Aug. 11, 1894.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
119 
tor for thirty-six hours and here exposed to the effect of 
90 per cent, humidity. It had absorbed only a trifle over 
2 per cent, moisture, which is a very good showing under 
the circumstances, and the velocities obtained with the 
wet powder showed a loss of 15 per cent., which again is 
a comparatively small one. 
The dry-heat test was carried out at a temperature of 
120° Fahrenheit. After the powder had cooled it was 
loaded nnd fired. 
The values obtained did not materially differ from those 
secured under normal conditions. For wing-shooting it 
is essential that a powder should develop its gases quickly. 
In this connection the primer plays a very important 
part. While the Du Pont powder appears to ignite easier 
than some other nitro powders, the strong primer of 
course may be expected to produce the best and quickest 
ignition. This assumption is amply sustained by the fig- 
ures obtained at the 
Primer Test. 
Here the times elapsing between the moment of pulling 
the trigger and the moment the shot column quits the 
muzzle were measured with the chronograph. The fig- 
ures given represent the fractions of seconds elapsed in 
each case: 
Three drams of Du Pont powder in Climax shell: 
.0770 
Same load in 
.0728 
Same load in 
.0740 
S ame load in 
.0682 
Same load in 
.0670 
Same load in 
.0605 
.0774 .0760 
Leader shells: 
.0764 .0776 
Nitro Club shell: 
.0720 .0710 
"Rapid" shell: 
.0685 .0670 
Eley shell: 
.0660 .0658 
Smokeless shell: 
.0590 .0600 
.0770 
.0766. 
.0770 .0734. 
.0715 
.0675 
.0715. 
.0665. 
.0665 .0648. 
.0595 .0610, 
Average .0768. 
Average .0754. 
Average .0720. 
Average .0675. 
Average .0660. 
Average .0600. 
Summary of the Tests. 
By following the values given and comparing them 
with the standard values named in the several instances 
the reader will find that the new Du Pont powder may 
be regarded as one of the most meritorious propelling 
agents in the market. It is quick in action, gives a high 
penetration and a remarkably good pattern.5 
It is not affected by dry heat at all, and only to the 
usual extent by moisture. It is almost smokeless, pro- 
duces a light recoil and leaves no perceptible solid residue 
in the gun barrels, fouls them less than some of the other 
smokeless powders, does not clog the gun's action, nor 
pit the barrels under ordinary conditions. Its chemical 
composition and the results of the tests warrant the pre- 
sumption that the keeping qualities of the powder are 
good. Judging the general characteristics of the Du 
Pont powder and its properties as they were ascertained 
in the course of the trial, and comparing them with the 
qualities of other powders now in use, one is reminded of 
the old law of nature, according to which it is the fate of 
the old and good to eventually make space for the new 
and better. The Du Pont powder is a supex-ior propelling 
agent, and if not the best in use at the present day, cer- 
tainly is not excelled by any other. It is a powder of 
which every American sportsman, from the standpoint 
of American patriotism, has reason to feel proud. 
Armin Tenner, 
Supt. American Testing Institution. 
Notes From the National Park. 
Yellowstone National Park, July 28.— Editor 
Forest and Stream: There has been a good deal of ex- 
citement in the Park for the last thirty days, a part of it 
arising from happenings off the reservation, and a part 
from events within its boundaries. 
On July 7, telegraphic orders came to Capt. Anderson 
to send all his available strength to protect the Northern 
Pacifio Railroad which was threatened by strikers. Capt. 
Anderson accompanied his troop north and remained 
with it some time, returning about the middle of the 
month to Fort Yellowstone to attend to imperative Park 
business. The troop is still out but is expected back 
before very long. 
I see that copies of the National Park Protective Act re- 
printed from Forest and Stream are being freely dis- 
tributed to tourists in the Park. This is a most excellent 
measure; a good thing not only for the Park, but for the 
tourists as well. The average traveler cannot be ex- 
pected to know the law, but the distribution of these 
copies takes away any excuse of ignorance that might be 
pleaded by careless or malicious persons. I think that at 
each hotel in the Park there ought to be a free distribu- 
tion of copies of this law, so long as the travel lasts each 
season. 
