May 1, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



267 



LONG ISLAND CAME PROTECTION. 



FROM Mr George W. Whittiker. the game protector for 

 the district, of the Long Island counties, we have re- 

 ceived a copy of the following cirpular, which is self-ex- 

 planatory: 



.Southampton, April IS, 1884. 

 To the South Sirle Sportsmen's Club of Long Island, the Game and 

 Fish Protective Association of Richmond County, the Staten 

 Maud Gun Club, the Fountain dun Club, the Washington (inn 

 Club, the Lone Island Shooting OlUb, the Long Island Forester 

 Club, the Prospect Gnu Club, "the Garden Cily Gun Club the 

 Coney Island Rod and Gun Club, and the Glenmore Rod and Gun 

 Club: , , 



I "nave, upon inquiry, been given the names of (he above dubs, and 

 I appeal to them to render me. the undersigned, State Game and Fish 

 Protector of the First District, comprising Suffolk, Kings, Queens and 

 Richmond counties, their assistance. 



The district is too extensive for a Game Protector to personally act 

 as a game keeper iu any one locality, but he can supervise the whole 

 district, which is what. I suppose, his appointment means. 



What he requires is a detective. He can from time to time obtain 

 and furnish such information to a detective as will etfable him to ob- 

 uiiu evidence sufficient for fiim to prosecute, whereas the Protector, 

 being personally known, could not obtain such evidence. 



The Brooklyn Gun Club has already voted a sum of $25 to be used 

 for this purpose, and others have promised assistance. 



"What is desired is, that some, persons be named to receive the 

 money, not only from any club, but also from si ortsmen generally 

 who may wish to contribute for such a purpose, the receivers to have 

 full power to employ and pay such a detective. 



In such case it is confidently believed that such assistance rendered 

 the Game Protector will enable him to put a stop to the snaring 

 and trapping of quail and partridge, and other breaches of the law. 

 I would suggest tnat Mr. Francis f ndicott, the president of the. Rich- 

 mond Game and Fish Protective Association, and Mr, Gustave "Wal- 

 ter, of the Brooklvu Gun Club, act as receivers of any such subscrip- 

 tion, trusting that these gentlemen will consent to act as such re- 

 ceivers, and "thcrebv render the community nf sportsmen a further 

 obligation by being the means of the further preservation of game. 



I will at aii early date personally see or communicate by letter with 

 the officers of each club. I will also see Messrs. Waiter and Endicott, 

 and will insert an article in the Fob est and Stream, the result of my 

 applications. Geo. W, U'hitaker, 

 State Game Protector of Kings, Queens, Suffolk and Richmond Coun- 

 ties. 



MAJOR JOSEPH VERITY. 



SOME OF HIS SPORTING ADVENTURES, AS MODESTLY SET 

 FORTH BY HIS OWN HAND. 



Chapter IX. 



I BELIEVE that I promised, long ago, to tell of a rather 

 remarkable shot I once made, and lwill not longer defer 

 it. The shot was only remarkable because it was delivered 

 at just the right instant, and that by it I secured more ani- 

 mals than I saw at this time, or intended to get, It hap- 

 pened in this wise ; 



I was still hunting on the first snow, which that season 

 fell late for Adirouda, it being then about the middle of 

 September. I had tracked a hue buck, as I knew by the 

 size of his footprints, only about twenty miles one morning, 

 when I came upon him lying down to rest under a great 

 hemlock. He was one of the largest I ever saw-, and I stood 

 a moment admiring his graceful pose and noble proportions 

 before I should send the leaden messenger of death to lay 

 him low, and must confess that I hesitated to speed it on its 

 murderous errand. What sportsman worthy of the name 

 has not at times, even in the ardor of the chase, had an 

 almost overpowering softness of heart come upon him, a 

 pity for the poor hunted object of his pursuit, a questioning 

 of his conscience as to what right he has to take the life of a 

 creature vastly his superior in innocence and harmlessnees? 

