May 25, 1895.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
4 21 
"I claim for this Parker gun," said Capt. du Bray, 
lovingly fondling the most expensive of the guns shown 
in the exhibit, "that in outline, finish, symmetry, balance, 
ornamentation, in short every element of beauty and 
completeness, it is the peer of any gun made on earth. 
As to its shooting or its durability I need not speak, for 
everyone knows how our guns shoot and how they wear. 
We have never made so fine a gun as we are making now, 
and I believe no ore on earth is making finer. Look at 
this engraving. You see no longer pictures of dogs and 
game, but masses of close scrolls and lines, flowers, leaves, 
all making a solid and continuous mass of ornament. 
You will like this better than the old ways, but you do it 
cause the wedge simply goes further into its engagement 
and takes up any wear. It is a compensation without 
any screws. Yet you can take this fore end off with one 
hand and with perfect ease " 
One could spend a long time at the Parker exhibit and 
learn something all the time. It was a dangerous place 
to go unless one wanted to buy a gun, for honest enthusi- 
asm is infectious. Indeed, it must needs be a cold Amer- 
can who could help feeling an enthusiasm of his own for 
the beautiful specimens of gun-making shown in this dis- 
play. This was one of the educating influences of the 
Exposition. Let one treat it as he may, it will trouble 
him to find more satisfying looking guns than he could 
PARKER BROTHERS' EXHIBIT. 
unconsciously, you don't know why. The secret is, you 
are looking at the last word in artistic gun engraving. 
"Look at these barrels. Do you see the sheaf of wheat 
stamped in the metal? That is the stamp of Sir Joseph 
Whitworth. It means these barrels are good as wheat, 
good as gold. They are the finest fluid steel made on 
earth. They come to us wrapped in tissue paper, each 
tube having Sir Joseph "Whitworth's certificate appended 
to it. To the purchaser of one of these guns we give 
Sir Joseph's barrel number certificate, and add our own 
that the barrels named in that certificate went 
into that gun, number so and so. Our guaranty 
is thus perfect. I think there is no more perfect gun 
made. It lists $400. Here is another in Damascus, a fine 
pigeon gun, at $300. At $200 and $100 you have excellent 
high grade guns, modern and handsome every way, and 
of course, the more moderate buyer can find good Parkers 
all the way down the scale. Here is a beautiful little 16- 
gauge, and I own I can't help loving it even though it has 
hammers. It is one of our old makes, but it is still a 
sweet sixteen to me. In 12-gauges we fit you as light as 
61bs,2oz., and here is a lovely 20 gauge which would de- 
light the most fastidious of those Texas small-bore lovers 
of whom one hears sometimes. I don't believe a more 
perfect or more beautiful 20-gauge than this was ever 
made. It is good enough to eat." (Even when no one is 
around Capt. du Bray sometimes takes some of his favor- 
ites out of the, cases, to look at them just once more!) 
The display of Messrs. Parker Bros, is made in one of 
the same great cases which they had at the World's Fair. 
At that place there were 103 guns shown. Here there 
were 75, but a very complete line, from cheap grades up 
to the highest price pigeon guns. These latter are in a 
nicely padded revolving case, and being so accessible were 
perhaps more generally observed than the long double row 
of sturdy 12s. and 10s. within the big case. Even some 
8-gauges were on hand. 
The Parker exhibit was open and homelike, with no in- 
closing rail and no raised platform. It was right on the 
aisle, near the door of the main entrance, and conse- 
quently was much visited. ' I believe there must be 
500,000 of our guns in use," said Capt. du Bray. "They 
come in here and say, 'Ah, here is where we are at home. 
My brother shoots a Parker, or my cousin shoots a 
Parker, or my aunt's brother-in-law shoots a Parker.' 
And I tell you, they all swear by the old gun." 
Well they may, for the old gun is a thoroughbred all 
the way through. For instance, there was one plain, 
ordinary gun shown in the Parker exhibit which was 
snapped (on the empty barrels) 1,003,000 times before it 
went out of the factory. Then ifc went out to the World's 
Fair and was snapped there no one knows how many 
thousand times. Then it went back to the factory, and a 
boy was hired to open and shut it, cock and snap it, for 
two weeks all day each day, the boy doing nothing else. 
Then the makers took out the right hand mainspring, 
cut away the plates so the locks could be seen, and sent 
these two locks, the old one and the new, down to the 
Sportsmen's Exposition to have the gun snapped some 
more. If there is any difference between the strength 
and action of the two locks, it is such as the ordinary 
ear cannot detect. Locks such as those would wear out 
a dozen guns. They are, as their makers claim, indestruct- 
ible. Yet this particular pair of locks was no better than 
those put into all Parker guns. 
The cutting away of the plates over the locks of one of 
the guns showed the excellence of the conking device. 
"This gun does not cock with a twist or a wrench," said 
Capt. du Bray, "but you can see it is cocked by a direct, 
positive pull, not a strain. The fore end, too, is built with 
a wedge principle, so that it can never become loose, be* 
see there. No one ever doubted the excellent qualities of 
this typipal American gun, but once there. was a cry 
against all American gun-makers, "Give us more grace 
of outline." In all justice this cry shruld now be rele- 
gated to the past, and the force of this is unavoidably felt 
by any one who did his duty at the Exposition and passed 
a few moments with the Parker gun. 
