66 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Ava. 20, 1885. 



When he speaks of self-extracting revolvers he shows his 

 ill-liberality aixl prejudice atill more clearly^ and shows, too, 

 that his mistakes do not f^prine; from ignorance. He says ou 

 page 433 that "this principle of ejecting the cases originated, 

 we believe, with ]\Iessrs. Smitli A: AVesson, of the United 

 States, bnt it has been improved upon considerably both in 

 England and Belgium. We illustrate one of the improved 

 revolvers in Fig. 259 " 



Turning to the illustration on page 424. we find a pistol in 

 which theejectinii principle is identical with that of Smith 

 & "Wesson's revolvers, except that the method of fastening 

 the barrel and chambej-s to ihc frame (a point of superiority 

 especially claimed by ^h: Greener) and the manner of maii- 

 ipulating the extracting device, are far inferior to those of 

 the Smith t% Wesson. And so far from being a "consider- 

 able improvement" on Smith & Wesson's pistol, the weapon 

 illustrated is an inferior imitation of it. 



He says, "American shot is not so regular either in shape 

 or size as the English, and frequently there is a discrepancy 

 between the ]:)rinted list of the manufacturers and the sizes 

 given ill some leading sporting works. Tatham's Hst gives 

 his .size as No. 6, 218; No. 7, 391 per ounce. Thus the Am- 

 erican No. 7 is more equal in size to our No. 6. while their 

 No. 6 is fihout equal to our No. 5." Page 491. 



Now the objcciion that "there is a discrepancy between 

 the printed lists of the mtinul acturers and the sizes given in 

 some leading sporting woiks," is a sensible one indeed. Are 

 the shot makers to blame for this? It would strike the aver- 

 age individual that the probable reason for this "discrep- 

 ancy" was the inaccuracy of the lists given in the "leading 

 sporting works." 



The fact that the same number by difEerent makers do not 

 correspond in size, does not affect the quality of the shot. 

 This difference between shot of different makers exists in 

 England just as it does in America. Nor does the fact that 

 Amej-ican shot are larger than the English shot of corres- 

 ponding number affect the quality of our shot. The Eng- 

 lish makers are at perfect hberty to change the numbers of 

 their shot to correspond with ours if the "confusion bothers 

 them. 



The statement that American sliot are not equal to the 

 English has often been repeated by those who swallow every 

 thing Greener says, and they have repeiited it without taking 

 the trouble to investigate arid without knowing whether the 

 statement was true or false, when the slightest comparison 

 would have shown them that the statement was untrue. The 

 shot rpade by Tatham; Baily, Fai-rell & Co., and some other 

 American makers are "as regular in size and shape as the 

 English," and equal to the Englisli in every respect. 



Now let us turn to his chapter on gunpowder. On page 

 496 we find what Mr. Greener lias to say about American 

 powder in these w^ords: 



"In the United States a large variety of powders are at the 

 option of the sportsman. They do not, however, appear to 

 be so clean as the English. American sportsmen may choose 

 a grain resembling as near as possible the ]No. 4 AlUance for 

 general purposes. The Orange Lightniing and Laflin & 

 Rand's (see Eig. 300) we believe to be as good as any of 

 American make," 



Now this luminous paragraph is all Mr. Greener has to say 

 or professes to know about our black powders. It shows 

 dense ignorance and shows clearly that he was writing at 

 second hand without even a superficial knowledge of his 

 subject. He speaks of the Orange powder and the"" Laflin & 

 Rand powder as distinct brands, not knowing that Laflin & 

 Rand are the makers of the Orange powder. That Laflin & 

 Rand make good powder is not denied, but it will not be in- 

 sisted that this brand is superior (grade l or grade) to Dupont's, 

 Hazard's, and several other inands. He instructs us— he 

 permits us — to select a powder "resembling as near as pos- 

 sible" a certain English powder. Th.anks, Mr. Greener, for 

 your magnanimity. 