 Thus for a short space I stood, almost wishing that the buck 

 were not so entirely at my mercy; but there were short com- 

 mons iu camp, and I had the butt of my rifle almost at my 

 shoulder when somehow my attention was drawn to the 

 great hemlock by a slight stir of a branch. Looking closer I 

 saw an enormous panther crouching there, just ready for a 

 spring upon the deer lying all unconscious of the two-fold 

 danger lurking so near him. Now I saw the way out of my 

 shedding the blood of the buck. How many of us are will- 

 ing enough to see another commit, without lifting a hand to 

 prevent, an act of cruelty we shrink from doing ourselves, 

 and then holding ourselves conscience-free? 



As the panther, assured of his aim, sprang out of the screen 

 of evergreen branches in a great curve, I fired at his heart, 

 and he fell upon the deer, crushing him beneath his 

 weight, and rending the remaining life out of him in his ter- 

 rible death-throes. I rushed forward to give the panther a 

 finishing shot, but it was not needed, for the first had done 

 its work completly, and the giant cat lay dead stretched upon 

 his intended prey. As I stood looking with some pride upon 

 my handsome morning's work, my attention was called to a 

 violent commotion in the undergrowth a little beyond, and 

 going to see the. cause of it, I found it to be a fine doe, whose 

 back had been broken by the same bullet which killed the 

 panther. Dispatching her with my knife, and turning her 

 over to disembowel her, I found a grouse that, having bur- 

 rowed in the snow, had been killed by the doe in her flound- 

 eriugs, and presently i stumbled over a hare that had been 

 frightened to death by the noise, and the bloody scene which 

 had been so suddenly enacted before him. 



Now, of course all this, except the killing of the panther 

 and the subsequent death of the buck, was purely fortuitous. 

 and 1 claim no credit but for the well timed shot, yet I think 

 it has seldom happened that one shot has brought one so 

 much game, large and small, as did this. 



This mention of deer reminds me that the salt lake of 

 ■which 1 have told, is, or was, a great resort for these animals, 

 its shores affording them an immense lick, and 1 have seen 

 these shores so crowded by them that there was not roam for 

 another to stand, and many were pushed into the water, and 

 would have been drowned (.as there was no room for them to 

 land), but for the extreme density of the saline fluid, upon 

 which they were buoyed so lightly thatno more than their legs 

 and bellies were wet. Here were chances for such murderous 

 pot-shots, as would delight the bowels of some who now resort 

 toAdironda for what they call sport. .But such a shot I 

 was never guilty of, nor would I permit my companions to 

 be, even were they so disposed. 



A few words more concerning fishing. I was always sat- 

 isfied that fish are not attracted to artificial flies by hunger 

 or by mistaking them for any winged things which they ever 

 feed upon, but only by curiosity or rage at beholding such 

 palpable shams offered them. To further strengthen my con- 

 viction— which we are always fonder of fortifying than of 

 weakening— once when the lake of the singing fishes was 

 just frozen enough to bear my weight, and the ice was trans- 

 parent as the limpid water, I tied a gaudy tly upon a length 

 of gut without a hook, and going out upon the lake cast it 

 with no great skill — for 1 never sought tu acquire that art — 

 not many yards from me. Then, bump! as 1 anticipated, 

 came a great singing fish against the ice beneath with such 

 force that he was quite stunned, aud m remained till I 

 chopped him out with my hatchet, which I had brought, 



expectiug such use for it. I took many more so, and in so 

 doing had sport which gratified then my experimental mood, 

 and afterward my stomach, for these fish were excellent eat- 

 ing. Now and then where the ice was thinnest, and an un- 

 commonby large and vigorous, curious or enraged fish 

 dashed at the fly, he would burst quite through the film of 

 congealed water and fall on top of it. 



Now let me ask the intelligent reader if it is reasonable to 

 suppose that any fish could be so silly as to expect to see any 

 tly that he had ever been accustomed to feed Upon, flittipg 

 over the frozen surface of his native waters, or be fooled by 

 the cunningest imitation of such insects at this season? 



As I threw my fish upon the ice till I had doue fishing, 

 the first caught were frozen stiff by that time. That night 

 in camp 1 was almost shocked when 1 was awakened by 

 sweet strains of music arising from the bucket of water in 

 which the benumbed aquatic minstrels had been put to thaw 

 preparatory to dressing. I was reminded of the fabulous 

 death song of the swan "and I own thatmv feeling were pain- 

 fully touched. But underthe influence of the melody I soon 

 f elf asleep again, and in the morning the fish were all dead. 



