May 11, I89b.j 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



40B 



This shipment will reach Tacoma in August, acd will he 

 ready for trans-shipment to Eastern preserves early in Sep- 

 tember. ^ 



A dry, clean shelter, sodded yards, plenty of gi-avel and 

 ashes, cereal food, fresh meat occasionally, with table 

 refuse and fresh water, are the essentials for successful 

 breedmg: and as the hens are very prolific, there should be 

 little trouble in rearing the birds. J. A. Beebe, M.D. 



Tacoma, April 28. 



DEER IN MAINE. 



A SET of branching antlers over my dining-room man- 

 tel, the gift of a friend and disciple of Nimrod, had been 

 for several years a constant reminder of the dun-coated, 

 white-tailed denizens of the wildest regions of the Pine 

 Tree State; and while my experience \vith a rifie had been 

 limited to occasional target shooting, I always burned 

 with enthusiasm and desire for an opportunity for a deer 

 himt whenever the subject was mentioned. 



October, 1891, found me with a long-deserved holiday of 

 twelve days ahead, and I lost no time in getting my kit 

 together and starting for the woods. 



Forty-eight hours by rail from the metropoHs brought 

 me to the little liostelry at K., the terminus of the rail- 

 road and stage route, and here I made the acquaintance 

 of ;'Win," my guide, and 5 o'clock the following morn- 

 ing foimd us on the road in a regulation buckboard, drawn 

 by a work-yom--passage soi-t of animal, m-ged by old John 

 Summer and his pipe; for, be it known to all men, you 

 cannot separate theu- identitj^ except at meals. 



Two hours' ride over the rough coimtry road and the 

 ^ fording of two streams brought us to an old lumber road 

 which led up into the mountains, where we expected to 

 make camp. We took this road, and I soon decided that 

 walking was a hixury compared to the rest and comfort 

 i of a buckboard on a lumber ti-ail. 



t> With "Win" I pressed forward in advance of the buck- 

 I board, carrying the Wiucliester to look out for chance 

 shots, for we had already found comparatively recent 

 signs, and the latter with a heavy axe to clear the trail 

 and occasionally relay the corduroy, 

 t As we rapidly passed over the uneven ground, the soft 

 1 moccasins making no sound upon the frozen turf or ever 

 I occurring corduroy bridging, I felt that wild, exuberant 

 feeling which comes to the man who, fresh from the con- 

 fining atmosphere and checkerboard existence of the city, 

 finds himself in the midst of nature undisturbed; who 

 sees the glories of an autumnal landscape, its brighter 

 coloring reUeved by a background of green and black 

 upon the toweruig mountains, whose snow -clad peaks are 

 partially hidden by the rolling clouds. I breathed in 

 great long draughts of the delicious air, perfumed by the 

 pines and cedars. 



Our plan was to make camp in an old and long since 

 deserted logging camp about twenty miles from K. , and 

 • we expected to reach it with the buckboard, thus saving 

 the usual "sacking." Judge then of our disappointment 

 when within five miles of om- journey's end we came 

 into a swamp, wliere the corduroy had rotted away and 

 passage for the horse and buckboard was impossible. 

