48 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



[Aug. 13, 1885. 



^ ataon does not conflict with legislation of Congress on the 

 same subject. This I gather from the cases already cited. 



The States may legislate concerning matter relating to their 

 own internal police, even though in so doing they seriously 

 affect, foreign or interstate commerce, but vrheuever the Legis- 

 lature of a State undertakes to exercise this police power, if 

 the provisions of the State law trench upon the power of Con- 

 gress to regulate commerce, the Courts of the United States 

 claun and exercise the right to say whether said provisions 

 exceed the exigency for which they have been professedly en- 

 acted. 



In the case of Railroad vs. Huseu, f)5 U. S. 465, a prohibi- 

 tion against the introduction into the State of Texas or Mexi- 

 can cattle during certain months of the year, was attempted 

 to ;be defended as a proper esei'cise by the State of its police 

 ower, on the ground that such cattle were likely to introduce 

 isease among the domestic cattle. It was m-ged that the 

 State had a right to protect itself against this danger. The 

 court, while admitting the right, held that the danger could 

 be effectively guarded against by inspection and quarantine 

 laws, and hence that a sweeping enactment against Che intro- 

 duction of all cattle, healthy or otherwise, was involved. The 

 court iu that ea.se says: "In coming to such a conclusion 

 we have not overlooVed the decisions of verv respectable 

 com-ts in Illinois, where statutes sunOar to the "one we have 

 before us have been sustained. [Yeagle vs. Alexander, 58 IU. 

 254.] Regarding the statutes as mere police regulations in- 

 tended to protect domestic cattle against infectious diseases, 

 those courts have refused to inquire whether the prohibition 

 did not extend beyond the danger to be apprehended, and 

 whether, therefore, the statutes were not something more 

 than exertions of poUce power. That inquiry, thev have said, 

 was foi' the Legislature and not for tl*e coui'ts. W^ith this we 

 cannot concur. The poKce power of a State cannot obstruct 

 foreign commerce beyond the necessity tor its exercise; and 

 under cover of it, objects not within its scope cannot be se- 

 cured at the expense of the protection afforded by the federal 

 constitution. And as its range sometimes comes very near 

 the field committed by the constitution to Congress, it is the 

 duty of the coiu-ts to guai-d vigilantly against any needless 

 intrusion." 



According to the foregoing principles it cannot be main- 

 tained that the act of 1S.S3, if given the construction claimed 

 by the Territoi-y, is of such local andauxiliai-y character in its 

 relation to national commerce that it will be'vahd in the ab- 

 sence of legislation to the contrary by Congress. The act in- 

 terferes with the transit of property into this Ten-itory, and 

 with the purchase, sale and exchange of commodities m 

 another Temtory. matters which the Supreme Court of the 

 United States in Mobile County vs. Kimball, 102, U. S., say 

 are national and require uniformity of regulation. 



I am aware that the Com-t of Appeals of New York con- 

 sidered this very question in Phelps vs. Racey, ruled, in con- 

 nection with the game laws of that State, and held that the 

 prohibition against having bu-ds in possession at a certain 

 time, and which was construed as including birds brought into 

 the State from another State, was valid in the absence of con- 

 gressional legislation to the contraj-y. I do not see how the 

 case can be reconciled with the decisions of the Supreme Court 

 of the United States. Moreover, the court, in deciding that 

 case failed to notice the distinction between matters which are 

 of national concern and require uniformitv of regulation and 

 those that are merely local and aiixiUary." 



Neither can the act of 18.83, consti'ued as claimed by counsel 

 for the Territory, be sustained as a proper exercise of police 

 power of the Territory. The prohibition against having game 

 and fish in possession duiing certain periods of the year, does 

 not proceed upon the theoiy that it is immoral or unhealthy 

 to have such game or fish in possession, but was enacted be- 

 cause to permit such possession would mihtate against the en- 

 forcement of the game laws by compelhng the Temtory in 

 every case to negative the taking of the game or fish in another 

 State or Territoi-y. This is the only useful purpose to the 

 people of the Territory that the prohibition can have. That 

 pm-pose is fully subserved by section 10 of the act to which I 

 have already adverted. By that section the bm-den of proof is 

 shifted from the State to the defendant. The mischief, there- 

 fore, being entirely remedied by section 10, that provision 

 which mates it an offense to have the possession of fish during 

 a certain period of the year, must, if it covers the possession 

 of fish taken abroad, be considered as extending beyond the 

 necessities of the case, and therefore an unauthorized inter- 

 ference with the right of Congress to regulate inter-state com- 

 merce. 



