Aj-mi, H f 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



227 



bunts more carefully, works harder to approach bis tin me, 



plants his ball with 'more precision, and in my opinion, is 

 more likely to get his game. To my mind, nothing is more 

 Unsportsmanlike than to keep on shooting, shooting, shooting, 

 after the game is beyond all reasonable distance. Yon know 

 if you hit, it, it is merely a lucky scratch, and not good 

 shooting on yonr part, and by the continued noise and racket 

 you frighten all the game withiu hearing, and that, to lee- 

 ward, is a long way. A single shot is not very alarming to 

 game at some distance, many shots in succession are terrify- 

 ing. Let a man, who is a real hunter, get up as close to his 

 game as possible; if it is not within 200 yards, let him wait 

 for it to come to him, or to get behind some cover so that he 

 can creep up to it, and then let bim shoot so carefully that one 

 ball will do the work. This will give him some satisfaction. 



I do not profess to be a good shot; I rarely shoot at an an- 

 imal over 200 yards distant, and yet 1 find that with a little 



i single ball every head of game 

 yards. There were not very many of them, to be sure, 

 perhaps a dozen antelope, four or five deer, and as many 

 elk, but they were enough. I was not skin hunting or 

 butchering; 1 only kept the camp in meat. 



Since writing the foregoing lines I have received from a 

 friend in the West a letter touching on this subject, which 

 is so interesting and suggestive that I need not apologize for 

 quoting from it very freely It is in reply to some remarks 

 of mine on repeaters and their disadvantages. After giving 

 the origin of the Winchester as the Volcanic pistol, he says: 



Not very long after they became common in this region, "Old .Jim 

 Baker," a famous mountaineer, while shooting at a target with others 

 near tins city, suffered an accident, supposed at the time to Toe fatal. 

 I was not present, but as I now remember it was occasioned by the 

 explosion of a cartridge in the carrier, or by the blowing backward 

 of the plunger. The whole side of his face from the corner of his 

 mouth to his ear was torn off, and although ho recovered it. left him 

 terribly disfigured. 



In my observation I have noticed the repeaters often failing, either 

 in the proeess of loading or in the fouling of a, cartridge. I am not 

 certain that I ever witnessed a. really serious accident. The failure 

 in loading is easily to be accounted for, f think. To work properly the 

 cartridge must be mathematically exact as to length. If ashadetoo 

 long the carrier will not bring it up to the breech of the gun because 

 it cannot pass. If a shade too short, then the butt of the next car- 

 tridge follows it down past the end of the carrier, and prevents the 

 latter from coming up. Jolting of cartridges, by carrying a magazine 

 full on horseback for instance, may cause this latter result. (Are 

 not Winchester cartridges, after manufacture, put through a sizing 

 machine, which cuts them to a certain length? And is not this the 

 cause of so many of their balls being cut off at the point as though 

 with a knife or shears, thereby presenting a bad front for true flight!') 



When about places where hunters congregate, it is very common 

 to hear them say "I would have got a splendid elk to-day. but my 

 gun wouldn't work," or "I got left on a deer by getting a cartridge 

 fast," or many other similar remarks, as everyone who has been 

 among hunter's will readily recall. Such failures arc, I think, charged 

 to repeating rifles four times out of five in ratio to their use. I know 

 that their common reputation in communities largely made up of 

 hunters is that they are far more liable to disappoint the bearer than 

 are other guns. 



If you can find some officer who was in the army of the Shenan- 

 doah (valley of Virginia);about 1863, 1 think you can get some points 

 respecting the absolute danger of magazine rifles when placed in the 

 hands of bodies of men . My recollection is that a regiment or brigade 

 of volunteers were armed with them, and that so many casualties 

 followed from accidental discharges, etc., that the guns had to be 

 taken away from the men. This arming was in response to the im- 

 portunities of the. manufacturers, who claimed that the efficiency of 

 troops would be greatly increased by giviug them repeaters'. (Has 

 there ever been a regular military force armed with magazine guns!' 

 Or have their manufacturers ever tried to introduce them in actual 

 war except upon this one occasion'?) 



