468 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jat^. 6, 1887. 



Cahibou in New Brunswick.— Fredericfcon, N. B., 

 Dec. 33. — I am informed by W. E. Conners, one of the 

 cMef lumbermen on the St. John River, New Brunswick, 

 that about Nov. 20, when a party of his men were cutting 

 a road thi-ough the woods on which to haul their supplies 

 during the winter, they came suddenly upon a caribou 

 feeding on the tops of some fallen trees. On the men 

 calling out suddenly it jumped into a brush pile, in which 

 it became so entangled that one of the crew quickly dis- 

 patched it with an axe. M.i. Conners says that about ten 

 days were spent in cutting out this' road, he being 

 ahead all of the time marking the line to be followed, 

 and there was no day in which he did not see from ten to 

 twenty caribou. This was about fifteen miles distant 

 from the month of the St. Fi-ancis, one of the branches 

 of the St. John. Deer, he says, are also abundant in this 

 locaUty. Caribou as well as deer are increasing rapidly 

 in New Brmaswick; he says there are no wolves on the 

 Upper St, John where they were once very abundant; 

 their absence is probably the cause of such increase. 

 When Mr. Conners was coming down the St. John to St. 

 Francis many years ago he saw a pack of wolves follow- 

 ing a caribou, a few wolves kept the ice, while the greater 

 ]3art of the pack, which was from time to time increasing 

 by additions from the adjoining forests, followed the 

 banks of the river just outside of the bushes. About 

 thirty miles distant from where he first saw signs of the 

 chase he came upon a small piece of the caribovi's skin, 

 all the rest of the animal having been devoured by the 

 ferocious pack, there was not even a bone visible, and all 

 of the blood had been licked up from the snow on the 

 river. His party spent the night in a deserted lumber 

 camp where they could hear the howhng of the wolves 

 imtil dawn. This shows Iioav plentiful they then were 

 here. I have heard of one instance in which the Loup- 

 cervier attacked a caribou. — Epward Jack. 



Of the Christmas Number of the Forest and Stream 

 the Lowell, Mass., Morning Mail says: "It is a dessert 

 rather than a feast. It is a sort of enjoyment to which 

 one likes to sit down, feet to the grate with pipe or cigar, 

 and calmly live over the days spent among the scenes 

 which it treats so beautifully. Yet, this treat is not 

 exceptional with Forest and Stream. It has a field, all 

 its own, and thoroughly covers it. Angling and shooting, 

 natural history, riiie and trap shooting, canoeing and 

 yachting, these are its specialties. Horse trotting, the 



{)i-ize ring, and other things called sport, are not in its 

 ine. Forest and Stream distinguishes, and never lets 

 a reader forget, that a "sportsman" and a "sporting 

 man" are entirely cUfEerent classes of beings, and to the 

 better class of the former it caters. Every week it adds 

 something to dispel prejudice agaiitst recreations of the 

 field and stream, sho^ving that there is nothing in them 

 inconsistent with the highest manliood and the purest 

 pleasure. That it so fully fulfills its mission, is the 

 quality that made it so welcome a companion around 

 many a Christmass fireside this year." 



Missouri and Dakota. — During the latter part of Sep 

 tember, a partner and myself left on a hunting trip to the 

 southeastern part of Missouri. Leaving Detroit by the 

 Wabash route, we arrived at St. Louis in time to make 

 connection with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern 

 Railroad, our destination being the village of Neeleyville, 

 about twenty miles below Poijlar Bluff. Deer and turkey 

 were plentiful. My trip extended northward. From 

 Chicago I left on the Chicago Northwestern Railroad, and 

 on this popular road everything was done that was possi- 

 ble to make a sportsman comfortable. Gruns, dogs and 

 all equipments were carefully looked after without charge, 

 other than what any one desired to give of his own free 

 will. In the vicinity of Devil's Lake, Dakota, game of all 

 kinds was plentiful. At Dakota, a small place east of 

 Devil's Lake, geese Avere fcimd in large quantities. At 

 Buffalo Lodge Lake, a place about seventy-five miles 

 from Devil's Lake, duck, swans, geese, brant, prairie 

 chickens, woodcock and plover were innumerable. Ten 

 miles from the lake deer w^ere plentiful. — Correspond- 

 ent. 



