4£8 
FOREST ^ AND « STREAM. 
XSxnsns z^ 3900 
hill pigeon, red imperial pigeon, yellow-fronted pigeon, 
black-breasted quail, blue-breasted quail, common quail, 
common gray quail, Eastern pointed bush quail, Indian 
butter quail, jungle bush quail, mountain quail, close- 
barred sand grouse, common sand grouse, coronetted 
sand grouse, pointed sand grouse, spotted sand grouse, 
pin-tail sand grouse, Anderson's silver pheasants, Ar- 
racan silver pheasant, Argus pheasant, blood pheasant, 
gray peacock pheasant, chukor partridge, black partridge, 
brown-breasted hill partridge. 
The above birds can be bought very cheaply in India. 
W. O. Sl'aisdell. 
Woodcock's Nest in Cornfield. 
WiLLiAMSPORT, Pa., May 8. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Is it uncommon for woodcock to nest in open cornfield, 
though there is swampy meadow without brushwood in 
the vicinity? 
A farmer, while plowing, called my attention to a de- 
pression near cornstalks containing one egg of the wood- 
cock, which had just been forced to leave that depression. 
The woods were distant about 300 yards, and were on 
fire for miles, and especially that part of them which is 
generally selected by the few pairs of woodcock which 
I happen to meet during my strolls through that vicinity. 
Could it be possible that the woodcock could have 
carried its egg from the danger of fire to the open and 
distant field? 
There is no doubt about these birds removing small 
young, though I never heard about the transportation of 
eggs by the woodcock. 
AuGtrsT Koch. 
[We have not heard of the removal by woodcock of 
their eggs, though this is believed to be done by some 
species of birds.] 
The Last New York Moose. 
LocKPORT, N. Y., May 24. — ^The date of the Utica moose 
was 1856 instead of 1850, as you have it in this week's 
issue. J. L. Davison. 
men's Association is in earnest when it says it will see to 
it that the laws on the subject of protection to our game, 
our song and our insectivorous birds shall be obeyed. It 
establishes the fact that a requisition will lie and that the 
Governors of Pennsylvania and New York are alive to the 
situation and realize that the time has come when positive 
action is required in the defense of these innocent ones of 
nature, that they are ready (all honor to them) to stand 
up and be counted on the right side. The officers of the 
Pennsylvania State Sportsmen's Association want it un- 
derstood that their organization stands ready to lend its 
aid to the cause of game and bird protection, forestry and 
fish protection in New York as well as our own State, and 
feel that a great stride has been made in the right direc- 
tion. Joseph Kalbfus, 
Secretary of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. 
0mtie^ md ffun. 
The Pennsylvania Export Case. 
Detective C. B. Johnson, of Luzerne county, Pa., ac- 
companied by Secretary Joseph Kalbfus, of the Pennsyl- 
vania Game Commission, armed with a requisition from 
Grovernor Stone, indorsed by Governor Roosevelt, ap- 
peared at Mt. Vernon, N. Y., on Tuesday of last week 
and arrested Samuel E. Thurston, John Bourne, Frederick 
Herroder, John Herroder and Thomas Oakle}'-, all of . that 
town, and all under indictment in Franklin county. Pa,, 
for violation of the game laws. The charge was that of 
shipping game out of Pennsj'lvania. As told in our 
issue of Nov. 25, 1899, the authorities had intercepted 
the trunks of the party containing the game and had seized 
their guns. From Mt. Vernon the men were taken to 
Wilkesbarre, where they pleaded guilty and paid $50 each 
in fines and the costs, aggregating $306. Secretary Kalb- 
fus writes as follows: 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your issue of Nov. 25 last year you published an 
article relative to the seizure of game in trunks at Mauch 
Chunk, Pa. I need not refer to that particular chapter, as 
the facts are fully known, but write, as requested, the 
close of the drama. Our law authorizing the taking of 
these trunks, etc., states that such apparatus shall be 
disposed of "in such manner as may be directed by the 
court before whom the olfense is tried," and right there 
came the rub in this matter. The gentlemen owning these 
articles had, at the time of their seizure, most important 
business in their own State that prevented them from 
arranging for a trial or settlement of our claims on 
them— at" least, they did not stop at that time, and have 
ever since refrained from coming over into our yard to 
