FOREST AND STREAM. 



317 



pose it is only a question of proximity of the bait to the 

 fish. We were trolling with rod at will, with a large chub 

 for bait, when a little surprise party overtook us. She 

 took that chub after the manner referred to by one of your 

 corresponded in a like situaiion, as though a rock had sat 

 down on it— a way, in fact, whieh tbese business-like fellows 

 seem to have. And when, after due dalliance, we had our 

 prize hooked down deep— for the size of the fish is pretty 

 generally indicated by the manner of the bite— we found 

 that we really had a job on hand. You say that Esox 

 weakens. It is true, and we think he ought to. It is one 

 of the good things aboat him, because half an hour's 

 wrestle, such as we had in landing this chap, is about all 

 arnau wants by way of sport. He weakens just at the 

 proper time— when you weaken, and are ready to scoop 

 liim with the net. The supreme moment was when we 

 brought our beauty to the surface with a view to landing 

 her. She laid with back out of water, as docile as a tired 

 hound, a sight to gladden the heart even of the fellow in 

 the other boat! A gentle lead towards the boat, a dextrous 

 dive with the net, and our suspense and suspenders were 

 at rest If ever a man is on good terms with himself it 

 is at denouement of such an experience. Of course he has 

 had fishing enough for that day, but in the morning he 

 goes out act hour earlier and stays an hour later. 



Parenthetically, Mr. Editor, allow us, with many others, 

 to thank you for the intelligent work you are doing in a 

 needed direction— the elevation of the nobler outdoor 

 sports. Amateur Angler. 



Greenville, Pa., Dec. 1. 



— ■« .» .. — . 



TROUT FISHING ON THE PASSADUM- 

 KEAG. 



Editor Forest and Stream:— 



It may not be uninteresting to some of the readers of 

 your valuable paper, to know that there are other waters, 

 aside from Moosehead Lake, where every year we reel in 

 the speckled beauties, and find more real exciting sport in 

 doing it than we ever realized on Moosehead or Grand 

 Lake. We refer to the Passadumkeag river. Eight years 

 ago we visited these waters for the first time, in company 

 with five other sportsmen. We landed our canoes at five 

 o'clock p. m., ar a place known as the big rock, just above 

 the mouth of the .Nicktower's, and as we had fasted since 

 eight o'clock, we lost no time in getting out our tackle. 



Stationing myself on a projecting log, with a gray fly for 

 a leader, I made my first cast. Before my line fairly whips 

 the water, the templing baits are seized, not by a trout, 

 however, as the contest ends too soon for that specie. 1 

 landed three small white perch (I have never since met 

 with them in those waters), but the next cast my bait falls 

 just below a little eddy, about midway of the stream. 

 This time it's a trout sure; yes, two or three of them. My 

 slender rod comes down to hand under the steady strain, 

 and, after fifteen minutes of the most intense suspense, I 

 succeed in landing two trout, the largest weighing three 

 and one fourth pounds, the smallest one pound, massing 

 them over to the cook. I cast again with similar results. 

 "We remained in camp ten days, and might have caught 

 huudreds of trout each day, but denied ourselves the pleas- 

 ure, taking only what we wanted to eat. 



1 have since been there once or twice a year, and have 

 never yet failed to find plenty of sport, although the trout 

 have not averaged quite so large. The largest speeimen I 

 have ever taken was in June last, which weighed four 

 pounds. Our party took several, weighing from Lwo to 

 three pounds. We also made a trip to Pistol Lake, three 

 miles above. I would like to tell you some something of 

 that lovely theet of water, and the speckled beauties we 

 fished out of it, but have already made my letter longer 

 than I intended, and will defer it until another time. 



Correspondent. 



v «♦*+• 



\Nortii Carolina— Newbern, JST. G, Dec. 8g.— The great 

 ocean bluefish have put in an appearance upmi our coast. 

