RECREA TION. 



275 



Johnson has built what he calls a skacycle and 

 has done some speedy work on the ice. The 

 machine is a bicycle fitted with a runner, attached 

 to the front fork, and a belt of spikes on the 

 rear wheel. 



The Bulletin, the official organ of the L. A. 

 W. , has ceased to exist. Trouble with the 

 post-office authorities was one of the causes. 



Asbury Park gets the racing meet. 



FISH AND FISHING. 



Professor Samuel Kayzer and Mr. Riebe, of 

 Chicago, caught 16 muskalonge, ranging from 8 

 to 14 pounds each, in four hour's fishing on Rice 

 lake, Wis., on November 4th, and shot a fine 

 string of patridges on the trail. J. B. Mann, of 

 Trout lake, caught a muskalonge weighing 22 

 pounds and several smaller ones, on November 

 3d, in the same lake. 



Editor Recreation : 



A 5^ pound pike, caught by Dr. Pankhurst 

 and me, had swallowed a bass about nine inches 

 long but could not conceal it all. The tail stuck 

 out about two inches. What he had in ahead 

 of the bass we did not look for. We hooked 

 this pike with live minnow bait. 



Blinn Smith. 



Colorado Springs, Col. 

 Editor Recreation : 



The 10 pound trout you refer to as caught by 

 Mr. Shove, in the Gunnison, I had on my line, 

 •only a few days before, for 27 minutes, when he 

 broke away. I, however, caught two of over 6 

 pounds each and several between 3 and 5 pounds. 

 Robert Meade Smith, M. D. 



Editor Recreation : Williamsport, Pa. 



HLast year I landed some 90 salmon, weight 

 from 2 to 8 pounds. These were landed with light 

 steel rod, No. 19 Natchaug waterproof line and 

 Expert reel. I use single gut. I don't keep 

 count of the bass. This year I expect to land 

 at least 100 salmon. Fred. H. Sweet. 



La Grange county (Indiana) contains 51 

 beautiful, clear lakes, nearly all of which abound 

 in black bass, blue gill perch and crappies. There 

 are also a goodly number of small brooks. There 

 is no trouble in securing a plentiful supply of 

 chubs and shiners for bait. A good place to go 

 in April or May. 



TEXAS NOTES. 



During the early autumn an English vessel, 

 of light draft and capacity, came into Matagorda 

 bay for refuge from rough weather. While at 

 anchor near Pass Caballo several of the seamen 

 whiled away the hours by fishing. One of the 

 sailors, observing what he believed to be a 

 monster fish of some kind, securely fastened a 

 huge hook to a chain and, baiting it with about 

 ten pounds of salt beef, dropped it overboard in 

 about 18 feet of water. The chain was made 

 fast to a spar. In a short time the monster was 

 hooked. After some two hours of hard work 

 the head was brought up level with the deck of 

 the vessel, and a few well directed blows with an 



axe reduced the great creature to submission. 

 When landed on deck the shark, for such it 

 proved to be, had broken off many of his teeth 

 on the chain. His mouth, when opened to its 

 full capacity, was nearly two feet in diameter. 



Brown. 



Along the Texas coast the sting ray, starry 

 ray, Rata radiata, locally pronounced sting-a-ree, 

 assumes mammoth proportions. Specimens 

 having a lateral diameter of three feet have been 

 found, and, while most people believe that they 

 are serviceable solely for stinging qualities, some 

 dwellers along the coast claim that no chowder nor 

 stew is complete which does not contain some of 

 this slimy denizen of the deep. 



Recently, Tony Demetrio caught, in a seine, 

 a saw fish, Pristis cirralus, which measured, 

 exclusive of the saw, a little over 12 feet in 

 length and 8 feet 4 inches in circumference just 

 behind the front fins. The saw measured 4 feet 

 7 inches in length. The saw fish, a member of 

 the shark family, is native to the gulf coast, but 

 this size is rare. 



The shrimp crop, during September, was the 

 largest ever known here. Fishermen claim to 

 have caught many which measured nine inches 

 in length and weighed fully a quarter of a pound 

 each. 



The fox shark, Squalus vulpes, abounds along 

 the Texas coast, but does not usually grow very 

 large. The oil from the liver is good for leather 

 that is exposed to salt water, or even to salt air. 



Sword fish, small both in number and size, are 

 beginning to make their appearance along the 

 Texas coast. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



" The Life and Adventures of Frank Grouard," 

 by Joe De Barthe, formerly a New York news- 

 paper writer, is full of thrilling interest. 

 Grouard was captured by Sitting Bull when 

 nineteen years old, and lived among the Sioux 

 six years. He suffered tortures innumerable, 

 but finally regained his freedom and became 

 General Crook's most valued scout. In writing 

 his history, Mr. De Barthe has avoided sensa- 

 tionalism. None is needed. The facts of 

 Grouard's life are more dramatic than romance 

 could possibly be. Sportsmen will be specially 

 'interested in this book because of its vivid 

 pictures of life in the far West. It details many 

 battles between white men and Indians, and 

 gives a new version of the Custer massacre. 



Combe Printing Co., St. Joseph, Mo. 550 

 pages. Nearly 100 illustrations. Price $3-5°- 



An interesting and timely volume is "Tobog- 

 ganing on Crooked Runs," from the pen of Hon. 

 Harry Gibson, and the press of Longmans, 

 Green & Co., New York and London. It treats 

 comprehensively of this thrilling sport as prac- 

 ticed on the steep, curving runs of the Swiss 

 Alps ; the development of the science ; the 

 famous Cresta, Klosters, Buol and other runs, 

 and the great races which have been made over 

 them. Detailed instructions follow as to dress, 

 the choice of toboggans, position and methods. 

 Every tobogganer should have a copy of this 

 book. 