I do not thint the citation from Bishop to which my atten- 

 tion is called by counsel for the Territory, militates' against 

 this position. Mr. Bishop, in discussing game laws similar to 

 the one under consideratior in connection with the commerce 

 clause of the Federal ConstitutioUj says: "But when they 

 rgame or fish] have been brought into the State from another 

 State or country, and mingled with the general property, 

 their sale, or the 'keeping of them for sale, rhay be prohibited 

 the same as though captui-ed or killed in the State." Bishop 

 on Statutory Crimes, Section l,lo5. 



Undoubtedly when any commodity has been brought into 

 the State and mingled with the general mass of property in 

 the State, State laws regulating the sale or keeping the same 

 for sale or absolutely forbiddmg such keeping or sale, if the 

 pubhc health i-equire' it, would be vahd if no discrimination is 

 made in favor of home commodities of the same kind. But 

 the vice in our law, construed as coimsel for the Territory 

 would have it construed, is that it absolutely prevents the 

 introduction into the State from abroad and its incoi-poration 

 with other property of the State, of a salable commodity. 

 Mr. Bishop cites in support of the proposition laid down by 

 him several cases from State courts, and among others tihe 

 case of Phelps vs. Racey, 60 New York Court of Appeals, 

 already noticed. 



The other cases cited by him have not been produced before 

 me and are not obtainable here. 



The case of Phelps vs. Racey does not support the proposi- 

 tion. The constitutional question was disposed of in that case 

 upon the broad ground that the authority to i-egulate com- 

 merce was concun-ent, and that such regulation by the States, 

 in the absence of contrary legislation by Congress, was vahd. 

 pil think the prisoner must be discharged, and it is so or- 

 dered. 



OKOBOJl LAKE. 



ONE of the most pleasant places I have visited for a long 

 time is Okoboji Lake, Iowa, in the northwestern part 

 of the State, near the line of Minnesota. The post office is 

 Okoboji. At a place known as Arnold's Park, there is a new 

 hotel where 1 was told the rooms were comfortable and they 

 kept a good table. In tlie fine Sfroves, both at the park and 

 other places along the beach, quite a number of tourists 

 were living in tents. Some of those at the park took their 

 meals at the hotel. The charge for boats, Including minnow 

 bucket and fishing tackle of a rude kind, wa.s fifty cents to 

 one dollar per day, according to quality. An excellent arti- 

 cle of minnows was furnished at ten cents per dozen. The 

 fish caught were chiefly pike, pickerel, rock bass, croppies, 

 and a small yeUow perch, from five to eight inches in length. 

 I did not see a black bass or hear of one being taken there. 



One morning while there a couple of small boys and my- 

 self took twenty wall-eyed pike, three pickerel and one 

 beauty of a striped bass, twenty-four in all, in about three 

 hours"' work, it was the most attractive string seen while at 

 the lake. The more aristocratic people go to Spring Lake, 

 at which there is a handsome sheet of water and an elegant 

 hotel, but I was told the fishing falls far behind that 



over at Okoboji, The two places are some nine miles apart, 

 accessible to each other by small steamers which ply between 

 them at regular ijitexvals. These lakes are reached by rail 

 from St, Paul, Milwaukee, Cedar Rapids and Council Blufis. 

 From the latter place they run through a special sleeper, 

 which is side-tracked Jit Spirit Lake. 



The last Legislature amended the game law of Nebraska 

 so as to extend the close season for chickens to the Ist of 

 September. No one apparently seems to be paying any at- 

 tention to the law, sportsmen as well as pot-hunters indis- 

 criminately yiolating it. Parties are out from here eveiy 

 day and make but ]itt,lG secret of it. The reports are to the 

 effect that chickens are abundant; but it seems they must 

 go. It will not be long at the present rate before the making 

 a fair bag will be an impossible thing. Bukk H. Pot.k. 