The only English powder which can claim superiority to 

 the best grades of American powder is that of Curtis & Har- 

 vey, and possibh'^ that of Pigou, Wilks & Laurence;, but 

 these are very expensive powders — too costly for ordinary 

 use — and I deny that they are in any wise superior to the 

 best grades made b^^ the' Hazard and Dupont companies. 

 Price considered, there is no powder to be had that can be 

 compared to the American powders. 



The figure 300 to which Mr. Greener refers is composed of 

 three cuts showing different sized grains of powder, on page 

 405. The finest grain is marked "French," the next finest 

 ' American," and the coarsest "German." This illustration 

 means, if it means anything, that by giving the size of the 

 grain, an accurate idea may be had of all Arnerican powders; 

 in other words, that we only make powder of the particular- 

 sized grain that Mr, Greener has illustrated and labeled 

 "American." He does not .so illustrate English powder. Oh, 

 no! his illustrations and descriptions of Engli.sh powder show 

 all the various-sized grains. His jjicture of "American pow- 

 der" shows us the fine-grained powder once in general use, 

 but now a thing of the past (another "antiquated speci- 

 men"). Did Greener know the Americans made powder of 

 different-sized grains? He is like the traveler who, dining 

 at the hotel table, saw opposite a one ej'ed, red-headed 

 Frenchman— the first and only Frenchman he had ever seen 

 — and straightway wrote in his notebook: "Mem. The 

 French are a most peculiar race of people; they are all one- 

 eyed and red-headed." 



But enough has been said to show how utterly unfair and 

 inaccurate this book is on the points of most vital interest to 

 American .sportsmen, and how unsafe a guide it is to the 

 proper selection of arms and ammimitiou. It does American 

 gunmakers the grossest injustice. If it can be fairly shown 

 that the American firearms are inferior, let it be done; but, 

 m the name of common honesty and common decency, I 

 protest against the fact being proved in the slipshod and dis- 

 ingenuous method of Mr. Greener. I prote.st against the 

 suppression of truth and the suggestion of falsehood to 

 attain a selfish end, and against comparing obsolete American 

 models with the latest English models. Too many American 

 sportsmen take things for granted, and on reading such 

 stuff as Mr. Greener has perpetrated, immediately begin to 

 decry everything American and to extol everything Eng- 

 lish as "works of art" and the like. Lot the American 

 sportsman judiciously investigate for himself and he will 

 find that L do no injustice when I say that much which has 

 been written on the subject by Engiish gunmakers is mere 

 pufilng of their own wares, and that much that has been said 

 by American writers is mere repetition, without investiga- 

 tion or consideration, of the remarks of these interested Eng- 

 lish authorities. 



The subject of the choice of guns has been much written 

 upon, and in these series of articles I shall not endeavor to 

 advance original ideas, but shall endeavor impartially to 

 survey the field in the light of what has been written by 



others and in view of the present state of the art of gun- 

 making, I shall discuss the subject in hand as fully as prac- 

 ticable and as fairly as possible, so that all may clearly 

 understand me. Much will, of necessity, be said that has 

 been written before and that the sportsman of experience 

 already knows; but in articles of this class the statement of 

 truisms and of elementary principles is to a certain extent 

 necessary and unavoidable. Ah-Pb. 



PREMATURE EXPLOSIONS. 



Edit<}r Foi^est and Stream: 



1 notice in your la.st issue a communication from C. H. 

 Gerrish regarding the firing of the second cartridge when 

 only one hammer fell. In the first place, there is little doubt 

 but what the shell had a very sensitive primer, that is some- 

 thing we are liable to find most any day. 1 have fired sev- 

 eral primers when seating them on the shell, but regarding 

 the immediate cause of the explo.sion, I beheve it to be the 

 rebound of the firing pin caused by the jar of the first explo- 

 sion, there being nothing to hold it still,' and the heavier the 

 strikers or firing pins the greater the blow from this cause. 

