
738 

FOREST AND STREAM. 

the deceased, in the 
an American sportsmen, 
EST AND STREAM may be 
by hope that if he were 
some reader of For- 
able to identify him: 
‘Last week Supt. Sullivan was at Gull’s 
Marsh making an inquiry into the mystery 
surrounding the death of a man, whose body 
was picked up on Sept. 14. We learn that 
nothing was found by which the body could 
identified. The supposition that the man 
met his death by foul play is not so strong 
as at first. The headless body was found in 
the water at low tide. It was devoid of coat, 
and the shirtsleeves were gone tothe shoul- 
be 
ders. On the waistband of the drawers were 
two large letters, ‘W. M.’ The buttons on the 
pants were of common horn, excepting one 
and that bore the words, ‘J. H. Ames, Toron- 
to. The boots appeared as though they had 
never been worn on shore, as the number on 
the soles was not erased. One of the hands, 
attached to the forearm, was found two days 
later about 200 yards from the body, and the 
other hand was found three or four days after- 
ward near the same spot. The body was ex- 
humed, and Dr, Parsons claimed that the holes 
underneath the collarbone were not caused by 
bullets, but probably by birds or sea worms. 
Supt. Sullivan has taken the clothing to St. 
John’s, and will hold them pending further 
inquiries. Although a persistent search was 
made, the man’s head was not recovered. 
Quite near to where the body was found, a 
lobster pot was picked up. It was of a make 
quite different to those used on the coast, and 
the fishermen had never seen one like it be- 
fore. The belief is pretty general that the un- 
eee man was an emigrant, and must 
have fallen overboard from a ship passing out 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence.’ 
Js GARROLE. 
Grouse Scarcity in New England. 
Boston, Novy. 2.—Editor Forest and Stream: 
During the summer the executive committee of 
the Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective 
Association Holds no meetings, and the first 
monthly meeting for the season was held Oct. 
29. The PEE of members of the association 
under the new by-laws devolves upon this com- 
mittee. Three 


names were added to the mem- 
bership list, Messrs. John Lawrence, of Groton: 
Wm. P. Bailey, of Needham, and Charles F. 
Flett, of Melrose. It was decided that a meet- 
ing of the Legislative Committee should be 
held Nov. 15. President Brewster stated that 
there is now no protection for pheasants in 
Massachusetts, for the reason that there are 
no Mongolian pheasants in the State. Those 
we have are chiefly the ring-necked variety. 
his is an illustration of the value of real 
scientific knowledge as against nature faking. 
Mr. Charles H. Taylor, Jr., said that about 
the grounds of the New England Kennel Club 
in Braintree, Italians employed in the quarries 
lave been doing much shooting of song birds, 
and Mr. J. A. Jeffries reported a similar state of 
lings in the neighborhood of quarries in 
Swampscott. Herman S. Fay, Esq., of Marl- 
oro, reported that partridges had never been 
scarce in his neighborhood as this year. A 
SO 

young man who went into Vermont for 
partridges early in the season saw very few, but 
ater going upon the hills he found a good 
many, from which it might be inferred that the 
gunners have not been Jooking for the birds 
in the right localities, and later on they may 
be found in considerable abundance. 
President Brewster spoke of the great number 
of goshawks that have been seen the past year, 
and said they had pagan killed many par- 
tridges. Mr. Taft, of Whitinsville, reports hav- 
ing taken several the with his dog, but did not 
shoot or see many ruffed grouse as usual, 
and he is still of the opinion that Reynard ae 
many sins to answer for as the arch- de stroye 
of game. He spoke of a farmer in his Her 
whose chicken-pens were robbed at a season 
just before hay cutting, and on mowing about 
an acre not far oe his house the crop con- 
sisted of chickens’ feathers and hay in about 
equal proportions. ne Charles Clark Munn, 
as 
of Springfield, who is just about finishing his 
new book, “Boyhood Days on the LEHR | 
writes that he has found time for a couple of 
outings on which he flushed but three grouse 
and not a solitary quail. He thinks the cold, 
late spring accountable for this condition He 
favors a close season for the next three years 
or else cut down the shooting season to a couple 
of weeks. A SOLES BOSE writing from 
Warren says on account of the cold spring there 
were practically * ‘no partridges raised about 
here” the past season, and he suggests that the 
association send out posters urging sportsmen 
to kill none in November and thus save the 
necessity of a close season for one or two years. 
tle says he could start more birds the first of 
December last year than he can to-day. 
Of a somewhat different tenor is a letter from 
a hunter of large experience in the northern 
part of Worcester county. He and a friend, 
one afternoon, shot five woodcock and three 
grouse; in an all-day hunt, two guns, three 
woodcock, six grouse; One forenoon, two guns, 
two woodcock, three grouse; all day, two:guns, 
ten woodcock, two grouse. He says he knows 
where there are “‘several bevies of quail, but we 
shall leave them to increase another year. He 
has just made a trip to Cape Cod and says 
“quail have done splendidly there this year.’ 
Aiter a few weeks more it will be possible to 
sum up the upland bird situation in the State 
more accurately. Meantime, it is hoped all 
hunters will be moderate in their kills. 
Mr. Southworth writes that a warden is 
greatly See at West Wareham (known as 
‘Yremont), where there are many Italians, who 
are reported to be shooting everything. This 
is a section of the State whose good covers and 
streams are numerous. 
This has been a record week for fox-hunting. 
The New England Club has had a large turn- 
out at Ware. Mr. C. H. Goddard, ot Athol, 
secured one that weighed Io pounds which was 
the sixth fox killed. The verdict of the party 
is foxes are more plentiful than last year. The 
old board of officers was reelected—Mr. Perry, 
President; Messrs. Morse, Davis and Knowles, 
Vice-Presidents; J. E. Cobb, Secretary; W. B. 
Stone, Treasurer. On behalf of the members 
of the club, Mr. C. S. Davis, of New Haven, 
presented President Perry a copy of the old 
English picture, “The Hunter’s Dream.” 
At Westfield the Western Massachusetts Fox- 
hunters’ Club started its annual hunt the 3oth, 
having among its distinguished guests Con- 
gressman G, P, Lawrence, and ex-Congress- 
man John R. Thayer, of Worcester, one of the 
most enthusiastic fox-hunters in the State. The 
hunters are sanguine of success on account of 
the unusual numbers reported from all sections 
of the grounds over which they hunt. 
The recent fall of snow in Maine has been 
: great help to the hunters, and reports are 
looked for of great numbers of deer and moose 
being killed the last few days. 
On account of the southern counties having 
been opened to deer hunters this season, it is 
expected the number killed in New Hampshire 
will be much larger than that of any previous 
year, H. H. KimBatt, 
A Curious Old Rifle. 
AmonG the interesting old weapons which 
have been presented to the Boone and Crockett 
Club as a part of the collection it is making of 
arms of the American pioneers, is a curious 
little rifle, donated by Mr. Hervey L. Allen, of 
Prince’s Bay, N. Y., president of the Richmond 
County Game and Fish Protective Association. 
The rifle is particularly interesting because it 
: [Nov. 9, 1907. 

