118 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 11, 1894. 
J. D. Allen, the well known taxidermist and dealer in 
Indiau goods and curiosities, will set any visitor at 
Mandan straight, and so would W. W. Warthen, who 
knows all about where to go shooting, because he shoots 
so much himself. 
Plenty of Owls. 
A shooter who loves owls ought to find good sport near 
Mandan. Mr. Allen has in his shop the largest collection 
of snowy or Arctic owls on earth, no doubt. There are 
over 500 of them, all mounted. They fill the floor of a 
room. The owl industry became a great one when Mr. 
Allen opened the market. The farmers trapped them for 
a business, and some trappers had an owl route fifteen 
miles long. These big owls have a habit of lighting on 
any little eminence above the surrounding level of the 
ground. The trapper would dig up a few sods and throw 
them together, and so make a hill good enough for a hill 
in that flat country. The owl would hasten to light on 
the hill, and would insert a foot or two in the steel trap 
left there for his benefit. An owl looks a lot wiser than 
he is, just as some men do. This is worth money, if 
there is no hill and trap left around to stand on. 
Not All the Good Chicken Country. 
The above localities named do not cover all the good 
chicken country this fall by any means. South Dakota 
and northern Minnesota are just as good. I am only giv- 
ing localities of which I know personally. There may be 
better, but not much better, and these are good enough. 
Don't Forget It. 
Don't forget to take along your little Game Laws in 
Brief. It costs 35 cents, but may save you a lot of money. 
They are watching illegal shooters out there pretty close 
nowadays, and ignorance is no excuse. E. Hough. 
909 Security Building, Chicago. 
MUD HENS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your issue of March 34 there is an article from "Cul- 
pepper" saying that the mud hens are to be slaughtered as 
nuisances by the Long Beach Club, near Los Angeles, 
Cal., in a "grand mud hen tournament." A quarter of a 
century hence this will read queer ly, because there will 
be few of either ducks or mud hens to shoot. I write this 
in the belief that "Culpepper" refers to the coot, properly 
so called, or the Fulica of scientists, and wish to put in a 
word for this most unjustly reviled bird, which is excel- 
lent for the table, if for nothing else. 
In the fall of 1855 I was a hunter, trapper and lead 
miner by turns, at Potosi, Grant county, Wis., and there 
shot my first mud hen, a bird that I had not met in my 
boyhood shooting in the East. After looking it over, and 
by dissection finding that it was a grain-eater, with the 
appearance of an overgrown rail except its half-webbed 
feet, I took it home and cooked it. Then and there it was 
voted that as a table duck it took fifth rank among the 
water fowl that fell to my gun, in the following order: 
Mallard, wood duck, green and blue-winged teal. It took 
precedence, I thought, of pintails, black ducks, bluebills 
and all the host of other ducks that swarmed down the 
Mississippi, not excepting the canvasbacks and redheads, 
which, as I remember, do not attain the excellence there 
that they do in Chesapeake Bay. The natives about Potosi 
soon learned that I had eaten this bird that they would not 
touch on account of tradition, and they guyed me unmer- 
cifully about it; but I knew that the birds were delicious, 
and kept on eating them. 
The slow-flying mud hen, or "blue peter," as it is called 
about Currituck Sound, may not be a bird that calls forth 
all the marksman's skill, and it may not have a lively sale 
in the markets where people are shy of buying any sort of 
food that they are not familiar with; but it is a good table 
bird, and I have bought many in the New York markets 
during the past ten years and have found them of varying 
degrees of excellence; some were not as good as others, 
and I had no means of learning where they came from 
nor what they had fed upon. 
In Kansas, in 1857, after I stopped shooting turkeys in 
early spring, because of the approaching breeding season, 
there was a flight of these mud hens and they furnished 
me meat for some days until the rains brought the sickle- 
bill curlew, and after them the spring run of fish, and I 
remember the despised mud hen with the kindest of feel- 
ing, and therefore dislike to hear it disrespectfully spoken 
of as a table bird, no matter what its rank as game may 
be. I firmly believe that tHs bird has been refused a 
place at table because our grandfathers did not like its 
semi-palmated feet and said, "It is not fit to eat." This 
same ban to-day bars the sturgeon from the tables of the 
fishermen of Connecticut, while it remains the royal 
i&vorite of Britain's Queen, who has the first caught stur- 
geon from the Thames sent to her table; and it is the same 
unreasoning prejudice that forbids eels, skates, sculpins 
and other wholesome and toothsome fish to appear on cer- 
tain tables. 
