first, last and all the time, is a 10-bore breechloader. 

 Using " Westley V argument regarding wads, if a 12 is better 

 than a 10-bore. why is not a 14, 16 or 20-bore better than a 12. 

 • "Algonquin" says a 12-bore need not wei°h over 7+ 

 pounds, and a 10-bore should weigh 9 or 10+ pounds. I see 

 no necessity for a 10-bore to weigh over 8£ pounds. He also 

 says, if you tie the 10-bore down to 3 drams of powder and 1\ 

 ounces shot, it will be simply nowhere. Now, if he will tie 

 the 12 bore down to the proper charge for a 20-bore, the 12- 

 bore will be in about the same place as the 10. My opinion 

 is that guns of the same dimensions do not always require 

 the same charge to get the best results. The proper charge 

 can only be determined by experimenting with that particu- 

 lar gun. 



Iwould sayto "Westley" that the number of wads used over 

 the powder depends much on the length of the shell and the 

 chamber of the gun. If the shell fills the chamber, one wad 

 that will not blow to pieces will answer, but in my experi- 

 ence I find that the best wads will sometimes do this, and 

 therefore I use two. If the chamber is longer than the shell, 

 enough wadding should be used so that the forward end of 

 the wad will enter the proper bore of the barrel before the 

 back part leaves the shell, or there will be an escape of gas 

 past the wad into the shot, which will be detrimental to the 

 performance of the gun. As for target, my idea is to have a 

 gun make an even pattern with good penetration, even if it 

 docs not put as many shot in the specified circle. 



S. S. W. 



Osborn Hollow, BF, Y., March 20. 1864. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As so many of your readers are giving their views as to 

 the proper size gun and right charge for different size game, 

 I thought an experience of 25 years might help to solve the 

 problem. For quail I use a 12-bore hammerless, cylinder 

 bore, length of barrels 24 inches, charge 2^ dramsof fine 

 grain powder, and £ of an ounce of No. 8 shot. Sportsmen 

 will agree with me that 8 shots out of 10 are made in cover, 

 when snap shooting is necessary. With a close shooting 

 gun in such places the result is either a miss or the bird is 

 torn into fragments. At 20 to 25 yards with my guu 1 can 

 count on better results than with a close-shooting gun. The 

 above is strictly a quail gun. 



I use a bO-inch round barrel, cylinder and left ban-el 

 full choke, 14 bore. 6-pound gun for snipe and dove shoot- 

 ing. We bait about one to two acres of ground with wheat 

 in March when the doves assemble in large flocks, and after 

 a few days a party of five or six take stands around the 

 field and shoot them, as many as 500 per day. For snipe 

 and dove you want a closer shooting gun than 24-inch barrels, 

 charge same as No. 12-24, with this difference— use for 

 snipe No. 10 shot, and for doves No. 7. For larger game it 

 has been a question with me whether a 12-borc, 32-inch, im- 

 pound, cylinder bore gun will not kill as far as a No. 10, 10- 

 pound, 32-inch gun. 



The only advantage I find in large bore guns is, it gives a 

 larger killing circle. It will not kill further. For such a 

 gun, .12-32-9+, Iwould use 4 drams of coarse powder and 

 ±i ounces of lead. The object in using fine grain powder 

 in short barrels is that it burns faster and you get greater 

 initial velocity. In longer barrels coarser powder has time 

 to burn and has more staying power. The above sizes and 

 charges I find sufficient to kill clean (not wound) and that 

 is all a sportsman wants; besides, economy is not to be 

 despised. 



The above is for those who can afford to keep an arm suit- 

 able for every kind of game ; but to those who must make one 

 gun do the work of three I think there is no better gun than 

 tlie 12-bore, 30-iuch barrels, 8* pounds, right bored cylinder, 

 left full choked. The charge for such a gun will vary as 

 the size ot game demands. The extreme loading of such a 

 gun would be with me: For deer, bear and ducks, 3| drams 

 powder, 1£ ounces lead; for bird shooting, 2-J drams powder, 

 | ounce lead. The above is based on twenty-five years' prac- 

 tice in field, extending over fifteen years of carefully con- 

 ducted experiments at target to get best results as to distri- 

 bution and penetration, striving to get the best and most 



economical charge that would do clean work, and without a 

 foolish waste of ammunition. I haver never yet seen a 

 cholvebore gun that would shoot the larger sizes (6s to buck) 

 Shot well. In my opinion cylinder bore guns will shoot 

 from 6s up to buck better than chokes. " Sportsman. 

