286 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



fNov. 3, 1887. 



An Electric Boat fob Pucks.— Alameda, Cal., Oct. 

 14. — A friend of mine, somewhat of a sportsman and 

 somewhat of an electrician, is building an electric motor 

 duck boat, in which he proposes to hunt ducks the coming 

 season. His intention is to propel the boat by a small 

 screw propeller jutting outward and slightly downward 

 from behind, while a current sufficient to run the motor 

 is supplied by a series of batteries located in the bow, the 

 wires connecting battery and motor running along under 

 the gunwale of the boat out of sight. The appliance for 

 starting and stopping the motor arc of his own invention. 

 As every sportsman is aware great advantage would be 

 gained in a boat of this description, especially when 

 getting up to a large flock of ducks, the great drawback 

 heretofore being the noise of the oars even when muffled; 

 and as all this is obviated in his scheme he hopes to be 

 able to get up to the game. Later on he intends building 

 larger boats for bay excursions and fishing. — S. G. McB. 



Hyde Park, N. Y., Oct. 14.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: I have been out several times with poor luck in 

 woodcock. Country very wet, and birds scattered. Went 

 out on a tramp yesterday and got nothing, my fine dog 

 having taken it into his head to decamp to the happy 

 hunting grounds, and the substitute not amounting to 

 much. A man went out the same day over ground not a 

 mile fi-om me and killed 2 partridges and 16 woodcock. 

 He wounded a woodcock, and a hawk flew down, grabbed 

 it, and went away. Birds are beginning to move. — Capt. 

 Clayton. 



That there are email left in Augusta county, Va., is 

 shown by the following note from a friend to Mr. E. S. 

 Young, Division Ticket Agent of the Northern Central 

 Railway Co., at Baltimore: "Staunton, Ya., Oct. 18. — 

 Won't you be able to get up this season? You will find 

 game quite plenty. Bhodes killed a fine buck at the Gap 

 last Friday. I brought in 95 quail last Saturday, and won 

 the silver cup given by our District Fair Association with 

 a score of 47 out of a possible 50. Match shot to-day at 2 



P. M.— W. F. SUMMERSEN." 



Connecticut Game. — Meriden, Conn., Oct. 31. — Editor 

 Forest and Stream: I am more than pleased to read that 

 such men and true sportsmen as Mr. A. C. Collins of Hart- 

 ford, who expressed his sentiments through the columns 

 of your paper recently, are waking up to the violations of 

 our game law. I am happy to learn that it is doing great 

 good for the bird cause, and it is only by the united efforts 

 of such men that this illegal traffic can be stopped. — J. F. 

 Ives. 



hu md Miver 



THE MAINE JIGGING CASE. 



ON the 20th of last September we received from a cor- 

 respondent at Camp Bemis, Rangeley Lakes, Maine, 

 a letter telling us that trout were being jigged at the 

 Upper Dam. "Jigging or hooking a fish on the outside," 

 wrote our informant, "is now openly practiced by men 

 who are old enough to be setting a better example for the 

 many young men and sportsmen now visiting this well- 

 known resort." 



The next week, on Sept. 27, we had an interview with 

 a gentleman who had just returned from the Upper Dam. 

 He confirmed the statements of the Camp Bemis corre- 

 spondent, and told us that he had personally witnessed 

 the jigging of trout at the Upper Dam. He gave us the 

 names of Mr. Mark Hollingsworth, of Boston, and Mr. T. 

 B. Stewart, of New York, as men whom he had there seen 

 engaged in this mode of taking fish. 



The same day we received a copy of the Boston Herald 

 reporting that the two individuals mentioned had for this 

 offense "agreed to plead guilty before a trial justice at 

 Andover, and they paid $25 and $2S respectively." 



When information of such a nature comes to a journal 

 professedly concerned in the correction of abuses and the 

 advancement of angling interests, there is but one 

 course of duty for it to pursue. It may not shrink from 

 exposing the evil and by exposure and censure striving 

 to reform it. 



