Tony 31, 1884] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
5 
talking up their next semi-annual hunt, The market hunter is 
fully eqnipped, and he will leaye his regular business for 
What he considers his haryest, As soon as ducks first make 
their appearance in the spring he will goto the shooting 
sromd, make camp, and prepare to ‘‘siay with them” until 
the flight is over, if it takes six weeks or two months, He 
will kill fifty to one hundred ducks ina day, And where 
do they goto? Just where the pigeons went. What does it 
mutter if Iowa does have non-export Jaws? It is easy to 
cross the river and ship from the other side. ' 
I don’t know a better way to proteet our game (of all kinds) 
than to utterly prohibit the traffic in it. States claim the 
tight to legislate for the protection of game; why not the 
same right to prohibit the sale of it altogether. Ii the idea 
is a good one let us pound sway at it until we get at least a 
uniform uon-export law, or, what would be yery much bet- 
ter, laws in all States that will totally stamp out the trattic, 
> Marx. 
Morning Sun, Towa. 
A WORD FOR THE HORSE. 
(re day last fall my brother was driving a little mare of 
Messenger and Morgan breed, hitched double with one 
owned by my father. In the wagon he had his gun and 
hunting accoutrements, and in his outside coat pocket was a 
.82-caliber revolver with an eight-inch barrel, every chamber 
of whieh was loaded with short cartridge. On the road he 
overtook an acquaintance and invited him to get in. Pass- 
ing through 4 piece of woods about eight miles from home 
they saw a grouse cross the road, and my brother took the 
gun and went into the woods after it, leaving the passenger 
in charge of the team. Before going he laid the revolver, a 
clumsy thing to carry in the pocket, on the wagon seat. 
Shortly after he left he heard the report of a pistol. When 
he started the team he noticed that the little mare did not 
respond as was her wont. Before he had gone a mile her 
disposition to lag was so decided that he got out to investi- 
gale, and he then found that a .32 bullet had entered her 
rump, parallel with and about eight inches to the right of 
the root of the tail, and had doubtless penetrated her vitals. 
His companion then confessed to haying shot her wi ile fool- 
ing with the pistol. They turned her loose, and gamely 
following her mate nine miles, she died in two hours after 
reaching home, “mourned by all who knew” her. 
Though she was a granddaughter of Crown Prince, in his 
day the ‘third best” trotter in the world, and was one of 
the most gentle and intelligent roadsters I ever handled, Ido 
not estimate her loss in dollars and cents; it is the manner of 
her taking off, and the impossibility of my replacing ler 
that grievyesme. But I owe firearms no grudge, and if this 
would only teach some of the “‘darn fools,” who handle 
them carelessly a lesson, that would save the life or limb of 
some human being, the little mare will not have died in vain, 
In a recent number of your paper, one of your most enter- 
taining correspondents put himself on record against the 
horse, and though I do not wish to provoke any controversy, 
L trust you will allow me, while on this string, to say a few 
words in reply, Iam no “sporting man.” J have seen some 
horse racing, but except once, when I saw John H. and run- 
ning mate, in attempting to lower the double team record, 
coyer one-quarter of a mile in thirty-two seconds, on Beacon 
Park near Boston, I haye always left the race course dis- 
usted. I propose to consider the horse from. the standpoint 
of alover of nature, and as a source of legitimate pleasure. 
If I owned Jay-Hye See 1 would not put him on a race 
course, yet [enjoy holding the reins over a level-headed 
machine-eaited 2:50 to 38-minute roadster during a “‘brush on 
the road,” where the unjust judge putteth not back, neither 
do “ringers” break in and steal. ‘‘The man who takes 
care of a horse is a slave.” What is there in the 
world worth haying, the possession of which does not 
entail trouble? Nothing that I know of. ‘‘When you are 
going like the wind behind a horse, you can’t see anything 
but the horse,” A horse is only flesh and blood, and cannat 
be driven fast all the time, though J admit that the way some 
of the “bloods” drive, when any one is in sight, might lead 
the uninitiated toform that opinion. I hate that way of show- 
ing off; though two very dearfriends of mine will go through |- 
a Village in saddle or wagon with a dash that would have 
done eredit to the James brothers. Haye some humanity, 
When you come to an inviting piece of scenery, pull up your 
horse, slack your reins and let him walk; and if you do not 
see more than if you were doing the work yourself, it is your 
own fault, If a walk carries you along too fast, stop him: if 
you wish to be alone, tie him up and leave him. 
