N*v, 17, 1M7.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



329 



the rapids frequent and exciting. In one of these we had 

 a little adventure. Our boat being much the lightest and 

 handled with paddles we kept the front as pilot. Coming 

 to an unusually long and rapid decline will remarked 

 that absolutely it ran right down hill. Away in the 

 distance the crystal sparkle of the water announced 

 rapids. The other boat had evidently stopped some- 

 where, as if. was not in sight. We ran very fast even 

 before we reached the rapid, and at one. place passed over 

 a fall, but the water there was smooth clear across the 

 river, Avhieli was quite wide. The rapids were before us. 

 Standing up a moment to take our bearings we saw a 

 number of large boulders, and the water dashing over 

 them, raising a perfect cauldron of foam. To strike one 

 of these boulders might mean a broken boat, if not some- 

 thing worse. Having chosen our route, we paddled with 

 all of our strength, and darted through as if we had been 

 shot out of a gun. Fortunately the rapids were not long, 

 and we were no sooner in the vortex than we were emerg- 

 ing from it into smooth water. Thought i3 quick in such 

 cases as this. Just before getting to the worst part of the 

 river we observed the route that we had taken was the 

 only one free from rocks, and that the passage was but a 

 few feet wide. We shouted to each other that we must 

 tell the other boat of this, and in order to do so the moment 

 that it was practicable we heaved an anchor overboard 

 and were brought up standing in pretty rapid water. 

 We waited some little time before the boys came, and 

 wben I hey got near enough endeavored by pantomime to 

 make them understand the best way to come. They in- 

 timated that they understood us and started in, but had 

 not gone far until they struck a boulder and broached to. 

 For a moment the boat heaved up as if it was about to 

 turn bodily over, but the bachelors sprang to the upper 

 gunwale and brought it to a safer position. Still they 

 were in a preeurious eondition. We did not want to lose 

 our bachelors, and I did not want to lose my boy. Be- 

 sides the provisions were in jeopardy. They did not 

 seem to be able to extricate themselves without help, but 

 how on earth were we to get there against that current 

 and through those rocks? The boys tried to help them- 

 selves with their oars, but once or twice they came very 

 near going over. The situation became more precarious. 

 Will exclaimed, "We've got to get to them!" and we did, 

 but how I don't, know. We paddled and pushed on the 

 rocks, seized hold of boulders and pulled, getting a deluge 

 of water over us in response, but in some way we got 

 there. Coming to them from below by a little prying 

 and lifting, we slid them off into the water, and having 

 directed them as to the channel they slipped through as 

 if they had been greased. Thanks to the staunchness of 

 their boat it was uninjured. It is unnecessary to ob- 

 serve that during this eventful episode Scraps was a cool 

 and umi i filed occupant of the stranded boat. It seemed 

 quite immaterial to Mm whether he was in the water or 

 on board , and he only displayed emotion when some one 

 in the general bouleversement stepped on his tail. 



A. A. L. 



Ljixington, Mo. 



MACKINAW TROUT. 



JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, N. J. Nov. 10.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: Will you through your paper 

 decide a controversy that has arisen between the under- 

 signed and some other readers, and an ardent and very 

 successful disciple of the rod from the Northwest ? Re- 

 cently Mr. J. Milton Matheany, Superintendent of the 

 Grand Rapids & Indiana R. R., was on here attending as 

 usual the yearly convention of railroad superintendents 

 in New York city. After the business which called them 

 together had been attended to, other topics arose. As is 

 generally the case when gentlemen of brains and culture 

 get together, there were met enthusiasts of the field and 

 stream. Mr. Metheany was telling of his exciting expe- 

 rience and grand catches of salmon and trout around the 

 Island and in the Straits of Mackinaw. He called the 

 fish salmon trout, and remarked that the Mackinaw trout 

 were the salmon trout and nothing else. One of the party 

 intimated that, whde the Mackinaw trout were a species 

 of salmon trout, he thought there was a distinction, that 

 they grew larger and that there were otherwise some dif- 

 ferences, but what he could not say, but that he recalled, 

 though rather indistinctly, that there was a difference. 

