Ma* 3, 1839.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



297 



casual hunters very often shot undisturbed over preserved 

 ground. The lines were by no means drawn hard and 

 fast; but if our opponents invite a contest and are in the 

 end beaten, certainly this privilege, which otherwise they 

 would have continued to enjoy, will no longer be ex- 

 tended. Their latter end will be worse than their first. . 



Club Man. 



San Francisco, Cal., April 15. 



AT A BEAR'S HEAD. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



"Kelpie's" suggestion that a bear will not always stand 

 still while you shoot him in the head, strikes me as some- 

 what hypercritical. All my experience with bears, 

 whetherbrown or black, whether denizens of mountain 

 or of plain, is that they advance to the attack very de- 

 liberately- provided that you stand and face them— and 

 afford a cool shot abundant opportunity to put in his bul- 

 let anywhere he likes. At the same time I should never 

 think of aiming at the head of a bear, as he rose to em- 

 brace me, the spot to aim at is the white bullseye in the 

 throat evidently painted by a kindly nature for the pur- 

 pose. 



I have shot bear and other game in the head by a fluke, 

 but all my experience in that direction, leads me to infer that 

 if the ball strike the skull box at an acute angle, or indeed 

 at anything short of a right angle, the angle of reflection 

 is pretty nearly sure to be equal to the angle of the inci- 

 dence, as in billiards. 



If I were to narrate all my experiences in that direction, 

 extending over a period of thirty years, you would smile 

 blandly and put them in your ''Camp-fire Flickerings," 

 along with stories of doubtful veracity, so I will content 

 myself with a single bear story very much to the point. 



I had got ten days' leave and was making a hasty trip 

 from the Gurhwal forests to Naini Tal, and camped at 

 night in a gully on the confines of Gurhwal and Kuma- 

 oun. About 10 o'clock one of my men reported that a 

 bear had crossed the gully, and another was following 

 him. 



Springing out of bed, I seized my rifle, stepped into 

 my slippers, and out into the moonlight. The bear was 

 about mid-gully, his black coat contrasting sharply with 

 the light gray sand of the dry ravine, and directly I ap- 

 peared he came to a stand, and although standing broad- 

 side on, turned his face full toward me. I aimed deliber- 

 ately at his head, and in the stillness of the night the 

 ball rattled on his skull with a note as lively as if it had 

 been not only hollow, but empty, and down went the 

 bear in a heap. 



I could probably have run in and finished him with 

 the second barrel— distance about 70yds. — but as I never 

 give a bear any unnecessary chances I went into the tent 

 for another cartridge, came out again, and while I was in- 

 serting it the bear rose and had vanished into shadow 

 before I was ready to pull trigger on him. The next 

 morning I started at daylight, first instructing the ranger 

 to look for the carcass in the morning and get the skin if 

 he could. Ten days later I was returning to duty and 

 camped at the same spot. The ranger came and reported 

 that he had found no blood nor sign of any kind, and 

 knowing the exact spot I went out to look for myself. 

 After some search I found a strip of skin from the head 

 of the bear twisted like a corkscrew. It was about Jtin. 

 wide and nearly 4in. long, and left no room to doubt that 

 the ball, striking close above the eye, had traversed the 

 skull to the back of the head without penetrating, prob- 

 ably even without cracking the bone. Shikaree. 



Camp Delhi, Punjaub, India, Feb. 2<j. 



A .25-BORE RIFLE NEEDED. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



By his article in your issue of March 18, "Byrne" un- 

 covers a very vulnerable point in the advocacy of .22cal. 

 rifles, and affords an opportunity for profitable discussion 

 of that now popular size. 



Of course it goes without saying that the small-bore 

 rifle is a great boon to all who have a fondness for rifle 

 shooting but who, from motives of choice, economy or 

 limited range, must abstain from using the larger sizes. 

 But it is a question in the minds of some whether the 

 matter was not somewhat overdone when such a diminu- 

 tive size as twenty-two-one hundredths of an inch was 

 adopted and used for the wide range of purposes to which 

 it is now sought to apply it. 



"While not acquainted with the ancient history of the 

 .22cal. rifle, I am of opinion that it was originally made 

 with special view to purposes of gallery shooting, and 

 regarded from the standpoint of caliber only, it has 

 always seemed to me out of its proper sphere anywhere 

 else. 



It may be said the excellent work which improved 

 forms of .22cal. cartridges have recently been made to 

 accomplish contradicts this, to which I would reply that 

 every form of ,22cal. cartridges that has been used with 

 any marked success embodies modifications of the older 

 kinds which carried but little further in the same line, 

 would make the said new cartridges eminently suitable 

 for use in an increased caliber. 