Being satisfied of the entire good faith of our inform- 

 ants, one of them an eye-witness of the fishing, we printed 

 in our issue of Sept. 29 the newspaper report, and made 

 comment on the case in our editorial columns, using the 

 names of Messrs. Hollingsworth and Stewart. Neither 

 one of the gentlemen implicated was personally known 

 by us. Reference to the programme of the last fly-cast- 

 ing tournament of the National Rod and Reel Association 

 showed that Mr. Stewart was one of the vice-presidents 

 of that society of anglers, and in consideration of this 

 fact his reported participation in the practice of trout 

 jigging seemed to call for no uncertain censure. From 

 the words of indorsement which have come to us since 

 the publication of our remarks, we have reason to be- 

 lieve that few anglers who have a regard for legitimate 

 angling methods would dissent from what was said- 

 providing, of course, that the facts were as stated. 



The following day Mr. Stewart called at this office to 

 say that so far as Mr. Hollingsworth and himself were 

 concerned, the charge of jigging was groundless; and he 

 expressed himself as deeply aggrieved by the publication. 

 He was invited to make such a disclaimer as he might 

 see fit in the Forest and Stream; and accordingly, on 

 Oct. 5, he brought to us a written statement for publica- 

 tion. This was printed the next day. In it he said: 



In your issue of Sept. 28 there appeared an editorial headed 

 "They -Ugged Them," winch unjustly reflects upon the good names 

 of Mark Hollingsworth, a prosperous and honored citizen of Bos- 

 ton, and myself. It is founded upon a clipping from the Boston 

 Herald, which, in turn, is based upon the statements of its Maine 

 correspondent; so, it is a long arm that reaches the real author of 

 the libel. 



The gist of the charge is that we were guilty of taking fish at 

 the Upper Dam in a manner prohibited by law and disgraceful to 

 a sportsman; that we were arrested by the fish warden, taken be- 

 fore a justice and fined. I pronounce the charge absolutely 

 false. We were not arrested' did not go before a magistrate, and 

 were not fined; and, above all, w© were not guilty of "jigging." 



I never saw a "jigger." and never called in the "silent-doctor," 

 but from your description I infer it can only be useful in quiet 

 waters and shallow streams; our fishing ground was the rapid and 

 turbulent waters of the dam. 



****** 



r Of the nine or ten fish in our possession three were scarred with 

 the hook, and on this simple fact the warden claimed that we 

 were liable to prosecution under the law of that State. Of course, 

 every fisherman knows, and as we stated to the warden, you are 



liable to. bring up a scarred fish, scarred by other fishermen and 

 lost, an overy-day and common occurrence. 



The warden was obdurate, but suggested that twenty-five dol- 

 lars be deposited with him. I refused until advised to do so by a 

 gentleman present, of larger experience with fish wardens. My 

 adviser suggested that we would have to travel twenty to forty 

 miles to reach a place where we, strangers, would be unable to 

 give bonds. So we deposited with the warden, but under protest, 

 twenty-five dollars, on condition that he would go with us, at our 

 expense, to the nearest magistrate and enter a complaint against 

 us. 1 gave him the money and he gave me the following receipt: 



Urpp Dam Camp, Sept. 20, lS87.-Received 25 dollars of T.B.Stewart for 

 violation of fishing. Received as a safety until he goes (Stuart goes) before 

 n magistrate and plead[s] guilty.— George D. Huntoon. 



Whoever the magistrate may be, please send to me and the part belonging 

 to you will be sent.— Geo. D. Huntoos, Warden, Rangeley. 



We then went to Andover, where the warden consulted with 

 the justice; what advice was given him we do not know; at all 

 events, though we strenuously insisted upon being arrested, he 

 refused to arrest us and refused to return to me the money. He 

 still has it and I have his receipt. 



* * * * » * 



The letter embodied this statement signed by Messrs. 

 Jno. R. Ramsey, H. C. Anthony and G. L. Cobb: 



We, the undersigned, were present with Messrs. T. B. Stewart, 

 of New J ork, and Mark Hollingsworth, of Boston, at the Upper 

 Dam, and saw them catch the trout alluded to In the Forest and 

 mh!5am of Septs as, 1888, and we certifv on our personal knowledge 

 that, these fish were taken in a legitimate manner, and that no fish 

 were taken in any other way. 



Modifications of this were also given, signed by Messrs, 

 Simeon Adams, Jno. S. Dowdeli, J. 0. Billings, D. B. 