After all, what is the use of a magazine when any expert can re- 

 charge a breechloader as rapidly as there is any possible use to fire 

 —faster than he can see and realize the effect of his last, shot, and 

 faster than the smoke will allow him to see where to put the next 

 one? In fact, our arms are, "all too good, too fast, too fatal. There 

 will soon be little use for any for sporting purposes. 



This is about the way we older men look at it. "Nessmuk" 

 threatens to go back to the old flintlock muzzleloader, and 1 

 think that there are many who feel as if something like this 

 must be done, if the slaughter is ever to cease. Of' course it. 

 is now practically too late to save the game, and the effort at 

 present is to see who shall kill the most in the shortest time. 



1 have purposely refrained from expressing my preference 

 for any type of singleloader, as I desire merely to present 

 evidence against the repeater. G. 



who has had no experience iu camp life and knows nothing 

 of the joys or discomforts of life in the woods. Recollecting 

 well my first night's experience, when after a tramp of ten 



Dailea i slept, oi rather tried to sleep, beneath a shelving rock 



pair of hip pants, but you should nor fall into that error. I 

 can think of toothing more poorly suited to your purpose. 

 Your shirts Should be made of the best flannel, with a narrow 

 collar and button close around the neck, with a close-fitting 



on Ihe mountain side, while the hooting owl and barking fox sleeve buttoning as tight as comfortable with three or four 

 aided the drumming partridge in a grand evening concert, I buttons at the wrist. You will then save the annoyance of 



■ catching your sleeve upon every twig and bush, or of losing 

 a fine fish by the reel catching in the needless cloth that 

 Langs about your wrist, while that greater trouble than all, 

 the mosquito and black fly. will be unable to select your 



NEW HAMPSHIRE LEAGUE. 



THE eleventh annual meeting of the New Hampshire 

 Game and Fish League was called to order shortly 

 after 11 o'clock in Mirror Hall, Manchester, April 1, 1884, 

 the president, John B. Clarke, in the chair. The president 

 read letters of regret from John Fottler, Jr., president of the 

 Fish and Game Protective Association of Massachusetts, 

 who was prevented from an attendance upon the meeting by 

 reason of his presence being necessitated in Boston to look 

 after the interests of the bill before the Massachusetts Legis- 

 lature for the better protection of fish and game in that 

 State. The secretary read an interesting paper entitled 

 "Notes on the New England Salmon and Trout," the author 

 being Mr. S. Garman, of Cambridge, Mass. 



Piesident — John B. Clarke, Manchester. 



Secretary— Charles L. Richardson, Manchester. 



Treasurer— Frederick Smyth, Manchester. 



Vice-Presidents- C. W. Pickering, Portsmouth; Luther 

 Hayes, Milton; E. B. Hodge, Plymouth; Fred Gould, Con- 

 cord; Edward Spalding, Nashua; W. H. Shurtleff, Cole- 

 brook; Horatio Colony, Keene; Arthur L. Meserve, Bartlett; 

 G. P. Whitman, Manchester; Herbert F. Norris, Man- 

 chester; Charles F. Stone, Laconia. 



Hon. Charles F. Stone delivered the annual address; and 

 Fish Commissioner Hodges spoke of the work done by his 

 department ; an abstract of his remarks will be found in 

 another column. 



A committee consisting of Hon. Herbert F. Norris, of 

 Manchester, Hon. V, C. Gilmore of Nashua, and Hon. John. 

 M. Hill of Concord, were appointed to inspect the fishways 

 of the Merrimack River. 



Dr. Edward Spalding of Nashua, Luther Hayes, Esq., of 

 Milton, and E. B. Hodge, Esq., of Plymouth, made interest- 

 ing remarks on pertinent topics. The latter stated that dur- 

 ing the months of December, January, February and March 

 over 200 deer, one moose, and one caribou had been killed. 

 A large number of deer are killed in the lumbering camps. 

 Dr. William Jarvis read a paper on "The Woodcock," and 

 Mr. John Foster of Manchester, discoursed of '"Coons and 

 Coon Huntiug" in a style that delighted the veterans present. 