 Upon consulting Hallock's "Gazetteer" we find (page 304) 

 salmon trout and lake trout as Salmo confinis. Again 

 (page 829), Mackinaw trout or great lake trout as Salmo 

 namaycash. Now, here is a diff erence in technical names 

 at least, though the description of fish correspond in many 

 respects. Brother Metheany was not satisfied with Hal- 

 lock, but insisted that the (his) Mackinaw trout was the 

 genuine and only bona fide salmon trout, and to back his 

 opinion gave the information that he had an engagement 

 with a party for a trip to the Straits on his return, and if 

 they had good (that is his usual) luck he would forward 

 a specimen. And sure enough, yesterday there came to 

 Dr. P. W. Levering, one of the old members of the J. C. 

 H. Gun Club, with whom he had visited, two magnificent 

 specimens of his (Matheany's) kind of salmon trout, one 

 weighing 15-Jlbs., the other ITilbs. What sport there 

 must have been in bringing these fellows to gaff. Your 

 delighted corespondent got one of them, and he does not 

 care what you call it, namaycash or confinis. Wish they 

 were not confined to the far west, but were more indi- 

 genous to the Hackensack and Hudson rivers hereabouts. 

 A steak broiled for breakfast had richest flavor, and when 

 boiled, first course, for dinner, words fail us to note its 

 super excellence. But we are just as fair from settling 

 the ponderous question. Is this fish sent us the veritable 

 same fish as our common and generally called salmon 

 trout of the East? Is it not rather a species of the genus 

 salmon trout, with some characteristic difference? Is 

 Hallock right and Superintendent Metheany wrong ? Or 

 are both right and the other party wrong? We wait with 

 •'baited" interest your answer, for have we not been fixed 

 with a specimen ? JACOBSTAFF. 



[The references to the "Gazetteer" are correctly given. 

 The latest and best authorities, however, now class the 

 Mackinaw trout, the Great Lake trout, the togue and the 

 longe or lunge, as the same fish, Salvelinus namaycush. 

 See Jordan and Gilbert's "Synopsis of the Fishes of North 

 America," 1882, page 317, where the habitat is given as 

 "Great Lake region and lakes of northern New York, 

 New Hampshire and Maine, to Montana and northward; 

 very abundant in the larger bodies of water; varying in 

 form and color in the different lakes."] 



The Glens Falls, N. Y., Bay has published a special 

 edition devoted to "booming" that enterprising town. A 

 contribution from Mr. A. N. Cheney says of the fisliing: 

 "In the vicinity of Glens Falls are waters that once 

 afforded the very best fishing. The Halway Brook was 

 second to none as a trout stream; the Hudson River pro- 

 vided good black bass fishing; Lake George was and is 

 noted for the excellence of its lake trout and its fine black 

 bass, and Glen Lake has produced the largest black bass 

 of the small-mouth species ever taken in any water on 

 the globe. Constant fishing, without due regards for the 

 means employed and little attention paid to protection 

 and reproduction, impaired the fishing to a greater or 

 less extent; but in recent years there has been an attempt 

 to remedy these evils, and now there is a prospect that 

 our waters may in the near future teem with fish that are 

 native to them, and that new species may tend to make 

 them a Mecca for anglers from all parts of the country." 



Is this A Tktje Bill? — A Highland Park, 111., con- 

 tributor, who writes anent the jigging at Upper Dam, 

 adds: " The Fokest and Stream deserves the thanks of 

 all true sportsmen for the unflinching manner in which 

 they take hold of such cases. In connection with the 

 case alluded to I notice a communication from Colonel 

 Nutt. We know the Colonel out this way as an enthusi- 

 astic sportsman, and we are glad to know he retains his 

 love still for the woods and his rod and gun. There is a 

 picture extant by a celebrated artist of an episode in the 

 Colonel's life when fishing for grayling. The artist has 

 chosen a moment when in making a powerful overhead 

 cast, the Colonel fastens his fly in the seat of his com- 

 panion's breeches. It's rich, and I wish you had it hang- 

 ing up in the Forest and Stream office to cure you of 

 the bates when things go wrong,— Harry Hunter." 