AIR RESISTANCE. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



Had Mr. James Duane studied Bashforth's "On the Motion of Pro- 

 jectiles ' ' as conscientiously as the importance of the subject demanded , 

 he would not have fallen into the error he has. and Discovered, ap- 

 parently, a huge "mare's nest." as indicated by the following quota 1 

 tion from an a> tide in your issue of August 9. "Muzzle vs. Breech": 

 "Your correspondent 'P.' would seem to be a rifleman of great prac- 

 tical experience, and one whoso opinions are entitled to much weight. 

 Any error, therefore, committed by such aman is likely to do con- 

 siderable harm if allowed to go unchallenged. In his interesting and 

 otherwise instructive article of July 12, he says: 'Talcing the element 

 of velocity into account, the air resistance, proved from these exper- 

 ments (the Bashforth experiments) to be the greatest between veloci- 

 ties from 1,100 f.s. to 1.350 f.s.' " 



He then goes on to prove by Professor Bashforth himself what 

 every casual student of that valuable work "On the Motion of Pro- 

 jectiles," will readily admit he does mean, and what will be admitted 

 was my meaning, by the quotation above made, by any one reading 

 over whatever has been written by myself on this subject. In my 

 opinion there can be but one view of its proper construction by those 

 well posted on the subject. In this quotation the same nomenclature 

 has been used, as i n numerous instances has been been adopted by the 

 learned Professor himself; that is, using the term "resistance of the 

 air" as synonymous with "co-efficients of air resistance," as will appear 

 from I he following references, among others from the above mentioned 

 work. Page 31: "Does the resistance of the air vary as the cube of 

 the velocity, for all practical velocities of the projectile?" etc. Page 

 69: "Inasmuch as the resistance of the air does not vary strictly as 

 the cube of the velocity," etc. So also in "Reports of Experiments." 

 etc., 1878-79, etc., page 4, he says: "If these values of K (the co-effi- 

 cients of air resistance determined on) may be relied on, the resist- 

 ance of the air varies as the square of the velocity for velocities 430 

 to 830 f.s., and as the cube of the velocity from 83 J to 1,000 f.s." In 

 his "Final Report of Experiments," 1878-80, page 4, he says: "The 

 resistance of the air varied! as the cube of the velocity f • >r velocities be- 

 tween 1,000 f.s. and 830 f.s., and approximately as the ,-quare of the 

 velocity for velocities below 880 f.s." Soother quotations could he 

 inserted were it necessary. So Major Sloden, who was his principal 

 assistant aud pupil during these experiments, in his "Principles of 

 Gtunhery," uses these terms as synonymous, page 63. So does Captain 

 Muekiniay. in his later and equally as valuable work, "Text-Book of 

 Gunnery. 1881," page 77. 



1 say in the above quotation, "The resistance of the air proved 

 greatest." between certain velocities. "Why? Evidently because be- 

 tween those velocities tne resistance of the air varied as the cube of 

 the velocity, whereas, at velocities above and below those velocities, 

 it varied as the square of the velocity. As the cube of a quantity is 

 greater than the square, my use of the term "greatest" in connection 

 with the former term was correct. Any other construction, to me 

 would seem absurd. 



The subject of air resistance has been studied a great deal by the 

 writer within the prist few years, as the columus of the sportsmen's 

 press bear witness; but there has been nothing written by me that, 

 m the remotest manner, can bear the construction that a ball, for in- 

 stance, at 1,0J0 f.s. has greater resistance hi pounds avoirdupois than 

 the same ball at 2,000 f.s., for it is very evident that, at the latter 

 velocity, its actual resistance in pounds is eight times greater tnan at 

 the former velocity. 



I take it for granted Mr. James Duane has read some of the discus- 

 sions, in which I have been engagea on this very subject, within the 

 past two years, as it is observed in a late number of Forest and 

 Stream, he is now engaged in firing off at Mr T. S. Van Dyke some 

 of the same ammunition that was used by myself within the past two 

 years in combatting theories that appeared to rne very impracti- 

 cable. 



