maeoh 14, im.j 
POTEST AND STREAM. 
in them is and must be small. New Jersey and Rhode 
Island are thickly settled communities, and Pennsylvania 
while having to some extent heavy woodlands in certain 
portions, has thickly settled populations and has not 
enough game to supply the demand in the State itself. 
From the South , leaving out the question of ducks, which 
we have not considered at this hearing at all, comes prac- 
tically no game except quail. These come rarely to our 
markets because climatic conditions are such that they do 
not keep to be brought here. 
This game, which is sold in Boston, 90 or 95 per cent, of 
it, as the dealers testified to you, comes from outside the 
State, coming almost entirely from those States which 
prohibit its export by law. 
You have heard the testimony of Mr. Mackay, a most 
expert ornithologist, as to the regions inhabited by the 
birds spoken of. Our partridge, which is the bird mostly 
under consideration, does live in the mountain regions of 
the Alleghany south of Pennsylvania, not in the lowlands; 
but there it is by no means an abundant bird, and but few 
of them are killed. The partridge is more common in the 
Northern countries. The Canadian Provinces, the New 
England States, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, 
Michigan and Minnesota are the places where it is found 
abundant. It is found, but not to any great extent, in 
the other States. 
I may say here that the export of any game is forbidden 
at all times by each and all of the Canadian Provinces 
just as strongly as it is by Maine and Massachusetts. 
The 95 per cent of partridges sold by these men, on their 
own testimony, was all (excepting what one man says he 
received from Pennsylvania) brought here in violation of 
some law. 
The 99 per cent, of quail sold by these men, on their own 
testimony, was all brought here in violation of some law, 
excepting what one man says he received from Virginia, 
and by a statute passed last month that State forbids their 
killing for the next two years. 
The entire amount of pinnated and sharp-tailed grouse 
sold by these men, on their own testimony, was all brought 
here in violation of law, with no exceptions. 
The market men, in the bill which they have presented, 
ask you now to allow them to sell all game from abroad 
at all seasons, and to stretch the mantle of Massachusetts 
legality still more widely over their attempts to corrupt 
the citizens of other States. We ask you to use the power 
of Massachusetts in its legislation so as to preserve our 
own good name, and not make this State an accessory to 
criminal action. 
There is one other point to which I would call your 
attention. Mr. Stoddard, one of the officers of the Cold 
Storage Company, testified that he did not now have 
nearly as much game on storage throughout the summer 
as he did eight or ten years ago. When I asked him if he 
did not know that it had been, until 1894, contrary to 
law to keep game on storage through the summer, he 
answered "Yes," but that he had to keep it or lose money; 
thus admitting that he had knowingly for many years 
violated our existing law. 
Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, he who comes into court 
asking favor or asking justice should do so with clean 
hands. The market men, commission dealers in game, 
and cold storage men who have appeared before you have 
testified that they have either violated the laws of this 
State, or have encouraged the violation of the laws of 
other States, or have done both, all to their own pecuniary 
profit. 
Will you, do you dare to, legislate to help their unlaw- 
ful gains? Will you not rather so act as to protect at one 
and the same time the interest of Massachusetts and her 
sister States? 
I will also add a word on another point which has been 
discussed before you, although it does not come within 
the scope of the bill which we present, that is as to pro- 
tection of birds of the plover species. To them we think 
should be given the same measure of safety that is given 
to the other birds. Forbid, we ask you, traffic in them 
upon the same lines which you apply to the others. Re- 
member that killing the spring birds, heavy with eggs 
and ready to breed, in Texas and Kansas, tends to exter- 
minate the species and to deprive us of the proper fall 
shooting that would otherwise come here. 
RIFLE AND GUN CLEANING. 
This is undoubtedly a subject which brings forth an 
opportunity for considerable discussion, and as it would 
seem to be a very important factor in the proper work of 
a rifle or gun, I make a few suggestions which I have 
found of value. 
In the first place, I believe that a rifle or gun should be 
kept as clean and free from rust and spotting as possible. 
