26 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



WOODMAN SPARE THAT TREE. 



THE direct evil effect of the indiscriminate cutting of 

 the woods and forests has become a topic of general 

 comment. Once the Ohio river ran as an almost unbroken 

 stream, all the year around, from Pittsburg to its junction 

 with the Mississippi. To-day the waters are so shallow, im- 

 peding navigation to that extent, that the West is awakening 

 to the fact that unless some effort be made, the Ohio will 

 be impassible for boats of even a light draught for fully six 

 months in the year. Huge works to cost millions of dollars 

 are spoken of as necessary to restore the river to its former 

 condition. As a leading journal justly remarks, ' ' the differ- 

 ence between the Ohio now and a hundred years ago undoubt- 

 edly lies in the destruction of the forest which once almost 

 completely covered the area watered by the Ohio and its 

 northern tributaries." 



Of course civilization has its requirements, but we rarely 

 can infringe with impunity on the primitive condition of 

 things without nature asserting some of her rights. If the 

 cutting of the Suez canal and the proposed planting of trees 

 on its banks may probably in time make meteorological 

 changes of importance, perhaps for the benefit of the whole 

 country, in like manner the denuding of whole sections of 

 land of their trees, must exert a contrary and pernicious 

 action. Prof essor Newberry, of Ohio, says: 



"A dense forest growth is a great equalizer, both of tem- 

 perature and of the flow of surface water. While the fores 

 is unbroken it acts as a blanket, covering the soil, protect- 

 ing it from the winds, both drying and chilling. It serves, 

 also, as a great sponge, receiving and retaining moisture, 

 and allowing its gradual escape. When the forest is re- 

 moved, however, and the soil cultivated, the surface smooth 

 and the drainage facilitated, as it is in a thousand ways, 

 and the sun and winds admitted, the effect cannot but be 

 marked, even though the annual rain-fall be not materially 

 changed." 



The remedy lies in the judicious cutting of the forests. 

 Some day, when the natural sequence of things is better 

 understood, men will cease, from motives of self -Interest, 

 this indiscriminate leveling of the woods; but until they are 

 thus actuated it would be neither tyrannical nor unwise to 

 have some legislative action adopted to prevent this grow- 

 ing; evil. 



§ ta and §iver <#'*?/%♦ 



(S§S 



GAME FISH IN SEASON IN AUGUST. 



Blueflsh, (Temnodm Saltator.) 

 Salmon, (Salmo Salar.) 

 Sea Trout, (Tratta Marina.) 

 Grayling, (ThymaUus Signifer.) 

 Maskinonge. 



Striped Bass, (Labrax Ltneaf/itx.) 

 Tront, (Salmo Fortinalif.) 

 Black Bass, (Cenfrarelius Fascbatus.) 

 Land-locked Salmon, {.Salmo Gloveri. 



Salt water fishing is now in its prime, and the Atlantic 

 coast from Buzzard's Bay to Cape May is swarming with blue- 

 fish, striped bass, and weakfish, besides the other varieties of 

 scarcer or more sluggish fish, such as Spanish mackerel, 

 kingfish, sea bass, black-fish or tautog, porgies, sheepshead, 

 &c. Within the present summer an unusual variety of com- 

 paratively strange fish and heretofore unknown in the wa- 

 ters of the North Atlantic, have made their appearance in 

 this latitude. They are caught in the seines and traps of 

 the market fishermen. We described three of these varities 

 in the last issue of Forest and Stream. All are peculiar to 

 the Caribbean Sea and other tropical waters. It is only two 

 years ago that the pompino, a great delicacy of the Louis- 

 ania coast, was first observed here. The drum, sheepshead 

 and kingfish are all recent comers, and even the blueflsh 

 was unknown forty years ago. It would seem that the tem- 

 perature of the water, like that of portions of our globe, is 

 becoming warmer, and that climatic changes are causing 

 this imigration from Southern seas to our own. What are 

 the specific causes, we must leave to hydrographers to de- 

 termine. 



