Jasttabt aO, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



487 



present year I placed 1,500 California salmon in the pond and 

 at the fishing in the fall I caught 1,463 lively salmon; more 

 than twenty (I am sorry that I did not count them) liad per- 

 ished wliile fishing. The loss in the course of the summer, 

 therefore, was very insignificant. In tbe fall, after fishing, I 

 {)ouredinto the channels of all my ponds lime-milk (that is, 

 lime thinned with so murh water that it reserubles milk) to 

 kill Btickle-backs, beetles and other unwelcome guests. The 

 lime is of no further effect when the pond is refilled, and it 

 can at once be occupied by flsh. M. vos dem Bobne. 



CosNBOTioDT DoBS NoT r!osTBrB0TK. — The Springfield 

 (Mass.) Hepuhlican says : "The intelligent Fish Committee of 

 the last Connecticut Legislature advised against joining with 

 the Commissioners of the United States, fliassachusetts and 

 Maine in stocking the rivers of the State with salmon. Uni- 

 ted States Commissioner Professor Baird, however, unwil- 

 ling to see the work interrupted, has given the Connecticut 

 Commissioners 340,000 ova of Penobscot salmon. They will 

 be distributed fron the Pequonock hatching house. The 

 Legislature should be shamed into continuing the work next 

 year." 



Black Bass fok Illinois.— The Fish Commissioners of 

 Illinois have thirty thousand j'oung black bass (sp. ?) from 

 four to eight inches in length, for free distribution within the 

 State, now in ponds near Quincy, in charse of Commissioner 

 8. P. Bartlelt. 



ge^ and §iver fishing, 



THE MORTALITY OF THE GULF PISHES. 



-\T0TWITH8TANDINtt the many notices of the whole- 

 -^^ sale deaths among the fishes of the Grdf of Jle.icico and 

 the manner in which their carcissee have polluled the air, 

 until fears have been entertaiiuid of di.seasei^ liein;,' eiiKiiderod 

 among the inhabitants neiir the shore, people ;U a aistauee do 

 not seem to realize the extent of the loss to the fishermen 

 wliose occupation is gone, nor the misery which may result 

 from the continuation of this plague. 



We have received a letter from Professor Baird on this 

 subject, in which he incloses a letter from one of his corres- 

 pondents, which we publish below: 



United States Cosi.NfissioN, Fisit ast) Fishbeibs,} 

 Washington, D. C, Jan. 7. f 

 ISditr.r Fared and Stream : 



lu the year 1ST8 the pages of Forest asd Stream, as also 

 the proreeiliiiiis nf the National Museum, contained notices 

 of u remarkable monality among the fishes and marine ani- 

 mals of the Gulf of Me.vico, the quantity of fi.sh perishing be- 

 ing something truly euor uious I his year the same phenom- 

 enon is repeiitod and the Florida papers contain many notices 

 on the subject. 



It is considered a matter of so much importance that the 

 National Board of Health has detailed Doctor Ginteras to 

 visit the region an 1 make a thorough investigation in regard 

 to it. 



Among the various communications that have reached the 

 Smithsonian Institution I inclose one of the most detailed, 

 from an extremely intelligent observer, a resident on the west 

 coast of Florida. At present the cause of the evil is unknown, 

 but a careful comparison of the data, supplemented by the 

 special investigations of the Board of Health, may enable us 

 to solve the problem. The occasion is a very serious one to 

 the fishermen, and indeed to the people of the Gulf coast 

 generally, as a vast amount of aiumal life, cast in aputrifying 

 condition on the shores, must be a source of injury to the 

 public health. 



It is desiratilo that any observations of facts connected with 

 this phenomenon should be published. 



Spenckb F. Baibd, Commissioner. 



Indian Kook, Fla., Dec. 31. 