 There was but one way out of it and that to "sack" the 

 baggage around the swamp and into camp. We divided 

 the loads. Win strapped 751bs. upon his sturdy shoulders 

 and carried his rifle and axe; "Old John" took SOlbs. and 

 the kerosene can, and the tenderfoot, with a grim deter- 

 mination to do or die, strapped on 401bs. and carried a 

 rifle in one hand and a tin "baker" in the other. In all 

 the recollections of my after Ufe those miles, five in num- 

 ber, shall stand as monumental evidence that the tradi- 

 tional 5,280 lineal feet to a ruile is an unfounded delusion 

 and that 20,000 is a nearer figure. Slowly we toiled along 

 and about 3 o'clock the low flat roof of the logging camp 

 broke on our view like a vision of the promised land. It 

 was a rectangular building of logs with the bark upon 

 them, a slab roof and inside was an enormous stone fire- 

 place and the regidation tiers of bunks. To our sur- 

 prise, we found that it was occupied. Two trappers had 

 located for their winter's work and we found them pre- 

 paring supper. Gladly they welcomed the new-comers 

 and a hearty meal of fried pork and potatoes, dehcious 

 biscuits and fragrant coffee, was soon demohshed by the 

 hungry trampers. After the meal and a smoke, we un- 

 packed our baggage, put our provisions into the common 

 stock and made preparations for the hunt upon the mor- 

 row. Win fixed me up a bed of fresh spruce tips on one 

 of the bunks that was more grateful to my weary limbs 

 than any mattress that the inventive genius of civiliza- 

 tion has yet i^roduced. 



The trappers were a pair for a study either by the artist 

 or the student of humanity. One was an old and grizzled 

 man of sixty-five, whose weight of years rested but hghtly 

 on his iron frame and sinewy strength. He was a talka- 

 tive old chap, and his constant readiness to pour forth his 

 store of backwoods lore and tales was a great source of en- 

 tertainment for us. No one could tell a bigger yarn than 

 he, and no matter how wonderful the tale was, he was 

 always ready to cap it with another more improbable. He 

 never "shot" or "killed" anything, he always "let it 

 down," and many were the wondrous feats he had per- 

 formed with his old 32iu. .44-70 Winchester, so one day at 

 dinner when I heard a ventiu-esome partridge drumming 

 close to camp, and after a few moments' absence returned 

 with the quiet remark that I had "let him down," the 

 mirth of Win broke all bounds, and it was a standing joke 

 thereafter. The other trapper was a taU and black-eyed 

 boy of twenty, whose patois immediately announced his 

 French-Canadian parentage, and who answered readily to 

 the cognomen of "Knuck." 



Win's quiet humor and perfect mimicry of the patois 

 ifarought us lots of fun during the long evenings by the 

 •camp-fire, and many a wordy war he had with Knuck, 

 while the old trapper and I fairly shouted with laughter 

 at their discussions. 



The days passed rapidly, constant tramping thi-ough the 

 valleys bringmg no results bevond . hearty appetites and 

 ref reshmg sleep, for the dryness of the ground and the 

 heavy carpeting of leaves covered up the ti-eacherous 

 twigs, which snapped like pistol shots when the weight 

 of the foot rested upon them and gave ample warning of 

 our most careful approach. 



How we longfed for snow, and each night and morn- 

 ing looked at the fleecy clouds with the anxious hope 

 that they might presage a storm, but no snow came, 

 and we were forced to be content with cautious work 

 and watching at the "nms." 

 Partridges aboimded, and killed enoti^i aboiife camp 



to supply our table with their delicious flesh, and several 

 handsome foxes were allowed to slink out of sight un- 

 molested, lest, the report of the rifles should drive the deer 

 further back in the mountains. That bears were plenty 

 was evident from the plowed up leaves upon the beech 

 ridges, but we did not come across one, much to our re- 

 gi-et. 



One day, determined to try my luck alone, and after 

 careful admonition from the guide regarding landmarks 

 and getting lost, I started up a trail for several miles, fol- 

 lowing one of the trapper's blazed lines and inspecting 

 several unmolested and very wicked looking bear traps. 

 Then I took the bed of a mountain brook for a few hun- 

 red yards, working along over boulders and logs in the 

 hope that the roaring stream would drown the noise I 

 made, and that I sbould come upon some wary buck in 

 that way; but I was disappointed. Then I climbed a 

 blufl' to work in the hard growth I fancied lay there, but 

 instead of that I found myself in that perdition of the 

 Maine woods, a bad "blow down." In every way the 

 prostrate trees lay broken and uprooted as if by a battle 

 of the Titans, their roots, trunks and branches hopelessly 

 entangled into an almost impenetrable mass. For four 

 mortal hours I crawled and climbed, and when at last I 

 enierged into the hardwood growth, I felt like an eman- 

 cipated slave. I realized an exhilai-ating sense of free- 

 dom and of general satisfaction, and felt a profound con- 

 viction that the next time I went through a blow-down I 

 would go round it. 



