Mabch 20, 1884.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



149 



§nmp JftVf <gUckei[htgs. 



♦ 



■■Thar reminds me." 

 107. 



AN early hour of a morning in the spring of 187(5 found 

 a clerical party of four, including the writer, on their 

 way over a ten-mile drive to the L — Reservoir on a fishing 

 excursion. The -waters were safely reached, the weather 

 was all that could be desired, and our fishing success and 

 sport were most promising, until our boat struck a hidden 

 log and there stuck. To diBlOdge the skiff was now the work 

 before us. The writer had the oars, Bro. E. got a "pur- 

 chase'' with a third oar on the log. and the other brethren 

 were to rock the boat, "Now. boys," cried Bro. E., "all 

 together! 31 



Well, although the fishing of the good brother out of the 

 water was but the work of a moment, not a hair of his 

 reverend head came up dry. By the way, the brother was 

 not of l he Baptist persuasion, and he always regarded his in- 

 voluntarv immersion as a disaster. "We now made use of 

 him to lift the skiff from its accidental moorings, which he 

 was enabled to do bv standing in the water on the log. We 

 then hastily landed him, and" he at once stripped himself to 

 the skin, and, donning a linen duster, loaned him by one of 

 the party, proceeded to wring out his various articles of 

 clothing. and spread (hem upon the grass and flushes to dry. 

 This done, he wrapped around him a blanket that had served 

 as a cushion to one of the wagon seats, seated himself with 

 some newspapers, and endeavored to make himself comfort- 

 In the meantime the rest of us had resumed our fish- 

 ing. 



lu the course of an hour or so we heard a yell, and then a 

 series of excited cries, "Hoi, there!" Looking up, it .re- 

 quired but a glance to take in the whole situation. A six or 

 eight weeks' old calf had got hold of the unfortunate man's 

 pants, and, in a playful way, was making off with them. 

 Throwing off his blanket, and hastily stepping into his shoes 

 he started in pursuit, but the faster ran the parson, the faster 

 flew the calf ; the former's buttonless duster — well, to say the 

 least of it, it was a poor apology for a covering. But there 

 was an end to the painful scene as both disappeared behind 

 a distant thiclret. 



I think it was the work of the devil, when, months after, 

 while the aforesaid Bro. E. was occupying the pulpit of the 

 writer, there flashed before the mind of the latter the spec- 

 tacle of a nude, flviug preacher, racing after a skipping, 

 bawling calf, with a pair of breeches flying from its mouth 

 like a streamer. The recollection threatened, for an instant, 

 to produce some sort of atmospheric explosion which, what- 

 ever might have been the effect upon the congregation, would 

 doubtless have blown up their pastor. He escaped the im- 

 minent peril, but the inward sufferings of that moment, and 

 the outward chills and cold sweats, were his reward for 

 letting the devil get that momentary advantage of him. If 

 the reader can but catch the moral here, the writer will not 

 rue giving this truthful sketch to the readers of Eoeest and 

 Stream. Hewill. 



$m mid Miter 



FISHING RODS AND DOWELS. 



I AGREE with Mr. H. P. Wells, whose letter appeared 

 Feb. 21, on one point, that is, that a roel is best in one 

 piece, but this is impracticable, owing to the difficulties of 

 transportation. To remedy this, get a two or three-joint rod 

 spliced, and abolish the dowels aud ferrules. With a little 

 practice it can be put together almost as quickly as a ferruled 

 rod, and even if it does take a minute or two longer; why 

 trout do not require breeohloading rods to catch them with 

 before they move off. If the splice is inclined to slacken, 

 dip it into the water and it will get tight enough, but a rod 

 properly spliced will not come apart, I have used one and 

 would not want a better, and never had it separate while 

 fishing. 



