May 8, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



28B 



Ere long, however, another spirit came over the bird, aa 

 at the end nf a couple ot" weeks or a little after he awoke to 

 the right sense as to the line of conduct befitting his paternal 

 condition, and rejoining his spouse, lie divided with her in 

 all soberness, the supcrvisionary care of their offspring, 

 which even thus earl_v in their lives had bade adieu to their 

 nest, Doubtless for the reason that their young were virtu- 

 ally secure from the attacks of hawks therein, the places 

 mostly frequented by the birds at this time were the more 

 heavily grass-grown sections of the prairie, and as will be 

 understood, in seeking these resorts they became very widely 

 dispersed over the signally extensive expanse, and so far as 

 the casual observer was concerned, at' all events, quite eluded 

 his eye. 



But their stay in these deeper fastnesses was of compara- 

 tively short duration, since by the first of August the 

 juveuile scions of the family had already attained a stage of 

 bodily and mental vigor that enabled them to cope success- 

 fully with the maiu run of such dangers as were incident to 

 their career, when with one accord, both old and young took 

 their way to grounds of a totally fresh stamp. These em- 

 braced certain barren stretches of the prairie which were 

 now populated by myriads of grasshoppers, spiders, crickets 

 and other like insectivorous forms, drawn thither to the end 

 of luxuriating in the entirely unimpeded downpour of the 

 solar warmth. Here the birds took up their quarters by the 

 nundred; and as I scarcely need say the day became one 

 protracted feast with them. The etiquette of their gustatory 

 observances at the time was seen to be of the usual family 

 order, much eager bolting characterizing their disposition of 

 their food when it was once laid hold of, and no small degree 

 of tumultuous flying hither and thither being practiced by 

 them in their endeavors or seize upon it. One was also led 

 to remark that under these circumstances the bipeds 

 were singularly silent, the juvenilis of the tribe being wholly 

 dumb, and their elders sounding their pipe only at greatly 

 protracted intervals. That they should add to their avoirdu- 

 pois during these days with almost porcine celerity was but 

 after the proper order of things. But this pleasant process 

 of larding themselves was in nowise permitted to conduce to 

 the enslavement of the creatures, since, with the opening of 

 the third week in August, they seemed to hear a call from 

 the south Which gave a wholly fresh turn to their thoughts 

 and aspirations, and in conformity with which they set forth 

 for the region indicated with precipitate speed. 



While the plovers were massed together in the open parts 

 of the prairie as above described, it was not unnaturally 

 their fortune to signally fire the sporting element of the dis- 

 trict and enlist its energies freely in the attempt to effect their 

 capture. 



In many instances in engaging in this undertaking the 

 shooter was content to stake his chances for suceess on his 

 skill as a stalker. But the outcome of dealing with the mat- 

 ter in this way was, seldom conspicuously brilliant. So far 

 as the older birds were concerned in any event, creeping 

 upon them, waylaying them and the like, came to little or 

 nothing, With the less matured members of the tribe arts 

 of the sort succeeded better. Still, when all is said, the 

 highest count of the bag even through an all day's campaign, 

 wherein measures of the above nature constituted the strate- 

 gic machinery, rarely exceeded ten or a dozen birds. 



The method commended to the more painstaking gunner 

 in addressing himself to the task in question was of a radi- 

 cally different character, inasmuch as he invoked the aid of 

 a horse and buckboard and a coadjutor in the shape of a 

 driver. Attempts to approach the birds in this manner 

 turned out as a rule all that one could reasonably ask. The 

 young birds anyway were to be neared as closely as was 

 necessary, with little or no trouble, by this device. The 

 trustfulness of their elders was of course less to be depended 

 upon. But if the driver was genuinely competent they too 

 were brought within fair striking distance by this means in 

 goodly numbers. That the gunner needed" to second the 

 driver worthily here goes without saying. More particu- 

 larly it was incumbent upon him to be up to the trick of 

 making good his aim when both bird and buckboard were 

 equally under free headway; or, in other words, it was 

 specially desirable that he should be a stiong snap shot. 