It is understood that bids for the contract for the 
erection of a jail and commissioner's office are to be 
opened on July 31, and it is thought that the building 
will be ready for occupancy by winter. . Gen. J. W. 
Meldrum, the Commissioner for the Park, is here and has 
made a very good impression. It is believed that he will 
fill the office very acceptably. 
Last Friday a fire started near the Fountain Hotel, and 
just as it started Capt. Anderson reached there. It took 
but a very short time to get the troop out, and the soldiers 
fought it with tremendous energy, and ultimate success, 
for about two hours. At the end of that time it was quite 
under control, but a guard was left to watch it for 
twenty-four hours longer. If it had not been for the 
promptness and energy of officers and men, the fire 
might have been a very destructive one, and I have heard 
the opinion expressed that if the men had been twenty 
minutes later getting to it, it would have gone across 
the whole plateau to the lake and the Yellowstone River. 
Large game of all descriptions is being constantly seen 
and in considerable abundance, and from the southwest 
corner of the Park near Snake River, a number of moose 
have been reported. This is the corner that would have 
been cut off by one of the segregation bills which is now 
sleeping in Congress. 
I understand that Capt. Anderson has in contemplation 
the building of a fence inclosing a square mile on Alum 
•Creek into which he hopes to entice some elk and bison 
by next winter. 
A few days ago a tremendous grizzly bear which had 
been caught in a large trap near the slaughter house at 
Mammoth Hot Springs was sent to Washington. He is 
certainly the largest bear that has ever been sent out of 
the Park. The Attorney General has construed the new 
law as permitting the capture of animals for the National 
Zoological Park, at Washington, but the opinion was de- 
livered so late that it was impracticable to get any young 
animals this season. 
Careful examination of the dead buffalo originally 
found by Messrs. Hough and Hofer, in the Hayden 
Valley, fails to show that any portion of the carcasses 
was taken away. Of course, they were torn and carried 
off by wolves and other wild animals, but it is evident no 
attempt was made to remove the scalps and horns. It 
seems to me incredible that they should have died a 
natural death, and if Jnot they_must have been killed out 
of pure wantonness. 
Travel to the Park up to the present time has been very 
light, but just now the season seems to be picking up, 
which is gratifying to everyone, as hotel and stage com- 
panies have both made unusual preparations this year for 
the accommodation of travelers. 
So far as learned there have been no special infractions 
of the law and poachers are not as bold as they have been 
in previous years. Very likely they have heard that 
offenders can now be punished. Lazy Tourist. 
"Some Palpable Mistakes." 
The New York Tribune of July 31 had a,n editorial on 
"Some Palpable Mistakes." It was political in tenor, and 
the mistakes referred to were those of politicians. On 
another page of the same issue was what purported to be 
a statement of the game laws of New York. Some of the 
seasons were given correctly; a majority were given in- 
correctly. The seasons for deer, black and gray squirrels, 
hares (rabbits), woodcock and grouse (partridge) were 
given incorrectly, and the intelligent writer scored a 
double "goose-egg" on woodcock, mis-stating the general 
season and the local Long Island season. 
NEW YORK DEER LAW. 
The Attorney-General Reverses His First Opinion 
with a New One. This Fully Sustains the 
"Forest and Stream" and the "Brief." 
Since the form containing our editorial page went to 
press, we have received from Mr. John Liberty, Clerk of 
the Chief Game Protector's office in Albany a dispatch, 
telling us that Attorney-General Hancock has to-day 
(Tuesday) given a new opinion on the deer law. It reverses 
the one rendered last week, holds that the deer season 
for the State will open on Aug. 15, and thus fully sustains 
the Forest and Stream in the views expressed on our 
editorial page, and upholds the correctness of the Oame 
Laws in Brief. We have only to add that we had so 
much confidence in the acumen of Attorney-General 
Hancock as to anticipate that upon a closer examination 
of the statute and a more mature consideration of its 
terms, he would agree in the interpretation we had given 
it. We reflect the general feeling of the sportsmen of 
the State when we express our satisfaction with the out- 
come of the deer law complications. They were compli- 
cations which never should have arisen. 
NOTES FROM THE SALMON WATERS. 
Boston, Mass. — Editor Forest and Stream: Had any 
one told me while on the river at Gaspe that I would not 
send to Forest and Stream another chronicle of our 
doings while there, I should instantly have disputed it. 
