FOREST AND STMaM, 



the process of cooking there was considerable banter as 

 to wlio of the party should hare the eggs, sinoe three 

 could not go round with four at table. Mr. Loring was 

 anxious that the matter should be decided before the din- 

 ner was done, and now the other boys are a little suspi- 

 cious. The game was cooked to a turn. The eggs were 

 done, and four Jmngry men gathered around. The first 

 man to take an egg — not Mr. Loring — rapped the should- 

 be shell with his pocket knife. The sound was ominous. 

 The thing was china. The boys all looked blank, and the 

 other eggs were examined. One was a nest egg and an- 

 other china. Then a roar of laughter went up such as 

 the eld camp at Fosters Pond has seldom heard. The 

 game was all devoured, and the boys started for Boston 

 much pleased with their outing, even if game was not as 

 plenty as they had hoped for. 



Mr. Daniel Seaverns, Jr., srrain agent for a Western 

 house at the Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. L, W. 

 DePass, assistant secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, 



- took Columbus Day in the woods at West Newton. Mr. 

 DePass has a young Irish setter bred by Mr. E. M. Gillam. 

 This dog they" had along, and they are much pleased with 

 the work he did. Bat game was scarce, and there were 

 several other hunting parties just ahead of them, one 

 they knew, Irom Boston, and one from Newton. 



Dr. Heber Bishop, famous as one of the leaders of the 

 Megantic Club, is out of the woods again, with bis usual 

 good luck. This season he has already taken a big moose 

 and a caribou. He will also spend Christmas week in the 

 Megantic woods, after big game. Gossip says that Mr. 

 a.nd Mrs. AVestley .Jones, of Elm Hill, Eoxbury, with 

 Mrs. Frank Biynes and Mr. L, C. Shepard, of New York, 

 have just returned from a pleasant outing in the Adiron- 

 dacke. The party was quartered in Mr. Jones's camps, 

 Kickabuck Lodge. The weather was fine the most of 

 the time. They had good sport, taking six deer in all. 



I Two of the deer were shot by the ladies, one by Mrs. 



1 Haynes, a fine buck, and another by Mrs. Jones, the first 

 one to be taken. Now, this story sounds well, and may 

 be believed by those who don't go a-hunting; but some 

 people, and particiilarly those acquainted with women 

 and deer himting in the Adirondacks. would refuse to 

 believe a word of it. That the party mentioned has been 

 at the Adirondacks, is doubtless true, 



Mr. W.T. Farley, of Farley, Harvey & Co.,witha friend, 

 took Columbus Day in the woods, with shotguns. They 

 went up into the western part of the State, but secured 

 only a few birds. Partridges they pronounce decidedly 

 scarce. 



Gardy Eames, the Reading rifle shot, with Charley 

 Da vies, was out on Columbus Day, in the Reading woods. 

 Tiiey are probably the most expert sportsmen in the 

 country, and they secured several par trio ores. 



E. M. Gillam, Richard Loring and J je Raaser were out 

 on the 33d in the Reading woods, with dogs and guns. 

 Mr. Reaser is a crack shot, having hunted chickens in 

 the West for many seasons. They secured a partridge 

 apiece and one quail. They found the partridges to be 

 very wild indeed. They will not lie to the dog at all, no 

 matter how carefully the best trained dog brings them to 

 a point. They immediately commence scudding, soon 

 ending in a flight directly away from dog and hunter. 

 But Mr. Grillam has adopted a new method of dealing 

 with these birds. He does not care for huntinff them 

 without one or two other hunters with him. He says 

 that it is useless to work his dog, or any other dog, on 

 them, without another hunter or two at hand. A soon 

 as his dog comes to a point he dispatches one of the other 

 hunters to make a long circuit around both dog and bird 

 as quickly as possible. It this way there is a hunter at 

 hand to take the bird as it makes its sudden flight directly 

 away from the dog, and generally too far ahead for the 

 gunner behind the dog to shoot with any sort of efl'ect. 

 In this way the partridges taken on the 2'6d were secured. 

 Gardy Eames and Charlie Davies are following the same 

 plan. Special. 



VELOCITY OF SHOT. 



OAKt.A?^D, Bergen County, iSI. J,, Oct. 15. — Editor 

 Forest and Stream: "Chelan'' in last week's Forest and 

 Stream s^ys the Boulange chronograph is not really ac- 

 curate when used for small shot. I have used the Boul- 

 ange chronograph, the Field force gauge, paper pskds and 

 numerous other arrangements for testing the velocity 

 and penetration of shot, but I have never found any- 

 thing come near the chronograph, which is. for all prac- 

 tical purposes absolutely accurate. For the benefit of 

 Home of your readers, who have not seen a chronograph — 

 1 believe there are only two of them in this country— I 

 give a very rough description of ours. 



