187a 
139 
How They Do it in Georgia- 
SAVjLKNAH, May 9. 
Editor Rod akd Guk: 
Tbe first social gathering of the Georgia Game Association came 
off on the 7th iRMt. It was celebrated by a picnic at Beach Ham- 
moek, an island facing the oceaa, owned by Mr. Tho. Arkwright, 
who is a gentleman of a kind and liberal spirit, having given away 
fifty lota, to those of our citizens who promised to build sammer 
cottages for tl^m^elves, and also gave a large track to the New York 
Yacht Club, to erect a club house for their winter quarters. Mr. 
Arkwright wishes to make the island the Long Branch of the South 
I hope he may succeed. We left the wharf a little after 8 o'clock 
on the steamer Katie, w ith a full compleasent of ladies and gentle- 
men. Tbe efficient shooting master, Mr. J. P. White, was stationed 
at the gangway and took charge of each gnn, as they were brought 
on board, so is to prevent sny accident, and Make tbe ladies feel 
more secure. They were delighted at the forethought of the direc- 
tors and pleased with tbe orderly manner in whlck they carried ont 
their rules. Mr. J. G. Butten, chaimiAa ef the directers wss more 
than attentive and polite and very indefatigahle in his ardnons 
duties, be and the others were every wWre, loeking after the com- 
fort of the invited guests. We arrived e« the ground about half- 
past 10 o'clock, and after seeing the ladUe to the comfortable plat- 
form, the club repaired to the shooting grounds and the gyro pigeon 
w’as brought forth and the work comineaced in earnest. They set 
up the trap at 21 yards rise, and fired, each at two birds— and all 
having proved hit— the trap was removed to 41 yards rise, and they 
fired three shots and tbe parry w’as narrowed down to six on ties. 
They were W. P. Chaplin, W. H. Comnerat, W. N. Nichols, M. C. 
Murphy, W. H Shaffer, W. F. Scherff. 
Mr. W. N. Nichols was declared tbe winner ef the Silver Medal, 
amid the cheers of the Associatlan. This young man seems to be 
one ef fortune's favorites, having only a few weeks ago, been de- 
clared the best drilled man in our city and winniug the beautiful 
prize then given. He shot with a Parker gun, so yon see they are 
some of tbe Parker's in good hands, in our city. 1 must mention a 
little incident of the shooting of Mr. Connerat, he lost his last shot 
by pulliag off the wrong barrel (unloaded) and that being the rale, 
had to give way, he retired with a moody brow, hut presently re- 
turned with a smiling face and was tbe first to step forward and 
offer his •and to Mr. N. The leather medal was presented 
to Mr. Goram, he being declared tho poorest shot. He ac- 
cepted it with a good grace and replied he was only carrying out tbe 
rales of the association, by protecting an the game he shot at. The 
rifie shooting was good, Mr. Hershback being the winner, score 
10 3-4. Mr. W. I. Follisrd won the leather medal — score 53 inches 
The remainder of tbe day was passed Ih dancing and other amnse- 
ments, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves to the utmost; 
even tbe babies tried to set their very prettiest, for not one was 
heard le cry, or behave bad in ai y way, and altogether 1 must pro- 
nounce the first social meeting of the Game Association a decided 
success, and the picnic par excellence of the season. G. T. N. 
Ferrets- 
Milford, Mass., May 18. 
Editor Rod and Gun: 
Allow me also (as well as one other correspondent of your paper a 
short time since) to enter a protest against the use of ferrets in hunt- 
ing rabbits or any other game, as they will exterminate them in a 
few seasons as surely as used. Your correspondent faithfully des- 
cribes them as BLeakiiig along Sundays; and mark the good they 
receive from game so obtained, as I know several parties in this 
place who nsed vnot now thanks to our new law) to go every Sunday 
with their dog and ferret, and a poor day's sport it was to them if 
they did not bag from six to ten, and often twenty or more, and 
upon their return throw tbe whole lot to their hogs, scarcely ever 
eating any themselves. What think you of this kind of .’^port, 
brother sportsmes? I say it should be stopped; and if we take 
bold in earnest can we not do it? Let us try. 
Although our shooting in this vicinity is not the best yet we have 
some true sportsmen here and much talk of a club which 1 trust 
will end by a good live association ; we shall see. From all ac- 
counts, 1 think there were a goodly number of quad and partridges 
left over last season, but the i xtremely severe winter has no doubt 
killed many, some quail, to my own knowledge, having 6tar>*ed to 
death. Woodcock are not plenty, a bag of five to ten being from 
good to extremely so, yet we manage to get a few, and from the 
amount of w'ork and skill required one ftcls well repaid for what he 
does get. 
