70 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[AcG, 20, 1885. 



ground, but I shall ever remember the fine sport it gave me 

 and my chum, and the many incidents, laughable and other- 

 wise, which happened to us ia our vigils. By the way, it is 

 strange that there are so very few contributions to the fishing 

 lore Irom our salt-water fishermen. Witli them, too. It is 

 not all of fishing to fish. I am really afraid that the wrapt 

 contemplation of the staliouary float, or the dreamy expec- 

 tation of a bite on the handline. brings them too' near to 

 Nirvana. Piscator. 



The Devil Fish.— Galveston, Aug. 1.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: In last week's issue of your valuable paper there 

 appeared an article relating to the monster devil tish seen off 

 the beach here; allow me to add that one of them has been 

 captured and is now on exhibition at the Beach Hotel Muse- 

 um. Below I write a description of the fish as taken from 

 a reliable paper of this place: "The fish is unquestionably 

 what is technically known as the Gephaloptera mmpyruti, or 

 devil fish, a cartilaginous fish of the ray family. This is 

 boi-ne out by a careful and critical examination made and a 

 careful comparison with the best authority. Many are so 

 thoroughly imbued with the idea of the Octopus as described 

 by Victor Hugo in Ms 'Toilers of the Deep,' as being a spe 

 cies of the so-called devil fish, that they cannot, in theii 

 minds, disconnect anything called a devil fish from the hide 

 ous arms or tentacles' that the Octopus, couimonly called the 

 cuttle fish, is known to possess, and which Victor Hugo so 

 gi-aphically describes as the horrible appendages of the devil 

 fish. Victor Hugo's fish is a fictitious monster, the descrip- 

 tion of which applies to no specie.^ of the devil fish, butmost 

 resembles the Octopus or cuttlefish. The fish now in captiv- 

 ity fits exactly the description given the Ceplmloptera mm- 

 pt/rus, or devil fish, by the best authorities in natural history. 

 Jtsheadis truncated in front, and provided on each side 

 with a pointed wing-like proi (:"^s, separate from the pectoral 

 fins, and seemingly capable oC iiidepeudeut motion. These 

 wings or horns provided on either side of the head are two 

 feet two inches in length. The i^ectorals or fin-like appen- 

 dages on either side of the fish are of great breadth, triangu 

 lar in shape, resembling wings, making the transverse 

 diametei of the fish greater than the longitudinal, with tail 

 included. These pectorals from tip to tip measure sixteen 

 feet foui- inches, while the body proper is only eight feet in 

 length, and the tail about three and a half or four feet. The 

 jaws are at the end of head, the lower the more advanced, 

 •and the transverse diameter of the mouth measures two feet 

 ten inches. The eyes arc small and latei'al, resembling the 

 eyes of an elephant, and are located on either outer sides of 

 the protudal wings or frontal horns, and are consequently 

 about three feet apart. The tail is elongated like a whip 

 lash, armed near the root with a prominently serrated spinal 

 protuberance. The teeth are small, nurnerous, flat and 

 arranged in many rows. The mouth when opened could 

 easily accommodate a flour barrel. The nostrils are small 

 and "are located near the angles of the mouth." — Redbreast. 



That Fishino Problem. — Editor Forest aiid Stream: 

 Concerning Mr. Ira Wood's answer to the "fishing problem," 

 I am thankful for his communication, but it is the very 

 xhing which we tried. The logs went into the mud, and 1, 

 stepping on them, followed suit up to my hips, and was glad 

 to get hold of my companion's outstretched axe, on the other 

 end of which he performed a Herculean tug of war to get 

 me on terra firma. It is not honest, consistent mud, but a 

 sort of soft ooze. My object in the question was to find out 

 if there is a serviceatile, light, portable raft (in the shape of 

 some material to be inflated) in the market, or the best way 

 to construct one. 1 should think it would find a good sale, 

 because there are a great many lakes in the North Woods 

 and other resorts where it is impossible to bring a boat in, 

 and the rafts made on the s|iot are at the best but unwieldy, 

 cumbersome makeshifts, which in moving around scare all 

 well-educated trout to the fuithest corners. My idea of a 

 proper portable raft is to have about three inflatable bags of 

 thin rubber, which ought not to weigh over fifteen pounds, 

 and having enough buoj^ancy to carry one man. The sides 

 and ends to be provided with stout lacings to fasten their 

 poles to, which will be covered with a layer of cork, making 

 a light, safe, and easily transported contrivance to conquer 

 all sorts of still waters, and will even slide on top of the 

 treacherous ooze. How handy would such a raft be to out- 

 ers, who thus can travel from one lake to the other in quest 

 of fish without lugging a boat along. — Piscator. 