Pi ejudice is a thing well worth the attention of those 
who study that most singular animal that we call "man." 
He is full of it, and mainly by inheritance. For years I 
claimed to be free from it, and as a member of the de- 
funct, or dormant, Icthyophagous Club we ate of unusual 
aquatic food and tried to disgust our guests with strange 
sea food, but in the solitude of my den I find that a severe 
cross-questioning develops the fact that while I have eaten 
of shark cutlets, squids, razor clams, fried sand-worms 
and other queer things, I have never had the courage to 
taste tripe. Eels, frogs and turtles are dainties and clean, 
but having seen the tripe in its habitat was enough. I 
love the mud hen, but the habits of the tripe are such 
that I have not yet tasted it, although opportunity has 
not been lacking. 
The mud hen is a bird that Jives chiefly upon seeds and 
is a very clean feeder, and is therefore fitted for the table. 
I had six of them in my flock of wild fowl for about three 
years and noted their habits. They were very fund of 
corn, wheat and other grains, but they never bred and 
fell one by one before the ruthless mink, and to-day they 
abide not with me. They are interesting birds in con- 
finement and can run "like a deer," when pinioned, and 
if a wood duck, teal or pintail crosses their bows, one 
stroke of that sharp beak is sufficient to impress upon 
them that they must not let it occur again. 
Fred Mather. 
Cold Sfbing Habbor, N. Y., July 29. 
NEW DU PONT SMOKELESS POWDER. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Messrs. Du Pont de Nemours & Co. have recently placed 
upon the market a new smokeless gunpowder. In its 
appearance this new propelling agent has much in com- 
mon with the Schultze powder, its color being a trifle 
darker and playing more into a faint red than that of 
Schultze; the grain has a comparatively hard surface, sur- 
passing in this quality even the latest product of the 
Schultze Powder Company — their hard-gra n compound. 
The chemical composition of the Du Pont powder ap- 
pears to approach that of the E. C. powder; like the latter, 
it may be classified among the gun cotton powders, its base 
being the pure article of that so extensively used ex- 
plosive. 
Your readers have heard of the Du Pont smokeless 
powder before and at the time the report of the Chicago 
powder test appeared in the columns of your journal. 
It was, only through the courtesy of Mr. E. S. Rice, at 
Chicago, 111., the Western agent of the firm named, that 
the Du Pont powder could be included in the Chicago 
trial; for at that time it was not in the market, and only a 
few privileged persons had ever seen a sample of it. 
Your readers will remember that the Du Pont powder 
on that occasion failed to receive a very high rating. Its 
ballistic properties at that time and stage did not meet 
with all the requirements essential to a superior propelling 
agent. Its defects were clearly pointed out in the report, 
and I expressed the opinion then that Messrs. Du Pont 
should not experience much difficulty in perfecting their 
powder in every respect and direction. I know not 
whether these gentlemen paid any attention to my views 
and suggestions then submitted, but I have every reason 
to believe that they accepted the findings of the trial in 
good faith and in the spirit they were laid before the pub- 
lic. Once more I am called upon to make your readers 
acquainted with the ballistic qualities and. value of the 
Du Pont smokeless powder, as it is now placed at the dis- 
posal of the American shooting fraternity. 
Upon the request of a great number of American sports- 
men the Du Pont powder has been subjected to a very 
severe and thorough test, which alone serves as a reliable 
basis for judging the properties of a propelling agent. 
