210 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 13, 1888. 



Franklin county, both in 1 1 if Adirondack* and in t hi: si rips of 



forests ill .i i . . tired over the county. In ihe mouths 



of September and Ocufbar yon can harol; pass through a 

 ptoee of woods of ii few acres in extent without Bearing up 

 ;i Hod, or two. I think thebause of their remaining so 

 plenty lure is thai they arc nevci snared. 1 bave«ever 

 known or heard of a partridge or rulTed grouse being 

 snared in Franklin county, and 1 have been in most all parts 

 of it v, here snares would be likely to he ftiUUd. I wrote you 



some time ago that a lumber company was about purchasing 

 a large portion of the \iliroudaek wilderness ihat. is known 

 as the SI. Regis district, and Ihat if was their intention lo 

 eonsln iet a railroad from some point in I he district 'oeoimeel 

 with the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain road at Muira. They 

 have purchased upward of lOO.OOQ acres and have il sur- 

 vived, and haveohlaineda charter lor the road, and haye 

 the timbers tor building the bridges on the ground, and ex- 

 pect to have the road in luuiilng order by another fall. It 

 is called the Northern Adirondack Railroad in their 

 charter For tin- present its southern terminus will be 

 lit tt point on the .Middle Bt. Regis, known its the 

 Five Mile Level, about three miles east ol St. Regis 

 falls, « here I In v are building a large mill for sawing their 



lumbar. Tbs past winter they Gave had three 



choppers euttiug timber on the laud. The laud they have 

 irchosef] eompr'ifes all of the territory about llm head- 

 waters ,,1 the Ihree branches of the St. Kegis River. If 



take« in all or all bul h few small lots of Townships Kb. in 



It. He ft and the south hall of No. ft) and 11. Bj taking 

 :i lo..k !it Stoddard's map of the Adirondack*, where Ihe 

 numWa Of the townships are given, y uU oati sec- what a 

 r Id of territory this company has purchased, ft ex- 

 tends 1,0 withm a short, distance pf Mcaoharu Lake and 

 Raul Smith's on Ha Si. Regis Lake, on the east, and to St. 

 Lawrence county on the west . and is, 1 claim, one of the best, 

 if not the best, portiouof the Adirondack-, for deer and other 



■ well as for trout fishing, that is now to be found 



in that region. As to the effect that the lumbering business 

 will have" on Ihe hunting and fishing in Ihat territorv. niv 

 opinion is that lor three or tour years to come il will no! be 

 -really injured by it. Hut a lajlioad running into the heart 

 of a good hunting and fishing country will make it SO easy 

 of access that it will, i believe, in a few years, be so overrun 

 , : i men and others that, as in all other places Ihat 

 are uiilch livqni nled, Ihe deer and tfOUt will get scarce as 

 Ihenumbei of visitor- increase. 



The lumbering itself does not, 1 think, injure the hunting 

 or lishimr to any g-eat extent; deer are always found plenty 

 around clearings where the underbrush is left, and in the 

 woods thai are partially open, as those are that have been 

 lumbered in. Tmut fishing will continue good until the 

 streams aud ponds are overfished, in until saw mills are 

 built on tie- headwaters of the streams and the dust from 

 Ihe mills ldlls off the trout, ns is the case in many streams 

 hi the older settled parts of the county, /or hunting or 

 fishing I believe that at the present lime there are but very- 

 few, if any, localities oi near the same extent that will 

 equal the tract ot territory purchased by this company. 



Until v\ iihin a year or (WO ii has been but vary little fre- 

 quented by spoilsmen residing outside of this or St. Law- 

 i i e ■ nun til s. There are at present three hotels, or homes, 

 within it that keep accoinmo hitions for sportsmen. One is 

 at St. Regis Kails, on tbfi leathern bordered ihe tract, where 

 there is a post office, Daniel McNeil, proprietor. The other 

 two are at Bhie Mountain, eleven miks further south and 

 near Ihe center of the Iracl. and within a short distance of 

 the Sixteen Mil.- Uvel of the Middle St. Resis, which r 



: Ii ihe center of lln St. Regis district from soulh to 



north." Hie is called the Blue Mountain House. Ileurv 

 Phelps, proprietor! the other the Forest Home, Meiill & 

 (liven, proprietors! Post-office address of both, si. Regie 

 Falls, Atjkion Onuacic 



Mma.yN, Y.. Aprils, 1882. 



