April 1, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



185 



gauge by employing explosive shells, but tbey often exploded 

 before penetrating to a sufficient depth, and it was soon 

 found that the bullets were much more effective when the 

 hollows were filled with beeswax or plugs of wood. The 

 powder charges have been increased since then to 50 grains 

 id the .86, 80 in the .40, 125 or even 150 in the .45, and 165 

 in the .500 breechloaders. 



This is, I believe, the real history of the discovery of the 

 modern express rifle. J- J- M. 



London, England, March 15, 1886. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I wa9 very much interested in your trajectory test. _ The 

 result rather surprised me in several instances. I wish to 

 ask some of your correspondents who have had experience 

 with muzzleloading rifles to please come out and tell for the 

 benefit of tenderfeet like myself how to load and manage 

 that arm. 



I have always had a great liking for the muzzleloader, so 

 last spring when I was in St. Louis I hunted the city over 

 for a good one. At last I got hold of one, it was a 42-inch 

 • Varrel 10-pound gun, very well put up and was evidently a 

 'j:»?un, but the bullet mould was not good. I have made 

 ■ \ :ind,:have accomplished some very good shooting, but 

 ^-Tg^Od as I think the rifle is capable of. "Will some 

 wuttfll me what kind of a bullet to use (the gun shoots 

 to the pound) and how to load the gun to get the best 

 results. 



I use a .45-caliber Pacific Ballard for deer and find it an 

 excellent gun. As far as accuracy is concerned I think it 

 good enough for anything, but the charges cannot be changed 

 to suit the game as I like to do. C. L. S. 



Fort Clark, Texas. 



ONTARIO GAME SEASONS. 



ANEW law of the Province of Ontario (to take effect 

 July 1, 1886) provides the following open seasons: 

 Deer, elk, moose, reindeer or caribou, Oct. 15 to Dec. 15. 

 Grouse, pheasants, prairie fowl or partridge, Sept. 1 to Jan. 

 15 Woodcock, Jan. 1 to Aug. 15. Snipe, rail, golden 

 plover, Sept. 1 to Jan 1. Swans or geese, Sept. 1 to Slay 1. 

 Ducks and all other water fowl, Sept. 1 to Jan. 1. Hares, 

 Sept. 1 to Mar. 15. Beaver, mink, muskrat, sable, martin, 

 otter, fisher, Nov. 1 to May 1. Quail protected to 1888; 

 wild turkeys to 1889. Imported game may not be shot with- 

 out consent of land owner. Unlawful to kill deer, elk, moose, 

 reindeer and caribou for exportation. 



Matnk Rtjffed Ghouse.— East Auburn, Me., March 22. 

 — I feel quite sure that our ruffed grouse didn't suffer as 

 much from the severe ice storm (that formed an icy crust an 

 inch thick) we had in February, as many of our sportsmen 

 feared. I saw four a short distance from my house since 

 the crust that were lively enough, and my neighbor only a 

 few rods from my house saw th^ee budding his apple trees 

 in his garden a few evenings since. I hope many more 

 escaped. — W. 



A Duck Astray. — Brooklyn. N. Y.— The other morning 

 Mr. Bahr, a butcher, at the head of New York avenue, 

 Brooklyn, saw a large bird on the telegraph wires, opposite 

 his shop. He got a shotgun and killed it. It turned out to 

 be a duck about as big as our common ducks, but with a 

 long sharp bill, plumage black, rather long wings. Nice 

 place to shoot ducks.— E. K. L. 



Westchester County Game and Fisn Protective 

 Association, organized in 1886. has the following officers : 

 President, Frederick G. Leroy; First Vice President, W. E. 

 Warren j Second Vice-President, Wesley H. Wood ; Secre- 

 tary, George Laick, Tarrytown, N. Y. ; Treasurer, William 

 E Tompkins; Counsel, George C. Andrews; Special Game 

 Constable, Oscar Purdy. 



California Laws. — We have received from S. P. Maslin, 

 Esq., of Sacramento, a compilation of all the California 

 laws relating to game and fish. The compendium is com- 

 prehensive, well arranged, fully indexed, and a model in its 

 way. It is published under the authority of the Slate Board 

 of Fish Commissioners. 



New Brunswick Game.— Campbellton, N. B. , March 25. 

 — Winter still retains its icy hold here, the snow lies deep 

 over the land and the ice remains firm and strong on the 

 lakes. A few caribou have been killed in this vicinity 

 during the past season, but no moose, so far as we can learn, 

 has been bagged. One parly claims to have caught a moase 

 in a caribou snare, but he proved a tartar, smashed things 

 up, broke the rope and escaped, a wiser and madder moose. 