 Professor Baied : 



Knowing your interest in everything connected with flsh, 

 etc., I lake the liberty of giving you all ihe facts I have been 

 able to collect in reference to the, lute niorlalitv among the 

 fishes in Tampa Bay and adjoining eoasls. Had I known 

 before I began my cruise of Hie extent of this mortality and 

 splendid opportunities afforded of eulleeiim; specimens of 

 strange and perhaps unknown species, I might have gone 

 better prepared for collectmg specimens, iiut Ihad only heard 

 a few vague rumors, and 1 was litUe prepared for anything 

 further than a collection of Val-Is in regard to the matter. 



On leaving Clear Water, iNnvember 20, I sailed south 

 through Boca Ciega Bay, and encountered the first dead fish 

 floating on the water near B rd Kev, a little southeast of 

 Pass a'Trillo. These were mullet, 'and as we progressed 

 to the south and east I began to encounter toadfish, eels, 

 pufffish and cowflsh in immense iiumber.s, and on 

 attempting to laud on the e.Ktremc |)oint of Pt. 

 Pinellos for the night I w:is driven to my boat by the 

 stench of thousands of rotlina; Qsh upon the lieaeh. The next 

 morning I went ashore and f<iund the dead fish drifted ashore 

 in countless numbers. Tne eels appeare<l most nuoierous, 

 followed by pufffish, cowti.sh, stulor's choice, and small fisb 

 of every shape and variety. Afier tliese followed arouper.s, 

 mangrove-snappers, jewtish, g.-irpilce, spade lish, sdnc^-ays, 

 and sharks. Other variei ics unknown to me were mixed 

 among these, together with vast numbers of cat-fish, I saw 

 very few mullet .hero 



At Gadsden Point about the same varieties appeared, while at 

 Tampa I saw but few dead flsh.and they were principally gars 

 and catfish. From Tainpa I proceeded to the mouth of the 

 Little Manatee to obtain some information frotn Mrs. Hoy 

 concerning her theory accounting for the death of the fishes. 

 I subsequently visited tlie towms of Manatee, Palmetto, Bra- 

 dentowu, and prneeeded thence to Himter's Point in Sarasoto 

 Pass, Longboat Inlet being the fiu-thest point south visited 

 Returning I spent several days on Anna Maria Key, where 1 

 collected the skulls of several varieties of flsh ; thence, pass- 

 ing northward by way of Passage Key, Egmont, Mullet Key, 

 and so on back to Clear \^^ater. From Longboat Inlet rouiid 

 to MuUet Key the dead fisb were principally mullet, catfiah, 

 eels and groupers. The nuillei preponderating at Iciist ten to 

 one. Pufffish, toadfish, cownsh and frog fish were still ex- 

 tremely plentiful, indeed I saw no diminution in their num- 

 bers, though the number of dead mullet had inoraased very 

 giouUy, 



I saw many fish in every stage of sickness from the first 

 attack to the end. AH were affected in nearly the same man- 

 ner. The flsh, apparently active and healthy,' would be swim- 

 ming along when suddenly it would turn on its side and .shoot 

 to the top of the water, gasping as though out of the water, 

 apparently unable to control its motions, often lying on its 

 side Oil the bottom for five or ten minutes motionless, 

 then suddenly shooting hither and thither without aim or 

 object, and finally ending the struggle on the surface and 

 floating off dead. Whole schools of mullet would suddenly 

 stand upright on their tads spouting water, and die in five 

 ndnutes. Gars would run for a long time with their snouts 

 above the water and then lie motionless, as if dead, for ten 

 or fifteen minutes. These generally lived an hour or more 

 after being attacked. I obtained specimens of water from 

 various localities, which I send herewith, marked to show 

 whence obtained' 



Before giving the statement of others in regard to the 

 matter, I will give you briefly the resvdts of my own obser- 

 vation in a very brief manner : 



1. The dead fish were most immeroua on the outside 

 beaches, and on the inside beaches of the outer line of keys. 



3. That dead flsh were least numerous about the mouths 

 of creeks and rivers, decreasing gradually as one approached 

 such places. 



