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LETTERS FROM SPORTSMEN. 
Dittmar’s Powder 
West Medford, Mass., May 4. 
Editor of Rod and Gun: 
Some time a^o I promised you .t detailed account of my experi- 
ments with Dittmar's new sporting powder, hut thinkine an inti 
mate acquaintance with it and the inventor wonid be more satisfac- 
tory to both you and your readers, I have delayed until the present 
time. An impression that this is a wood powder seems to obtain 
very generally and at the same time there is a tendency to confound 
it with a poor imitation of the original German wood powder, ami 
also Sc:.ultze's wood powder. Let us for once and all time settle 
the question. Dittmar's new sporting powder isnotawoodpow- 
der in any sense ; on the contrary, the body is composed of sugar, 
etarch and vegetable fibre in color a pale, clear yellow; in bulk 
very like cork shavings crumbled up, tasteless, odorless, very dry, 
but a ready absorbent of moisture which, paradoxical as it may 
eeem, appreciates rather than deteriorates it; burnt in a gun leaves 
a slight residuum in the form of a dry, almost impalpable powder; 
the smoke produced by combustion is so small m quantity as to be 
scarcely noticeable Chemical reaction alkaline. A I'ttle more 
than two months since my attention was called to this powder by 
an advertisement. I at once put myself en rapport with the invent- 
or, obtained a sample with instructions as to its use, and began my 
experiments. My instructions directed me to use a half drachm 
more by m tasure than black powder; settle it by tapping the shell 
and ram a little harder than usual. Caution entering largely into 
my composition I used 3M drachms, just one- half drachm less by 
measure than I used of black powder, double wads over the powder 
aud an extra blow when ramming. With a 1'3-gauge 8-pound Fox 
gun I flist fired six charges of Dupont's Duck Eagle No 3 powder. 
4 drachms IK No. 6 shot to the charge; pattern and penetration 
were carefully marked; the barrels were as usual fouled and h aded. 
In rapid succession now, six charges of the ne v powder were find; 
the first charge through each barrel cleaned it very perceptibly; the 
eecond more so; after the third the pristine brightness returned, 
and it needed only a slight wiping out with a clean rag to regam us 
previous polished condition. The recoil as compared with the 
heavy charges of black powder yvas so slight as not lobe noticeable; 
the smoke barely perceptible, the pattern a disappointment and the 
penetration a surprise. The target was a copy of the Galaxi/ in the 
center of a sheet of paper, 26x18; distance, 35 yards. The pattern 
as compared with the Dupont was poor, the shot being too much 
scattered and “bunchy.” The average penetration of theDup.mt 
was 50 leaves, of Dittmar’s, TO leaves; turning around two charges 
were fired dead against the wind; the vision was absolutely unob- 
acured by smoke, and the peculiarly pungent, nasty smell and 
smoke of black powder were more forcibly than ever brought to 
mind by their conspicuous absence. This gun bad been selecteil, 
tiiice, being a very close, hard shooter, and one that would bear 
heavy charges, it was thougut a more reliable test could be 
made than with a lighter gun. The conclusion arrived at was that 
with the single exception of being too quick to give a good pattern 
Dittmar’s powder was undoubtedly superior to the Dupont. A 
conference with the inventor followed, and three more samples 
numbered or lettered. A, B, C, were taken; alt of the same compo- 
sition but of different sized grains. Two 12 gauge "K pound Scott 
guns were used, and in all 57 charges were fired. With A 33-4 
drachms by measure loz. No. 8 shot the pattern and penetration 
differed so little from that made with .3K nrachms Dupont 
Duck Eagle No. 2. fcat it was difficult to distinguish them; B 
with 4 drachms li(oz No. 8 shot compared with 3 3-4 drachms Du- 
pont same charge shot; gun equally good pattern wiih slightly in- 
creased penetration. C, a fine grain powder was laid aside after 
two charges, being too quick, shooting hard and wil I . Alter these 
target trials a large number of charges of A and B indiscriminately 
were used iu shooting at a gyro pigeon, and some unusually lour- 
and difficult shots were made, where under similar circumstances 
Dupont’s had failed to carry the shot far enough to hit. This was 
repeated so often that it could not be a niattor of chance or doubt 
With the rifle I have used but little cf this powder, but I have 
been witness to trials by the inventor and have seen the results of a 
large number. One result has been constant; a marked and unques- 
tionable superiority of Dittmar’s powder over that of Hazard. Du- 
pont, and Laflin & Rand. The rtfles used were a Remington used 
for the Vienua Exposition; a Sharps made for the Mechanics’ Fair 
at Boston, and several calibres of the .Maynard. I leave you to im- 
agine my delight at the discovery that at each and every trial the 
Maynard performed the best; and some of the tests were such as 
few riflei of any maker would bear uninjured; for instance, one 
trial of 5,9 :0 consecutive over-charges fired from a Maynard without 
Injury to any part. Lest you should fancy that my penchant for the 