In a rifle barrel this is especially important, as rust causes 
roughness, and roughness causes leading, and we all 
know what that means in the accuracy of the arm. As to 
a shotgun, I am not perfectly clear that a spotted gun will 
not shoot as well as one without blemish. Possibly with 
the allowable variation in the accuracy of a shotgun the 
difference would amount to nothing. I kuow that our 
three guns are slightly spotted, still I believe they are as 
good shooting as ever. Living near the salt water, and 
using a gun for duck shooting, it is almost an utter impos- 
sibility to keep them bright despite what care may be 
taken. Now in the old days of the muzzle-loader, how 
many strong shooting guns were there which were per- 
fectly bright and clean near the breech? How could one 
tell whether his gun was spotted, pitted or rusted? With 
a breech-loader the first impulse is to look through the 
barrels, and if one sees spots he is likely to have a bad 
impression, not only of the gun, but of the owner's way 
of taking care of it. 
Now a good many claim that a gun should be cleaned 
at once after a day's shoot; others do not clean for weeks. 
A friend of mine has just cited an instance of a man who 
tried this experiment on two guns, shooting both for a 
season, cleaning one after use and leaving the other until 
the close of the season, and the result was that the gun 
frequently cleaned was spotted the worst. 
Now as regards cleaning, I do not believe that a drop 
of water, either hot or cold, should be put into a barrel. 
For several years I have always washed out the barrels of 
our guns with hot water, wiping dry with cotton rags 
until I was assured they were ready for oiling, and am 
now inclined to lay this to the condition they are now in. 
And now as to the oiling question, I am fully convinced 
that too much oil is a frequent cause for rusting. Why? 
Because if you will note a barrel that has a surplus of oil, 
you will see that the oil collects in drops, as it were draw- 
ing together and thereby leaving parts of the barrel ex- 
posed to the air. I know this has been my experience, 
and now use the following method in the cleaniug of guns 
and rifles. I take equal parts of sperm oil (the best ob- 
tainable) and alcohol, and swab out the barrel thoroughly 
with this mixture. The alcohol cuts out the dirt and 
quickly evaporates, leaving a thin film of oil evenly dis- 
tributed over the surface of the steel. This is more 
especially serviceable in rifle shooting when wiping fre- 
quently. When through shooting, I wipe the barrel 
perfectly dry after using the mixture, and then run 
through a rag saturated with a little vaseline. I have 
pursued this method on a new rifle purchased some time 
since and used almost constantly, and thus far not a speck 
of rust shows. This is a .22 barrel, and of course the 
more likely to showrust. Benzine, naphtha, paraffine oil, 
etc. , are good cleaning agents, but are apt to rust a barrel 
if care is not taken to wipe dry, and then oil with sperm 
oil or vaseline. I believe the alcohol and sperm oil the 
best cleaning mixture one can find, and although it is an 
old formula, still I hardly think it can be improved upon. 
Art. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Arkansas Came. 
CHICAGO, Ills,, March 7. — Mr. Joseph Irwin, an ex- 
perienced and observing sportsman of Little Rock, Ark., 
says of the quail situation in this country, at the end of 
theseason, March 1: "I am satisfied that the big snow that 
we had last winter, together with the efforts of trappers 
and pot-hunters, destroyed more birds than we can raise 
in five years." Mr. Irwin hunted over some good ground 
during this snow fall and found eighteen bevies, but the 
birds were too weak to shoot and were not disturbed. At 
the end of the season on the same ground he found only 
three small bevies. The snowstorm was heaviest about 
fifty miles northwest of Little Rock. About seventy-five 
or one hundred miles south of Little Rock the birds were 
not injured so much. 
The same informant states that snipe shooting is now 
going on in eastern Arkansas, and that a good many 
woodcock are being killed there also. The duck flight 
was not coming by way of Little Rock at last accounts. 
The Flight of the Fowl. 
The ducks are making their way well to the north this 
week on their spring flight. They have appeared on the 
lower Illinois River and on the Mississippi in considerable 
numbers. They have been hanging over some of our 
larger lakes where the ice was not yet out. One or two 
warm days will let them into the lakes all over northern 
Illinois and southern Wisconsin, provided there is wind 
enough to take out the ice. 
Frozen Fish. 
The water in a number of Wisconsin lakes was ex- 
tremely low last fall, so that they froze nearly to the 
bottom during the winter. The worst fears seemed to be 
realized in regard to destruction to fish life in such waters. 
It is reported that a man chopped a hole in Beaver Dam 
Lake last week and found no water, but found a layer of 
frozan bullheads a foot thick, Kekoskee haB not yet been 
heard from. 
Shooting with the Camera. 
