Fish, Fishing and Fisheries of Pennsylvania. 63 



CHAPTER XI. 



The Eastern Hatchery. 



For nine years the hatchery near Marietta was maintained by the 

 Pennsylvania Fish Commission. But for some time previous the mem- 

 bers had been dissatisfied, not with the quality of the water, but with 

 the quantity. During long-continued rainy spells there would be au 

 ample supply ; but as soon as the weather became anyway dry, scarcely 

 enough could be had to carry on the work of the hatchery. This was 

 due to the position of the hatchery, and the impossibility of raising the 

 water in the Hoover spring to a sufficient height. 



An advertisement was finally published in the newspapers, asking for 

 proposals for a suitable site. Seeing this advertisement Mr. William 

 Lewis, of Allentown, wrote to Commissioner Hewit that he thought that 

 Mr. Troxell's property and springs in the Little Lehigh river, about 

 four miles from Allentown, would just suit for the purposes desired. 



On receipt of this letter Mr. Hewit and Mr. Creveling paid a visit to 

 the site proposed. They found it an ideal spot for their requirements, 

 on the banks of a wide and boiling stream of water, so cold from multi- 

 tudinous springs that emptied into it and bubbled up from its bed as to 

 offer a refreshing drink in the hottest day in summer. The land swept 

 away in a rise so gentle as to be almost imperceptible for several hun- 

 dred yards to the base of a steep hill which rose for nearly two hundred 

 feet and formed a complete break against fierce winds. 



On this little patch of land they found an immense spring which 

 bubbled up from the earth with such force that gravel and pebbles were 

 thrown to some height, and discharged vast quantities of pure sparkling 

 waters daily, far more than enough to supply the needs of the commis- 

 sion. 



Mr. Eeuben Troxell, at the time, conducted a small private hatching 

 house of his own on the premises. The building was a little old dilap- 

 idated concern, that contained four tioughs set upon the ground and 

 one or two little ponds with adult trout therein. 



Mr. Hewit and Mr. Creveling were so delighted with the place that, 

 with the approval of the board of commissioners, negotiations for 

 securing the property were entered into, and finally Mr. Troxell agreed 

 to the following terms: That the state should have the property, includ- 

 ing what trout were in the pond, at an annual rental of $225 for five 

 years, and $300 thereafter, with the option of purchase at the end of five 

 years for $12,000, and at the end of ten years for $15,000. 



This lease was signed January 1, 1883, and the Marietta hatchery 



