CAPTAIN IRA WOOD. 



Ill 



two-handed salmon rod, a full account of which appears 

 in the sketch of his brother Reuben. In the class for 

 single-handed rods Reub and Ira entered. Ira had not 

 got out all the line he could handle, and Frank Endicott 

 said that, as his brother Reuben cast before Ira and took 

 first with 75 feet, he withdrew for fear of beating his 

 brother. This was probably the fact, because I had at- 

 tended a State tournament after this where the contest- 

 ants were Seth Green, Reuben and Ira Wood. Seth had 

 a wonderful reputation as a fly-caster, and they used 

 to report his casts without strict measurements, because 

 his only contestants up the State were Reub and Ira, and 

 Reub would not beat Seth under any circumstances; nor 

 would he allow Ira to beat Seth. Once I stood on the 

 casting platform. Seth had cast, and Reub had re- 

 strained himself and was restraining Ira. 



"Don't you do it, Ira," said Reub; "hold it, don't beat 

 the old man, it will break his heart. There now! That's 

 far enough." 



"Go in, Ira," said I; "go in and win," for I never loved 

 Seth as Reub did; "don't let Reub hold you back; this is 

 a fair open contest, and you should win if you can." 



He didn't win; could, but wouldn't. He listened to 

 his brother, and if the little fly-casting tournaments of the 

 State Association had been kept up the same old farce of 

 "don't you do it, Ira," would have continued. After the 

 Coney Island tournament was over "The National Rod 

 and Reel Association" was organized, with Francis Endi- 

 cott as president, and yearly tournaments were held on 

 Harlem Mere, Central Park, New York City. Here both 

 Reuben and Ira were freed from Reuben's worship of 

 Green, who never cared to meet Hawes, Leonard, 

 Prichard and the other great fly-casters, and the scores 

 of the Wood brothers are familiar to readers of Forest and 