Although the weakfish does not come -within the category 

 of legitimate game fish, he is a beautiful specimen of the 

 finny tribe, and under conditions presently to be mentioned 

 affords sport of the most exciting and interesting character. 

 This fish is also known as the suckermaug, squeteague, and 

 sea-trout. He is marked by gorgeous spots upon a ground 

 of blue and silver, and by red and yellow fins, which are 

 characteristic of the fresh water trout, and have undoubt- 

 edly given to it the name of ' ' trout " in some sections. Ordi- 

 narily it is caught by hand-lines fished from a boat. 

 These weakfish come in with the tide in immense shoals, 

 following the small fry upon which they and their con- 

 geners feed, and are caught by the boat-load at half flood, 

 within a few feet of the surface. Bait with a shrimp or 

 shedder, and keep the line constantly in motion, and half 

 the time you will "jig" them in the belly, tail or side, as 

 the finny mass moves over the hook. Down at the "Nar- 

 rows" of New York Bay, near Fort Richmond, is a favorite 

 place. In New Haven harbor, and other harbors of the 

 Sound, and especially in the vicinity of Montauk Point, 

 Long Island, they are taken in great numbers. However, 

 no one but market-fishermen and novices take weakfish in 

 tjiis way. They prefer to fish with rods and finer tackle in' 

 deeper water along the edges of channels and tide-races, 

 where the rocks or shifting sands form shelves and ledges 

 to which the small fry gather for safety and where bits of 

 organic matter are drifted by the tide and deposited. Here the 

 weakfish run singly and much larger in size— four times the 

 weight of those " schooling "—coming along under the still 

 water of the ledges where their prey is huddled, and gulp- 

 ing down large masses at a moutful. These big fellows are 

 designated as -'tide-runners." They weigh about four 

 pounds, and pull well in a five-knot current. 



But there is another mode, still, of taking Aveakfish, of 

 which, verity, many an old fisherman wotteth not. Atten- 

 tion, all! Take a "cat-rigged" boat, a craft with a main- 

 sail only and mast stepped well forward, one that works 

 quickly, for quick work is required, and go to Fire Island 

 Inlet at half ebb. At half ebb, or when the tide is running 

 out like a mill -tail, is the only time to take them. Should 

 you attempt the experiment on the flood, you would lose 

 your boat and your life. Let there be a good stiff quarter- 

 ing breeze, and now with a steady helm and a good rap 

 full, bear right down on the beach, mounting the very crest 

 of the waves that in ten seconds more will break into shiv- 

 ers on the sand. Keep a quick eye, a steady nerve, and a 

 ready hand. You will take the edge of the swift current 

 where it pours out of the inlet. Fear not the mounting 

 "combers," or the breaking foam, the tide will bear you 

 back and keep you off the shingle. Right here at the mouth 

 of the inlet, the action of the tide is constantly washing out 

 the sand, and as it is borne down on the current, it presently 

 sinks by its own specific gravity, and gradually piles up 

 until it forms a little ledge a foot high or more, just as the 

 driving snow in winter is borne over the crest of a drift 

 until it forms a counter-scarp, with an apron hanging over 

 the abrupt and perpendicular verge. Right under the edge 

 of this ledge the small fry congregate, and the "tide-run- 

 ners " forage for food. Here throw your "squid." Just 

 now is the critical instant. In two seconds you will either 

 be founding on the beach or surging down on the impetuous 

 current of the strong ebb tide. The breeze is blowing fresh. 

 Up mounts your ' boat on the glassy billow whose crest is 

 foaming just two rods in front. A false move now is ruin- 

 ous. Ready about, hard down your helm! Now! while she 

 shakes, toss in your "squid" into the deep green brine. 

 There, you have him. Keep her away, and haul in lively. 