The American Testing Institution ordinarily gives only 
its members the benefit of its labors and researches, but in 
a case like this an exception is in its place. The result of 
the test should be made known to all interested in the 
question at issue, and from all indications the great mass 
of American sportsmen are anxious to learn how the 
Du Pont powder compares with other similar propelling 
agents. They also are aware of the fact that the individual 
sportsmen is very rarely in a position to determine all the 
qualities of a powder conclusively. 
The powder is presented to the sportsmen upon ex- 
tremely few and modest claims, and when the manufac- 
turers were notified that their powder would be subjected 
to a public test, they coupled their consent with the 
request that in the report all references to other powders 
should be avoided. This request undoubtedly was 
prompted on their part by the desire to avoid, if possible, 
all cause for a controversy, and since the ground taken by 
them is a very creditable one, their wish has been com 
plied with. But in the absence of a standard of compari- 
son, the sportsman might experience some difficulty in 
drawing correct conclusions from the bare figures as they 
appear in the report. He might be unable to determine 
whether the quoted values are below or above the average, 
and it what particular direction the powder shows an 
inferiority or superiorty when compared with other pro- 
pelling agents. To overcome this objection the average 
values produced by the better class of powders now in use 
will be given in every important case, and they should be 
taken in consideration and employed as a basis of com- 
parison. Every intelligent reader will thus find no diffi- 
culty to draw his own conclusions and to digest the report 
fully and in all its details. 
The Question of Gas Pressure in the Barrel. 
The American Testing Institution has of late subjected 
a number of American-made shotguns to the so-called 
proof-house test. These guns were proved for Mr. D. 
Kirkwood, of Boston, who fully appreciates the value of 
such a test. Arrangements are pending with one of our 
arms companies to have every gun turned out by them 
put to the most severe proof test prior to its being placed 
upon the market. The load employed for proving a fin- 
ished gun is, for 13-bore guns, 6idrs. DuPont Eagle duck- 
ing black powder and lfoz. shot No. 7. Such a load pro- 
duces a gas pressure or bursting strain in the gun barrel 
of over 13,0001bs. to the squaie inch. No ordinary gun 
will of course withstand such an enormous strain for any 
length of time, but it will unquestionably after passing 
the proof test withstand the pressure produced by any 
standard load. A gas pressure of 10,0001bs. to the square 
inch may be regarded as the permissible limit for a gun, 
and every day's use. As long as the gas pressures move 
in values below 8,0001bs. they may be looked upon as 
being practically and comparatively safe for a well made 
gun; lower pressures are of course preferable. The aver- 
age gas pressures produced by the service loads of the 
various nitro powders in use at the present day are found 
between 4,500 and 8,0001bs. 
Velocity. 
Velocity or live force, penetrative is killing power. For 
live bird and game shooting the greatest striking force 
at impact is most desirable. It is the striking force which 
causes that nervous shock requisite for a sudden killing 
effect. Theoretically, striking force and penetration are 
identical. Practically, however, a line must be drawn 
between the striking force and the penetrative quality, 
the depth of penetration of a projectile. While the strik- 
ing force of a bullet, for instance, is always in propor- 
tion to the distance it has departed from the muzzle,it is 
different with the penetrative quality. Lead bullets will 
as a rule penetrate a certain object further at a point 
from 300 to 1,500yds. than at 40ft. from the muzzle. To 
a certain extent the same rule applies to a shot pellet, 
whether hard (chilled) or soft. In point of penetration, 
ch.lled shot differs very little from soft shot, and this can 
hardly be otherwise when we consider that a great deal 
of hard shot in the market is composed of 99 per cent, of 
lead and only about 1 per cent, of tin, antimony and 
arsenic. Some American chilled shot is much harder 
than the best European hard shot. Tatham's chilled shot, 
for instance, contains nearly 5 per cent, of tin, antimony 
and arsenic, other American shot may show a similar 
superiority. The principal advantage of chilled shot lies 
in its diminished tendency of leading the barrel. It is 
still an open question which of the two kinds produces 
the better killing effect. 
As a rule a shot pellet propelled by a high velocity will 
penetrate a given object deeper than one imparted with a 
lower velocity. But often this rule does not hold good. 