_ “A horse as a8 means of locomotion, has a value, and for 
that purpose one is as good ag another.” If the writer of the 
aboye had eyer handled two such horses as our old Flying 
Dulehman and Canadian Charlie, he never would haye 
penned that passage. J once droye Dutchman six miles in 
twenty-four minutes. Hugh McLean drove him from Wood- 
stock to Salmon River, 100 miles,in aday. Dr. Flower 
drove him forty-cight miles without drawing rein, in five 
and a half hours, No one ever struck him in harness, On 
the other hand, Charlie could not be driven at a fiye-mile-an- 
hour gait, without as much work as would be required in a 
half a day’s thrashing witha poverty club flail. There is a 
difference in the value of horses as a “means of locomotion.” 
J admire a good locomotive as a splendid production of me- 
chanical art—a good horse as a work of nature. The man 
who truly loves nature, has to take the horse with the rest of 
the dose. j 
It is strange how inconsistent are some men of science, 
rofqund thinkers, deep lovers of nature. Thoreau, who 
laved beasts and birds as few men ever did, sneered at 
geology as ‘“a lot of old broken shells,” yet his contributions 
to science were of no more yalue than those of Lyell or 
Murchison, But I suppose this inconsistency is a wise pro- 
vision of Providence. It tends to develop learned specialists 
in some department of science, instead of sciolists, as men 
of my stamp, who are enthusiastic over anything they sup- 
pose to be beautiful, are only too apt tobe. A good horse 
is almost as valuable an adjunct to the outfit of a sportsman 
agsugood dog. Viewed from the standpoint of a lover of 
nature, he is oné of the noblest productions of a great Cre- 
ator, amd less often casts reflections on his maker than some 
of his human masters. He is intelligent, obedient and 
patient, meekly bearing usage that would exasperate a man, 
- when one blow from his hoof would send his tormentors into 
_ eternity. He is as far ahead of man in some qualities as 
tan excels him in others. See Frank Wilkeson’s account 
of the little white mare. 
_ “Wells” thinks there is little pleasure in a sleigh ride, and 
had I never lived north of Boston I believe I would think so 
too. But with us northerners it is the institution for which. 
re most sigh when we migrate to southern climes, Had I 
space I could cite, as an example, a piece of Texan experience. 
Here the snow is hard and the rivers frozen nearly all winter, 
The driving paraphernalia are always clean instéad of being: 
covered with mud asin summer, As for cold, we wrap up 
and laugh at it. My lest sleigh ride was on or about April 
8 of the present year, and the scene is burned as it were, on 
my memory. A pair of small gray horses hitched to a 
double-seated sleigh, skimming over the frozen river at the 
rate of twelve miles an hour; silyer dash rails and gongs 
glowing in the soft light of the most beautiful auroras, and 
the bells chitning even more musically than the rhythmical 
jingle in which Poe immortalizes ‘‘the sledges with their 
bells, silver bells.” Within that sleigh four light-hearted 
young people, who, thrilled by the weird grandeur of the 
swiftly passing scenery, sat motionless amid a silence only 
broken by the chimes, the telegraph patter of the horses’ feet 
and the low, long-drawn, ‘‘steady-y-y” of the driver, as 
“Johnny,” with his long stride, promised to lift his little 
mate off her feet. Such is the picture. ‘‘We are all 
changed.” One of that quartette is in Chicago, one is on 
the brink of the deep, dark yalley, one has crossed to the 
other side. One of the horses is dead, and ‘‘Johnny” and I 
remain like two trees of a different order that have been 
spared by the hurricane. I would give all my earthly 
possessions to be in a position to repeat that ride, ‘‘Senti- 
mentalist?” Well, perhaps, yet take the sentiment out of life 
and there would be a bigger vacancy than some holding 
opposite opinions will say fhere is in my heart. 