 Hurrah ! a four-pounder. Lift him over the rail easy ; belay 

 your sheet there — steady ! Whish ! away we go, with wind and 

 tide fair, and a seven knot current, and in a jiffy are swept 

 many rods off from the land, and ready to repeat the 

 manoeuvre again. Clear away your line, come about, and 

 charge up to the beach once more. What can be more ex- 

 citing? No time to stop for lunch now. Here we have all 

 the attractions and excitement of yachting and fishing com- 

 bined, with every sense on the alert and every nerve tautened 

 to fullest tension. Who will dare turn up his nose in con- 

 tempt of weakfishing. 



Striped bass are rapidly working their y^&j to the south- 

 ward, and along our own and the adjacent shores of New 

 Jersey, a small run of fish that average a pound in weight, 

 have been taken with shrimps or shedders b} r fishermen while 

 angling for weakfish. Mr. Masters, of the Brooklyn Sport- 

 man's Emporium, however, took some off Gravesend at the 

 close of last week which ran up to six pounds. In a fort- 

 night the season will be at its height and big fish running. 



Anglers are having fine sport taking blue-fish with a rod 

 in the vicinity of Fire Island, both inside and outside of 

 the Bay. They are of large size, running from ten to thir- 

 teen pounds. An ordinary two-jointed bamboo bass-rod is 

 used, with float and sinker, and shedder crabs for bait. A 

 wire snell is requisite to prevent the fish from snapping off 

 the line. Those who have tried it pronounce the sport very 

 exciting. 



George Evans, Esq., of Brooklyn, returned last week 

 from the Thousand Islands, St. Lawrence river, where he 

 took one hundred and fiity black" bass, some of which 

 weighed four pounds. He used a spoon. 



The Rangely Lake Hatching Association are constructing 

 a hatching house at Rangely Lakes, and have put in 

 40,000 grown fish. This association will propagate both 

 salmon and trout. The works are very large. 



Mr. H. O. Stanley, Fish Commissioner of Maine, has just 

 caught a salmon weighing twelve pounds, in the St. Croix 

 river, near Vanceboro, the first taken for forty years in 

 those waters. It was caught with a fly. 



Members of the Oquossoc Club took from the Rangely 

 Lake waters in Maine, this season, over 1,000 speckled trout, 

 which averaged a pound apiece. The largest weighed eight 

 pounds. 



A WAIF FROM THE SEA. 



A venerable fisherman who has had sixty years of experi- 

 ence, utters this complaint of the disregard of all amenities 

 among the fishermen of Cape JVfciy : 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



Fond of the sea in all its majestic beauty, and seeking 

 retirement from the busy world, I launched my little boat 

 from the quiet landing at Van Gilder's, on Mill creek, in the 

 town of Seaville, CayeMayCo., N. J., one beautiful morning, 

 just as the tide began to ebb, and the sun pushed his radiant 

 portion of a circle above the eastern horizen, and took my 

 crooked, winding course for Townsend's Inlet. 



The occasional sudden splash of an eel as he rolled from 

 the bank, or the sweet, clear whistle of the willet, reminded 

 me that I was not alone in the world, though the deep- 

 gorged creeks entirely shut me out from the sight of man. 

 Thus I wended my way across the beach, looking seaward 

 and upward as the breakers foamed and lashed the sand 

 beneath my feet — seaward, as I trembled lest the ocean should 

 forget its jurisdiction, and upward in remembrance of the 

 Divine command, " Thus far shalt thou go and no farther." 