The beat fly-fishing in Canada is in my vicinity, and the 

 rods most used are three-joint with butt of ash; joint and tip 

 •of lance wood with only the tip spliaed. A good butt will 

 not break at the ferrule, unless subjected to extremely rough 

 usage, A good serviceable rod twelve or thirteen feet long in 

 three pieces as above, will take a half inch counter ferrule 

 three and one-quarter inches long on the butt, with a dowel 

 one inch long, and will weigh about twelve ounces. With 

 this rod a good fisherman need not fear a smash-up with a 

 seven pound two-ounce fish, or a twenty-pound salmon. 

 Tarpons are of course excepted. The style of rods used' 

 south of the line 45° seems to tend to extreme lightness and 

 fancy get-up, all very pretty, but unserviceable. A man 

 who cannot fish all day with a sixteen-ounce rod must be 

 weak indeed. These light rods had a run here, but now 

 fishermen are returning to those I described above. 



The ferrule Mr. Wells mentions as only holding at the top 

 must be one too much tapered. A rod with properly tapered 

 ferrules and well-fitted dowels feels more like a rod in one 

 piece, and much stronger than his with the very short coun- 

 ter ferrules without dowels. This short ferrule will work 

 loose, and burst open with a sudden strain coming on it. A 

 rodmaker, who is a practical fisherman, told me that he has 

 repaired rods innumerable, and never came across a doweled 

 ferrule broken. And no cemented ferrule or metal dowel 

 tnd is secure; they must be pinned to give satisfaction. Mr. 

 Wells's experience of smashes must have been frequent and 

 terrible, perhaps owing to cheap material, and he does not 

 seem to possess much genius for emergent repairs. No good 

 fisherman will lose his fishing by breaking his rod, unless 

 perhaps it has been made into match wood by a cart wheel 

 passing over it, or some such accident. Even then he would 

 cut a rod in the bush, and catch as many fine trout as our 

 friend who has not been so unfortunate. 



If the joint breaks below the ferrule, and there is nothing 

 at hand to bore a hole for the dowel, cut off said dowel and 

 get a new piece on returning to civilization. If Mr. Wells's 

 joint breaks above the counter, the counter would be too 

 large to move further up on the piece, that is, if the rod has 

 been properly made and the ferrules and counters not sunk 

 into the wood. 



Get a rod made of the best of wood and fittings, pay a 

 reasonable price for it, and your expeditious will be enjoy- 

 able, A cheap fishing rod is like a cheap gun, most un- 

 satisfactory, and often the dearest in the end. 



P. Q., March c i MoNTilOiiE^iCi. 



Wei e it not that the inclosed communication formulates 

 the current, objection to the short dowelless ferrule, it would 

 call forth no reply from me.' 



It is the standing and only objection of those who still 

 favor the doweled ferrule, and if answerable, it should be met. 



This objection has one weak point about it. It is O&So- 

 Jtiti'h/ ill roid of truth. What, man who forms his judgment 

 on the merits, and not from prejudice— and it is only to such 

 that it is worth while to appeal — will for a moment think of 

 taking a poorly fitted dowelless ferrule of inferior material 

 (when perfect 'fitting and good material are easily to be had), 

 as a standard from which to form a true opinion of its merits. 

 Would the writer of the above think it fair play should a 

 Visitor to his country judge its inhabitants from the most de- 

 based of the population: and declare that all were of that 

 stripe, and that the people of Canada were the scum of the 

 earth ? I think not. And, as he would justly protest, against 

 such an expression as an outrage, so do I protest against his 

 conclusions and for the same reason. 



Besides quite a number that I still retain, there are some 

 dozen or more of rods of my own make in use, presents to 

 friends. The ferrules of all these are short and without 

 dowels, and all made from German silver tubing drawn in- 

 side and out. Never in twelve years or more of my own ex- 

 perience, nor I believe in that of those using my' rods, has 

 either a ferrule split or a joint thrown apart. And yet I am 

 but an amateur maker, a professional man without mechani- 

 cal training, resorting to rod making merely as an amuse- 

 ment, It stands to reason that a trained mechanic could do 

 belter work. Therefore we have not here the best possible 

 either of work, or material, as a criterion of the merits of the 

 simple ferrule. 