L 



NEW YORK OYSTER FRANCHISES. 



AST week the New York Fish Commissioners met in 



I their rooms in the Potter Building, New York city, to 



hear applications for grounds for oyster planting and to 

 listen to objections to the applications of several persons for 

 grants of perpetual franchises upon grounds in Huntington 

 Harbor. This is a most important case, as it involves the 

 right of the State to these waters which are claimed by the 

 town of Huntington under its patents from Colonial Govern- 

 ors long before the State existed. Heretofore the people 

 at their town meetings have ordered the harbor surveyed, 

 mapped, and leased in plots of twenty acres, some of which 

 have already been leased, and the trustees of the town deny 

 the State any jurisdiction in their waters. 



The room's were crowded with oystermen and the full 

 Board of Commissioners was present, several grants in 

 Princes Bay and in Long Island Sound were made without 

 objection, but when the application of Theo. S. Lowndes for 

 a tract of land under water in Huntington Bay was reached 

 there was much interest manifested, Messrs. Geo. A. Black 

 and Martin Keogh appeared for Mr. Lowndes and Charles R. 

 Street for the trustees of Huntington. Mr. Street's object- 

 tions were as follows; 



First — That the premises so applied for are a part of Hunt- 

 ington Bay and are claimed, controled and owned by the 

 town of Huntington under three several colonial grants and 

 patents, viz.: Grant by Gov. Richard Nichols, 166(3; tcrant by 

 Gov. Thos. Dougan, 1688, and grant by Gov. Benjamin 

 Fletcher, 1694. 



Second— That we are informed and believe that the appli- 

 cant has not resided in the State of New York for one year 

 preceding the date of his said application and is not now a 

 resident of the State of New York, but resides in the State 

 of Connecticut and has so resided for many years immedi- 

 ately previous to his said application. 



Mr. Street said that the vital issue was contained in the 

 first objection, viz: That the town claimed and owned the 

 premises applied for by Mr. Lowndes, and therefore the 

 Commission had no jurisdiction over the premises. That as 

 this was the first case that had arisen under the law before 

 the Commissioner touching the claim of Huntington, or any 

 other '.town holding grants under Colonial Governors, it 

 would probably be regarded as a test case and furnish a pre- 

 cedent for action on other applications for premises similarly 

 situated, and it was therefore of the highest importance that 

 the case should receive very full consideration. 



The chairman replied that the Commissioners would give 

 the matter a full hearing. But they would not regard a 

 mere claim by the town as of much account; it must be such 

 a claim as will enable the Commissioner to see that the 

 town's claim was a valid one. It might be a fictitous claim. 

 Mr. Street then offered in evidence the three patents of 

 Huntington dated respectively 1666, 1688 and 1694, and read 

 material parts of them from Volume I., of the printed Town 

 Records. The production of these old Colonial Grants, 

 yellow and musty by two centuries of time, created quite a 

 sensation among the Commissioners and all present. There 

 was no further intimation concerning fictitous claims. 



Mr. Street then read from chapter 584 of the laws of 1887— 

 the law governing the grant of fishing franchise by this 

 Commission— as follows: 



Sec. 9.— This act shall not apply to, nor be held to affect 

 in any way, lands under water owned, controlled or claimed, 

 under Colonial patents or Legislative grants, by any town 

 or towns, person or persons, in the counties of Suffolk, 

 Queens, Kings and Richmond. 



He said that this section of the act plainly deprived the 

 Commissioners of Fisheries of any jurisdiction over any 

 part of Huntington Bay; the premises were claimed by the 

 town under its colonial patents. It was not necessary here 

 to prove that the town's title was good, it was sufficient to 

 show that it in good faith claimed the premises under 

 Colonial patents, and this claim ousted the Commission of 

 any jurisdiction. Mr. Eugene G. Blackford, one of the 

 Commissioners, said he thought the claim should be one 

 which the Commission must see is such as constitutes a 

 valid title, a title that would be sustained by the courts. 