Where Have the Weakfish Gone? — New York, Aug. 

 11,— Editor Poorest (in d Stream: Since the weakfish seem to 

 have given us the go-by tliis season, I, one of the many w"ho 

 have sought for them m vain, am only left the consolation of 

 theorizing why it is so. But first, is it so? I have met 

 several parties by whom I have been told that the fish were 

 there, but w^ould not take any bait. This I doubt, for if 

 there the netters would haul them in, and the market price, 

 twelve cents a pound against six cents in '84, shows that 

 they are not there. We all know that weakfish visit our 

 shores to spawn and that all fish require waters of certain 

 temperature for this function. Kockaway, Long Branch, 

 etc., report the surf this year unusually warm, and as the 

 prevailing winds so far this season have been brisk from the 

 ti. E., it is clear that the surface and warm waters of the 

 Gulf Stream have been driven inshore, and this is what keeps 

 the tish away. Accepting this conclusion. Where have th&j 

 gone? Let us have reports from our more northern coasts. 

 At present .Jamaica Bay seems full of sandporgies, and large 

 strings were taken yesterday around the "Pot." Even the 

 sea bass seem to have abandoned the poor knights of the 

 angl e . — Brooklynite. 



DoBSONs.— Binghamton, N. Y. — Seeing in Forest akd 

 Stream an inquiry about dobsons I send you my manner 

 of catching and keeping them. I first made me a frame 

 about two feet square and covered it with wire cloth, and 

 stretch this across the current. With a hoe I wade into the 

 riflia on our river, when the stones are raked over, the dob- 

 sons are exposed and drift down with the current, where 

 they strike the screen. They fasten their claws in it and 

 will hang there until I pick them ofl:. To keep them I pro- 

 vide myself with a large earthen jar, cover the bottom with 

 sand and gravel, put them in it and partially fill with grass. 

 The grass must be changed every day and wet thoroughly. 

 Another way in which I kept them was to have a watertight 

 box put in my boat, the bottom being bored full of holes. The 

 boat wa,s al-ways in the water, and so they had fresh water 

 and kept very well. I kept a few large stones in the box for 

 them to crawl under. But I prefer the other way. I have 

 kept them for two or three weeks at a time, and when taken 

 out they were very lively,— D. T. G. 



Rainbow Trout.— Philadelphia, Aug. 18. -There is con- 

 siderable agitation in regard to the matter of stocking the 

 Wissahickon Creek, which runs through a portion of Fair- 

 mount Park, with California trout. Mr. William M. Runkel 

 of this city whom, it appears, is especially interested in this 

 project, has made application for a supply of these fish and 

 has a reply from Prof. Baird to the effect'that if application 

 is made through some member of the Senate or House by 

 the Park Commission, it will receive prompt attention 

 While the Wissahickon Creek, from its mouth to Indian 

 Rock, is made up of spring water and could be well pro- 

 tected by the park guard until the fish propagated, unless 

 every mill on the course of the stream be compelled to cease 

 emptying their refuse dye stuff into the creek and the dams 

 on Its com-se be demolished, we doubt if it would be worth 

 while stocking it. It is stated, hswever, that all these man- 

 ufactories have been forced to stop and the most prominent 

 dams taken down. If such is the fact we say go ahead, the 

 experiment is worth trying. Would not the' rock bass be a 

 better fish, and would they not furnish fully as much sport 

 to the class of anglers that would seek such waters?— Homo 



How to Catch Crawfish.— St. Joseph, Mo., Aug, 8.— 

 In your Forest and Stream of July 33 Mr. G. H. Morgan 

 gives "W. L. A." the correct method of catching crawfish. 