Odd Experience with a Grouse. — East Hampton, 

 Conn., Dec. 14. — ^We have read with interest many re- 

 markable freaks of wildfowl recorded in your paper, but 

 nothing quite equal to the following. Mr. Haines Holhs- 

 ter, who has been in our employ, while coming from his 

 house to-day, which is about a mile from the village, re- 

 ceived a terrible blow on the side of the head. Supposing 

 at first that some one had thrown a snowball or something 

 and hit him, he turned quickly only to see a partridge 

 recovering itself. Flying a short distance it lit in a peach 

 orchard. Mr. Hollister approached the bird and picking 

 her up, as she seemed perfectly tame, coiild not find any 

 trouble with her wings or eyes; she seemed to be all light 

 every way with the exception of being a little dazed or 

 stunned. After stroking and admhing her he took her 

 to some low cedai's, where she walked ofi" as promptly as 

 if nothing unusual had occun-ed. Mr. Hollister is a man 

 of truth and integrity, and we know the above to be as 

 stated.— Eureka Silk M'f'g Co. 



Section Thirty-Seven. — W. B. Mershon and Eben 

 Briggs, of Saginaw, are experienced lumbermen as well 

 as woodsmen. Recently they started up country on a 

 hunt, and "Jack" Morley, a tenderfoot, accompanied 

 them. Reaolung the scene of operations, they decided 

 to separate for the day, branch out and captm-e ail the 

 game in the neighborhood. Morley was fearful that he 

 might get lost, and asking how he was to reach camp in 

 the event of losing his bearings, was told to inquire for 

 section tliirty-seven. It so happened that late in the 

 afternoon he did get mixed in his compass, and inquired 

 of nearly every man in the township the location of 

 section thirty -seven, hut none could enlighten him. He 

 has since learned that there are but thirty -six sections in 

 a township, and it will be a long time before the boys 

 will cease chaffing him about "section tliirty-seven." — 

 Northwestern Lumberman. 



Notes from Central Kentucky.— The unusual sevei-- 

 ity of the last two winters, it was thought, threatened the 

 extinction of quail in our iields, but Robert pulled through 

 bravely and multiplied greatly. The small bags of last 

 season were so discouraging that many of the boys have 

 either sworn ofl: or are skeptical and avLLL not be convinced. 

 At any rate but few have been afield this fall, and they 

 possibly failed to divulge their success. Rabbits are so 

 numerous that some covers are designated by the little 

 fellows rabbit towns. Wliile good tracking snows re- 

 mained on the ground the wholesale slaughter was so'great 

 as to suspend the numerical standard of value, and they 

 were sold by the bushel. We were just off the line of 

 march taken by an army of migi-atory squii-rels last fall, 

 still enough stragglers and skirmishing foragers ventured 

 in to create comment, and led to the scouring out of 

 every old muzzleloading rifle. It is noticeable that the 

 migrants are almost invariably (some say always) young 

 and fat. — Kentuckian. 



Summer Woodcock Shooting.— Taunton, Mass.— I 

 have read with considerable interest in a recent issue of 

 Forest and Stream notes on summer woodcock shooting. 

 I have followed shooting for the last thhty years. In 

 this section of the Old Bay State, in my early shooting 

 days, it was not an uncommon thing, in a day's tramp for 

 partridge and quail, to bag half a dozen woodcock, with a 

 good complement of partridge and quaU; but for the last 

 few seasons it has been difficult to bag a half dozen in a 

 wiiole season. My shooting has always been fall shoot- 

 ing in open season on quail and partridge. I never have 

 done any summer shooting. I find the general sentiment 

 of sportsmen and market gunners is to abolish summer 

 woodcock shooting and to have more strmgent laws to 

 protect game. I will give my scores of woodcock for a 

 few seasons: In 1860, 87; in 1873, 10; in 1884, 2; in 1885, 1: 

 in 1886, none. I have made fair bags of quail and par- 

 tridge in all of these seasons. — Woodsman. 



