Dbobmbbth 9, 1880. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



367 



but the most wonderful story coDies from Georgia. A. gen- 

 tloninn iu jraom sends Professor Baird tlic following Slip 

 from u local paper and vouclvs for Us truth. It says: 

 " Teslerclay iifif-nioon Mr. E. Wilkowsky, who owns the tan 

 yard on the old coiifcdcrwe armory property, concluded to cut 

 the dam iind clean out ilie pond in order tliat he ulight intro- 

 duce his new Qennaii carp. The pond contiiined a large 

 number of sinaller flsli and among iliem Mr. Wilkowsky 

 hoped to find his four carp which had been put into the pond 

 last May. He found three of the fish, but to his Bstoiiisb- 

 menl they were by aclnal inensurement twentv, twenty-two 

 and twenty-five inolic- in leiiunli rer^pectivi'lv. Tbe fourth p.s- 

 cuped ihrouiib ihe rui in ilir"d;ini^ 'I'ln-.sc cm'p were but two 

 or three inehes Ion 

 isremnrUalile. Tl 

 iwner's store on Chen 



II ilie pond and their growth 

 tbe tank ill the rear of their 

 bete we saw them last iii'.;ht 



and where tbe public are invited to see them to-day." 



Canadian Pisii C'lTi.TnjE. — Notwithstanding the mosl in- 

 clement and boisterou-s autumn for many years past ibe New- 

 castle (Outario) Hatching Commission 'has laid down up- 

 ward of five niiilion of salmon trout eggs, collected iu the 

 waters of Lakes Oinmio and Huron, Ail of these ova were 

 taken from fish in the act of being conveved to the markets 

 of tbe United hlates and Canada for consumption. The per- 

 centage of yon)ig fish hatched from these eggs will therefore 

 be a clear gain to the country, as against n. total loss. 



In speaking of the increase of whiteflsh {Coregonns) since 

 artificial propagation has been carried on, the Essex Beffhler 

 registers the following : 



At one of Jlr. Chas. Gautliier's river fisheries two thou- 

 sand whitcflsli were taken last Monday. At the saiue place 

 only three tlionsand were taten in I be whole season of 1879. 

 They are making bauls bere of from twenlj'-flve to 150 white- 

 fish, averaging alioiit ^\ to I i pouniis ajriece. 



^m and ffiver ^ishim. 



CONCERNING ROBBERS. 



IN a recent article on the violation of the laivs and the 

 facility with which fish and game can he disposed of iu 

 the great city, we said ; 



The fact is that New York City needs a game Protector, 

 and Long Island needs another — men wlio reside on tbe 

 premises and can watch the nnni;ets. Tin-"" 'mm 'l"!" ■\^ ^•■^■ 

 have before said, are the great incentive 

 the sale of their plimder is stoppefUliev 

 unlawful business. There is enirely ton ,: 

 opinion in regard to the violation of tbe game Iiwh, u^an) 

 people looking ut it as a venial offense, but it is robbery 

 — robbery of the worst kind. 



The New York Muriel mid- Intleui Journal publishes our 

 ai'licle entire, and remarks : 



AVe will allow this is an unpleti^ant position for our fish 

 dealers to be placed in—" robliers" and a siillless pleasant one 

 for the markets generally—" tbe great incentive to poachers. " 

 The latter accusal i'ln we lliiiik entirely too Sweeping, inas- 

 much as one would be led to believe that markelraeu were 

 hand in glove with the poachers, which we deny unhesitat- 

 ingly ; and yet, we shall not for one moment attempt to de- 

 fend rognerv or ihc law-bre.ikers, ,and we trust tbat, for the 



goodnanv -l !■ .:!:-m?, Uie niarketnien sliall do all in 



.their po'vi I I I I' L'orie iuhI fish proteelivcassocinlionis 



in their ciidi-.iv ,i :-i i , n-iiiju the laws, and not ncce.'isitale Ibe 

 appointment of a "game \)rolectorto watch the markets." 



