




journal in a recent article on this subject, approaches but 
partly the many difficulties which a discussion of this subject 
presents, He states ‘that a hardened ball in striking a 
bone, when properly made, should flatten against the bone 
(of the animal) without boring through it, whilst at the 
same time it must retain enough of its round form to obvi- 
ate any chance of the increasing distance offered to the 
larger surface stopping its way, and therefore preventing 
its penetrating far enough.” Here then are two difficulties 
which apparently militate against one another, the ball 
must crash the bone, and still have power sufficient to seek 
a vital point further on. We think this most intelligent 
writer overlooks somewhat the important subjects of range 
and velocity, which we think are vital to the subject. If it 
be the smashing of the bones which is required, we should 
suppose that a hardened ball, shot at close range, with its 
high velocity, would least accomplish the purpose desired, 
for it is at a close range only that elephants, lions and tigers 
are shot. The adyantage to be derived from a hard ball in 
breaking bones, or stunning the animals which it strikes, 
would then we suppose be best effected at a slow velocity. 
A curious question entering here, is that if the vitality of 
animals, or the lasting powers they possess to resist when 
seriously wounded. The Cervi readily succumb, while 
the difficulty of killing .a member of the feline race, 
has passed into a proverb. This destinction of the 
staying power may even be found in man, for it is a 
well known fact that an Anglo Saxon is twice as hard 
to kill as a Chinese. Hard balls are useful in the two ex- 
treme cases, where the bony portion of the animal is in large 
proportion to the fleshy case of the animal, as in the moose and 
eastern buffalo, and of course, where the bones are covered 
witha huge mass of flesh, as in the elephant. For lionsand 
tigers, hardened bullets are not as useful as the ordinary 
ball. 
Certainly the great object in using any projectile is to 
have the animal struck by it, to die as quickly as possible. 
Perhaps the most unsatisfactory thing we know of, is to 
shoot a moose, and certain that he is wounded mortally, to 
he forced to follow him a whole day, before finding him 
dead. In shooting lions and tigers, of course the preserva- 
tion of the hunter’s own life is to be thought of. 
The question of hard balls, is likely to be silenced shortly 
and for ever by the use of explosive shells, an instrument 
first introduced by colonel Jacob of the East India service 
thirty years ago. To-day, sportsmen in the East are using 
them agaist the large game, and with notable success Of the 
experiences of a gentleman attached to the ““Forrsr anp 
Stream,” who used explosive shells in shooting moose in 
Nova Scotia with great success last December, we trust 
to be able later, to give some interesting data. We should 
think our friends in California might use explosive shells 
most advantageously in their combats with the grizzly bear. 
a 
THE NEW CAMILLA. 
ae 