 Lincoln, Neb., Aug. 7. 



DOWELED VERSUS SIMPLE-FERRULES. 



Edito)^ Forest and Stream: 



Since the union of the joints of fly-rods by the simple 

 in preference to the ordinary doweled-fenule was first 

 advocated by me in your columns, I think I notice a 

 marked change among anglers in favor of the opinion I 

 then urged, and still advocate. 



Many who then opposed the idea with greater or less 

 vehemence, now admit that the simple-ferrule may be used 

 in a trout-rod— some allowing that it is better, .some that it 

 is just as good, while others, faithful to their first love, still 

 claim the superiority of the doweled-ferrule, while acknowl- 

 edging that the simple-ferrule may be employed in trout- 

 rods without the certain disaster which they originally in- 

 sisted nmst attend its use. 



But last winter when I announced to some of my angling- 

 friends, particularly those in the trade, that I proposed to 

 make a salmon-rod and unite its several joints with simple- 

 ferrules, it was Ihe old story over again. It might answer 

 in a trout-rod, but under the severer strain of a salmon-rod 

 such ferrules would surely split, or bend, or throw apart, 

 and the first salmon struck would I'educe my rod to a wreck 

 and plunge me in that slough of despond into which the 

 angler always sinks when he encounters such a disaater. 



My old argument, that I had used this form of ferrule for 

 more than ten successive years in the heavy trout-fishing of 

 Maine without the slightest accident, and that therefore any 

 failure which might be cited against it must necessarily be 

 due to faulty workmanship rather than error in principle of 

 construction, was no longer available. As far as I knew a 

 salmon-rod had never been so joined. Thus I could but 

 answer theory with theory, and with the usual result: "A 

 man convinced against his" will, is of the same opinion still." 



Pursuant to the idea that it is the duty of every angler to 

 publish for the benefit of the fraternity whatever he believes 

 to be new and advantageous, I now propose to give an ac- 

 count of the result which attended the use of this rod. 



But first permit me for the benefit of the many who have 

 joined the ranks of your subscribers since the subject was 

 agitated in your columns, to define what I mean by the term 

 "simplef crmle. " 



A metal tube is soldered together in the usual manner. In- 

 side of this tube a polished steel mandrel is inserted, and 

 with the mandrel still within the tube, it is drawn through a 

 polished hole in a steel plate. Thus the inside diameter of 

 the tube is reduced to the diameter of the steel mandrel, while 

 its outer diameter is brought down to the size ol the hole in 

 the steel plate. The tube is thus lengthened and made 

 smaller, the bore becomes cylindrical and smooth, and the 

 metal is conden.sed and stiffened. Tubing so made — "drawn 

 inside and out," as it is termed in the trade— alone is fit for 

 our purpose, and when I speak or have spoken of ".simple- 

 ferrules," ferrules made from .such tubing, or tubing in 

 which the metal has been condensed and the bore made cyl- 

 indrical by some analogous process, are intended. Having 

 obtained tubes thus made, and of the proper size, a piece of 

 the desired length is cut off from that which is to form the 

 outside or female ferrule, and its exterior isfini,shed up. The 

 interior, however, should not be touched, since it is import- 

 ant that the bore should remain a true cylinder, and since it 

 is almost impossible to grind out the inside of a tube without 

 enlarging it more at the mouth than within. The male or 

 inside ferrule is then made by so finishing off the outside of 

 a piece of tubing of smaller size, that it will enter the outside 

 ferrule to such a depth that when the ferrules are in position 

 and the rod joined, the neighboring ends of the .several joints 

 will be almost or quite in contact with one another. If the 

 male ferrule fits its whole length, as it should, it will be un- 

 necessary to leave any margin of insertion for wear. 



These two pieces oi" plain tubing, so made and so fitted, 

 constitute what I designate as the "simple-ferrule." 



Should the reader infer from the length of the preceding 

 description that the process therein described is diflicult or 

 tedious, he would be in error. Having procured the tubing 

 from a manufacturer of that article I can easily with the aid 

 of a lathe fit and finish the ferrules for a butt, two middle- 

 joints, and three tijis inside of an hour; and I am but an 

 amateur without mechanical training. 



