246 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



fish stations on Hemlock and Canandaigua lakes, the collection of lake trout eggs in 

 Lakes Michigan and Superior, the collection of wild brook and lake trout eggs in 

 the waters of the State, the collection of lobster, smelt and tomcod eggs in the 

 sound and bays and streams of Long Island, the equipment and repairs of the State 

 fish car, the expenses incurred in bringing the contributions of the United States 

 into New York and in planting them by means of cars or messengers of the United 

 States Fish Commission. For this outlay the State waters receive every year in the 

 neighborhood of 200,000,000 fish, and it is generally conceded to be a good business 

 investment for the State. 



The declaration made by Mr. Conine in the last sentence of his interview I do 

 not pretend to understand, and I doubt if he does. He says: " In New York State 

 $100,000 will not pay the expenses, and a number have made themselves wealthy in 

 the business." Which business? I really do not know how he wishes to be under- 

 stood. If he means the men who hatch fish at the per diem of $1.50 to $2, he must 

 be in error, or the men would not continue to work in all temperatures of water and 

 in all weathers at this rate, for it is not a job that the wealthy would cling to for any 

 length of time, and I am forced to conclude that he must have thought that he was 

 being interviewed upon some other subject than shad culture ; but if he will persist 

 in engaging in matters relating to shad, I would suggest that he take a partner by 

 the name of Wm. Duncan that I find mentioned in the Philadelphia Record under 

 the head line : 



v^eriotisl^ gitfen h% a 3f)ad. 



"WILMINGTON, Del., June 3. — William Duncan, aged twenty-six years, a Dela- 

 ware river fisherman, was bitten by a shad and is now in the Delaware Hospital here, 

 suffering severely. While hauling in his net ten days ago one of the fish, which was 

 particularly vicious, seized his hand in his mouth and inflicted a painful injury. The 

 fish had fine teeth, which cut the flesh. The wound was regarded as trivial, but in a 

 few days the hand began to swell. Now it is inflamed and swollen much larger than 

 the usual size, and serious results are feared. The injury is infected with a poison- 

 ous matter, and the outcome may be blood poisoning." 



As the shad has no teeth, not even vicious shad, the firm might be Conine & 

 Duncan ; then if they could find the man who crossed the shad with the jellyfish, 

 they could add " & Company," by taking him into the firm, and the only plant 

 required would be a credulous reporter on the staff of the daily or weekly press, with 

 a department devoted to fisheries. 