Now we have had from time to time vague and un- 

 certain glimpses of a ,25caL rifle, but apparently no great 

 amount of time, study or attention has ever been given 

 to experiments with that caliber, which I believe to be a 

 mistake. 



True, we have the .32cal. m a variety of lengths, 

 weights, proportions and, we may also say, diameters, 

 for there is a most deplorable want of uniformity as to 

 the actual measurement of rifles and bullets nominally 

 the same in cabiber. But while the .32 is a useful and 

 convenient size in many respects, there are objections 

 which may be reasonably urged against it when we 

 attempt to take it into the province belonging to the 

 small-bore proper. For example, there is some danger in 

 its use where the range is limited, and it is somewhat ex- 

 pensive to keep in ammunition when we come to use the 

 cartridges by hundreds or thousands. 



Now there is an existing hiatus between the two cali- 

 bers, .22 and .32, that the .25, properly made and charged, 

 would till most admirably. For target purposes its good 

 features compared with the .22 would be, notably, greater 

 steadiness and uniformity m the shooting, less manipulat- 

 ing of the wind gauge, and longer range. It would also 

 be infinitely better as a hunting rifle for small game, as 

 it would be more likely to disable and prevent the escape 

 (to die lingeringly) of such game as might not be struck 



in vital parts, besides which it would, if properly gotten 

 up, have a much longer point-blank range than most of 

 the present .22 weapons. In short, it would prove a 

 "nappy medium" between the ,22 and .32, and would 

 embrace most of the good features of both the old sizes. 



In the light of the vast amount of experience and 

 knowledge which the last few years have brought 

 to the hands and heads of makers of rifles and their am- 

 munition, there should be but little time or trouble in- 

 volved in hitting upon a suitable combination of such 

 details as degree of twist, quantity and proportions of 

 powder and lead, etc., as would bring out the best possi- 

 bilities of the new arm. Aside from the practical advan- 

 tages of .25 as compared with the smaller caliber, there 

 is a lack of fitness in equipping a full-grown man with a 

 weapon so trifling and toylike. It is too much like an 

 over-sized man driving an under-sized pony. As long, 

 however, as the manfacturers of arms and ammunition 

 find ready market for the old styles (or slight modifica- 

 tions of them) there is small hope of their running the 

 chances of success in introducing experimental innova- 

 tions, and the only way to induce such departures as that 

 outlined above is for sportsmen to express their wishes 

 and preferences through the medium of papers like yours 

 in such terms and in such numbers as will show just 

 what the sentiment of sportsmen at large really is upon 

 the subject under consideration, and I hope to hear 

 from others upon the question of a .25cal. rifle. 



NOBRISTOWN, Pa., April 20. W. D. ZIMMERMAN. 



Club Elections.— Hornellsville, N. Y., April 23. — 

 Editor Forest and Stream: At a meeting of the Hornell 

 Gun and Game Protective Association, held April 10, the 

 following officers were elected for the ensuing year: John 

 Griffin, President; B. J. Luther, Vice-President; William 

 Rewalt, Jr., Treasurer: S. H. Brown, Secretary. The 

 association never stood in better shape financially, nor 

 with better prospects of interest taken by its members 

 than this spring. We shall add a rifle range to the asso- 

 ciation grounds, and expect a large additional member- 

 ship, as much interest is taken in this. Our association 

 was organized for game and fish protection together with 

 trap shooting, but owing to want of good officers of the 

 law the violators escape in most cases. However, a great 

 many have paid quite dearly for their fun. We are add- 

 ing nonorary members to our association as fast as we 

 can, and hope in a short time to have all the game and 

 fish protective sportsmen in our county belong to us, and 

 by this means — when well united — we will carry a strong 

 influence and may succeed in getting officials who will 

 prosecute violators and get justice, too. Our laws are 

 severe enough, but what is hardest to fight is public 

 opinion and indifference. Game and fish protection is 

 not generally understood because people do not compre- 

 hend its purposes; but when it is understood they indorse 

 it, and will join in doing all they can to advance the in- 

 terests of true sportsmanship. Our neighbors at Canesteo 

 have organized a club with sixty members for a starter, 

 and I am told much interest is taken both at trap and 

 game protection. .Let the work go on. — S. H. Brown, 

 Secretary. 



Red Hook, N. Y. — At the annual meeting of the Eed 

 Hook Gun Club, lately held, the following officers were 

 elected: President, Geo. W. Cramer; Treasurer, John 

 Bain; Secretary, Robert J. Carroll. 



