262 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 28, 1896. 
THE SPORTSMEN'S EXPOSITION. 
Exhibitors and Exhibits. 
The displays of sportsmen's goods at Madison Square 
Garden last week were such a collection as was never be- 
fore gathered under one roof. In extent, variety and 
quality it was an eloquent exposition of the importance 
and magnitude of the field sportsmanship of America. 
We cannot more than hint of the individual exhibits. 
E. I. Dn Pont de Nemours & Co. 
The exhibit of this well-known firm of powder manu- 
facturers was one of the first the visitors saw on entering 
the Garden. It occupied space No. 1 , immediately to the 
left of the main entrance, and during the week of the 
Exposition it was visited by hundreds of sportsmen who 
came to pay their compliments, and incidentally to say a 
word in praise of Du Pont Smokeless. 
Mr. Francis G. Du Pont and Mr. Frederick J. Waddell 
K. 1 DU PONT & COMPANY. 
spent much of their time receiving visitors and answering 
questions, for there is probably nothing under the sun 
that provokes more discussion than nitro powders, and 
Mr. Pierre Gentieu was to be found there at all times. 
The various powders— sporting, blasting and smokeless 
—for rifle and shotgun, etc., were shown in cream-colored 
cabinets backed by plate glass that reflected from all 
points of view the sundry kegs and canisters, each repre- 
sentative of its special brand of powder. 
In the center of the space was the celebrated Du Pont 
Trophy for the live-bird championship, won by Fred Gil- 
bert at Baltimore last October. This has been fully 
described already in these columns. 
In the front part of the space at one side stood a cabinet 
containing samples of the different powders, and their in- 
gredients, including a new prismatic smokeless for use in 
the heavy 10 and 12in, guns in the army and navy. There 
were also shown samples of gun cotton used for making 
smokeless powder and that used for making dynamite, 
service gun cotton for use in torpedoes, and the fiber from 
which gun cotton itself is made. A number of loaded 
shells opened at the side to show the wadding formed a 
part of the exhibit, and the display was capped by a 
pyramid of peeled willow branches and charcoal from 
which the black powder is made. 
"Da Pont & Co.," says a telling little circular, "never 
experiment with a powder at the expense of their patrons. 
Their name is a guarantee that the powder bearing it has 
been most carefully tested in the laboratory and field 
before offering to the public, and that it possesses every 
merit claimed." 
No wonder the name is such a household word every- 
where among sportsmen. 
. Union Metallic Cartridge Co. 
The exhibit of the Union Metallic Cartridge Co., as in 
the Exposition of 1 895, was one of the most striking fea- 
tures in the Garden. Visitors to last year's Exposition 
will remember the beautiful display of shells, primers, 
bullets, etc., made by this company; the pyramids of am- 
munition of all kinds could not fail to attract the eye. 
The scheme for adequately showing the goods manufac- 
tured by the TJ. M. C. Co. was the joint idea of J. A. H. 
THE UNION METALLIC CARTRIDGE COMPANY. 
Dressel and W. M. Thomas, the latter better known to 
members of the sporting fraternity by his honorary title 
of U. M. C. Thomas. 
Occupying the same place and space that it did last 
year, this year's exhibit was naturally one of the first to 
claim the attention of the visitor. The three pagoda-like 
structures of ebonized wood relieved with gold, the cen- 
ter one of the three rising 17ft. above the floor, were in 
themselves sufficient to make one look at them. But the 
contents of these pagodas were something that the shoot- - 
ing public wanted to see. In each was a hexagonal cone, 
its six sides covered with the products of the firm's factory 
at Bridgeport, Conn. 
The cone nearest the entranoe was covered with gun 
caps of all sizes and kinds for muzzleloaders, primers of 
all sizes and kinds for black powder and the same for 
nitro powder. One side of the cone was devoted to car- 
tridges for the one-pounder rapid-fire guns. These car- 
tridges were shown both short and long, with the primers 
and fuses for the same. Some of the cartridges were 
sectionalized, so as to show the interior mechanical de- 
vices of the fuses, and also to show how the fuses act 
upon impact. The second cone contained metallic am- 
munition, both rim and center fire, the polished brass 
showing up to perfection against the dark cloth back- 
ground. On this cone also were bullets galore— mush- 
room, metal-cased, self-lubricating, etc, — and here also 
were specimens of modern militarv ammunition for both 
smokeless and black powders and for revolvers and rifles. 