 On the Fourth of July, with four raises of my minnow net, 

 I had at least two hundred; but as every one does not have 

 one of our old-fashioned square minnow nets, I wiU give 

 another very simple aud effective way. Take a slight stick 

 about three feet long; attach to one end a string two feet 

 long; tie to end of string a piece of liver or meat about the 

 size of a man's fist. Throw this in the water, raise gentl}-, 

 holding a landing net underneath, and you will have the 

 liver or meat covered with the crawfish, which upon finding 

 themselves out of water fall into the net, I also give my 

 method of cooking them. Into a pot of boiling water put a 

 quart of coase salt, stir well, then put in a bucketful of the 

 crawfish and let them cook ten minutes; takeout, remove 

 the shell from the tail, and you have a morsel equal to lob- 

 ster or shrimp. Does not Dl( kens tell us in "David Copper- 

 field" that Dame Peggotty was a dealer in "lobsters, crabs 

 and crawfish"?— Jay. 



The Big Rangeley Trout.— Mr. Geo. Shepard Page 

 recently sent his ten-pound Rangeley trout to a Wa.shington 

 taxidermist for repairs, and tlie taxidermist, Mr. F. 8. Web- 

 ster, explains how he has restoreil it: "When this trotit was 

 caught the art of taxidermy was called stuffing. This sub- 

 ject had been stuffed quite as well as was the rule in those 

 days, no doubt; but still it was stuffed, not mounted. It 

 came down to me in a very dilapidated condition. It had 

 lost the under jaw, its tail and most of its fins, and a good 

 deal of the skin on the under portion of the body had been 

 torn. You see here I have put on that jaw with the tongue 

 and eyes, and I might say the entire head. The tail is mine, 

 and the fins arc mine, and I think you will admit they are 

 just as good and natural as ever the fish's own were. Then, 

 you see, I have patched up the belly and painted it aU over, 

 and would you know now that ever a piece of the skin had 

 been broken?" 



The Delaware Bay Troubles. — Attorney General 

 Stockton announces that the difficulties relatingto the fishing 

 grounds in the Delaware Bay have been adjusted, and that 

 hereafter New Jersey fishermen will not be molested by the 

 authorities of the State of Delaware jf they do not trespass 

 beyond the boundary line. The fishery war between the 

 States has been on the carpet for more than twenty years 

 simply because no one knew where the line dividing Dela- 

 ware and New Jersey was. The xltlorney Generals of both 

 States have agreed upon its establishment from the mouth of 

 the Cohansey Creek due west to Bombay Hook, eleven miles 

 below New Castle. 



Fort Custer, Montana. Aug. i. — Some nice trout {Salmo 

 purpuratus) are brought in occasionally from the Big Horn 

 Mountains, some of them weighing as much as three pounds. 

 Of course, after having been at Klamath, Oregon, such fish 

 look small, but for this country they are of pretty good size. 

 They are much lighter colored and a handsomer-looking 

 fish than the Western specimens of the same species. We 

 have had our share of the hot weather also, mercury climb- 

 ing about 100° in the .shade several days in succession.— B. 



Peacock Harl — In our answers to correspondents will 

 be found a reference to this word which has somehow been 

 twisted into "heii," both in this country and in England. 

 Harl is defined by Webster to be a filamentous substance 

 especially of flax or hemp, while "herl" does not appear at 

 all. Here lies a chance for research into the authorities, 

 which will no doubt bring conflicting opinions, and will 

 also serve a good purpose in stimulating anglers to brush the 

 dust off volumes which have not been opened in years. 



Tarron in New Jersey Waters.— Seabright, N. J . 

 Aug. 12. — A flue specimen of the tarpon, Megalops thriswi- 

 des, was taken in a bluefish seine by fishermen near here yes- 

 terday. The fish measured five feet nine inches and weighed 

 120 pounds. It is very rarely that one is caught on this 

 coast, but several have been taken within the past ten years 

 between Cape May and Fire Island. The tarpon always 

 creates a sensation when captured in om- northern waters, 

 for few of our fishermen have ever seen one. — 3. B. 



