American Fisheries Society 399 



In what way can the care-racked man find greater rest 

 than by the side of some beautiful trout stream? Where 

 can he see a more gorgeous canvas than the Almighty 

 paints for him in a wondrous sunset seen across and re- 

 flected in the calm bosom of some lovely lake? What 

 image carved from marble or cast with consummate skill 

 in everlasting bronze can equal the majestic beauties graven 

 in the face of the mighty mountains? What lullaby ever 

 sung was sweeter than the ripple of a brook? Where can 

 sound be found more inspiring than the diapasons of the 

 insurging sea or the crashing symphony of the tempest? 

 What jewel gleams with greater brilliancy to the eye of 

 the angler than does the iridescent leaping trout? 



To come to more material things, we find in sport fishing 

 a health-giving pastime, much to be preferred to drugs and 

 nostrums, and in these enlightened days the doctor's pre- 

 scription begins to call more and more for fresh air and less 

 and less for quinine. It is true, this can be said of all out- 

 door recreations, and it is very far from me to ascribe any- 

 thing but virtue to any form of sport or play which takes 

 a man into the open. 



From a strictly commercial standpoint, sport fishing is 

 of very much more than ordinary importance. It takes 

 but a moment to realize how vast an amount of money is 

 invested in enterprises connected with angling. Factories 

 of no mean proportions employing many hands are devoted 

 to the production of tools of the craft and great mercantile 

 establishments all over the land cater to the wants of the 

 angler. Hotels, both great and small, that derive their sup- 

 port from the angling fraternity abound in hundreds of 

 localities. Thousands of boats are built and marketed 

 yearly and in transportation alone thousands of dollars are 

 spent. This all means a great contribution to the com- 

 mercial activities of our country and adds to those condi- 

 tions which stand for commercial supremacy and spell 

 commercial success. 



The mere gaining of dollars does not seem to me to be 