3. That the poisoned water was not ditTuscd generally, but 

 ran in streamsof varioussizes, as proven by fish dyingin vast 

 numbers instantly npon reaching such loealities. 



4. That the fl.sh were killed by a .specific poison, as proven 

 by the sickness and death of birds which ate of the dead 

 fish. 



5. The flsh began dying on the outside beaches first, as Mr. 

 Strand, assistant light-keeper, at Egmont, reports ihem 

 couung up first on the 17th of October, while Mrs. Hoy ob- 

 served them first on the first or second of November at little 

 Manatee River. 



6. The examination of many hundred recently dead flsh re- 

 vealed no signs of disease. The colors were bright, the flesh 

 firm and the gills rosy. The stomacb and intestines appeared 

 healthy. 



In my haste I have neglected to state that I saw a good 

 many dead birds during the trip. At Tampa ducks were 

 dying. I saw dead vultures at Anna Maria Key, and at Pas- 

 sage Key large flocks of cormorants were sick and dying. I 

 also saw the carcasses of terns, gulls and frigate birds. "The 

 cormorants sat on the beach with their heads under their 

 wings and could be approached and handled. 



It nught be also proper to state that ou Monday morning, 

 December 14, about one hour before day, I heard a roaring 

 southwest of Passage Key, apparently far out at sea, resem- 

 bling the "blowing off " of a steam "boiler. The noise con 

 tinned some ten minute* and ceased. After daylight I heard 

 a similar roaring, which lasted about five minutes. There 

 was no steamer in sight in the direction of the sound, and I 

 observed no swell in the sea following it. After I got under 

 sail I heard the noise a third time. Whcth r this was fol- 

 lowed by the death of fish I am unable to say, as I did not 

 .stay to see. I mention this incidentally as a conolioration 

 of .Mrs. Hoy's statement, which is hereto appended. Whe 

 ther, however, either of these disturbances of the water had 

 any connection witli the mortality among the fishes the 

 theory of sub-aqueous eruptions of poisonous gases is ex- 

 tremely plausible and reasonable. S. T. AYai.kee. 



Statement of Mr. Williams, of Pt. Pinellos: 



The fish began dying about the last of October here. All 

 kind-i die except red Q'sh. Eels and sea-toads are most nu- 

 menjiis, though all kinds die. I have seen only a few sheeps- 

 beatls. I think it is caused by a black scum on the water 

 resembling soot. When a school of muUetget into water cov- 

 ered by this black scum they die at once. Oj'sters are affect- 

 ed by "this also, and those who eat of them are made very 

 sick. 



Statement of Mr. Spencer, of the Tajtvpa Tribune: 



I went out last Sunday (November 28) expressly to see for 

 mj'self, and, if poss hie, to account for the dying of the fishes 

 in Tampa Bay. I feel certain from what" I saw that it is 

 caused by fresh water from the creeks, rivers and marshes. 

 The water where the fish are dyina looks black and slimy — 

 very different from the usual eolnf of the bay water. You 

 see there has been an unu.Mual amount of rain this tall, and 

 this becoming impregnated \vith the poison of decaying vege- 

 tation, is poured into the bay in unusual quantities and poi- 

 sons the fish. This is my opinion, and I give it for what it 

 is worth. The oyster saloonis here were obliged to close, as 

 the oysters came near killing several people. 



Statement of Mrs. Charles Hoy, of Little Manatee : 



The fish began dying here about the first of November. 