 Hempstead, F. H. Chappell and F. A. Whitney, to the 

 effect that the writers had been with Messrs. Hollings- 

 worth and Stewart at the Hpper Dam, at the time alluded 

 to, had seen them angling in a legitimate manner, and 

 knew of no trout taken by jigging. 



Our comments on Mr. Stewart's letter, in the same issue, 

 Oct. 6, were as follows: 



Last week we took occasion to comment upon the capture of 

 trout at the Upper Dam Camp, Maine, by Messrs. T. B. Stewart, 

 of New York, and Mark Hollingsworth, of Boston. Our angling 

 columns to-day contain a communication from Mr. Stewart, ad- 

 vising us that the information upon which our unfavorable com- 

 ments were based was incorrect. Mr. Stewart states that the 

 trout alluded to were taken in a perfectly legitimate manner, and 

 that he never jigged any fish. If we have made a mistake in ac- 

 cepting the reports which have come to us in relation to this 

 matter, Mr. Stewart has manifestly been placed in a false position 

 by our criticisms, and his disclaimer of the conduct imputed to 

 him will be received with satisfaction by all friends of legitimate 

 angling methods. 



It must have been obvious to the most casual reader 

 that this brief paragraph was not to be taken as our final 

 disposition of the matter. Accusations of a grave nature 

 had been preferred against two well-known anglers, and 

 it was clearly the duty of the Forest and Stream either 

 to show that there had been reasonable ground for mak- 

 ing the charges, or, failing in this, to make such repara- 

 tion as might be made by a full and frank avowal of its 

 mistake. No other course would be consistent with our 

 own self-respect, or just to the paper, its readers, or the 

 parties implicated. We accordingly communicated with 

 those who were presumed to have knowledge of the 

 affair, and the statements received in reply to our letters 

 of inquiry are here printed. 



The miter of the Camp Bemis letter was Mr. Leonard 

 Atwood, of Philadelphia, a native of the Rangeley Lakes 

 region, who has fished those waters annually from boy- 



T asked a gentleman, while he was engaged in the same process of 

 taking trout at this same time (i. e., Sept. 15), if he was using the 

 silent-doctor, and he nodded his head in the affirmative. I saw 

 trout in a car anchored or fastened to the north pier, which bore 

 evidence of having been jigged. On Sept. 19 I saw a large trout in 

 a ear fastened to the same pier which bore unmistakable evidence 

 of a jig-hook, as the side of the trout not only showed the hook 

 mark, but chafing caused by the gut of the hook, which left a large 

 white chafe mark. 



I reported what I had seen Stewart and others do by writing to 

 George D. Huntoon, fish warden at Rangeley. I also caused a 

 letter to be sent to the Hon. H. O. Stanley, Commissioner of Fish 

 and Game. I also wrote, under date of' Sept. 16, to Forest and 

 Stream, stating in each case that fish were being unlawfully 

 taken at the Upper Dam. I did not use the name of Mr. Stewart 

 in my report at that time. On Sept. 19 I called personally on Mr. 

 Huntoon at Rangeley and stated to him what 1 had seen and re- 

 quested him to visit the Upper Dam and verify my statement. He 

 informed me that he would go the next morning and make an ex- 

 amination of the fish and get any further proof of my statement. 

 What transpired between the warden (Mr. Huntoon) and Mr. 

 Stewart I am not able to state, not being present, but I emphatic- 

 ally assert that T. B. Stewart, of New York, was engaged on the 

 afternoons of Sept. 15 and 16 in taking trout by jigging them in 

 the manner and place above described. Leonard Atwood. 



Personally appeared before me, the subscriber, a Notary Public for the 

 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, residing in Philadelphia, the above named 

 Leonard Atwood, who being duly affirmed according' to law did depose and 

 say that the facts contained in the above statement are just n ml l rue to tin- 

 best of his knowledge and belief. A. Howard Hitter, Notary Public. 