We do not mean to insinuate that the great body of market 

 men of New York are violators of tbe law. As a class tlicy 

 contain as many honest aud upright citizens as any other, 

 but it is folly to assert that they are all saints, and among 

 thein may lie found a few who have no higher idea of respect 

 for hvw than— well, perhaps lawyers, doctors, editors, or 

 other men taken in lump, and these have the same lax stale 

 of morals which we charged upon the general public, i. e.,n. i;tx 

 idea of the moraliiy of a violation of the trame la ,v. Tliey 

 know that the law Riys (hat a striped l)a.ss .sball not be sold 

 it under a half a pound iu weight, imt their customers will 

 buy thetn and they art oiTered them, and so the trade is 

 opened as if it were the ruost legitimate thing in the world, 

 aud we conleud that the mere knowledge of the presence of 

 an officer empowered 1o enforce this and kindred laws 

 would have a sabuaiy efTeet upon a class of niarketmeu who 

 perhaps have Liul tlu^ slightesl ii lea of being ''robbers." 



Nevenheless, ^^e lepeat what wo t^aiJ before : "Theselaws 

 are made, or should he made, to r 

 in the. race for sport, aud he who 

 in advance is a robber, whom it is : .;. ■,. 

 a violator of the law." The striped bass «iuesiion is one 

 which affects the food supply as well as anglmg, and, there- 

 fore, demands enforcement. 



We think that the Marlcet miH Index Jow^mii will find that 

 the interests of tbe market men are on the side of the ob- 

 servance of ali laws intended to protect fish and game, and 

 that these laws are lur I he gctod of not only anglers and 

 sportsmen, but for tbe whole jieople. 



a fair start 

 ^^, or weeks, 

 I call simply 



The Cati-ish— Ctewto'Wd, O., Bm. 3.— I am glad to know 

 that the catfish is found farther north than Lake Erie, on 

 Lake Bt. Clair. The farther north you find the fish tbe "bet- 

 ler food it will be for the table and probably tbe moie e.xpeit 

 in taking the fly. rerhaps we may yet find it within the 

 Ai'ctio circle, iu which ccc-e be \vill probably be half salmon 

 and the other half cat. Let some brother anclej from the 

 Bed River or Lake AVinnipeg region respond. "-»■ . 



D&. E. Steeling. 



Wk would like the address of Mr. John J. Collett, one of 

 the recently appointed game protectors of the State of New 

 York. We have written him at Cobleskill, Schoharie Coun- 

 ty, the adtlress given in the original list, and the poatma8t>T 

 at that place forwarded it to Albany, from which place it was 

 returned to us. 



THE ILLEGAL FISHERMEN. 



NOW when the law breakers have assumed an attitude of 

 defiance to the laws and are parading the shores armed 

 and threatening death to all officers of the law it may be of 

 profit to read the followmg learned, and yet humorous opinion 

 of Judge Riegel, aud the comments of the Syracuse, N. Y., 

 Huiiday Timei, which under the heading of "A Just Law 

 Defied," says: 



The moment a law is enacted, the provisions of which 

 are for the general good of the people, and yet encroach 

 somewhat upon the privileges of a small class, it is almost U' 

 always the case that such law, however beneficial it may be, ' 

 is defied by the class who imagine themselves injured by it. 

 This lias been the case, to a great degree, in this State, with 

 relereJice to the just laws tor tbe preservation of fish aud 

 game ; aud within the past lew weeks tbe opposition to the 

 oliicers of the law by the piratical tisbermen bas arisen to at- 

 tempted assassination, arming of the law- breakers aud threat- 

 euea murder to any olllcer who seeks to do his clear duty. 



All good cilizeiis will rcje>ice at every tiiumph of justice in 

 this mauei-, and, therefore, will read'with pleasure the fol- 

 lowing Opinion ot Judge Uiegel, given the past week in tbe 

 case of N'ViUiam Fancher, of fSaJdwinsville, agaiu-l ll.ubi u 

 Wood and George Travis, Fancher having .sue.l ii.a- ibe re- 

 covery of the value of a net destroyed by tiie gamecousiable. 

 Fancher hart recovered judgment before Jamei R. Shea, of 

 Baldwinaville ; but Judge Kiegel, as will be seen, differs 

 with him : 



It appears by the Justice's retru-n that the defendants took 

 what IS callctl a fyke net from where it had been set by the 

 plaiuiiif, iu tbe Seneca River, for the purpose of catching 

 fish, and substantially destroyed it. That when the net was 

 taken from the river, it had in it buUlieada, pike, pickerel, 

 sunbsb, perch and rock bass. The plaiutiti testified that be 

 bad at tuat time six Or Seven nets iu ilie Seneca River. He 

 was allowed to testify, against the defendant's oujeciion, that 

 when be caught any fisU asid« from bullheads, suckers, cat- 

 fish and eels, lie threw tbim back into the river without iu- 

 jm'ing them. 