In answer Mr. Street said that this Commission could not 

 try the question of title, it had none of the machinery or 

 procedure necessary to try such a q uestion. (The chairman 

 admitted this was so). How are you going to tell whether 

 the title is good or bad? If you assume that the title is bad 

 because there has been no litigation in the courts about it, 

 you will grasp nearly all the bays along Long Island Sound, 

 and grant franchises in them, then when the courts ajudi- 

 cate these titles, and if it turns out that the town owns these 

 bays under these colonial grants, what will these oystermen 

 do who have invested their property in these lands? They 

 would be at the mercy of the towns and would lose their 

 property unless the towns made them grants, for your grant 

 would be void. This section of the law quoted, was in- 

 tended to obviate just this difficulty; that is, where towns 

 claim under colonial grants, yon have no jurisdiction; con- 

 fining your powers to the Sound and other outside waters 

 not claimed, thus leaving the title to these bays and harbors, 

 claimed under colonial grants, to be determined by the 

 courts; in this way neither the rights of the town nor of in- 

 dividuals are imperiled, So far as Huntington was con- 



cerned he was prepared to go into any court, and maintain 

 the. validity of the colouial grants, that they took in Hunt- 

 ington Bay and that the town held an exclusive right of 

 fishery therein, and that this light of fishery included the 

 control of the bottom of the bay for oyster planting. 



At this stage of the proceedings, Mr. Theodore S. Lowndes 

 withdrew his application to the Commissioners of Fisheries . 

 The next case was the application of Mr. John H. Lowndes 

 for a grant of premises nearthehead of Huntington Bay. As 

 the circumstances of the case wore substantially the same as 

 hi the case last heard and withdrawn, it was agreed that the 

 evidence introduced in that case apply to this, and the sworn 

 objections of the trustees to grant to John Lowndes was 

 filed, setting up the same objections. 



Counselor George A. Black, in behalf of the claimant, then 

 went into au argument to show that the claim of Huntington 

 was not good. He read from the patents for the purpose of 

 showing that they only included upland and not waters. He 

 also argued that the town must show more than a claim 

 under colonial grants and must show a valid title. 



Mr. Street in answer to Mr. Black, said it was a waste of 

 time to discuss the question as to whether tbecolonial grants 

 took in waters, bays and harbors, as well as upland. The 

 Court of Appeals of this State had decided that they did and 

 that was an end of it. It had decided that the Colonial Gov- 

 ernors had power to make grants, taking in harbors, bays and 

 waters, such grants being ratified by the Colonial Assembly 

 of 1691, and afterward confirmed by' the first constitution of 

 this State and that where such terms as harbors, bays and 

 coves are used they were included. The Court of Appeals in 

 the case of Bobbins vs. Ackerly had these very patents now 

 here before it and had decided that they did take, in waters, 

 viz. , Northport Bay. The title to Huntington Bay could not 

 come up in the case because the premises involved were not 

 in it, but in Northport Bay; but the same principles on which 

 the court held one to be within the grant to the town would 

 take in the other also. He cited the case of the town of 

 North Hempstead against John J. Thompson, involving the. 

 title of that town to'Cow Bay, in which the General Term of 

 the Supreme Court had decided that the bay was within its 

 patent and had given judgment of ejectment against a man 

 who had held an oyster bed there 40 years. He said the only 

 question remaining, as touching the title to Huntington 

 Bay, is whether it is in fact a bay, haven or a shelter for ves- 

 sels in time of storm and uot a part of the Sound. If it is a 

 bay or haven, our grants take it in. Upon this pointhe called 

 the commissioners' attention to the affidavits on file with 

 them, of captains of vessels showing the extent to wdiich ves- 

 sels resort to it in storms. 



