Feb. 10, 1894.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



lit 



pressure tests which can fairly be compared. The figures 

 represent all tests made with the standard charge of 3drs. 

 in Smokeless, Nitro Club, Eival "W," and Rival common, 

 Rapid, Climax and Eley shells. 



The total averages are as follows and comprise every 

 shot fired during the test when these powders were shot 

 under alike conditions in all the shells mentioned: 



Bursting Strain, 



Hard grain Schultze 79581bs. 



Regular Schultze 69161bs. 



"E7 a" 6122lbs. 



American wood powder — 55921bs. 



Velocity. 

 829ft. 

 8(Wft. 

 788ft. 

 748ft. 



Nobody nowadays is afraid to use black powders, and 

 very few people have any hesitancy about the above 

 named powders. If we accept Mr. Tenner's figures as cor- 

 rect, a charge of 3idrs. FFF Dupont's black powder, with 

 l|oz. of shot, gives a mean bursting pressure of over 

 9,0001bs. and occasionally goes above 10,0001bs. We 

 further read in the Prospectus of the American Testing 

 Institution, "The proof house charges for a finished gun 

 are G^drs. Dupont's FFF black powder and lfoz, of shot 

 No. 7 for 13-bore. Any substantially built gun ought to 

 resist and withstand the strain developed by such a 

 load, and no manufacturer or dealer should hesitate to see 

 a gun subject to such a test." 



In another place the same author writes that 61drs. of 

 Dupont's FFF and l|oz. of shot gave a bursting strain of 

 16,1701bs. to the square inch, and that very few guns 

 would prove strong enough to withstand such a strain for 

 any length of time. He thinks that 75$ of the above 

 figure, or about 12,1251bs., should be as much as the ordi- 

 nary shotgun should be subjected to. 



"For 12-bore guns the most advantageous velocities are 

 those between 300 and 900ft." writes expert Tenner, and 

 we certainly agree fully on this point, as we also do on 

 the following sentence: "The velocity should never drop 

 below 775ft., because all figures below cease to represent 

 the desirable killing force." 



How then, taking all of Mr. Tenner's figures and his 

 sentences in good grace, could he give American wood 

 powder 29 out of 30 possible points for least bursting strain 

 in proportion to velocity, and the Schultze powder only 

 24? The bursting strain of Schultze powder is less than 

 one-half of what he says a dealer or gun manufacturer 

 could not object to have his gun subjected to. 



In reply to my reference to the above impractical rating 

 Mr. Tenner says, "I hold that the lower the gas pressure 

 is in proportion to the velocity and provided tlie latter is 

 equivalent to a satisfactory penetration, the higher such a 

 powder ought to be rated." Does the above 748ft. repre- 

 sent a satisfactory penetration? I have quoted the gentle- 

 man's own negative answer before. 



In this connection, I draw Mr. Tenner's attention to the 

 fact that part of the "extraordinary score done with 

 American wood powder," which is being advertised lately, 

 was done with 54grs. by weight or 4^drs. by measure in a 

 12, 3|rin. No. 3 primer shell. I make mention of this only 

 to show that the proposed proof house charge of 4drs. of 

 this powder would hardly prove anything, although 4drs. 

 of some powder of same name, issued last year, would 

 have been more than strong enough in this respect. It 

 seems, however, that Mr, Tenner was not furnished with 

 both kinds by the manufacturers. 



From the various little contradictions, I judge that the 

 author is not quite clear in his own mind what to think 

 of the nitro powders, and the following parallel confirms 

 me in this belief. Mr. Tenner writes: 



All nitro powders when tested 

 i under different conditions show 



great variations. 



Nitro powders have a good deal 

 - in common with tamed wild beasts. 

 . A wild animal tamed and brought 



up in captivity may appear docile 

 . and gentle for a long time, but its 



wild nature is liable to show itself 

 ; at any moment. A smokeless 



powder, too, may behave well 



right along, but it is nevertheless 

 i'-more treacherous in its actions 



than the black powders. 

 It will occasionally happen that 



the regular service charge of a 

 , nitro powder produces a bursting 



strain far higher than the average 

 . gum barrel can stand. 