Ouirtron, New Brunswick. L. 1, Fuower. 
CLUBS AND CLUB GROUNDS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
You once asked the meaning of the movement by clubs 
to aeqnire possession and control of desirable club grounds, 
It must, be evident that a considerable number of the sport- 
ing fraternity, or at least some of the leading members of 
these clubs, have come to the conclusion that bona fide pro- 
tection for game under ordinary circumstances is impracti- 
eable, and that “‘the game must go,” and that quickly unless 
they can prevent its destruction by thus securing exclusive 
rights to certain favorite localities where it still frequents 
and may be protected by judicious management. 
Some of these parties are, however, no doubt actuated by 
purely selfish purposes in seeking to monopolize the best 
hunting grounds, and do not care a fig for the general good 
of the public or for preserving the game, except so far as for 
their own temporary amusement and benefit. It may also 
be regarded as some evidence of the increasing number of 
the wealthy men in the country and the growing popularity 
of field sports. 
Whatever may be the outgrowth of the movement, the 
responsibility, if any, rests with the people. Under our 
form of government unfortunately any legislation for rezu- 
lating and restraining the indiscriminate killing and taking 
of game animals, birds or fish, is regarded with high dis- 
favor and is unpopular with the masses, under the stupid 
and erroneous impression, that it is an unwarranted invasion 
and curtailment of their natural and inalienable rights in a 
free country. And hence the difficulty to be encountered in 
the way of getting stringent game laws eifacted, or enforc- 
ing them or of educating the public mind to a sufficient 
understanding and appreciation of the value and importance 
of game protection, There is a time coming, however, 
when no doubt there will be a change for the better in public 
sentiment, but it may be deferred until most of the game is 
exterminated. Like most of the savages who inhabit this 
country, the game of nearly every species is certain to disap- 
pear before the advance of civilization. Against the 
threatened monopoly by clubs of the best game resorts, there 
seems to be no present remedy, and as to the amount of good 
or evil they may accomplish, time will show, They may 
serve to bring a more speedy solution of the gnestion of 
“came” or “no game” in this country. J. W. 
DeEtRort, Mich, 
THE CHOICE OF HUNTING RIFLES. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I was brought up in the country where there was plenty 
of small game, such as squirrels, rabbits, pheasants and a 
few turkey; and before I was able to hold a gun off-hand 
would steal off with the old rifie, and by resting the muzzle 
on a log or by the side of a tree, practice on the squirrels. 
My old rifle was about .38 or .40-caliber, shooting 80 round 
balls to the pound, and withit I could upset a ground hog 
at one hundred yards nearly every time, and once made an 
extra good shot and killed a wild turkey, which all of the 
old hunters of the neighborhood had been chasing for a week 
or more. After I was grown up, I was placed for ten or 
twelve years in a situation where I had no chanee for hunting; 
but twoyearsago, moving to where] could spend a little time 
occasionally, I returned to my first love and purchased a 
muzzleloading rifle. While it was a good sun, and ! could 
do good work with it, 1 was always reading in the columns 
of your paper discussions as to the relative merits of muzzle- 
loaders and breechloaders, and it seemed to me that the 
breechloader had the best of the argument. I then, after a 
good deal of inquiry and studying the opinions of the corres- 
pondents of your paper, concluded that a .40-caliber rifle 
would fill the bill for a general purpose rifle. So I purchased 
a .40-caliber, double set triggers Marlin, 60 grains powder 
and 260-srain ball. 
[had never fired a dozen shots with any breechloader, and 
unpacking my purchase, the first impressions were not good. 