The salmon-rod in question was fifteen and one-half feet 

 long, and in three joints of equal length. The longest fer- 

 rule, that uniting the butt and middle joint, was three and 

 one-half inches long, and all the ferrules were fitted in ac- 

 cordance with the principles before set forth. No device 

 whatever was used to prevent the joints throwing apart, ex- 

 cept the natural cohesion due to the fitting of the ferrules one 

 within the other. The ferrules were at all times kept well 

 greased to facilitate ultimate separation as is my practice, 

 while the metal of which they were composed was in itself 

 an experiment as far as this use of it was concerned, and 

 was found so inferior to German-silver or even good brass 

 in stiffness, that it was not without hesitation and doubt 

 that I used it at all. 



With this rod so united, I took twenty-five salmon. The 

 largest weighed thirty-two pounds, and was gaffed only after 

 a struggle lasting one hour and fifty minutes. One fish of 

 twenty-six pounds was taken after a fight of one hour and 

 fifteen minutes, which was hooked in the side about three 

 inches back of the gill. One fish which I thought would 

 weigh nearly if not quite forty pounds, was h)st after one 

 hour and thirty minutes play. 1 brought it in to the bank, 

 but at the approach of the gaffer it rallied and made a sharp 

 run of some sixty or seventy yards. I followed it down 

 stream, and had gradually worked it in again until it was 

 about thirty or forty feet distant. It was then a very sick 

 fish, frequently rolling upon its side, as it came in with 

 little or no resistance except what came from the friction 

 of the water. Then the last shred of skin which held the 

 hook gave way, and it escaped. These are the times that try 

 men's souls — as well as their morals. 



I lost another fish which 1 thought still larger. We had 

 had it hot and heavy for thirty minutes, and I had worked 

 him in quite near the bank, when down came an island of 

 floating logs. At this inopportune moment the salmon 

 started for the opposite shore at race horse speed, passing 

 just below the floating logs in his course. I thrust my rod 

 under water nearly half its length in the hope that the ob- 

 struction might thus pass over the Vme-. But when one hun^ 

 dred and ten yards were out something fouled it, and a 

 leader tested to eight pounds parted and the flsb escaped. 



Of the whole lot of twenty^five flsh actually reduced to 

 possession, the majority wer'e of twenty pounds or over, 

 besides others not mentioned above which were lost after a 

 contest of greater or less duration. These fish were all 

 "fresh-run," and were taken about four miles above tide- 

 water. When I have used the term "fish," salmon are to be 

 understood in every instance. Indeed nothing else is con- 

 sidered worthy of that name in a salmon stream. 



This, it seems to me, is a pretty fair test of the simple-fer- 

 rale. If its principle of construction Is wrong— If such a 

 ferrule will split, or bend, or throw apart, as claimed by 

 its opponents, these defects, or some of them, should cer- 

 tainly have made themselves manifest. 



Such was not the case. These ferrules were as perfect in 

 every respect when I packed my rod to return home, as when 

 I took them from the lathe and first put them on the rod; 

 and though no device whatever of any description waa used 

 to prevent them from throwing apart, aside from the cohesion 

 due to their fit., not one of them ever started. Indeed 1 

 might add that within a week after my return, and without 

 alteration or repair, I loaned this rod to a friend who was 

 anxious to try his luck with salmon at the .same placcj and 

 who, I hope. Is at the moment of this writing, struggling 

 with a forty- pounder. 



"The proof of the pudding is in the eating." 



filBKEY P. Wiitts. 



NKw York, Aug. 8-, 1885. 



FOUR "BOVS" ON A FROLIC. 



THESiE boys were of rather ancient cast, perhaps, but, 

 after nearly sixteen years of separation, they were again 

 united and bound for a good time. If such was to be had, 

 fishing and "roughing It" for an outing on the historic shores 

 of Bristol Bay. 



The Engineer had been for many years more familiar with 

 the sand flats, bars and winds of the Missouri Valley than 

 with the haunts of civilization and the smell of salt water. 