 Quantities of fine trout are brought in here, which are taken 

 through the ice on the small lakes in the interior, by the 

 Micmacs. The catch of fur-bearing animals has not been a 

 large one, which proves that they are also decreasing in 

 numbers. Wild geese have put in an appearance down the 

 bay. A woodcock was seen on the 22d near St. John, N. B. 

 — Stanstead. 



Jekyl Island Club.— The Jekyl Island Club is in the 

 nature of a hunting, fishing and yachting establishment on 

 Jekyl Island, on the coast of Georgia, off Brunswick. A 

 meeting of the club was held recently in the Fifth Avenue 

 Hotel, in this city, and the following gentlemen were elected 

 directors: Gen. Lloyd Aspin wall, New York; Erastus Corn- 

 ing, Albany; Wirt Dexter, Chicago; Judge Henry E How- 

 land, New York; Commodore R. L. Ogden, San Fiancisco; 

 O. K. King, Wm. B. DeWolf, Tbos. W. Pearsall, Lewis 

 Edwards and L. M. Lawson, New Yoik, John Eugene du 

 Bignon, Georgia; Franklin M. Ketchum and N. S. Finney, 

 New York. 



Long Island Snipe.— The text of Section 2, Chapter 485 

 of the Laws of 1885 reads as follows, the counties designated 

 being Queens and Suffolk, which comprise the shoot- 

 ing along the Atlantic coast: "Section 2. No person 

 shall, in said counties, kill or have in possession any 

 bay snipe, sandpiper, shore bird or plover, from the first day 

 of "January to the tenth day of July in any year, or auy rail 

 bird, or meadow hen, from the first day of January to the 

 first day of September in any year, under a penalty of ten 

 dollars for each bird killed or had in possession." 



Mr. Xenophon Cleveland, of Waltham, Mass., has scut 

 to us fdr exhibition a uumber of crayon and oil pictures of 

 fishing and camp scenes. 



VrvA los Gachupinos (March 18).— For "Harpads" read 

 Harpado; for 'Algara" read Alga va.— Kelpie. 



English Snipe have been killed the past fortnight ou the 

 Newark meadows. 



Emmetsburg, la., March 22.— Geese are just commencing 

 their flight. Only one has been killed that I know of so fai% 

 but as soon as the weather opens there will be plenty of 

 hunting. Ducks have not made their appearance yet. We 

 had quite a fall of snow on the 20th, but nearly gone to dav. 

 Prairie chickens have wintered well in this section, and the 

 shooting promises well the coming season. Cotton-tails are 

 abundant, with an occasional lone jack. Wolves have not 

 been hunted much on account of the deep snow this winter 

 — E. fl. S. 



Game in Sullivan County —Monticello, N. Y., March 

 22. —Foxes and wildcats have been very plenty the past win- 

 ter. Rabbits and squirrels are too numerous to mention. 

 Ruffed grouse have wintered finely and in good numbers. 

 The male grouse are now drumming in every direction. To 

 the many gentlemen and sportsmen who have hunted here 

 with me for the past twenty years, I will say that the pros- 

 pect for next full's shooting is better than for many years. — 



harles F. Kent. 



8 i 



.'tt-uiPOWDER River. — Magnolia, Md , March 26.— Presi- 

 uciit Cleveland was one of a party of gentlemen who to night 

 par* ofa of a duck supper at the shore of the San Domingo 



•earing Club, on the Gunpowder River, a mile from this 

 village. President Cleveland and Gen. Farnsworth came 

 from Washington on the invitation of Gen. Olcott, of Albany, 

 N. Y., and Mr. Wells, president of the club. Among the 

 invited guests were Judge Peckham and Charles H. Ray- 

 mond, of New York; 



Maj. W. D. Fuller.— Sedalia, Mo., March 25.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: Major W. D. Fuller died at the Sicher 

 House, this city, March 11, of heart disease. I have no doubt 

 but that this notice will meet the eye of some old comrade 

 who may be at a loss to know what has become of an old 

 friend. His effects, which are valuable, still remain at the 

 office of the hotel awaiting the claim of legal owners. — Occi- 

 dent. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



TROUT SEASON OPENS. 



California, April 1 ; Colorado, July 1 ; Connecticut, April 1 ; 

 Dakota, May 1; Iowa, Feb. 1; Maine, May 1; Maryland, 

 April 1; Massachusetts, April 1; Michigan, Jlay 1; Minne- 

 sota, April 1; New Brunswick, Feb. 1; New Hampshire, 

 May 1; New Jersey, March 1; New Mexico, May 1; New 

 York, May 1 (in Queens and Suffolk counties, April 1; not 

 to be transported into other counties); Ohio, Maieh 15; 

 Ontario, May 1 ; Oregon, April 1; Pennsylvania, April 15; 

 Quebec, Feb. 1; Rhode Lland, March 1: Vermont, "May 1; 

 Virginia, April 1 ; West Virginia, June 1 ; Wisconsin, April 

 15; Wyoming, June 1. 



