Notes and Queries 59 
The New York Fish Commission. 
The people of the Adirondack section of this 
state are astir in the matter of having a repre- 
sentative on the New York Fish Commission, 
which, it is said, will soon be overhauled and 
remodeled by the governor. Certainly,a man, 
properly equipped, and hailing from the North 
Woods, cannot fail to be of great usefulness 
and of practical force in the commission, posi- 
tions on which, we think, should be at once 
made permanent and placed beyond the reach 
of partisan or politician. We named last 
month Mr. A. W. Cheney as a candidate for 
the presidency of the board, and the name of 
A. R. Fuller is now prominently placed by the 
North Woods people for a position in the com- 
mission. These two men would fill the bill ex- 
actly and to the brim, Mr. Fuller having run 
for years a hatchery of his own at Meacham 
lake,and has made the fishes of our state the 
study of his manhood. Neither, we under- 
stand, want, or do not care to accept, a position 
solely on political grounds. This is as it 
should be, and will render these gentlemen 
more acceptable to the public and more likely 
to fill with credit the positions when assigned 
to them. We do not know the political bias of 
either, but this we do know, that, under the 
present system of rotary political appoint- 
ments, the State of New York will never reach 
the high position in fish culture, with its at- 
tendant public usefulness, that her vast water 
area should place at her command. A casual 
study of the system governing the Fish Com- 
mission. of the State of Maine will at once 
show the errors of our own and the bene- 
ficial effects of a non-partisan Board of Fish 
Commissionets. 
Later.—At the moment of going to press we 
learn that a full-blooded politician, hailing 
from Wayne County, has been appointed on 
the Commission. ‘This is the first turn of the 
political wheel. 
Thread For Fly Tying. 
Can you tell me what thread the professional 
fly tyers use 1n tying flies? I use letter A sew- 
ing machine silk. Is this correct? It seems to 
me there should be a thread finer and stronger 
than that. RED CoACHMAN. 
The qualities of silk.thread used for fly 
tying depends on the size of hook used. For 
large-sized flies grade A, if the quality of ma- 
chine silk be good, will answer; if the hook be 
extra large size, double your silk; for medium 
and small sized flies, the tying thread should 
be grade oo and ooo best quality machine silk. 
This is the usage of professional fly tyers. 
\ 
The Pennsylvania Fish Protective Association. 
At the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania 
Fish Protective Association, the following 
named officers were elected: President, H. O. 
Wilbur; vice-presidents, Edwin Hagert, Dr. 
Bushrod W. James, Howard A. Chase; secre- 
tary, Marion G. Sellers; corresponding secre- 
tary, J. Penrose Collins; treasurer, William 5S. 
Hergesheimer ; executive committee, Henry C. 
Ford, George T. Stokes, C. H. Fitzgerald, Wil- 
liam P. Thompson, Colonel John Gay, Henry A. 
Ingram, F. W. Brown, Dr. W. W. McClure, 
George W. Reader; trustees, Collins W. Wal- 
ton, Bernard L. Douredoure, R. M. Hartley. 
The twelfth annual report, which was read at 
this meeting, was an extremely interesting and 
valuable one, showing great zeal on the part 
of the executive of the association and an in- 
creased interest all over the state in fish culture 
and protection. We have space only for a few 
salient paragraphs : 
“With a more general observance of, and re- 
spect for, the laws bearing on the propagation 
and preservation of fish, the improved condi- 
tion of the streams, and a membership growing 
in numbers and influence, your committee feels 
called upon to say that public sentiment has 
been largely and advantageously educated to 
the essential importance and beneficial results 
attending the well directed efforts of a move- 
ment which has for its general and specific ob- 
ject, the promotion of the public good. 
* * * * * a 
“The commendable fact that the association 
has, from its inception, recognized the great 
evil and disastrous effects likely to accrue from 
the continued wholesale distruction of men- 
haden fish on the coast, is a matter of record 
by reason of its early, consistent and untiring 
efforts in urging legislation that would suppress 
or restrict the injurious methods pursued by the 
menhaden fishermen. The constantly growing 
scarcity of edible fish along the Atlantic coast 
line, together with the pernicious practices in- 
volving their certain extinction, are cogent 
facts, persistently forcing themselves into con- 
spicuous notice, and giving additional impetus 
