66 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



rf'EB. 16, 1888. 



top plane was left flat, and this was handsomely matted. 

 But little change could he made in the lock, though 

 a lighter, more graceful hammer was put on, and the 

 double triggers were retained. The cartridge it had 

 taken was .45-70 or 75. It was chambered for a straight, 

 lOOgr. shell. The stock was a beautiful piece of work- 

 manship, full pistol handle and checkered. A rib was 

 added under the barrel and thimbles taking a cleaning rod, 

 so it looked not unlike a fine muzzleloader. Buckles on 

 stock and barrel completed the work. The sights were 

 on the Lyman pattern, but the near peep could be turned 

 down out of sight and held in a depression it just fitted, 

 from which a spring loosened it, and there was the 

 usual English notch back and platinum-centered front 

 bead sights. 



The bullet made for this rifle I had never seen before. 

 It weighed with the hollow point 270grs.; solid, perhaps 

 lOgrs. more. The bore of the rifle had been thoroughly 

 overhauled and was eased just a little, to within Sin. of 

 the muzzle. The bullet had but one belt and cannelure, 

 which was at the bottom of course. It had only the one 

 small ring-like bearing to take the rifling, ' but was 

 patched with a bit of the strongest 3000-thread linen, held 

 by wrapping a silk thread strongly waxed over the folds 

 into the groove of the cannelure, there tied and then with 

 a sharp knife cutting away all the superfluous material, 

 leaving the patch fitted as closely as possble. 



I have never seen a breechloader that shot with such 

 deadly accuracy as this. It recalled and equalled even 

 the best work of Wesson, Ferris, and Billinghurst in the 

 North, or the famous rifles made by Mills, at Harrodsburg, 

 Ky. , in ante-bellum days, the best workman south of the 

 line. 



The penetration with a solid bullet and lOOgrs. powder 

 was marvellous. 1 have seen the bullet driven clean 

 through a. pine tree certainly 10 or 12in. thick at 20 

 paces distance. The shooting with the patched bullet 

 was the best, though a two-grooved naked bullet of 300grs. 

 which was sometimes used was very good indeed. 



The fame of this rifle extended far and wide. Its 

 owner was a wonderfully quick shot and could kill deer 

 "on the run" with this at distances that were wonderful, 

 almost incredible. No offer of money would tempt him. 

 He knew he owned the most powerftd hunting rifle be- 

 tween Memphis and the sea. 



When a famous Mississippi River steamer, one of the 

 Memphis & New Orleans floating parlors, burned two 



years ago, was aboard. He had been to New Orleans 



for his usual annual "settling up" at the year's close. 

 He had taken the "Crowbar" with him to have some 

 trifling repairs done to the lock. He had scarcely time 

 to save himself, for it was midnight. But he got ashore 

 alive with a tiny waif of a girl in his arms. "The Crow- 

 bar has gone to the bottom," said he, with tears almost 

 in his eyes. "I could have saved it had it not been so 

 far to shore. So I held up the baby and let the other go 

 down." 



And this was the end of the best hunting rifle I ever 

 have seen. Mississippi Lowlands. 

 Februahy 12. 



SHOOTING ETHICS AND ACCIDENTS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have noticed between the Forest and Stream and 

 many other papers supposed to be conducted in the in- 

 terests of natural history and of sportsmen, the difference 

 that in this journal there is always something to set one 

 thinking. Since the last issue came to hand, I have read 

 among other articles, the communication which treats of 

 duck shooting on Long Island Sound; and having form- 

 erly heen familiar with those waters and their birds, I 

 was so far interested as to attempt a rough calculation, 

 based upon some knowledge of wildfowl shooting, but 

 more particularly upon the data supplied by the man 

 from Irvington-on-Hudson, who formerly owned the 

 steam launch Dolphin, and commanded a tolerably full 

 battery of shotguns. 



It appears that from these ten barrels were fired in six 

 days about three thousand shots at seafowl, and I should 

 say that the results of the six days' work might in figures 



be expressed about as follows: 



Misses and fool shots at rifle range (say) 1,000 



Birds killed dead, but not recovered 400 



Birds which eventually died from injuries 800 



Bii ds badly maimed or crippled 500 



Birds painfully injured only ; 399 



Birds bagged 101 



3.000 



This sort of sport may fairly be classed in the same 

 category with that formerly practiced by the men who 

 fired from railway trains with then- repeaters into buffalo 

 herds and bands of antelope. " Shooting was what they 

 went for, and hitting of minor importance." (Jaffray). 