7 
has the old flat hammer, much like the one found 
on the old pepperbox Allen rifle, aad_ still 
further because the hammer is on the under 
side of the barrel not far in front of the trigger 
guard. It has no camrod. 
The history of the arm is interestingly related 
by Mr. Allen as follows: He says: 
‘This rifle was made by Warre en Gill; a first- 
class gunsmith of his time, being not only a 
skilled mechanic, but a man of very progressive 
ideas in his line of work. I have been told by 
one of his near relations that Gill made this 
gun some time prior to his going to California 
in 1849. As Gill worked for Colt at the time 
he made the rifle, it must have been made at 
Whitneyville, Conn., as Col. Colt was there then 
engaged in the manufacture of firearms. Pre- 
vious to having a shop at Whitneyville, Conn., 
Colt was at Paterson, N. J., making pow der 
and ball revolvers as early as 1836. 
“This man Gill conceived ‘the idea that he 
would like a rifle smaller than the general run 
of arms of the day and used his own ideas 
about what he wanted for a handy little rifle to 
shoot small game. He simply made it for his 
own use, asking no questions or advice from 
any one. In those days it was not uncommon 
for a man who was accomplished in his line to 
have many of the privileges he wished in the 
shop, provided he used his own time. 
“Tf the observer will look closely he can see 
just back of the rear sight on the barrel of this 
rifle the letters W. G., 1846—or 1848—my eyes 
tell me 1846. 
“Whether Gill took this gun with him to 
California in 1849, I do not know, but I do 
know that after he had had it for some time he 
put on the rear peep sight, according to his own 
ideas. Any one Jooking at this rear sight would 
say it isa ‘Lyman sight, but I think it was made 
long before; it might have given some one the 
suggestion which led to the production of its 
like in an improved way. I cannot say as to 
that, but I do know that the sight on the rifle 
was made by Gill’s own hands. It looks like 
a crude affair for a peep sight now, and the 
wind gauge on it was something to guess about 
then, as it is not lined or graduated at all. The 
rifleman carried his ramrod not on the barrel, 
but in a hunting bag, for it was made in three 
pieces. Unfortunately, I could get none of the 
fixings that went with the rifle. The bullet 
moulds were lost with several other things of 
interest belonging to the outfit. This rifle was 
given me to keep and preserve as a. curiosity, 
and I think I do so in giving it into the hands 
of the present custodians.” 
Mr. Black’s Reindeer. 
THE Shooting Times says that among the 
sportsmen who visited Norway this season for 
reindeer were Prince Demidoff, Sir Henry Seton- 
Karr, Mr. F. C. Selous, Mr. P. B. Van der Byl, 
Mr. Rhys Williams, Mr. R. Wahman and Mr. 
Colin M. Black. Though all had a fair amount 
of success, the gentleman last named secured 
one of the best heads obtained this year, which 
he has entrusted to Rowland Ward, of Piccadilly, 
for preservation. The length of the main beam 
is 52% inches and the brow antler carries seven 
points and two offers. Of the many reindeer 
heads measured by Rowland Ward, only three 
have yielded higher figures. Mr. Ward is also 
mounting the skin of a gigantic reticulated python 
for the Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P. The 
actual length is 28 feet 3 inches, but as the skin 
is damaged, and has been shortened in the pro- 
cess of repair, the reptile in life must have been 
quite 30 feet long, or 5 feet longer than the giant 
python in the Zoological Gardens. 

SQUIRREL RIFLE MADE ABOUT 1846. 




























































































































