Maynard colors my judgment. I hasten to say th.st Mr. Dittmar, who 
had no choice at first, alter firing over 20,000 charges during the past 
six moBths, unhesitatingly gives the palm for accuracy and penetra- 
tion 1 1 the Maynard. With black powder, the greatest penetration 
from a distance of -200 yards was 9X inches; with Laflin & Rand, 
Hazard 8K inches; his own rifle powder 15 inches, and the bullet, 
in this instance fired from a Sharps’ Creedmoor passed through the 
target and was plainly seen to strike the water of a creek nearly 200 
yards beyond. In this connection let me mention that two of the 
American team have used this powder at Creedmoor, and have ex- 
presssed great satisfaction at the results. 1 1 can be truthfully said 
that in po nt of absence of smoke, cleanliness and recoil, Dittmar’s 
powder has no equal; in pattern and penetration it at least equals, 
if it does not surpass every kind of black powder. Some absurd 
statements have been made in regard to its liability to strain a gun, 
and its being dangerous to use in a breech-loader. Mr. Dittmar is a 
living proof that with no more than the care every wise man exer- 
cises in using gunpowder no accident can happen I, myself, am 
cognizant of three accidents during its use, and wish to remark 
that had the same carelessnees been shown in the use of black pow- 
der all three would have undoubtedly been serious, if not fatal, in- 
stead of only slightly iiijuiing the gun aud giving the users a good 
lesson. A few words on the manner of using this powder and I am 
done. It being four times as bulky when loose as ordinary powder, 
a little more than the usual charge of measure should be uaed, and 
veil settled by llghUy (apping the shell, then lammed ivell home, 
but not ex' raordinarily hard As it burns slower than black pow- 
der, the wads are started gradually, the full force is gained just in 
the direction most needed, and necessarily the recoil diminished 
without loss of force; indeed so great is the gain of force that ex- 
periments made at the Springfield arsenal show a 100 feet per sec 
ond higher velocity than black powder. It will be readily teen 
what an advantage this high velocity will be to the wildfowl shoot- 
er, he not only being able to reach birds flying “wild ’ but crippled 
birds which are now left in the hands of nature. I cannot but f '#1 
that I have been singularly fortnnite in having the opportunity to 
test this powder with the inventor, and if my imperfect testa ahall 
re.sult in any good to a brother sportsman I shall feel amply repaid 
for the time and labor spent on them. MEDictta. 
The Sporting Man. 
Montello, N. Y. May 1. 
Editor Rod axd Gun: 
111 No. 16, vol. 4 of the •‘American Sporfaman** an article ap- 
pear.Td entitled “The True Sportsman. “ I will now gire mj opin- 
ion of “TU« Sporting Man*’ in ultra companion to the former. No 
two differ more widely in nature, thought and action than there, 
which are ro frequently and crroneouj^ly esteemed the lame. The 
sporting man it is true takes pride in calling himself a sportiman. 
as does the highwayman in calling Inmself '• knight of the road.’ 
And from this comes the only too common belief that the terms arc 
synonymous. The vocation of each are as far apart aa the antip- 
odes. While the Sportsman is es>entially a business man. following 
some honorable avocation, the sporting man (or “sport,” as he is 
more generally known) is by ocenpation a gambler, and oft timt'^ 
worse. The race-courses, cock-pits, etc., are his places of resort’ 
not as means of recreation hut of g tmbling and caroming. A gen- 
uine “turfman’' will not ally with him, save so far as their interests 
are alike, which is really but little. The turf is an honorable 
sport barring the inevitable concourse of sports at every race, and 
the wrangling over disput dwairers. With these leech-like atten- 
dants the turf is generally considered somewhat disreputable. A 
sporting man when in lack, (or * flush" as he terms it) is the most 
conceited of dandies— expensive jewelry and all fine in clothing- 
bui when the funds .ar * gone, behold a street loafer in full glory. 
Anothir form of the sporting man is thr prize ring pugilist making 
sport of a game ef fisticuffs for a wnger, and taking pr=de in 
showing his brute strength, bulldog pertinacity, and skill in boxing 
to an audience of his own profession. This is the most degraded of 
all tlitt various forms that different sports assume. Such barbarity 
brings forcibly to mind the days of the ancient Romans, with the 
scenes of pitting a tiger against a man in the large arena for the 
gratification of thousand'^ of spectators, with the difference in our 
favor, however, that suet* scenes are not sanctioned by the masses. 
It will readily be seen how lit’lc the true sport-man resembles 
either of the two former The one, noble, nature loving, a gentle- 
man in every sense of the word, and the other a romipt gambler. 
pagiUst, etc. Is the picture overdraw n? 1 da not think it show^ 
either in any except hii true colors. He who can see any chance for 
real sport in pugili-m. gambling, dogfighting and kindred diversion- 
of thc‘’8pori" may lake exceptions to these Incs But candidly what 
eomparison can be had between this and the invigorating manly 
pastime of field sports and fishing. 