Wiebusch & Hilger, Limited. 
Spare 63, occupied by Messrs. Wiebusch & Hilger, Lim- 
ited, of 84 and 86 Chambers street, Mew York, was a con- 
stant center of interest to visitors. Their exhibit was 
inspected it. It worked as effectively as a gun with double 
triggers, with the advantage that there was no loss of 
time or accuracy from transferring the trigger finger 
from one trigger to the other, as when double triggers are 
used. Another novelty was the recoil butt plate, which 
took up the recoil in a mechanical device arranged in the 
stock. There were also samples and models of the C. F. 
Franklin hammerless gun, which received many ex- 
pressions of approval for its simplicity and strength, and 
its easy cocking device. 
A light double-barrel lady's shotgun, of ,44cal., was a 
marvel of elegance and lightness, as was a single-barrel 
gun of the same caliber. Both were finished most artist- 
ically. There were novelties in Belgian repeating rifles 
and Flobert rifles; there was a partially made tube which 
showed the manner of constructing a Damascus barrel ; 
also a lock of a hammerless gun, consisting of five pieces, 
simple and effective in its mechanism; and there were 
some models of stocks beautifully carved. 
The exhibit of Stevens rifli s, included everything from 
the Small Hunter's Pet, Favorite and Sure Shot rifles, 
up to their largest grades. 
The New Ideal rifle won many friends. It is a first- 
class, high-grade, reliable and accurate rifle, a model of 
beautiful workmanship. It has a detachable barrel 
which can be quickly taken apart and put together. 
The Little Favorite also was much approved and admired. 
The rifles are famous throughout the land and great 
scores have been made by them. 
The Messrs. Wiebusch & Hilger had also a full assort- 
ment of samples of Smokeless Powder S. S.; Rifleite 303- 
450 for small and large calibers of rifle; S. V. for revolvers 
and S, K. for rook rifles. The firm claims for its powders 
the merit of superior high velocity, low pressure, reduced 
recoil, greater penetration, long range, regular pattern, 
safety, clean, quick and regular action, and that they con- 
tain no gun cotton, nitro glycerine or chlorate of potas- 
sium in composition; and that their chemical purity pre- 
vents any pitting or rust appearing in gun barrels, and 
that they are not affected by climative changes. 
The exhibit was surmounted by an artistic electrical 
sign which consisted of the words "Smokeless Powder," 
and the well known S. S. in the center designated the 
brand. The "S, S." was of blue electric lights, while a 
4ft. circle of electric lights around it appeared to re- 
volve. 
The affable and well informed attendants in charge of 
the exhibit were pleased to give every information to 
those making inquiries. 
The Empire Target 
trap and electric trap pull were shown by W. Fred 
Quimby. A full line of sportsmen's wear, manufactured 
by the W. Fred Quimby Co., was also on exhibition, as well 
as many beautiful specimens of Divine rods and American 
E. C. powder, mentioned elsewhere. 
The targets, traps and pulls were displayed to advan- 
tage, and among the thousands who visited the Exposition 
there will be few who will not remember the pyramid of 
Empires, surmounted by the golden trap. This trap may 
not be solid gold, but it is no doubt worth its weight in 
gold to many sportsmen. 
Empire targets, we are told, are made entirely by 
automatic machinery. "After the material is melted in 
large kettles on the third floor of the factory, it is run 
into the mixers on the second floor and thoroughly 
mixed with other ingredients into a plastic compound. 
From the mixers it is placed in the receivers, suspended 
over the machines on the ground floor, and by an in- 
genious mechanism just the amount of composition to 
EXHIBIT OF WIEBUSCH <fc HILGER, 
artistically and attractively arranged. It contained fire- 
arms of world-wide fame. 
This company are the sole agents of Messrs. F. Dumoulin 
& Co., Liege, Belgium, one of the oldest and best known 
manufacturers of Europe; also for the Smokeless Powder 
Co., Ltd., London, England, and for the J. Stevens Arms 
and Tool Co., Chicopee Falls, Mass. 
The exhibit of shotguns consisted of a full line of 
rxedium and high grade hammer and hammerless guns, 
in which were samples of the cheapest double-barrel gun 
up to the most perfect and finished self -ejecting hammer- 
less. 
A novelty in the way of new mechanism was a single- 
trigger hammerless, which ^greatly pleased all who 
make a target is fed, automatically, into the revolving 
mold blocks that pass, while other targets that are finished 
are being deposited on the conveying belts that carry 
them to the r ackers." 
The Empire electric trap-pull possesses many original 
features, "besides throwing known traps in irregular 
order by pressing a single lever, it will throw double birds 
by a single movement of same lever. Unknown traps 
are sprung without the use of an indicator in such a man- 
ner that even the trap puller will not know from which 
trap the next target will be thrown. The battery is guar- 
anteed to last a year when used constantly by the largest 
gun clubs, and when exhausted the batteries can be re- 
placed with new ones at small cost." 
