March 6, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



107 



Deer m Vermont.— It will be remembered by our read- 

 ers that some years ago a party of the citizens of this and 

 adjoining towns subscribed a sum of money for the purpose 

 of placing a number of deer in the mountains with the view 

 of trying to re-stock the woodlands of the State with these 

 valuable and beautiful game animals. The deer at that time 

 were protected by a law which expired by limitation in 1880. 

 The Legislature of that year, however, re-enacted the law and 

 extended its provisions, the expiration of the new law being 

 Nov. 1, 1886. The deer so placed have, it is believed, in- 

 creased in such a manner as to afford good ground for belief 

 that the experiment will be successful. Rumors have been 

 heard from time to time that deer had been unlawfully- 

 killed, but no direct evidence has been produced until yes- 

 terday, when a young lad living near Bald Mountain gave 

 Mr. J. C. Dunn, one of the gentleman who was most active 

 in the enterprise, information which led to the discovery of 

 a dead deer, which had evidently been shot by some mis- 

 creant who luckily, however, failed to reap the fruit. »f his 

 infamous act. At the time the deer were turned out a re- 

 ward of $50 was offered for information leading to the con- 

 viction of any person who should kill, take or pursue them, 

 and this offer is still good and the money will be paid to any 

 one who will furnish information upon which the person 

 who killed this deer can be convitod. Information may be 

 given to Mr. J. C. Dunn, M. G. Everts, F. Chaffee, A. F. 

 Davis, Geo. H. Cheney, It. W. Cheney, Dr. C. W. Brigham, 

 Hou. D. W. Taylor, 8. E. Burnham or Wm. Y. W. Ripley. 

 The offer of the reward is yet in force, not only as far as it 

 concerns this particular animal, but also others who may be 

 killed hereafter— in fact it is a standing offer. That all may 

 know just what the law is we publish the full text below : 

 "A person who prior to the first day of November, 1836, 

 pursues, takes or kills, within this State, a wild deer, or has 

 in his possession a wild deer or any part thereof so taken or 

 killed, shall be fined $50, and the" possession of the meat or 

 ■hide, or any part of a wild deer, shall be presumptive 

 evidence that the person having it in his possession is guilty 

 of a violation of this section. It shall be lawful to kill a dog 

 found pursuing wild deer prior to November, 1886, if such 

 dog is killed while in the actual pursuit of deer— Hutland 

 ( I?.) Herald, Feb. 29. 



More Cat. — As cat stories seem to be in order just now, 

 "that reminds me" of another cat that was not killed. Some 

 years since a handsome maltese cat, ha ving been sentenced 

 to death for catching young chickens, 1 was requested to 

 officiate as her executioner. The instrument of death selected 

 was a new repeating rifle, to whose sights I had not become 

 accustomed, and which had never yet drawn gore. ' 'To make 

 assurance doubly sure," I tied a rope around pussy's neck, 

 and fastened her to the garden fence; I drew a careful (?) 

 bead on her head (distance five yards) and the way pussy 

 backed away and stretched the rope, she anticipated her 

 fearful doom. Bang! — I saw a blue streak disappearing 

 "over the garden wall," and found that like Alexander of old 

 I had "cut the Gordian knot," not with my trusty sword, but 

 with 40 grains of powder and 200 grains of lead. In a word, 

 the ropeVas shot, the cat was free. To cap the climax, my 

 neighbor, "Old Muzzle Loader," had witnessed the scene 

 and remarked, "Didn't I tell you the trajectory of your new- 

 fangled repeater is too high?" — Bobolink. 



Ruffed Grouse Captured Aiive.— Orwell, Vt., March 

 2. — Last week, while two men were chopping, they captured 

 a partridge in the wood pile. Tying a string to its legs, they 

 hitched it to the fence, where it died during the afternoon, 

 having pounded itself to death. Fox hunting has been good 

 this winter, the greatest number killed by one hunter being 

 sixteen. — W. L. P. 



