44 



TJie American Ans:lcr 



upper log, and out came a two-pounder and 

 took it, I suppose, to show his pluck to his 

 fellow boarders under the log. I gently raised 

 him out, and continued doing so with others 

 until I took up eight, and the weight of them 

 was easily 12 lbs. 



I had lived in sight of this stream for over 

 ten years, and merely by accident found such 

 trout were within two or three hours' ride of 

 me. The stream is quite a large mountain 

 one with several branches, and this one branch 

 is all I tried. On another branch, about four 

 miles above camp, is a spring of water oozing 

 out of rocky formation, which is called the 

 Apolinaris spring, and is stated to be almost 

 exactly like the same named waters in Ger- 

 many. I went to the spring, which is up 

 several hundred feet above the creek, and I 

 could hardly allow myself to leave, as the 

 peculiar flavor of the water exactly suited my 

 complexion. I drank and drank, and then 

 took another swig and stayed there for an 

 hour or more looking at the surroundings. 

 There was heavy timber all about, with a 

 basin cut out in the rock that holds several 

 gallons of this peculiar water, which runs 

 over, and then down the hill and sinks into 

 the ground. 



I find that the older I get the tougher I am, 

 and this kind of life don t seem to tire me at 

 all. I have through no fault of my own lost 

 all my property, and can say with truth that I 

 never enjoyed life so well as I have since I 

 'went broke" — town, county and state taxes 

 don't bother me. They say every dog has his 

 day, and I have had mine as far as being well- 

 off is concerned ; my check has in the sixties 

 been good for $20,000, now I have not $1, and 

 I am glad of it. This don't sound like the 

 truth, but it is all the same. I was 67 last 

 April, and intend to be fishing when I reach 

 100. B. P. Vanhorne. 



From Across the Water. 



" Honor to whom honor is due " ; and honor 

 is really due to Mr. William C. Harris, editor 

 of The American Angler, for his bold and 

 laudable enterprise in publishing a novel work, 

 in forty monthly parts, treating of "The 

 Fishes of North America." We are in receipt 

 of a copy of the fifth part, which comprises 

 eight quarto pages of philosophical text on 

 fishes, four engravings, and two full-page 

 colored lithographs representing fishes in the 



act of swimming — one, that of the weakhsh or 

 squeteague ; the other, the Rocky Mountain 

 whitefish — the movement of the water being 

 almost visible. These two works of art are 

 not only handsome illustrations of fish, but 

 also rich in colors, taken by a special artist 

 who accompanied ^Ir. Harris in his piscatorial 

 pursuits to snatch the momentary opportunity 

 of accurately depicting the rainbow hues of 

 the fish, which are seen at their best im- 

 mediately they are captured. The plates re- 

 produce the exact anatomical proportions as 

 well as the coloration of the fish known in or- 

 dinary parlance as the "sun trout" and the 

 "shad trout"; the first-named specimen fish 

 weighing 3 lbs., and the second i lb. It may 

 fairly be stated that few, if any, such works 

 of art have seldom, if ever, been issued from 

 a lithographic press either in Europe or Amer- 

 ica. Indeed, such is the great cost of produc- 

 tion (each of the forty parts costing over 

 $1,000), that no publishers in America could 

 be found to risk their money in the enterprise, 

 on account of which Mr. Harris has been 

 obliged to take the burdensome chance upon 

 his own shoulders. Years of effort have been 

 spent in the preparation; and, doubtless, it 

 has been no trifling labor to secure the neces- 

 sary number of subscribers to warrant the 

 venture. The price is $1.50 for each part, 

 which is prohibitive to the man of ordinary 

 means ; but the more wealthy enthusiasts m 

 angling and in works of art may find in the 

 complete work such a volume to grace their 

 drawing-room tables as will prove to them " a 

 thing of beauty and a joy for ever" to please 

 themselves and their visitors. — Fisliing Ga- 

 zette, London, England. 



[Part IX and X of this work are now ready 

 for delivery at $1.50 each. Address, Harris 

 Publishing Co., 19 Park Place, New York.] 



An Oregonian Among the Tarpon. 



Mr. S. P. Panton, editor and publisher of 

 Tlie Aransas Pass Herald, sends us an ac- 

 count of the exploits of his brother. Dr. A. C. 

 Panton, of Oregon, among the leaping tarpons 

 of the Texas coast. We quote : 



" Dr. Panton had heard of the Aransas Pass 

 tarpon, their abundance and voracity, and 

 concluded to make a record for Oregon. If he 

 could catch only one, and a small one at that, 

 it would be sufficient. So when Nature began 

 her annual six months' weep, raining her tears 

 upon the Webfeet, he struck out for the sun- 

 shine of the New Mediterranean, stopping at 

 San Antonio long enough to procure the proper 

 outfit to circumvent the mercurial tarpon. 

 Arrived at Aransas Pass, he spent the next 

 day with the writer at Steadman's Island, to 

 get his hand in on the smaller fishes, of which 

 a variety were landed, and a large blue shark 

 was put to a good deal of inconvenience. Next 

 afternoon we sailed over to Ropesville. The 

 first man encountered there was the veteran 

 fisherman, Mr. Silver, who was promptly en- 

 gaged with his skiff. It took him some time 



