June 3, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



417 



A MEMORY OF HAYTI. 



,sr pALK about your fishing around here, but I should 



J_ shiver my timbers you aint anywhere, You ought 

 to see some of the kind of fish we used to catch." 



So spoke the old tar the other evening while we were 

 telling fish stories, and he went on: 



"Why, way back in the 60's when I was cruising in tbe 

 West Indies, we laid some, time at Cape. Hayti during 

 Gen. Salnane's insurrection there, and the first week we 

 were there, having got everything aboard all a-taunt and 

 nothing much to do, we thought we would organize a 

 party and go a- fishing; and as I was generally the one to 

 start the ball a-rolhng for anything of that kind, and 

 being pretty well in with the Captain, the business to 

 obtain leave was most always left to me, and I generally 

 could get permission. So aft I went to the First Lieuten- 

 ant and got permission to take a party on shore to draw 

 the seines, of which we used two; not the flue twine seines 

 one sees here on the rivers, but real old sockdolager twine, 

 as big as marlin. So, when we had everything ready, the 

 boatswain's pipe was, 'All you who want to go fishing 

 fall in aft.' When we fell in "we mustered eighteen good . 

 stout, able-bodied fellows to go and try to catch a few 

 poor little fishes, but as the sequel will show, we got 

 caught ourselves. So, landing our nets in the cutters 

 (not the cutters the Forest and Stream advocates, but 

 regular 10-oared double-banked boats of a regular man- 

 of-war), our Second Luff took charge, and we pulled for 

 the shore, up to a sandy beach above what was then called 

 the Bush Fort, above the coral reefs with which that 

 harbor abounds, and prepared to get out our nets, which 

 we were not destined then to do, for lo and behold, 

 just as we commenced, 'What is that?' said the 

 Second Luff to me. 'An apparition or what the devil 

 is it? Hold on, men,' says I, 'see what's coming.' 

 Well, sirs, it would have done some of you sports- 

 men good to see the apparition and hear the roar 

 of laughter that went up from that party. Imagine to 

 yourself first a small-sized mule v ith a rider on his back 

 about 6ft. 4in., with his legs hitched under the mule's 

 belly, one of his trousers' legs split up to the knee flying 

 back with the wind, an old swallow tail green coat 

 trimmed with yellow, with one gold epaulette on the right 

 shoulder and an old cocked hat picked up from some old 

 sea captain, and you have the commander of the hosts 

 following, and you have the apparition which gave those 

 jolly fishermen such a hearty laugh. But the laugh did 

 not "last long, for us, for about 200 of his followers came 

 behind him and surrounded us on the beach, with such a 

 miscellaneous set of arms as never was collected in any 

 museum. They commenced to jabber away, which we 

 could not understand, for they spoke some kind of French 

 lingo. But one of our men knew enough of it to interpret 

 to us as the apparition gave orders for us to fall in and he 

 would escort us to headquarters to find out who we were. 

 He gave orders to his men to haul out our boats and make 

 them fast; and so we had to fall in and were marclied 

 through the brush to headquarters and reported to the 

 senior officer, who decided, not knowing who or what we 

 were at the time (we could not talk so as to be understood), 

 that myself and two with me were to remain in camp as 

 hostages, while he sent an officer on board to find out 

 what we were doing there. When he found we were 

 friends instead of enemies we were released. By that 

 time it was growing dark, so we resolved to go on board, 

 and this ended our first great fishing trip in Cape Hayti. 



"But the next day, after dinner, we had permission, as 

 the. first day had been a failure and brought no fish, for 

 the same party to land and catch some fish. We went to 

 the same spot and commenced to draw, and when we 

 were closing in the net, such a hullaballoo you never saw 

 in a net. We had quite a number of most all kinds of 

 fish, such as are found in those waters, several small 

 sharks from two feet up to five; but the king pin was a 

 fish I had never seen before nor had any of our officers. 

