Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1895 — OF VALUE TO SPORTSMEN. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OF VALUE TO SPORTSMEN.

An AdjDatable Choke Muzzle and the Two-Ejed Sight. One of the greatest improvements In the history of the gun, or fowling piece, as it was first called, was the introcfciction by old Joe Manton of what Is termed choke. The choke system lias Its drawbacks, nevertheless. The principal one is that while the unchoked cylinder will not kill at much over 40 yards, the choked gun at that distance shoots like a rifle, the shot flying so close as to become almost a bullet, necessitating a very close aim, and sometimes riddling a bird with the amount of shot poured into It. In European covert shooting the sport varies from rabbits in a bunch of gorse, getting up at 20 yards, to the spinneys, where the pheasant rockets at 50 to 60 yards above the tree tops and goes like the wind. To these exigencies it has always been necessary for the sportsman to have two guns, one choke and one al-

most cylinder. They have, In some cases, been partly met by having two sets of barrels differently bored for the same gun, so that feey can be changed at will according to the game to be shot The latest solutioh of the problem is called the adjustable muzzle, and ls, as Its name implies, a muzzle of about three Inches in length, forming practically an extension of the barrels already on the gun, and capable of being affixed at pleasure. In this additional muzzle is placed the amount of dftoke desired by the shooter, so that when the muzzle Is adjusted the guai at once kills to the greater distance desired. The attaching of the muzzle to the barrel Is don£ by a lock screw at the upper part of the barrels, and by a peculiar and ver/ close fitting screw which passes through the full length of the adjustable muzzle into a solid receptacle (threaded) for It, in the rib between the barrels. This is calculated to hold it perfectly secure and gas tight. To the wild fowler in the coming season, especially, this will be useful, as when the fowls leave the open water and take to the sedges a different gun is generally desired. Another not exactly new, has been of late years so much improved that it may almost be ranked as new. This is the two-eyed sight. It was invented by a butler in an English nobleman’s family, who was first struck tfy the remark of an eminent London oculist to the effect that nearly 73 pei cent of men had defective vision. This fact made the butler, whose name was Gilbert, think about the number of poor shots there were among the English gentry. After numberless experiments be evolved a rather crude arrangement of two things like small square needles a sixteenth of an inch thick, one about five inches long, the other about three inches long, which were fixed on the rib between the barrels of a gun near the sight, and were expected, to remedy the defective left eye and regulate the right. He managed to get the Earl de Grey, the famous running rifle shot; the Marquis of Ripon, Lord Munson, Sir Ralph Payne Galwey and others U take the thing up, try it, and report os lt, and in almost every case the report was very favorable, to the effect that it certainly did improve the shooting. Outside of these experts the rank and file of gunners would take no stock In It. It was claimed, and with reason, that the average wing shot never saw the

sights on a shotgun, unyhow. -aen experiments evolved a number of curious things, one of which was that the muzzle of a gun or.rifie could be pushed through the crown of a stovepipe hat from the inside to the outside, so that the muzzle projected six inches, and that while the left eye was shut it was impossible to aim with any certainty, the hat blocking the sight, when the left eye was opened it was possible not only to aim, but also to see the sight on the end of the barrels, the hat practically becoming transparent. Two Reasons. At a circuit court held some years ago in a Western State an action of ejectment was tried “by the oonrt without a jury.” The decision rendered was couched in sueh a way that it caused considerable amusement. The suit was brought by a religious society to recover possession of a cemetery. The defendant was a physician in active practice, who, as one of a committee appointed by the church, had bought the ground for the use of the society. Afterward he severed his connection wKh the society, and It wa-s fonnd that he had taken the title in his own name, and intended to appropriate the premises for his private use. The defendant insisted that he had bought the ground In his own right after his relations to the society had ceased. The court, after hearing the evidence and arguments, proceeded to state the grounds for his decision, and ordered Judgment for the plaintiff. Whereupon the defendant’s counsel arose, and asked the court to state more fully the reasons for the decision. “Certainly,” said his honor, promptly. “But as you have heard what I have said, I have only two additional reasons to give: One Is that the church seems to need a cemetery, and the other that the doctor has failed to show that his practice Is sufficiently large to make it necessary for him to keep a burying ground of his own.”

Misquoted Lines. It is a peculiar faculty of human memory to misquote proverbs and poetry, and almost Invariably to place the credit where It does not belong. We give below a few familiar expressions that are generally misquoted: Nine out of ten think that “the Lord tempers the wind to the shorn lamb” is from the Bible, whereas Laurence Sterne is the author. “Pouring oil upon the troubled waters” is also ascribed to the sacred volume, whereas it is not there; in fact, no one knows its origin. Nothing is more common than to hear— A man convinced agutnst his will Is of the same opinion still. This is an impossible condition of mind, for no one can be convinced of one opinion, and at the same time hold to an opposite one. What Butler wrote was eminently sensible: He that complies against his will Is of his own opinion still. A famous passage of scripture Is often misquoted thus: “He that Is without sin among you let him east the first stone.” It should be, “Let him first east a stone.” Sometimes we are told, “Behold how great a fire a little matter kindletli!” whereas St. James said, “Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth," which is quite a different thing. We also hear that “a miss Is as good as a mile,” which Is not as sensible nor ns forcible as the true proverb, “A miss of an Inch is as good as a mile.” “Look before you leap,” should be, “Look before you ere yqu tyap.” Pope is generally credfjod with having written— • Immodest words admit of no defense, For want of decency is want of sense, though it wou}d puzzle anyone to find the verse in his writings. They were written by the Earl of Roscommon, who died before Pope w is born.

ADJUSTABLE CHOKE MUZZLE.

GUN WITH TWO-EYED SIGHT IN POSITION