 When this was really the case with him the enviable for- 

 tunes of the enterprise were assured beyend perad venture; 

 the bag secured being — humanely speaking — merely limited 

 by the scope of his ambition. W. L. Tiff an v. 



Muskrat as a Fish-Eateh. — Editor Forest and Stream: In 

 a recent number of the Forest and Stream Dr. C. H. Mer- 

 riam asks for more information regarding the fish-eating 

 habits of the muskrat, and the following brief note is sent in 

 for a slight aid in this direction. The muskrat is the most 

 abundant mammal to be found in all the marshy parts of 

 Alaska, south of the Arctic circle at least, and during my 

 residence in that country I had frequent opportunity to learn 

 of its fondness for fish. Often when skirting the border of a 

 pool or following the edge of some sluggish stream in the 

 evening or during the dim light of the Arctic nights in sum- 

 mer, 1 frightened the muskrats from the body of dead fish on 

 the bank at the water's edge. The fish were usually small 

 sluggish species and such as could have been easily caught 

 by the animal itself although it feeds upon fish not killed by 

 itself. That the muskrat will feed upon dead water fowl I 

 have also had frequent occasion to notice, and like many 

 other rodents, especially among the Muridm, this animal is 

 undoubtedly carnivorous whenever a favorable opportunity 

 offers.— E. W. Nelson (Tucson, Arizona, April 22). 



The Arrow-He ad in the Swan. — Editor Forest and 

 Stream: In a recent issue of your paper is a cut of an iron 

 arrow-head taken from a swan killed in Chesapeake Bay. 

 During my explorations in Alaska I secured several quivers 

 of iron-tipped arrows, notched like the original of your cut, 

 and the lorm being unusual. The region whence I secured 

 my notched iron arrow heads is probably the same whence 

 the swan brought its unwelcome burden. My arrows of 

 this character are all from the Upper Yukon Rivet, about 

 two hundred miles above Fort Yukon, and are from the 

 Tutch6ne-Kutchin tribe of the Chippeway Indians. I scarcely 

 need add that swans are very abundant on the Upper Yukon. 

 - — E. W. Nelson (Tucson, Ariz., April 22). 



B.KCENT Arrivals at the Philadelphia Zoological Garden.- Re- 

 ceived by purchase— Four Hying squirrels, ttvo#x&y ichneumons, two 

 black apes (male ami female), one white-nosed monkey (female), one 

 bonnet macaque, one yellow baboon, one pig-tailed macaque, eight 

 common macaques, one black bear (mafe), two cliacma baboons 

 (male and female), one ibex (male), one peccary (female), one roseate 

 cockatoo (male), two slender-billed cockatoos, one Alexandrine pur- 

 rakeet. two sandhill cranes (male and female), iwo South American 

 parrak'eets, two red-crested cardinals (.females), two European swans, 

 one f olish duck, one American bluejay, ten European widgeons, six- 

 teen green-winged teal, one bar-headed goose (female), and two 

 •canvas-back ducks. 



fag Htfd 



AMERICAN AND IMPORTED GUNS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have carefully read a letter from "Wells" criticising Mr. 

 Greener's book on the "Gun." Mr. Greener is an English 

 gunmakeri and his hook is a cheap way of advertising his 

 work. Some allowance must therefore be made for his state- 

 ments—statements, of course, to his own interest. The book 

 contains a great many incorrect statements besides those on 

 wing-shooting. The' assertion that Damascus barrels are the 

 weakest of all twist, and his laminated steel are the strongest, 

 is one error, as also are his remarks on machine-made 

 guns, which mean American guns. His reason why the 

 Damascus barrel is the weaker is to a gunmaker quite ab- 

 surd, however gnod it may appear to those wdio are not gun- 

 makers. In the first place, he gives the methods of manu- 

 facture, and states that in twisting the iron the fibers are lia- 

 ble to be broken, and thus are rendered weaker than other 

 twist barrels. Now gun makers know that the same process 

 which welds the bars will also weld any fiber which may be 

 broken; and experience and common sense teach us that 

 twisted fillers are stronger than those which are not. If the 

 accidental breaking of the fibers of the iron in Damascus 

 barrels make them weak, it would only prove his to be 

 weaker, for while the Damascus might have one or two 

 fibers broken by accident, his, in short, are broken by 

 intent by the hundreds, being made up of small scraps 

 and not of bar iron, which is sufficient in itself to show 

 that Mr. Greener has the facility of stating things which are 

 not so. 