slide. Last Tuesday, though an officer from Luzerne 
county (one of the counties through which this game 
was carried in their attempt to get it out of the State) ap- 
peared in their back yard with a paper known as a requisi- 
tion issued by Governor W. A. Stone, of Pennsylvania, 
and honored by Governor Theodore Roosevelt, of New 
York, requesting these parties to lay aside all hom.e mat- 
ters for the time being and as good citizens come over and 
settle, the presentation of these paners came somewhat 
in the shape of a surprise; at least T judged this was the 
fact from the peculiar throat movement and other efforts 
of the parties before they seemed to be sure of their 
ground. They were found to be gentlemen of standing 
in the community in which they lived, the trouble being, as 
T understand it, that they had been deceived in several 
particulars. In the first place, thev had been led to be- 
lieve that our Pennsylvania game law was a farce: that 
its enforcement was not thought of at home, and that 
for an outsider to violate it would be considered only a 
joke. The seizure dispelled that illusion. In the next 
nlace. they were led to believe they w^re perfectly safe 
from arrest so long as they avoided Pennsylvania; but 
being honorable gentlemen and seeing thev had done some 
wrnng. thev emnloyed an attornev in Pennsylvania to 
look after their interets and to settle any claim we might 
have uoon them. Here it seemc they were deceived 
asain. for their counsel in New York assured me that their 
Pennsvlvania attornev had written them that the incident 
was closed and the Commission had no claim unon them. 
The pre<;enre of the ofRrer appeared to clear the atmos- 
phere of all doubts. Thev were under arrest; habeas 
cornus nroceedings were started: the prisoners were in 
that wav transferred from the officer to whom the writ 
was directed to the custodv of the court: the hearing was 
continued f^'r a time, and the eentlemen then voluntarily 
camp into Pennsylvania and made such amends a<? was 
r-eouir«"1 of th^m. the minimum penaTtv and ro=ts being 
;mrinc-pd. To thie nroceeding T. as Secretan'^bf the Game 
rnmmicicion. entered no obfectinn. as the matn nurno^e of 
the pffnrt hnd been secured— that is. thp e'stnhh'^hmert of 
the faot th''* the Came Commte-^ion of Penn^vlvania is in 
earnest in "■-rvrlrT that the Pennsylvapin State Sports- 
The Gardner Electric Gun. 
L. S. Gardner, of New Orleans, has invented a cannon 
which promises to create a sensation in both the military 
and the scientific world. It is an absolutely new de- 
parture, and its possibilities seem almost unlimited. It 
turns accepted theories in regard to artillery simply 
topsy-turvy. It is a gun that pulls its projectile through 
by the nose instead of pushing it out by the base. It is 
open at both ends. It is made of light sheet metal or may 
be made of glass. It never gets hot. It can be fired as 
fast as it can be fed. Two or three shots may be going 
through the barrel at the same time. The muzzle velocity 
is at the will of the operator. The power is electricity. 
Mr. Gardner is well known in New Orleans as super- 
intendent of the Gardner Motor Works on Bayou St. 
John. He is a typical inventor and man of science, and 
in addition to the engine which bears his name, has 
turned out a number of practical and valuable appliances 
during the last dozen years. As an illustration of his 
versatility, he is the patentee of most of the delicate 
machinery used in modern artificial limbs, and also de- 
vised a cattle guard which has been adopted by many 
of the railroads of the Northwest. 
The electrical gun first suggested itself to him five or 
six years ago, but he experimented with it only far 
enough to be_ assured that the principle was corrett. 
Then it was laid aside for more pressing work, and only 
touched at irregular intervals. Last year a crude model 
was made and privately tested with success, but the in- 
vention has been really developed during the last few 
months. The principle of the gun is simple, and with- 
out the use of difficult technical terms may be explained 
as follows: If a short tube, say, for example, 6 inches 
long, is wound round with insulated wire, like thread on 
a spool, and an electric current is sent through the wire, 
the interior space instantly becomes magnetic and small 
pieces of iron or steel, placed at either opening, are 
drawn in toward the center. This is a familiar experi- 
ment in physics and is often performed before classes in 
the schools. 