 A few day's since one man caught over four thousand, 

 another twenty-five hundred, weighing from five to some 

 sixteen pounds each, and would average nine or ten pounds 

 apiece. Our market has been glutted with them, selling 

 at from 25 cents to .40 cents for cboice. These schools of 

 bluefish follow the schools or shoals of fat backs or moss 

 bunkers upon the shore, and sometimes as many as fifty 

 shoals of them may be seen at once, varying in size from 

 a fifth to a quarter acre, "reaching five feet below the sur- 

 face of the sea, and rising in a dense body a foot above it" 

 U am not responsible for that portion), and the bluefish 

 cutting in every direction, bloodying the ocean all around. 



Thy catch above referred to was on the coast, just above 

 H.uteras. I. E. West. 



Doings of the Fishing Fleet. — There have been but 

 four arrivals the past week from Georges and LaHave, 

 bringing in 8,000 pounds of halibut and 16,000 pounds of 

 codfish. These are extremely slim fares and the vessels 

 would be far better off alongside the wharves. Last sales 

 of halibut 20f and 14f for white and grey. The shore fleet 

 have also had a poor week's work; codfish have sold at 

 $3.50 per hundred pounds. — Gave Ann Advertiser. Dec. 



§j%chting md porting. 



. — » 



All communications from Secretaries and friends sTiould be mailed no 

 later taan Monday in each week. 



KIQH WATER. FOR THE WEEK. 



Date. 



Dec. 81. 

 Dec. 22., 

 Dec. 23.. 

 Dec. 24.. 

 Dec. j>5. 

 Dec. 26.. 

 Dec. 27. 



Boston, 



H. 



M. 



3 







3 



39 



4 



24 



5 



7 



5 



56 



6 



50 



7 



53 



New York. 



H. 



M. 



morn. 







25 



j 



9 



3 



3 



2 



42 



3 



36 



4 



38 



Charleston 



The Atalanta.— Mr. William Astor's yacht, the Ata- 

 lanta, arrived at Jacksonville, Fla., on the 10th inst, after 

 a very lough passage. She will remain in Florida waters 

 during the winter. 



Brooklyn Yacht Cltjb.— The monthly meeting of the 

 ■Brooklyn Yacht Club was held last Wednesday evening, 

 tJ ie President in the chair. The prizes won at the regular 



regatta in June were exhibited and formally presented to 

 the successful competitors as follows :— 



SCHOONERS. 



Club Prize— Large musical box, to the Comet, William 

 H. Langley. 



Flag Officer's Prize— Silver pitcher, to Estelle, James B. 

 Smith. 



FIRST CLASS SLOOPS. 



Club Prize— Silver jug, to the Arrow, Daniel Edgar. 

 Flag Officer's Prize— Set of signals and book, to the Un- 

 dine, William M. Brasher. 



SECOND CLASS SLOOPS. 



Club Prize— Silver service, to Lizzie L., J. G. Johnson. 

 Flag Officer's prize— Marine clock, to the America, Jno. 

 R. Tread well. 



THIRD CLASS SLOOPS. 



Club Prize— Silver dish, to Susie S., E. P. Miiler. 

 Flag Officer's Prize— Album and easel— William T. Lee, 

 Charles A. Cheever. 



GREENPORT REGATTA OF 1875. 



First Prize— Tobacco box, to the Kate, George F. Ran- 

 dolph. 



Second Prize— Silver spoons, to the Schemer, C. H. Hall. 



A committee of five yacht owners were appointed to 

 nominate flag officers for 1877, and a similar committee of 

 non-yacht owners to nominate civil officers of the club, 

 both committees to report at a special meeting to be held 

 January 6th, 1877. The election will take place on the 

 second Wednesday evening of January. 



St. Augustine Yacht Club.— The annual meeting of 

 the Yacht Club was held on the 7th instant. The requisite 

 number, ten, for a quorum, were present. The only busi- 

 ness transacted was the admitting of the following gentle- 

 men as members: R. II. Pratt, E. H. Zalinski, E. T. 

 Brown, Dr. Alba, and N. C. Vanderslice. 



— The side-wheel steamer C. H. Dexter, which ran for 

 many years on the Connecticut river, is now en route for 

 St. Augustine, Florida, via: Long Island Sound, the Dela- 

 ware and Raritau and Delaware and Chesapeake canals to 

 Norfolk, through the Currituck canal, Albemaile and Pem- 

 lico sounds, outside twenty miles to Cape Fear river, 

 through a series of inlets to Charleston, Fernandina, and 

 Jacksonville, from which the remainder of the journey 

 will be made to St. Augustine outside. The Dexter is a 

 fiat-bottomed vessel. 



fytianal §in$timt%. 