Pro pudor! What! coulda young lady ever ‘dare to do 
such a terrible thing as to run a foot race? Impossible! 
Female physique precludes even the idea. Yet it strikes 
us that when Strauss plays the ‘“‘ Blue Danube,” we can see 
a score of the feebler sex going round and round for an in- 
definite period of time. e 
Fixed, determined in our stern purpose, unmoved by the 
poetry of the dance, fearfully matter of fact in regard to 
the rythmic step, though towrbdillons of gauze floated past as 
gracefully as the spiral wreathings of smoke clouds, with 
our watch in hand, we studied the dena temps and the Ger- 
man, Shades of Coulon, Vestris, and Cellaritis be not en- 
raged! What we were after, with some experience in physi- 
cal mechanics, was to find out about what amount of vital 
endurance was necessary when a young lady danced for a 
half hour. The conclusion arrived at was startling. Though 
comparative measurements of such things are difficult, we 
calculated that the waste of muscle was about on an equiv- 
alent with that which .a good runner would consume in 
taking a very sharp breather of about four and a quarter 
gniles. How much more additional work the fair danseuse 
was put to, in consequence of her haying been forced to 
breathe and expand her lungs in a vitiated atmosphere could 
not enter into the computation. Of course our civilization 
does not allow of our women haying the endurance of 
squaws, but that the most natural exercises of walking and 
running are entirely ignored in the education of our girls, is 
very certain. American mothers would be surprised at the 
physical powers English girls possess: Of course, our 
climate, with its extremes of hot and cold, will not allow 
our girls to take the same amount of out-door exercise 
which their sisters in England enjoy, but such opportuni- 
ties as are offered to us are sadly neglected. 
English women on the continent often put American men 
to shame, Once when we were younger, there was an Al- 
pine height to climb, and in the party there was a fair Eng- 
lish girl of seventeen. At the end of the first twenty min- 
utes of ascent we must needs sit on a rocky ledge to rest. 
Our lady companion was still going light and easy. At the 
end of an hour, heavy and weary, we sank to the ground. 
Skipping along on a high crag away above us, all as nimble 
as a chamois, was poised the English girl. The road got 
worse and worse, as still we went clumsily plodding 
on—stagvering on with used up legs. As fresh as a lark on 
sped this active girl, until she had scaled the highest pin- 
nacle, and from away above us her merry bursts of laughter 
rang through the air. She had distanced every man in the 
party, save the guides. 
Can women run? Of course they can, and witha very 
little practice can attain exceeding speed. If all girls can- 
not be Camillas, at least the Toronto people are bringing 
up a set of athletic girls in their midst, for in a late Toronto 
Muil we notice a foot-race to be run by girls of not over fif- 
teen, a distance of 100 yards. 
What a happy thing it would be if literary women could 
only be taught to run; what a beneficial effect it would 
have on the too marbid female production. Think of the 
inspiriting effects in an authoress a good hundred yards 
brush would make. Then instead of the meslarmes, or “the 
sad gushings,” we would have good, honest, sturdy stuff. 
The great George Elliot and our own Grace Greenwood 
have both been, if not fair runners, at least, good walkers. 

= oe 
THE STRIPED BASS. 
Ses 
HE striped bass is the king of salt water game fish. With 
a good two-jointed bamboo rod, a proper reel and a line 
that renders freely, the angler may enjoy sport with the 
bass which no other sea fish affords. It is worth a shilling a 
minute, this pastime is, from the time he leads off in wild 
career with the hook in his jaws until the gaff lays him along- 
side the boat, or high and dry on the shining beach. The 
sensation is indescribable. With a fifty-six pounder fast to 
a five hundred feet line going at a fifty-knot rate, and the 
wheel whizzing like mad, and emptying itself with alarming 
rapidity, the situation becomes exciting. The fish leads off 
with a gait as though he would never stop. But he does 
stop, and suddenly. Then comes the reeling in. ‘‘ Click, 
click, click!” Faster, faster! Keep in your slack, and stand 
ready for his first attempt to trip you. Carefully now, for 
the trial is coming. You scarcely breathe. Bills payable, 
and all mankind is forgotten— your wife, your children, 
and your enemies—all, all are absorbed in the game before 
you; your pulse is up, ‘‘the world is an oyster;” the sea is 
hushed. Up comes the thumb, the turn is made, the bass 
is on the rampage, and again you breathe free. Then you 
rest.and sweat. Hope is big within your breast. The bass 
leads astern; everything is clear; the gear is good, and the 
fish is sure. (This act to be repeated with the next cast.) 
But isn’t it glorious to watch an ambidextrous veteran 
like Genio C. Scott, or the quartette of the “Squidnoket” 
Club cast for bass? With a dexterity which practice can 
alone assume, they carefully sway the rod until the squid 
describes its slowly moving circle around the head, and 
then by a quick, inexplicable movement they cause it to 
dart like an arrow straight out far over the sea, and the reel 
whizzes and whirls until it seems to flash fire, and you wait 
long and patiently for the cessation of the hum which indi- 
cates that the squid has dropped. What a wonderful dis- 
tance; full one hundred feet, perhaps one hundred and 
fifty! 
But our text is bass and not bass-fishing. Perhaps a wait 
from West Island, Cuttyhunk, or Pasque Island, launched 
from the pen of some veteran enthusiast of the clubs, may 
float this way to entertain the readers of Forasr aNnp 
SrrReAM, and better describe the delights of this ocean pas- 
time. 
Well, the bass is found along the whole length of our 
coast from Florida to Cape Cod, at the various inlets, sounds 
and rivers in both salt and fresh water. If in fresh, they 
must have access to the ocean, for the bass is an anadramous 
fish. They vary in weight from the small, newly spawned 
fish to 150 pounds. No man knoweth their age, They 
never destroy their kind as the bluefish does. The medium 
size, say from three -pounds to ten pounds, are caught in- 
side, while the larger are found in the surf outside. Great 
sport may be had with the latter during June to October, 
at Montauk Point, Block Island, Cuttyhunk, and Fire 
Island, by backing up’a small boat, with a good oarsman to 
keep her clear, while the angler throws the squid in the 
surf. It wants good sea legs and courage to fish in this 
style. The small fry, heeding the old adage ‘small boats 
should keep near the shore,” may be found in the bays, in- 
lets, and small creeks. In July this is true of this class in 
Long Island Sound. They spawn in May, and are caught 
freely with the hook in company with the bluefish fry. By 
the Ist of August the newly spawned weigh about a quarter 
of a pound. Large quantities of various sizes, from two to 
thirty pounds, are seined from deep holes in rivers connected 
with the sounds. During the winter, unlike the bluefish, 
they do not all migrate south. When winter comes they 
are a beautifully shaped fish, and are a companion of the 
weakfish, alias ‘* chequitt,” alias ‘“ yellowfin,” alias “ salt- 
water trout,” alias ‘‘suckermaug,” alias ‘‘ squeteague.” The 
large striped bass are frequently taken from the surf by 
hand; throwing either the squid or bait. They are a strong 
and quick fish, but when hooked are steady on the lead, 
while the bluefish will jerk, fight, and bite to the bitter end. 