"Air resistance" is irrespective of the weight of the projectile, and 

 is expressed in pounds, avoirdupois, by the formula: 

 ■r _ d2 / V \3 



"Retardation" is very different, and varies inversely as the weight 

 of the projectile, and is expressed in loss of velocity, in feet per sec- 

 ond. "Retardation is negative, acceleration ; it is subject to the same 

 laws, but is opposite in sign." It is expressed by the formula: 



w - w K VToocJV 



Take the 405-grain ,45-caiiber bullet— for 1,000 f.s. its air resistance 

 is R=0.4721bs. avoirdupois; for 2,000 f.s. R=3.7761bs. 



I am perfectly willing to leave to more competent philologists the 

 question as to whether Prof. Bashforth and the other authorities 

 quoted are technically right in using the term "resistance of the air" 

 as synonymous with the "co-efficient of air resistance." His name is 

 high in authority, whether in mathematics or literature. To him is 

 justly due the high distinction of having first mastered the problem 

 of "the resistance of the air to the motion of projectiles," that had 

 occupied the study and thought of the most distinguished mathema- 

 ticians and scientists of the world for nearly 200 years. 



The most elaborate experiments had been made by some of the 

 European governments with the ballistic pendulum, but without any 

 practical result. The advent of the electric telegraph stimulated this 

 channel of thought, and was followed by the invention of numeious 

 chronographs, some of great merit, but none of these measured 

 more than one interval of tune. It was then that the Rev. Francis 

 Bashforth, a clergyman of the Church of England, "chalked out" in 

 his mind the solution of this intricate and much studied problem, and 

 with that end in view invented his "clock chronograph," in- 

 tended to measure the time of the passage of successive 

 intervals of space by the same pro3ectile. This was to 

 be done by firing the projectile, through a succession of wire 

 screens placed at intervals of 25yds. and sometimes 50yds., 

 and by having each screen connected by the electric wire with the 

 main instrument, the exact time of the projectile passing each screen 

 was accurately recorded upon a revolving cylinder. In ihiswaythe 

 retardation in velocity at the time of passing each screen could be 

 eai-efully ana accurately ascertained. The constants thus determined, 

 combined in the proper formula, gave numerical values for the co- 

 efficients of air resistance, which, again combined in other formula?, 

 resulted in the formation of tables by which, with muzzle velocities 

 and weight of bullets known, their flight through the air could be 

 traeed with rem irkable accuracy. As with all important inventions, 

 its introduction met with difficulties. Having been, however, once 

 tested by the British Ordnance Department, its practical applica 

 bility to the design of the inventor was fully established, and tae 

 series of experiments, under his supervision, to determine the true 

 theory of "the resistance of the air to the motion of projectiles" 

 were commenced, which, with the necessary calculations and delays 

 incident to a new invention, occupied a space of sixteen years— 1865- 

 1880. Every detail of these experiments, with the formulas used, as 

 also the calculations in detab, were published to the world, and the 

 criticisms of mathematicians invited. As far as my information 

 goes, there were no adverse criticisms, but the contrary, and to-day 

 the co- efficients of air resistance, as determined by these experi- 

 ments, as well as his methods and tables for their practical applica- 

 tion for the determination of the flight of the ball, are of recognized 

 high authority among the scientific men of the world. 



Though these experiments were made both with the spherical and 

 ogival-headed shells of from three to nine incues diameter, they 

 were afterward found equally applicable to those of the small arms 

 caliber, as will be seen by the extract following from a paper by 

 Major McCliniock,- Royal Artillery, and assistant superintendent of 

 the Koyal Small Arms Factory, Enfield Dock, puolished in the Field 

 .(London) Sept. 8, 1883: "The accuracy of riile bullet trajectories, 

 calculated by means of Prof. Bashforth's tables, has been tested by 

 firing a large number of rounds through paper screens, placed at 

 different points along the range. The rifle used in the exueriment 



was the Martini-Henry (.45-cal.), and the screens were erected at 

 Intervals along a 500yds. and 1,000yds. range. The results of the 

 experiment was most satisfactory, the mean heights of the bullet 

 In iles j„ the screens agreeing closely with the heights found by cal- 

 culation." 