For the same reason that a bullet will frequently pene- 
trate an object deeper at a further range than at close 
quarters, a shot pellet imparted with a very high velocity 
will not find time to create a channel for its passage; it 
will deform and thus be prevented from penetrating very 
far, and consequently all penetration tests made with the 
cardboard rack are unreliable and misleading. The veloc- 
ities of shot pellets are usually taken at a point 40yds. 
from the muzzle. The reader can easily compute the cor- 
responding velocities at 40 or 60yds. if he will remember 
that when, for instance, the velocity at 30yds., and of 
shot No. 7, is 830ft. , the corresponding velocity at 30yds. 
is 906, at 40yds. 775, at 60yds. 650ft. 
When ihe velocity is 950ft. at 30yds., it is 1,060 at 30, 
860 at 40 and 695ft. at 60yds. 
When it is 1,030ft. at 30yds., it is 1,130 at 30, 908 at 40, 
733 at 60yds. 
A mean velocity of 860ft. represents a striking force of 
1.83 foot-pounds. A mean velocity of 910ft. is equal to a 
striking force of 1.871bs. per pellet, shot No. 7. 
For a live bird a striking force at 40yds. of 1.80 may be 
considered the lowest limit, for the force drops very rap- 
idly beyond 40yds. At 60yds. the force is only about one- 
half of that at 40yds. Larger, size pellets represent a 
much greater striking force in proportion to their velocity. 
A pellet shot No. 1, for instance, imparted with a velocity 
of 990ft. at 40yds. represents a striking force of 5.35 foot 
pounds. Asphalt targets can successfully be broken with 
a lower velocity. About 800ft. velocity will suffice for 
targets, but nothing short of 875ft. will constitute an 
effectual live bird load. 
Gas Pressure and Velocity Test. 
First series.— Load: 2^drs. = 31grs. DuPont's smokeless powder, 
Smokeless shell, 1 trap, 1 11-gauge felt, 1 cardboard wad, IJ^oz. 
Tatham's shot No. 5: 
Pressures: 3675 39S9 3690 3950 3840 Av. 38251bs. Diff. 2941bs. 
Velocities: 848 888 851 865 865 Av. 863ft. Diff. 40ft. 
Second series. — Load: 2%drs. DuPont's powder = 34grs., same 
shell, wadding and shot: 
Pressures: 4263 4336 4116 4042 3969 Av. 41451bs. Diff. 3671bs. 
Velocities: 972 978 S57 930 948 Av. 957ft Diff. 48ft. 
Third series— Load: 3drs. = 37grs. DuPont's powder, same. wad- 
ding and shot: 
Pressures: 6468 7056 6027 6174 5880 Av. 63211bs. Diff. 11761bs. 
Velocities: 1015 1000 1048 1060 1075 Av. 1040ft. Diff. 75ft. 
Fourth series.— Load: 3drs DuPont's powder = 37grs., same shell. 
1 trap, 2 black-edee wads, 1J4 0Z snot No - 6: 
Pressures: 6888 7280 7004 7312 6994 Av. 70961bs Diff. 4241bs. 
Velocities: 980 960 988 994 997 Av. 984ft. Diff. 37ft. 
Fifth series. — Load: 2%drs. DuPont's powder in Rapid shell, wad- 
ding and shot as Series 1: 
Pressures: 4116 6027 4674 4718 5850 Av 50771bs. Diff. 19111bs. 
Velocities: 884 990 908 954 966 Av. 940ft. Diff. 106ft. 
Sixth series.— Load: 2%drs. DuPont's powder in Nitro Club shell, 
wadding and shot as last series: 
Pressures: 3921 4315 4362 3604 3709 Av. 89621bs Diff, 7581bs. 
Velocities: 872 946 950 924 910 Av. 920ft. Diff. 78ft. 
Seventh series.— Load: 2^drs. DuPont's powder in Climax shell, 
wadding and shot as before: 
Pressures: 4130 4174 3469 4556 4204 Av. 41061bs. Diff. 10871bs. 
Velocities: 9'.0 812 761 938 779 Av. 840ft. Diff. 177ft. 