As I said, he has his business to advertise, and I am pre- 

 pared to make an allowance for an English maker running 

 down American work; but 1 cannot make the same allow- 

 ance for "Wells" when he backs up Mr. Greener in depreci- 

 ating American work. "Wells" may be capable of criticising 

 Mr. Greener on wing-shooting, but when he attempts to 

 criticise American work in comparison with foreign work, 

 he undertakes that which his own statements prove he 

 knows but very little of, when he says he cannot see over 

 $150 worth of work on a gun, except in fancy work. If 

 "Wells" were a judge of work he would be able to see where 

 over $150 worth of work could be put on a gun; and facts 

 show that some of the finest guns have the least fancy en- 

 graving on them. He stales that the best English barrels 

 may be had for $75, Granted. Now if the barrels cost $75, 

 the' locks to suit them will cost $75 more, f«r fine barrels 

 and equally as fine locks cost the same. A piece of wood to 

 match will cost from $ 12 to $15. Now, commence the frame 

 and actions and the mountings, $75, and say nothing for 

 work of fitting up, and here are figures amounting to $237. 

 This, in itself, is sufficient to show that "Wells" is no judge 

 of what constitutes a fine gun, and, therefore, has no right to 

 come out in public print and condemn American work, for 

 in doing so he is doing an injury to the country and Ameri- 

 can mechanics; for when any one makes what is supposed to 

 be a disinterested statement, they are supposed to know what 

 they are writing about, and they will go far to injure the 

 reputation of American work, and in that way do an uncalled 

 for injustice. "Wells" states that there is too much "cheap 

 John" work about American goods. This may be; but from 

 his statement about the $150, it seems to me that he is one of 

 that sort who patronizes the "cheap John" classes; but he 

 wants the foreign manufacture, they are so Henglish, you 

 know. 



I will state facts for the benefit of "Wells." There are 

 thousands of English and Belgian guns imported to this 

 counlry that are no more to be compared to Colt's or other 

 American makers than a five cent nickel is to be compared 

 to a gold dollar. Americans this day make the best gun for 

 the money that any country produces. I am a gunmaker. 

 I served my time with one of the best makers in Europe, 

 and I claim to know what I am talking about. I am in no 

 way interested in any make of gun ; in fact the machine- 

 made gun is an injury to me ; for the more of them that are 

 in use the less work I get. I repair a hundred English guns 

 to the one American. The locks of the American gun are 

 plain and of good material; the tumblers and sears are steel, 

 while nine out of ten of the English guns imported have 

 tumblers and sears of iron, not even case-hardened, with 

 the names of respectable makers fraudulently put on them so 

 as to swindle the purchasers, men like "Wells," who think 

 that nothing good is produced in America. Some American 

 dealers have no use for machine-made guns, for there is not 

 that opportunity for fraud that there is in imported ones. If 

 "Wells" were a judge he would soon find, out that there is 

 ten times more "cheap John" about the average imported 

 guns than there is in the American. The American gun is 

 plain and well fitted, with nothing of the "cheap Jolir/' 

 about it. 