In another column, I find a Florida correspondent tell- 

 ing of his unwillingness to shoot at two deer, when a httle 

 out of range, because he would- not risk the infliction of 

 a painful and useless wound on a noble game animal. 

 Had that "cracker" cart been commanded and manned as 

 was the Dolphin, there would, likely, have been just ten 

 barrels, loaded with No. 7, discharged at the retreating 

 venison, and one or two of the "boys" would probably 

 have said: "I saw that last one flinch when my charge 

 struck him. If he'd only been six rods nearer, I would 

 have had Mm, sure." 



I have further been thinking about that other corres- 

 pondent who poked his gun through a wire fence with 

 the muzzle directed toward his personality, but, singu- 

 larly enough, missed the game and succeeded only in 

 shattering a rock with the charge. I agree with "J. F. L." 

 of Meriden, that if I had been "luny" enough to do such a 

 thing, I would not care to publish the fact, unless I had 

 fully concluded to accept permanently a commission de 

 lunatico, with all the rights and privileges thereunto ap- 

 pertaining. Such persons ought by all means to be sub- 

 jected to a wholesome degree of restraint, especially in 

 rich alluvial districts, where one cannot always be sure 

 of finding a stone with which to temper or modify the 

 forward motion of the contents of his fusee. 



Nevertheless, I would by no means seek to suppress the 

 publieation of such instances of lunacy as this, for they 

 perhaps serve a useful purpose in warning the rising 

 generation, and also some of the present, for there is, sad 

 to say, an abiding class of old fools who can never learn 

 to be careful with firearms. 



One of these men shot himself the other day. He used 



a muzzleloader, and while loading, allowed it to be 

 pointed toward his person. His was doubtless a valuable 

 life, and in all save this he may have been a sensible man, 

 but— through the grossest carelessness the life i3 lost. A 

 breechloader is much safer than a muzzleloader— in this 

 regard there is no comparison. I have never used a ham- 

 merless, and unless somebody gives me one out of his 

 abundance, I probably never may. I, therefore, do not 

 know practically if it be safer than a gun with hammers. 



I think, however, that except in special cases, the 

 muzzleloader should be tabooed. 



(1) If I could not get a good, safe breechloader. 



(2) If I had to walk 500 miles through a wild country, 

 with such impedimenta only as I could carry. 



(8) If I had to shoot for my life with a rifle, not at game, 

 but at a very small mark; in either of these cases I should 

 prefer the muzzleloader. 



The first case goes without saying. In the second, with 

 a light rifle, I should be less burdened with ammunition, 

 and in the third, the muzzleloader is as absolutely ac- 

 curate as weapon can be made, while the breechloader is 

 sometimes from one or another cause, less trustworthy. 



When I learned to shoot, away back in the forties, the 

 man with whom I hunted always, when afield, carried 

 his gun at full cock. This practice I adopted, for a time; 

 but one day as I was walking along with my gun under 

 my arm a la Frank Forester, the cloth of my coat sleeve 

 caught the trigger, and the piece was discharged, the shot 

 entering the ground a pace or two in advance, just where 

 my dog might easily have been, but fortunately was not. 

 From this time forth, I carried my gun only at half-cock; 

 thus, of course, losing many fair shots before I could 

 accustom myself to the new order of tilings; but in time 

 I had overcome the difficulty, and my piece was mechan- 

 ically cocked as soon as my ear had caught the first flap 

 of the wing of a rising bird. 



I have put the above thoughts on paper more especially 

 for the benefit of the boys, of whom I was once an ex- 

 ample; and as of the hundreds or thousands who will see, 

 if not read, this article, not one in fifty will own a hani- 

 merless gun, it is my hope that all may remember that at 

 best, a gun is a very dangerous implement, and, "safety" 

 or no "safety," so educate themselves as never to be 

 guilty of other than the most absolute care in the manage- 

 ment thereof, and thus avoid all accidental discharges. 