These rods have not been used solely against the small fish 

 of the ordinary mountain brook, but 'much more largely in 

 those waters of Maine where, I believe, it is admitted that 

 the American species of brook trout attain a size not else- 

 where found, or, at any rate, only in the Nepigon River of 

 Lake Superior. 



In an article in reference to the best color for leaders, 

 which appeared in your issue of Feb. 7, I said: "With 

 thinner gut than this, last September, a friend fastened a 

 trout of 4$ pounds (weighed to the ounce, and not guessed 

 at) in a dangerous place, aud not only held him without giv- 

 ing an inch of line, but hung to him until his guide took the 

 boat into Clear water and towed the fish after." 



The rod used on that occasion was a greenheart, with split 

 bamboo tip, 9 feet 8 inches long, and united by simple fer- 

 rules made by me and in the manner described. The rod and 

 its ferrules, as far a9 the eye and constant subsequent use 

 could determine, were as good as new. 



It will be admitted, I think, that this was a pretty fair 

 test. But it by no means stands alone in my remembrance. 

 I could instance dozens of other occasions where these fer- 

 rules have withstood the severest and most sudden strains, 

 and always without damage. 



Should I assert that if a man fell from a window he would 

 not reach the ground, but fly off into space and forever after 

 gyrate in an orbit around the moon, you w T ould unhesi- 

 tatingly assert that it was not true. You have seen bodies 

 fall before, and are familiar with the course they will take. 

 For the same reasons, I assert emphatically- that it is not true. 

 that the simple ferrule, if properly made (and this is a much 

 easier matter than to make a good dowelled ferrule) will 

 either throw apart or split when subjected to any possible 

 practical strain. A ferrule of les.den material, and the fit- 

 ting of which is a botch, will give a like result, whether 

 dowelled or simple in constructiou. 



There are men who prefer the muzzleloader to the breech- 

 loader, or the heavy plain ash to the light spruce spoon oar, 

 and your correspondent may prefer a pound single-handed 

 fly-rod to one of half that weight. It is a matter of taste, 

 concerning which it is useless to dispute. 



The experience of "frequent and terrible smashes" to 

 which he alludes, have not occurred to my own rods, or to 

 rods handled by me, but to the rods of others using dow- 

 elled ferrules broken at a distance from home and brought 

 to me in the hope that I could repair the damage so that its 

 owner could continue his sport. But if a rod so broken is a 

 fine and expensive one, it seems one might well hesitate be- 

 fore resorting to so radical a remedy as cutting off the 

 dowel, or eudeavoring to bore the hole to receive it with the 

 crude appliances generally 7 at hand on such occasions. My 

 remedy (if the broken rod has been of such character) has 

 been to supply the temporary want from my own outfit. 



No angler of experience will question your correspondent's 

 assertion that a spliced rod is better in use than if it were 

 joined with ferrules. But at the same time the liability of the 

 thin ends of the splices to accident, from the many con- 

 tingencies which w ill occur in the course of years, and the 

 care necessary to their protection, must not be lost sight of. 



His remarks as to the greater proneness of cemented fer- 

 rules to become loose is just. But this occurs only in the 

 winter time, and if the angler will take the trouble to exam- 

 ine his rods, before inaugurating a new season (as most do), 

 he can remedy this defect, if found, in less than ten 

 minutes. 



This life here below is made up from a judicious selection 

 between unavoidable evils, and of these our constant en- 

 deavor is to choose the least. 



In the exercise of this discretion, I reject the splice and 

 the fastening pin. 



The idea that a simple ferrule will not fit when reset above 

 its former location, is also a delusion. To give that perfect 

 curve, which indicates to the initiated that the strain is 

 equally distributed over a fly-rod, the material should not be 

 evenly tapered from ferrule; but must, for a few inches, be 

 cylindrical and of the same diameter as within the ferrule 

 Jenkv P. Wells. 