A TESTIMONIAL TO REUBEN WOOD. 



BEFORE Mr Wood sailed for the London Fisheries Ex- 

 hibition, lie called at the office of 1'nur.STAxn Stream. 

 in the course of conversation we noticed a portion of a gold 

 badge peeping from under the lappel of his coat, and inquir- 

 in i i ii it, Reuben, with his characteristic modesty, re- 

 plied: "It's ouly a little badge Ihe boys gave rne he-lore 

 teWi i" Byracuse. ' We found it a large and elegant one. 

 From a scroll there are two bars dependeut, lo which a 

 bundle of fishing rods is, hung; a miniature reel is placed 

 in the ci nter, a twining fishline hangs below which is 

 crossed by other rods. A large gold medal is enclosed by 

 tle-se. on* which the portly figure of Uncle Reuben is en- 

 graved in the act. of wading a stream. The likeness is good, 

 and by Ihe angle at which Lis ever present cigar is tilted, 

 we see that he has ju.-t struck a four-pounder. 



Pro in Ihe Syracuse Siimlni/ Times We learn that the pre- 

 sentation was made in the presence Of about thirty friends, 

 and was accompanied by the following remarks by Mr. 

 I taiiion Coats: 



Mr. Wood— I have been requested by the members of the 

 Onondaga Fishing Club and others of your friends in Syra- 

 e to > i Eev parting words before you leave usto 

 attend th International Fisheries Exhibition. We wish lo 

 express lo you our appreciation of your valuable sen ices lo 

 the club, our admiration of your wonderful skill as an angler 

 and your enthusiastic love of the sport — your never failing 

 fund" of good humor, good nature and good fellowship at 

 all times, but most fell and best appreciated by your associ- 

 ates while i u camp and following the trout stream— our per- 

 sonal regard which has grown stronger day by day through 

 , li.i" i rics of fondly remembered years— our gratification 

 al your appointment on the duties of which you are about 

 to enter, and our congrat illations lo you, and no less totho.se 

 who have SO kindly and so wisely selected you for a posi- 

 tion for which. you are SO peculiarly and admirably fitted. 



They have selected me to address you for no especial 

 reason, 1 presume, except that 1 have known you long and 

 intimately, and have, if possible, of all your friends, the 

 in iu. T attachment for you. I have witnessed a great 

 many wonderful displays of your skill, both in the tourna- 

 ment and upon the stream. I have seen you take trout 

 Where there was " no fishing " — at least il Was so placarded 

 una board nailed up hard by. I have seen you lure and 

 land Iwo-pouiulers from pools where I had supposed onlj 

 the smallest fry could find room to lurk. I saw you dike 



even t, weighing ten. pounds, from a pond where you 



mistakenly supposed you had permission to angle, with 

 such celerity that the wrathy proprietor discovered the 

 capture oi the last and smallest one only. I )h! how hand- 

 somely you did ay I. : .i taking that one— forgetting 

 all about the six other victims of your skill then swaying in 



your capacious pockets. I saw you at the inlet of Ox-bow 

 Lake— from one position and wiihoul a single miss — sit in 

 the bow of about and lake thirty-six beauties in less than a 

 hundred minutes each victim leaping to yonr fly at sixty 



feel cast and reeled in through fitly feet of lily pads. 1 do 

 here and now publicly forgive you for the' torture you 

 then inflicted on me — Compelled, as I was, to crouch in the 

 stern of that boat for a mortal hour and a half, while you 

 serenely smoked aniniugled. 



But 1 may not dwell on these incidents of our piscatory 

 life. 1 must pass to the business of this meeting. Your 

 friends are jealous of the honor of claimimr you as One of US. 



Our atiaeiuueni [or you i- \.iv sincere, vfewish you, sir, 

 a prosperous coy:,.,. : , delightful sojourn abroad, a faithful, 

 successful and agreeabh accomplishment of your share of 



the objects of the tnissi,, ii. and a safe return "to us and to 

 your home. And we hope you may, while in Her Majesty's 

 dominions, have an Opportunity to give au exhibition of 

 your. skill in lly-casting by killing a few of the trout and 

 Salmon in those foreign Streams— using, perchance, some of 

 the tackle which your skill has won as prizes in tournaments 

 m your native land. 