It may be that in the fulness of time, a gun will be 

 produced which shall be perfectly safe for any one to 

 handle, but I am of opinion that when this shall seem to 

 be the case, it will be found that the "fool-killer" has 

 made his rounds, and eliminated from our population the 

 larger share of the gun-carriers. Kelpie. 



Feb. i, 1888. 



[Reference to the original account of the fence gun ac- 

 cident will show that the correspondent did not "poke 

 his gun through the fence with its muzzle pointed toward 

 him," and this criticism of his act is misdirected.] 



THE MEGANTIC CLUB DINNER. 



THE first annual dinner of the Megantic Fish and 

 Game Club was held at Young's Hotel, Boston, last 

 Friday evening, Feb. 10. It was the first social gathering 

 of the club, and one purpose of the evening was to give 

 the members an opportunity to become acquainted with 

 each other, for the membership of the Megantics is a 

 widelv scattered one. The guests of the evening were 

 Messrs. W. H. H. Murray, W. H. Brackett, Mayor Rus- 

 sell, of Cambridge, and C. B. Reynolds, of the Forest 

 and Stream. The members were: Dr. Heber Bishop, 

 Messrs. G. M. Morgan, Alexander Taylor. Jr.. of New 

 York; R. Kendall. N. Matthews. Chas."S. Hanks, Geo. B. 

 Hartman, J. W. Ball, C. C. Maxson, E. E. Allen, Thos. 

 Baxter, Dr. M. A. Morris, Arthur W. Robinson, H. W. 

 Sanborn, Henry W. Robinson, E. B. Hale, Samuel Har- 

 rington, A. M. Greenwood, Geo. Heywood, Chas. A. 

 Cowee, A. G. Whitman, Chas. J. Willis. Paul F. Folsom, 

 Frederic L. Brown, E. A. Shaw, H. C. Litchfield, B. F. 

 Nichols. Fred A. Cooke, L. F. Small, D. W. Edwards, 

 Geo. F. Ellsworth, Geo. S. Forbush, Chas. W. Hinman, 

 E. F. Sturgis,W. B. Varney, L. Dana Chapman, Chas. R. 

 Edwards, Chas. L. Hovey, Otis H. Luke, W. F. Stevens, 

 Jas. Means, A. T. Sisson, Geo. B. Appleton, Chas. Z. 

 Bassett, John F. Tyler, Wm. M. Richardson, Walter D. 

 Briggs. A. F. Fessenden, Wm. Alden, Galen Woodruff, 

 Chas, A. Kilham, Francis V. B. Kern, David W. Noyes, 

 W. C. Prescott, Stephen Lawrence, C. F. Quincy, W. B. 

 Everett, Erastus Willard. 



The dinner was enlivened by songs sung by a quartet 

 of the club members, and after the menu had been dis- 

 cussed there were speeches by Messrs. Brackett, Taylor, 

 Murray, Mayor Russeil, and others. Mr. Murray "de- 

 scribed the beauty of sleeping under the boughs and by 

 the streams, away from the bustle of civilization. He 

 said he had 'trailed' all parts of the wild country. He 

 knew the Indian as the soul of honor, but would not 

 trust a half-breed. He then gave a Very minute descrip- 

 tion of the territory lying north of Quebec and extending 

 to St. John Lake, and pronounced it the fisherman's para- 

 dise. The streams which traverse this vast tract of land, 

 and the lakes which abound in every direction, were 

 teeming with life, and trout weighing from 1 to 81bs. 

 could be taken as fast as the fiy could be cast. He said a 

 tour by the new railroad that had been constructed 

 through this country was the finest on the continent. 

 This road runs along for 200 miles without any sign of 

 civilization, the only building to be seen being the log 

 cabin used by the section men when building the road. 

 Those who wanted a fortnight's fishing could take their 

 boats with them on the train and launch them from 

 the car door on to the lake, where the finest of sport 

 could be enjoyed. He said that, of all sports, trapping 

 was the finest, and that the trapper's life was the most 

 intellectual, all things considered. A trapper who goes 

 out brings in something as a souvenir of his trip. Beyond 

 Lake St. Jolm it seems as if you were in the primeval 

 world. The soil is moist, and there is nothing that the 

 trees can take root in. He had trailed through some 

 sections of this country for days and never heard the pecu- 

 liar cry of the owl, which was a most significant fact, as 

 these birds were to be found in eveiy other wilderness he 

 had ever visited. Referring again to the Lake St. John, 

 the speaker said that its bank were of sand and very high. 