If a 6-inch- rod is approached to the tube it is drawn 
in for its entire length and remains there poised. Al- 
though it enters with some force, it does not fly through 
and out, because, after passing the center, it encounters tlie 
magnetic suction or pull from the other side, which operates 
to slow it down until it reaches the end, where the two 
opposite attractions are counterbalanced. If, however, 
the current had been cut off at the instant it arrived at 
the middle of the tube it would have met with no re- 
sistance and would have darted straight through, im- 
pelled by the force which drew it in. Suppose then it 
immediately entered another 6-inch tube in which the 
same process was repeated, followed by another and an- 
other, all arranged in a straight line, it is easy to see 
that its momentum would be continually raised until it 
would acquire enormous speed. 
This is the whole secret of the Gardner gun. The arm 
is simply a line of short coils or hollow magnets, forming 
a continuous tube, and provided with a mechanical de- 
vice for switching on and off the current in each in 
succession. The switch which Mr. Gardner has designed, 
but which he will probably modify, consists of a thin disk 
with a row of metal buttons running from the center 
to the edge. This is attached to the breech of the gun 
and revolved at high speed. As it turns around the 
buttons come in successive contact with the ends of the 
wire, producing a series of indescribably rapid pulsations 
of the electric current. An opening opposite the line of 
buttons allows a projectile to pass from a feed box into 
the barrel with each revolution. 
The switch, however, is a mechanical detail, susceptible 
of alteration. The cutting in and out of the current is a 
problem that presents no special difficulties to a trained 
mechanic, and the vital point of the invention is the 
principle of passing the projectile from coil to coil. 
"Let us assume," said Mr. Gardner, in explaining the in- 
vention to a reporter of the Times-Democrat, "that we 
have a gun with twenty magnets. They might of course 
be twenty separate sections, but the same effect is secured 
by making a number of wrappings one after the other 
around a single barrel. The current is flashed through 
and the projectile darts into the first magnet section. It 
leaves it, traveling at the rate of 50 feet a second, and is 
taken up by the next and the next to the end, each sec- 
tion giving it, so to speak, a fresh push. The speed in- 
creases in compound ratio, and to secure any desired 
muzzle velocity is merely a question of having a sufficient 
number of magnets. 
"Now that I am assured of the correctness of the 
principle," continued Mr. Gardner, "the rest is chiefly 
a problem in mathematics. We can easily ascertain ex- 
actly how much magnetic force or energy is developed 
by passing a current of certain power around a coil. In 
other words, we can learn just how much of a 'push' 
is given to the projectile by each of the sections. "Then, 
knowing the weight of the projectile itself and the loss 
by friction, we are able to cornpute exactly how many 
magnets are necessary to raise its speed from nothing at 
the breech to a definite number of feet per second at the 
muzzle. There is nothing complicated or uncertain 
about the device, and I have every confidence in its suc- 
cessful working when a large service model is built." 
The small model which he has used in his experiments 
is most peculiar in appearance. It consists of a short, 
thick glass tube of an interior diameter somewhat smaller 
than that of an ordinary lead pencil, wound with three 
coils of wire, each constituting a miniature magnet. For 
projectiles he uses common round wire nails, from which 
the heads have been clipped, leaving a straight shaft 
about 2 inches in length. The little tube, with its three 
queer bunches of wire, is mounted on a block of wood, 
and when in use a nail is so placed that the point is just 
inside the glass. The instant the electric connection is 
made the nail flies through the tube, and at a distance of 
20 feet will perforate a half-inch pine plank. Its flight 
is accompanied by no noise, not even the snapping of a 
spark. Experimenting the other day with a single coil 
wound around a wooden spool, Mr. Gardner repeatedly 
sent a heavy iron bolt the size of a man's little finger at 
least 40 feet across his workshop, thus demonstrating 
the initial velocity that is set up. The muzzle velocity 
of a modern rifle cannon, with smokeless powder, is in 
the neighborhood of 20,000 feet a second. Mr. Gardner 
says confidently that there will be no difficulty in securing 
that or higher power with the electric gun. — New Orleans 
Ti mes-D emocrat. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Setback for the Minnesota Park, 
Chicago, 111., May 23. — Everything has gone along so 
nicely up to this time in the work for the Minnesota Na- 
tional Park that it is not pleasant to chronicle even a 
temporary setback in that very commendable underta- 
king. The following dispatch was received in this city 
May 22, confirming a personal letter from Speaker Hen- 
derson to the editor of the Times- Herald : 
"Washington, May 22. — There is believed to be little or 
no chance for the resolution providing for the establishing 
of a com„mission to take charge of an. investigation of the 
proposed Minnesota national park passing the House at 
.this session of Congress. 