And now, "Iteub Wood," I have lo say to you, in behalf 

 of these your Syracuse friends, thai they claim u properti 



in you. We spare you for a time to "Uncle Sain" for this 

 occasion, lint we claim to have you back again. And we 

 mean there, shall be no mistake about it. We mean 

 to Secure your return CO us as far as in our power, be- 

 yond all mistakes and against all hazards. And so we are 

 going to put our mark on voufor more certain identification, 

 should you at any time unfortunately get lost in the mazes 

 of London, bewildered in its fogs, mingled with the smoke- 

 clouds of your own incvila lie, everlasting cigar. 



1 Mease, 'then, except and wear this badge, "Reub," pre- 

 sented to you as a slight token of our great esteem and love. 

 We mean by the gift to do you honor. We know you will 

 do honor to* the gift. 



OUR ANGLING PRESIDENT. 



T^T matter wdiat the judgment, of the future may be upon 

 j_\ Ihe administration of Presidenl Arthur, his fame as an 

 angler is established for all time on the Strength of Ihat fifty- 

 pound salmon, lie is now in Florida seeking his favorite 

 recreation, and we hope he will have the success with the 

 black has.- that, he has had with the salmon, and capture the 

 biggest one on record. The New York Sun has been inter- 

 viewing Mr. Francis Endieott. the bright and genial presi- 

 dent of the National Hod and Keel Association, who has 

 fished with President Arthur on many occasions, before the 

 latter fished so deeply in political sti earns. Mr, Endieott 

 said : 



"Gen. Arthur is a good salmon fisher and has the highest 

 record of any man in this country. But it is not alone as a 

 salmon fisher that he excels, lie casts a salmon fly beauti- 

 fully, he easls a trout fly BU| erbly, and he easts a bass bail 

 equal to anybody. Those three things require entirely dif- 

 ferent styles of casting, and excellence in either depends so 

 greatly upon the temperament of the angler and his prac- 

 tice, that it is an exceedingly rare thing to find a person who 

 is capable of doing all ihree'very well. It is because Gen. 

 Art hur does present that rare combination of capacities in 

 so marked a degree that I unhesitatingly pronounce him not 

 only the fiist maeislrate. hut the first angler in the land.' 



Mr. Endieott said Ibis in a lnannerthal implied his regard 

 for Hie latter title as a proudei one than the former. Drift- 

 ing into the grateful current of reminiscences, h dinned: 



"Some years ago, when Gen. Arthur was Collector of the 

 Foil, we went down together to fish in Mimsell's Pond, on 

 Long Island, and while there received a kind invitation 

 from that genial gentleman, Mr. William Floyd-Jones, lo 

 lish in Massapequa Lake, which is pronounced by Mr, 

 Spencer F. Baird, United Slates Fish Commissioner, the 

 finest preserve in this country. It lias been made by dam- 

 ming a large brook, and that stream, before pouring into it, 

 winds through five miles of woodland belonging to Mr. 

 Floyd-Jones.' The trout are wild, of fine size, and i suppose 

 we caught a hundred of them that day. Of course, we only 

 look away the largest. The others we replaced in the water. 

 The General cast, a beautiful fly; yes, beautiful. He throws 

 to such a distance and with so much precision thai 1 think 

 he is the finest amateur caster that 1 have ever seen. I took 

 the trouble to measure one of the President's casts, and it, 

 was seventy-eight feet. He makes the regular overhand 

 cast, not Ihe Wye casl, that Prichard uses. We liml a 

 strange old creature, named Hugh Montgomery to row lis on 

 the lake, and, by the way, he is the only man I ever saw 

 who could manage a boat with two men in it so as to give 

 both an equally" good chance to fish. I gave the General 

 what is ordiuarih deemed the best place in the boat. Ihe 

 Stern, myself taking the bow, and as tlughev rowed us 

 along the, old bed of the stream, in the middle of the lake, 

 l wo or three times I raised a tish and failed to hook him. 