New Jersey. — Smithburg, Dec. 13. — Since the opening 

 of the season I liave been out a few times and have found 

 game, quail especially, quite plentifid. Were it not for 

 the market-shooters we could have excellent shooting 

 here; but the cotmtry is overrun with them and they go 

 in for getting all they can, no matter what means' are 

 used. One shooter brought twenty-two quail to the store 

 at the viUage on the night of Nov. 1. But as considerable 

 shooting had been hcnrd for a few days, it is probable 

 that some of them Aveie lv:iUed before the season ojjened. 

 Quite a number of ruffed grouse have been killed and a 

 few woodcock, A friend told me that he killed a wood- 

 cock on Dec. 6, there being quite a snow on the ground at 

 the time. Were it not for the summer shootiiig we 

 would have good woodcock shooting here in the fail. 

 Since the snow fell a great many rabbits have been 

 killed, but they GOuld not do miich with the birds. — 

 B. L. W. 



Ferrets in Pennsylvanli. — Athens, Pa., Dec. 26. — 

 There has been more bagging of rabbits with ferrets 

 around here this winter than ever before, and most of the 

 parties liunt for profit only. A grain bag and a ferret are 

 the only weapons used. Owe game constable has looked 

 up some of these parties, but they claim that a farmer 

 gives them permission to hunt on his land and tells them 

 he wants the rabbits killed off as they are destroying his 

 property and are a pest, tine rabbit butchers have a right 

 to use a ferret at any time of the year. There are many 

 in the business who catch from -50 to 200 after every fresh 

 snow, and they have them nearly cleaned out. I would 

 like to know ii: they have a right to use a ferret in hunt- 

 ing rabbits under any chcumstances. Has it ever been 

 tried by law ? If there is any way of pimishing these 

 law breakers we are going to try it and put a stop to this 

 slaughter. — P. 



Wisconsin. — Gratiot, Dec. 12. — This has been'an im- 

 usually good season for small game in tins vicinity. The 

 groves and thickets swarm with ruffed grouse and rabbits. 

 A good shot can get a bag of grouse almost any day, and 

 the rabbits can be taken by almost any boy able to handle 

 a gun. They are exceedingly fat and of exceptionally 

 fine flavor. Prauie chickens are scarce, as this is really 

 not a chicken locahty. The last two winters have been 

 very hard on quail, but if what sitrvived remain undis- 

 turbed they will soon regain their old foothold. The 

 worst trouble is that the cotmtry is overrun -with weasels 

 and minks. Other vermin are numerous too. A white 

 muskrat was recently caught and placed in a museum at 

 Pestigo. Willie Smith, a lad of thirteen years, killed a 

 black bear that weighed over 3001bs. hi the woods near 

 Eau Clair.— B. 



A Michigan Coon Score.— Manistee, Mich., Dec. 13. — 

 As my vacation came too late for a deer hunt, I could not 

 make* up my mind what to do until I overheard a drunken 

 Indian saying to his partner, "Me catch um coon bumby, 

 then me have plenty money. ' A happy thought struck 

 me. I hunted up an Indian (a sober one), took my dog 

 and axe, and eleven miles from Manistee, on the Manistee 

 River, we pitched otn tent. By dark we had six coons. 

 We started at daylight next morning and had ten coons 

 for oiu- day's work. The third day we only got one coon 

 —seventeen for our three days' liunt. I reached home 

 tired, but well satisfied with iny first coon hunt in the 

 daytime. — Racoon Al. 



The New Jersey Game Law is published by the New 

 Jersey Game and Fish Protective Society, in convenient 

 pamphlet form. The secretary is Wm. L. Force, Plain- 

 field. The society ftu-nishes certificates of membership 

 to non-residents at the rate of |2 each. 



Texas. — Belton, Dec, 22. — I have just returned from a 

 three weeks' hunt on the San Saba River and Brady's 

 Creek. Camped near where James Bowie and others 

 had the terrible fight with the Keowas in 1834 while on 

 their way to the silver mine at Camp San Saba. We 

 killed several deer, ducks and squirrels, and caught fine 

 black bass and yellow and blue oat out of the beautiful, 

 pure and clear Avaters of the liistoric San Saba. I killed 

 a rock squh-rel. It is a grayish-black, about one-third 

 larger than a large fox squirrel. Lives in the rocks on 

 high bluffs on streams, and is as shy and nimble as a 

 civit cat, its neighbor.— J. B. 