Mr. A. M. Weinhardt, of this city, writes interestingly 
about some of the possibilities of sporting photography. 
He comments on the growing desire of many sportsmen 
to photograph game rather than to kill it, and suggests a 
method by which such objects can be obtained more 
easily than has heretofore been possible. Mr. Weinhardt 
thinks that one of the miniature cameras now on the mar- 
ket could be attached to the barrels of a gun in front of the 
fore end, and operated upon flying birds or moving ani- 
mals with the same aim as that used in shooting. He 
says: "You are always sighting your game over a direct 
line with your camera, and you are following the game 
with this line at its fastest speed. Thus no attention is 
needed for the camera, and you can press the spring any 
moment you see fit, so that it may be possible to even kill 
your game after you have photographed it." He adds: 
"I may have made a wild suggestion in this, but perhaps 
brother sportsmen may show us how to improve and per- 
fect the idea. In order to make my ideas plain I could 
send a few pen drawings showing how the instrument 
could be fastened. I have not yet tried the experiment 
myself, but some one else may perhaps take it up and 
find in it a source of pleasure and benefit." 
Mr. Weinhardt's idea is not absolutely new, except in 
the application he suggests of a small camera on a regu- 
lar sporting weapon. It would be very interesting to see 
his idea of the proper mechanism for operating the camera, 
and should such experiments ever be tried, it would of 
course be gratifying if we could hear of them. 
Favorite Dog Dead. 
Mr. A. H, Morgan, of the Illinois Central Railway, who 
is recently back from Memphis and vicinity, informs me 
that old Henry, Capt. Bobo's pet bear dog, has at length 
gone the way of all bear dogs. Henry died as he had 
lived, morose, independent and solitary. He went off by 
himself, lay down in a corn crib and just died. I have 
often before spoken of the peculiarities of this old vet- 
eran. He would never associate with the other dogs, and 
was the only one of the pack allowed in the house. He 
would not eat unless his food was brought to him on a 
clean plate, and in all ways his singular aristocracy 
formed marked contrast to the democratic ways of the 
fighting bear pack. Henry was a red, shaggy-faced 
mongrel, but he evidently knew more about his ancestry 
than any one else did, and was proud of it. It will be 
some time before Capt. Bobo takes on another self-ap- 
pointed bodyguard in his place. E. Hough. 
909 Seoubity Building, Chicago. 
North Dakota State Game Warden. 
Fargo, N. D., March 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Governor Allin to-day appointed Geo. E. Bowers, of 
Fargo, State Game Warden for North Dakota for a term 
of two years, commencing April 1. 
This appointment receives the indorsement of the State 
Sportsmen's Association, and we believe that Mr. Bowers 
will make an excellent warden, and that game law viola- 
tors will have to be extremely careful in the future to 
avoid detection. C. E, Robbins. 
FOREIGN GAME BIRDS FOR MAINE. 
Commissioner Henry O. Stanley, of Maine, writes me 
under date of March 1 from Dixfield, Me.: "The caper- 
cailzie and black game I ordered from Sweden last fall 
passed through Auburn yesterday in charge of American 
Express Co., en route for Aroostook county, where they 
are to be turned loose. The express company telegraphed 
me that the birds were alive and apparently in good con- 
dition. They are to be turned loose at N ew Sweden, 
among the Swedes, who are very anxious to have them, 
as they will be a reminder of home, and they will be 
likely to care for and protect them. We are expecting 
another lot later on for the Rangeley region. I have very 
strong hopes of success with these birds. Ex -Minister 
Thomas, formerly United States Minister to Sweden, writes 
me that the climate in Sweden is identical with that of 
Maine. Also the forest growth, the hills, mountains and 
deep snows. He is familiar with the birds, having hunted 
them in Sweden, and he was very anxious that the experi- 
ment should be tried in Maine." 
The capercailzie and black game are the two game birds 
that have been strongly recommended by Dr. John D. 
Quackenbos for New Hampshire and northern New York, 
and I believe a special appropriation was made by the 
former State for the purpose of introducing them. In 
fact, I do not know but an importation of birds or eggs 
has already been made by New Hampshire, as my memory 
is a little fogged on the subject, although Col. Wentworth 
has written me on the subject within a few months. 
The experiment in Maine will be watched with consid- 
erable interest, and if successful there it should be suc- 
cessful in other States where conditions are similar. 