ei 2 
SHOOTING JOURNALISTS. 
SEPT 
Be not alarmed, gentle reader! None of this fraternity 
have been shot. None of us have broken the peace. We 
have merely in mind the prize which Orange Judd, Esq., 
has offered for the competion of members of the press at 
Creedmoor. The first announcement of suchan offer struck 
us strangely. What necessity existed in these ‘ pipeing 
imes of peace,’’ we asked ourselves, to teach the editorial 
idea how to shoot pistols, guns and rifles? In the flush 
times of Southern chivalry and the earlier days of frontier 
civilization, we remember it was customary for each news- 

paper to employ a fighting editor to maintain the dignity of 
its position. 
at all events were obliged to be good marksmen. 
Editors, in those days were men of mark, or 
Pistol 
‘cluded from the pastime. 

conditions of society. Ts it possible we asked, that a return 
of those good old times is anticipated? Is it possible that 
editorial amenities will be universally exacted by the muzzle 
of six-shooter, and libelsbe known no more? Or is it that the 
prevailing enthusiasm for out-door recreation has reached the 
editorial sanctum and imbued our journalists with an earnest 
purpose tomake good sportsmen of themselves? Upon these 
questions we have pondered seriously for ten days past, and 
now after due deliberation, we come forward boldly to en- 
dorse the movement, whatever its significance may be, and to 
thank Mr. Judd for his liberal offer to the press and the en- 
couragement it gives to editors to patronize the gun-smiths. 
Too long have we sat supinely as targets for sarcastic and 
malicious shafts. Hence-forward, nobler be our views. 
Let proficiency in arms be our creed, and our rifle-range 
one Creed-more. Throw down the pen and shears, take the 
gun and rifle, cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war! We 
will form whole regiments from the ranks of Bohemians 
who skulked behind their exemption papers ten year ago. 
We will present a bristling front to mobs that assail the 
freedom of the press. ‘‘ We'll hunt the antelope over the 
plain.” Nay, we will man the Overland stage coaches, 
and ‘‘all full inside,” prove to the fraternity of journalists 
and the admiring world that no fourteen ‘‘good men and 
true” shall supinely yield to four rascally road agents who 
quietly plunder the coach while we sit by the wayside with 
folded hands waiting for a pastport to Sacramento. 
Mr. Judd will consider us as entered for the prize. 

