AUSTRALIA 



fill strike is a record misfortune having about it an almost 

 Biblical quality of tribulation. 



A difficult thing for Mr. Farrington has been the intensity 

 of public interest focused on his empty bag. He has paid the 

 penalty of fame. Lesser fishermen when the fickle Lady 

 deserts them can protect their little reputation with tales of 

 broken tackle and strange tidal phenomena or the frequent 

 unblushing assertion that "there were just none there to be 

 got." As a last resort they can, as the saying goes, use a server 

 hook on the way home if a fish shop is handy. But a big time 

 angler with international scalps or fins at his belt is in deep 

 water. The eager multitude is ready to dispute the size of the 

 one that got away. A piscatorial Von Nida has a gallery 

 whether he likes it or not. All this, however, overlooks the 

 really fearful ordeal which the American visitor has been sub- 

 jected to. His wife has been with him. She has not only wit- 

 nessed his daily discomfiture but has herself been catching 

 whopping great fish galore up to 300 pounds at a time. What 

 this may mean in the future to Mr. Farrington only experi- 

 enced anglers with a domestic side to their lives can properly 

 and shudderingly appreciate. It will be bad enough when he 

 is asked back home about Australian fishing to have to 

 mumble a true confession under the steady gaze of his sport- 

 ing partner. But subsequently to have to watch the little 

 woman using a mopstick, his best rod and a far away Mona 

 Lisa smile in illustrating to his guests the size of her anti- 

 podean black marlin will be enough to turn even a sardine 

 savory to ashes in his mouth. 



Von Nida, to whom the editorial referred, is the best 

 golfer in Australia and has won the open championship 

 several times. I have been written up in many types of 

 columns but I never expected to make an editorial page on 



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