 He found in its waters that most peculiar of all fish, the 

 Wannanish, so-called by the Indians. It resembles the 

 salmon very much, and was unknown in any other part 

 of the world. Trout could be caught in any part of the 



lake. There had been many stories circulated as to the 

 wonderful depths of these waters, but at no period were 

 they more than 100 feet deep. 'These grand fishing 

 grounds can be reached in 46 hours,' said the speaker, 

 'and if you make the trip once you will never go any- 

 where else.' " 



Dr. Bishop, who was the originator and organizer of 

 the club, reviewed its history, and with the aid of a large 

 map explained the location and advantages of the leased 

 territory, where trout abound and deer and moose reward 

 the patient hunter. The club lands consist of some 75,000 

 acres, with lakes and ponds and streams. The club is in 

 a flourishing condition, and the indications are that its 

 limit to membership will soon be reached. P. 



Michigan Association,— The following card has been 

 sent to the Association: "Grand Rapids, Mich,, Feb. 2, 

 1888. To the Board of Directors of the Michigan Sports- 

 men's Association— Gentlemen: While I frankly and 

 feelingly acknowledge the partiality that has made me 

 your executive officer for more than twelve years, and 

 the compliment of a re-election at the last meeting of the 

 association for the fourteenth time, notwithstanding my 

 declination, I find myself unable to continue the perform- 

 ance of its duties, and hereby tender my resignation of 

 the office of President of the Michigan Sportsmen's Asso- 

 ciation, to take immediate effect. — E. S. Holmes." 



Camp Site Wanted.— Edit or Forest and Stream: We 

 are a club of about twenty-five members, formed for the 

 purpose of camping out a couple of weeks during the 

 month of August. If any of your readers could inform 

 us of a suitable place somewhere in New York State 

 where a camp could be located and good fishing and 

 shooting be had, they would oblige by addressing with 

 full particulars, Peter Juppe, Sun Office, New York 

 city. 



Newport Fish and Game Association. — Newport, 

 R. I., Feb. 8. --At the annual meeting of this Association 

 the following officers were elected for 1888 : President, 

 Capt. J. P. Cotton; Vice-President, Dr. S. E. Greene; 

 Treasurer, W. H. Hammett; Secretary, F. H. Wilks. 

 Board of Directors, Thomas Burlington. 'Col. W. P. Shef- 

 field, Jr., W. A. Armstrong, W. H. Hammett, B. M, 

 Thurston. 



THE NEW YORK GAME LAW MILL. 



ALBANY, Feb. 14.— A brief glance at the situation as the 

 Legislature found it— relative to the game laws— may be of 

 service in understanding what it is proposed and what it mav 

 still be proposed to do this winter. It will be recalled that the 

 game committees of 1887 were very conservative. The same fact 

 appears to be the case this year. It will also be recalled that, 

 after a great deal of large sized talk, no law relating to the hunt- 

 ing of deer was absolutely passed. As we have heretofore seen, 

 this question is not likely to be at all lonesome this year. 



The bird laws were not changed, except that amendments were 

 made to the song bird act of 1S8G so as to allow birds and eggs to 

 be taken for scientific purposes and also to allow the shooting of 

 sparrows, hen hawks, blackbirds and others that are objectionable. 

 Iu regard to wildfowl it was provided that all kinds might be shot 

 from boats in certain bays along the northern part of Long Island; 

 but a bill providing that woodcock may be killed iu August and 

 prohibiting the shooting of ducks, geese and brant in Anril was 

 not passed. A similar fate came to the bill allowing the shooting 

 of quail and rabbits on Long Island duriag the last five weeks of 

 everyyear; also to the bill making the season on Long Island from 

 Nov. 1 to Jan. 1 for quail, grouse, hare and squirrels; from July 1 

 to 31 and Nov. 1 to Jan. 1 for woodcock; July 15 to May 1 for shore 

 birds and wildfowl. Neither did the bills succeed allowing the 

 shooting of ducks between Jan. 1 and Sept. 1; forbidding between 

 May 1 and Sept. 1 the killing or sale of wildfowl; prohibiting the 

 killing of quail between Jan. 1 and Nov. 1, and hares between 

 Feb. 1 and Nov. 1. 