The sight was grand, as the foam-capped billows came 

 frolicking in like flocks of snowy sheep, and the sea-gulls, 

 with graceful curve of wing, darted beneath the waves in 

 search of prey. One in particular attracted my attention, 

 sailing round and round an eddy, swaying to and fro, as if 

 to watch the graceful motion of some Toyal fish beneath, 

 when suddenly down, out of sight, and up again, sailing 

 towards the beach, and_ over my head, lo, from its bill 



there fell at my feet, no fish, but a roll of manuscript. With 

 eager haste I opened it and found the following: 



"History of Sir Isaac Walton, the fisherman, from Sir 

 Isaac's lipsbefore he breathed his last, 



"My ancestors were fishermen of Gallilee, with Peter 

 James, and John, but my father, Isaac, whose name I hear' 

 came to this country in 1780, with Lord Cornwallis, who' 

 landing his army at this inlet and finding the country I 

 trackless desert, detailed Col. Watson with his corps of 'en- 

 gineers, to open a road through to Egg Harbor. The work 

 was quickly but roughly done, without the aid of compass 

 and the British army marched triumphantly through its beau- 

 tiful concave bed, amid the shouts and cheers of the people 

 in the vicinity. It was a crooked road, made without regard 

 to either lines, curves, or angles. Its sidewalk, equally as 

 well defined as the road, commingled its beautiful irregu 

 larities with the grades, in manner much like the creeks 

 emptying into the^ound, they having no bottom to the mud 

 audit having no bottom to the sand. This road was left by 

 the noble English lord as a legacy to the people of Seaville 

 together with many a brave "soldier who built it, with the 

 injunction that it should never be altered, amended, or dis- 

 turbed till the day when time shall be no more. Hence its 

 present condition. 



"But to my history. My good, kind, genial old father 

 died at three-score years and ten, full of honor, and full of 

 scales, leaving the little family a small farm with fishing 

 privileges usual in those days, and to me his boat and fishing 

 gear, with the injunction that in all my piscatorial excursions 

 I should strictly adhere to the following rules, viz. : 1st, 

 faithfully study the nature and habits of the fish you seek; 

 2d, give 'freely of your catch to your neighbor; 3d, never 

 make a noise as you near the fishing ground; 4th, never pass 

 your boat over the lines of other fishermen; 5th, anchor your 

 boat even on the tide with other boats; 6th, avoid the com- 

 pany of every man who refuses to observe these rules; 7th, be 

 a gentleman at all times and places; 8th, fool the fish but not 

 yourself. And now, my dear friends, he said, as he cast his 

 eye around the grotto of the mermaids, in which was con- 

 gregated the various tribes of whale, sheesphead, drum, bass, 

 blackfish, mackerel, skate, tautaug, porgee, weakfish, shark', 

 dogs, goody, oysters, shad, stingaree, and, though last but 

 not least, the blueflsh, I call you all to witness that I have 

 kept all these rules from my youth up ; not one jot or tittle 

 of them have I broken, and I call you also to witness this 

 clay how these good rules been broken and trampled on 

 by the fishermen" of this region. The citizens of South Sea- 

 ville, it is well known throughout the length and breadth of 

 the land, are hospitable, kind, honest, truthful, religious, 

 sentimental, charitable, not given to tattling, sober, and dis- 

 creet, but the fishermen are shamefully ignorant of the rules 

 and etiquette of fishing, which should, and in other parts of the 

 world do, govern the conduct of every true disciple of mine, 

 In these waters I have been singled as a target to be run 

 over by passing boats; my hooks caught by center-boards; 

 anchors thrown over my lines; boats rushed as near to me 

 as possible in order to frighten a shoal of fish ; my kellock 

 has been fished; men, like dogs in the manger, have pur- 

 posely upset my fishing, and when remonstrated wifh, re- 

 ply, " fish are not frightened by passing boats, and all old 

 fishermen say so." These things are so. Yes, the Reach, 

 Seaglies, Brothers, the Sounds, W are, Thorough! are, and a 

 host of places are witnesses to it, and I have been grossly 

 insulted." To which the whole convention unanimously 

 cried out, "amen, amen!" and as the last echo of this loud 

 response reverberated through the grotto, the noble stock of 

 the house of Walton gathered up his remaining strength, 

 and rising to his feet exclaimed, with the death rattle sound- 

 ing in his throat: "My friends, by reason of these things my 

 days have been shortened. To-day I go the way of all flesh. 