A. N. C. 
The Hunting- Rifle. 
Los Angeles, Cal. — Editor Forest and Stream; In youi 
issue of Feb. 8 Cecil Clay gave an account of his experi- 
ence with the .44-40 in moose hunting. 
I must say he is either a wonderful rifle Bhot or had a 
long run of good luck. 
In my opinion a .44-40 with 26 or 28in. barrel is a poor 
gun for moose hunting, not to mention the 20in. barrel. 
I think few hunters would want one even for hunting 
deer. I used a .44-40 Winchester a number of years and 
think I know just what it can and cannot do. Mr. Clay 
may be an excellent shot, but does the man live who can 
put a bullet where he wants it, under all conditions, with 
a .44, 20in. barrel at 200yds.? I think not. 
Here, where the greatest part of the mountains are 
nearly covered with almost impenetrable brush, grease- 
wood, buckthorn, etc., one wants a large caliber hard- 
hitting rifle to stop a deer quickly. 
a If a wounded deer gets into the chaparral it is almost 
impossible to get him without a good dog, and when you 
have found him the work has just begun. 
I should consider it risky business to shoot at a moose 
at 200yds. with a .44 if he were standing still. 
A much better gun is the .45-70 with 405gr. solid or 
330gr. Gould express bullet. 
The .45-70 Winchester, half magazine, half octagon 
barrel, with shotgun butt, is a finely balanced and power- 
ful rifle. 
If any one doubts my opinion of the 20in. .44 let him 
try it at a target on a windy day for accuracy and pene-: 
tration. H. J. Burkhard. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Noticing the comments upon the calibers suggested for 
large game in the recent issues of the Forest and Stream, 
I wonder at some describing themselves as old hunters 
suggesting little but the largest caliber guns. 
I have hunted deer and bears continually for over twenty 
years in season, in Wisconsin, Michigan and Northern 
Minnesota; during these years I have killed over 400 deer 
and a number of bears and moose. 
When I first hunted in this country, I used the larger 
caliber, the .45 70 and .40-60 calibers, but found these guns 
very heavy to oarry on long trips and discarded them 
nine years ago for the lighter .38 caliber, with a rifle 
weighing 7|lbs., which I find heavy enough at a long 
journey's end. 
I find that a .38-55 bullet will do just as good service on 
all large game as the larger caliber if the vital parts are 
only struck. 
One chief cause of so many deer, moose and caribou 
escaping wounded is often due to the poor marksmanship 
of the hunter, rather than to the smaller caliber of his 
rifle. 
The killing effect depends upon the power of penetra- 
tion, the force of the blow struck and the chances of 
striking a vital spot. 
If one needs a larger wound to produce shock and hem- 
orrhage let him use the .38-55 mushroom bullet, which 
with nitro powder gives most excellent service; causing a 
wound as large, if not larger, than a .45 caliber solid or 
metal patched bullet and doing even more destruction to 
the soft parts, as this bullet will expand without first hit- 
ting a bone. The only fault with the mushroom bullet is 
its destruction often of good meat, as with the .45 and .50 
caliber. 
Again a 7|lb. rifle is much more easily handled than 
those more heavy, and can be brought to bear from any 
position more quickly. 
Again 1 or 21bs. saved]may be put into some other neces- 
sary article to be carried. I also prefer the 28 or 30in. 
barrels, giving a better range of sights than those shorter. 
I have given nitro powder a thorough test this past fall 
and find it gives excellent results, especially with the 
metal patched bullet. With nitro powder used in a Mar- 
lin .38-55 the rifle will carry up to the line of sights, 
170yds. , while with black powder the same distance I 
note a drop of lOin. E. M. C. 
A Lucky Shot. 1 
One night there was a light fall of snow; the next day 
was clear and warm, and we started out after rabbits. 
Ben took my double-barrel shotgun, George my Stearns 
pistol, and I took old ' ' '60," an ancient muzzleloading 
rifle. Seeing a rabbit sitting alongside of an old rotten 
stump, George pulled out his pistol, shot, missed, and 
called to me to look out, I saw the rabbit coming full 
speed, and as he was going down the hill I blazed away, 
missing also. The rabbit ran across a prairie and on to 
another side hill about 200yds. distant and stopped by the 
side of a bare knoll. I told Ben to stand still and I would 
scare the rabbit out; so I hastily loaded the old rifle, 