Ou this testimony the Just ce gave the plaintive a judg- 

 ment for $23.00, the \uiut ui the net, from which this appeal 

 is brought. 



Ly sec. 23, chap, 584, laws of 1879, it is enacted that "No 

 pefiou sbai! RiLI or caich, or attempt to kill or catch, any fish 

 except minnows, bullheads, eels, suckers and catfish, in anj 

 of tbe fresh waters and cauals of this State by any device ex- 

 cept that of angling with a hook and line." Certain waters 

 arc specifically excepted, not material to this case. By the 

 •■•-■'■■ " -r i;^ fm-tberenacted that "All nets, seines, weir, 

 ice.s tia-biiiden by this section are iiereby de- 

 i, and any person fliidiug tbe same in any 

 i . — - ---^ '-'■^,1 lii-f it/rbiaaeiL is hereby authorized to destroy 

 BueU coiurabaud articles; aud no action for damage shall be 

 against him for such destruction. 



It appears that the rigbt of the defendants to take imd de- 

 stroy lire net in iiuestion, depends upon tbe question whether 

 lhe>' found it iu a place wbere it was forbiudeu. 'I'he statute 

 mentions no place where the devices of catching fish therein 

 uieulioncd an: forbidden e.xcepl iufrequeui,ly ,- Out the plain 

 lufereiiee ia, tliat when one of the devices lliereiu mentioned 

 is Imiud iu a jilace wbere it was manifestly set for the pur- 

 pose of caictimg tisb other than bullheads, suckers, eels and 

 catfish, it is iu a forbiddtn place. It is in a forbidden pla'ce 

 for tbe reason that it is in a place where it will, iu tbe 

 ordinary course of things, do the mischief which Ibe staiule 

 forbids. 



Tbe law will presume that the person setting the net or 

 other device, iiuended the natural consequences of his act, 

 Tbe deieiidants could not know what dispo.siiiou the plaintiff 

 would make of ibe fish when caugbt, nor \vas the statute so 

 unreasonable as to require them to know All tbat the 

 statute required was ibal they should find the net under such 

 cucumsiances, aud so placed and set that it would necessarily 

 aud accorduig to the ordinary course of things, do what Ibe 

 statute had forbidden. 



It is possible that Mr. Fancher did throw those lislr back 

 into the river, which ilie law forbade him to catch. But this 

 law was framed with reference lo the known moral charac- 

 teristics of orcliiiary mortals wbo would not do any such thing, 

 and whom the Legislatmeknew Ijeciertlnm to liust to do aify 

 .,ucli thing. Angels' visits on Ibis planet are too lew and faV 

 :tweeu to iuUueuce the ordinary course of legi-slation. 

 A fisherman all alone iu the darkness oi tbe night or ut the 

 early dawn, in the act or soriiuir uoi the nice, plump pike, 

 pickerel and bass, and tbi-owiiiL' them back into the river, for 

 no other purpose than to iUl'ord some euihusiaBiic disciple 

 of Sir ha.i.\i. Walton the rare sjiort of catching those same fish 

 with hook and line, would be a speclacle worthy the admira- 

 tion of gods and men : but whether any such traii.sactiou ever 

 occm-red ou this sublunary sphere, aside Irom the one lesli- 

 flod 10 by Ihcplaimili, may well be considered a matter for 

 grave doubt. It tbe Legislatme harl known .Mr. Fancher, it 

 18 barely possible it womd have trusted him to co what he 

 swears ue did do ; but such cases are too exceptional to form 

 the basis of jegislatiou. 1 never knew but one man whom I 

 would have trusted under such circumstances. He died 

 thiriy years ago, quite young. All the old women in the 

 neigUborbood declai'ed they knew he ^vasu't long- for ibis 

 world; he was too good. It is against all probaoilily ibat 

 ow legislators intended to expose the fish they assun^ed to 

 protect to Butih dire peril, or tbe fisberuiea to such grievous 

 temptation. Certain it is, that if the construction cfmteuded 

 for were to prevail, the object of tbe act would be wbollv 

 frustrated. 



