564 
FOREST AND STREAM 
November, 1917 
BOOK OF 
THE BLACK 
BASS 
By 
JAMES A. HENSHALL, M. D. 
T HIS new edition is re¬ 
vised to date and 
largely re-written. Con¬ 
tains “Book of the Black 
Bass” and “More About the 
Black Bass.” Comprising 
its complete scientific and 
life history, together with a 
practical treatise on Angling 
and Fly-Fishing, with a full 
account of tools, imple¬ 
ments, and tackle. 
Forest and Stream: 
Dr. Henshall has given 
the angler a book which, as 
the oystermen say, is “full 
measure and solid meat.” 
The angling portion of the 
book is, without doubt, the 
best thing ever written upon 
these fishes. It is clear, and 
covers the whole ground of 
the different modes of fish¬ 
ing, and is accompanied by 
cuts of the manner of hold¬ 
ing the rod, casting, and 
diagrams of the mode of 
throwing the fly so that it 
seems to us as if the merest 
tyro could soon become an 
expert by carefully reading 
this book and following its 
instructions. Not only is it 
a book for the beginner, but 
it is one that no angler can 
afford to do without. 
140 Illustrations 
Net $1.75 
The Forest & Stream Book 
Department will supply 
the above book at $1.75 
each, delivery charges pre¬ 
paid. 
ADDRESS 
9 EAST 40th STREET, 
NEW YORK CITY 
coat the barrel a second time with nitro 
solvent by slowly pushing through the bore 
a loose fitting patch, and put the rifle away. 
Next day wipe out the barrel again with 
a dry patch. To your surprise the rag 
will come out black and dirty. This shows 
that the nitro solvent has done its work 
and neutralized the powder acids clinging 
to the steel. Keep wiping with dry patches 
until the rag comes out clean and then 
coat the bore, using a loose fitting patch, 
saturated with either mercuric ointment, 
“Corrol” or “Safetipaste.” Do not use 
vaseline or heavy automobile oil as they 
are liable to contain sufficient acid to pit 
the bore. For lubricating the action, 
“Homol” or “Rem Oil” are excellent. 
T HIS may seem like a lot of time and 
labor to spend on a little. .22, but eter¬ 
nal vigilance is the price of preserv¬ 
ing a perfect barrel, and only perfect bar¬ 
rels can make perfect scores. 
When in the field where hot water is not 
available, first push out the powder residue 
with a dry patch; dope with nitro solvent 
and wipe clean several times; then coat 
the bore carefully with oil to prevent rust 
as already suggested. 
Too much trouble, you say? Very well, 
it’s your rifle that will be ruined, not mine. 
There is no royal road to gun cleaning—it 
is just a plain case of “Patience, study and 
elbow grease.” 
BULL AND BULL’S EYES 
HEN a very small boy I used to hang 
around the wagon house on rainy 
afternoons and listen to the farm 
hands deliver glowing accounts of their 
skill with various kinds of shooting irons. 
Hour after hour I would sit on a wagon 
tongue and drink in those lurid tales of 
long shots and wonderful “kills” made 
under miraculous circumstances. Cards 
were cut at a hundred yards with .22 rifles, 
pistol bullets plugged quarters with mo¬ 
notonous regularity at fifty paces and cer¬ 
tain shotguns dropped birds dead at 20 rods 
and occasionally at 25. Finally a certain 
bowlegged hostler would start recounting 
the performances of his “44” Winchester 
and all previous records would fade into 
utter insignificance. Thus would these 
mighty hunters hold forth until the weather 
cleared up or supper time rolled round. 
Next day I would tote a gun over to the 
sandpit lot where a surveyor had pegged 
off a series of ranges for me and endeavor 
to duplicate some of these performances. 
The results were uniformly disappointing, 
and every time I asked one of those wor¬ 
thy gentlemen to give a demonstration, he 
was always “too busy t’do any shootin’ jus’ 
then” so I was forced to pursue my labors 
without expert assistance. 
Finally I made the acquaintance of Bob 
Clark, an experienced hunter who owned 
several fine rifles. He accepted my invita¬ 
tion to visit my range in the sandpit lot 
and proved to be a really fine shot. Fortu¬ 
nately for me, he was one of those rare 
individuals who can appreciate a boy’s 
point of view and enjoys teaching a young¬ 
ster the fine points of the game. This 
marked an epoch in my shooting career 
and from then on my progress was rapid 
and altogether satisfactory. 
One afternoon it rained, so I urged my 
new friend to attend a session of the 
wagon house club. He consented, but to 
my chagrin, left all the talking to the 
others; not once did he recount a shooting 
experience, although his instruction on the 
range was always rich with incident and 
anecdote. After supper I could suppress 
my curiosity no longer and asked Bob the 
reason for his silence. He noted my earn¬ 
estness and answered the question in the 
spirit it was put, and right there and then 
my former idols fell from their pedestals 
and crumbled into dust. It was a rude 
awakening, a bitter disappointment, but it 
did me good, and the wagon house club 
knew me no more. 
On the following Thanksgiving I attend¬ 
ed my first turkey shoot and, thanks to 
Bob’s careful coaching, won a bird over 
the forty-rod course. The wagon house 
club ■yvere also there, armed with a varied 
assortment of illkept guns, and they all 
went home emptyhanded firmly convinced 
that the match had been “fixed.” Even the 
bowlegged hostler with his famous “44” 
failed to connect and when I showed him 
my turkey he growled something about 
“tenderfoot luck.” I commented upon this 
fact to my coach, Bob smiled and pointed to 
the back of his buggy which was alive with 
birds. “There,” he remarked, “is the differ¬ 
ence between bull and bull’s-eyes.” 
All hunters and fishermen love to spin a 
good yarn and even the most conservative 
is sure to embellish the tale with a few 
tints and sidelights, for your typical sports¬ 
man is the most human of all men; but 
when recounting feats of skill with firearms 
in the presence of some interested small 
boy, I beg of you be very careful about 
the facts. A boy’s confidence is a precious 
and wonderful thing. Some of the finest 
friendships in my life started with the re¬ 
lation of master and pupil on the rifle 
range. In fact, the best recommendation 
a man can possess is to have it said that 
boys and dogs take to him on sight. 
The American boy is also a “show me” 
artist, and sooner or later creates an oppor- 
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 561) 