Eighth series— Load : 3drs. DuPont's powder in Climax shell, 
primed with lgr. black powder, wadding and shot as before: 
Pressures: 6909 7497 7880 7644 7056 Av. 73971bs. Diff. 9711bs. 
Velocities: :014 924 960 691 906 Av. 939ft. Diff. 123ft. 
Ninth series.— Load: 2%drs. DuPont's powder in Leader shell, wad- 
ding and shot as before: 
Pressures: 3675 3969 3675 3940 4427 Av. 39371bs. Diff. 7501bs. 
Velocities: 820 850 868 880 900 Av. 863ft. Diff. 80ft. 
Tenth series. — Load: 2%drs. DuPont's powder in Eley shell, wad- 
ding and shot as before: 
Pressures: 5159 5292 5119 5203 5280 Av. 52091bs. Diff. 1771bs. 
Velocities: 935 985 935 969 920 Av. 948ft. Diff. 65ft. 
As will be noticed, the best values were obtained with 
the Smokeless shell. The Rapid shell did pretty well, and 
also the Nitro Club. The difference between the Rapid, 
Nitro Club and Eley is small. 
The Du Pont powder is comparatively well adapted for 
even the cheaper shells, more so than other powders, but 
the special shells give as usual the better results. 
When common shells are employed and primed with 
black powder, not more than one-half grain fine grain of 
the latter should be used. The gas pressure can thus be 
brought down to the values given by the strong primers. 
Priming common shells should only be resorted to when 
economy dictates such a step. It is a shift, nothing more. 
The regularity of a primed shell never approaches that of 
a good, strong primer. 
Pattern Test. 
For this trial the Smokeless and Climsx shells, the latter 
primed, were employed. All shots were fired at muzzle 
rest. The target was placed at the usual distance of 
40yds., and in the center of the 30in. ring the skeleton of 
a pigeon was substituted for the bullseye, for the purpose 
of ascertaining the uniform distribution of the shot charge. 
The pellets counted in each case in the skeleton are noted 
in parenthesis. They are added to the main values. 
The gun employed is chambered for a 3| inch shell, and 
the left barrel, which was used exclusively, is full choke. 
To obtain the best possible results a 11-gauge white felt 
wad was employed generally. The gun and barrel gives 
with the standard load of shot, and a good powder an av- 
erage pattern of 315 to 340 pellets with l^oz. shot No. 7, 
370 pellets. Tatham's chilled shot No. 7 was employed 
throughout. 
Eleventh series.— Load: 2^dra. DuPont powder, l^oz. of shot, 
1 trap, 1 11-gauge felt, 1 cardboard wad: 
215(9) 254(7) 207(7) 209(6) 238 (10). A v. 224 pel. Diff. 47 pel. 
Twelfth series —Load: 2%drs. PuPont powder in Smokeless shell as 
before, wadded and shotted as last: 
262(28) 261(8) 248(7) 252(11) 215(14). Av 247 pel. Diff. 47 pel. 
Thirteenth series — Load: 3drs. DuPont powder, in Smokeless shell, 
wadding and shot as previously : 
226(4) 258(8) 208(9) 255(6) 237(8). 242(9). Av. 240 pel. Diff. 50 pel. 
Fourteenth series.— Load: 3drs. DuPont powder, in Smokeless shell, 
IMoz. = 415 pellets shot, 1 trap, 2 black edge wads. 
195(7) 294(16) 280(10) 202(5) 240(6). Av. 242 pel. Diff. 99 pel. 
Fifteenth series.— Load: 2$>£drs. DuPont powder, in Climax shell, 
primed, wadded and shotted as series 11. 
256(9) 228(5) 264(7) 239(3) 209 (4). A v. 238 pel. Diff. 55 pel. 
The values obtained are above the standard figures. 
The best results were secured with l£oz. of shot, which 
is nothing unusual. 
The next important question now occurring to the 
shooter is, how does the DuPont powder behave under 
climatic influences, how is it affected by humidity and 
dry heat. 
It was tested in both directions. The moisture test was 
a very severe one. The powder was placed in a ref rigera- 