 My last request is that the rules that governed me for three- 

 score years and Ave, be put up in the mouth of every creek 

 and thoroughfare in this your jurisdiction, so that the way- 

 fisherman, though a fool now, may read and become wise 

 hereafter." 



-+++ 



SAVING HUMAN LIFE. 



Accidents to fishermen, yachtmen-, and sportsmen are so 

 frequent that it is Avise that not only they, but the general 

 public should be thoroughly acquainted with all the 

 methods of resusc itatingpersons taken from the water. 

 We copjr in full the series of rules published by the execu- 

 tive committee of the Life Saving Society of New York for 

 the treatment of persons who may be rescued from the water 

 in an insensible condition : 



Rtji.e 1.— To drain off water from the chest and stomach: Instantly 

 strip the patient to the waist. Place him face downward, the pit of his 

 stomach being raised above the level of his mouth by a large roll of 

 clothing placed beneath it. Throw your weight forcibly two or three 

 times, for a moment or two, upon the patient's back, over the roll of 

 clothing so as to press all the fluids in the stomach out of the mouth. 



E.ule 2. — To perform artificial breathing: Quickly turn the patient 

 upon his back, the roll of clothing being so placed beneath as to make 

 the breast-bone the highest point of the body. 



Kneel beside or astride patient's hips. Grasp front part of the. chest 

 on either side of the pit of the stomach, resting your ringers along the 

 spaces between the short ribs. Brace your elbows against your sides, and 

 steadily grasping and pressing forward and upward, throw your whole 

 weight" upon chest, and gradually increasing the pressure while you can 

 count one, two. three. Then, suddenly, let go with a final push, which 

 springs you back to your first position. Eest erect upon your knees 

 while'you can coixnt one, two, three', then make pressure again as before, 

 repeating the entire motions at first about four or Ave times a minute 

 gradually increasing to about ten or twelve times. 



Use the same regularity as in blowing bellows, and as is seen in natural 

 breathing, which your are imitating. 



If another person be present, let him, with one hand, by means of a 

 dry piece of linen, hold the tip of the tongue out of one corner of the 

 mouth, and, with the other hand grasp both wrists and pin them to the 

 ground above the patient's head. 



After-treatment.— -After breathing has become natural, dry the patient 

 briskly. Wrap him in blankets only, and let him be kept perfectly quiet. 

 Provide free circulation of air. Give brandy and water — a teaspoonful 

 every five minutes the first half hour, and afterward occasionly as may 

 seem expedient. 



1. Avoid delay. A moment may turn the scale for life or death. _ Dry 

 ground, shelter, "stimulants, &c, at this moment are nothing— artificial 

 breathing is everything— is the one remedy— all others are secondary. If 

 the breathing has just ceased, a smart slap on the face or stomach will 

 sometimes start it again, and may be tried incidentally, 



2 Prevent friends from crowding around the patient and excluding cur- 

 rents of air: also from attempting administration of any stimulant be- 

 fore the patient is well able to swallow; the first promotes suffocation, 

 the second fatal choking. 



3 Avoid impatience of results. Any time within two hours, you may be 

 on the very threshold of success, without there being any sign of it. 



In suffocation from smoke, coal-gas. or other poisonous gases, as also 

 in hanging, proceed in the same way as for drowning, but omit Kule 

 No. 1. , 



In case of sun-stroke lay the patient in the shade, in free current of air; 

 loosen the clothing, raise the head slightly, and pour upon it a small 

 stream of cool water. 



The following important suggestions to bathers are also given by the 

 society; 



Avoid entering the water within two hours after a meal; or when ex- 

 hausted from any cause; or when the body is cooling after perspiration. 



Stay in the water usually not more than fifteen minutes. 