Already there are enquiries here, one of another, about the sum- 
mer vacation, and projects and hopes are alike talked about; of the 
Adiroiidacks and Maine woods, both of which places have their en- 
thusiasts here; but tnisincss for our town has been only so-so this 
winter and spring, and X fear that the greenbacks will be wanting 
for some of us. By all means, let ns unite in banishing from a true 
sportsman’s outfit the too much talked-of bottle under its various 
names heretofore deemed so necessary to every sporting sketch. 
Many do without it, yes, and if the truth were told at ail times, 
many had better do so. Having onee myself narrowly escaped re- 
ceiving the contents of a companiou's gnu, himself too much primed 
from the same pocket pistol so often boasted of by some writers, 
and w’ho knows but that many of our annual accidents are caused 
by the same thing? Then let us, one and all, condemn not only the 
practice of writing in its favor, but also banish it from all camps 
you and I, brotlier sport.sineii, may chance to occupy. I have al- 
ways done without it and bad a good time; yes, many of them, and 
hope for many more. Jxuu. 
Slaughter not Sport 
Hudsos, Mich., Muy 15. 
Editor Rod and Gcn: 
With but one exception, every article in to-day'e issue, has given 
me pleasure in reading, and that one exception, “Omaha Sport,’’ 
has caused me greater pain lliau all tlie jileasure derived from read- 
ing the excellent articles of others. I remember about a year ago, 
I think of rending an article from the same place, and I presume 
some of the same hunters, (I cannot call them sportsmen) took part 
in the slaughter of the gist. I had hoped never to see such a re- 
cord of destruction of game birds, printed in our loved Rod and 
Gex, as was then recorded in the American Sportsman, lirother 
sportsmen what do you thiuk of this Omaha Sportsmen's Club, are 
they entitled to the name of sportsimn? Think ol 21 geese, 
Ifil ducks, 190 head of snipe, curlew, etc., being killed at the com- 
mencement cf the breeding season, and then exclaim with me, that 
no true sportsmen w ill thus wantonly destroy game, even though it 
were in season. 
I look upon these side liunts as doing more to rid the country of 
game, than all the pot-hunters combined, why, because generally 
the best shots are chosen, and each side tries their best to out-do 
the other, consequently, a vast amount of noble game is destroyed, 
and in order to restock oiir fields, wood and streams, the most severe 
laws are required to protect them. Omaha, you may look to the 
time, and it is not far distant, when yomr own beautiful fields will 
be like the barren plains of the New England States, if you do not 
desist from this annual slaughter of your now plentiful game birds, 
by your hunting parties; 1 pray yon organize a Club of true sports- 
.nen, and ihcn work to get such laws passed as to protect your noble 
game, especially in the spring. By so doing yon will have the good 
will and G<xl bless y*« of every true lover of the Rod and Gun. 
WOLVEhINE. 
Barf for a Muzzle-Loader- 
Mobils, May 9. 
Editor Rod and Gdx: 
A very queer accideat happened to me many years a^o, which I 
have often thought remarkable as to result. I give it in full and 
ask if any of your readers ever experienced or heard of a similar 
blow up. I was about seventeen years ol age at the time, and now 
have a distinct and clear recollection of the whole affair. A party 
of four of us started quail shooting on a damp, foggy morning. I 
had cleaned my gun (a muzzie-loadei) that morning, and wiped it 
dry, as 1 thought. Soon after leaving the house it was necessary to 
reach a stubble field. While crossing tbe meadow, a snipe was 
flushed and pas.sed by me. I killed it, the gun going off perfectly 
clear. One of the boys picked the snipe up and came to where I 
stood just as I was taking out my flask to load. I cut off a charge 
and was pouring it in when the whole contents exploded, blowing 
the heavy flask head about eighty yards, splitting the body of the 
flask into halves and throwing them some thirty yards, badly burn- 
ing the boy standing by on the face and taking all his hair off. The 
remarkable part of the accident is that it did not burn me at all; it 
did not even blacken the hand which held the flask when it ex- 
ploded. The only effect that 1 conld perceive was a slight tingling 
numbness of the hand which passed off in half an htmr. The only 
way I could account for the explosion was that there was wet pow- 
der burning in the gun when I poired in the fresh charge, but I 
have not yet been able to see why my hand was not badly burned or 
mutilated by the explosion, Viroinius. 
Ditmar Powder. 
Poughkeepsie, May 6. 
Editor Rod and Gun: 
Having seen Ditmar Powder” advertised in ‘‘ our paper,” I pro- 
cured a package for the purpose of testing it at my leisure; and as 
there se?ms to be considerable interest and surprise manifested as 
to the result by several of my friends, I propose to send the facts in 
the case to you, and if you think them of sufficient importance have 
no objection to their appearance in the Rod and Gun, for the in- 
formation of other sliootists. 