It is claimed that the Boai-d of Supervisors have pa,ssed an 

 act authorizing the taking of bullheads, suckers, cattish and 

 eels, by means of fyke nets, during tbe months of April aod 

 May. But U is plain that the Board of Supervisors cannot 

 modify tbe force aud effect of an Act of tbe Letrislatme. 



It was not claimed before me tbari!^; ,, liip. Act 



authorizing the seizure and destrucil . ^,> vm- 



constiiutioual, aud I have not., ihei..' . ^ ..-u tijat 



question. 

 Judgment reversed. 



P. B. :^IoLenuan, lor appellant; Georffe Hall, for re- 

 spondent. 

 The New York Times, in commenting on this, says: 

 The Judge's opinion is full of good, common sense, and 

 is at the same lime quite amusing. As all nets, .seines, weir.% 

 traps, or olhei- devices, forbidden by section 23, are declared 



bidden places the constables had the right to destroy tbera. 

 Ah 10 Faucber's throwing away certain fish and keeping 

 other.'!, his Honor treated that part of the story exactly ns it 

 deserved. The law was not made with reference to the 

 differences of moral character in those given to setting fyke- 

 nets. A might be a moral poacher, and B an immoral 

 poacher and the distinction would be hard to tmderstand. 

 It would take a very moral fyke net setter, should he be tak- 

 ing fish at night, to determine what were suckers or young 

 shad or black bass. 



THE BEAVJERKILL CLUB FOR 1880. 



New York, Nov. 25. 

 BiHkn- Forent arid Stream: 

 The report for the Beaverkill Club for the past seaaoa 



shows thai tbe spring and snenier. indeed all the seasons, 

 have been very dry. ' Wheiber the effect of this will ho to 

 lessen tbe r.mnbei- of trout, next year's sport aloue can deter- 

 mine; ou the whole, 1 do not expeot to find it diminished. 

 Our warden reported late in October that bethinks there were 

 more fish on the spawning-beds than ever before, although 

 this seemed hardly pos.sible. 



Six of our ten members have been up on the stream this 



There have been caiiehl, so far aa known: 

 1,691 trout ou ^lead's (Biilkley's), weighing 



139 " Ive's fMerwm'a), " 



488 " AVeaver's, 



390 " Bank's, " 



1,364 " BalsatiiLake, 



4,078 trout iu all, weighing SdSiJ- " 



Balsam Lake has been our standby ; five of our members 

 caugbt there, in a total of eleven days' fi.shiiig, 523 trout, 

 wbicn weighed 83 poimds. Every one of those five will surely 

 make a cup of coffee and broil some trout at a camivflre ou 

 tbat lake again next year. Tbe stream almost dried up. 



In the matter of size, the fish seemtorunlarger upon Bulk- 

 ley's (Mead'.s). Bulkiey has noted thirty fish taken which 

 measured from nine to twelve inches each in length and 

 weighed from five to ten ounces ai^iece, the thirty weighing 

 iu all trf lbs. Besides this, Mr. Ceo. W. King, wbileflsbing 

 on Balsam Lake with me, caught a trout which weighed eight 

 ounces and is the largest that I ever saw taken from that 

 lake, which has always been noted for the uniform size of its 

 fish. On August 31 iMr. J. S. Van Clecf caught one there 

 which weighed three-(|uarters of a pound. On the 14ih day 

 of August I caught 12i lbs. in Balsam Lake, and again on 

 August 20 I caugbt there and kept twenty-five trout which 

 weighed live pounds aud put back alive 44 ot large average 

 size, which weighed aboul eight pounds more. Mr. King 

 took on the same day 10-^ lbs., "and ou August 30 :Mj-. Van 

 Cleef took 12a lbs. from Ibe lake. All who" went there had 

 days as .satisfactory. The expen-sies this year have been .$40 

 per member. 



The average temperature by onr warden's thermometer has 



been rullier higher, but on tbe 1st of iMay it snowed and again 



on Jlay 14 it froze ice half an inch thick, with frost on tbe 



4lhandl8tbof June. Between the 19th of June and the 



17ibof July there were len thunder showers. On June 28 



Bulkiey has put a X against the thunder shower, and July 10 



he Says it was "heavy." There was frost again tbe 39lh of 



0th of August, and on the 15th of August 



s'as killed by the frost." I happened to be 



ne. I never realized more the injury tbat is 



■uddenly effected by natural agencies. Tbe c'rops^ the 



winter's food, the support of many families, were ruined in 



a night by a magic touch The thormomeier reached ninety 



agaili Sept. 10. The first snow came on tbe 20lh of Oclober, 



and by Nov. 23 tbe Balsam Lake was frozen "soiled so it 



would bare up a man ;" tbe Irout had all left the inlet and 



were oil the beds along the stream. Geo. W. Van SioLEy. 