Michigan Association.— Grand Rapids, Mich., Dec. 38. 

 —Editor Forest and Stream: The next annual session of 

 the ilichigan Sportsmen's Association will occur at 

 Lansing on the 18th of January, 1887, commencing at 

 7:80 o'clock P. M. Otu earnest work will be another 

 effort to secui-e the enforcement of law by the appoint- 

 ment of game and fish wardens.— E. S. Holmes, Pres. 



Senator Kenna's Style.— To-night Senator Kenna 

 gave his unique dinner at John Chamberlin's. The deer, 

 roasted whole, stood upon his feet, stuft'ed with celery 

 dressing, and Senator Kenna carved lum standing. The 

 deer wore his natural horns, and glared at the crowd with 

 glass eyes, which were natttral enough to make some of 

 the deer hunters and venison eaters nervous. The '"bar" 

 did not turn uj), as he lost his way under a misunder- 

 standiug about the passage of the interstate commerce 

 bill. But it was a very enjoyable dinner, and lasted in 

 merry-making until the small hoxjxs.— Washington Cor- 

 respondence. 



RIFLES AGAIN. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Mr. Burns has replied to my article Nov. 35, and Mr. Leopold 

 Dec. 16. 



I .am snrprised at the reply of Mr. Burns and loericofMr. Leo- 

 pold. I had supposed that Mr. Burns had some good and sufficient 

 reasons for the assertions in issue of .July S, but it seems that he 

 can only say that the M.L. rifles iu the Fotiest a^-d Btkf.am test 

 were not loaded to suit him, and as to his prnof as regards the 

 question of accuracy between the Maynard and the Komer rifles, 

 he relates that he lias been told by target shooters i hat if a rifle 

 only shot good yertieally it was all right. That is tlic point I am 

 trying to get him to explain and which it seems that he and the 

 target shooters do not -juderstaud. They have mistaken trajec- 

 tory accuracy for target accuracy, assuming that they both repre- 

 sent the same thing. Far from it, they never or ^'ery rarely coin- 

 cide. 



They have taken the difference in the heights of the respective 

 curves, as published in the Forest and Stream t rajectory I'eport, 

 and assumed that they represent the distance which the shots 

 struck apart on the actual targets. Nothing is furtlier from the 

 truth. Two different sh.ots might h:i,\x' e.Yactly the sarne heightof 

 cur\-c or trajectory and still strike 3ft. or tft. a.oart on the target 

 vert ically. ]Major Merrill and myself made a trial of a double ex- 

 press rifle, the same used at the Foukst akd Stream trial. Trial 

 for height of curve at ICOyds. in a range of :iOOyds., shot No. 3 

 strikes the target at ,'itJOyds. T.tiOin. below the horizontal baseline; 

 shot No. t strikes .30in. abo"e the same. 



TIuis it will be seen that tlie two shots are apart vertically 8.20in.; 

 still the height of curve at lOOyds. for the two shots is exactly the 

 same to the .01 of an inch, being T.Ctin. for each. Now, then, ac- 

 cording to the theory of Mr. Burns and Leopold, they should haVD 

 been exactly in the same hole. How do you account for this, gen- 

 tlemenV 



As to Mr. Leopold's talk about the heavy target muzzleloading 

 rifles used in the test, the ."Merrill rifle lias no liatent, muzzle, and 

 was loaded witli a simple brass cap and rod, \\ liich can be carried 

 in the vest pocket. As to its weight he is no nearer correct. As 

 will be seen hv ri'Ici-enee to i lie rcixnM , thei-o wei e some half dozen 

 or more breechloaders within a few ounces of the same weight. 