To those who may not have seen the “Ditmar Powder,” I weald 
say that it is totally unlike our common black powder, both as to 
weight and appearance, as it looks and feels very much like pine 
sawdust. My first experiment was with 2^ drs. (Dixon's measure) 
and without any shot. The first report was Apish or not 
nearly as loud as the cap would have made alone. A seconi shell 
loaded in the same manner produced the same result, After the 
smoke, of which there was a great amount^llght chocolate color — 
had left tbe barrels,! discoven-d that the wads were still inside 
This was a poser in experimenting with an article that was said 
to be much stronger than black powder, to burn without smske, 
and to produce less recoil. Whatever my opinion was as to the two 
first claims, 1 w'as fully prepartird to admit the last. I next 
loaded a shell as full as it would hold with two wads on the top. 
This made a leeble report, and drove the wads with considerable 
force against a bnilding some ten feet distant. An examination 
showed that enly a small portion of the powder had been burned, as 
the space bet ween the gun and building was thickly strown with 
unburnt particles. 
I was by this time pretty thoroughly disgusted, and felt like 
throwing the balance of the powder into the street; and probably 
should have done so, and afterwards ridicnled the article, only tbj t 
I had previously loaded some shells with drs. and 1 oz. No. b 
shot to test the penetration. For a target I placed a sixteen leaved 
pamphlet against a plank thirty yards distant, remarking to my as- 
sistant that 1 did not expect a pellet would reach it, but that pro- 
bably he had better not stand between the gun and the target. 
Imagine my surprise at the report that followed — sharp but not 
ver>* loud, more like a rifle than a shot gun. If 1 was surprised at 
the report, I was astonished at the penetration. Tbe pellets liad 
gone clean through the pamphlet and were buried in tbe plank 1 
Two pamphlets were then put up, and the same result followed! ! 
Three pamphlets — forty-eight leaves — were put up, and again all the 
leaves were perforated! I ! 
At a subsequent trial 1 used a target of fifty sheets of stout writ- 
ing paper— same distance as before. I then carefully loaded four 
shells with 2 drs. Ditmar. and two with 3 dr.s. No. 4 ducking pow'der, 
using 1 oz. No. 6 shot In each shell; shells, wads, and manner of 
loading being exactly alike. Each pellet that struck the target was 
marked after each discharge, and when the target was examined 
after the four shots, the fact was brought out distinctly that, while 
the Ditmar had sent the pellets clean through the fifty thicknesses 
of paper, the black powder had i-eut tliein about half way through! 
A friend who carefully watched each discbaige reports that the 
smoke from the Ditmar was of a lighter color, and about one half at 
much as from the black powder. The recoil was quick and sharp 
but not heavy; and the fouling of the gun almost nothing; in fact, 
when used after black powder it cleaned thebarrels very thoroughly. 
In conclusion, I would say that, in my opinion, the Ditmar has greai 
merit as a sporting powder, when well confined with wads and 
loaded with shot. 
1 trust this statement maybe followed by reports from otlur 
parties, who may have tested the Ditmar; and if lh<ir experience 
coincides with mine, we have an article that will soon find its way 
to favor among shuolists. J. H. D. 
Patents. 
The following Patents, in which our readers are interested, wcr6 
issued under date of April 20 and 27, and May 4. 
162,142 Bird Cage, Herman Belmer, Cincinnati. A bird cage 
made in sections. 
162,149. Target, Chas. Buckner, Jr.. San Francisco. Vpou a ball 
passing through the opening in the target, a bell is sounded and tbe 
figure of an imp shot up into view. 
162,102. Revolving Fire Arms, S. C. Forehand and H. C. Wads- 
worth, Worcester, Mass. The cylinder locking and releasing me- 
chanism is so arranged that the cylinder is locked when the sear is 
in the half and full cock notches and released when in the interme- 
diate notch. 
162,208. Revolving Fire Arms, Rollin White, Lowell, Mass., 
combination of a revolving cylinder, an extractor for withdrawing 
cartridges and a lateral abniment with details as specified. 
162,224. Breech-loading Fire Arms, Frank W. Freund, Denver, 
Col. By means of cumbiuation as claimed, tbe breech cannot be 
opened while the hammer is at full cock, and when the hammer is 
fully down, it caunot be fully cocked until the breech has first been 
opened and the firing pm is securely locked in a retracted position 
after the breech is closed, until the sear is disengaged from the 
notch in the locking slide or the hammer is let down past the first 
notch in the tumbler — with combinations as specified. 