Rained Geese in Texas.— This is how the Gonzales 

 Inquirer tells the story: "During the rain and storm 

 Wednesday morning occurred within a quarter of a mile 

 of town perhaps one of the most wonderful and rare 

 atmospheric electrical demonstrations ever viewed by 

 most men and unprecedented in these parts. A very 

 large flock of wild geese, high up in the sky and out of 

 the reach of the unerring aim of the hunter were wing- 

 ing their flight to their far northern home, urged on by 

 the instinct of a happy nesting and feeding ground at 

 their long journey's end, and not anticipating the immi- 

 nent and lurking danger that lay hidden in the angry and 

 threatening clouds, while peace and harmony prevailed 

 among the concourse that were marshaled in the shape of 

 a letter V by the experienced leader and commander. 

 While thus sailing serenely on, their course was being 

 watched by a few citizens and the size of the flock com- 

 mented on, when suddenly a bar of lightning from a cloud 

 seemed to strike the leader, and then scintillate and play 

 through the entire flock, causing terror, confusion and 

 death, and the immediate air seemed to be full of falling 

 and overcome birds. They fell just across the slough 

 from town in Joe Peck's pasture, and Jack Hastings, a 

 negro, who was watching them from his door, walked 

 over the slough , and after killing a few crippled ones, 

 brought fifty-two into town which he sold at 10 cents 

 apiece. Some of them were badly bruised and torn, but i 

 it is not known whether it was caused by the lightning or 

 the high fall. Some of the birds recovered and flew off 

 after having fallen nearly to the ground. It is estimated 

 that there were nearly 150 geese in the flock, and of these 

 at least seventy-five were killed." 



A Wild Section. — There are quite a few wolves here 

 on the head of Little Sturgeon. I have caught three of 

 them. They are a large, strong, ugly looking brute, and 

 I would not care to have a pack of them attack me in the 

 woods. The ones I caught weighed eighty pounds. Mr. 

 Friant is having one of them stuffed and mounted, life 

 size. This has been, and is yet, quite a country for hunt- 

 ing, trapping and fishing, as I have caught some of the 

 finest speckled trout I ever saw in the east branch of the 

 Sturgeon River, some that weighed three and a quarter 

 pounds, and I may give you some more of my experiences 

 where I caught wolves by the pack, fish by the ton and 

 beaver by the tail. — H, N, (Metropolitan, Mich.). 



Shooting Prospects.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Never before in the history of Lawrence county have 

 quail been so numerous in the spring as they are at 

 present. Recently, while duck hunting along the west 

 bank of the Beaver River, I raised five coveys in about a. 

 four-mile jaunt. Last season they were quite numerous, 

 and the large number that now exist will under favorable 

 circumstances multiply so rapidly that the coming season 

 will be by far the best for years.— T. E. M. (Newcastle, 

 Pa., April 20). 



Keokuk. Iowa, March 12. 1888.— J. F. Brcttenstein, Esq., Keokuk, 

 la,: Dear Sir: The box of U. S. C. Co. paper shells that I received 

 from you last fall I tried, and found them to be all that you 

 claimed, and hetter than any shell I ever used, not one of them 

 missing fire. Yours truly, (Signed) T. J. Lowrie.— Adv. 



NEW ENGLAND TROUT. 



Editor Forest and Stream.: 



The Trout supplement, of April 4, is admirable, and 

 the illustrations excellent, but 1 have some doubt as to 

 the correctness of one of the descriptions, that is of the 

 Dublin Pond trout, of which it is stated that "the back is 

 uniformly olive brown or gray, and not mottled like the 

 brook trout." Now I have not seen a Dublin Pond trout 

 for more than 20 years, but my recollections is, that the 

 mottling was even more distinct than that of the brook 

 trout. Livingston Stone, who had a hatching station at 

 Dublin, for several years, can probably give exact infor- 

 mation on this point'. Is it not possible that in specimens 

 sent to Washington in alcohol, the mottling may have 

 bleached or faded out? I only desire to have the infor- 

 mation correct, whatever it is. 



It is not well "established," that the Salmo sunapee was 

 well known before the introduction of the saihling; it 

 was just about the same time, my first knowledge of 

 Salmo sunapee having been in 1883, and I have some- 

 times queried whether by some mistake on the railroad 

 cars, and a change unintentionally of similar tin cans, 

 the saibling sent by Prof. Baird in 1881 had not found 

 their way to Sunapee, instead of Newfound Lake? They 

 have never been heard of in the latter water, where they 

 were supposed to have, been planted. 



If, as Mr. Hodge writes me. the large trout of Dan Hole 

 Pond, in Tuftonborough, have been pronounced by Prof. 

 Garman to be identical with the Sunapee variety, it goes 

 far to prove both aboriginal, but their difference in external 

 appearance from 6*. fontinalis is so great that it is very 

 strange to me that it should never have been noticed as a 

 different variety before. 