The writer was the first, as fir as my information extends, to call 

 attention in an American journal to the importance of rhe results of 

 these experiments, some two years since, wi h an expression of 

 bdief, from his own experiments, of their applicability to the smaller 

 calibers, conclusions proven conclusively by the above extract, which 

 bears the impress of the British Ordnance Department 



Itis, iudecd, a matter of surprise that Her Britannic Majesty's gov- 

 ernment, usually so prompt to recognize distinction, whether in 

 science, literature, the arts, arms, or the church, should not have 

 rewarded such distinguished services ere this. The valuo of the 

 results of these experiments, not only in the design and manufacture 

 of artillery and small arms, hut in Hie use of these, arms against the 

 public enemy, can scarcely be over-estimated. It is even intimated 

 that this distinguished professor was very inadequately paid for his 

 time and science during the experiments. 



During the timo these experiments wore being made, Professor 

 Helie, a distinguished mathematician in the service of the French 

 government, was making experiments with a view to the same end by 

 means of the Boulenge chronograph measuring, however, only one 

 interval of time. Theresults of these experiments were consequently 

 not so satisfactory, nor did they embrace a very extended range of 

 velocities. His experiments embraced velocities between 1,100 f.8. 

 and 1,500 f.s. it is understood that fairly coincided with tb« results of 

 the Bashforth experiments, and which for practical purposes were 

 embodied in the formula: 



l-r-C V X 



Cis a constant, however, that was dependent for its value on an- 

 other constant 6, which bad lo be determined by experiment for 

 each particular ball. This formula has been used a great deal by the 

 officers of the U. S. Ordnance Department, the value of b having been 

 determined for the service bullet by careful experiment. It is plain 

 this formula is not of general application, on account of the constant 

 6, being indeterminate, except by careful experiment, which few 

 have the means of undertaking; whereas the Bashforth methods and 

 tables are applicable for any diameter and weight of projectile and 

 fr r all practical velocities, and whether for spherical or ogival-headed 

 projectiles, and can be practically used by any one conversant with 

 the ordinary principles of mathematics. As above related, their ap- 

 plication has been practically tested by numerous experiments. 



I was very glad to notice in the Forest and Stream of Oct. 11, 1883, 

 the report of some experiments by Mr. Duane for ascertaining rifle 

 trajectories, and it is to be hoped, he and others will continue such 

 experiments. It is, however, suggested that they be made over a 

 200yds. range; or, if a les« range, that it should be some multiple of 

 25yds., so that the results can be compared with those that have been 

 and may, hereafter, be made on each side of the ocean, 



My object in alluding to them at this time, however, is to call his 

 attention to a serious error, judging from my own experience, he has 

 fallen into, as will more fully appear from the quotation following, 

 Speaking of the target being" 21ft. higher than the firing point, he 

 says: "This will make the trajectory 2in. higher (theoretically' than 

 for a level range, but as it would operate about equally on allbullets, 

 it was not considered of much importance." He is in error, and it is 

 hoped he will not consider me unnecessarily critnal or a mere quib- 

 bler, in pointing it out, as it lies at the foundation of sucees ful shoot- 

 ing in a mountainous country. 



Iu hunting mountain sheep, there are times when, as was my ex- 

 perience last fall, the game may ne 200 to 250yds. vertically, either 

 above or below you. and m tiring, the axis of the bore of the rifle may 

 make an angle of 70°, with the horizontal plane passing th.ough the 

 muzzle. He, who in either case aims according to the direct distance 

 to the game, will miss every time. So. proportionately, with smaller 

 angles of elevation. On my first advent in mountain hunting, in 1876- 

 77. my attention was first called to the subject, after wasting a goo 1 

 many excellent shots at game above and below me, and experiment, 

 the best guide out of sucn difficulties, was resorted to for a solution 

 of the difficulty. Ranges were measured on the steepest slopes of the 

 mountains accessible, the vertical elevation having been measured 

 carefully by a pocket level, and the horizontal distance with a tape 

 line and plumb line, the hypothenuse or direct distance hav- 

 ing been calculated. The result was, for all practical pur- 

 poses, satisfactory to myse f, and appeared a correct solution 

 of the problem. The conclusion arrived at was that in aiming at 

 objects above or below yon, be. governed by the horizontal distance. 

 For instance, if the. object is 140yds. on the slope of the mountain, 

 either above or beneath you, »nd 100yds. away on the horizontal, aim 

 with the sight that will go to the spot on the level range of 100yds. 