BOSTON'S TROUT DISPLAY. 



TO follow the growth of fishing tackle, from the juniper 

 pole, cut green, stripped of the bark and nailed against 

 the woodshed to season out the crooks, up to the beautiful 

 split bamboo rod, is an interesting study. Thirty years ago 

 a few fish rods— stiff bamboo poles or heavy rods of ash — 

 were kept in the country store; but to day the fishing tackle 

 store is one of the most novel and interesting within the 

 limits of our cities. Indeed, his outfit has come to be one of 

 the angler's chief sources of pleasure, and his eyp is open for 

 every novelty, and tbey are numerous, both useful and pleas- 

 ing. But the tackle window, always attractive to the passer- 

 by, has come to mean something more. Messrs. Apijleton & 

 Litchfield, No. 304 Washington street, Bostou, have institu- 

 ted a new departure in the display they opened on the morn- 

 ing of April 1, the beginning of the trout season. 



Their entire window is a scene from nature. There is the 

 rushing stream, the pool containing live brook, rainbow 

 and Lake Superior trout, with the lake and the forest be- 

 yond. 



Al one side is also an aquarium, in which trout spawn is 

 shown in every stage from the time life begins up to the 

 fingeriing. 



The entire window is novel and artistic, and shows a genius 

 in love with its calliug, which must have been moulded by 

 the magic touch of the departed Prouty. 



BASS FLIES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I notice in this week's Forest and Stream one of your 

 correspondents seeks information on the subject of killing 

 bass flips. I have not fished in Minnesota, but I have had 

 twenty-five years experience in fly-fishing for black bass, 

 and rarely take them any other way. Bass are much more 

 particular than trout in taking flies; often what is good in 

 one water proves useless in another. I would advise your 

 friend to get one or two of each of the following flies: Bass 

 grizzly, match wing ibis, bass miller, Lord Baltimore, Hol- 

 berton, Whitney, post jungle, St. Patrick,.bumble bee, Gov. 

 Alvord, Lottie, turkey. 



TJse a nine-foot siugle leader with any two of the above 

 flies, which should be on single gut snells, double at the 

 head. Cast as far as possible and let the fly sink well under 

 water. Then move the fly slowly a foot at a time. Cast 

 near the shore or over reefs, always remembering that bass 

 are very shy fish, and if you get near enough to see them 

 they also see you, and will refuse the most attractive bait. 

 Let him try these different flies; and find out which is the 

 most taking. W. Holberton. 



New York, March 25. 



TROUTING. 



IN New York the season for taking brook trout opens in 

 the counties of Queens and Suffolk, which comprise 

 nearly the whole of Long Island, on April 3, and by the 

 time this reaches our readers it will have begun. In all 

 other parts of ihe State the opening day is one month later. 

 A bill allowing fish taken in the counties named to be 

 brought into other counties for use, but not for sale, is now 

 before the Legislature. 



On Long Island there is promise of good sport this month, 

 because the season has been early and the trout have been 

 feeding freely for some time. At the different clubs and 

 preserves places have been engaged, and if the opening day 

 is favorable, a great many will wet their lines and many 

 trout will be taken. There is mourning at Massapequa, the 

 famous lake owued by Mr. William Floyd-Jones, where ex- 

 President Arthur. Francis Eudicott, and' other friends have 

 literally cast their lines in pleasant places, for the lake has 

 been taken by the city water works of Brooklyn, and will 

 swarm with strange men of political "inllooence" who will get 

 permits to fish its waters under the windows of the late 

 owner, whose pride it has been and whose family have 

 always owned it since the islaud was settled. Farewell to 

 the glories of Massapequa, with the loss of its springs the 

 trout will soon disappear and give way to the black bass or 

 other fish. The South Side Club always has good fishing in 

 its well-stocked preserves at Oakdale, and the Suffolk Club 

 is ready to entertain its friends at the ponds near Patchogue. 

 All aloug the south side the streams are already marked by 

 the anglers for a whippina today. 



In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, 

 and several other States, Ihe season for brook trout opens to- 

 day, but in very few of them will there be much fishing 

 done for a fortnight or more- Long Island, exposed as it is 

 to sea breezes, is always ready for fishing before the streams 

 further inland are. in the Adirondacks the lakes are still 

 covered with ice, whieh may not leave them all for five or 

 six weeks yet. and there is really little fishing to be done, 

 there before June. 



NEW YORK BASS LAW. 