Ten years back an American if he had $100 to spend on a 

 watch, couldn't have been induced to buy an American watch ; 

 it was a machine-made thing; therefore most of the American 

 watches were made on the cheap and medium class, if fine ones 

 were made they could not be sold unless they had a foreign 

 mark on them. This is what prevents the best class of goods 

 from being manufactured in this country. To-day high-priced 

 watches are manufactured in America and sold with the 

 maker's name on them; but this has been only since the 

 Swiss Commission reported that our cheap machinery-made 

 watches were equal to then - best; so you see the Americans 

 had to be informed as to the good quality of our watches by 

 foreigners before they were willing to admit it and pay a 

 sufficient, price for a fine piece of work — and just so with the 

 guns. If Americans can make as difficult a piece of ma- 

 chinery as a watch by machine and have it rank among the 

 first, why can they not make a gun as well? Simply this 

 because no foreign commissson has as yet proclaimed their 

 superiority for the money. When this may be done then the 

 amateur judge will pronounce them the < 

 can shoddy will o be seen she 



. think that L am severe iff mak- 

 can assure my readers that I have 

 good grounds. 



Some years back I made a rifle, price $100. A well- 

 known shot and would-be judge, examining it, made the re- 

 mark that it could in no way compare with Purdy work. I 

 answered, "Neither does the price; give me Purely 's price 

 and you shall have Purdy's work." He laughed at the idea, 

 and wanted to know if I would presume to set my work 

 alongside of Purdy's. I was compelled for the time to sub- 

 mit to the jeer; but my time came, some time afterward, 

 and in a way least expected. A Purdy gun, manufactured 

 to order at a cost of $550, was brought to me to be cleaned. 



1 saw the judge (?) coming down the street, and I remarked 

 to a gentleman in (he store, "Here comes Mr. Blank, and I 

 mean to have some fun at his expense." I had just finished 

 a gun for my own use, and taking the Purdy out of the case 

 as he came in, 1 said. "How do you like this gun for an 

 imitation Purdy?" lie answered," "Pretty fair gun, hut not 

 to be compared to Purdy's work." Now he shot a Purdy 

 gun himself, but it was an old pattern, while the one I was 

 showing him was a new and later date. 1 then handed him 

 my own gun, which I had made, afid asked him how much 

 difference he would give in preference of the imitation 

 Purdy over mine. He examined both guns attentively and 

 said he would not give my gun for two like the other. I 

 then told him to examine it again, for although an imitation 

 it was a very fine piece of work. He examined it again and 

 made the same statement as at first. I then told him it was 

 a genuine Purdy, but could not get him to believe it until he 

 found out the owner. If ever you saw a crestfallen man 

 that amateur judge of shotguns was ene. He went away, 

 and in about two hours returned, making me an offer of 

 $250 for my gun with this condition, that 1 would remove 

 my name and substitute Purdy's. His offer was rejected. 

 So much for American work and American judges. 



About the same time I received an order to make a gun 

 for $175. As the gentleman wanted the gun by a certain 

 time I proposed ordering one for liim; this he would not 

 consent to, so I began the work for him. Every day he 

 visited me and saw the gun made by me, piece by piece, and 

 I think I gave him more individual work than any maker in 

 England would have done. I received the barrels in the 

 tubes. I put them together, breeched, made the leeks and 

 mounting, stocked, finished and engraved the gun for him. 

 I got his permission to exhibit it at a coming fair, which 

 began three days after I had promised to deliver it to him, 

 and together with a rifle I had also made, I placed it on ex- 

 hibition. This was in 1869. 1 received first on both guns, 

 a diploma on each for the best gun made in the State, and a 

 silver cup on each for the best gun on exhibition open to the 

 world. The judges stated that they had not thought such a 

 gun could be manufactured in America. The owner after- 

 ward exhibited the same gun in Alabama, and took the 

 premium for best gun on exhibition. Some years afterward 

 I exhibited it against a gun costing $475. Two gunmakers 

 were on the examining committee. Both e:uns were entirely 

 stripped, and after close examination, I received first prize, 

 a gold medal valued at $50, for the best double gun. 