Which is it, please? Wild unreliable animals, or, more 

 : -accurate and even than black powders? When writing 

 the wild animal likeness, the author must have had Wals- 

 . rode powder in mind, because he has had more experience 

 with it than the others. 



Then, when writing the other side of the parallel and 

 i probably feeling a sting of conscience for promiscuously 

 s including all nitros in his "Hagenbeckial" description, he 

 [ Hops over further in praise of nitro powders for rifles than 

 } I would like to do myself. 



But I will assist Mr. Tenner to find his equilibrium and 

 : at the same time a good excuse for his wild animal fear 

 : as applied to such condensed powders as Walsrode. 



The London Field on Jan. 13, '94, editorially quotes 

 ■some powder tests lately made by the "German Institu- 

 tion for Trials of Arms." This test established the fact 

 that although less than l^drs, by measure, the proper 

 equivalent charge of Walsrode to 3drs. of black powder, 

 gave 362$ greater bursting strain than 3drs. of coarse- 

 grain black powder, it, nevertheless, gave 29ft. less in 

 velocity. Compared with a fine grain of black powder, it 

 gave some 20$ greater bursting force but 139ft. less initial 

 velocity. Great ballistic merits these! All the five or six 

 different powders were tested up to double loads with the 

 exception of Walsrode. The report refers to this as fol- 

 lows: 



"The double charge of Walsrode was not tested because 

 the anticipated pressure (about 2,200 atmospheres or 14 

 tons) was considered hazardous for the apparatus and its 

 attendants." 



This ferocious wild charge consisted of just about 2| 

 drams by measure, and the force gauge, in which it was 

 not trusted, is many times stronger than a good gun. 



Very desirable qualities these from a practical point of 

 view. The following remark of my learned and friendly 

 antagonist rather staggers me: "From his statement I 

 am led to infer that Mr. Von Lsngerke believes that 

 Curtis & Harvey's, or any other equally good grade of 

 black powder, will produce a higher bursting strain than 

 the cheaper grades of black powder. If his crusher 

 gauge has shown him such to be the case, I can only ad- 

 vise him to drop it, as it has deceived him for once, etc." 



Very much obliged, of course, but I can hardly believe 

 that I have been deceived all these years and hundreds of 

 others besides me. Mr. Tenner has evidently made a 



The same reason which prompts 

 the sportsman to substitute a 

 smokeless powder for black pow- 

 der in the shotgun, let it appear 

 desirable for the hunter to use if 

 possible the modern propelling 

 agent instead of black powder in 

 the sporting rifle. The superiority 

 of the nitro powders over black is 

 even more marked in connection 

 with the rifle than with shotgun 

 ammunition. 



As a rule the shooting is more 

 accurate, the deviations are 

 smaller with the nitro powders 

 than with black, the penetration 

 showing about the same values in 

 both cases. 



little "break," and not having had much experience with 

 our various kinds of black powders, his theories have mis- 

 led him, and I think I can see how it came, because I 

 know very thoroughly the difference in manufacture and 

 materials which cause high and low pressures of black 

 powders for shotguns and rifles. 



May be that the rather high pressures of the DuPont 

 FFFG powder wdiich he tested also helped to mislead him. 

 This powder I am satisfied was a special kind and not the 

 ordinary FFFG DuPont's Rifle. 



I most certainly assert that such powders as Curtis & 

 Harvey's, Hazard's Electric, Orange Lightning, DnPont's 

 Diamond Grain, etc., give a considerably greater burst- 

 ing strain, load for load and in corresponding size 

 grains, than the cheap grades of black powders, such as 

 "Dead Shot," Orange, DuPont and Hazard's FG, and other 

 grain powders. All tests I have ever made have proved 

 this beyond the shadow of a doubt. 



The initial pressures of the first-mentioned high grade 

 powders are, according to the apparent comparative and 

 obtainable figures, from 25 to 50, yes, and in certain in- 

 stances 100 per cent, greater than the so deservedly popu- 

 lar and cheap grades of American black powders. 



This fact is so well known that our leading rifle and 

 ammunition manufacturers directly warn against the use 

 of the above strong black powders in their rifles. 