 About y o'clock on the evening of October 38, or thereabout, 

 I was sitting on my front gallery, the air being perfectly still 

 and the bay calm, when I heard a heavy splashine of the wa- 

 ter in the direction of Gadsden Pt. "This continued for a 

 few minutes and was immediately followed by a roaring 

 sound, such as might be made by the wheels of a side-wheel 

 steamer near at hand, though the noise seemed to be several 

 miles away. This contiimed for about u tpiarter of an hour, 

 as near -m I eoiild guess, when it suddenly ceased Some 

 tweuly-five or thirty mmutes afterward heavy swells began 

 to come up the river, such as cume in during a heavv blow 

 from the northwest. These continued for a Toua; time", srad- 

 ually becoming lighter milil I went to beil. In three "iiaya 

 the fisb began to come up the river dead and dying I eaught 

 Several mullet that were standing upright in the water sick, 

 and each had three black spots on the back, which gradually 

 faded away. 1 opened the fish and could see nothing the 

 matter with them. The flesh was natural and firm and the 

 gills were normal. 



In regard to oysters I have h.id a rather rough experience, 

 andean with eertainty say that they are poisonous. A few 

 daysafter the tish ln-gaii dying I had a quart of fiue oysters 

 for dinner. 1 had a iady visiior on thai day, but she did not 

 like oysters and ate none. My daughter and I ate heartily 

 of them and after dinner I took my gim and went out to "a 

 pond to shoot some ducks. I took a colored woman (my 

 cook) along, and before 1 had gotten half way I began to feel 

 weak and a mist came liefore my eyes. I kept on, however, 

 to the pond, and when I reached it was so blind I could not 

 see the ducks, although the water was covered with them. 

 With (he a-ssistance of the colored woman I got home, when 

 Ifound my daughter simUarly affected and tmable to walk. 

 Neither Mrs. Simms, the visitor, nor my cook were affected, 

 which makes me know it was the oysters. The sickness and 

 loss of vision graduidly left us after drinking a cup of strong 

 coffee. I am confident the death of the flah is caused by the 

 ^iBOhiwge of pol«onou» gnae* from the bottom of Oj* neol 



Statement of Messrs. Fogarty and Whittaker, smackmen, of 



Bradeutown ; 

 We own a smack and flsh off the coast from Egmont south 

 to Charlotte Harbor. Our business is about ruined by the 

 death of the fish. They are dying off the coast as bad as in- 

 shore. Our fish die af t"er we put them in the well, frequently 

 in five ndnutes. We cannot say what causes it, as we have 

 no means of ,a.5certaining Tfic poisoned water nms in 

 streaks, for often when three or four smacks are in company 

 one or two will lose all their tish in a few minutes, while the 

 others, a short distanre off, lose none. In one instance, three 

 being in company, two lost all their fish, whUe one lost none, 

 the vessels being only a few hundred yards apart. 



Statement of R. B. Strand, assistant-keeper of Egmon' 

 Light : 

 The^sh first came up dead on the 17lh of October, in the 

 following order : eels, cowflsh, toadfish, small fish, such as 

 sailor's choice, minnows, etc., terrapins, ducks and other sea 

 birds. The water has the appearance of being very slimy. 



Incident related by Mr. Hendricks, postmaster at Palmetto : 

 Mr. Dolly threw a cast-net into a school of mullet, which 

 av)peared active and healthy. Before he landed tliem they 

 were all dead In his net, and looking back the whole school 

 was floating dead on the surface. 



Obvis knows how to fashion a rod and tie a fly. He is 

 facile and deft. The fish favor his flies and anglers praise his 

 rods, and between the two the creel is well filled. 



Qmtie ^aq and Qan, 



"THE REFRIGERATOR AMENDMENT." 



what it means akd how it is begarded. 



New TToek, January 14. 

 Editor Fore.^t and Stream : 



THE marketmen of the city are making another attempt 

 to emasculate the game laws, an attempt which they 

 have made on every possible occasion for years pa^t. 'The 

 plea for this is ingenious, and to persons, "even sportsmen, 

 who are not aware of their "tricks and their manners," is 

 deceitful a'ld alluring. They tell us amiably that great im- 

 provements have been brought about in refrigerators, so that 

 they can keep birds and fish and meat an entire year without 

 injury; and ask, with a simple and honest expression, why 

 should they not be allowed to sell at all times what they can 

 keep so nicely? Of course they add virtuously that they 

 would never, no never, seU or buy, or hold or "touch auy 

 game killed out of season — not they. At least some of our 

 game dealers say this, especially those who have been sued, 

 year after year, by the Association for the Protection of 

 Game for selling game at prohibited times. 