Staten Island.— Many hundred anglers go down to 

 Staten Island every Sunday to seek the haunts of the weak- 

 fish, sheepshead, sea bass and bluefish. The Staten Island 

 Railway recently put on a special train to carry fishermen 

 down the shore. The result is that every Saturday night a 

 heavy train of from six to ten coaches, all crowded, leaves 

 the boat landing at Stapleton, This season has been a re- 

 markably poor one for fishing. Generally weakfish are 

 plentiful from July 1 until September 15. 



Philadelphia, Aug. 15. — The rivers are not clear enough 

 yet for good bass fishing. Many young rock or striped bass 

 are being taken at the wharves along our city front, where 

 the sturgeon boats unload, and where these fish are skinned 

 and dressed; the roe is used for bait. The rock run from 

 eight to twelve inches in length. — Homo. 



Bartlbtt's has been for more than thirty years one of the 

 favorite resorts of Adirondack visitors, and now that the 

 property is for sale, hundreds of anglers will cherish a hope 

 that the old name may be preserved. In oui- advertising 

 columns will be found a card announcing that the house is 

 to be sold. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 tyig Co, 



THE NEW YORK OYSTER COMMISSION.-Fish Com- 

 missioner E. G. Blackford, in charge of the oyster investiga- 

 tion of the State of New York, aud his assistant, Pi^of. H J 

 Rice, have been at Peconic Bay, east end of Long Island, part 

 of this week in the 0. S. Fish Commission steamer Lookout. 

 The Lookout has been placed temporarily at their disposal for 

 the purpose of examining the planted and natural oyster beds 

 m the waters of the .State. They will make a number of short 

 trips to those m the kills near Staten Island and to the natui-al 

 bed in tJae Hudson between Yonkers and Haverstraw. A 

 spec^l inquiry will be made to determme whether the beds in 

 the. Kills are being injured by the refuse from the oil works 

 which there abound. Two weeks or more will be occupied in 

 these researches. Dredgings will be made and records kept of 

 tne general condition of the bottom. Specimens of the ovsters 

 taken at each haul will be preserved. The kinds of enemies 

 of the oysters will also be noted, as weU as their number, a,nd 

 all soundings made will be recorded. 



Address all coinmunicdtions to the Forest and Hiream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



FIXTURES. 



B.TflNCH SHOWS. 



Sept. 22, 2.3, 24 and 2.1.— Dog: Show of the Milwaukee Exposition As- 

 sociation. .John D. Olcott, Superintendent, Milwaukee, VVls. 



Sept. ag, 30 and Get. 1, 2.— Third Aunual Dog Show of the Soutbeiu 

 Ohio Fair Association. H. Anderson, Secretary, Dayton, 



Sept. 39, .30 and Oct. L— Twelfth Dos Show of the Western Penn- 

 sylvania Poultry Society, PitfsburRh, P.i. C. B. Elben, Secretary. 



Oct. 6, 7. 8 oij(i 9.- yeeond Annual Dor Show of the Philadelphia 

 Kennel Clnb, in conjunction with the Penn.sylvania State Agricultural 

 Society. K. Comfort, Seeretiu-y, Philadelphia. Pa. 



Oct. (j, 7, 8 and 9.— FonrtJi Animal Dog Sbow of the Danbury Agri- 

 cultural Society. S. E. Hawley. Seeietarv, Dauliiiry, Conn. " 



Oct. V, 8 aud y.— DoK Show of the York County Agricultural Soci- 

 ety. Entries close Sept. 2S. A. 0. ICrueger, Superintendent, Wrights- 

 vihe, Pa. 



FIJLLD TRIALS. 



Nov 0.- Second Aunual Field Trials of the Fi.sher's Island Club, for 

 members only. Max Wenzel, Secretary. Hobokon, N. .J. 



Nov. 9.— First Annual Trials of the Vvesteru Field Trials Associa- 

 tion, at Abilene, Kan. Entries close Oct. 15. A. A. Whipple, Secre- 

 tary, Kansas City, Mo. 



J^ov. 10, 1885.— Seventh Annual Field Trials of the Eastern Field 

 Trials Club, High Point, N. C. Entries for Derby close May 1. W. 

 A. Coster, Secretary, Flatbush, L. I. 



Dec. 7.— Seventh Annual Field Trials of the National Field Trials 

 Club, Grand Junction, Tenn. Entries for Derby close Aijril 1. B. M. 