Two rods, A and B, are suspended by magnetic currents 

 side by side. A very thin wire is stretched across the 

 muzzle of the gun or across the hammer, as you wish, 

 which, when the gun goes otT, is broken either by the 

 shot as it leaves the muzzle of the gun or by the hammer 

 falling. 



The current being broken rod A is released, and com- 

 mences falling. The moment the shot reaches the target 

 rod B falls and releases a knife, which makes a mark on 

 rod A the second the shot reaches the target: you then 

 measure off on rod A the distance it dropped from the 

 moment of shot leaving gun until the knife hit it, and 

 from that you calculate the velocity of the shot. The 

 circuit is broken at the target by the shot forcing back 

 very slightly a movable plate in the center of the target, 

 and' no shots are ever recorded for velocity unless the 

 center of the charge is on the movable plate, as outside 

 pelletH as a rule give very low velocities; but with good 

 powder, good primers and carefully weighed charges of 

 both powder and shot, not measured, for you cannot 

 measure either powder or shot accurately enough, you 

 will find that in a covered in range you can get marvel - 

 ously even results, thus, I think, showing that the 

 chronograph is a very accurate instrument. I give some 

 very even consecutive shots taken in some trials here 

 yesterday: 863. 865, 863, 866, 864, 867. These are the 

 average Velocity of No, 7 shot feet per second over a 

 distance of 40yds., and are practically absolutely the 

 same. It speaks verv highly for the shells used, which 

 were the U. M. C. Co.'s "Smokeless, ' which are in my 

 mind without doubt the best shell in America and quite 

 equal to Eley & Kynoch's on the other side. 



The chronograph shows up the unevenness of bad 

 primers almost as well as any of the cap testing instru- 

 ments now in use. Mr. Borland, of the E. C. Powder 

 Co., in England, has just made a new oap-teating instru- 



ment, which has proved very successftrl, one of which I 

 hope shortly to have out here, when I may be able to 

 publish some trials on primers, which I know will inter- 

 est many of the readers of Forest ano Stream. 



I might mention as rather an interesting fact that if 

 you fire a shot and take the velocity of the shot when 

 your gun is really cold, then fire half a dozen shots in 

 quick succession to warm it up, and then take the 

 velocity of another shot while the gun is warm, you will 

 find that you get a velocity a good deal higher with the 

 hot gun than with the cold one. Who can explain this? 



Noel E, Money. 



THE RUFFED GROUSE. 



There is a soft twilight here among the hemlocks. 

 Even the tinkling of the brook that creeps about the 

 damp, moss-covered stones is hushed, and sounds afar off. 

 Down in this little glen the ferns and mosses spring up, 

 in blissful ignorance of the outside world. 



When the winds are abroad in the woods, and the com- 

 plaining trees are tossing their boughs in mute appeal to 

 the storm Iring, the ruffed grouse makes himself snug in 

 tins quiet retreat, and listens undisturbed to the uproar, 

 repeated to him in murmurs from the hemlocks. 



The morning comes with a clear sky, and the rising 

 sun darts his level rays among the trees on the surround- 

 ing ridges. Awake with the dawn, the grouse have 

 already gone abroad to seek their food. Should you know 

 of any wild grape vines hereabout, it would be well to 

 look for them there, as they are very fond of this fruit. 



The drumming of the rxiffed grouse has furnished an 

 interesting topic for discussion among sportsmen, who 

 prove and disprove all sorts of ideas in regard thereto. I 

 have never seen his majesty in the act of drumming, 

 though I have often tried to catch the sly fellow una- 

 wares. 



It is impossible to satisfactorily, express the feelings 

 that possess me, as I listen, on some lovely Indian sum- 

 mer day, to the drums of the grouse, 



I have a spot on the mountain side where I frequently 

 rest, and, with never tiring eyes, look out over hill and 

 valley, lake and stream. No nestling village, no farm- 

 houses are to be seen. No handiwork but nature's has 

 left its mark. 



Here, with my thinking cap on, I dream away the golden 

 moments, and, even now, though far from the lovely 

 spot, I can see the purple haze resting on the hills, and 

 spreading its gauzy veil over the woods. I hear the roll 

 of the grouse, as it swells, and dies away again with its 

 strange ventriloquial effect. * * * 



This is my fairyland! may it long be spared. In 

 hunting rufted groiase I am at somewhat of a disadvan- 

 tage as compared with fellow craftsmen. B^ing short- 

 limbed T cannot cover as much ground as they, without 

 great efl'ort, and, therefore, when ever possible, I " go it 

 alone I" It seems to me, that just as many shots are 

 obtained by a slow walker who moves quietly, as are 

 secured by the more speedy fellows. Besides, I like to 

 take it leisurely in the woods, there is so much to see. 