 In other words, the angle of elevation of the sight varies as the co- 

 sine of the angle of departure (the angle between the. axis of the 

 bore and the horizontal pi me passing through the muzzle). In one 

 of the issues of Forest and Stream of the spring of 1S78 will be 

 found a short article from myself embodying this experience, accom- 

 panied by an explanatory diagram. It was headed "l*. oblem in 

 Mountain Hunting." but when published this was changed to "How 

 to Aim." I have not the scrap book: containing tin's piece, but the 

 proper back number will contain it. Criticism was iuvu ed from those 

 well up in the calculus, but nj one appeared to have the courage to 

 tackle a problem that combined so many elements of discord. Sub- 

 sequent experiment at longer ranges and higher angles of departure, 

 with further thought on the subject, so far" confirmed me that the 

 first solution arrived at was approximately correct (sufneie >tly so for 

 the purpose of hunting) that a solution by means of the calculus has 

 never been attempted by me. 



To apply the foregoing principles to the quotation given above 

 from Mr. Duane's article. It is understood he measured ihe range 

 on the slope A C (see his diagram ), and firing from A to C it is under- 

 stood he means that the trajectory made by the ball above the line of 

 sight is higher by Sin. than were the target placed 24ft. below C in 

 the horizontal plane passing through A, and 204yds. from the latter 

 point. He is in error there. Instead of the trajectory being higher 

 by 2in., it will be flatter than were the range horizontal, the amount 

 depending on the muzzle velocity and weight and caliber of bullet. 

 In this example, however, there will be a very slight difference be- 

 tween the two trajectories, the co-sine of the angle of departure being 

 very little less than the direct range, say 61n. 



The above principles are restricted to muzzle velocities of about 

 1,400 f.s., as no experiments were made much below thit velocity. 

 The experiments were made for an altitude of about 5,000ft. above 

 sea level. It does not appear to ne reasonable why the principle is 

 not applicable to all velocities or altitudes. 



It would seem that the question lately mooted (and alluded to in 

 Mr. D.'s article) hi the discussion "Muzzle vs. Breech," as to whether 

 a rifle with a permanent plug in the breech will give a greater or 

 less muzzle velocity (all other conditions being the same) as compared 

 with a barrel with a temporary plug, as the brass shell is not a de- 

 batable one. It simply depends on the amount of gas escaping 

 from the breech, at the infant of explosion . There is always a slight 

 escape of gas from the shell, under the most favorable circumstances. 

 So there is always more or less escape of gas from the tube of the 

 muzzleloauer by the raising of the hammer. Formerly each muzzle- 

 loading rifle was provided with a small vent hole on tha base of the 

 tube to facilitate a slight escape of gas to reduce the strain on the 

 breech. So that the relative muzzle velocities attainable by the two 

 arms is dependent entirely on the foregoing conditions, which vary so 

 little in each case as to make very little difference between them in 

 this regard; like causes producing like effects. 



I do not understand Major Merrill as contending that the muzzle- 

 loader, per se. will give a flatter trajectory than the breechloader, but 

 that on account of its adaptability for increasing or decreasing the 

 powder charge or weight of ball a flatter curve could be had when 

 desirable for the longer ranges by increasing both the charge and ball, 

 whereas in the breechloader you are limited to a certain amount of 

 powder in the shell. 



This discussion of the relative merits of the two systems has not 

 been barren of results, as some seem to intimate. It has been the 

 means of showing up some of the defects of the present American 

 breechloader, and it is to be hoped that it will be kept up until these 

 defects are corrected as far as is practicable. My understanding of 

 Major Merrill's preference for the muzzleloader is that on account of 

 certain advantages it possesses in certain details, its shooting is much 

 steadier, the ball passing from its seat over the powder charge 

 throughout the barrel without any obstruction, a condition that does 

 not obtain with the breechloader, as every observaut riflenmn must 

 admit. Were these, among other defects, corrected, his preferences 

 would bo for the breechloader on account of its rapidity of five. It 

 is to be hoped Major Merrill will continue to hammer away in the 

 same direction until these defects are corrected, or the attempt made 

 for their correction as far as is practicable. Tin will always have my 

 hearty support and good wishes in the task, P. 



March M. 1884. 