Connecticut.— The Senate Committee on Agriculture 

 have reported adversely on all proposed game law changes. 



ha mid Miver 



DOWELS AND FERRULES. 



FOR his blow at that ancient superstition, the dowel pin, 

 Mr. "Wells deserves all praise. If the subject had been 

 thoroughly discussed, they would have disappeared before 

 this. Twenty years back, Thaddeus Norris — than whom a 

 better American angler and rod-maker never lived — con- 

 demned them unhesitatingly, and stated that he never used 

 them. But there are some points against both them and the 

 present style of ferrules, that neither he nor Mr. Wells in his 

 aritcle have touched upon. They are the cause of the pres- 

 ent article. 



First — As Mr, Wells has shown, the greatest points of 

 strain {i.e., transverse strain) are at the juncture of the wood 

 with the lower end of the female and upper end of the male 

 ferrules. For, as the rod begins bending at the tip, the 

 transverse strain is thrown further and further down the rod, 

 the strain becoming more longitudinal upon the bent part. 

 But as the strain progresses down the rod, it strikes the fer- 

 rules; but the ferrules cannot bend, therefore at their 

 junction they act as a lever against the wood, and the longer 

 they are the greater thestrain. Every one can see this, and 

 it is therefore plain tnat those parts of the rod should be 

 especially strong. But you will ask, what bearing has this 

 upon the dowel pin and tenon? Why, simply this: It is 

 evident, to reduce the strain as much as possible, we must 

 shorten the fenule, and if we shorten the ferrule and retain 

 the hole for the dowel, we bore away the wood at the very 

 place where we need the most. And there is still another 

 grave objection. "Wood is porous, and by virtue of capillary 

 attraction will suck up moisture. This moisture rots and 

 weakens the fibers of cellulose tissue, of which the wood is 

 composed; thetefore we varnish our rods to keep it out. 

 Now, woods of all sorts exert their capillary force strongest 

 in the line of the grain. That is, wood will drink up moist- 

 ure faster when a cross section of the grain is wet. than in 

 any other way. The reason of this ;s plain, when we see 

 that the interstices of the fibres are really minute capillary 

 tubes, which draw the water up. Now, the dowel hole in 

 almost all rods has no covering to prevent this; it is impos- 

 sible to keep its side well varnished, and the dowel pin 

 would soon wear it off if we could. So, whenever we get 

 moisture into the hole, and it is almost impossible to avoid 

 this, it acts as a little cup, to retain and draw moisture into 

 the pores of the wood, weakening and rotting it at the point 

 where we want it strongest. To rods which have a water- 

 proof cup for the dowel pin this objection does not apply, 

 but the former one does. So far as we know, however, there 



are no wooden rods in the market which have this cup, and 

 only one make of split bamboo, and this latter objection is 

 doubly strong against the latter, because bamboo is not only 

 more porous than other woods on its cross section, but there 

 is also the glue to be spoiled by the capillary attraction. 



Second — It strengthens the joint, is claimed for _ it. It 

 does no such thing. The leverage iu the ferrule itself is 

 brass against brass, and as Mr. "Wells has shown, even thin 

 brass is" amply strong. How many ferrules split or collapse 

 in comparison with the number of rods that break the wood 

 at the junction with the ferrule? 



Third— It is claimed that it holds the joints together. This 

 assertion is also_false. Look at your own rod, and see which 

 shows the most signs of friction, the wooden dowel or the 



brass ferrule. It is evidently the friction of the lip of the 

 female ferrule upon the tapered male ferrule that holds 

 the joints together. If it were the frictien of the tight- 

 fitting dowel, wheh the brass became worn we should have 

 to trim the whole thing down, whereas this, practically, 

 never happens. The dowel hole is always made too large 

 for any friction, to prevent the joints sticking from moisture. 