 It was about 5ft. long, with perfectly round head , resem- 

 bling a p 4 g's, a large fin on each side, with one under 

 belly, and tail up and down; the natives called it a sea- 

 pig. I had seen the sea-horse of the Mediterranean and 

 sea-lions, but had never seen a sea-pig before. Its skin 

 was about £in. thick with no scales. The natives skinned 

 it, and we cooked it, or at least some of it, all the ways 

 we could think of, and it tasted neither like fish, flesh, nor 

 fowl, but mostly like very young veal. We caught 

 another of the same species, only not quite so large, which 

 we put in the copper punt in hopes to keep it alive to send 

 to the British Museum: but it only lived a few days, and 

 I have never heard the name proper of it to this day. And 

 that endei the most remarkable fishing trip I ever was 

 on." Tar. 



Middletown, Conn. 



The Adirondack^. — Canton, N. Y., May 27.— Reliable 

 reports to-day from Cranberry Lake say poor fishing in 

 the streams, but very fine in the ponds and lakes. As 

 usual, the trout-hog is abroad. One party is reported 

 catching near 601bs., another 1251bs., and the trout when 

 seen were in a fair way to all spoil before the parties 

 could either eat or sell them. — J. H. R. 



ILLINOIS RIVER FISHING. 



THE Illinois law forbidding seining fish between Feb. 1 

 and Sept. 1 is under discussion by some of the citizens 

 of Peoria who propose to take measures to secure its enforce- 

 ment. The Peoria Journal has interviewed the fishermen 

 on the subject and this is their side of the story; 



"The law is conceded by both amateur and professional 

 fishermen to be a good one, and the only thing the latter 

 have against it is a lack of unanimity and an evident dis- 

 crimination against the firshermen at certain points or at 

 one certain point. The given point is Peoria. The charge 

 made against [the local fishermen, who ply their calling for 

 the amount of bread and butter there is in it, is that they 

 catch the young fish, destroy the spawn and disturb the fish 

 in the spawning season, thereby preventing the immense 

 piscatorial population that would otherwise swarm in 

 stream, lake, slough, creek and inlet. That these charges 

 are true and that they cannot be disproved is not denied by 

 the seining fishermen. They admit that the supply of fish 

 in the Illinois River and its tributaries is not near so Jarge 

 as it was twenty, fifteen, ten, or even five years ago, But 

 they declare that this is not the result of seining, that is, 

 not directly. They charge — and it will be observed that 



their charge is not without foundation— that the great de- 

 crease in the Illinois fish supply is due to the volume of 

 sewage sent down of Chicago, aided and assisted by natural 

 causes. For instance, last winter the river was high and 

 the frost severe. Ice formed thickly and airholes were few. 

 An hermetical seal was thrown over the Illinois River, 

 under which were confined all the noxious gases and the 

 deathly effluvia generated by the tremendous discharge of 

 Chicago sewage. On the surface was clear ice, but below 

 was a putrescent mass. Denied aeration the fish died in 

 swarms, and when the river shook oft' its icy shroud the 

 bodies of thousands of dead fish made a ghastly coverlet. It 

 is not in any way rash to state that more fish were killed by 

 that putrescence in a single season than are taken by sein- 

 ing fishermen in-half a dozen seasons. 



"Now then, a fair glance at the fish situation, and waiving 

 a mass of details that might be introduced, bring the ques- 

 tion down to this: Can Peoria afford to subordinate an in- 

 dustry, which sustains over a hundred people, to a. pastime 

 whieh affords occasional amusement to half a hundred 

 wealthy men, who make largo incomes in other departments 

 of trade? . 



"We are aware of the fact that we have sprung this ques- 

 tion rather abruptly, hut we will follow it up with facts. 

 Yesterday afternoon the jjpWWtl detailed a reporter to in- 

 vestigate this fish question and get all the facts, figures, and 

 in short all the details it was possible to procure in the time 

 granted him. An interview with the various boss fishermen, 

 or masters of fish boats, developed the following facts: hi 

 the fish business of Peoria alone an aggregate capital of 

 $15,000 is invested. The volume of business transacted 

 amounts to about $40,000 a year. There are now three fish 

 boats or fish markets in Peoria, each of whom man throe 

 crews of twelve men each. Each of these men are paid $25 a 

 month and board. Each boat pays a tug captain $20 a week 

 each. Another $12 a week is spent among grocery men for 

 empty barrels and boxes. The icemen reap $150 from the 

 fish interest. The express bills amount to $120 a week, or 

 $500 a month, a sum equal to $0,000 a year. Here we have 

 cuiite an industry, supporting, or doing their level best to 

 support, other industries. At all events, and from facts and 

 figures collated, it is evident that the fish industry distrib- 

 utes in Peoria aud among Peorians not loss than $40,000 a 

 year. Can wo afford to squelch this to gratify the sporting 

 tastes of some half -hundred wealthy rod and line men? We 

 guess not. 