That night, after supper and the recounting of the day's 

 events, during which my experience in the blow-down 

 excited great merriment, we all fell to story telling until 

 quite late. The lantern's rays were veiy dim, the fire had 

 died down to a glowing mass of embers, and the faint 

 light of the moon, occasionally breaking through a drift- 

 ing cloud, served only to intensify the outer darkness. 

 Savage tales of fights with bears, of deadly encounters 

 with maddened and ferocious moose and caribou bulk 

 had been x-ecounted, and the old man was seated on a log 

 relating a ghastly tale of a battle with a catamount in 

 his boyhood days. Suddenly without the camp, yet in 

 its piercing shrillness penetrating vmtil it seemed in our 

 very midst, there rose a cry of human agony, of incar- 

 nate cruelty and animal ferocity. Again and again it 

 echoed and re-echoed across the valley and died away in 

 the stillness of the wilderness. The trapper instantly 

 ceased to speak, Knuck sprang from his couch and list- 

 ened intently, his hand reaching instinctively toward 

 the rifle, which hung upon his bunk, and the writer felt 

 the hair upon his head stand up as he turned to the guide 

 with a quick look of questioning alarm. Win grinned, 

 said "screech owl," and everybody laughed at me. De- 

 termined to get revenge on something for my scare, I 

 seized my rifle, slipped in a carti-idge, and opening the 

 battened door peered into the darkness. The little light 

 from the interior of the cabin reflected two glowing baUs 

 of fire in an old dead tree not 20ft. away from camp. A 

 hasty aim, the reverberating crash of the old repeater and 

 I heard the tluiddest kind of a thud out in the bushes. In 

 the morning I found the owl with his head all ripped 

 to pieces and unfit for mounting. 



Each day we worked and tramped, each night hoping 

 tliat the morning would bring the longed for snow and 

 the certainty of game, but we hoped in vain. 



The last day came, old John nmst meet us the very 

 next morning, for the writer dared absent himself no 

 longer from his city desk and business cares. The case 

 was desperate, and I rose at five, fuUy determined to 

 strike something to take back as evidence of my prowess. 

 Leaving Win to watch a "likely" runaway I took an old 

 lumber trail and tramped slowly and quietly along, 

 watching every patch of woods for the game I so longed 

 to see, and avoiding every stick and leaf with extraordin- 

 ary caution. Suddenly I came upon a fresh and good- 

 sized trail, the sharp hoof marks showing distinctly on 

 the hoar frost on the ground. The buck, for such the 

 marks denoted, had stepped out of the undergrowth, and 

 was traA^eling along the very same road that I was, and 

 only a few moments in advance. I redoubled my pace 

 and caution against noise and almost fiew over the frosty 

 ground. One, two, three miles I covered with pent up 

 nerves and beating heart, expecting every moment to 

 come in sight of the deer. Then I lost the trafl. Search 

 as I might, there was no trace of where the deer had left 

 the road, and the frozen gi-oimd showed no sign that he 

 had gone fm-ther up the old lumber trafl. So I pushed 

 on, hoping still, and soon I came into a cleai-tng Avhere 

 lay the deserted hovels of the old logging camp. Care- 

 fully I looked arotmd and seeing no signs of the buck I 

 wearfly and disconsolately made my way to one of the 

 hovels and rested my rifle against its logs, when, presto, 

 out from the other side, with a resounding whistle, 

 leaped the deer, a handsome five year old buck. 