July and the 

 " everything 

 lliereat ibe I 

 ofti 



THE DEATH-TRAP IN SHINNECOCK BAY. 



'*' PosD QuostiE, Nov. 30, 1830. 



Editor Jf went and Stream ; 

 It was with much surprise that I perused your article un- 

 ■ 1 your is.sue of Nov.' 11. I was the 

 1 inlendiiig to visit Ihi.s famed locality 

 1 the waters and along the shore of 

 filer. I arrived here about a week 

 ~ I iiii|)i,>.<i--;ed with the truly lamentable 

 ■lead of devoting my time to the ducks, 

 iiy viieaiion in trying to find a remedy 

 i'i I— doubly disastrous in many ways. 

 You well say that the Siate iliould have sole charge of so im- 

 portant ail interest as the tVind supply obtained from the tidal 



der the ab .ve ii 



ad 



ng 



and spend :i fev 

 Ibisbeaiai.ul .M 



d; 



eel 



y« 



ago, anil so iiini 

 slilte of afl'ai'.s 1 

 L have spent im 

 for this disasii 



oil 



jI 1 



waters along the coast, b 

 amount of fisli food usu.al 

 entirely en off, but the iv 

 to draw from tlieir !;■ \: I-" 

 for what fish thr\ ,i- , 

 hiiveonly toapi" ,il m 

 its trntb. Tbi.-^ and -t •.; ■ 

 dred hardy " toilers of lh( 

 coiirfe Ihi" 



] ~t 



laled, but should the 

 assm-edly leave ai 

 that, the poor man 

 hood. While all i 

 find tbat there is 

 should lie located, 

 interviewing man; 

 Allanticville, I lia 

 good to the great;- 

 opened as f 



V fainilies must, in manv insta 

 of life. Not only is the fl 



not only is the vast 

 1 ill these prolific waters 

 of this vieiniiy lire obliged 

 re and send to New York 

 seems incredible, but y oil 

 company to substainhU« 

 throws two or three bun- 

 out of eniploymeni, and of 

 ■es,"suff.-r for tho 

 iiilii- 



-ed the ducks will most 



thii. i I, ' I II I ^■'t lemaining cliancc 

 \: ' ' I,,.- ,:-.o on! a scanty liveli- 

 iii.ii. M.I1 oi!, i is ,if vii:il importance I 

 diver.-iiy of opinion iw to Avbere It 

 i|i '11 Sidling the evidence obtained by 

 iviliriN, from Indian Reservation to 

 me to the ooncliision that the greatest 

 liber requ-res tbat tlie inlet should be 

 po-sible, -and iam Iborouahlyconvinced 



that tbe old inlet, just east of Atianticvilie, wiileniLrely meet 

 this requirement. 



Without going into elaborate argument to prove this I can- 

 not forbftar staling the svefi-kuown fact that all along our e.x- 

 tenaive coast there are imt very few cxceptit/QS to the rule 

 that our laud-locked !>fivs comin'jjiic ite \ritb the .-^ea at iheu- 

 western estrcmitiea. AVhiie I find that, nearer all wish the 

 inlet at their dixirs, I have almost invariably .succeeded iu ob- 

 taining from them at least a partial admission tbat upon the 

 whole a western inlet would serve the best purpo?e and last 

 tho longest. It strikes me that the Stale anihoriiies should 

 take c' large of this nirtllerand give ihis stricven comnmuily 

 protect ilieiii in ilieir 



contraband, any person finding tbe same in any place where sucli legisiaiion as nmv be lueded ... , ^, ^ .„t r,i 



Ihey are lorbiddeu, is authorized to destroy such contraband rights: and if I may lie allowed ii Word, I would feapecifully 

 ariicles, and no aciion of dainnge shall lie against him for I suggest tbat tbe comniii tec having charge of ibe innliir do 

 such destruction. KecesEarily, then, the nets being m for- I not allow their judguieut to be warpeti hy the smooihiy-liow- 