"Now, then, let us hear what the men who tug at the oar 

 and haul the seine have to say. These are men who make 

 only their monthly wages and'have nothing whatever to do 

 with the profits. They say that when the stream freezes 

 over they are obliged to go down the river. During the 

 spring rise they make a few good hauls of fine game fish, 

 such as croppies, pike, salmon, sunfish, etc. But they go 

 down with the flood, and all that are left are buffalo and 

 catfish. In the early spring the fishing is as fine and as 

 plenteous as it is anywhere in the river, but as soon as it 

 goes down the fine fish seek other waters. Last winter was 

 a terror on fish. Most of the catfish were killed and all kinds 

 suffered. They deny the charge that they wantouly destroy 

 the spawn. As an offset they declare that in every haul they 

 find from 25 to 50 dogfish and gars. These are the cannibals, 

 the pirates, of running water. More voracious fish consum- 

 ing their smaller species were never created. For every gar 

 or dogfish killed a hundred minnows or small fish are saved. 

 The toil of the fisherman is of the severest kind. No manual 

 labor ashore is heavier. Tugging the oar under a blazing 

 sun or hauling a seine waist deep in water is not the easiest 

 or healthiest work in the world. They are good, honest fel- 

 lows, who earn their bread by the most profuse sweat of 

 their brow; they are free from the baser of the vices that 

 mar the characters of many classes of laboring men, and 

 they are entitled to all they get in their wrestle with the 

 water. In the winter they occupy their time in knitting nets 

 or making ice, and are never idle and seldom dissolute. One 

 of the men with whom the Jo u rnal reporter conversed was 

 particularly intelligent and vouchsafed a flood of informa- 

 tion that the man of news never dreamt of. There is mater- 

 ial in the lives of our fishermen from which to write many a 

 chapter. 



"During this interview many of the fishermen grouped 

 around the reporter and fired in an occasioned shot of quaint 

 philosophy. The trouble with these fine-haired fellows,' 

 said one, 'is that a fishing trip with them is only an excuse 

 to go ou a big drunk, to some place where they will be quiet 

 and secure from arrest. I know 'em and have sold 'em many 

 a string of fish. ' 



"Returning to their bosses it was remarked that most 

 of this agitation came from the Chicago cold storage men 

 who get vast supplies of lake and Wisconsin brook fish 

 and freeze them down for the shipping trade. 'Why,' said 

 one man, 'there is one Chicago firm that has $100,000 worth 

 of fish frozen up by the ammonia process and has been since 

 last season. Next winter those fish will be released and 

 shipped to various points. By the time the fish reach their 

 destination they will be two years old. Now so far as this 

 prohibitory law is concerned we admit that it is a good thing. 

 But it must be enforced from one end of the river to the 

 other. Last summer we obeyed it to the letter. Not one of 

 our men pulled an oar or drew a net during June, July and 

 August. All that time we sat idly on our boats, and men at 

 Havana, Beardstown below, and Chillicothe and points 

 above, were seining and were not molested. This year we 

 determined to haul anyhow, and we have done so. Now 

 these rod and line men are bucking against us and they 

 want to down us. We don't want to haul dming prohibited 

 months, but if they haul below and above us without inter- 

 ference what can we do ? If the law can be so enforced that 

 Peoria fishermen will not be discriminated against, we are 

 in favor of it and comply with its demands cheerfully and 

 willingly. But we do not want to be made the sole sufferers. ' 



"Here we have the whole question. Both sides of it have 

 been presented fairly and impartially, but as faithful chroni- 

 clers we must confess that the preponderance of the evidence 

 is in favor of the fishermen. We cannot afford to throttle 

 any industry in Peoria at this or any other time. Here is 

 one that supports over a hundred people directly, to say 

 nothing of its indirect benefits. Let the rod aud line gentle- 

 men, who meet this week, give these facts due deliberation 

 and act accordingly." 