 Columbus, Ga., March 23. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In reply to "Tinker's" inquiry in regard to sight on rear 

 of three-barrel gun, Iwould advise him to get a Lyman sight 

 fitted to it. It will have to be short on account of drop of 

 stock. The shot barrels of my Baiter gun put 90 per cent. 

 actual count of No. 4 shot, chilled, in a 24-inch circle at 30 

 yards. Out of 164 shot in the Joad, l£ ounces, it put in the 

 circle 149, and besides this it put 30 of them through one 

 inch of pitch pine lumber. It will average obout 145 with 

 coarse powder. This guu is 10, 30-inch, 9} pounds. If those 

 tube shells will do 50 per cent, better work than common 

 ones, as one of your correspondents says, why don't some one 

 make them? I find by loading one-half coarse and one-half 

 fine ducking powder I can get good pattern with increased 

 penetration, putting the coarse powder in first. M. 



Hastings, la., March 31. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Some time since an idea struck me that by a peculiar way 

 of putting in the shot a strange result might be expected. 1 

 tried it and thereby succeeded inputting No. 6 through an 

 inch pine board at forty yards. This was the modus oper- 

 andi? 1 used the usual powder 'charge, then one pink-edged 

 wad pressed down, then another pushed in the shell an eighth 

 of an inch, then a single layer of shot, then a wad of thin 

 blotting paper. Push shot down further and then place 

 another layer of shot evenly distributed, then more blotting 

 paper, until you have put in an ounce. Complete by push- 

 ing all down steadily. I tired two charges only, with the 

 above result, and gave up, as the shot bunched. But per- 

 haps some cute, persevering sportsman may work something 

 tangible out of this idea and give us the benefit of it. 



Pioton, Ont. R. P. J. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I use for a field gun a Remington double-barrel breech - 

 loading shotgun, model of 1882. 12-bore, 30 inches, 8f 

 pounds, full choke. Experience has taught me to load as 

 follows: 3$ drams Dupont's chokebore powder, one of 

 Eley's thick felt wads, one ounce of shot, and ODe thin card- 

 board wad. This way of load in <r gives good satisfaction; 

 still it is not perfection. J. C. Y. 



Washington, Mich. 



A MEMORY. 



\JU ITHTN my cosy room, nothing meets the eye but bright 

 vt and cheerful things. Outside how different; the 

 ground is covered with snow; the arctic wind howls dis- 

 mally around the corners of the house, rattling the doors 

 and windows in trying to gain admittance; and the rain is 

 unceasing, freezing the moment it reaches the ground. The 

 trees are encased in ice, presenting to an eye unaccustomed 

 to the sight, beauties of strange and fantastic forms. It does 

 not interest me. The moaning wind has carried my thoughts 

 back to a most successful duck hunt which commenced Nov. 

 15, 1882, and ended tbc following evening. I will try to 

 give the particulars. 



Our party had been anxiously awaiting a flight of wild 

 fowl. A few had taken possession of the bayous, lakes, 

 sloughs and ponds, but not in .sufficient numbers to warrant 

 a good bag. Each day, how T ever, added to their numbers; 

 but it was not until we saw Gen. Hazen's "off shore" signal 

 hoisted, indicating a norther, that we commenced to arrange 

 matters. Sure enough that night, Nov. 14, a norther came 

 out, blowing with unusual severity, and lowering the tem- 

 perature to near the freezing poiut. 



Next evening found the norther considerably abated, game 

 flying in abundance, and our party on the wharf eager to be 

 off. Finally, everything being arranged we weighed anchor, 

 and, under the influence of the still brisk wind, skipped 

 merrily along toward Caronkaway, West Bay. 



Caronkaway takes its name from an extinct tribe of Indians, 

 who, in former days, made it their fishing headquarters. 

 Nothing remains to indicate their camping grounds but 

 immense piles of oyster shells, remnants of former feasts. 

 Occasionalby upon removing these, one comes upon a bone 

 knife or arrow head. 