The third cone was given up exclusively to shotgun am- 
munition, this firm being especially noted for its products 
in that branch of the sporting goods trade. The variety 
of colors used to designate the different kinds of shells 
aided materially in making this portion of the exhibit 
more than usually effective, Trap, Smokeless, Nitro and 
Walsrode Special being arranged artistically with an eye 
to the general effect. Severn 1 of the shells were loaded 
and sectionalized, showing the system of wadding the 
various powders, which exhaustive trials on the part of 
the firm's experts have proved to be the most generally 
effective for both penetration and pattern. Gun wads of 
all kinds and in great numbers showed plainly what has 
been done in that line of manufacturing by the company. 
At one end of the epace occupied by the U. M. C. Co. 
were shown specimens of the three- pounder Hotchkiss 
and the one-pounder Driggs-Schroeder rapid-firing guns. 
Alongside these guns is also exhibited a 3in. plate of 
wrought iron, showing about a score of perforations 
made by projectiles from the three-pounder gun when 
firing for the purpose of testing ammunition. At the 
other end of the U. M. C. Co.'s space was an ebonized 
counter, some 10ft. by 3ft., covered with black broad- 
cloth. On this counter were exhibited six specimens of 
modern high-power military arms: the Krag-Jorgensen, 
of the United States Army; the Mauser, of Germany; the 
.803 Lee-Metford, of England; the 8mm. Mannlicher, of 
Austria, and the rifles adopted respectively by the gov- 
ernments of Spain and Belgium. The clips showing the 
arrangement of the ammunition for filling the magazines 
of the above arms also attracted considerable attention, 
while the working of the arms themselves proved of con- 
siderable interest at eac h session of the Sportsmen's Ex- 
position. The specimens of penetration into large blocks 
of wood by the solid-pointed nickel-steel bullets were ob- 
AMERICAN SMOKELESS'POWDER COMPANY. 
jects of much interest, the penetration being nothing 
short of the marvelous, while the crushing force of the 
soft-nosed bullet was well exploited. 
During the whole exhibition U. M. C. Thomas was on 
hand to greet his friends and to explain to inquiring vis- 
itors all the wonders that rightfully belong to the expert 
manufacturing of ammunition for shotguns, rifles, both 
snorting and military, and the rapid-firing guns mentioned 
above. 
The Hazard Powder Co. 
The Hazard Powder Co.'s exhibit was a decided novelty 
in its main feature— the rolling mill for mixing the in- 
gredients that go to form to a large extent the powder 
output of this firm. The rolling mill was not quite full 
sizfi, it being necessary to reduce it slightly so as to con- 
form with the space at the disposal of the firm. The mill 
was kept in motion by a small electric motor, and its 
rumbling wheels, which acted as mixers, were carefully 
examined by the curious. 
On the wall at the back of the exhibit was a portrait of 
Col. A. G. Hazard, the founder of the Hazard Powder 
Co. in 1835, and its president from that date until the day 
of his death in 18G8. The Hazard Powder Works manu- 
factured many hundreds of tons of powder that were 
burned in defense of the flag between 1861 and 1865. In 
a glass case which hung against the wall were displayed 
the gold watch, diamond locket and opal and diamond 
scarfpin, that will be offered as special prizes at the Haz- 
ard tournament in Cincinnati, which will be held May 
19-22. 
The exhibit was in charge of Mr. J. L. Lequin, secre- 
tary of the company, who was assisted in answering the 
questions of the numerous visitors by Mr. Benjamin H. 
Norton. Both gentlemen were kept very busy handing 
out miniature kegs of Hazard's "Blue Ribbon," the com- 
pany's smokeless powder, these kegs being much in de- 
mand as souvenirs of the Exposition. On Thursday Mr. 