 His paper will be given in full in our Kennel columns. An 

 essay on "Guns and their Attachments," written by Mr. 

 Chas. M. Stark, of Dunbarton, contained many practical 

 hints on this topic. The members of the League were in- 

 structed on "Camping Out" by Mr. Herbert Ft Norris, who 

 said: 



"The well- worn sayin 



can well believe that knowing how to camp out is as neces- 

 sary to the pleasure of a week in God's first temples as is the 

 knowledge of hotel keeping to the comforts of the guests. 



"1 will suppose for the purposes of this talk that you tie- 

 sire to go camping, but before making preparations for your 

 excursion j^ou should always settle three questions, First, 

 the time you can spend in camp; second, the game or fish 

 you seek; third, the place or locality you desire to make the 

 base of operations. I have named these questions iu the 

 order I deem them important. Many an otherwise delightful 

 week has been thrown away by attempting to crowd into it 

 a trip that should have taken twice as long, and the boys re- 

 luming say, 'Yes, we had a good time, but had hardly got 

 there when' we had to come back.' I believe it to be a good 

 rule that no place is available for a week's camping that can- 

 not easily be reached in one day. Having settled the ques- 

 tion of time, the kind of sport, whether with rod or gun or 

 both, can easily be disposed of, and, having always in mind 

 the available spots the time at your command will allow you 

 to visit, you can soon decide where you will go. 



"Then select one of your number to act as steward, who, 

 with a carefully prepared list of what you will need, will 

 procure and have securely packed every thing except blan- 

 kets and wearing apparel you think necessary for your com- 

 fort. In this way you avoid the trouble of carrying larger 

 quantities of stores than are needed, and the vexation of find- 

 ing yourselves in camp miles from home without somethings 

 that are absolutely indispensable to the pleasure of your stay. 

 To attempt to enumerate the many things that are taken into 

 camp by those who go out into the woods would occupy the 

 attention of the League during the remainder of its session, 

 but there are some things that are so essential that you will 

 pardon me if I suggest them. 



"No camp is complete without conveniences for cooking 

 such fish or game as you take; but few desirable camping 

 grounds are to be found where a heavy cooking stove and 

 furniture can form a part of your equipage. It follows, 

 then, that in this particular, as in every other, that the light- 

 est, most convenient and easiest transported substitute for a 

 stove is the best for your purpose. Let me suggest one that 

 I have found, all things considered, unexcelled. Any sheet- 

 iron worker can make it for you iu an hour, and you will 

 have a camp stove that will last, a lifetime. Take a piece of 

 sheet iron and form of it a cylinder twenty inches long and 

 about fifteen inches in diameter; put on one end a bottom, 

 first taking out of one side at the same end a piece three 

 inches long and an inch wide. Then for a top either a coarse 

 wire netting or make a double cross of some strips of sheet 

 iron with the ends bent so as to clasp over the sides, and 

 your stove is complete. It is fight, needs no funnel, can be 

 set up in a moment, and heats quickly. The bottom pre- 

 vents the fire from reaching the ground, the hole in the side 

 gives excellent draft, and the cross or screen sufficient sup 

 port for the spider or kettle. Some one will say that a stove 

 of that shape takes up too much room in packing. Let me 

 explain its advantages in that respect. Your stove is simply 

 a large sheet iron pail. Why not use it as such ? Within it 

 you can place your camp kettle, tin plates, dippers and 

 dishes, knives, forks, spoons and lanterns, in fact, all of your 

 cooking and dining equipage, and know that it is securely 

 packed. If you wish baked fish and game, brown bread 

 and beans, don't try to cook them in this stove, but dig in 

 the ground a hole fifteen or twenty inches deep, stoning up 

 the sides like a well, if you desire, and you have a splendid 

 oven. To heat it, build in it and over it a rousing fire, and 

 when the wood has burned to coals clear out the oven, leav- 

 ing some hot ashes and coals on the bottom. For beans 

 your oven may be heated at night. Place the pot in the 

 oven, push back the coals and ashes around it and over it, 

 and, adding fresh fuel, you may enjoy your evening camp- 

 fire, knowing that in the morning you can take from beneath 

 its ashes a superbly cooked breakfast. 