As the summing up of this article. 1 would like, with all 

 due. humility, to submit the following design, which will 

 cover the above objections: 



The above figure represents the joint cut away to show a 

 longitudinal section It will be observed that at A and B 

 the wood is full size, thus netting the greatest amount of 

 fiber, to resist transverse strain. Some ferrules are already 

 made this way, and they are the best in the market. I shows 

 a round wad of brass, cut to exactly fit the bore of the fer- 

 rule. It is pushed down ahead cf the wood, to which it is 

 fastened by shellac, till it comes to the shoulder. It prevents 

 all moisture getting at the cross section of the wood and 

 weakening it. The dotted lines show where rods usually 

 break on this account, It will also be observed that the 

 male fernJle is also capped with brass, as shown at D, for a 

 similar reason. This cap could more conveniently be made 

 a solid part of the male ferrule, and I have so represented it. 



To prevent unjointing and the nuisance of throwing away 

 a joint or two, I have shown at C a little brass cleat, fast 

 ened to the rod by silk lashings. A similar one is put on at 

 the lower end of Ihe female ferrule, pointing in the opposite 

 direction, and a few turns of silk, taken arouud these, pre- 

 vent all accidents. This is an old device and a good one. 



Tne proportion of parts in the figure is exaggerated to 

 show them more clearly. These ferrules could be made very 

 short to lessen the leverage. 



I should be $ad of any criticisms from other anglers. 

 Everything to forward the angler's art, should be the angler's 

 motto, and in this spirit I have writen. Percyval. 



A MASCALONGE. 



MANY years ago when a boy my father and myself were 

 devoted disciples of the rod and line. Few, if any, 

 could equal the *ld gentleman either in handling a fish, or in 

 the number in his basket at the end of a day's fishing in the 

 St. Lawrence, that most beautiful river. Where we tished, 

 bass, pickerel, pike, and now and then a mascalonge were to 

 be caught; but the story I wish to tell is of a mascalonge 

 which my father and myself attempted to capture, and we 

 tried it so often that we called him the "one-eyed perch." 



On a bright day in June the pater suggested to the writer 

 that a few hours spent on the river would be pleasant, and 

 that he get the boat and fixings ready. Away scampers the 

 boy for the river bank; the boat is washed, the paddle and 

 oars are soon in place, we step in, and away for the second 

 island, round the head of it we go, and down the south side 

 with a six-mile current helping us on, the big copper spoon 

 towing behind us sixty yards away. Down around the 

 island we go, pulling slowly but moving swiftly, when, as if 

 struck by a streak of lightning, the flat-bottomed scow rises 

 on a wave and we are in the middle of a riffle, well known 

 to lovers of bass fishing, 



"Pull," cries father, "a»d we will make the foot of the 

 island;" and pull it was for some ten minutes with current 

 setting us down the river, and the long line and spoon drag- 

 ging behind. At last we catch the eddy, and then the veteran 

 in the stern says: "We will pull along that bank of rushes 

 and I think we will find a fish near the end of the island." 

 So we move on slowly for a hundred yards or more, when 

 "Make her move" comes from the stern, and the boat moves 

 along briskly, the oars just touching the rushes,, when as we 

 near the point 1 hear the magic words, dear to every angler's 

 heart, "I've got him!" Then the boat stood still. "Pull, 

 pull, boy!" cries the old man, and I labor at the oars for 

 all I am worth, until nearly black in the face, when I see a 

 shining object rise from the water some five feet or more, 

 distant, and with a splash it disappears, to rise, again and 

 again. Still it is "Pull, boy, pull!" and away we go from 

 the rushes and twist and turn in the eddy of" the island till 

 we think the fish is tired out, and father begins to haul in, 

 when whiz goes the line through his fingers, which are cut to 

 the bone. "Stop," he cried, and I rest my weary arms for 

 a second or two, when I notice a look of pain, disgust and 

 anger on the old man's face as he says, "Bless him, he's 

 gone!" and sinks into his seat. Presently he hauls in the 

 line and behold the hook, a good large one, is straightened 

 out. That is enough fishing for one day, so we pull home, 

 sadder if not wiser. 