There are as good men in our n arkets as out of them, who 

 do not commit frauds themselves and do not wish others to 

 do so, but who must have game on their stands if their neigh- 

 bors do; and these men wish their business protected on the 

 same ground that we wish our sport protected — that both 

 may last longer than our day and generation. It is fair to 

 say such men would obey a "law though it gave them large 

 license, but usually it is not safe to make a person judge of 

 the law in his own case ; and to trust a man to sell game 

 during the close season, leaving it to his honor to make 

 sure that only game killed at proper times be so sold, is sure- 

 ly giving the largest license. 



"There is nothing new in this demand of the marketmen, if 

 I may call it so, although it really comes from but a small 

 portion. A similar provision once existed in the law, and 

 then there were few convictions for selling game out of sea- 

 son. One invoice wUl cover any number of birds or fish or 

 deer; there is no earmark by which one quail can be distin- 

 guished from another, nor can it be proved whethfsr one 

 woodcock came from Maine or Florida. The reply to all 

 suits was that the game was purchased within the allowable 

 periott, and there was the invoice, a perennial ffigis, so to 

 speak, behind which no investigation could possibly go.. 

 Now we sportsmen may be fairly able to di-scriminsite be- 

 tween the plump, heavy quad of Long Island or New Jersey 

 and their lean, hungry "brethren of the great West, or to pick 

 out a bright-colored Long Island trout from among a nun\ber 

 brought from the wilds of Maine ; but such shades of differ- 

 ence would not be recognized in court and could not be ex- 

 plained to a jury. 



If game is to be sold all the year through, it may as well 

 be kUTed all the year through and the game laws abolished. 

 The pot hunters have a big enough piill on the sportsmen 

 now in the d'fflculty and rarity of their conviction; do not 

 make the law wholly in their "favor : do not let all the dogs 

 loose and tie all the bricks fast. If any such amendments as 

 those proposed are passed there will be no more convictions 

 for infractions of the laws, and we may as well all go in and 

 have a good time while it lasts. 



As to the pretense that there is more game killed in the 

 open season than can be sold, it is no more than a pi'Cteuse. 

 Of course the game killed toward tlie end of the open time 

 cannot he sent to distant markets, but that result is a neces- 

 sary result of any law and would equally exist under the re- 

 frigerator provisions if those provisions were to be honestly 

 obeyed, that is If no game whatever was to be purchased af- 

 ter the commencement of the close time, and only that sold 

 which was actually refrigerated before. Apart from this, 

 there is market for all game that is legitimately killed tmd 

 more than for all that should he. Periple forget that game 

 cannot be cidlivated like tame animals, that we cannot re- 

 place pinnated grouse when once exterminated, as our Long 

 Island and Nantucket Plains testify; that wc cannot raise 

 quail as we raise chickens, nor ruffed grouse like ducks, nor 

 deer like sheep, but that the supply is limited by nature, and 

 if exceeded by man's destruction will end in certain annUula- 

 tion. If the marketmen's statement were true, we ought sim- 

 ply to reduce the time for killing, as game is disappearing 

 rapidly cnougli already. The proper law would be to forbid 

 the sale of any game after the first day of the close time. 

 This is the rule abroad. Why should it' not be bo here ! The 

 ouly exception to this might lie made in the case of venison, 

 which only exists in our State in a few localities and could 

 there bo protected by local laws, with the consent and co- 

 operation of the residents, and whieh. when it comes from 

 the far West, the principal source of market supply, only 

 reaches New York city in primest condition in the latter part 

 of December or fore pan of .Tanuary. 1 write this hastily, 

 that I may reach you in time and under the hope that you 

 wit! tajta pconipt BoUoe of thli tuildloUB aUeui|)t lo duiruV 