WHERE IS THE BIGOSH? 

 "VTOUR correspondents have been telling you where the 

 X "Biffosh" is located. Of course they are all wrong; 

 it exists only in the imagination of Mr. Mather, and he has 

 used this pleasant fiction to give your readers a most charm- 

 ing series of sketches, aud to convey a deal of information 

 upon the art of fishing. I trust he will continue his delight- 

 ful papers indefinitely. 



If 1 am wrong, and the "Bigosh" has an objective exist- 

 ence, let me beg Mr. Mather to keep its location a secret. If 

 he tells it, depend upon it the place will be overrun, so that 

 he and his friends will no longer find any/ enjoyment in visiting 

 it, it will be rendered worthless to them and' to all others. It 

 is his secret, let him keep it. May the original party long 

 enjoy its pleasant places. 



"Percyval' deserves thanks for his article on "Ferrules." 

 As he invites criticisms, I venture to make two suggestions: 

 First. If the plate or wad of brass, 1, were soldered in its 

 place the protection against water would be perfect. 



Second. If the ferrules are of sufficient length and care- 



fully made, there is no possible need of the "little brass 

 cleat. C." Three of my own rods are made with ferrules that 

 have no dowels and no cleats. I have never had any trouble 

 with them from "throwing away a joint or two." I have 

 seen this accident occur, but always and only when the fer- 

 rules were much worn and ought to have been replaced by 

 new ones. The cleat requires time to whip andunwhip, and 

 is apt to catch, besides it mars the good looks of a handsome 

 rod. M. 



Pennsylvania 



A DOMESTIC TROUT POND. 



I NOTICE in Forest and Stream of March 6, an ac- 

 count of a successful trout pond (by "W. T.," East Sagi- 

 naw). It is the first instance of the kind that I ever heard 

 of. and I have visited a good mai y similar ponds and have 

 actually received hundreds of communications from parties 

 who have tried trout culture in this crude manner, and I do 

 not recall a single instance which has resulted successfully. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I will not be so rude as to question the 

 word of any one in relation to fish matters, but I notice that 

 some thirty years have elapsed since "W. T." constructed 

 this $30 fifth pond, and it is possible he has grown old some 

 in that tune and perhaps his memory may be slightly at 

 fault, though he tells us almost to a pound how many trout 

 he took out of that pond in the four seasons; seven hundred 

 and sixty-three pounds! And this from an original stock of 

 two hundred and fifty young fry! And now right here, "this 

 reminds me," that thirty years ago and thereabouts, I some- 

 times visited Michigan, not to fish, but on gunning expedi- 

 tions. I heard them tell how they weighed their hogs be- 

 fore Fairbanks's scales became fairly abundant there. They 

 laid some poles across a log,' placed the hog across one end 

 of the poles and piled stones on the other end fill they just 

 balanced the hog, then they guessed at the weight of the 

 stones! I remember on one trip killing a deer and a turkey, 

 the ground being covered deeply with snow they could not 

 get at the stones and so guessed directly at the weight of my 

 game. They laid the deer at 200 pounds, and the turkey at 

 80 pounds. When I got them down to Cleveland the deer 

 weighed 105 pounds and the turkey 21 pounds. Did "W. 

 TV" weigh his trout by Michigan methods? 



I will now skip the brush work, which if properly done 

 for such a surface would cost about $35, and pass to the em- 

 bankment, taking "W. T.'s" figures and making allowance 

 for such contours as would admit of the work described 

 (team and scraper): there was not less than one thousand 

 cubic yards of earth moved and placed in this embankment. 