 The Horse Marine had been in all of the Slates and Territo- 

 lies west of the Mis.«lsslppl on the hurricane deck of a cavalry 

 horse, looking for "Poor Lo" In his native haunts, and 

 gradually becoming impregnated with alkali and the flavor 

 of sage. The Wanderer had been in many lands and many 

 climes, but more recently wrestling with the Indian in his 

 native wilds, 'raid the snows and cold of a Dakota winter-. 

 The last of the band, the Lawyer, had stayed at home and 

 cultivated his brain, his heard and the legal profession; tb 

 say nothing of the fine wife and baby boy that welcomed 

 him at home. But we four Wete all together oface tnore oh 

 the old statnping groimd;, and the progratntoe was fun and 

 lots of it. 



tHiring the many years that we had been separated and, 

 alas, all grown older, the shores of Narragansett Bay had 

 seen many changes. Where once was lonely beach or silent 

 grove are now summer residences ol greater or less pretentious, 

 crowded in the summer time with gay parties of new comers, 

 seeking and finding health and pleasure in their release from 

 city life and the confining routine of business or society. 

 Where once the Horse Marine and a party of chums used to 

 bake the festive clam weekly on the school holiday, now 

 stands a lof ly lighthouse, and so each and every pleasant 

 spot has been occupied in one way or another by cottage, 

 villa, camp or hotel. The adjacent waters of Bristol Bay 

 are similarly, if not quite so thickly occupied. Here and 

 there, however, clo.se under the shadow of Mount Hope, are 

 some new places of modest mien, filled from the beginning 

 to the end of the season with party after party of pleasure 

 seekers. No more beautiful spots are to be found that these 

 cosy cottages on both these sheets of water, and no more 

 pleasant place to sad, to row, to fish, swim, bathe, in short, 

 to have a good time generally. 



It was, therefore, v, Ith highest hopes, all to be fully real- 

 ized in the end, that we four packed our duffle and swung 

 ourselves up on to the seats behind a gay and festive nag for 

 our drive to our quarters at the Narrow. The wants of the 

 Inner and outer man had all been attended to ; fish poles lay 

 snugly in their cases beneath the seats, and grub--to speak 

 of It In the Western vernacular— was represented by tie 

 solid comforts more than by the choice viands. The Wan- 

 derer held the ribbons and had hai-d work to keep order and 

 decorum among the boys even while driving tliroughthe city. 

 Not that any boisterous or rowdy behavior -was indulged in, 

 but were we not boys once more"? And did not boyish capers, 

 laughter, jest and song come as natural as though we were 

 not one day over sixteen. Instead of being— 1 dare not say 

 how old? But after we had left the city, and were alone on 

 the country road, all restraint was put off and the fun grew 

 fast and furious as we talked and laughed, smoked and sang, 

 and enjoyed ourselves as only those who are free as a boy 

 once again can. The Lawyer's blouse pocket made a con- 

 venient receptacle for peach stones, cigar stump,s and burnt 

 matches, too; the meanwhde he way bJLssfuUy ignorant that 

 he was being loaded up, to discover it. and unload later with 

 a string of mild expletives. 



Our road lay through pleasant places; now over a hill giv- 

 ing us a fair view of the smlhng waters of the bay, dotted 

 here and there with the sails of pleasure craft; now through 

 a wood fragrant with the breath of summer ; now by some 

 venerable farmhouse with its orchards and gardens of dear 

 old-fashioned flowers; now through some pleasant village, 

 and at last down a long hill to our destination. The whole 

 road, or nearly all, would have been practicable for the 

 "wheel," and would well repay any wheelman for his ride. 



To open the house — a summer cottage of .simplest and 

 plainest form— to unpack, to snatch a hasty lunch and hurry 

 away for a fish was but the work of a moment, and .soon we 

 were launching our boat and gently dancing over the smiling 

 waves. What a contrast was this to what we had all been, 

 used to for months, yes, rather for years. The Lawyer was 

 the only one to whom it was familiar from any late experi- 

 ence, and he was enthusiast enough, fisherman and lover of 

 outdoor hfe to fully appreciate it, while the rest of us surely 

 could not get our fill breathing In the balmy breezes flavored 

 by ocean's breath. 



The Wanderer had known this spot In years gone by, and 

 now freshened his recollection of ranges, points, rocks, etc., 

 to place U8 QXL the most favorable fishing grounds, and after 



