Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Terms, $4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copt. | 

 Six Mo>'ths, $2. ) 



NEW YORK, AUGUST 20, 188B. 



j VOL. XXV.— No. 4. 



( Nos. 39 & 40 Park Bow, New York. 



OORBESPONBENOE. 



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Forest and Stream PabliaMns Co. 

 Nos. 39 AND 40 Park Row. New York City. 



CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 



Jack BliifiE and Bluster. 



The Choice of a Champion. 



The Trajectory Test. 



After the Meet. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Sport in the SieiTas.— v. 

 Natural Histoky. 



Life on the Seashore. 



The Ptomaines. 



Ornithological Inquiries. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



Shooting About Vicksbnrg. 



The Far North. 



One Day Out. 



Xbe Choice of (iuna.— i. 



Premature Explosions. 



Canned Good.s. 



The Adirondack Deer, 

 Sea and Bivee Fishing. 



The "Razor-Back'' of Gogebic. 



The Barefoot Again. 



Rod and Reel Association. 



Gogebic, Ontonagon and Eagle. 



The Ti'out Streams of Klamath. 



The Menhaden Question. 



Heterodox Suggestions. 



The Mastigouche Lakes. 



Night Fishing for Bass. 

 Fishculture. 



New York Oyster Commission. 

 The Kennel. 



The American Kennel Club. 



The Kennel. 



A Dog Show Ch'cuit. 



The Pittsburgh Dog Show. 



Philadelphia Fall Dog Show. 



Another Odd Point. 



The New Setter Standard. 



The English Spaniel Club. 



English Kennel Notes.— xxxii. 



Current Dog Stories. 



Kennel Management. 



Kennel Notes. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



The "Forest and Stream" Rifle 

 Trial. 



Range and Gallery. 



The Trap. 

 Canoeing. 



Annual Dues of the A. C. A. 



Record of the A. C. A. Meet. 



Notes About the Meet. 



The Consolation Prize. 



Pacific Coast Mosquito Fleet. 

 Yachting. 



The Ti-ial Races. 



Pi-iscilla. 



New York Y. C. Cups. 

 Puritan. 



Annisquam Regatta, Aug. 14. 

 Quincy Y. C. Aug. 14. 

 Races of the N. Y. Y. C. Cruise. 

 Hull \ . C. Open Regatta. 

 Bay of Quinte Y. C.'s Regatta. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



With its compact type and in its permanently enlarged form 

 of twenty-eight pages this journal furnishes each iveeic a iarger 

 amount of first-class matter relating to angling, shooting, the 

 Kennel, yacMing, canoeing, ana kindred subjects, than is con- 

 tained in all other American publications put together. 



THE TRAJECTORY TEST. 



THE increasing interest manifested in the proposed tra- 

 jectoiy test sliows tbat it will, in the language of the 

 budding journal, "fill a long felt want." Some of the sug- 

 gestions whicli have come in indicate that there is in some 

 measure a misappreheusiou of just what we shall endeavor 

 to get in the line of shooting statistics. It will not be a test 

 of initial velocities nor of the accuracy of shooting by the 

 several rifles tested so far r^s the bunching of shots is con- 

 cerned ; but with a cai-efully determined base line to start 

 from, we sball fire a sufficient number of shots from each 

 rifle to determine just what it is capable of doing in the 

 direction of meeting that groat desideratum of a luuiting 

 weapon— a flat trajectory. 



To this end we have chosen several days in September, 

 from the 23d onward, when in all likelihood the weather 

 will be settled and quiet. A surveyor will first of all make 

 a careful plot of the range, fixing the distance with the 

 utmost accuracy and, determining a base line from which 

 all the vertical measurements will be taken. A series of 

 slakes will be firmly planted along the line of fire, and each 

 one marked for distance and height, At 300 yards a strong 

 platform of plank will be built, and on this will be placed 

 the iron gun rest from which all the weapons will be fired. 

 At 150 yards, at 100 yards, and at 50 yards screens will be 

 placed and five shots fired from each weapon in succession 

 as quickly as convenient. Each shot will be noted on the 

 screen and on the paper ling-target to be employed. These 

 paper documents will then form permanent exhibits, and 

 their exact measurement wiU be a question for the expert to 

 determine. All the data as to each rifle and the ammunition 

 employed will be carefully noted, and instruments for fixing 

 tbe shooting conditions, such as the force and direction of 

 the wind, tbe barometric and thermometric records, wUl be 

 provided. 