SALMON ABOVE THE TROY DAM.— The salmon in the 

 Hudson are not disposed to wait for the erection of a fishway 

 in order to let them pass to their breeding grounds, and some 

 have gone up the canal lock. Judge F. M. Danaher, of 

 Albany, reports May 23: "A friend of mine tells mo that he 

 saw three small salmon, the largest estimated at about six 

 pounds, taka^in a net yesterday above the dam at Troy, 

 and near t^^%)ck, which is not to exceed 100ft. above the 

 dam. Ev«mtly they had come through the lock which had 

 just been^Jiptied. The fishes were returned to the water." 



the Mennel 



Address all communication* to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co 



F 1 XT U R ES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



Sept. 1 to 3.— Inaugural Dopr Show of the Pacific Kennel Club, at, 

 San Francisco, Cal. J. E. Watson, Secretary, 510 Sacramento 

 street. San Francisco, Cal. 



Sept. 12 to 17.— First. Show St. Paul and Minnesota Kennel Club, 

 St. Paul, Minn. W. G. Whitehead. Secretary. 



Oct. IS a7id IS. -Stafford Kennel Club Show, Stafford Springs, 

 Conn. R. S. Hicks, Secretary. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Nov. 7.— Third Annual Field Trials of the Western Field Trials 

 Association. R. C. Van Horn, Secretary, Kansas City, Mo. 



Nov, 21.— Ninth Annual Field Trials of the Eastern Field Trials 

 Club, at High Point, N. O. W. A. Coster, Secretary, Flafbush, 

 Kings County, N. Y. 



December.— First Annual Field TrialB of" the American Field 

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

 O. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 

 rpHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

 of pedigrees, etc. (with prize hats 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 

 $1.50. Address "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2832, New 

 York. Number of entries already printed 5036. 



DACHSHUNDE. 



RAINBOW TROUT IN ENGLAND.— Mr. W. O. Cham- 

 bers, secretary of the National Fishculture Association, 

 writes from London April 22, as follows: "I much regret to 

 state that our entire stock of rainbow trout, reared from eggs 

 presented by Professer Baird in 18S5, have been maliciously 

 poisoned." 



Bountiful Nature Affords no finer Specific for skin dis- 

 eases than Sulphur, a fact that is proven by the action upon the 

 cuticle afflicted with eruptions or ulcerous sores, of that supreme 

 purifier and beautifier of the skin, Glenn's Sulphur Soap. Hill's 

 Hair anu Whisker Dye— Black and brown, 50c— Adv> 



Editor Forest ond Stream: 



Mr. Houpt, whose remarkable production in your last 

 issue will immortalize the name, appears to be a well-mean- 

 ing gentleman , and I am glad you have unburdened his mind 

 of the erroneous idea that he would not be permitted to 

 "criticise your critic." And now that Mr. Houpt has jumped 

 into the water instead of throwing his dogs there, I earnest- 

 ly beg of you not to pull him out until he has been in long 

 enough to' teach him better than go there again. Life — 

 especially the would-be dog critic's— is short, and editors 

 should not have license to prolong it by transferring erratic 

 effusions to tbe flames. 



Mr. Houpt owns a couple of little liver and yellow dogs; 

 they have taken first and second prizes at a dog show under 

 incompetent judgment, and Mr. Houpt feels happy. Did 

 you, dear reader, never feel that way yourself? How well I 

 remember the proud feeling of satisfaction that takes pos- 

 session of a man's very self when he steps out of the ring, 

 his first blue ribbon in hand. And I, too, have felt the blood 

 freeze in its course when I have taken up one of the papers 

 only to find that my model of perfection was worth but two 

 cents per pound, and not even that unless there was a reput- 

 able sausage manufacturer in the neighborhood. And mem- 

 ory takes me back to 1868, and I ask myself, "How ever did 

 I have the cheek to be seen at a dog show and on a public 

 thoroughfare with an animal like that at my heels?" If Mr. 

 Houpt is spared to enlighten the world another twenty 

 years, he will look back with disgust on the little liver and 

 yellow snipe-nosed, light-boned dogs he would have us be- 

 lieve are typical dachshunde. 