Away he went with enormous bounds across the clear- 

 ing, the white ' 'flag" high in air. I threw my rifle to my 

 shotflder, and as I pressed J;he trigger he stopped and 

 tm'ued his head to learn the cause of the disturbance. 

 The leaden missive must have told him, for his antlers 

 adorn my office wall. Hemlock Bark. 



THE HALLENSEE POWDER TEST. 



Red Bank, N, J,, May 1,— i/dito?" Forest and Stream: 

 Dm-ing the year 1892 a society was formed in Germany, 

 to test guns and powders. Tins society issued its report 

 in circular form to its members, and as its report was ad- 

 verse to our powder, it was immediately grabbed up by 

 rival companies, industriously circulated throughout the 

 world, and is now magnified in some journals into an 

 oflicial government test. 



How one-sided and unscientific these tests were in their 

 conduct is at once apparent to any exfjert, as the most 

 important part to determine efl:ectiveness of a powder, i.e. 

 measurements of its pressure with scientific instruments, 

 and without which it would be impossible to have a nitro 

 I^owder to-day, had been enthely ignored and left out. 



The effectiveness of otu- powder waa merely determined 

 by charges increased at wiU, winch has led to very unjust 

 conclusions. These new nitros cannot be tested with 

 double loads, as the gas pressure of increased charges 

 rises out of aU proportion of increased loads, and all gov- 

 ernments which have adopted these powders, have 

 adopted a new rule for testing their gims; the old-fash- 

 ioned rule of double loads had to be abandoned for above 

 reasons. 



In the latest imperial law regarding the test of guns 

 with nitiws, a blank space is left, as this is still under con- 



sideration, as it is very evident that the same rule cannot 

 be applied to all nitros, but must be regulated according 

 to their action, and it will be very safe to say, that here- 

 after the Hallensee will not be permitted to issue reports 

 as they please, made without scientific instruments. 



As our powder is identically the saifte as the gover- 

 ment powdei, except in its sporting grain, it hardly 

 appears reasonable that the government would condemn 

 our powder and recommend Schultze. 



From this unjust test we ai^pealed to the London Field, 

 whose impartial stand is world known. The Field issued 

 its report on Aprfl 1, 1893 (No. 2,101), and not only re- 

 ported our powder as very safe, but the competing 

 English nitros which were taken for comparison were 

 beaten on every point of merit. 



A firm of our standing, established and manufacturers 

 of explosives since 1814, whose products have been 

 decorated many times, cannot and never wiU put a pow- 

 der on the market which would be injurious even to 

 ordinary guns, if instructions are followed. 



La.3t fall we asked the American sportsmen in a half 

 page advertisement in your esteemed paper to come ou 

 and test our powder at the tournament of the Riverside 

 Gun Club. We have again ofi:ered to show its absolute 

 safety in the cheapest grade guns in a public trial, our 

 challenge to Mr. Von Lengerke, the agent of Schultze 

 and "E. C," to make his accusations good in a public 

 test, has remained unanswered, and the forfeit put up by 

 us has been returned to us. 



An examination of our cartridge with its new safety 

 primer, which obviates the faults of the present cap, will 

 show even to the most uninitiated that we are progres- 

 sive and not made of shoddy, as some people would hke 

 to have it. United States experts are pointing already 

 to our shell with its filled-in base, as indicating the 

 coming revolution in the length of the shell. Om- record 

 here in the United States, one year without a single acci- 

 dent or complaint, with an output which has already 

 reached 50,000 shells a month, plainlv shows that we are 

 not quite so bad as competitors would like to make us. 



The Walsrode powder is pushing its way across the 

 civilized world in spite of the frantic efforts to stop it. 