Edward Prickett, superintendent of the mills at Hazard- 
ville, was present at the Exposition, and took considerable 
interest in discussing the future of Hazard's "Blue Rib- 
bon." 
Laflin & Rand Powder Co. 
When referring to the exhibit of the Laflin & Rand 
Powder Co., it is only natural that the first portion of it 
that comes to one's mind is the model of the^company's 
plant at Wayne, N. J. It is quite probable that no single 
article exhibited in the Exposition attracted more atten- 
tion than this working model, which showed, as if from a 
balloon, all the buildings operated by this firm in the man- 
ufacture of its powders. The model was the work of the 
skilled fingers of Mr. John Lyon, one of the employees of 
the firm at Wayne. All the buildings were made of wood, 
while the miniature machinery, fashioned out of brass 
and steel, was made neat and bright by a nickel covering. 
Special points of interest were the glazing mill and the 
dry house where the unfortunate explosions at the factory 
occurred during the week of the Exposition, causing the 
death of five persons. The barricades erected around the 
dry house, and shown in the model, were very suggestive 
of the dangers attending the manufacture of explosives. 
Mr. Edward Armstrong, who until recently had charge 
of the company's office in St. Louis, but who is now 
LAK1.IX A HANI) POWDER COMPANY. 
located in the New York office in Cedar street, was in 
charge of the whole exhibit. His position was no sine- 
cure, the space occupied by the firm being packed nearly 
all the time with spectators who watched the machinery 
turning in the mills, driven by a little electric motor 
under the table, and who propounded to Mr. Armstrong 
all sorts and conditions of queries. The raw materials 
and the finished goods on exhibition in the cases were no 
small part of the firm's exhibit. The firm of Laflin & 
Rand is chiefly celebrated for its "Orange Extra," a 
standard brand all over the United States; but its Trois- 
dorf , a nitro powder, is making its way among the ranks 
of the trap-shooting fraternity. 
American Smokeless Powder Co. 
If any one was to take a roll of W-A powder prior to 
its having p i3sed through the cutting machine and ask 
anybody not previously acquainted with the article to 
tell what it was, not one in a thousand would say "gun- 
powder." Matthew Herrington, the New York represent- 
ative of the company, and W. H. Skinner, the represent- 
ative of the company who hails from the Windy City , 
were kept busy all the time explaining to people that the 
long, thin and almost transparent thread that they were 
looking at was nothing but a smokeless powder that, cut 
up into small particles, loaded right and wadded right, 
was calculated to make the best of the nitro powders now 
in the market look after their laurels. The cutting machine 
used for the purpose of turning the thread of gunpowder 
into material ready for loading was on view, and the 
arrangement of its knives was a source of much interest. 
For the purpose of showing what the 220grs. cupro-nickel 
steel bullet can do in the way of penetration with 40grs. 
of W-A behind it, the company exhibited a section of a 
series of blocks of white pine that showed a penetration : 
of 62in. ; a section of a solid white oak log also showed a 
penetration of 43in. The specimens of artillery powder ; 
manufactured by this firm for use in the Driggs-Schroe- t 
der one-pounder rapid-firing gun, and exhibited at the 
Exposition, were about as unlike powder as one could i 
possibly imagine, and it is more than possible that Messrs. 
Herrington and Skinner are looked upon by some doubting i 
Thomases as fabricators of the first magnitude. Both the 
THE HAZARD POWDER COMPANY. 
above-named gentlemen were tickled to death at the fact 
that the company's new plant at Pompton Lake, N. J., is 
now in full blast and running on full time; and that the 
company also will soon have a powder suitable for use in 
sporting rifles upon the market. 
Parker Bros. 
No sportsmen's exposition and no display of represent- 
ative American sporting goods is complete without the 
big case of Parker guns, or without Capt. Du Bray to dis- 
play them. The case and the Captain were just in front 
of the main entrance, forming an eddy in which gun, 
lovers circled unceasingly. Indeed there were two cases 
of guns; for beside the great upright case which visited 