While the gun handled well and was well made, the sights 
were too coarse and it kicked so 1 could not do good shoot- 
ing, and I could do far better with my muzzleloader of equal 
caliber. The eun shot strong and occasionally I could put 
the balls where I wanted to, so I concluded the fault was 
mine, One great trouble was that if I sighted it with a fine 
sight such as my muzzleloader took I would shoot below the 
mark, and in-shooting I had to place nearly all of the bead 
of the front sight in the hind notch to shoot bigh enough. In 
order to remedy this 1 knocked out the knife blade of the 
front sight and putin one of bone, which J made smaller 
and filed down so at thirty yards with fine sight I could 
shoot into the center. Ihave become accustomed to the re- 
coil and can now at any distance from ten to one hundred 
yards with it beat my muzzleloader. I have on two diiferent 
occasions at thirty yards off-hand, drove three centers in sac- 
cession; while all were not true centers, they all cut the tack 
out, [have never shot at any large game with it, but have 
killed dogs, ground hogs, pheasants, crows and squirrels, and 
think it will kill a deer at any distance short of two hundred 
yards as wellas guns of larger caliber, I killed a crow at 
one hundred and eighty-five yards, measured distance, and 
with my potnt blank at thirty yards. In shooting any dis- 
tance up to one hundred yards, T take the same sight and do 
good work, and by taking coarser sight, up to two hundred, 
without elevating my hind sight. To sum up, I find that I 
can kill any small object such as a rabbit, squirrel, or wood- 
pecker, from ten to one hundred yards as surely as with my 
muzzleloader of equal caliber, and for distances over one 
hundred yards the breechloader is far ahead. 
The ammunition is easily prepared. At first I had the 
same trouble that some of your correspondents have, with 
the cartridges jamming in the magazine, the ball pushing in 
the shells so that the carrier block would not work, This I 
overcome by filling my sbells full of powder, then rapping 
the side of the shell with my pencil until thé powder was 
settled, placing the ball in and seating it properly. In this 
way you may shoot all day with the magazine full of cart- 
ridges, using the gun asa singleloader without shortening 
the cartridges in the magazine any. In the event of a cart- 
ridge jamming while hunting game, one can load as rapidly 
as any singleloader, as the gun will eject an empty shell 
without the carrier block working. Ido not know how 
long the shells will last, but have reloaded some of them 
twenty times, and they still are serviceable. I reload my 
own ammunition, which reduces the cost less than one-third 
the price of new shells. Ido not see where the singleloader 
has any advantage over the magazine gun, unless you except 
the danger of shells exploding in the magazine, and those 
accidents are so few and far between that they cannot be 
counted. 
I have enumerated some of the advantages of the breech- 
loader over the muzzleloader, and now for the disadvantages. 
With a muzzleloader you ean vary your charges to suit your 
game. In hunting squirrels you can load wilh small charges 
of powder and round ball, Tf after larger game you can 
increase the charge of powder and use a long ball. With a 
breechloader itis the same charge whether you are aiter 
squirrel or deer, The manufacturer will say, ‘Use guns 
suited to each kind of game.” This will do for those who 
can afford it; but lam speaking of a gun for general pur- 
pose, and the majority of those who use a gun cannot afford 
a gun for every kind of game. Why cannot a short shell be 
made to use a round ball and say 25 grains of powder, for 
shooting small game, and still be accurate enough for that 
purpose. I am aware that the short cartridge would not 
work in the magazine, but the magazine could be kept full 
of the regular cartridges and the gun be used as a single- 
loader, and in the event of wishing to shoot at anything at a 
distance, have the long cartridge always on hand. Ne 
JACKSON CENTER, Pa. 
[The short cartridge would not fit in the long chamber. } 
['The following letter from ‘C. D.,” in reply to communi- 
cation of “‘W. DeV. F.” in our issue of April 24, has 
been overlooked, and is now printed with this explanation. | 
Editor Forest and Stream; 
Our Government never had in the hands of troops any 
arms using a bottle-necked cartridge, consequently never 
used a bottle-necked shell. Whether “government experts” 
condemn it, I cannot say, for I am not posted as to all ex- 
periments or opinions they may have made or entertained. 