162,326. Cut-off for Shot-boxes, H. C. Wey, Hiawatha, Kaa. In 
shot boxes the discharge valve or cut off attached to the perf crated 
hopper bottom and consisting of an outer guide casing with spout 
and an inner taming and eliding recessed tube, adjusted by lug and 
guide slot to the •open and closed position of the valves substanti 
ally as shown and specified. 
162,373. Pistol grip attachments for the stocks of fire arms, Frank 
W. Freund, Denver, Col., a pisiol grip, consisting of a hand portion 
and a separate butt portion. 
162,431. Cartridge loading implements. Thos. L Slurtevant, 
Framingham, Maes. The instrument consists of ring or short cyl- 
inder, provided with rabbet and hooks. 
162,475. Revolving Fire-arms, H. H. Hopkins, Norwich, Conn. 
A cylinder for a revolver, fire arm provided with safety notches in 
the projection on the snrlace of said cylinder, said projections be- 
ing formed as described so that the hammer of the fire arm falling 
upon such projections, will not in practice force the metal of the 
projection inward into the space intended for the periphery of 
the cartridge head or form a burr or roughness that will interfere 
with the revolution ol the cylinder ii the stock of the fire arms 
162,481. Cartridge Boxes, James Lee, Milwaukee, Wis., consists 
of case covered edgewise to permit the cariridges to fit therein in a 
compact row, with their heads overlaping as shown, and carved 
sideways to adapt it to the person and the gun. 
162.512. Cartridge loading devices, Frederick Wohlgeranth, N. Y. 
A cartridge charger, consisting of a tube made with an opening in 
the side by which to (Marge the cartridge combined with a cap 
screwed in the top thereof and a rammer fitted with a conical head 
screwed on the end to fill a correspondingly shaped hole in said 
cap, by which the rammer is held up by the friction of tbe cone in 
the bole of said cap. 
162,582. Magazine Fire Arms, Fredk. M. Shinn, Leroy, Kansas. 
The chambers of revolving cylinder are open at the sides, and re- 
ceive the cartridges from the magazine under the barrel. The 
latchet which rotates tbe cylinder is attached to tbe ejector which 
works vertically in a guide in rear of the cylinder, and is operated 
by a projection on the grand lever when the breech is opened. A 
gate is hinged beneath the cylinder chamber to prevent the car- 
tridges dropping out during the rotation of the cylinder. 
162,615. Gottlieb Gunther. N. Y. Removable feed and water cup 
screens are constructed with inclined bottoms to direct the scattered 
food inside the cage. 
162,863. Revolving Fire Arms, Dexter Smith, Springfield. Mass. 
In a revolving fire arm an extractor rod in frjnt of chambered 
cylinder operating to eject the empty shells from rear of chambers 
and to rotate cylinder to bring chambers into position for that 
purpose. 
162,901. Cartridge, Eustace J. Cottell, Washington, D. C. The 
combination in a cartridge of disks, provided with flanges, shell, 
bullets and filing pin, as shown. 
A Squirrel has fought and killed a good sized rattlesnake in a 
Cincinnati show. The squirrel was intended to have made a meal 
for the snake, but refused to be eaten, and though twice struck by 
the snake, he iought his opponent and bit tbe snake so severely that 
the latter gave up the ghost. The fight is told in one column of 
the En(/utrer. It may be true but then again it may not be. Ever 
since the New York HerttUVs /.oologicAl scare, we feel dnbioiis about 
any unusually good piece of news. To confirm the story, however, 
we are told that the snake after being killed has been skinned, and 
it was found that several of the vertebaae had been bitten 
out by the brave stpiirrel. The snake did not appear to 
have spent much of its venom, for the snake exhibitor re- 
moved nearly a teaspoonfnl and a half of venom from the monster 
f iDg-bag. The squirrel promises to recover, and has been visited 
oy nnmbers of people. 
Saved from HiaiiwATNEN.— A stag hound recently saved his 
mistress from an attack of highwaymen. The lady was beii g 
driven to her home in the suburbs of Liverpool, late one nighi. 
when a man marked caught hold of tbe door and was about entering 
tbe carriage. Just at this momeut the staghound thrust its hcau 
out of tho window, which so frightened the robber that he released 
his hold and at the very moment that two of his companions had 
seized the horses' heads. Seeing him jump from the carriage, their 
ittention was attracted to him, when tbe coachman took advantage 
of it and by whipping the horses up umnaged to get beyond their 
ri.'ach . 
Reeve's Gun Felt.— This explosive is being used so much for 
sporting purposes in England that a company has been fonnc<t to 
manufacture it on a large scale. 