 Hut each lime. Gen. Arthur, casting where 1 laid raised the 

 fish, hooked him. The inevitable result of my raising a fish 

 was his taking it, and, of course, he got the laugh on me. I 

 told him 1 hail got tired of thai. 'Never mind. Endieott,' 

 said lie, 'you have the spasm of raising them. I know 

 nothing like the excitement an angler feels in raising:) fish: 

 seeing il come to his fly," 



"As we were goine down there on that occasion an inci- 

 dent occurred thai was characteristic of the General, We 

 were ciossiug South street, going to the James slip ferry, 

 when our attention was called by a loud snouting, and. 

 looking up, 1 saw a big, truculent-looking fellow, driving a 

 pair of horses attached to a large I ruck, dashing furiously 

 toward us, while he shouted for us to gel, out of his way, I 

 did so. Skipped across the street as quickly as 1 could, and 

 turned to look back. There stood Sen. Arthur just where 

 he wus when the truckman's yells were first heard hy us. 

 The pole of (he truck almost touched his breast, but then, 

 he stood. Arm and placid, looking steadily between the 

 horses' lead- into the eves of their driver, who was exerting 

 his utmost strength to rein in the animals. When they had 

 come to a lull stop, the General calmly continued on his 

 way, without a word to the driver, but, when he reached my 

 side lie said to me: T'd give tweuly-live dollars if I were 

 not. Collector of the Fori for about five minutes.' I haveno 

 doubt that events about that time would have been un- 

 pleasant for the truckman if the General had not been Col- 

 lector of the Ron. Gen. Arthur is, I think, one of the 

 coolest, mosl courageous, self-contained, and placid men 



that I know. He very seldom loses a tish, but when he does, 

 even then he shows no excitement or disappointment- 

 Yes, [have gone fishing with him very frequently, hut 

 the incidents of one (routing excursion are much like those 

 of another. I have not been salmon fishing with him, but 



have been told by those who have how beautifully he casts 

 his fly and how adroitly he manages his fish, and have every 

 son to believe that he is quite as expert an angler for 

 non as 1 know him to be for trout, lie does not seem to 

 3 much for weak lishing; has gone on it sometime, but, 

 did not seem to take much '"interest" in it. He is very fond, 

 bow-ever, of taking the big bass that they get off West Island 

 —out from Newport— and from the stands of the Squib- 

 ktioeket Club on Martha's Vineyard. They catch bass there 

 running all the way from 10 to 05 pounds weight, and that, 

 you will readily understand, is a very different sort, of fish- 

 ing from fronting, yet President Arthur is equally at home 



Yi s. Commissioner French has been off fishing with 

 Geu. Arthur, bul French doesn't know much about angling. 

 He means well, no doubt, but is too busy a man to give to 

 the gentle Sport that calm contemplation and practical ex- 

 perience and study that make, the perfect angler. Really he 

 would not be able to tell a trout from a shiner if you were 

 to paint some spots on the shiner." 



Police Commissioner French did not seem to have a con- 

 sciousness of his p, til position as an angler when interviewed 

 by a reporter on the subject, but he spoke of President Ar- 

 thur's abilities as a fisherman in the tone of an authoritative 

 expert. President Arthur, he said, is pre-eminently the best 

 salmon fisher in this country. Others may rival him in 

 catching bass and trout, but' when thev come to salmon. 

 there be Is greatest of all. Mr, French did not feel that he 

 would be. justified iu narrating any reminiscences of his 

 concerning' the recreations of ihe President of the United 

 States. 



Mr. L. W. Winchester, president of the National Express 

 Company and treasurer of the National Rod and Reel Asso- 

 ciation, said: "I have been salmon fishing with General 

 Arthur, and he is 'unquestionably a very expert angler. He 

 has taken the largest salmon ever caught with a fly in this 

 country. It was three years ago, in one of the Canadian 

 rivers, 1 Eorgel which one. but not the famous Restigouche, 

 1 think. That salmon weighed fifty pounds after its arrival 

 iu New York 1 don't know of any man who can throw il 

 better fly or kill a salmon quicker or in better style than 

 President Arthur can. He used to be a member, and is yet, 

 1 believe, of the Restigouche Salmon Club, of which I was 

 formerly president, it is a pity that Mr. R. G. Run is not 

 here, if you want to know all about, the President's fishing, 

 lor iln\ i have gone together, camping out and fishing, for 

 years, in many places, and he knows more about the subject 

 than anybody e lse " 



NORTHERN MICHIGAN. 