Concluding my letter, I will say that I have nothing but 

 the friendliest regards for Mr. Tenner, and believe that our 

 differences of opinion are honest and conscientious. 



Several of the questions at issue should be easily settled 

 to the thorough satisfaction of both of us as soon as Mr. 

 Tenner has finished the necessary preparations and work 

 on his testing grounds, and the grand army of American 

 sportsmen and the trade will take care of the most satis- 

 factory powders for practical use and commerce. 



Justus von Lengerke. 



LEAD-POISONED DUCKS. 



[From a Staff Correspondent] 



Chicago, Feb. 1.— The Galveston (Tex.) Daily News has 

 put out a story about lead-poisoned ducks, Which I copy 

 in full here: 



CONDEMNED DUCKS. 



A citizen who occasionally shoulders his breechloader, draws on his 

 rubber boots and goes forth to slay wild ducks in the lakes and bayous 

 near Galveston, met a News reporter yesterday, and the conversation 

 turning on field sports and duck shooting, the citizen asked: 



"Do you know that a most wonderful discovery has recently been 

 made by the owners of the famous Stephenson's Lake hunting ground 

 respecting the condition of certain kinds of ducks found there during 

 the hunting season each year? Well, there has been. 



"Readers of the News will no doubt remember that a short time ago 

 mention was made of the fact that the Health Inspector of this city 

 had condemned as unfit for food a lot of ducks offered for sale by a 

 hunter from the vicinity of the lake above mentioned. Now there was 

 nothing strange about this. From the general appearance of the ducks 

 the inspector most likely saw at a glance they were unfit for food, and 

 he did his duty by condemning the lot. It was not necessary that he 

 go any further than this, and probably he himself did not know the 

 true condition of the ducks at the time he condemned them. But on 

 just what was the matter with those ducks hangs this strange tale. 

 The ducks condemned may have been killed or they may have died a 

 natural death; but be that as it may, at the time they departed this 

 life they were either victims of lead poisoning or were suffering from 

 its effects. 



"It is very easy to imagine that a duck might get a lot of shot fired 

 into him and not be killed dead, and afterward suffer from the effects 

 of lead in his anatomy, and which may eventually cause his death, or 

 may eventually get well and hearty again. Such a duck would cer- 

 tainly be unfit for food if killed while suffering from the effects of his 

 wounds or the effects of lead-poisoning. Now the ducks rejected by 

 the inspector had not been shot at nor wounded that any one could 

 see, and it is not improbable that they ever got in gunshot of a hunter 

 until the day they were killed, with a club, perhaps, if killed at all, but 

 as above stated they were all more or less affected with lead-poison- 

 ing. In the gizzard of each one of the rejected ducks were found from 

 half a dozen to forty shot of various sizes. Now the strange part of 

 this fact is when did these ducks get hold of this shot? There is only 

 one solution. It is a well known fact that most wild ducks feed upon 

 vegetation at the bottom of lakes and ponds, and some feed upon 

 roots that grow on the bottom of such places. These feeding places 

 are very well known to hunters and they have gunned for the game so 

 regularly since firearms came into use that the bottoms of the lakes 

 and ponds are so covered with shot that every time the poor duck 

 goes down for a blade of grass or a root he is liable to get one or more 

 shot with each mouthful. 



"The hunters who shoot for a living at Stephenson's Lake and who 

 claim to have been studying the subject of shot in the gizzards of 

 ducks for some years, have a theory regarding the matter that is based 

 upon facts to some extent and which is very curious. 



"These hunters, by actual examination, claim there are no shot in 

 the bottom of Stephenson's Lake, and by actual experiment have 

 proven that the water in this lake possesses peculiar chemical proper- 

 ties that will dissolve the largest duck shot in a few weeks and a bar 

 of common lead in three months' time. The hunters agree that the 

 ducks get the shot while feeding at the bottom of lakes as above stated 

 in various parts of the United States, and as soon as one is seriously 

 affected with lead-poisoniDg, he packs up and puts out for Stephen- 

 son's Lake, whose waters he knows will soon restore him to health and 

 strength again, and this may be true. The owners of the lake have 

 hunters engaged who have been at the business of shooting canvasback 

 ducks each season all their lives, and these experienced hunters can 

 tell a sick duck about as far as they can see him, and such are never 

 allowed to be shot at. It is only once in a while that such ducks come 

 to this market, and then they are brought in by some scamp who 

 hopes to sell them but who generally fails, as the dealers are always 

 on the lookout and will have nothing but what is first-class." 