 Stephenson, La Grange, Tenn., Secretary. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 

 rpHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration of 

 pedigrees, etc. (with prize lists of all shows and trials), is pub- 

 lished every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should be in early. 

 Entry blanks sent on receipt of stamped and addressed envelope. 

 Registration fee (,50 cents) must accompany each entry. No entries 

 inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription $l..oO. Address 

 "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2832, New York. Number 

 of entries already printed 2588. 



THE AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB. 



Editor Forest and Streayn: _ 



A great deal has been said in regard to the standard com- 

 mittees appointed at the last meeting of the A. K. C , and it 

 seems to me that there is a general mis undei-stan ding by the 

 public as to the duties of these committees, although I can find 

 no difference of opinion among the Executive Committee that 

 were present at Philadelphia, they agreeing with me perfectly. 

 The vote as passed is recorded as follows: 



Voted,, That a committee of three be appointed on each 

 breed of dogs to report a standard for judging the same at a 

 meeting of the Executive Committee to be held in October. 



Upon the motion being made, Mr. Wade immediately asked 

 the president wliethei- these committees were to form a stand- 

 ard from their own ideas or were to mform themselves as to 

 the opinions of the prominent breeders and exhibitors, and his 

 answer was, "That that was just what we wanted, the opin- 

 ions of the different breeders," eto. The intentions of those of 

 the Executive Committee who expressed any views on the sub- 

 ject were, that these committees were to f oi-mulate a standard 

 from the ideas of the breeders, etc., and report to the Execu- 

 tive Committee. The standards, as reported, could be adopted 

 or not at the discretion of the Executive Committee. I, for 

 one, would most certamly object strongly to the adoption of 

 any standard that did not conform to the ideas of ix majority 

 of ' breeders and exhibitors. And, by the way, would it not 

 be a good idea to stop all this noise aud fuss until it is seen 

 what standards are reported and what the A. K. C. does with 

 them? I think it is safe to say that nothing wlU be done to 

 harm the interests of those interested. 



I cannot see why the committees, as appomted, ai-e not com- 

 petent to do the duties assigned them as long as they follow 

 their instructions. Individual attacks have been made to such 

 an extent that a large number have refused to act; and so, 

 many of the committees are '"bob-tailed." 



I have received several letters from members of committees, 

 asking if they might report Stonehenge's standard instead of 

 making up a new one. At the risk of being classed as a ' 'con- 

 structor" f replied that if upon investigation they fotmd that 

 the breeders, etc., wanted Stonehenge I should most certainly 

 report it, and I can see no reason w^hy they are not at liberty 

 to do so in any case if they choose. I'hey were instructed to 

 report a standard, not necessarily a new one. I "kick" as an 

 exhibitor to changing the setter standard from Stonehenge, 

 but I do want judges to have a standard that they miist 

 adhere to and not a different standard for each judge as the 

 aAvards in the past have proved to be the case. I behave tUat 

 the A. K. C. should adopt standards and have dogs judged by 

 them. The question has been asked, Is the A. K. C. to hve or 

 die? I think my friend Wade asked the question, but 1 know 

 he did not mean it, as that would show, or, at least, indicate 

 that he believed his fellow workers in the good cause were 

 getting tired, and he is too good a tighter to leave the field 

 until right comes to the front. The talk of drawing out of the 

 A. K. C. is all wrong, as the A. K. C. is needed, and the only 

 way to make a success of it is to pull together and fight for 

 the right. 



Mistakes have been made, and I have yet to see a new asso- 

 ciation of any kind that is perfect; but Ave must stay and try 

 and win the confidence and respect of the pubhc, and when 

 that is done we will be amply repaid for the worry and 

 trouble we are now going through. We certainly gain noth- 

 ing by staying away from the meetings. The trouble has 

 been heretofore that but few of the working clubs have been 

 represented at the most important meetings, and "King 

 Proxy" has had full sway. And whose fault was that? Blame 

 those who stayed at home ; aud they are the ones that talk of 

 witndrawing. But the day of the proxy has passed. Under 

 the present lodes only one proxv is allowed to any one member 

 of the executive committee. There are those who are domg 

 theu- utmost to ruin the A, K. C. upon purely personal gi-ounds 