THE 



FOOT BALL 



YALE-HARVARD 

 MATCH. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: — 



1 notice in your issue of December 7th a communication 

 from J. C. W., containing an unqualified denial of several 

 statements made by a correspondent in a previous number, 

 in regard to tbe lecent University Foot-Bali match between 

 Harvard and Yale. 1 would by no means excite a useless 

 controversy upon a subject which has already undergone 

 considerable debaie, both in the college papei'9 and several 

 of the New York and Boston dailies ; but I should like to 

 be allowed a little of your space to show that the article in 

 question was not such a gross perversion of facts as W. 

 asserts . 



I maintain in the first place that the Yale players were 

 sadly ignorant of the rules regulating "on" and "off" 

 sides, and in this I express the unanimous opinion of the 

 Harvard team and the Harvard papers, nor does W". deny 

 this himself. It does not alter the case that Yale "knew 

 enough of them, however, to win the game," for to those 

 who are conversant with the Rugby game it will readily 

 appear that a breach of these very important rules may be 

 a material assistance rather than a disadvantage. W. then 

 misquotes as follows : "Harvard succeeded in getting two 

 touch-downs, but as the wind was unfavorable no goals 

 were kicked," and denies that the wind affected the kick 

 at goal The report, however, attributes this failure to 

 the fact that both the touch downs were too much to the 

 side of the goal posts, in which case the wind was un- 

 filrorable. Furthermore, Harvard gained two touch-downs 

 during the first part of the game. The first, made by 

 Leamans, resulted in an ineffectual kick-at-goal, and the 

 second was made soon after by Cushing. But the latter 

 was so near the touch line and such a distance from the 

 posts that it was "punted" out. In the second half of the 

 game, after some very rough work, the ball was kicked by 

 Thompson and sent within twenty feet of Harvard's goal. 

 A Yale player "having it down" kicked it behind him to 

 Thompson, and the latter, while in a stooping posture, 

 kicked it over the goal. This was the "lucky" kick re- 

 ferred to. The time lost by the interference of the crowd 

 was, as seated by the Advocate, fifteen minutes. The game 

 according to W. lasted 1 hr. 47| min., thus allowing 1 hr. 

 30 min. for the game, there was left the generous margin of 

 2£ min. wherein to settle the many disputes which "arose, 

 disputes which in a fair game are never left to an umpire 

 to decide but are or should be avoided. Now with all due 

 respect to the courtesy of the Referee, there is still some- 

 thiug wrong with this question of time. The last point of 

 dispute which W. finds in the game proper, is in regard to 

 the last "touch-down." The facts of the case are these, 

 Cushing of Harvard secured a touch-down and Seamans 

 was running for the kick. The Referee stepping between 

 the ball and the goal, called time. Seamans was told by 

 the Harvard players to kick at it any way and did so ; but 

 that he aid not kick it over the rope between the posts is 

 not to be wondered at. W. questions the ruling of his 

 own Referee by declaring even the last "touch-down" an 

 unfair one. Harvard's claim of tie was based on the fact 

 that in their usual game three "touch-downs" constitute a 

 "goal." But this is only when no goal has been kicked. 

 With this understanding, and acknowledging the ruling of 

 the Referee, they submitted with commendable grace to 

 defeat. I see not the baseness in Harvard's wishing to play 

 again. Mr. Curtis expressed such a desire at the supper in 

 view of the fact that Yale was so extremely desirous be- 

 fore the game to play a series. In conclusion I would say 

 that Jordan, Captain of the Harvard Freshman team, chal- 

 lenged the Yale Freshmen, which challenge was duly ac- 

 cepted and the 18th of November was appointed for the first 

 game. On Friday morning, the day before the 18th, Mr. 