A similar platform may be built at 100 yards for the 

 smaller caliber of rifles now becoming so popular, and a 

 sliding screen along the zone of maximum trajectory may 

 also be put up. These, however, are matters not essential to 

 the practical test, which, briefly stated, is to take from the 

 ordinary gunsmith's stock the popular makes of hunting 

 weapons, load them with factory ammunition, and see by 

 the indisputable record of the screens just what they are 

 capable of doing. To accomplish this requires just such 

 careful sm'veying and subsequent manipulation as wc have 

 pointed out, and this we propose to have. 



Already several of the manufacturers have sent us sam- 

 ple 'arms for the trial. What we wisli and what we shall 

 invite from the makers is a weapon of .40 to .45-caliber, 

 of the arm they are pushing as their most reliable all-round 

 Imuter's model. It is to be taken from the stock, not a 

 weapon fixed up for the test. We wish no special ammu. 

 nition, though while the tests are in progress it would be a 

 capital opportunity to try any cartridge loaded with particu- 

 lar reference to high velocity and consequent low trajectory. 

 If there are muzzleloader advocates who desire to pit their 

 arms against the breechloader, they arc at libertj'' to use 

 the firing rest and the other facilities, and in this connec 

 tion we would especially desire the entry of an English ex- 

 press rifle from some weU-knowu maker, and fired under 

 the best conditions as to load, etc. 



Everything done will be open and above board, and all 

 who wish may come and witness the experiments. Full 

 and exact particulars will be given in our columns prior 

 to the time of test, in addition to the general features out. 

 lined above. 



THE CHOICE OF A CHAMPION. 



TO-DAY begins the real test of the work that has engrossed 

 the attention of American yachtsmen since the first of 

 the year, and has tried to the utmost the ability of the de- 

 signers and the skill of the builders. The races heretofore 

 sailed have not been conclusive, but only a part of the pre- 

 paratory steps, and only with the start to-day begins a 

 trial which will presumably be thorough and conclusive, and 

 one on which a fair selection will be made. The number of 

 races which will be sailed is not yet determined, but the com- 

 mittee have announced their intention to make a thorough 

 test of the new boats. Should one or two races shoAv a 

 marked superiority in any yacht, no more will be sailed, but 

 if such is not the case, the races will be continued until some 

 definite result is reached. While the two new sloops will 

 not be the only entries, no one supposes for a moment that 

 any other than one of them will be chosen, as their size 

 alone better fits them to match with Genesta, and being of 

 more modern build and rig, they are in all probability faster 

 than the older boats. How much faster they are in propor- 

 tion to their size is what most yachtsmen want to know, and 

 it can only be decided by the aid of the owners of the older 

 yachts who will enter their boats in the races. 



An open invitation has been extended to all sloops and 

 cutters of GO feet waterline to enter these races, but it is 

 very doubtful whether more than four or five will enter 

 against Puritan or Priscilla. A great deal of talk has been 

 indulged in diu-iug the winter and spring about the speed of 

 some "flyer" or the "lines fine as silk" of another, or a third 

 "in full racing fettle" and only too anxious to annihilate the 

 presumptuous Britisher; and now that the time for talking 

 has passed, we hope these vaunted "fighting sloops" will 

 make good the boasts of their friends and owners, if not, let 

 us hear no more of their pretensions to a first place in the 

 racing fleet. The races are emphaticaUy in "our weather" 

 and home waters, no undue restrictions are placed on any 

 boat, and, though no prizes of money are offered, there is 

 sufficient at stake to make the honor well worth contending 

 for; no excuse is left for those who stay out. 



It is to be regretted that the gentlemen with whom the se- 

 lection of the American champion rests have been promi- 

 nently identified with one of the competing yachts, virtually 

 built and sailed by them, and in whose defeat or success they 

 have such a deep personal interest; and this circumstance 

 has given rise to various rumors that they will select their 

 own boat at all hazards. We believe that such a suspicion 

 is entirely unfounded, and that the committee fully appre- 

 ciate the responsibility of the trust confided to them, and 

 realize by this time that it is not a mere club regatta nor a 

 match between private yachts that they are concerned with, 

 but that it is a matter of national importance, and that they 

 represent, not the New York Yacht Club, but American 

 yachting. Justly or unjustly, a certain amount of blame 

 win attach to them in the event of defeat, as in buildin one 



boat they have necessarily neglected the claims of all other 

 and incurred some enmity in consequence. This, however, 

 was inevitable in any case and is a matter of small import- 

 ance. The main question is whether they have properly ful- 

 filled their trust, and this will be decided by the popular 

 verdict after the selection of a vacht has been announced. 