Daitiel Webster was an ardent disciple of Walton. Sir. Walter 
Scott loved shooting ani fishing with a zealous heart. At the 
preient day m my of the most brilliant lights of the I'terary and 
0 ''ieDtific world are enthusiastic sportsmen and anglers. When such 
men as ElUot Cones, J. D. Caton, and others arc included among 
them, there is no fear of being jndged as “pports” by those who 
know the term in its true sense. Fred. 
Doq Breaking. 
Peotone, III., May 1. 
Editor Rod and Gun: 
Great confusion arises from the fact that scarcely any two dog- 
breakers use the same code in training their dogs, consequently 
when tae do;;s are in the field, nnless their masters use the same 
words as the breaker, thev act badly, seeming to disobey order« 
which are perfectly noinrelligihle to them, and are punished for a 
fault (?) which is wholly attributable to a lack of uniformity in 
orders. I once had a setter dog. broken by myself, that worked as 
well as need be with me, A friend, a good sportsman who conld 
handle dogs properly, borrowed him one day, and at night when he 
retnrned him, he complimented both the dog and myself by calling 
him an “ill-bred enr," “not worth a cent.” I found by enquiry, 
that hie words of command were different from mine, as also his 
manner of hunting a dog. Shortly after 1 was out wiih him, and 
worked the dog myself. He saw where the trouble had been at once 
and owned up that I had as good a dog as he would wish for, “but" 
said he, “I should hav-* either to learn your way of hunting him, or 
te ch him mine.” 
Some sportsmen have their dogs point “dead” before fetching, 
others allow them to fetch without previously indicating that the 
bird is found. I think the former method is liable to objections, 
the principle being that it tends to destroy a dog's staunchness. 
For instance, if it shonld happen to be a- live bird that the dog 
points, when told to “fetch.” he flushes the bird, and after a few 
repetitions of this, he will be very apt to break in on his point and 
flnsh birds, without orders, and I consider this the worst of all pos- 
sible faults. 1 believe that a dog knows whether he is on the trail 
of a living bird, or only scents a dead one, and if he is allowe J to 
brin? in the dead ones, without pointing, he will never break his 
point on live on**. 
Following is a vocabulary of all the terras which are aecessary in 
breaking a dog, and I wish sportsmen wonid adopt them all over the 
country: 
To stand— “ Toho:” drop to shot — “Charge:” come behind — 
“Heel; move *'antionsly — “Steady;” rise from the charge— “ Hold 
up;” hunt for dead bird— “Seek dead;” if the sportsman wishes his 
dog to point, before fetching dead, let him use the last command, 
and after the dog has pointe 1 the word ‘fetch,” is the only’proper 
one to be u«e l. To set a dog to work, the words “hie In” together 
with a wave of the band in the direction you wish him to go, is auf- 
flcleuL The words “hie on” after th® command “hold up,” should 
be used to set the dog at work again. It seems to me that the fact 
of hortds helog broken to oni/ona words is s strong argomeat In 
favor of adopting the same plan with dogs. VTho ever heard of a 
man breaking a horse to the word “ stop ” instead of “whoa,” and 
why should we break our dogs to the word “heed" instead of 
‘toho,” and others equally as objectionable. Instead of saying 
that a dog “hunted about the field,” say that he “quartered his 
ground.” He “breaks his charge” and does not “jump op and run 
after the birds.” When he brings in game he “retrieves" it. If he 
IS not well broken he will sometimes “flush” the bevy, but he never 
“scares up the flock.” The birds generally “fly to covert,” when 
disturbed, but the sportsman “marks them down.” The above 
does not really belong here, but the remarks are good ones and 
should be followed by sportsmen, they are taken from Hooper’s 
“Dog and Gun,” an entertaining little book, on field sports. Ido 
not pretend to be an adept at breaking dogs, but 1 have my ideas on 
the subject, and as I have broken a few dogs for myself and friends, 
it may not be out ot place for me to tell bow I did it. I began with 
the pup when four months, and first taught him to stop at a word, 
no matter what he was doing. To do this I used when be was eat- 
ing, to let him get w’ell started wath his meal, and then pnll him 
away from the plate, saying at the same time “loho,*’ “tobo.” 