TO-DAY I notice for the first time — simply because I have 

 been obliged to put my Forest and Stream one side 

 of late, to be read at a more convenient season — that Forest 

 and Stream of Feb. 25 purports to give the provisions of the 

 Husted bill. You have been led into the same error that was 

 committed by the Albany Argus, Journal, Express, Troy 

 Times, and a dozen other papers. The Husted bill made no 

 change in the open season for black bass. The season for 

 this fish opens in Lake George and Brant Lake July 20, not 

 July 13; in St. Lawrence, Lake Erie, etc., May 20, not May 

 13. Bullheads from Lake George shall not be exposed for 

 sale before July 1, not July 18. In short, the only change 

 made by the Husted bill is to permit having in possession of 

 salt-water striped bass. In Section 21 the words "fresh 

 water" are inserted in two instance before the words "striped 

 bass." 



The clause reads thus: "No person shall catch, kill or 

 expose for sale, or have in his or her possession after the 

 same has been killed, any black bass or fresh water striped 

 bass weighing less than one-half pound or less than eight 

 inches in length frem end of snout to end of caudal fin. at 

 any time." This clause is then repeated, except for "black 

 bass or fresh-water striped bass" read "salt-water striped." 

 In the next clause "fresh water" is inserted before "striped 

 bass," and again in Section 24 "fresh water" is inserted be- 

 fore "striped bass." 1 wrote an article for a local paper, 

 quoting the law as you have it. Then followed, in other 

 country papers about here, the greatest rubbish of fish laws 

 that were ever put on paper, so that the people were all at 

 sea. 



When in Albany I saw the original draft of the Husted 

 bill and got a certified copy of the law from the Secretary of 

 State. A. N. Cheney. 



Glens Falls, March 36. 



THE SUNAPEE TROUT. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



Will you allow me a word in regard to the Sunapee Lake 

 trout ? The specimen that I sent to the National Museum 

 at Washington, and which was at first pronounced a coin- 

 mou brook trout, but is now decided to be a gigantic speci- 

 men of Salvelinus of the Oquassa or blue-back type, and 

 identical with the little 3-ouuce or 4-ounce blue-back of 

 Rangeley, Me., is in no wav connected with the plant made 

 by the Commissioners in 1879. These fish are natives of 

 the lake, and were known to have been there over forty 

 years ago. It is an impossibility that in six years the little 

 Rangvley trout -would reach a weight of 10 pounds. Sucli 

 a radical change in size and habits, merely by its transfer 

 from the Rangeley to the Sunapee waters, would imply a 

 deviation from well known and fixed laws in nature. 



E. B. H. 



Plymouth, N. H. , March 23. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In April, 1878, the New Hampshire Commissioners planted 

 in Sunapee L ike 3,000 fry of blue-back trout, the eggs hav- 

 ing been obtained from the Rangeley Lakes through the 

 courtesy of the Maine Commissioners. It is probable, there- 

 fore, that the variety of trout recently obtained from the 

 lake by Mr. E. B. Hodge, and identified by Dr. Bean as 

 oquassa, is not indigenous to those waters, but has been in- 

 troduced from the RaDgeley Lakes. This, it will be remem- 

 bered, was mentioned a3 their probable source by Mr. 

 Samuel Webber, late Fish Commissioner of New Hampshire. 



Washington, D. C, March 24. 



X. 



Largest Rangeley Trout.— A letter from Com. H. O. 

 Stanley, of Dixficld, Me., to Com. Stilwell, Nov. 19, 18S4, con- 

 tains the followiug note which we are permitted to copy: 

 "In regard to the big trout you want to know about, I can- 

 not vouch for the truth of it, yet I think it is correct. They 

 were caught after I came away. I made arrangements with 

 Frank Hewy to take some blue-backs' eggs for me. He 

 caught the fish with a large landing net attached to a long 

 pole. He was dipping them from under a jam of cedars be- 

 low the dam on the Rangeley stream, and could not see un- 

 der the jam. He first dipped the big fish (a female). It was 

 so large' that he had the curiosity to weigh it. It weighed 

 12 pounds. A few minutes later he dipped a male of 10£ 

 pounds. Both were ripe fish. He put them back in the 

 pool below the dam. I am inclined to believe this, though, 

 of course, I cannot vouch for it. " 



Illegal Fishing.— We have two complaints of illegal fish- 

 ing in the State of New York, both relating to the same 

 waters. One writer charges a State officer with participa- 

 tion in the work of unlawfully taking fish; but as neither of 

 these correspondents has complied wilh our rule of requiring 

 name and address to be signed to letters, we cannot publish 

 the complaints. We require this a3 an evidence of good 

 faith on their part, and with no intention of publishing their 

 names if they desire to use initials or any other signature, 

 They can thus see why no attention is paid to their questions 

 and complaints. 