The soldering irons are got out, and ere night closes in, 

 we "have a new and stronger hook fastened to the spoon, and 

 are ready for the "one-eyed perch." Some days elapsed be- 

 fore we could gel away again, but at last we are off, and a;o 

 down on the north side of the island; we round the point 

 of rushes, and come with a long, steady stroke past the hole 

 where we hooked him before, but without getting a rise; so 

 on to the southern end of the island and back again. "Steady, 

 boy, he ought to be here!" and here he is, as! feel the boat 

 cease moving in spite of my efforts to keep her going. "Pull 

 from the rushes!" and pull it is; slowly the boat moves, now 

 the fish makes a rush toward us and the boat flies as fast as 

 young muscles can make her, till we strike the two currents 

 meeting at the northeast end of the island. Then right about 

 we go with the fish, now in the water, now out, pulling like 

 a devil possessed, now to the right, now to the lelt of the 

 boat, and sometimes under it, but the line kept taut. At last, 

 tired with his efforts, ke is brought, alongside. "Get the 

 gaff," but alas! the gaff was left behind, ' "Shoot him !" and 

 I spring for the old muzzleloader in the bow, when with a 

 last desperate effort he plunges below the boat and is gone! 

 Then the. old man sat down and wept (swore) in French. 



We tried to catch this monster of the deep until we had 

 hooked him seven times, the last of which was but a repeti- 

 tion of the two first attempts with only this difference; this 

 time he took away with him thirty yards of line, and the 

 following morning he was caught some five miles lower down 

 the river on anight line, with which he bad entangled him- 

 self, He was sold by the fishermen who caught him to the. 

 "Lord of the Manor" and weighed thirty pounds. Were 

 covered the spoon and line, and bad lots of sport with the 

 spoon afterward. Canuck. 



Victoria, B.C., Feb. S, 1834. 



HINTS AND WRINKLES. 



Editor Fore*! <ni<t Stream: 



I have just read with pleasure the article on dowel pins, 

 by Mr. Wells, in your issue of the 31st. 



Three years ago a fnend took up rod-making as a winter 

 pastime and turned out three or four rods that were, and are 

 yet, equal to anything short of a split bamboo. The dowels 

 bothered him, and thinking the matter over, neither he nor 

 the friends v/honi he called into council could find any nmon 

 d'etre for them. So the rods were finished without dowels, 

 and Ave cannot see that anything has been lost in any way. 



Many thanks to Mr. Wells for the suggestion regarding 

 rod handles. I for one will try it, and I have so much faith 

 in it that I shall use it on my 'best rod. We anglers want 

 more such points. Almost every oue of us might do some- 

 thing. We are, all of us, or a great many, at least, indebted 

 to the Forest and Stheam for hints and wrinkles of which 

 we have made use, and yet 1 suppose not one in ten have 

 ev<r acknowledged them or tried to give other points in 

 return. 



Here is a little one that helped four of us on Spider Lake 

 some years ago. We found a splendid place for bass one 

 day and Caught some beauties, but we had no landing net, 

 so "that the biggest one generally got away, until some one 

 thought of making a gaff with a lake trout hook. Simplest 

 thing in the world! We just took a three-inch Limerick 

 hook and lashed it to the end of a three-foot switch and lost 

 no more bass for want of a landing net. Such a hook can 

 be carried iu the fiy-book, and when you unexpectedly fall 

 in with big fish (no joke) why there you are! 



And this leads to a question I have wanted to ask for a 

 longtime. We have all read time and again of a bass when 

 hooked leaping from Ihe water and failing on the leader so 

 as to break it. How does he do it ? If both ends of the line 

 were fast I could understand it, but they are practically 

 loose. For experiment: Fasten the hook to the floor and let 

 the rod be held so that the line will be at. about the same 

 angle and tension as when a bass is about to leap. Now 

 drop a ten-pound weight on the leader two or three feet from 

 the hook. The finest gut will stand the test. I know how 

 they shake the hook from their mouths when they get a slack 

 line and that the gut does sometimes break when they leap, 

 but do they break it by falling on it, or by striking it with 

 their tail? I don't think so. J. G. W. , 



Canada. 



