134 Book of the Black Bass. 



made in England many years ago ; and Aldred, of London, 

 made rod tips, or, as they are called in England, " tops," 

 of split-bamboo, before the split-bamboo rod, proper, was 

 made in this country. Aldred's tops, however, were neces- 

 sarily a failure from the faulty method of their construc- 

 tion. He made them of many short pieces sawn from 

 between the knots, or leaf-ridges, of the male cane, and 

 spliced, to form continuous lengths. So much for the 

 original idea. 



It is not my province, nor desire, to detract one iota 

 from the credit or just due of any one in this matter, but 

 rather to render unto Caesar those things that belong to 

 Csesar. In the following pages I will present only such 

 evidence as is entirely trustworthy, having been obtained 

 from authentic sources, and put it on record here as relia- 

 ble data in regard to the early history of the American 

 split-bamboo rod; and in so doing I hope to do justice to 

 an obscure, but worthy brother of the angle. 



The following amplified account of the invention of the 

 split-bamboo rod I contributed to the " Outing " magazine 

 for May, 1902. As a matter of record I reproduce it here : 



Origin of the Split-Bamboo Eod. 



In an admirable and comprehensive article on " Salmon 

 Fishing" in " Scribner's Magazine " for October, 1876, 

 Dr. A. G. Wilkinson, of the Patent Office, Washington, 

 D. C, gives, so far as I know, the first history of the split- 

 bamboo rod and its method of construction. Incidentally 

 he says: 



"Twenty-five years ago (1851) a London firm made split- 

 bamboo rods, putting the enamel inside. » * • Mr. Phillippe, 

 living at Easton, Pa., conceived the idea, in 1866, of putting the 

 enamel upon the outside, where it would do the most good. Next, 