To his letter of Sept. 15 Mr. Atwood received this reply 

 from Warden Huntoon: 



RangeIjET, Sept. 18, 1887— Mr. Atwood— Dear Sir: In reply to 

 yours of the 15th, will say I had a letter from a friend saying there 

 were some parties who were jigging trout. I reported it to Stan- 

 ley; hoping to get a letter from him to-morrow in regard to the 

 matter. You very well know that it would be hard to catch them 

 if they think they were watched. But if you or any one else have 

 seen parties fishing in the manner you say. and will give me the 

 parties' names, I will attend to them surely with pleasure. I 

 wrote Stanley hoping he would send some one from Andover, as I 

 have Kennebago Stream, Cupsuptic Stream and South Bay, also 

 Rangeley Dam, to look after. But if I don't get word from Stan- 

 ley soon I shall be to the Dam. But if you can give me clue to 

 parties fishing illegal and the names, please do so. A warden gets 

 cursed if he does his duty and if he does not. But if I see myself, 

 or if you give me names and proof, you may surely depend on my 

 looking after them. Yours very truly— Geo. D. Huntoon. 



The game warden, Geo. D. Huntoon, writes from 

 Rangeley, Me., under date of Oct. 15, relating the action 

 taken by him in the affair: 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



I received word at Rangeley that there was illegal fishing going 

 on at the Upper Dam, and the names of Mi-. T. B. SrewartjOf New 

 York; Mr. Mark Hollingsworth, of Boston, and Mi'. J, Hoyf, of 

 Lynn, Mass., were furnished me as the ones that were doing it. 

 1 took a man from Rangeley with me, David Haley, and went 

 there. 



On my arrival I found the three gentlemen before uamed, and 

 accused them of fishing illegally and having fish so taken in their 

 possession. Mr. Hoyt said he had no fish in his possession, as he 

 had sent them out. When I said to him that the law did not allow 

 that, he said that he gave them to a friend who was going out. 

 Mr. Stewart denied having any trout in hispossession. He said he 

 had given them to different parties. Mr. Hollingsworth admitted 

 that he had trout in the ice house, and went with' me there. Mr. 

 Stewart and William, the man who did the outside work about 

 the house, went along too. When we got to the ice house, Mr. 

 Hollingsworth told William to dig out the trout. This lie did, 

 digging them from the sawdust and passing them to me. I wiped 

 the sawdust from them and laid them on a plank. He dug out 

 four fish, and said that that was all there were. I then went to 

 digging and found four more, making eight in all. Three out of 

 the eight had plain hook marks on their sides. Two more had 

 marks in their back fins, which, I was very sure, had been made 

 by a hook, but I could not swear to it. They also had marks in 

 their mouths, which looked very much more as if they were made 

 with the blade of a jack-knife than with a hook. 



I proceeded to weigh the trout, thinking there was over 60lbs., 



The Upper Dam. 



From a photograph by E. R. Starbird. The gate or " stall " on the extreme right of the group of five is indicated by the arrow 

 (A). Four of the stalls are partially shown, the fifth is hidden by the pier. 



hood. Mr. Atwood called at this office Thursday, Oct. 

 6, and was asked to put in writing the information then 

 given us. His statement is as follows: 



Philadelphia, October 10, 1887.— Editor Fored and Stream: I 

 make the following statement, in answer to a letter of Mr. 

 T. B. Stewart, published in Forest and Stream of October 

 6, 1887: 



1 visited the Upper Dam, Rangeley Lakes, Maine, on Sept. 15 

 and 10, in company with a gentleman of this city. We arrived at 

 the Dam by steamer from Bemis Stream about 2 o'clock P. M., 

 and went immediately down the steps to one of the piers at the 

 side of the head gates. I found there two men. one of whom I 

 was informed and whom I now believe to be T. B. Stewart; he 

 was on a boat which was fastened to the side of the pier, and 

 about 5ft, below the head gates. The head gate that I refer to is 

 marked A on the accompanying plan, being the southerly one of 

 the group of live gates. Stewart was on the bow of the boat, 

 alone, and was using an ordinary fly-rod, the butt end of which 

 Avas resting well back toward the stern of the boat. He was 

 using a line not more than i or 5ft. in length, the hooks used by 

 him might have been the ordinary fish hooks, or fly hooks, but 

 were weighted down sufficiently to cause them to sink readily in 

 the water, as it boiled up from the bottom of the gate. The 

 rapid movement of his hand and rod, up and down and sidewise, 

 led me to infer that he was not fishing in the usual way of angling, 

 but was hooking trout upon the outside of the fish or catching 

 them by a process known as jigging. I saw him take one trout 

 on the loth of September in the manner above described. I again 

 saw him engaged In taking one trout on the afternoon of the 16th 

 of September, and plainly saw him take the hook from the out- 

 side of the trout at a point below the gills. 