 As to its si.glits, they were the ordinary globe and peep such as are 

 commonly used upon muzzleloadcrs. As to the Eomer muzzle- 

 loader, it is not a. regular target rifle as iMessrs. Burns, Leopold 

 and some others are tr> ing 1o make out. On the contrary, It is 

 lighter than many breechloaders in use in this country for otr-hand 

 shooting, and was made for liunting, shooting at turkeys and at a 

 mark, or at anytiiing that came" along. It is a plain, common- 

 looking rifle, fitted with a patent muzzle for greater accuracy, 

 which takes a little more iime in loading, but for a person who 

 shoots f(H- iileasure tliere is araule lime for its use. Mr. Leopold's 

 explanation of shot No. 5 of the Maynard series has altogether too 

 much supposition and Loiess-work about it. He had better stick to 

 the actual fiicts of (he i-ase as published in the Trajectory Report, 

 and sliown b^- tlio original screens and targets <nx file at the otllco 

 of Forest and Stream, lie states that the rifle was removed 

 from the rest after every shot. My cop.v of tlic trajectory report 

 does not say so. but does sav I liat the rifles wore lived not sighted 

 at tlie target dii-ect, but upon the slight black patch which had 

 been placed on t!ic screen nearest the rillc as a precautionary 

 measui-e. That black patcli, a target bullseye paster, 1.35in. in 

 diameter, can be seen by ordinary eyes very distinctly at 50yds., 

 and I will testify that Mr. Sinclair has good eyes; do you suppose 

 again that he aimed 3.10rn. below it?. That time for once the rifle 

 shot where it was not aimed, and another sliot had to be fired to 

 make out the series. 



One might suppose from reading Mr Leopold's letter that the 

 muzzles of the rifles at the Forest and Strhjam trial were allowed 

 to flop around almost anv^vhere, He and Mr. Burns have just 

 been bragging about the gretit curve accuracy exliibited by the 

 breechloaders in the t rial. Is he so ignorant of the subject as not 

 to know that if the center of bore of each and every rifle in the 

 test had not been brought to the same point vertically for each 

 sJiot of its series that it would have been impossible to have ob- 

 tained a correct cni \ <!? 1 ctin assure him that it was always done 

 while I was present, and that the measurements were taken by 

 Mr. Sinclair witli a line instrument to the .(X)l of an inch. 



G. J. ROMER. 



ijy MAN'S Pat. PiAiN Ivory, 

 Front Si(iirr.— This sight is 

 constructed as to be very dur- -^^^^-^ 

 able. The sectional cut shows the cylinder or plug of ivory stand- 

 ing vertically in the base of steel, and while the ivory is wall pro- 

 tected it also protrudes sulTiciently to give plenty of reflected light. 

 —A.dv. 



"That reminds me." 

 202. 



HEEE'S another on Selman and Kent, the levee en- 

 gineers. A few days ago they went out on Lake 

 Charles, in Coahoma cotmty, for a duck hunt. They 

 borrowed a dugout from that admirable host and prince 

 of sportsmen, Mr. Simpson, of Simpson's Nook. Having 

 "launched their frail bark," so to speak, on the boisterous 

 waters of Lake Charles, Selman in the bow with gun at 

 "present," and Kent on the quarter deck managing the 

 sliip with an ash paddle (and an ashen face), they 

 presently ran her nose upon a submerged log, which 

 maneuver speedily eventuated in a cay size. Being some 

 hundred ^yards from shore, Selman, incumbered with 

 overcoat and heavy boots, gave himself' up tor lost, but 

 determined to make a heroic struggle for liis life. So 

 consigning his gun to the tender mercies of the wave,?, he 

 laid himself out at full length in the turbulent waters, 

 and by most strenuous exertions, succeeded in reacliing a 

 snag about thirty yards away. "With considerable difficulty 

 he climbed on to tlie snag and then tiirncd his bewildered 

 gaze upon the scene of disaster to ascertain what had 

 become of poor Kent (who couldn't swim), expecting to 

 see the chcling wavelets and imsympathetic bubbles 

 calmly pointing to Ms last resting place. But a different 

 sight greeted his eyes, to wit, Kent was quietly wading 

 ashore. The water was only a little over knee deep. The 

 voice of Kent came mockingly across the waters, "You 

 got wet, didn't you, Selman?" Coaijoma. 

 Mksiphis, Ten n.*^ 



The Peeeless Tobacco Works, of Rochester, N. Y. 

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