FISHING AND FISHERMEN. 



HAVING been inspired ou several of these warm and 

 spring-like February days, my mind has been stirred 

 from its alpha to its omega along the line of the past as 

 touching the streams I have waded, with rod in hand, and the 

 boats I have sat in on the rough or smooth rivers and lakes, 

 as the case might have been, waiting with my attractive 

 lure for a bite, 



None but a born fisherman can enter into the sport. None 

 but a follower of Izaak Walton can climb and wade from 

 early morn till dewy eve over hills, through vales, and call 

 it sport. 



lie only can sit by the -fireside while the last snow of win- 

 ter is falling and extract the profoundest comfort out of the 

 by-gones, as the fly-book is turned leaf by leaf and each 

 crumpled, feathered hook is eagerly examined and the his- 

 tory of them read, telling how a three-pound trout played 

 havoc with the cowdung, the red ibis, or the king or queen 

 of the water; how some great black bass, or tremendous 

 salmou spoiled this or that fly in such a year, and wondering, 

 as the light blue smoke of the companionable pipe rises in 

 dainty cloudlets above our heads, if the like will ever occur 

 again. Hope, iu a whispered prayer, bubbles over the lips 

 from the depths of the heart, and trusts that the all-wise 

 Providence that created the beauties of the streams and the 

 deep, who also established in our souls the desire to enjoy — 

 as only we fishermen can — the greatest of pleasure, of a 

 spring and summer time, with rod and creel, may not blast. 

 our hope, or leave our cravings for the beautiful unsatisfied. 



In the week that lias just past, my mind has retraversed 

 all the brooks, rivers and lakes, where joy came to my heart 

 ov*r the line and rod, as it only can be telegraphed to the 

 sportsman who had it born and bred in his bones. One un- 

 pleasant reflection I called to mind wherein I got a severe 

 flogging from my father for leaving my work to go fishing. 

 He told us if it rained we might go. It sprinkled a little 

 from a cloud not larger than a man's hand, and away my 

 brother and I ran for the charming Susquehanna. We were 

 checkmated on the banks of a brook by a switch that some- 

 what resembled a modern trout rod, wielded by him who 

 was not born as we were, with more love for angling than 

 manual labor. That whipping no doubt decided my future. 

 I soon began the study of physic, and ere long I bade adieu 

 to brush and stones, and the hardships of the old farm, and 

 took up my abode near the beautiful Cayuga Lake, in the 

 city that boasts of the college upon a hill, founded by the 

 late lamented Cornell. After my departure, all my brothers 

 but one followed, and to-day 'four of us are fishers for 

 patients in the winter and muddy spring, butthe desire which 

 our father tried to check when we were young has, to all ap- 

 pearances, intensified, and must yearly be gratified. 



There is no more beautiful village than Ithaca, not a more 

 beautiful body of water than Lake Cayuga. The sezeral 

 streams that empty into it and the grand falls, of Fall Creek 

 and Taughanno'ekj the cascades and rocky shores of Six Mile 

 Creek add to the beauty and grandeur of* this vicinity. The 

 fish and game clubs here are alive to the stocking of "streams 

 aud the protection of fish and game. We expect 60,000 

 California mountain trout this summer for our streams in 

 Tompkins counts'. Last season we took several California 

 trout on bait and fly in Fall Creek aud the Inlet Creek. Dr. 

 Sharp caught a California salmon under the falls that 

 weighed two pounds, Tkis beautiful specimen showed 

 much pluck and endurance in the fight against the line and 

 rod. The mountain trout were put in the stream one year 

 ago last summer, and when taken by C. B, Brown measured 

 seven inches in length, and acted quite as gamy as brook 

 trout of the same weight. 