JACK BL UFF AND BL USTER. 



'"PHE method of hunting deer with jacks has been prac- 

 ticed in the Adirondacks for many years, with the 

 approval and co-operation of hotel keepers and guides. The 

 hotel men have defended the practice because it brought 

 guests to their hotels; the guides have upheld it because it 

 gave them employment. Not content with jacking in sea- 

 son, some of them have violated the law by June floating- 

 and the hotel tables have been openly supplied with unlaw- 

 ful venison. When criticisms have been made upon the 

 practice, these hotel men and guides have been its staunch 

 defenders. 



Within the last few months a great change has come over 

 these same jack hunters— so far as their talk is concerned. 

 When the deer-hounding law was proposed they hfted up 

 their voices in a prolonged howl about the barbarity and 

 exterminating effects of jack-hunting; and from that day to 

 this the denunciation of floating has been persisted in so 

 loudly that were noise any evidence of sincerity no one 

 could question their motives. 



But just how much honesty is there in the talk about float- 

 ing? Why did we hear nothing about it before the hound- 

 ing law was enacted? Do the men who have so much to say 

 about it really feel what they say? Have the landlords and 

 guides who have so long encouraged and practiced hounding 

 suddenly awakened to see the enormity of the practice? Are 

 they sincere? Or, on the contrary, is their indignation at jack- 

 hunting only assumed and put on for effect? Is it anything 

 else than bluff and bluster to divert attention from the 

 brutality of hounding, and intended to make hounding 

 appear legitimate in comparison with jack-hunting? 



Just how hypocritical is a large proportion of this anti- 

 jacking talk on the part of the advocate of hounding can 

 very easily be demonstrated. If the Forest and Stream 

 should next week institute a campaign against deer floating 

 in the Adirondacks, these very men, who have been most 

 forward in their pretended opposition to the method, would 

 halt, turn short about, and go off on some new tangent. 

 The minute they suspected that steps might be taken to abol- 

 ish floating, they would begin to declaim on the enormities 

 of still-hunting, or whatever other theme they might think 

 would divert attention from floating; and they would oppose 

 a law against jack-shooting with all their might and main. 



They may have occasion next winter to give proof of their 

 true position on this question of Adirondack jack-hunting 

 deer. 



AFTER THE MEET. 



THE main value of the annual canoe meet next to its Im' 

 portance as a social factor in promoting acquaintances 

 and friendly feeling among canoeists, is the opportunity it 

 presents for the exchange of ideas, and the stimulus it gives 

 to the improvement of canoes and the extension of canoe- 

 ing. Several of the principal novelties of this season are 

 directly traceable to last year's meet, and already the races 

 of this year have started several on a search for something 

 better that will show good results at the next meet. A 

 marked improvement in canoes, sails and camp outfit, was 

 visible this year, the boats being mostly of better model and 

 with improvements in the details of build, while the sails 

 and rigging were more neatly made as well as of better pro- 

 portions. The best of this year were probably better than 

 last, but the improvement was in the rank and file, and there 

 was a larger proportion of very good boats. 



A visit to a meet by each individual is sure to have an 

 influence on canoeing, starting an interest in it where not 

 already established and waking up clubs and members to 

 the improvement of their boats and their knowledge of sail- 

 ing, and rousing a spirit of emulation with other clubs that 

 is highly beneficial. Many have gone home from Grind- 

 stone with ideas and suggestions both for the improvement 

 of canoes, the advancement of club interests and the exten- 

 sion of the Association; and no«^ while the matter is fresh in 

 mind is the time to put these ideas into practicable shape. 

 Before they are forgotten or before some one else brings out 

 ahead of you your pet idea or invention, register it as your 

 discovery and let all fellow canoeists enjoy it with you 

 through the columns of the Forest and Stream. 