"Congressman Tawney, of Minnesota, has the matter 
in hand and has about given up hope of getting recogni- 
tion from the Speaker for the purpose of bringing up the 
resolution. The Senate passed a bill covering the ques- 
tion, and the House has a resolution of similar nature, so 
if both branches took action the prospects for the opening ' 
of the forest reserve would be very bright. 
"Mr, Tawney says that while the Speaker is impressed 
with the desirability of bringing the plan to a successful 
culmination, he fears that if this park scheme is favored 
other members with park bills of less importance will 
demand that they be recognized and that their bills be 
given a_ chance. The Speaker does not want to do this, 
and so it |s probable the meritorious project will have to 
give way in the face of those that are objectionable, Mr. 
Tawney hopes to get the matter cleared up within a week 
or' ten days." 
At first thought this would seem to be a permanent side- 
tracking of the Minnesota park movement, even after the 
park joint resolution had passed the Senate. The situa- 
tion is perhaps not so bad as it seemed at first. If the pro- 
moters of some of the minor national park projects could 
be induced to suspend their efforts for the time. Speaker 
Henderson would probably not object to taking up the 
Minnesota park measure, which would not require an 
hour's time in the House of Representatives. If this suc- 
ceeded, the other parks might also. It is possible that 
some arrangement of this kind may be effected during 
the coming week, and that the bill appointing a commis- 
sion of inquiry may yet be brought up by Mr. Tawney. 
Col. Cooper will probably go to Washington this week, 
and if he does there is great hope that the matter may be 
arranged. Out here we believe that Col. Cooper could 
get a new lightning rod put on the Capitol building if he 
thought it ought to be done. It is certainly to be hoped 
that his earnest and unselfish efforts in this park measure 
will meet_ success, and meet it now. 
There is little doubt that the park measure would be 
passed at the next session of Congress, but that is a long 
time to wait. In view of such a long wait, the only 
satisfaction is that meantime there is not being a stick of 
timber cut, not even under the dead-and-down timber 
act, on any of the twelve Indian reservations in Minnesota. 
Col. Cooper has done that much already. He has kept all 
that pine standing where it was. This is a great deal to 
have accomplished, but it surely has been done, and 
Secretary Hitchcock stands firm in his position that no 
more pine shall be cut until this matter has been looked 
into. Tom Shevlin, of Minneapolis, the hero of the split- 
train incident of last October's trip, bought 86,000 acres 
of the best pine lands on the Red Lake reservation. As 
he got title to this, of course he cannot be kept from cut- 
ting the pine. Yet no more pine will be sold for the 
present on any of those reservations. Should Col, Cooper 
meet success at Washington, and should the commission 
be appointed, it is possible there never will be any more 
cutting of pine on the four reservations proposed to be 
included within the limits of the park. The park itself is 
no such formidable thing. It is less than forty miles 
square, and the Government can well afford tCi give the 
people that forty miles. 
A Young Meat Dog. 
There is one peculiar word in the English language 
which is not easily translated into any other language, and 
whose meaning is not conveyed exactly by any other word 
of our own. If we say a thing is "cute," we mean — •- 
well, that it is cute, and that is all. I have just received 
a photograph, and I can only say that the picture is "cute." 
It is a picture of a bird dog puppy, with big head, big 
feet, and wabbly looking legs, standing at a full point, as 
rigidly as any old dog in the field. Such a picture you 
will not often see, or at least not in photographs. The 
gentleman who sends it to me is Mr, Jas..F. Powell, of 
the Courier, Ottumwa, la. Mr. Powell writes enter- 
tainingly, and any one who reads his letter will note the 
real ring. I sincerely hope that both he and the little meat 
dog will live long and prosper. 
"I remember," he says, "that you wrote some time ago 
about the dog you had when a boy, and you have from 
time to time spoken of the "meat" dog, and as a rule you 
leave one with a good impression of him. In him I see a 
similarity to one of my two companions, who accom- 
panied me on my trips up and down a little creek in 
central Illinois, when I was about sixteen years old. 
