24 The Amertcan Angler 
and physically, for a conscience well served is 
better than a body well built. 
A Happy New Year to anglers all!—Ep. 
A Reminiscence of «« Nessmuk.”’ 
On June 22, 1882 (THE AMERICAN ANGLER was 
just then doffing its swaddling clothes), woods- 
man Nessmuk wrote us acharacteristic letter, 
which will be of interest to all who admired 
his sturdy character and felt the subtle 
charm of his writing. The letter shows him 
in undress uniform: 
‘“WELLSBoRO, Pa., 6, 22, ’82. 
‘“«FRIEND Harris:—The rod came to hand 
yesterday p. M. It is fine and sensible, a good 
general fishing rod. Many thanks. It will last 
longer than I shall, and a little lad, with sturdy 
limbs, straight back and doe’s eyes, who calls 
me ‘Gram’-pa,’ shall inherit the rod. 
‘“‘Now, an’ the fire of grace be not of me, 
shall the sharkey pickerel and the ravening 
bass be moved ; neither shall my hand be 
stayed on the lovely trout, though he hark 
under the ice-cold rocks a half pint journey in 
in the forest, afar from the haunts of sordid 
worldings. This is a week to be marked with 
a white bean. Yesterday the rod, the day be- 
fore check for ninety dollars from another 
editor — 
‘‘My name is Simon Peter. 
‘‘T want to go to Oregon Hill trouting. I 
want to cruise from the head of the Lamoke 
waters down, down to where the Susquehanna 
broadens and sweeps from Harrisburg to the 
ocean. 
‘“‘T want to cruise five hundred miles or 
more, alone, in the Adirondacks, in a canoe 
weighing less than fourteen pounds. I want 
to find out just how light a canoe can be made 
and be sufficient for a light-weight canoeist. 
I tried one at eighteen pounds in ’80; one 
of sixteen pounds last summer, and I know I 
can go from two to four pounds better. 
‘“‘T am not afraid of being called. 
«The lightest canoe I met in the wilderness 
last season was a thirty-five pound Rushton, 
and she cruised no farther than ‘Dead Man's 
Camp,’ on Fourth Lake. 
‘‘T took notice that the average tourist wasn’t 
spiling to play it alone in the North woods. 
He was usually hankering for a guide. 
“Tf I live till next October, I will creep up 
he literary trouser legs, and nestle among the 
high-toned bangs of the fellows who keep 
howling about the ‘hog bass,’ ‘snake eating 
bass,’ etc., etc. If I don’t make old man 
Dent’s big trout eat six small snakes in the 
presence of good witnesses, I will eat them 
myself. (The trout, mind; not the snakes.) 
‘«So, hoping and believing that the ANGLER 
has come to stay, I am, 
Yours fraternally, 
Gro. W. Sears.” 
A Neglected Courtesy. 
Through an inadvertence we failed to credit 
the passenger department of the Missouri 
Pacific R. R. for our use of the very handsome 
half-tone illustrations, shownin our December 
issue, in Wm. Southworth’s article, ‘‘An Out- 
ing on the Texan Coast.” The Missouri Pacif- 
ic is the direct route from the West to Texan 
coast waters, and the provision made for the 
comforc and safety of southern bound travel 
by this road is, and we write from personal 
knowledge, unsurpassed by any road in the 
country. 
The New York Fish Commission. 
In the whirligig of politics the Fish Commis- 
sion of the State of New York will probably be 
upturned and reorganized, and we hear that 
scores of applicants are seeking the influence 
of friends and the ear of the Govenor-elect. 
Among them there is one who has always a 
comrade’s voucher on file in this office for abil- 
ity to fill the position of Fish Commissioner. 
It is Albert Nelson Cheney, of Glens Falls, N. 
Y., well known to the readers of THE AMERICAN 
ANGLER as a correspondent of former years. 
He has drifted away from our columns; but we 
are not ungrateful,nor can we forget his earnest, 
helpful work in the baby days of our journal. 
Mr. Cheney is mentally and physically well 
organized for the position of Fish Commis- 
sioner. He has made the subject of fish hatch- 
ing and fish catching a close study for years, 
particularly the introduction of salmon into 
the Hudson river, and; while we cannot share 
his enthusiasm over the success of the experi- 
ment, we can vouch for the energy and skill 
with which it has been prosecuted. He is a 
lover and student of outdoor life; he has a 
thorough and practical knowledge of the fishes 
of our state, and heis an angler. This latter 
quality is most essential to good work in the 
Commission, when it is combined with an ex- 