 One loses half the charm by hustling through them. 



To me, every lichen- covered boulder, every sturdy tree, 

 has something to suggest, and I can also escape many 

 spider webs when moving slowly, thereby adding greatly 

 to the comfort of taking my time. 



A stately hemlock lies.prostrate and mouldering just be- 

 fore me. I mentally take its measure as my eye runs 

 over the noble ruin, once so full of lusty life that quiv- 

 ered to the tips of its spreading boughs, and spoke in 

 whiep?rs to the stars on quiet nights. As I meditate, a 

 dark form glides noiselessly away on the other side the 

 fallen tree. I instinctively bring my gun to shoulder, the 

 grouse (for "tis he that is endeavoring to steal oft' unob- 

 served) springs with a roar of wings, that makes the dead 

 twigs rattle about him like a shower, and sets the dry 

 leaves dancing in his wake. 



The still air vibrates to my shot, and the echoes fly 

 among the hills, while the subdued light of this forest 

 sanctuary is gray with pungent powder smoke! Only one 

 shot! But it was enough. He lies there still, inert, but 

 glorious even in death. He made the effort of his life, 

 but swift and sure the "leaden hail" like fate overtook 

 him and beat him down. 



Surely the ruffed grouse is tiie feathered king of our 

 forest. 



Ao 1 stoop to pick him up, I have another rise to my 

 left, and feeling that there are more of these alert wood- 

 folk close by, I make up my mind to attend to business 

 in a proper manner. I confess that my soliloquy on the 

 fallen tree had diverted my attention from the matter in 

 hand, and had it not been for that lucky glance, the still- 

 ness would not have been so rudely broken. "Br'er 

 Grouse" would have stolen away|quietly, to chuckle over 

 his escape. 



With gun at full cock I start again. Now I am aware 

 that the carrying of a gun at full cock is dangerous, but 

 I a startled grouse is lively and gets behind a tree so 

 quickly that a fraction of a second will often enable him 

 to escape, hence it is necessary to fire the moment one 

 feels the heel plate on shoulder; it is literally "touch and 

 go," and therefore I carry my gun at full cock and hunt 

 alone in the woods when possible, feeling free from the 

 care of watching the muzzle of a companion's gun, and 

 being able to enjoy the sport to its full extent. 



Whrrr-rrr! Another bird is up. He whisks round a 

 tall oak, and "slap" goes the whole charge into the trunk 

 behind him. A second grouse rises at the report, and not 

 knowing my exact location crosses toward the right. 



This time I get him. Killed cleanly, head over heels he 

 goes, down into a little deU on one side, and there I find 

 him fluttering. 



In passing a tall hemlock I notice what appears, at first 

 sight, to be a gnarl or knot on one of the limbs 30ft. from 

 the ground. On closer inspection this knot resolves itself 

 into a grouse. Close in to the trunk he stands, stiff, erect 

 and motionless. Careful! When he leaves that perch, 

 if it be of his own accord, all you will see will be a streak, 

 nothing else. It seems almost a pity to take advantage 

 of him, but * * * * 



A short half hour of contemplation from my favorite 

 outlook, and I turn homeward, leaving the grand old 

 woods to their own thoughts. As I pass, that perfume of 

 the forest, which is distilled anew "at every twilight, is 

 filling the air with its fragrance. 



Let us say with the Germans: ''Auf toiedersehen." 



Wilmot Townsend. 



Bay Ridge, Long Island, N. Y. 



A Snared Game Haul. 



SyRACUSE, N. Y., Oct. 21.— One of the Inrgest bags of 

 l^artridges ever reported in this section, and probably in 

 the State, was purchased by Andrews Bros., one of the 

 largest grocery firms in the city, last Monday. There 

 were TO birds in the bunch. They wei-e brought in by one 

 man, and when local sportsmen heard of it they were 

 surprised. The hunter claims he got them near Constan- 

 tia. on Oneida Lake, 



Upon examination it was found that none of the birds 

 had any shot wounds, and the game protector, Harry 

 Jackson, was notified, and confiscated the whole lot and 

 steps were taken to arrest the hunter (?). Andrews Bros, 

 were notified that the law provides a severe penalty for 

 the purchase of snared birds, conviction entailing a fine 

 of |25 for the buying and |25 for every bird. The firm is 

 thus liable to a total fine of $1,755. 



The fact that they were ignorant of law does not lessen 

 the liability. The firm having expressed their willing- 

 ness to assist in bringing the offender to justice may in- 

 duce the game constable not to press the case heavily. 

 There should be an example made in this case, as there 

 has been too much of this kind of business going on here 

 of late; but since the present protector has been in ofiice 

 he has been very close on the heels of all offenders, both 

 on fish and game, and in the future the fishing and shoot- 

 ing will be much improved, something that Onondaga 

 county has not known for years. Down with the mis- 

 creants, is the cry of every true sportsman. D. K. 



