Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1888-03-30
PISTOLS AND RIELES.
Valuable Information About weapons of
sport and Death.

There have been pistols enough
sold in the last ten years to arm the
male population of the United S. ates.
and If every man and big boy in the
country has not got one it must be
because the cheap pistols don't last
long enough to be handed down as
h eirlooms." So spoke the manager of
famous house in the firearms bust
ness on M alden lane.
as the demand for pistols increas-
ing in proportion to the increase of
populationp'
II am glad to say that it is not, es-
pecially in the South where it has
heretofore been the rule for the male
sex to go armed, and where the
crack of the revolver has too often been
the umpire in argument. The authori-
ties IN several Southern States have APP
parently seen the necessity of placing
some restraint on the carrying of dead
ly weapons. and the preponderance of
public sentiment /. everywhere
against the indiscriminate practice.
Texas has enacted law imposing six
months Imprisonment and fine of
$3.50 for carrying a pistol In Tenn
essee. Georgia, Alabama and Arkan-
sas the sale of pistol cartridges is pro-
hibited. The Northwestern State of
Illinois has very good law, requiring
dealers in pistols to keep record of
every sale. and to whom sold. as
,potlieca ries must do when selling
poisons. This law of course, facili-
ates the procuring of evidence in
rases OF murder by the use of pis-
toll.
DO you approve of cheap pistols?'
81 do not The purchaser of a pistol
lcsiring good. durable and trust
worthy weapon should not pay less
| han ten dollars and from that to
fifteen dollars. The vast mai ,rity of
pistols are however, of the seventy
i've cent and one dollar quality. There
is probably no danger of explosion in
us ng such weapons. They are not
likely to burst as the strain is on the
she'll and at the breach. and there is
ample strength AS general thing to
prevent bursting. But such pistols
soon wear out Ike the razors Hodge
bought at a shilling dozen, they are
manufactured to sell.
DO many women buy pistolsP"
Some respectable women. living
Isolated or under circumstances which
Justify the apprehension that there may
DE need for a deadly weapon for use in
defending themselves or their proper
t0I.
hey are very apt to lock the weapon
mp in drawer, and not be able to get
| at it when they may happen to need it.
! As rule. when woman buys a pistol
she probably has some very serious
idea in her head. Under ordinary cir:
cumstances the sex has no inclination
for such weapons.
The trade in sporting weapons,
added the manager. sis increasing. A
good many more shotguns are SO d
than rifles; and Notwithstanding the
thriy-five per cent. duty. English shot
guns continue in favor. because they
are made by hand and have undergone
thorough Government inspection,
while the American weapon is made
by machinery and is subjected to nc
Government test whatever. A good
English shotgun can be procured a
from S25 to $50. a first-class weapon FOL
from $75 to 500, but some Englisf
shotguns are sold as low as $40 or 81 5
Even these are safe, rs far a.
to the rigid Government in
spection. All shotguns imported ar,
not hand made, as there are two man
ufacturers in Belgium who use ma
chinery. American shotguns retail
Cor from $40 to SIS and 500 for tn
better grades. the English handmade
goods being able to undersell thu
American.
''In rifles, however. the American
hold the market Their machine man
'ufactured rifles can not be equaled b
the handiwork of Englishmen. ant
American riffs are sold all over tn
world. The demand for sporting
rifles has, however. been unfavorabl
affected by tho indiscriminate slaugh
ter Of large game in the far West
The class of arms sold to buffalo hunt
} ers has almost gone out OF the market
owing to the rapid extinction of tn
buffalo"
these dealers in arms are in favo
} of the protection of game7'
"Emphatically so. and every tru
sportsman is. The extinction of gam
would mean the ces 'ation of de .nans
for sporting arms. "
'Is game decreasing in the Easter
and Middle States"
II should say not, Judging from TIN
demand for shotguns and sportin
rifles The game laws are being mad
more and more stringent, and publ
: sentiment sustains their enforce ment
The small game of the Atlantic State
} is rather on the increase. ~ 7. Even