We arrived at our destination just as the sun sank to rest 

 behind a bank of purple clouds, lighting the sky most beauti- 

 fully. We anchored in about four feet of water under the 

 lee of the land. This protected us most effectually, and as 

 the yacht swung to her moorings we found we were in most 

 comfortable quarters. Arriving too late to take advantage 

 of the magnificent evening shooting, we consoled ourselves 

 by making the cabin as comfortable as possible, and, amid 

 clouds of tobacco smoke, each related past experiences. In 

 this way time flew by. About 10 o'clock the Captain re- 

 marked, "Time to turn in, boys," aud we took the hint 



1 was awakened the next morning by voices on deck and 

 feeling the yacht pitching uneasily. Upon dressing and 

 joining the others, 1 found, to my chagrin, that they had had 

 coffee and were "fixing up." When 1 asked why they had 

 permitted me to sleep, they replied, "Well, you see you 

 looked so sweet, and your nasal organ was giving vent to 

 such euphonious chords, we thought it a sin to disturb you. " 



As we "piled" into the tender, previous to pulling ashore, 

 we were aware that daylight was fast approaching." Things 

 could be seen but indistinctly. 



We had accomplished about half the distance between the 

 yacht aud shore, when the Captain frantically grabbed his 

 sides and exclaimed : "Oh! my ammunition!" He had left his 

 belt in the cabin. Here was another delay, but it took the 

 laugh off my shoulders, and I was glad it occurred. 



We reached shore at last, and alter making the tender fast 

 each sought a stand. I took one I had occupied on a pre- 

 vious occasion and waited in silence. The faint reports 

 borne across the bay from Galveston Lsland, seemed to warn 

 me that I would soon have my hands full. A deafening 

 report from behind attracted my attention, and almost 

 before I had time to turn, a flock of swiltly moving objects 

 were up»n me. I fired, and had the satisfaction of bringing 

 down three. I was eager to know what they were, but I 

 had no time to bring them in, for a bunch of "teal immedi- 

 ately claimed my attention. On they came, and just as they 

 got to me I rose. Upon seeing me they bunched, which gave 

 me an excellent opportunity of pouring in both barrels. I 

 got eleven. Three consecutive shots at single sprigs were 

 next missed in beautiful style. I began to think that if I 

 wanted to equal my three friends, whose guns were popping 



incessantly, I'd better wait for flocks; in them I did more 

 execution. After a while, however, I did better. 



A lull in the flight gave me an opportunity to bring in my 

 birds. The three killed by the first shot I fired were, much 

 to my satisfaction, canvas-backs. 



Suddenly the guns of my companions became active, and, 

 although 1 could see flock after Bock flv over the stands, not 

 a leather came my way. 1 began to get discouraged, and 

 had almost concluded to go to the yacht, when suddenly an 

 immense flock of mallards flew directly over mefroin" be- 

 hind. To raise my gun and fire both barrels was but the 

 work of a moment, I killed two. and, as in my estimation 

 they are the most beautiful of all the duck family. I took 

 great pleasure in handling them. I am speaking, of 'course, 

 ot the greenhead. 



Finally, the ducks, as if tired of being made targets of, 

 took to the bay; and I, feeling pretty hungry, followed them; 

 first, however, counting up "twenty -three birds, 1 thought 

 my eleven teal would give me the advantage of my three 

 companions in numbers, but I was mistaken. Together they 

 had sixty -seven, added to my twenty-three, makes the total 

 bag ninety. Not bad. 



So ended the hunt. We pulled to the yacht, and. as we 

 partook of a splendid breakfast, we discussed the incidents 

 of the morning. Nemo (of Texas). 



Franklin, March 8, 1894. 



MR. CONGER EXPLAINS. 



Tellowstoxe National Pabk. i 

 Office of the Superintendent, V 



Mammoth Hot Springs, Wy. T., March 28, 1884 J 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



My attention has been called to an editorial in the Forest 

 and Stream of March 13, on the subject of the Yellow- 

 stone Park. My astonishment was great, to find that so 

 great and enterprising a journal as the Foiucst and Stream, 

 devoted exclusively to kindred subjects to the National Park, 

 should have misconstrued the law' on that subject. By con- 

 sulting the law, you will discover that the superintendent is 

 in no manner responsible for the appointment of his assist- 

 ants. You will then read with a new meaning the extract 

 which you were pleased to quote from one of my letters to 

 the Secretary of the Interior, in regard to my assistants. 