Mr. Houpt's love of truth must have left his body to take 

 shelter in his clothes when he asked you to print the stupid 

 statement that I am severe against judges who give a prefer- 

 ence over New York dogs, and that! favor New York judges. 

 Let Mr. Houpt call at the Broadway firm and ask any one of 

 the partners to point out to him an unmerited favorable 

 comment on any dog or dogs owned by the members. And 

 where is the bagman" judge from this section that can truth- 

 fully say I have whitewashed his record or refused to lay his 

 blunders or presumption broadside before the "discerning 

 public?" Mr. James Mortimer can testify that in bis case I 

 have never neglected my duty, and so can Mr. James R. Pier- 

 son and others. If Mr. Houpt is a gentleman he will support 

 this part of his letter by stronger evidence than Mr. Houpt's 

 opinion. 



The report which caused so many tears to flow is as foUows: 

 "Gretchen, first prize, is not a show dog and should not have 

 been noticed. A standard would have to be specially pre- 

 pared to admit such a specimen into a prize list. Head very 

 wide and flat; muzzle short, weak and dished; ears very 

 short and placed high on the head; light eyes; body very 

 short; loin fiat; stifles and hocks, faulty; very light of bone; 

 knuckles over; skin tight; coat not very good^ color and 

 markings very poor. Flirt, second prize, is of similar type 

 and has the same faults; she should not have been noticed." 

 In the same report I said that Rubenstein, unnoticed, should 

 have won, and that he was three times more valuable than all 

 of bis seven opponents put together. This opinion was in a 

 measure indorsed by the New York judge who placed Ruben- 

 stein first in a poor class and gave third to Gretchen. FHrt 

 was not noticed. The main points of Mr. Houpt's reply, or 

 "criticism upon your critic," are these: "I would like to re- 

 fer Mr. Mason to Vero Shaw, of New York, to find out what 

 a dachshund is. She (Gretchen) is chocolate or seal brown 

 and tan. Mr. Mason says her color is bad. Gretchen's ear 

 reaches }</in. from nose, and her head is broad behind the 

 ears, which denotes courage" (so says Mr. Enoch Hutton). 

 "German authority and vero Shaw say that conical heads 

 and long ears are very faulty, and that the ears should come 

 to within j^'in . of nose. Mr. Mason says Gretchen is too light. 

 As there are several classes of dachshunde I wish Mr. Mason 

 would look them up or consult Vero Shaw and then give as 

 near as possibly what a dachshund should be. 



How good a judge is Vero Shaw, of New York, I cannot say, 

 but Vero Shaw, of London, was never a good judge. He 

 became prominent just as several men in this country have 

 done, and just like them, his ignorance is constantly leak- 

 ing out. Never over-scrupulous aud always heavily freighted 

 with the. most consummate cheek, in his bearing lie was the 

 living image of one of our own notorious bagman judges. 

 He had a fifth-rate record as an owuer, and in something 

 less than twenty-five minutes learned more than the com- 

 bined knowledge of such men as Adcock and Dawes. The 

 Rev. G. F. Hodson, one of the right sort and an excellent 

 judge, was the friend at. court, and but for his influence 

 Vero would have been relegated to where he belonged much 

 sooner than was the case. His "Book of the Dog" is almost 

 wholly made up of articles supplied by competent judges; 

 indeed, if such were not the case, nobody would buy it. This 

 was as well known to Shaw as to those who employed him, 

 hence the many excellent and thoroughly reliable articles 

 which appear in his (?) work. If Mr. Houpt had foUowed 

 Shaw's plan, instead of writing on matters he knows noth- 

 ing at all about, it would have been better for him. 



The most valuable opinion Vero Shaw succeeded in get- 

 ting for the dachshund part of his book was that of Rev. G. 

 F. LoveU, who is one of the best, if not the best judge we 

 have. Had this gentleman been specially retained as coun- 

 sel in my defense, ho could not have given the Philadelphia 

 report a more substantial indorsement than his letter in the 

 "Book of the Dog." If Mr. Houpt will compare Mr. Lovell's 

 lett er with that report, he will soon see what he has in his 

 kennels. Mr. Lovell says: "They may be divided into three 

 varieties — the hound, the terrier and the toy, though, of 

 course, these are crossed with one another, The first of 