In conclusion, Mr. Street said the town of Huntington has 

 claimed this bay under its colonial grants for more than 

 two hundred years. Its claim is not founded on any late, 

 fictitious device trumped up for the occasion, but its trustees 

 come, here holding in their bauds these ancient badges of 

 title, the patents. In the old time the town has been again 

 and again assaulted in its boundaries at every point of the 

 compass, and in all controversies with neighboring towns, 

 and through a score of lawsuits covering two centuries, 

 these old parchments, bearing the crown seal of England, 

 and more, than a hundred years older than the State of New 

 York, have been adjudged valid and binding. If this title 

 is good it is not in the power of any commission to take it 

 away and grant it to others. Even the Legislature has no 

 power to deprive the town of Huntington of any lands owned 

 by it, whether above or below water, without' making just 

 compensation therefor, as the Constitution provides. He 

 argued at some length th e contention that if the law had not 

 expressly deprived the Commissioners of jurisdiction over 

 town lauds they would have had no jurisdiction, for they 

 could no more grant to others the lands owned by the town 

 lying under water than they could grant to others the up- 

 lands, the farms and building lots owned by the inhabitants, 

 for all were orignally obtained under the same title, the 

 grants from colonial governors. He said he felt sure that 

 when the Commissioners had carefully examined the law 

 and the facts they would decide to make no grants now of 

 lands owned or claimed by towns, leaving it to the courts to 

 decide the title. 



On motion of Commissioner Blackford the matter was re- 

 ferred to committee consisting of Commissioners Roosevelt 

 and Bowman (both of them lawyers) with instructions to 

 examine and report whether the Commission had jurisdic- 

 tion, notice to be given both parties for further hearing in 

 case it was decided that the Board had jurisdiction. 



DISTRIBUTION OF CARP. — The U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion has made many shipments of carp to various States. In 

 some cases these are made to the individual applicants and 

 in others to some local distributing agent. Mr. E. G. Black- 

 ford, Fulton Market, New York, has received a large con- 

 signment for distribution in lots of twenty to applicants in 

 New York and other Eastern States. 



RAINBOW TROUT FRY. — An advertisement elsewhere 

 is to the effect that 500 rainbow trout are for sale by the 

 South Side Club, Oakdale, L. I. They are genuine McCloud 

 River, two years old next spring and average 7 to 9in, long. 



r Mt Mmnel 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



Dee. ti to 8.— Third Annual Dog Show of. the Central Berkshire. 

 Poultry, Piereon and Pet Stock Association. W. T. Webster, Sec- 

 retary," Lee. Mass. 



Dec. 5 to 10.— Second Annual Dog Show of the Northern Illinois 

 Poultry and Pet Stock Association, at Rockford, HI. W. J. 

 Harnlev, Superintendent. 



Dec. 14 to 16.— Third Annual Dog Show of the Winsted Kennel 

 Club. Frank D. Haliett, Superintendent, Winsted, Conn. Entries 

 close Dec. 3. 



Jan. 23 to 27, 18S8.— First Dog Show of the Agusta Pet Stock and 

 Poultry Association, at Agusta, Ga. 



Feb. 21 to 24, 1888.— Twelfth Aimual Show of the Westminster Ken- 

 nel Club, Madison Square Garden, New York. James Mortimer, 

 Superintendent. 



April 3 to 6.— Fourth Annual Dog Show of the New England 

 Kennel Ciub, at Boston, Mass. J. W. Newman, Secretary. 

 FIELD TRIALS. 



Nov. 21.— Niuth Annual Field Trials of the Eastern Field Trials 

 Club, at High Poiut N. C. W. A. Coster, Secretary, Flathush, 

 Kims County, N. Y. 



Dec. 12.— First Annual Field Trials of the American Field 

 Trials Club, at Florence, Ala. O. W. Paris, Secretary, Cincinnati, 

 O. 



Jan. 10. 1888.— Second Annual Field Trials of the Texas Field 

 Trials Club, at Marshall, Tex. W. L. Thomas, Secretary, Mar- 

 shall, Tex. 



Jan. 16.-Fifth Annual Field Trials of the Pacific Coast Field 

 Trial Club, near Ringsburgh, Cal. N. P. Shelden, Secretary, 320 

 Sansotne street, San Fraucisco, Cal. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 

 rpHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

 of pedigrees, etc. (with prize lists of all shows and trials;, is 

 published 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 

 S1.50. Address "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2832, New 

 York. Number of entries already printed 55gg. 