Not Imaginary. 

 The News article is absurd in some points and the 

 market-shooters who found the wonderful chemical 

 properties in the waters of Stephenson's Lake were, no 

 doubt, having a little fun with the Aews man, but a 

 Chicago contemporary simply displays its ignorance 

 when it speaks of "the whole thing as the production of 

 the imagination of some one who wished to create a sen- 

 sation." It is not an imaginary case by any means. Far 

 from being produced for a sensation, it was just the 

 other way with the men who had the facts. It was solely 

 a feeling of courtesy to these men, who entertained me 

 and gave me their confidence, which prevented me from 

 telling all about these lead-poisoned ducks more than a 

 year ago. Since the thing has been sprung by the Gal- 

 veston paper I can now take the matter up and enable 

 the sporting public to have the facts ungarbled and cor- 

 rect. The sporting public always has to come to Forest 

 and Stream for that sort of information. 



More Than a Year Ago. 

 There is, and has been for more than a year in the 

 office of Forest and Stream the gizzard of a canvasback 

 duck, showing still in place a number of shot, many of 

 which are ground nearly flat by trituration. The interior 

 lining of the gizzard seemed to be dried up, burned out 

 and diseased throughout. The lower intestines of the 

 bird were also apparently diseased, and were discolored 

 with a greenish hue. The feathers about the vent were 

 stained a greenish color. This gizzard I myself last 

 winter took from a canvasback duck which the noted 

 market-shooter, Billy Griggs, and myself picked up dead 

 in the lake near Bud Stephenson's house. This was 25 



miles northeast of Galveston, in what I believe to be the 

 best canvasback country now left in America. 



I sent the gizzard in with the account of how the bird 

 was found, and with the reasons for non-publication of the 

 story. At that time the facts were entirely secret so far 

 as known to those who had them. No lead-poisoned 

 ducks had ever been heard of. No one knew that 

 such ducks had ever been sold in the markets. Billy 

 Griggs told me, and I believed him, that his party never 

 picked up and sold these birds, but that he believed that 

 another outfit had gathered up and shipped barrels of 

 them. I know that there have been barrels of canvas- 

 back ducks which have come up from Galveston this fall, 

 and which have been sold on South Water street here, in 

 which the birds did not have a shot marh on them. I offer 

 this fact without comment, and when it came to me I 

 said nothing of what I knew about the ducks found dead 

 on Lake Surprise and Stephenson's Lake, in the Galveston 

 country. 



Billy Griggs told me of these lead-poisoned ducks, and 

 said he hoped we would find one. We did find the one 

 above mentioned, lying dead at the edge of the rushes, 

 and. as he picked it up Billy remarked, looking at the dis- 

 colored vent, that he would bet all he was worth that we 

 would find shot in the gizzard. We did find the shot, and 

 they can no doubt be seen in place to-day in the Forest 

 and Stream office in New York. Griggs told me they 

 often saw ducks too sick to fly, and sometimes found them 

 just on the point of death. He said that tons of shot had 

 been fired into those waters, and he was of the opinion 

 that the shot lodged in the roots of the celery and so were 

 taken into the system by the birds, or that possibly the 

 birds sought for the shot, taking them to be fine gravel. 

 He said he had found old percussion caps in some gizzards. 

 This was the actual story of the market-hunter to me. If 

 the story about chemical action was really told to the 

 Galveston News man, it was probably told by the Barrow 

 outfit, and with the intention of conveying the belief that 

 only good healthy canvasbacks were shipped from Galves- 

 ton. Knowing what I do of Griggs and Stephenson, I do 

 not believe that they would ship ducks which had been 

 thus diseased. 



The Discovery Still Older. 



The Chicago contemporary — which by the way is the 

 American Field—is so little acquainted with actual news 

 that when it does see a chunk of it it gets scared and shies. 

