Chapter XXIV 



The Still Angler 



ONE would look a long way along the New 

 England coast, or possibly anywhere else, to 

 find a municipality that would spend thou- 

 sands of dollars in extending one or more splendid piers 

 out into the sea for the sole benefit of anglers who might 

 come that way ; yet nearly every Southern California 

 town on the sea-shore has such a pier, or several ; not 

 makeshifts, but fine affairs, leading out over and be- 

 yond the breakers, and in the main for the fisherman, 

 the still angler, the philosopher of content, who comes 

 from the interior and the East and fishes from the string- 

 piece to his heart's desire. 



These begin at Santa Monica, and reach to San 

 Diego, where a long pier reaches out from Coronado. 

 Possibly the culmination is found at Long Beach, where 

 the pier is a double-decked affair, with a ballroom, con- 

 cert hall, and a town, so far as shops are concerned, all 

 out at sea. 



At Venice the pier is equally remarkable, having a 



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