After a short while he got used to the word, and would stop at once 
when I uttered it. After that I taught him to advance carefully by 
holding him by his collar and letting him walk very sb wly towards 
his food, uttering the w’ord “steady,” ‘‘steady,” frequently. When 
he had learned this, the next step in his education, w’as to make him 
drop to shot. I accomplished this, by firing a pistol, and at the 
report forcing him te the ground, with his head on his paws repeat- 
ing the word “charge,” To make him follow me, I tied a line to hit 
collar, and letting him get a little ahead, I W‘>uld pull him back, 
«aying at the same time “ heel.” To rise, after dropping to shot, 
the words “holdup” shonld be used, and this command i> taught 
by pulling the pupil np from his position of charge uttering the 
words as you do so. I never gave him a lesson cf more than an 
hour’s duration, and generally limited them to half an honr, for too 
long a lesson is, (in my mind) alm'ist as bad as none at all. To 
t ach a dog to retrieve (a id I would advise nil sportsmen to hava 
their dogs tanghl to do this,) I never use anything hard, like a rub- 
ber ball, but should always use either an old glove, or make a soft 
worsted ball for the purpose. If anything hard is used, it fends to 
in ike the dog hard mouthed, and he will be apt to injure a bird 
while bringing it to you. Never punish a dog unless you are sure 
the doj understands why he is punished, and always punish him aa 
soon after the fault is committed as possible, if you wait two or 
three hours or days, the dog does not know why he is punished, and 
it raises a revengeful spirit in h s heart, which is not easily forgotten. 
I have digressed consi crably from the main po’nt. but hope that 
it will be pardoned. The reason I have mads the above remarks on 
training, is because there are a great many sportsmen who are not 
able Co place their dog with a trainer, on account of the cost, and 
what 1 have said is for them. It seems very strange to set the old 
“Sportsman" in its new dress, but on the whole I think I like it 
better, and I do think after all that the name Rod and Gun is more 
'ippropriate. and Cells at once what sports the piper Is coufined to 
In my opinion the “A\merican Sportsman” was always ahead of ali 
other sporting papers, and I doubt not, that under its new name it 
will still bold the same place ill the hearts of, its admirers, among 
whom you may place. • T. Umbellus. 
The Dog for the Prairie. 
Algona, Iowa, May 1. 
Editor Rod and Gun: 
I find in your paper many Letters from Sportsmen that ar® of 
great interest to roe, and I am particularly interested in the letters 
in regard to the hunting qualities of the Setter and Dropper, and 
hope before long that some of the best droppers and setters will be 
brought together to try their mettle. For fourteen years I spent 
about three months in the year shooting quail, ruffsd grouse, wood- 
cock, snipe, chicks, and golden plover. My burning ground was in 
.Vew England, and most of it within twenty miles of Boston. I 
thought no dog was fit to use but a setter, but soon after I came 
west to N. W. Iowa, I found I was a little mistaken. I had been 
here but a short time, when a young fellow invited me “to take a 
bunt with him.” He said he had a fair dog for chickens and that 
there were quite aquuntiCy of birds. He did not have to ask methe 
^econd time to go. 1 had n ver killed any prairie chickens, but had 
always beard that it was fine sport, besides I was very curious to 
see bis dog work. He told me to be at bis home about 4 o’clock 
the next morning. I was on hand, and found him and his dog 
ready. His dog was a cross between the setter and pointer. A 
large, strong, powerful dog. We went ont into the prairie, and the 
dog began bis woik, and such work, I had never seen a dog do be- 
fore. It seemed to me to be perfection. We shot chickens over 
him about three hours, and I do not think his master spoke to him 
at all. Not even to call him by name, and be did not flash a single 
bird. The temptation to own that dog was loo strong ler me, and 
fore I got to town that day I was his owner. 
I have never seen a dropper since I came here, that did not make 
a good dog for all work. My brother and I keep three hounds, one 
pointer, one setter, and one dropper, and we find the dropper to be 
the dog for all work. He can stand the dry prairies where it is 
almost impossible for a setter to work without water. He will go 
into the cold ice water after docks and geese when the pointer 
shrinks back. In fact, he is always ready for work. Within the 
past two years there has been over one hundred setter and pointer 
doge brought here, and I have never seen one that could work two 
days together. Three pointer dogs were brought here last fall from 
Scotland. The gentleman that brought them here used them once, 
and was satisfied. He bought another dog to hnnt with, and sent 
the three back to Scotland. Our spring shooting has been line; 
ducks and geese have been very plenty, and the prospect is that we 
shall have more chickens than ever before. Every morning we can 
see tbou-^ands of them. 
I think your correspondent, Mr. A. B. Laraberton, makes a mis- 
take in regard to the “Canvas-back duck breeding in N W. Iowa.” 
I am somewhat familiar with the lakes in N. W. Iowa, aud S. W, 
Minnesoia, and at one time shot over fifty Canvas-backa at Spirit. 
Lake. All the settlers agree that they do not breed there, and that 
they have never been able to find a single neat. 1 have leen Red* 
bewlB iLer* Ui*t c9)Ud Aci 6/, wiU tLink (LeM miut lir*ed Utgrt, 
Dm XoBiM. 
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