Portland Fish and Game Pamphlet. 



We have received copies of the constitution and by- 

 laws of the Portland Game Club, of Portland, Conn., 

 dated Oct. 1, of this year. The pamphlet appears to us 

 of unusual interest because it contains some information 

 of interest to gunners and anglers which is not usually- 

 found in publications of this nature. Besides the consti- 

 tution and by-laws, which are brief, there are printed in 

 condensed form some of the game and fish laws of Con- 

 necticut which are in force at the present time, and in 

 addition to these, sections from the Revised Statutes of 

 Connecticut, giving the laws with regard to trespass. 

 Every man who desires to shoot or fish according to law 

 wants to know also what the law is, and the method em- 

 ployed in this pamphlet is certainly a most convenient 

 one for giving him that information. The members of 

 the Portland Game Club are to be congratulated on the 

 wisdom of the editor of this little pamphlet. 



Massachusetts Association. 



A MEETING of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Protec- 

 tive Association was held at Young's Hotel, Boston, Thurs- 

 day evening, Oct. 20, Pres. Geo. W. Wiggin in the chair, 

 and fifty members being present. Messrs. Samuel Brown, 

 Wm. T. Montgomery, and Harry V. Long were elected 

 members of the association. Four applications for mem- 

 bership were presented and referred to the committee. 

 Messrs. Edward A. Samuels, Edward E. Hirdy, Ivers 

 W. Adams, Dr. Heber Bishop, Walter C. Prescott, Dr. 

 W. Gr. Kendall, Charles Stewart, and the President, 

 Treasurer and Secretary were appointed a committee on 

 arranging for the next annual dinner. The next meeting 

 will be held Nov. 10. 



Richard O. Harding, Secretary. 



An Electric Sig'ht. 



An interesting experiment is about io be tried by a 

 sportsman in India. In sitting up at night, over a "kill" 

 to shoot tigers the chief difficulty is to draw a bead in 

 the uncertain light. This sportsman has therefore in- 

 structed a Birmingham firm to send him out a pair of 

 rifles fitted with Walter Winans's electric sight for night 

 shooting. 



This is the first time this sight will be in actual use , 

 but it has already been tried at a target at night, and 

 favorably reported on by a London paper. 



A New-Subscriber OflFer. 



A bona fide new subscriber sending us |5 will receive foi" that 

 sum the 'Fokest and Stream one year (price $4) and a set of 

 Zimmerman's famous "Ducking Scenes" (advertised on another 

 page, price $5)— a $9 value for $5. 



For $3 a boriaflde new subscriber for six mouths will rflceive the 

 Forest and Strbam during that time and a copy of Dr. Vnn 

 Fleet's handsome work, "Bird Portraits for the Young" (the 

 price of which is $3). 



ROD AND GUN AND CAMERA. 



As a recogaitionof the important place of amateur photography 

 in its relation to sports of the fleld and prairie and mountain and 

 forest and stream, the Forest and Stream offers a series of 

 prizes for meritorious work with th9 camera. The conditions 

 under which these prizes will be given are in brief as here set 

 forth: 



There will be ten prizes, as follows: First $35. Second |30 

 Third 815. Fourtb $10. Six of $5 each. 



The competition will be open to amateurs only. 



The subjects must relate to Forest and Stream's field— game 

 and fish (alive or dead), shooting and fishing, the camp, campers 

 and camp life, sportsman travel by land or water. 



There is no restriction as to the time when the pictures may 

 have been or may be made— whether in 1893 or in previous years. 



Pictures will be received up to Dec. 31, of this year. 



All work must be original; that is to say, it must not have been 

 submitted in any other competition, nor have been published. 



There are no restrictions as to make or style of camera, nor as 

 to size of plate. 



A competitor need not be a subscriber of Forest and Stream. 



All pbocographs will be submitteed to a committee, shortly to 

 be announced. In making their awards the judges will be in- 

 structed to take into consideration the technical merits of the 

 work as a photograph, its artistic qualities; and other things 

 being equal, the uni(iue and difficult nature of the subject. 

 Photographs must ba marked only with initials or a pseudonym 

 for identification. With each photograph should he given name 

 of sender, title of view, locality, date, and name of camera. 



The p'lotographs shall be the prop^irty of the Forest and 

 Stream. This applies only to the particular prints sent us. 



From time to time we shall reproduce by the half-tone process 

 samples of the work submitted, and should the interest in 

 Forest and Stream's Amateur Photography Collection prove 

 to be what is anticipated, we may ask for an expression of opinion 

 by a vote of all our readers after the manner of the successful 

 and famous "Camp-Fire Flickering Vote." Such popular vote 

 I will be quite distinct from the award by the committee, 