But such is the fact, I must acknowledge that casting for 
salmon and admiration for the beautiful country claimed 
all my time. Now that I am once more at home, I can 
calmly look back and realize more fully what a matchless 
outing I have enjoyed. A more honorable, wholesouled 
sportsman does not exist than John Fottler, Jr., to whom 
the writer is indebted for all that he knows, and has en- 
joyed, of salmon fishing. 
Wednesday, July 25, I left Mossy Cliff Camp and 
turned my face toward Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Fottler and 
their daughter waved me adieu from across the river, and 
I trust that they are still enjoying the "dear old St. 
John." We had grand sport and plenty of it. I must say 
that I killed salmon to my heart's content (and not one 
was wasted either)— something 1 expected hardly ever to 
realize. To be sure, we encountered the usual number of 
dumbledories, moosefiies, mosquitos and sandflies; but on 
the whole, I think I rather enjoyed even these pests. 
Mr. Fottler invariably placed the cream of the fishing at 
my disposal, and as a natural consequence the pupil led 
the tutor in kills when the finish came — a result which 
he enjoyed as much as I. 
Thursday, July 5, saw Sir John Hopkins, of H. M. S. 
Blake, in camp for a few days with the salmon. He is a 
grand angler, and a genial democratic gentleman of the 
first water. A rather hard looking 18ft. greenheart rod, 
not very nicely lashed together with waxed strings; a 
suit of gray Nova Scotia homespun, encasing nearly 6ft. 
of stalwart bone and muscle, a large head, a kindly florid 
face, the whole surmounted with a stiff, narrow-brimmed 
gray derby hat, the band of which was decorated with all 
sorts of salmon flies — that's Sir John as I 3aw him. But 
couldn't he drop a salmon-fly on the water? Just as lightly 
as love pressed the hps of a sleeping babe. When you 
come to mention discipline, I guess the least said the 
better. He doesn't carry any into fishing camps worth 
mentioning, and I will wager that he can keep a half- 
starved camp full of men and women waiting longer for 
dinner and supper than any other man in the British 
navy. Sir John led nine salmon to the net and any num- 
ber of sea trout; and he enjoyed bis few days with Mr. 
and Mrs. Fottler exceedingly. Flag Officer, Lieutenant 
Sandeman and Private Secretary Rowe accompanied 
the Admiral, and they well represented the younger 
official element of the R. N. 
My score at the finish was thirty-eight salmon and one 
grilse, and they averaged within a fraction of 141bs., 
which is nearly up to the figures of Mr. Fred. Curtis on 
these same waters twenty years ago. My best fly was the 
silver-gray, with which I killed sixteen of my fish. 
Jock-Scott and the black-dose were nearly equal for 
second place. Going over the same ground again and 
with the knowledge I now possess, I think I should take 
out two varieties of flies with me, viz., silver-gray and 
Jock-Scott. With those two flies I think an angler would 
kill just as many fish as he would with twenty different 
kinds, and would save a lot of trouble in fly-changing. 
Now a word from the novice regarding weather and 
water conditions, and rising salmon. As far as I am able 
to judge, a rising fish will come under any conditions of 
weather or water. I have taken him with the sun full 
upon a still pool. I have had my best day on a rising, 
madly rushing torrent, so dirty that you could not see the 
bottom through a foot of it. I have had them rise well 
when the water was receding, and lastly I have covered 
nearly thirty miles of that same river in a day which the 
old salmon angler characterized as being perfect as to 
conditions, and had not a rise. Can any one tell why? 
Here was a day with the water at just the right pitch, the 
sun obscured, and in one pool we counted twenty salmon, 
but not a rise. It is very queer. Salmon and their 
habits have provoked as much discussion as some 
theological subjects of controvesy. I heard an expert 
salmon angler say this season that a jumping fish would 
not take the fly. Within twenty-four hours I had a 
chance to test that statement. Mr. Fottler's daughter saw 
a salmon leap from the pool right in front of the camp 
the next day. She called to her father and Mr. Fottler told 
me to make a cast over him. I did so and the first time 
the fly went near him, he rose and took it. I killed him 
and the theory also. 