Secretary* Teller does us but tardy justice when, in his 

 letter transmitting my correspondence with the Department 

 to the United States Senate, on the subject of the Paik, he 

 candidly admits that the superintendent and his assistants 

 were powerless, under existing law, to enforce the orders and 

 rules of the Department for the government of the Park. 



I have tried for the past two years to impress upon the 

 Department our helpless condition here, for the want of the 

 necessary authority and power to enforce the law, and I 

 have been answered only by scolding letters, and secret spies 

 and the univeisal howl of an ill-advised press throughout 

 almost the entire country. Added to all of which has been 

 the ceaseless and untiring hostility of this mis-named Park 

 Improvement Company, chiefly by and through the com- 

 pany's superintendent and manager, C. T. Hobart, and why 

 and for what reason, ask yourself the question, Mr. Editor, 

 and I will not fear but you will arrive at a just conclusion. 



As to Secretary Teller himself, it is but just for me to say, 

 that I do not believe he has been personally aware, until very 

 recently, of the condition of affairs here, as he has been 

 obliged to leave these matters to the care of his assistant on 

 account of the numerous and important duties pertaining to 

 his high office elsewhere. 



But, Mr. Editor. I think I see for the Park the dawn of a 

 brighter day. Congress is better informed as to what is 

 neeessary to be done to render this marvelous park the pride 

 of the American people, and a wonder to the whole world. 



I am much pleased to find in your paper the letter of Mr. 

 Arnold Hague, of the United States Geological Survey, upon 

 the railroads in the Park. And I am more than delighted to 

 find that I have in your paper and Mr. Hague such power- 

 ful allies iu this great battle between the speculators ana the 

 people. I have opposed the scheme of allowing railroads to 

 enter the Park from its inception. I have sent my protest 

 to the Secretary ; have written to members of Congress and to 

 the editors of newspapers, calling upon them to sound the 

 alarm and let the people know what designs the speculators 

 have upon their heritage. 



You very justly remark "that public opinion has not been 

 altogether "just to the superintendent of the Park," and I will 

 add. neither has it been just to the assistant superintendents, 

 for t feel bound to say that it majority of them are excellent 

 and efficient men, and have accomplished all that any like 

 number of meu could have accomplished, situated as they 

 have been. 



In conclusion I desire to say that I neither ask nor expect 

 any mercy from the public, should examination prove that 1 

 have been, in fault. I ask then only simple and impaitial 

 justice. 



P. H. Conger, Supt. Yellowstone National Park. 



[Mr. Conger is in the right, and we regret that we should 

 have clone him injustice iu this matter. The appointment 

 of the assistant superintendents rests with the Secretary and 

 not with the superintendent. We wrote of the law as it 

 should be, not as it is.] 



NOTES FROM IOWA. 



rHE ducks are in. aud I can hear the guns from early 

 morning until far into the dusk of evening. More 

 geese went over us, going north, this spring than I ever saw 

 before, but none were killed in this neighborhood, that I 

 know of. 



There is a splendid lot of prairie chickens here now, and 

 we. do hope that they will stay with us, and that the weather 

 will be favorable to their propagation this spring. 



Quail are fairly plenty. I know of enough to stock this 

 place, if they are only permitted to hatch and the clutch is 

 not drowned. 



We have given up going on our semi-annual hunt this 

 spring, and I am just shooting in the evening. I get from 

 one to three ducks each time I go out, and I am satisfied. 

 Day before yesterday, the 2b'th, i heard the first jack snipe. 

 If the weather stays as it is, jack snipe, will be in thick in a 

 few days, and the ducks— well we hope to see them in the 



I was in our county seat (Woppello) the other day. on 

 business, and found that they have a rifle club organized 

 there, and have a ngular day" for practice each week. Mr. 

 Cole is their coach, and if they all could shoot as good as he 

 can, their scores would run high. He is manufacturing a gun 

 patented by himself, and thinks, like all the rest of gun 

 makers, that his gun is the simplest and best. One thing is 

 sure, he knows how to handle his own gun, as his score will 