 Jordan received a telegram from Yale, stating that the 

 Freshmen would not play. It was six hours from the 

 time when they were to take the train, and the tickets had 



been bought, so there was nothing else to do but to go to 

 New Haven. * 'The fairness of this little game," was shown 

 by the fact that Jordan offered to put two substitutes on 

 his team in the place of those who were to play on the Uni- 

 versity, if the captain of the Yale team would like to do 

 the same. 



I heartily agree with W. in his desire to maintain peace 

 and good feeling between those two Universities; nor 

 would I say anything prejudicial to ibis delectable state 

 of things. But, verily, I am constrained to remark that 

 opinions, however numerous they may be, never exactly 

 agree. Further discussion on my part, would be simply a 

 reiteration of the statements that I have just made. P. 

 . — ■»«»• 



SKATING. 



— The changeable character of the weather the past week 

 has materially interfered with skating. The Prospect Park 

 Lakes were opened to the public for two days when a thaw 

 interfered, and afterwards snow and rain stopped the sport. 

 The Capitoline Lake was opened on Tuesday afternoon, 

 the 19th inst., after the fall of snow and good skating was 

 had there. 



BASE BALL — NEW RULES. 



The amendments to the rules adopted at the recent League 

 convention are in brief as follows: — 



The ball to be played with by the League clubs is the 

 same in size and weight as last year, but instead of the balls 

 being supplied by half a dozen' manufacturers it is to be 

 made and supplied by one only. Mahn, of Boston, having 

 been chosen as "Ballmaker to their Majesties," as the 

 crickets say in England. 



The bases — all but the home base— have been enlarged 

 in size from one foot square to fifteen inches square. The 

 home base is to be placed inside the diamond. The bats- 

 man's position has also been brought forward so as to place 

 him a loot nearer the pitcher, his position extending three 

 feet in front of the line of the home base instead of two as 

 before. 



Base runners now have to run to their bases instead of 

 walking in the case of returning oh foul balls and taking 

 bases on called balls or balks. In running their bases, too, 

 they must avoid allowing a batted ball to touch them or 

 they will be decided out. Also when running a base they 

 must get out of the way of a fielder who is fielding a ball. 

 (This rule conflicts with that which prohibits their running 

 out at the line of the bases to avoid a ball). If the base 

 runner collides with a base player and knocks the ball out 

 of his hand the runner escapes'being put out. 



If a nine commences play shorthanded and place a sub- 

 stitute in the field for an absent regular player they can 

 only place the latter in the nine in case he arrives before 

 the close of the second innings. This, of course, does not 

 prevent players from being substituted for injured players 

 in any innings of a game. 



High and low balls are now designated from the belt in- 

 stead of the waist; a low ball being from the belt to the 

 knee and a high ball from from above the belt to the shoul- 

 der. 'J he line of the belt, too, is the boundary line for the 

 pitcher's arm when swung forward, which must be "be- 

 low the belt" or it is a foul delivery. 



Balls which count as called balls from being unfair, and 

 which strike the batsman are not only dead, but count as a 

 called ball. 



Batsmen failing to take their position at the bat within 

 one minute of the umpire's call are to be decided out. 



The home club are to go to the bat lir&t, the tossing for 

 position being done away with. If rain falls for twenty 

 minutes the game ends for the day. 



— No more Sunday trains in Canada. The Dominion 

 Government has issued orders that no trains shall be ruu 

 on the Sabbath day except in cases of great emergency, 

 and then only on direct order of the Government. 

 -*•♦-»- 



Tutor — "Describe the alimentary canal." Student^- 

 "I can begin and go through it, sir, if you wish." Tutor 

 (with a comico serious look)— "A plain description will be 

 sufficient." — Yale Courani. 



WATCHES 



FOR 

 Holiday Gifts 



Tiffany & Co. 



UNION SQUARE. 



Have a full line of their celebra- 

 ted Watches, Including every 

 size and style of case, from the 

 lowest price at which a good 

 Watch can be sold, to the most 

 costly made. They have also 

 taken the entire collection of 

 Watches displayed at the Cen- 

 tennial Exposition by Messrs. 

 Patek, Philipe & Co., of Ceneva, 

 for whom they are Agents in 

 America. 



Mail orders receive prompt and 

 particular attention. 