 I have shown that this news is not very new in knowl- 

 edge, but must go further and show that it is still older 

 than would seem from the above alone. I thought I was 

 among the very first to get hold of it, but it seems that 

 such was not the case. 



This winter I was again in Texas — in fact am just back 

 from the trip — and though I was not at the Galveston 

 country, I heard of the lead-poisoned ducks of Galveston, 

 even so far away as San Antonio. Mr. O. C. Guessaz, one 

 of the best known shooters of Texas, and the president of 

 the State Sportsmen's Association, told me all about the 

 whole subject before I had time to open my mouth (Mr. 

 Guessaz, let me also note in passing, is the most popular 

 man in San Antonio, and a hustler from away back yon- 

 der. As he will be the Forest and Stream representa- 

 tive at San Antonio, the many readers of this paper will 

 have a good chance to get acquainted with a good man). 



Mr. Guessaz, then, told me that a year ago last winter, 

 or two years ago from now, he and some friends were 

 shooting on their favorite grounds near Galveston, and on 

 Lake Surprise he discovered the fact that the canvasbacks 

 (and bluebills or dos-gris also) ate shot and died of it. He 

 communicated his discovery to old Dick Barrows, one of 

 the market-shooters of those waters, «,nd says that Bar- 

 rows at that time knew nothing of it. Mr. Guessaz esti- 

 mated that thousands of pounds of shot were fired annu- 

 ally over that body of water. He got so enthusiastic over' 

 his find that his friends hoaxed him by cutting open a duck 

 and stuffing it with bits of iron. So far as I know, Mr. 

 Guessog was the orginal discoverer of this lead poisoning 

 of ducks, although it would be singular if men observant 

 as Bud Stephenson or Billy Griggs had not noted it in 

 their long shooting on those waters. Billy did not say, if 

 I remember, how long he had known of it. At any rate, 

 the facts are now all out and are here given in print accu- 

 rately and fundamentally and for the first time. Our 

 esteemed contemporary need no longer shy at the news. 



The Canvasback Preserve. 



Last fall Billy Griggs wrote and told me that the entire 

 canvasback water over which they shot last winter, in- 

 cluding Stephenson's Lake and Lake Surprise, had been 

 put under patent and fenced by Col. W. L. Moody, of 

 Galveston, and that the Stephenson and Griggs outfit, to- 

 gether with the Barrow outfit, had leased the entire tract 

 from Col. Moody, thus shutting out the public entirely, 

 although he very kindly invited me to join them again this 

 winter. At San Antonio I found that the Moody patent 

 on these famous waters was creating considerable indig- 

 nation. I was told that Col. Moody's lease was on the 

 basis that he got one-fourth of all the ducks killed, and in 

 addition 20 canvasbacks each week, which latter were all 

 sent to Gov. Hogg to sort of keep him feeling good about 

 leased waters in Texas. It is also a fact that Gov. Hogg 

 not long ago went down there and had a big duck shoot. 

 As near as I can learn, only me an' Gov. Hogg are in it. 

 I'm no hog, so I didn't go there this winter. I did, how- 

 ever, discover some other canvasback country open to the 

 world, as well as a whole lot of other things of which I 

 want to write as soon as the editor of Forest and Stream 

 can turn loose about half the paper for it. E-. Hough. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



During a recent visit to Currituck Sound I heard much 

 of a disease to which wildfowl there are subject and 

 which is locally known as "croup." This sickness seems 

 to be common to ducks, geese and swans, and I saw a 

 number of the birds so afflicted. The local gunners 

 believe it to be a disease of the respiratory organs and on 

 capturing a sick bird rub its throat under the impression 

 that something is choking the fowl. Of course, the sick 

 ones are not under observation during the early stages 

 of the disease, but after they become so weak as to be 

 easily captured; the symptoms are a rattling in the 

 throat, as if there were difficulty in breathing and an 

 occasional dribbling of a few drops of yellowish fluid 

 from the bill, which is held open much of the time. In 

 the geese the voice is changed, being much less resonant 

 than in health. A "croupy" goose captured near the 

 point of Narrows Island, Jan. 14, seemed in good condi- 