 As an illustration I will cite a case often seen in any machine 

 shop. When in cutting a bar of steel with cold' chisel, if 

 the chisel is not held firmly when struck with the hammer 

 it will rebound, and striking in another place at each blow 

 of the hammer, will cut quite deep scars on the surface of the 

 steel, the chisel eacli time being struck when placed at the 

 original mark, I do not believe any gun safe which has 

 loose strikers, any more than I believe that hammerless guns 

 are safe, when they have no mechanism to hold the scars in 

 their notches, instead of simply a stop, preventing the trig- 

 gers being pulled. I offer an experiment: Fire a heavy 

 charge from one barrel while a primed shell is in the other, 

 and see if the striker does not mark it, probably not every 

 time alike, but leave its mark nevertheless. A. B, Dodge. 



Manchester, N. H. 



THE ADIRONDACK DEER. 



Editor' Forest and Stream: 



I have wanted considerably all summer long to have a 

 growl at you about your deer-hounding bill, and think I 

 should feel better if 1 get it off my mind now. I always 

 thought the Foeest akd Steeam stood up for that which' is 

 just and right, or nothing. Not but what you were right in 

 that bill, as far as it went, but there is just where the rub 

 comes in. You did not go far enough. Why did you not 

 include jack hunting? You could make up for the lost time 

 by giving us fifteen more days in November for still-hunting, 

 and I think no fair-minded man would have found any fault. 

 But from my conversations with men around here and 

 further in the woods, the general feeling seems to be that the 

 bill was passed for the benefit of city sportsmen alone; and, 

 as one man expressed it the other day, "Yes, it's all easy 

 enough to talk about wanting to increase the number of 

 deer and the cruelty of hounding, and all that; there may 

 be some truth in wanting to increase the number, but they 

 only want them for the city people to kill, and it isn't frir 

 that the bill should be passed for city chaps alone. Why 

 didn't they stop jacking? As for cruelty, more deer crawl 

 away from the water to die a lingering death, perhaps only 

 a few feet from the water's edge, wliile the guide and his 

 sport.sman, one from laziness the other from ignorance, 

 rarely think of looking to see whether he was missed, or be 

 dying or dead, perhaps only a short distance in, unless they 

 see him drop they are apt to say, 'Guess I missed him; let's 

 go on; we may get another further down.' Even if they do 

 go back after marking the spot, in the morning, and find it 

 dead, the venison ten to one is bloated and spoiled, for any 

 who have hunted know that venison, with the entrails in, 

 will keep but a short time even as late as October. 

 If the law was passed for increasing the numbers or 

 cruelty, or what not, jacking ought to have been tacked ou 

 to it. Let them still-hunt if they wish, for I don't suppose 

 one man in a hundred can touch a deer and kill him unless 

 there be a light snow on the ground, and let them still-hunt 

 until say the 1st of December, then it would have been all 

 right. Some of the city chaps might say they couldn't be 

 here in the fall and so wouldn't have any fun. How would 

 they Hke it in the quail and prairie chicken countries if we 

 mountain people went there to spend our summers and killed 

 the birds, male, female and young, just because we were not 

 going to be there in the fall? If a man is keen for sport and 

 the sport of stalking, he will come here in the season of the 

 year when sport can be had at its best, and at the season of 

 the J'ear when the oxygen in the air makes one's blood tin- 

 gle and leap through one's veins so that he is thankful for 

 the mere j)leasure of living. Then let a jack-hunter, be he 

 never so weak when he comes, get into the woods and track 

 a deer, let him match his cunning against theirs, and if he 

 succeeds in only catching a glimTpse, or better still, let him 

 bring it down, and ask him then about jacking. As for 

 snow, it is surely deep before the first oi December, and 

 there is surely a crust. The law is passed, however, and 

 must be obeyed, and all we can do is to hope for the rest of 

 the bill to be passed next winter." 