"To cook fish: Having placed some grass on the ashes at 

 the bottom of the oven, to prevent the fish being scorched, 

 lay them on the side, and putting over them some more grass, 

 fill up the oven as before. In three or four hours you will have 

 a baked fish, with all its flavor and juice retained, better cooked 

 than in the best range in the land. 



"For bread a covered dish can be used; whde game may 

 be treated in many ways. 



"What luxuries you take into camp your own tastes will 

 govern, but you should never forget the following reliable and 

 substantial things: Plenty of salt pork, pilot bread or hard 

 tack, coffee, Indian meal, salt and pepper; and if your camp 

 is easy of access, potatoes, beans, onions, canned 'meats and 

 flour should be added. 



"Your camp or tent should be on a dry, level spot as 

 near as practical to a good spring or cold funning water. 

 You will need good water for cooking and toilet purposes, 

 and it is sometimes the case that some members of the party 

 will drink it. 



"Having your tent in position, if possible facing the south- 

 east, carefully dig around it a good ditch. This will save 

 you a repetition of my experience at one time, when I awoke 

 in the midst of a heavy shower to find a fine stream of water 

 running beneath the boughs that formed my bed, but not far 

 enough beneath to prevent my getting uncomfortably wet. 

 Throw the tent wide open as soon as the sun is well up in the 

 morning, hanging out the blankets in the wind and shaking 

 up the boughs that form your bed. I speak of your bed as one 

 of boughs, because I believe, that while other things can some- 

 times be secured to give a "softer couch, nothing is always at 

 your command that will serve you as well. Again, the ob- 

 ject of your visit is to obtain health and strength as well as 

 sport, and there is about. a bed of houghs, rich in its flavor 

 of the hemlock or spruce, together with the properties of 

 the earth, strong medicinal qualities that I believe to be 

 highly beneficial to those who for the remainder of the year 

 are confined within doors in offices, stores or manufacturing 

 establishments. 



neck and arms to feast upon. For the remainder of your 

 clothing, any strong, well-made clothes will answer, being 

 careful to select warm woolen under flannels and stockings. 

 While the shirt I have suggested will protect you partially 

 from the mosquito and fly, your face and hands will still be 

 exposed, and will need guarding; for this purpose get at 

 some druggist's a small vial of a mixture of oil of penny- 

 royal and sweet oil of the proportion of two parte of sweet 

 oil to one of pennyroyal, and when troubled by the insects 

 apply it to the exposed parts. The singing and bumming 

 may still remain near, but the mosquito and fly will not harm 

 you while the oil remains upon your hands and face." 



MASSACHUSETTS GAME PROSPECTS. 



WE had a heavy snow storm here Wednesday night. It 

 fell about fourteen inches on the level, followed next 

 day by heavy wind and rain. On going out to-day to see 

 how the birds stood it, I was surprised to flush in about 

 three hours eight woodcock and a nice bevy of quail, twelve 

 in number. If we have a good dry summer, we will have 

 good sport next September. Little yellow birds and fox 

 sparrows, golden-wingwoodpeckers and crow blackbirds are 

 here. J. F. D. 



Dan vers, Mass., April 5. 



The winter and spring thus far has not been so severe as 

 usual to game. A good reliable farmer told me that a few 

 days since he saw eighteen partridges budding his apple trees 

 at one time, visible from his front door, and that they have 

 badly damaged them. Rabbits are on the gain in numbers 

 hereabouts, and but for box trapping the gain would be much 

 greater. 



At time of writing the ground is white with snow about 

 twelve to fifteen inches deep, and sparrows, bluebirds and 

 rebins have starved to death in great numbers. E. S. K. 



Westminster, Mass., April 7. 



TENNESSEE CONVENTION. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It must be apparent to all those who have investigated the. 

 subject, that the great destruction of game throughout the 

 State, by netting, trapping and killing out of season, as well 

 as the wanton and exterminating method of killing fish by 

 the use of dynamite powder, will soon deplete our fields and 

 streams. 



