R EC RE A TION. 



in 



fact way as to greatly amuse the veteran 

 sportsmen who have seen him shoot. 

 He will get up at any hour of the night 

 to go on a hunting trip. He frequently 

 fires his father's twelve gauge gun when 

 so heavily loaded as almost to knock 

 him down, yet he walks up ready to re- 

 peat the act as often as the gun is loaded. 

 A friend and neighbor of the boy 

 writes : " I am a shooter myself, and 

 know a shooter when I see him. I believe 

 Lawrence Messner is the greatest shot, 

 for his age, in the world, being now just 

 seven and one-half years old. He is 

 thoroughly posted on game laws in our 

 state, and understands how to referee a 

 shoot." 



FISH AND FISHING. 



A MONSTER SALMON. 



In September last, Mr. Henry Seiffert, 

 of Spokane, Wash., caught in the 

 Spokane river, about 18 miles be- 

 low that city, a silver, or chinook, sal- 

 mon, 4 feet 3 inches long and which 

 weighed 51 pounds, some hours after 

 being taken from the water. 



The fish was photographed by a well- 

 known artist of Spokane, and a repro- 

 duction of the portrait is given herewith. 

 Mr. Seiffert thus describes the taking of 

 the big salmon : 



" Mr. Simon Sietenbach and I were 

 fishing from a boat, floating down the 

 river and zigzaging back and forth across 

 it. I was using one of the Enterprise 

 Company's No. 6 luminous spoons, an 

 8 ounce bamboo rod, a cuttyhunk reel, 

 and 250 feet of Natchaug silk line, and 

 was fishing in front of the boat. The 

 water is deep and the current so strong, 

 at that point, as to carry the bait out and 

 keep the line taut. I had out about fifty 

 feet of line when the big fish struck. 

 This was at six o'clock in the evening 

 and it took over an hour of as lively 

 work as I ever did to bring him to gaff. 

 He did not break water once in all this 

 time, but did all his fighting* at or near 

 the bottom. At the first run he took out 

 over 100 feet of line and seldom allow- 

 ed me to get him within 50 feet of the 

 boat until near the finish. 



" I think these fish must take the 

 spoon in a spirit of assault on some 

 fancied enemy, for no food is ever found 



THE FIFTY-ONE POUNDER. 



in the stomach of the salmon from the 

 time it leaves the salt water, on its 

 spawning, trip up the river, until its 

 return." 