The water at the lower side of the head gate when Stewart was 

 jigging, was not more than 4 or 5ft. deep, the water on the up 

 stream side was in my judgment at least 18 or 20ft. deep. The 

 leakage at the bottom of the gate caused the water below the gate 

 to boil up like a large boiling spring; the water was not feather 

 white, on the contrary it boiled up smooth and glassy. The trout 

 in their endeavors to get up stream, particularly during the 

 spawning season, try to find a passage under these gates; the spa ce 

 being so small as to prevent their passage, they are cut off and 

 obliged to remain in the tail water below the gate. These gates 

 are about 5 or 6ft. in width, and are partitioned off in one group 

 of five gates, one group of ten gates and three large gates, the 

 latter being used for sluicing logs through in the spring. Photo- 

 graph of gate house and gates herewith submitted. The water in 

 the photograph is shown to be about 4 or 5ft. lower than it was on 

 the 15th or 16th of September. 



Mr. Stewart was not the only man that I saw engaged in this 

 process of taking fish, but I take his case up separately, as the j 

 others have made no public denial of taking trout by this method. 



the amount allowed by law for one person to havo in possession. 

 Mr. Stewart hereupon stepped up and said, "If you are going to 

 Aveigh these fish, I claim half of them." I said, "'You are too late. 

 Mr. Stewart, you have denied having any trout in your posses- 

 sion." He then said, "Half of these trout belong to me; I am as 

 much in for it as Mr. HoRingsworth." I weighed the fish and 

 they weighed 391bs.; they were dressed. 



They then asked me what I was going to do about it. I told them 

 that they would have to pay for them and settle it, They Avanted 

 to know how much the fine Avould be; and I told them not less 

 than $10, nor OA r er $30 for each of them, for the attempt to fish 

 illegally and a dollar apiece for each trout so taken; and three 

 of the lot out of the eight trout I should consider so taken. I told 

 them that this Avas an aggravated case and their fines, if they 

 Avent before a justice and Avere tried, would not be less than $25 

 apiece, besides the S3 for the throe trout which were hooked in 

 the side, making S53 in all. This sum they tvillingly paid me, 

 agreeing explicitly at the same time to go to AndoA r er with me 

 two days later, plead guilty to the charge of fishing and taking 

 fish illegally. I gave them the following receipts: 



Upper Dam, Sept. 20, 1887.— ReceiA-ed 25 dollars of T. B. Stewart 

 for violation of fishing. Received as a safety until he goes (Stuart 

 goes) before a magistrate and pleadts] guilty.— George D, Hun- 

 toon. 



Whoever the magistrate may be, please send to me and the 

 part belonging to you will be sent.— Geo. D. Huntoon, Warden, 

 Rangeley. 



Upper Dam, Sept. 20, 1887.— Received of Mark Hollingsworth 

 twenty-eight dollars ($28) for illegal fishing; received as a deposit 

 until he (HollingsAvorth) shall go to Andover and plead guilty be- 

 for a trial justice— George D. Huntoon (Rangeley, Me.). 



After I had got through with the trout in the ioo house at Upper 

 Dam, I asked them where the car was where they had kept tbeir 

 fish when alive. Mr. Hollingsworth went Avith me to the car, 

 which was in the Avater below the dam. I opened it and found a 

 01b. trout in it alive. There was a very plain mark of (he hook in 

 the throat just back of the gills, and no mark of a hook ju the 

 mouth. Mr. Hollingsworth denied having anything to do or 

 knoAving anything about this trout. 



Two days later I went to Audover with them, they paying my 

 bills doAvn and back as they had previously agreed to do. When 

 wo arrived there they both refused to plead guilty, as they had 

 before agreed to do, but said if I arrested them they Avould give 

 bonds. After they talked together for some time Mr. Stewart 

 took me to one side and said that he did not want to be arrested, 

 and did not Avant to plead guilty. It was not the money that he 

 cared about; it was his reputat ion; aud he told me to keep the 

 money for myself, saying that he would make me a present of it. 

 I told him that Avould not do; but they had better come up and 

 do as they had agreed to, and if they did not they Avould be further 