A bill including set lines among prohibited devices did not 

 pass; neither did the bill forbidding the use of snares in salmon 

 waters. Other bills that were unsuccessful were these: Prohibit- 

 ing the catching of black ba^s in the waters of Lake Erie and 

 Niagara River between Jan. 1 and July 1, bullheads In Lake 

 George bsing excepted; forbidding the patching of salmon except, 

 with rod and line, and then only bet ween March 1 and Aug. 15; 

 forbidding the use of pound nets in Lake Erie adjacent to Buf- 

 falo. The bill became a lawgiving further privileges for catching 

 and selling salmon trout or landlocked salmon in the Upper 

 Lakes. The Governor signed a bill providing that no person shall 

 take any fish from the waters of the Hudson lliver by any uet, 

 etc., from sunset on Saturday until sunrise on the following Mon- 

 day between the 15th day of March and the 15th day of June. The 

 Governor also signed the bill repealing the act which forbade the 

 taking of lobsters under lOiu. iu length. 



There was the appropriation for the erection of a fish hatcherv 

 at Cold Spring Harbor for sea fish, and a further approoriatioh 

 for a hatchery in the Adirondack wilderness for the purpose of 

 stocking the mountain streams with trout and salmon. In regard 

 to the latter it may be stated that the Adirondack region is 

 divided by two great water sheds, from one of which the water 

 flows into the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, and from the other 

 into the Hudson River direct or into the Mohawk and its tribu- 

 taries. This region is the great sanitarium of the Empire State, 

 and future generations will bless those who builded so wisely in 

 the enactment of laws for the preservation of its forests. The 

 State Forestry Commission says: "As years go on and these 

 woods are protected from spoliation the young soft timber trees 

 will grow up and the forest assume its primitive condition. The 

 lakes and streams teem with native brook and lake trout. That 

 many lakes and streams have been depleted ot trout, and the 

 cause is well known to anglers in this region. Many of the causes 

 are now removed, and we know that the inhabitants of Hamilton 

 county will gladly aid in re-stocking and preserving its waters 

 from further spoliation." This hatchery can supply all the waters 

 on the south water shed, that is, the waters flowing into the Hud- 

 son and Mohawk and their tributaries. The prospects are that in 

 a very few years not only will the Adirondacks and Catskills be 

 well stocked with trout, but, if the increase continues in tire 

 future as it has in the past, the Hudson may be well stocked with 

 salmon. Indeed, during the present year, the river has produced 

 millions of shad, which have almost restored its old reputation as 

 the home of this beautiful fish. 



But one game bill hits been introduced during the past week. 

 It was introduced by Assemblyman Brownell (Feb. 6); and it 

 amends chapter 591 of the laws of 1880 as amended by chapter 317 

 of the laws of 1883, relative to the appointment of fish and game 

 protectors, so that the judgments recovered may be enforced in 

 the same manner as if the action had been brought by an 

 individual. The following is also added to section 1 of the law: 

 "In case an action shall be brought as hereinbefore provided and 

 the plaintiff therein shall fail to recover against any defendant, 

 such defendant shall be entitled to recover against the people full 

 costs, as is fixed by section 3251 of the code of civil procedure, 

 together with witnesses and other fees and disbursements allowed 

 by such code; and upon entry of judgment against the people 

 therefor and presentation of a duly certified copy of such judg- 

 ment to the county treasurer of the county where such judgment 

 is originally docketed, the said county treasurer shall pay to such 

 defendant of his allomney the amount of such judgment and 

 take duplicate receipts therefor, and shall immediately trans- 

 mit one of said duplicate receipts together with such certified 

 copy of such judgment to the State treasurer, who shall upon 

 receipt thereof pay the said amount to such county treasurer out 

 of the general fund." This is a very important hill and it will 

 bear watching to the end. It is said that the bill comes from the 

 Forestry Commission. 



It is expected that both game committees will take off their 

 coats and go to work this week. If so, then lookout for more 

 results than we have been able to chronicle thus far in the pres- 

 ent sessions of the Legislature. 



Assemblyman CromweU, of Richmond, has introduced a bill 

 which amends section 64U of the penal code relative to the upiug 