 Now, estimating at the usual cost of such work and at one- 

 third less for man and team than "W. T." allows, it would 

 cost $125 to construct the embankment alone. It will be 

 noticed that this work was firmly rammed, and finally the 

 entire surface was heavily coated with coarse gravel and 

 over this again covered with a layer of as large boulders as 

 I hey could handle. Now, here is a class of work fully under- 

 stood by farmers throughout New England, New York, 

 upper New Jersey, all over Pennsylvania and other rocky 

 regions. Would any farmer take the contract for gravel 

 aud boulder work alone for $50? Not since I can remember. 

 Well, my main items now foot up $400, and there are extras 

 for spikes, nails, wire netting, planting of willows, etc., 

 which includes a network partition of wire across the pond, 

 one-third the way from the head to the foot; eight large 

 cedar logs stretched across the ravine and weighted with 

 more large boulders (this cedar is not counted), all of these 

 incidentals of which would cost another $50 easily. 



Now, Mr. Editor, ask any experienced hydraulic or civil 

 engineer in the country to review my figures, and see if I am 

 not within the practical limits. 



I have for several years, at suitable seasons of the year, 

 been quite busily engaged in constructing carp ponds* and 

 am frequently superintending this work in two or three 

 States at the same time, rapidly passing back and forth from 

 point to point and constantly coming in contact with ever- 

 varying locations, on all of which I make hydraulic (instru- 

 mental) surveys with mathematical exactness. It is probable 

 that I do more of this work than any ten other men in this 

 country, and it should be conceded that I ought to know 

 with a tolerable degree of certainty what such work costs, 

 even though done in the comparatively crude manner stated 

 by "W. T." He has gone into details and given sufficient 

 figures to enable an engineer to make an approximate esti- 

 mate. In the first place, 1 find that his cedar bulkhead must 

 have contained at least 1,000 square feet of surface. Multi- 

 plied by four, the thickness in inches of the split plank, 

 would make 4,000 feet of cedar, independent of the. fifteen 

 posts, varying from 6 to 34 feet in length, which, if of a size 

 to hold an embankment thirty or more feet in height, it is 

 safe to say contained another thousand feet, making 5.000 

 feet, independent of the braces. I have handled considerable 

 lumber during the past forty-five years; have been for two or 

 three terms official measurer, and I have never seen the time 

 or place that cedar was not worth at least $20 per thousand 

 feet, more often $30. It will be observed that the crib- 

 work was thoroughly puddled, concreted, and further se- 

 cured with large boulders. No two men living could get 

 out the stuff and put up such a crib-work bulkhead, with 

 foundations as stated, for $100. 



It will, doubtless, amuse practical trout culturists to think 

 how admirably that screen must have worked with two-year- 

 old trout on each side of It, as must have been the case, be- 

 cause the fry introduced could readily pass through it, and 

 they were left undisturbed for two years. 



There are a number of other interesting points which I , 

 could give in connection with this matter had I the time 

 and you the room. I begin to surmise that "W. T." is an 

 unconscionable, practical joker. He reminds me of one of 

 our leading Philadelphia physicians. A few years ago, 

 when we were having considerable excitement here about 

 our bogus medical colleges, unqualified pharmacists, etc.. 

 the. physician referred to one evening called at a druggist's 

 and left a prescription, saying he would call later in the 

 evening for it. He called perhaps two hours later, and as 

 the druggist handed him the prescription he inquired if he 

 intended to administer it according to directions, "a dose 

 every two hours." The doctor replied in the affirmative. 

 The druggist then remarked that one dose would be sufficient, 

 as any human being taking it would be dead within two 

 hours.' By this time the doctor had removed the wrapper 

 and found the prescription prominently labeled "Poison." 

 The doctor then remarked that he had been riding among 

 drug stores the entile evening leaving this identical prescrip- 

 tion, that this was the fifteenth one collected and he the tirst 

 druggist to notify him that the four simple ingredients 

 formed when combined a deadly poison. Readers can make 

 their own application. Milton P. Peibce. 



Pbeladelphia, Pa, 