 Whether it wfll be the powder of the future or only the 

 forerunner of new explosives, time can only tell. With 

 its total absence of smoke, imaiJected by either heat or 

 damp, a winner in every impartial test, welcomed by 

 every spr>rtsman for its economy, it will undoubtedly 

 make a strong bid for the powder of the future. We 

 are doing all that it is possible to do to make sportsmen 

 acquamted with this new explosive before we put it in 

 their hands, but fifty years from now the same hayseed 

 who stiU persists in blowing out the gaslight before re- 

 tiring, and who pokes wet umbrellas at the dynamo, 

 wfll injm-e his gun with new nitros by overloading. This 

 cannot be helped; it is an impossibility. Science cannot 

 stop for hayseeds. 



We ask for no favors, but do ask of the independent 

 American sporting journals fair play, and this, I am 

 happy to state, has been conceded to us in every instance. 



O. Hesse. 



A MEMORY. 



The day was glorious; nature seemed to be in one of 

 her most joyous moods, when I drove the gray nag up to 

 the divide intending to entice my friend D. to join me and 

 go to the haunts of that king of game birds, the gi'ouse. . 

 D. was all ready, for he had seen me coming down the 

 hill with Saflor under the buck-board, and we are soon 

 off to the wood, from the west edge of which an entranc- 

 ing view can be had of Seneca Lake, whose unrufiied sur- 

 face reflects, mirror-like, the fascinating picture of crim- 

 son and green about it. 



We were after birds and had no time to dream. Hie 

 on, good dog, and with a yelp of joy he was off. How 

 eagerly he covered the ground; and there! he is stiff. 

 "Look out now! don't let such a point as that be wasted, 

 D." He did go up a little soon, but it availed him naught. 

 The ever ready gun, held by the ever ready D., stopped 

 him with charge of sixes. After some pretty work on the 

 part of Saflor, who, although it is his first bu'd of the 

 season, brings him in without a ruffled feather, we went on. 

 Soon foUowed a flush caused by the dog's eagerness, but 

 we marked the bird as he entered the big timber, and 

 taking his line, and tlje old dog soon began trafling and 

 then made a rather unsteady point. A word settles his 

 nerves, and then before I was ready, up the bird flew and 

 I scored a miss with my right, but retrieved myself by 

 breaking his wing with the left, which is hailed with de- 

 hght by D., who knows my inability to "get there," and 

 never f afls to praise when I kiU and never finds fault 

 when I miss. 



Light fleecy scuds are now flying overhead and soon a 

 pleasant breeze cools the air, giving relief to the dog, 

 and we trudge on over to Breakneck Giflly, where tall 

 hemlocks spread their branches so thickly that they seem 

 to be locked in fond embrace. Down into the alders went 

 Saflor, and soon he had a point. We lost no time in 

 getting down to him, half cUmbing and half sliding. 

 When all was ready the word is given. On— short but 

 effective. There followed a confusion of rising birds and 

 discharged guns, ,and when the noise had ceased, six 

 noble grouse had risen and four of them had fallen to rise 

 no more. 



"Where is Sailor, D,?" I cried. 



"I don't know," he answered. "Well that was a hot 

 place." Presently the dog came in with his head down, 

 he well knew what the dog deserves that breaks and 

 chases. But this time his prmishment is a caress; thanks 

 to D. , who would not see him whipped and backed up 

 his argument by saying: "You are human and you own 

 that you were rattled. What do you suppose Saflor is, 

 divine? " 



We started for home by way of a vineyard, in which a 

 flock of quail were reputed to be living, but they were 

 found in a peach orchard, in the tall "summer graae." 

 Here the old dog did his best, quail being Ms strong point. 

 About fifteen were flushed and of the six killed, fom- are 

 to the credit of my gun. I tried to console D. by teUing 

 him the plan of division I proposed to make of the spofls, 

 but he decidedly objected and woifld take only what he had 

 kflled. No game hog he, nor pot-himter, with that de- 

 basing thing, a ponderous bag of birds. Some wfll say, 

 that Hector is a crank, but I stand by my colors and say 

 that the taking of great bags of game shows a selfish 

 mind. Hector, 