 The gun was worth more money than I got for it; 

 for I did the work for exhibition and the owner bene- 

 fited. He bought a common English gun to shoot fiom 

 a boat to use for one trip. He paid $18 for it. It 

 had Purdy's name stamped on the barrels. He brought 

 it to me to examine and see if it was safe. I told him it was 

 as far as the barrels were concerned, but that the locks were 

 not safe, which is the case with all common English guns, 

 but these he said he would risk, On his return he. told me 

 that he had played a good joke on a friend of his. They 

 started on a hunt, and when the friend looked at the gun, 

 which had been made to order by myself, he remarked, 

 "Pretty nice gun," and when he saw the name on it, said, 



"Imported by of ?" "No," said the owner, "he 



made the gun for me." "How much did he charge you for 

 it?" was the next query. "$175," was the answer. "Phew!" 

 he whistled, aud said, "By thunder! he knows how to charge 

 for his work." Nothing more was said that day on the sub- 

 ject. The following day they went on the river duck shoot- 

 ing, when the gentleman took his $18 gun with him. He 

 handed that to his friend, and asked, "What do you think 

 of this gun?" He looked at it and answered, "You hav» 

 fine guns. " ' 'What do you think of $500 for this, " inquired 

 the gentleman. "Oh!" was the reply, "Purdy is a fine 

 maker." "You don't whistle to-day," remarked the owner, 

 "I don't understand," was the reply. "Why," said the gen- 

 tleman, "You whistled when I told you my other gun cost 

 $175." "But," was the answer, "you don't compare this 

 gun with the one you had yesterday. Why, the maker of 

 this is the finest in England." "Well," replied the owner, 

 "1 should not think I would compare them. This gun 

 cost me $18, and the name on the barrel is a fraud, Purdy 

 never saw the gun." Now, no doubt but this judge of work 

 and prices would be just as willing to air his opinions on 

 American work as "Wells" has been. Sometimes persons 

 expose their ignorance when they least expect to. In the 

 case just noticed, the man knew that Purely was a fine 

 maker only from reputation, and made himself a laughing- 

 stock. 



It is amusing to see what blasted fools some men do make 

 of themselves. They know but little and they think every 

 one as stupid as they are. One of this sort brought a gun to 

 me for repairs; it was a Belgian gun and had "Manton" 

 stamped on it. He remarked to me when he handed it to 

 me, "This is the finest gun you ever had in your store. My 

 grandfather had it made to order by old Joe Manton, and it 

 cost $500." I looked at him in astonishment. The gun was 

 not five years old and the cost was about $16. I told him he 

 must be mistaken. He immediately became very angry, aud 

 said I did not know a fine gun when I saw one. I took the 

 barrels out of the stock and showed him the Belgian proof, 

 when he snatched the gun out of my hands and left the store, 

 and, although we were soldiers together and brother officers, 

 he has never spoken to me since. This circumstance taught 

 me a lesson; and now, if a man were to bring in a broom- 

 stick and say it was the finest gun I ever saw, I should not 

 contradict him. I have had a number of similar cases since. 

 One day a man brought me a gun to repair, with "W. Rich- 

 aids" on the barrels, "and worth about $40. He said it had 

 been made to order by Westley Richards at a cost of $300. I 

 said not a word, only looked at him. A doctor who was 

 present noticed my look, and when the young blood had 

 gone he inquired what it meant. I told him my experience, 

 aud showed a "Westley Richards" and made comparisons. 

 He laughed heartily, and said it reminded him of a circum- 

 stance which he knew of where just as great ignorance had 

 shown, A gentleman of his acquaintance had set him- 

 self up as a judge of fine paintings. He had all the names of 

 the masters at his tongue's end, and, like the gun judges with 

 Manton, Purdy, Richards, Greener, Dougall, Scott, Powell 

 and Riley, he could discuss the merits of each quite fluently. 

 So far did he carry this that whenever a new painting was 

 purchased by a wealthy citizen, he was at once sent for to 

 express his opinion. One day he and the Doctor stepped 

 into a paint shop, and the judge's attention was immedi- 

 ately drawn to a painting which was hanging against the 

 wall. He said, "Doctor, look at this piece of work, by one 

 of the masters. Why, it is splendid. 1 know the author of 

 that, but I now forget it; but lie was one of the finest in his 

 day." He inquired of the clerk, who said he thought it 

 belonged to the "boss." "1 wonder," said the judge, 