The only legitimate method to prevent the wholesale de- 

 struction of all kinds of game must be by stringent legisla- 

 lion, and to this end the sportsmen of Ea'st Tennessee deem 

 it expedient to call a meeting of all the lovers of sport through- 

 out the State, on Tuesday, May 20, 1884, in the city of Knox- 

 ville, to. form a sportsmen's association of the State for the 

 purpose of memorializing our State Legislature and securing 

 the passage of such laws "as will save from entire destruction 

 our fish and game birds. 



The E. T., Y.& G. R. R. will give excursion rates over 

 their several roads. The Knoxville Gun Club will use every 

 effort to render the meeting both agreeable and profitable, 

 not only by assisting in the proper entertainment of their 

 guests, the adoption of sound conservative and progressive 

 resolutions, and in the furtherance of healthful legislation, 

 but will hold their annual shooting tournament, lasting four 

 days, which they hope may prove an interesting feature of 

 the meeting. 



A most cordial invitation is hereby extended to all lovers 

 of genuine sport to meet with us at this time, so that by oar 

 united and harmonious councils we may be able to arouse 

 public opinion to the importance of this subject and con- 

 struct such safeguards as will make our State in the future 

 what it was in the past — the sportsmen's paradise. 

 Knoxville, Tenn, J. O. DUNCAN, 1 



S. B. Dow, V. Committee. 



F. W. Armstrong, ) 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



"Being well settled iu camp, don't try to hunt or fish all 



the surrounding country the first day. Such a course will 



•nly serve to unfit you for the enjoyment of the remainder of 



your stay. It is a changed condition of things for you, and 



you can easily misjudge your strength, and the second day 



find yourself lame and sore and unable to join in the sport 



at all. Take things easy the first day or so, and then you will 



be more than repaid for the loss of the few hours at the first. 



"Some people seem to fancy that all that is necessary in 



,. 'He is a good fellow, but he can't the way of clothing in camp is a fancy yachting shirt, with 



keep a hotel,' may well be applied to many a lover of sport I its broad, loose collar and flowing sleeves, and the attendant 



VERY few snipe were killed on our grounds this week. 

 Atlantic City duckers have within the past few days 

 been bringing in many sheldrakes, an unusual number "of 

 these worthless fowl having appeared, evidently on their 

 northward flight. Some big yellow-legs are to be heard on 

 the salt marshes, and the regular spring flight may be looked 

 for during the next pleasant weather we will have. These 

 birds do not stool well in the spring, and it is a fact worth 

 noticing that they show themselves in much small numbers 

 in the autumn migration, their place being taken in great part 

 by the lesser yellow-leg, and we seldom see this latter-named 

 variety on our shores in the spring. Can any one explain 

 this? I notice to-day at some of our Philadelphia game 

 stands many shore larks in bunches offered for sale; also 

 blackbirds, and both varieties picked and tied together as 

 reed birds are when sold. There is a law against selling those 

 birds at any season of the year. While writing of illegal 

 trading in game, I might say that in Philadelphia, where 

 game dealers were once so fearful of violating the law, they 

 are now doing as they please with their stock in trade. 

 When our Philadelphia Game Protective Association had its 

 eye on these people they were kept in check, but now it. 

 might be said we have no law. An effort is being made on 

 the part of the Philadelphia Kennel Club to procure the 

 charter of the old organization, and a move I hope will he 

 made to extend the" usefulness of the Kennel Club to the pro- 

 tection of game and the prosecution of existing laws. 



An ex-vice-president of the old Philadelphia Sportsman's 

 Society said to me the other day when we were conversing 

 on dog matters, "What earthly use is it to own a dog when 

 there is no game?" He deplores the present condition of 

 affairs in Pennsylvania, and I am sure would aid in reorgan- 

 izing in some way the old association. 



I am told that the freshets of this year in the Susquehanna 

 carried so much mud and trash on to the flats at Havre de 

 Grace that the wild celery has been entirely destroyed; 

 hence the failure of this season's duck shooting at that point. 

 I am compelled to think, notwithstanding this fact, that 

 box-shooting also is having its steady and sure effect on the 

 fowl also, Homo, 