I am sorry to see "Awahsoose" pleading heresy on the 

 trout question! I think I could cure liim of it. could he 

 be with me for a fortnight this summer, on the head- 

 waters of the Connecticut. The fact is simply, that his 

 early education was neglected! 



When I was a youngster, my good mother was afraid 

 to trust me on the banks of the Connecticut, and I was 

 forced to take my early lessons in angling in some of the 

 small brooks I described the other day m my letter on 

 "Sawdust." I shall never forget my first trout! I will 

 not attempt to describe his capture. Christopher North 

 has done that too well for meaner pen to follow, but then 

 his first "feesh" was nothing but a "baggy-mennow," 

 while mine was a glorious spotted trout fully 6in. long! 

 I did not wait to catch another, but hurried* home with 

 my beautiful prize. 



A young man, since "gathered to the majority," an 

 einiiaent physician in one of the Western States, was 

 then studying medicine with my father, and the sight of 

 the trout "awakened his ardor, and he told me, if I would 

 go to his house and ask his mother to send him a fishline, 

 to be found in the corner of a certain cupboard, he would 

 go to the brook with me. I did so, and he then gave me 

 my first real instruction and showed me how to cast my 

 line so as to let the hook float down with the current, and 

 to be drawn naturally into the deep holes under the over- 

 hanging banks. He caught a fine string that afternoon, 

 and I got one or two more, but I was too busy watching 

 him and seeing how he did it, to fish much myself. 



Sufficient to say, it made a trout fisherman of me for- 

 ever. No doubt,as "Awahsoose" says,there is much in the 

 surroundings, in the birds and flowers, in the flicker of 

 the sun through the leaves, and the ripple of the water 

 over the stones, but I have caught all sorts of fish under 

 all sorts of conditions, and have had many a happy day 

 on the bosom of Massachusetts Bay, or at the ledges of 

 Rye Beach, or the Isles of Shoals; in trolling for pike and 

 bass in the Connecticut, or casting the fly on the North- 

 ern lakes; but for a real "red-letter day" give me a balmy 

 day in the last of May, on a mountain trout stream, now 

 foaming and plunging over the rocks, now sweeping 

 quietly in long curves through some grassy meadow to a 

 still mill pond, and then repeating its plunges and its 

 meadow meanderings, until a day spent along its banks, 

 with a good basket of trout from 6 to 12in. long at the 

 close, was one of unalloyed and unequalled enjoyment. 

 Verbum sap. Von W- 



Charlestcvvn, N. H., April 14. 



Unfortunately the descriptions of the Dublin Pond 

 trout were drawn up from specimens preserved in 

 alcohol; but mottlings or reticulations similar to those 

 of the brook trout usually are persistent in alcohol, and 

 traces at least should have been observed by Prof. Gar- 

 man and Dr. Bean if the fresh fish is mottled. The 

 original description contains no reference to such mark- 

 ings, but it does state that "the young are much darker 

 colored than the adults," and that their "clouded parr- 

 marks or bands at once distinguish the young of S, agas- 

 sizii.'' A good description of the colors of living individ- 

 uals is very much needed, and we hope "Von W." will aid 

 us in obtaining information on this subject. 



As to the Sunapee trout, we cannot recede from the 

 position taken in Forest and Stream of April 4, and we 

 repeat our belief that the saibling introduced in New 

 Hampshire in 1881 have nothing to do with the ten-pound 

 trout forwarded by Col. Hodge in the fall of 1885 to 

 ichthyologists in Cambridge and Washington. "Von W." 

 had knowledge of the Sunapee trout in 1888, and proba- 

 bly it was a very large fish even as early as that. The 

 history of the introduction of saibling by Prof. Baird, as 

 published in his reports, is herewith stated: 



Jan. 24, 1881. Mr. A. H. Powers, of Plymouth, N. H., 

 received 55,000 saibling eggs from the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission. Mr. Powers was directed to hatch them and 

 place them in Newfound Lake, located seven miles from 

 Plymouth. The eggs were all hatched by Feb. 28, with 

 a loss in hatching of 6,515 eggs. Mr. Powers deposited 

 80,000 fry in Newfound Lake May 18. Dec. 3, 1883, about 

 600 eggs were taken by Com. Hodge. These will be trans- 

 ferred to another station, to be hatched and reared. 



In October, 1885, and doubtless somewhat earlier. Col. 

 Hodge saw and had in his possession specimens weighing 

 lOlbs., which is twice the maximum weight of the saib- 

 ling in its favorite localities in Europe. If we seriously 

 consider the possibility of identifying the Sunapee trout 

 with the saibling we must believe that the fry of May, 

 1882, gained lOlbs. in weight in about three years. This 

 was one of the first obstacles we met in attempting to 

 propose the same theory several years ago, and it will be 

 recognized as a grave obstacle. T, H, Bean. 