^\7HOEVER would have thought an ancler, and such I 

 >T took ''Prairie Dog' to be, Would take offense at my 



because the Forest akd 

 5 to bark, as well as the big 

 I spoke ot Michigan as Hi nil 



V, 



letter to "Prairie Hog.' 

 Stream allows the little doggb 

 'uns, that, 1 had niv little ,-nv. 



il. Other b.lks' experience doe 

 giving offense, 'twas farthest ft 

 'Prairie Dog" to try again am 

 after all Michigan is not so ha 



it. 



i |u. 



A few words in answer to his queries: We have tramped 

 twenty miles for a string of trout many times. We have 

 waded the feeders of the Boardman River for four or five 

 mil.s. ami then walked nine miles to camp, and 'twas itark 

 as pilch ere we stumbled out of the woods. Like "G. H. 

 \\ ,;" we strike into the woods, miles away from the railroad 

 and always find trout. 



Did we ever fi'sh in a country where mosquitoes and fly- 

 ing pests are unknown? Aye! I'm l here! The first fly we 

 ever east was in a stream running through a gTand old park 

 where trout were trout, and not hngerliugs; where three or 

 four of them were all an angler cared to kill; but "Prairie 

 Dog," in all candor, gi ye me the wild-wood streams of Penn- 

 sylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. I care not for the mos- 

 quito's nibble; we are not dainty dandies afraid of sun-tan 

 Oi copper-colored skins; we prefer to push into the forest 

 primeval to find the wild trout that lurks under the gnarled 

 and knotted roofs of the sunken trees. 



••Prairie Dog, " my best friends have blamed me because 

 I have "given away" the location of some of the best 

 streams that an angler ever cast bait, into, and now they 

 put me "on honor" not to write to the "cussed papers," as 

 they call them, telling them of a new stream we have 

 found. I am growing "conservative, as 1 find one stream 

 after another 'depleted by dear old "Nessmuk's" "trout- 

 bogs," as he so aptly describes them, and think the advice of 

 my friends worth following when they say "let the hogs 

 find their own streams. " 



In conclusion "T." is not as bristly as you imagine, and 

 would have been glad to have given you pointers of some 

 good streams, hut cannot promise freedom from "skeeters," 

 we "grin and bear them." W. 1). T. 



Chicaoo, April If 



Fallfish ok Black Bass?— Nearly ten years ago the 

 writer was one of a party of four who subscribed an amount 

 sufficient to stock the mill pond at Swedesboro, known as 

 Black's Point, with black bass. Two of the party, not hav 

 ing ever seen a black bass, went to Hagerstown, Mil., where 

 the tish were to be delivered to them, and had them put 

 upon the cars, expecting what they dimly saw swimming at 

 the bottom Of the cask to be black bass. ' They were safely 

 taken to Swedesboro, where they arrived late in the afternoon, 

 and were a t once taken lo the milipond and deposited there. 

 No sium of black ba-s has since been noticed in this body of 

 water which is well suited for the growth of this fish, but 

 tla-re has appeared withir: ten vears "thousands of chub, or 

 falllish, which nail never been noticed before in Black's 

 Pond, and which could not have found a way there unless 

 they had been deposited. It maybe that, my two friends 

 who were inl rusted with the purcha.se and planting of the 

 bass were deceived, and unknowingly brought chub, or fall- 

 fish, with them instead of the desired bass. We have heard 

 that Black's Poud, at Swedesboro. N. J., has since been 

 stocked by the Stale commission. It, is a fine body of water, 

 well suited to the black bass. May we ask if it has been 

 stocked?— llono. 



CoxNFiTiri T Titoi r. — April 1 coming on Sunday, and 

 the law being off trout, I noticed quite a number or what 

 appeared to lie canes carefully wrapped in paper, and a 

 peculiarly formed bundle under the arm of several persons, 

 and these persons seemed to have a very "off look." Trout 

 fishing with ice in the stream is a pastime 1 cannot enjoy. 

 A few alewives. or what are called here "whops," have 

 made their appearance, and one poor louely shad is re- 

 ported as being caught near Saybrook— Flick Fi.icti. 