To my mind, the most wonderful thing about this won- 
derful fish is its marvelous growth during its first season 
in salt water. It leaves the fresh water this season (if I 
understand it rightly), about a year old more or less and 
from 4 to 6in. length. It returns next season a grilse of 
from 3 to 7 or 81bs. in weight. If such is the case, I can 
understand why they do not care to feed iu fresh water. 
Mr. Ivers Adams, in speaking of the Nepisiquit grilse in 
your issue of June 16, says that he "never saw a female 
grilse." That's queer too, isn't it? What becomes of 
them? Do they loaf around a couple of years in salt 
water, or what? And his whereabouts while in salt 
water; another mystery. J. W. B. 
Too Hot for Fishing. 
Charlestown, N. H., Aug. 2. — Drought! Droughtl 
meets the ear as well as the eye from every quarter. The 
springs which supply our village with drinking water are 
all giving out again, the farmers are complaining of the 
want of feed in the hill pastures, and the trout brooks are 
almost dry, I crossed one in the railroad cars, four miles 
down the river, close to its mouth, night before last, in 
which, fifty years ago, I used to count my catch by the 
dozen, and there was no water running in it. A few 
still, shallow pools were to be seen, but a couple of bare- 
foot boys were busy in the bed of the stream turning 
over the stones, presumably for helgramites for bass bait. 
A month since I crossed the lower end of Little Sugar 
River, of which your correspondent "Columbia" writes, 
in the train and it had shrunk to the smallest sort of a 
brook. I am glad to learn that he had some success in it; 
I never tried it but once and that was late in the summer 
two years ago'and the water was low and the sun bright* 
and I had no luck. Although it crosses the town at the 
north end its nearest point to me is six miles away, and 
there are half a dozen brooks which were once good 
nearer, to which I could walk in the morning when a 
boy, fish all day and come back by another road; and 
since I have been home again I have not thought the 
fishing worth the cost of horse-hire. I have preferred 
to pay railroad fares and go further north, where I felt 
sure of the existence of trout. In fact, in old days we 
always considered Little Sugar, though it crosses our 
town, as rather appertaining to the fishing waters of 
Claremont, to which it is nearer. Still 1 have heard of 
one or two baskets of 6 or 8lbs. being taken from it 
early in the season by young fellows from this village 
who fish for the market, and who could stand the long 
tramp to which I am unequal now. 
Neither have I yet tried the river, for since the Con- 
necticut River Lumber Co.'s drive of logs went by, it has 
been too insufferably hot and bright to trust myself in an 
open boat on the water. One of my little granddaughters 
put my thermometer out in the sun Friday afternoon, 
July 13, and it went up to 121°, and it has not been much 
cooler since! I went down to the river for a swim yes- 
terday afternoon at 5 o'clock, and while there two boats 
came up, whose occupants had been down a mile and a 
half trolling and had not had a bite. This was, however, 
what I should have expected in such weather in midafter- 
noon. It is somewhat cloudy to-day and I hope for rain; 
if it comes I will have a try at the pike when it clears 
up. Von W. 
The Cascapedia. 
East Saginaw, Mich. — I got back from Cascapedia 
River, Quebec, about ten days ago. We stayed there a 
month; have a new cottage there just finished, and were 
as comfortable as could be; no flies nor mosquitos and 
nice, cool weather all the time. I had my wife and 
children with me and we fished every day. While I was 
not very successful with the salmon, yet my wife and I 
each killed our fish. The trout fishing was something 
superb. My largest weighed 5ilbs., and 1 had three 
weighing 51bs. each, and any number from that down. 
They were all taken with a fly and on a light rod. I had 
two salmon on my trout rod. One was not well hooked 
and got away, and the other, after running out a mile of 
line, turned around and came toward me like a steam 
engine, and the consequence was the little trout reel was 
not large enough to take up the line fast enough. 
Moose are said to be very plentiful down in that coun- 
try. One passed through a pasture field within a few 
miles of where I was fishing while I was there. The 
natives report that this game seems to be increasing right 
along. W. B. Mershon. 
The Forest AND STREAM is put to press each week on Tues- 
day. Correspondence intended for publication should reach 
11s at the latest by Monday, and as much earlier aspracticable. 
