PUSCAL ORLA L 
BY GEORGE 
It is said that in the armies of ancient 
Rome, quartermaster’s stores received 
the general name of ‘‘impedimenta ’’— 
things which zmpeded the army in its 
movements, and which, though some- 
times a help, were generally a hin- 
drance. 
I have been hugely amused, at times, 
at observing the amount of ‘‘impedi- 
menta’’—useless tackle in other words 
—which anglers, and especially new 
beginners, encumber themselves with. 
In my own early experience, being 
probably a shade greener than the 
average, I bought and subsequently 
threw away, as nearly as I can esti- 
mate it, about a ton and a half of use- 
less tackle, possibly a little more than 
that, and now, when I observe, as I oc- 
casionally do, the like mistake of new 
beginners, I smile inwardly, as doubt- 
less many an old angler once smiled at 
me. 
““Forsan et haec oltm meminisse ju- 
vabit,” which, freely translated, means: 
‘It’s exceedingly pleasant to observe 
in other people the follies which we 
ourselves have outgrown.” 
When I first turned my attention to 
fishing—for fun—lI had, of course, to 
procure and read all the catalogues of 
sporting goods which I could find. 
Their number was legion and their con- 
tents marvelous. But there was no 
remedy; the fever had to run its course, 
and it ran. About the most innocent 
and harmless thing which I saw illus- 
trated was ¢he float. There were pages 
of floats—quill floats, split floats, bal- 
loon floats, cork floats, patent floats, 
egg floats, taper floats, wood floats, 
spiral floats, barrel floats, enameled 
IMPEDIMENTA. 
rey CHRISTY. 
floats, snake floats, adjustable floats, 
bound floats, unbound floats, painted 
floats, besides a host of others whose 
names I have forgotten; and as for 
colors, style and finish, they appealed 
to the eye with all the attractiveness of 
a barber’s pole or a penitentiary out- 
fit. Of course, I concluded that a float 
was absolutely essential—a kind of 
Waltonian szze gua non—and that no 
self-respecting, artistically-trained fish 
would take a bait which was not sus- 
pended from a float of some kind; and 
that the more ornate the float, the more 
highly and strongly the bait would ap- 
peal to the esthetic instincts of the 
game, and lure him to his certain de- 
struction. Accordingly, I bought three 
or four dozen, assorted sizes and varie- 
gated colors. Before that season was 
over they were for sale, cheap—dirt 
cheap. On the float exchange ever 
since that I have been a bear of the 
worst kind. 
Not thata float is wholly useless—for 
it has its uses. So has a boil—when 
on somebody else; and the Jewish rite 
of circumcision has been declared to be 
conducive to longevity. But when in 
pursuit of health, I am not hankering 
after either of these hygienic agencies. 
I have fished in many waters and have 
never, yet found but one place where 
the float was of the least use toa sports- 
man. In the warm, shallow waters of 
inland Florida, where the: big-mouth 
bass (called trout down there, chiefly 
because that is not their name) wile 
away a lazy existence among the lily 
pads, it is sometimes necessary to an- 
chor at a little distance away and toss 
in the bait close up by the lily pads, 