I think he came near the truth, and for the future my 

 beagles must be content to turn their attention to foxes and 

 hares alone. I am selfishly sorry the bill passed, for I love 

 the tingle and excitement of hearing a hound run deer, and 

 after no other game is it quite the same feeling. But if we 

 can't have the best, we will have to be content with what is 

 next best, a pack of beagles running a fox, and a deerhound 

 in lead on a runway ready to be slipped at sight. 



I have had my growl and feel better. W. C. W. 



Editor Foi'est and Stream: 



A certain hotel keeper from this section of the Adirondacks 

 stated, a few days ago, in your paper that all the men in 

 Franklin county were mad because of the non hounding law. 

 Now I want to contradict that statement, for I know many 

 guides in this county who say the law is good and intend to 

 enforce it. There are three hotels here and two of them 

 favor the law. The other hotel keeper says he ^vill dog deer, 

 but he will find it up hill work. I think we have a game 

 protector who can't be bought for fifty dollars and we will 

 help him. I have lots of deer within a mile of my hotel, and 

 whosoever puts a dog after them will have their dogs shot 

 and themselves prosecuted to the extent of the law. 



R. M. Shutt.s. 



Indian Poikt, Ohateaugay Lake, N. Y. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have just returned from deer lands. I find by talking 

 with hunters that they do not intend to run deer with dogs 

 nor allow them to run. One man offered me two deer dogs 



if I would take them away; others want to get rid of them, 

 1 think some of them will let them go loose in order to get 

 rid of them. Protectoe, District No. 10. 



Bemsen, K. Y. , Aug. 3. 



A St. Regis Lake correspondent of the Troy Budqei writes 

 from the Prospect House: "At breakfast you can have 

 brook trout, also venison, but at this season of the year they 

 call it Adirondack steak or mountain goat. Much has been 

 saidjp?^(? and con in regard to the deer hunting law. I find 

 it very well respected by the guides and hotel keepers; but 

 it would be very easy to evade the law, as there are but six 

 special game p/otectors for a dozen large and sparsely settled 

 counties, although some of the hotel keepers wink at the 

 law, and you can get venison at some of the hotels under the 

 before-mentioned names. 



CANNED GOODS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



One sometimes sees a sign "Beware of the Dog" stuck up 

 to warn off trespassers. The warning serves its purpose. 

 But really there may be no dog there at all. 



A false cry has recently been raised by parties who seem 

 to have a purpose to serve regarding the liability of poison 

 incurred by those partaking of canned good. Knowing that 

 sportsmen in particular have occasion to use this cla.ss of 

 goods probably to a greater extent than the rest of the com- 

 munity at large, we have carefully noted the various articles 

 pro and con on this subject which have lately appeared in the 

 press of thi.s city and Brooklyn, and in our judgment the 

 facts, as presented, fail to show any true cause for alarm. 



When we consider the millions of cans of the various^ 

 articles of food that are annually consumed, and also bear in 

 mind the fact that the report even of a supposed case of 

 poisoning from their use is a rare thing, we are forced to con- 

 clude that the danger which it has been claimed exists, 

 owing to the preparation used in soldering of the cans, has- 

 its foundation only in the minds of some whose wish, under 

 certain circumstances, becomes "father to the thought." 

 We note that it is claimed that upon the occasion of a visit 

 of a party of gentleman to a large and well-known canning 

 establishment in this city, a workman who had just .shown; 

 the process of sealing the cans was requested to open one and 

 taste of "one of the drops inside of the can." The report 

 goes on to say that upon doing so "his face became like a 

 boiled lobster in color, and he was finally compelled to eject 

 the liquid from his mouth." Now, if "a drop" of the liquid: 

 is .so distasteful that one cannot retain it in the mouth, how 

 can a person partake of a sufficient quantity of this liquid 

 contained in a can of vegetables as to suffer poisoning? 



