10 
in the woods, if the main part of his vision is 
to be centered on his sights ? 
On seeing his game, he glances through the 
rear sight simply to bring it into position, then 
at the front sight to know the general position 
of his rifle, watching the game until he notices 
the sights come perfectly into his line of vision, 
and then fires. The first two movements, made to 
bring the gun into line, become unnecessary with 
long practice. The only requirement is to have 
sights distinct enough to produce a definite ret¬ 
inal impression once they come into perfect 
alignment with the object. The snap shooter 
becomes unconscious of his sights. 
The full correction for distance is therefore 
the glass to be prescribed. For the presbyope, 
the bifocal is the ideal combination. For de¬ 
fective vision, the rear sight in all cases should 
be an aperture close to the eye, which is prac¬ 
tically the same and gives the same result as 
the stenopaic disk in our trial case. It should 
be small enough to admit only the rays the eye 
can focus, but must be large enough to admit 
sufficient light to see the object clearly; thus, 
an extra size is necessary for use in a poor light. 
Our present military sight is unnecessarily far 
from the eye, making the very admirable aper¬ 
ture sight in it often impracticable. A new re¬ 
ceiver sight, approved by some expert riflemen, 
is now on the market, and it is hoped the War 
Department will at least permit its substitution, 
as it will be of great assistance to all with any 
visual defects. The front sight for these persons 
should be sufficiently large that its top may be 
plainly seen when the eye is focused on the 
bull’s-eye. The improved scores made with the 
new sights of this class on the Ross rifle 
(Canadian) prove their advantages. The use 
of the ophthalmoscope with suspended accom¬ 
modation will fully explain the correctness of 
these statements. 
In putting on the correcting lens, whenever 
possible, the final test, if lenses are at all strong, 
should be made with the trial frame on and 
properly adjusted while in firing position. Near¬ 
ly all shooters look either through the upper 
edge or over the ordinary glasses, thus making 
them useless or worse, by producing diplopia. 
The center of the lens to be used for shooting 
only, should be decentered up about i or 2 cm. 
and at least i cm. in. The lenses must set up 
very high, toric shape and if possible away from 
the brow, to prevent blur from sweating. The 
navy team for match work had the bottoms cut 
•off the lenses to allow the bolt to be withdrawn 
without hitting the glass. 
To protect the eyes from the glare and main¬ 
tain a more uniform light, a light amber has 
been adopted by sportsmen. Experience has been 
their guide. Judging from the many conflict¬ 
ing reports on the advantages of different- 
colored lenses, we may still learn much. If 
djdymium glass, being colorless, has proved its 
efficiency, it would have every advantage. Amber, 
euphos (greenish-yellow imported glass), etc., 
all absorb much light. The sportsman is awak¬ 
ing our conclusions. Something is necessary, 
more especially for the indoor range -work, in 
which electric lighting is used. Artificial light 
is prescribed. The io-spot is the inner 1-2 inch 
circle in a 1 1-2 inch bull’s-eye at 25 yards. For 
occasional shooting, this is not annoying; if one 
keeps at it long, the eyes give out. 
I have tried several tints of amber, euphos 
FOREST AND STREAM 
and amethyst lenses and find that all absorb 
considerable of the light, but the eyes in time 
fatigue so the black spot becomes gray and may 
entirely disappear. In careful shooting, the 
eye is kept on the bull’s-eye, steady pres¬ 
sure being made on the trigger until the front 
sight appears exactly under the center of the 
lower edge. My observations in the team whicn 
for two years held the championship in this- in¬ 
door shooting was that long before the season 
closed, every man complained of exhausted vis¬ 
ion, and this year, owing to the severe eye-strain 
experienced, four of the five were unwilling to 
enter another long contest. 
A mark made with a pencil is in the propor¬ 
tion of 80 per cent, to one made with ordinary 
ink; therefore, a standard jet-black should be 
adopted. A mercury vapor lamp with glass, not 
quartz, the irritating rays being absorbed by the 
glass, is possibly the proper illumination. 
The use of large glasses, instead of being dis¬ 
couraged should be encouraged, not only to re¬ 
lieve the strain from refractive errors and 
light, but also as a protection. Accidents from 
shooting a modern rifle, with our present high 
grade of ammunition, are usually from small 
specks entering the eye, which large glasses would 
prevent. With 0.22 caliber rifles, we frequently 
get powder burns from back fire, resulting from 
either overtempered shells or overloaded ones, 
or a piece of shell may blow back. This un¬ 
fortunately occurs in many of our best 0.22 rifles 
of present make. 
I have seen many bad results from shells, 
whole or part being thrown into the eye by back 
fire or the extractor. This is more likely to 
happen to any person standing at the side and 
to the front of the shooter. Pieces of lead may 
fly off between the cylinder and barrel of a 
revolver. Another danger, likely to occur to one 
standing in front and to side of line of fire, 
is that pieces of metal fouling or splinters from 
a poor bullet may fly off from the line of aim. I 
do not consider the “didn’t know it was loaded" 
accident—or the direct effects of a bullet, as 
these are governed entirely by the law of conse¬ 
quences. 
In conclusion, the eyes of the expert rifleman 
require greatest care. Full correcting lenses should 
be not only allowed, but constantly worn. They 
must be made high enough, in far enough and 
large enough so that when the head is down 
and the eye looking upward to almost its limit, 
vision will be distinct through the glass. 
The cylinder, if strong, must be rotated in the 
trial frame, with the head in the firing position, 
to determine that vertical lines appear as such 
with the glasses on; otherwise, the rifle will be 
canted and will shoot to one side. A toric lens 
is necessary, and for shooting in bright lights 
or artificial lights, a light amber or some other 
color is essential. 
For presbyopia, bifocals are preferable or a 
pocket lens should be carried to adjust the sights 
and do other near work. The front sight should 
be large enough and of color contrasting to the 
target, to be clearly discernible to the em¬ 
metropic eye without accommodation. The rear 
sight should be close to the eye and of such a 
size and shape that the light, being best through 
its center, the eye will naturally see the tip of 
the front sight through the center of the rear 
without accommodating, while vision is being 
centered on the target. 
John Martin Runner up at Eastern Handicap. 
Finally, to the ametrope, large tinted lenses, 
properly correcting the ametropia and snugly 
fitting, will more than compensate the soldier 
in relief from fatigue, and the protection of his 
eyes from accidents, than all the disadvantages 
at present urged against them. The frame should 
be of stiff material, solid temples with soft ear 
pieces. 
INDIANA FISHING. 
A range of hills crosses Indiana from the 
northwest to southeast from Terre Haute on the 
Wabash to the Ohio west of Cincinnati. It is in 
the hills where there are numerous small streams 
none of which are more than a few miles long, 
but they have volume and deep pools. These 
streams are free from sewage, mill and factory 
waste and fishermen who have been trying them 
say both the big mouth and small mouth bass are 
numerous, that the fishing is more satisfactory 
than for several seasons. Hartford City fisher¬ 
men make trips to the hill streams in May and 
June and to the lakes during July and August. 
Reports from the lakes as to bass fishing are 
favorable. But it is the fishing in streams that 
has the call among fly fishermen, and especially 
the fishing found in the short hill streams. 
Fishermen go by trolley or automobile, a day’s 
outing at either stream or lake is possible as in- 
terurbans are numerous and Indiana roads are ex¬ 
cellent. 