The ‘‘bottle-neck” is certainly in use by the Turks, as many 
a Russian found to his cost; and the British army use it in 
their rifles, which are practically the same ag the Turks’, 
The Westley Richards falling-block rifle, nearly all the Eng- 
lish express rifles, the Winchester ,45-75, and many other 
guns besides the new .40-90, all use bottle-necked shells; so. it 
hardly looks as though the ‘‘bottle-neck” is yet ‘‘a type of 
the past.” 
I would not advocate its use, however, except for special 
reasons, such as have already been siven by myself and 
others, and that are not necessary to repeat; especially as the 
.40-90 rifle is already a fact, to be had for the buying. . 
As one of your correspondents has already stated, recoil 
depeuds much more upon the amount of Jead to be thrown 
than the powder burned, I have fired the new .45-85-285 
grain cartridge alongside of the .45-70-405 government, and 
can say positively that the recoil is much less, instead of 
greater. In fact, the recoil is not as great as with the 
.45-55-405 cartridge, judging only from its sensible effect, and 
not from elaborate experiments with balances, 
As to primers, allow me to quote from an ordnance report: 
“Relative sensitiveness and certainty of fire—The following 
table shows the results obtained by dropping 4 one-pound 
weight, through the heights recorded, on the primers on their 
seats In the cartridge case: 
FLAT ANYVILS. 
Inches. 
Service cup anvil—height...,...4..........-..---.14, --,--..1.6 t0 65 
Lowell primer..... shot, SES as Pee ee tourer am een 1.6 to 6.0 
Frankford Arsenal experimental primer......-............. 2.5 to 6.0 
POINTED. ANYILS. 
Berdan: primer Nereis si oso steleroseige esate sie ton ints oe ildlg boon aes 1.5 to 3.0 
WiINCHESTGE PEIMGL ek Cet eaten cette rt aetee ee lti epee tee eee es 1.5 to 4.5 
Taking for standard the service cup anvil for sensitiveness 
and Springfield rifle for igniting power, the latter has suffi- 
cient surplus power “‘to cover the range of all the above 
primers.” 
“The Hotchkiss gun will also cover the range if provided 
with a spring requiring 15 pounds to start and 28 pounds to 
bring to full cock. If less, it is prejudicial to the cartridge 
and there may be an occasional misstire, 
“Only one missiire occurred in 16,000 rounds of the Frank: 
ford arsenal primer fired from the Springfield, Hotchkiss 
(with spriug 15 and 28 pounds) and the Gatling guns. It 
happened in the latter, and is supposed to have been due to 
bad er burned composition. , 
‘On the record of missfires the Frankford arsenal primer 
is superior to all the aboye primers and is better adapted ta 
magazine gins (the italics are mine), being less sensitive to 
explosion when struck by the bullet of another cartridge 
held concentrically in a tube representing the Hotchkiss 
magazine, and dropped from various heights, as shown by 
the following record: 
Berdan primer explodes when struck by cartridge falling 5ft. 
Winchester primer explodes when struck by cartridge falling 20ft, 
Service cup anvil explodes when struck by cartridge falling oof, 
Frankford arsenal explodes when struck by cartridge falling 40ft.”’ 
“W. DeV. F.’s” faith in his Winchester is certainly sub- 
lime; but there are other repeaters that have stood as heavy 
atest, and it is a significant fact that the Winchester re- 
peater was not submitted to the Ordnance Board of 1881, re- 
cently mentioned by me, although I happen to know that 
they had a model that would take in the ,45-70-405-grain car- 
tridge as required by the Board. This fact I learned from 
the company itself in its refusal to build a special gun, not 
so very long ago, and before other arms companies, now in 
existence, had sprung up. Mr, Duane has my sympathies 
for the unfairness shown him in ‘‘Holding Well’s” criticism; 
and the ‘‘point” he makesis just what I believe to be the 