Again, we notice it is claimed that chloride of zinc, an' 

 extreme diluted solution of which is used in the operation of 

 sealing the cans, produces, when taken into the system, 

 Bnght's disease, and the wonderful announcement is made 

 that this offers the solution of the question (/. e., the cairse- 

 of that disease) which the ablest minds in the profession, both 

 here and abroad, have been unable to determine after manj', 

 years of study and research. But opposed to this is the fact 

 that the symptoms said to be produced from this cause are 

 by no means conclusive evidence of the existence of the dis- 

 ease in question; hence, the physician who so loudly declares 

 that canned goods iu general contain chloride of zinc in 

 poisoning amounts, although admitting the point that the 

 amount is so small that the case becomes one of "cumulative 

 poisoning" and thus arrives at the conclusion that he has 

 herein discovered the cause of this disease, is, in our judg- 

 ment, imposing too much upon the credulity of the general 

 public; and we are apt to regard all such statements in the; 

 same light as we do the notice "Beware of the Dog," when,' 

 there is no dog in the yard. Wendell. 



Bay Bird Shooting on Cape Cod.— Of late years bay- 

 birds have been very scarce along our coasts and marshes'. 

 Where have the birds gone? I can remember when a bag 

 of fifty or sixty in one day was not considered a big thing., 

 I have heard of one gunner using a bag of shot in one day.. 

 Now if one shoots ten or a dozen yellowlegs it is considered 

 good. Well do I remember my first attempt at bay bird: 

 shooting. I arrived at the Cape at noon. 1 could hardly 

 wait to swallow my dinner, I was so impatient to try my 

 luck with the birds. 1 shouldered my gun and decoys and; 

 started for the marsh, a mile distant. On m}'^ arrival I set 

 out my decoys, took my place behind a tuft of high grass 

 and waited. The first thing iu the shape of game was a 

 large flock of peeps and ringnecks, but I thought myself toO' 

 much of a sportsman to fire at such small game, as I had* 

 read somewhere it was not the proper thing to do. Twoi 

 hours passed and still I had seen nothing but peeps. My 

 patience was nearly gone, and sportsmanlike or not, I deter- 

 mined to open on the peeps. So I emptied on them, when 

 suddenly there dropped, as if from the clouds, five of the: 

 largest yellowlegs it had ever been my good fortune to see. 

 My gun was empty, I was excited, 1 began to load, the birds- 

 lit. I poured two charges of powder into one barrel, and 

 two of shot into the other, i rammed these down. I saw 

 my- mistake. The birds saw theirs and flew. I whistled 

 them back and drew my charges. At last the gun was loaded 

 all but capping. As I took the caps from my pocket the 

 birds flew never to return, although 1 whistled myself hoarse 

 hoping they might return. 1 waited after this about an hour, 

 and seeing nothing more I pulled up stakes and started for 

 home, somewhat less confident of my abilities than before I 

 started. Thus ended my first gunning experience. I have 

 been a good manj"- times since then, and on some occasions 

 have had very good success. — Yellowleg. 



The Scent of Nesting Birds.— New Westminster, 

 British Columbia. — Editor Forest and Streftm: I would like 

 to know what sort of dogs Mr. R. B. Roosevelt refers to (iu 

 his article on "The Mower and the Quail" in a late issue of 

 Forest and Stream) as used for locating the nests of quail 

 before putting the mowers into the field. 1 have been u,sing 

 dogs for a matter of over thirty years, and I have never yet 

 had one that could nose a sitting quail or gi-ouse, and per- 

 haps my experience has been confined to certain classes of 

 dogs, which, iu the matter of scent, have been inferior, but I 

 am inclined to think otherwise. However, if there is a new 

 class of dog which possesses such wonderful powers of scent 

 over that of the best bred pointers and setters, I would be 

 glad to know it.— J. C, Hughes. [We have repeatedly seen 

 dogs point nesting grouse and quail. On certain occasions, 

 too, we have seen the same dogs, when brought within five 

 feet of sitting birds, pay no attention to them. It may be 

 that in such cases when the bird is sitting very close and 

 still on the nest, under certain weather conditions it givea 

 out no scent.] 