ah 8 
TEMPERATURE AND FISH. 
ek ee 
HE intention the weather bureau has announced, of 
giving the results of its observations in regard to the 
mean temperature of the rivers, lakes and of the ocean on 
our shores, will undoubtedly be of great benefit to fisher- 
men. The connection between the changes of tempera- 
ture, as suggested by the Zribune, in an excellent article 
on this subject, and the advent and disappearance of fish, 
is qutte an evident one, and one which must find its per- 
fect elucidation some day. How account otherwise, for 
the apparently capricious movements of the fish on our 
shores? The herring, mackerel, cod, and some of the 
game fish, change their locality, not simply because of 
their food, but their movements are apparently dependent 
on the temperature of the water. Tt is fherefore not im- 
possible to imagine that our fishermen, when such meteorolo- 
ical phenomena are understood by them will solve the ques- 
tion for themselves, whether fish may be expected at cer- 
tain points, the science of the trained observer, and the 
practical rough tact of the fisherman, going hand in hand. 
It is worthy to remark here, how many advantages are 
derived from the solution of any scientific fact, and how 
practical benefits extend in directions which were at first 
unthought of. 

: ge 
HOW THE ENGLISH MINER USED TO 
AMUSE HIMSELF, 
be Se 
HREE years ago” says a correspondent of a Lon- 
don paper, ‘‘I happened to be at Byerly Hill, and 
an invited guest at a rural fete, called a Blinks, given en- 
tirely by the miners. 
‘Women as well as ‘lads’ attended, and although on a 
moderate estimate, each one of them must have con- 
sumed at least four shillings’ worth of intoxicating liquor, 
the value of the gowns that each wore was not half the 
money. Among the amusements was a dog-fight in a dis- 
tant corner of the field, where women were as free as their 
husbands to back a favorite pup for a shillings: aman fight; 
and—a sight thank Heaven, I never witnessed before or 
since—a woman fight; a regular strip-to-the-waist, stand- 
up-set-to, the backer on the one side being the husband, 
and on the other side a noble-minded swain, the accepted 
suitor of the puligistic maid who was the married woman’s 
antagonist. If I remember rightly, at the eleventh round 
the maiden Amazon, by a shoulder hit full at the other’s 
breast, caused sucha sudden and prolonged fainting-fit that 
she was unable to come up to the scratch when time was 
called, and despite her husband’s strenuous endeavor to 
‘bring to’ the wife of his bosom by bending her thumbs 
and applying a pinch of strong snuff to her manimate nos- 
trils, the spunge was thrown up. To be sure the stakes 
were only a quart of rum, and it was some consolation to 
observe that a quarter of an hour afterward the parties 
concerned were all partaking of it as amicably as possible, 
but it was an ugly sight and one to be remembered.” 
¢ 

Matters seem, however, to-day, according to the same 
authority, to have much improved. From the extreme bar 
barity of three years ago, they have lapsed to-day mto’ quite 
a fair amount of civilization, the men wearing glazed 
leather boots, without any stockings on, but behaving 
themselves in an orderly way, fighting being entirely ex- 
Speaking of the appearance of 
the men, the same writer says: 
“Over and over again a score of times a raised hand 
discovered a thumb or finger, sometimes two, gone; while 
men with only one eye were as comon as among us are 
men who wear spectacles. Nor was this all. Of their 
whole number, one in ten at least bore on his face blue scars 
of powder blasting, and’ some were disfigured with jagged 
and deep scars extending from brow to chin. And nearly 
all are stunted, and have round shoulders, and wan faces, 
and that shy blinking gaze that invariably distinguishes 
men who labor in semi-darkness.”’ 

see 
At a late meeting of the Berlin Geographical Society 
it was announced that the Khedive had given the Society 
£4,000 to further the plans for an expedition into the Sybian 
desert. 
