BOB 



FOREST AN£> STREAM. 



[Jtjly 11, 1886. 



quired to gain the direct distance of little more than one | 

 mile. The road now follows very closely the course of 

 the beautiful Frying-Pan Creek, first on one side then 

 the other, to its mouth at Aspen Junction, where it flows 

 into the Roaring Fork. This is distant from Leadville 

 about sixty^five miles, or four and one-half hours time. 

 The stations from Lake Ivanhoe down are Sellers, Norrie, 

 Lime Creek, Ruedi, Sloan and several other sidings; and 

 from any of these points the fisherman can within a few- 

 steps reach this grand trout stream. At Norrie we are 

 near the mouth of North Fork, and have here the advan- 

 tage of the two streams, both of which are most excellent 

 fishing. At Lime Creek is a small mining camp, and the 

 creek of the same name enters the Frying-Pan at this 

 place, and no better fishing could be desired than this 

 tributary affords. It takes its rise from the Mountain of 

 the Holy Cross and flows southwest, while Brush Creek 

 heads but little distance from Lime Creek and flows 

 north into Eagle River. Game is also plenty in this 

 Frying-Pan district; we saw from the car window both 

 deer and mountain sbeep on our way over. 



We spent several days at different points along this 

 stream and its tributaries in the same manner as we had 

 fished on the Eagle River and with about the same re- 

 sults, catching enough each day to perfectly satisfy our- 

 selves. This, too, is a new section of country, opened 

 but two seasons since the construction of the Midland 

 Railroad. Prior to that it was only accessible in many 

 parts by pack trails. 



We made these various trips out from Leadville in 

 from two to six days each, according to the locality we 

 selected, and on our return to the city we usually spent 

 from one to three days with our families and put in the 

 time with short excursions to some of the many points 

 of interest in the vicinity. One peculiarity of Leadville 

 is the large number of spring wagons with canopy tops 

 large and strong, which will accommodate from six to 

 nine persons. These are very comfortable and well 

 equipped with two or four horses and a careful driver, 

 who will take parties to any point within a day's drive at 

 reasonable prices. We made one tjip to Mosquito Pass, 

 eight miles distant, starting early in the morning and 

 returning before dark, taking our wives and children, 

 nine in the party. We had our picnic dinner on the 

 snowdrift thousands of years old and it may never melt 

 away. Another day we spent at Evergreen Lake, a 

 beautiful place, with natural and artificial lakes, where 

 the propagation and rearing of trout is made a business. 

 The proprietors have expended about $10,000 in the plant 

 and are apparently making a success of the enterprise. 



Just above Evergreen, on Rock Creek, is the place 

 where the Government is about to put in the largest fish 

 hatchery in the United States, and a better place could 

 not have been found. In going to and from this point 

 we pass the fine soda and iron springs, the waters of 

 which equal the renowned springs at Manitou. We also 

 made a trip by rail to the hot springs and hot caves at 

 Glen wood Springs. We made other visits to the large 

 smelters and mines in the vicinity, all of which are very 

 interesting. Thus we put in the entire month of August, 

 long to be remembered with pleasure. July and August 

 cover the best part of the fishing season, but the hunting 

 season comes later. 



During our entire stay of the hundreds of trout caught 

 not a fish was wasted. On our trips we usually furnished 

 our table with all that could be eaten, and had some to 

 divide with our friends outside of the requirements of 

 our own table. 



We handled our fish in a different manner from most 

 other fishermen we met. On our return from each out- 

 ing, whether at noon or night, we dressed and cleaned 

 the fish, leaving the heads on, and stringing them on a 

 forked willow or birch stick, putting the largest on first, 

 which prevents the crushing weight of the large upon the 

 small ones. We then fasten the ends of the string (sticks) 

 with a good strong loop and hang them up to thoroughly 

 drain: and thus let them hang over night in the coolest 

 place to be found on the north side of the cabin or tree. 

 In the morning there will not be moisture enough about 

 them to wet a paper. We then slip each string into a 

 paper sack (with which we always provided ourselves in 

 starting out), and tie the bag close above the fish and 

 below the loop, thus they are protected from flies and 

 dust; and left in a cool cellar or cave during the day and 

 left out of doors during the night, they will keep in per- 

 fect condition for many days. In this way we always 

 took them home in much better shape than when packed 

 with grass in boxes, kegs or baskets. 



I have fished in the New England brooks (that being my 

 native home), and in the waters of many other States, and 

 I have no hesitation in saying that Colorado surpasses any 

 locality in which I ever cast a line. I have also fished in 

 other parts of this State than that described in this sketch, 

 but nowhere have I found as many points of interest so 

 easily reached as from Leadville. O. F. S. 



Salina, Kansas. 



THE ST. REGIS DISTRICT. 



"JV/TOIRA, Franklin County, N. Y,, near the Adiron- 

 -Ltx dacks, June IT.— Editor Forest and Stream: Some 

 ten years ago I wrote an article for the Forest and 

 Stream giving a description of that portion of the Adi- 

 rondacks situated within the county of Franklin and 

 known as the St. Regis District. Since that time, or 

 within the last six years, as most of your readers know, 

 great changes have taken place within the borders of 

 this district. Especially is this the case in its northern 

 and eastern parts. Where it was, at that time, an un- 

 broken wilderness, are now several villages of consider- 

 able size. A number of large mills for manufacturing 

 lumber have been erected on the streams, and a railroad 

 is running through its whole length from north to south, 

 which will soon be extended to Tupper's Lake, at the 

 most southern limits of the county. Large numbers of 

 Italian laborers are now at work grading the road bed 

 above Brandon Station for that purpose. My object is to 

 inform the reader what effect all this has had on the 

 game or hunting and fishing in this district, and what 

 prospect there is for sport at either still within its bor- 

 ders. In regard to the hunting, I can say that in most 

 parts of the district, except in the immediate vicinity of 

 the villages, it seems to remain about as good as it was 

 before the lumbering operations commenced in the dis- 

 trict. 



peer hunting has been as good and as many deer were 

 killed m the district last season as in any season, I think, 

 for the last ten years, and according to trustworthy re- 



ports the prospect is as good as ever for good hunting the 

 coming season. A gentleman of this place who sold a 

 large tract of the land in the district to the lumber com- 

 panies went through on the line of the railroad to Tup- 

 per's Lake two weeks ago, and he saw twenty-three deer 

 on the route and did not leave the line of the road. Bear 

 also seem to be still plenty. They were seen quite fre- 

 quently in different parts of the district this spring, and 

 only a short time agolfwo were caught in traps in the 

 township of Duane near Deer River in the eastern part 

 of the district. Without doubt the number of deer in the 

 Adirondacks has considerably fallen off in the past ten 

 years, and the cause of their still being so plentiful here 

 is that, as is well known by all experienced hunters, the 

 deer, as well as bears and some other animals, are fond of 

 frequenting the clearings or openings, where the heavy 

 timber has been cleared away and the underbrush and 

 bushes left standing, as it is in localities where lumber- 

 ing operations have Deen carried on. These clearings, of 

 which there are now large numbers within the district, 

 are soon overgrown with shrubs and bushes, on which 

 deer are fond of feeding, and, without doubt, many are 

 drawn here on that account from other parts of the wil- 

 derness. | 



But the chance for sport at angling for trout, I am 

 sorry to have to state, has, since I wrote the article men- 

 tioned above and since the lumbering operations com- 

 menced here six years ago, greatly diminished in many 

 of the waters of this district, in those portions of it where 

 the lumbering operations are being carried on, in the 

 vicinity of the villages and mills along the streams, and 

 near the lakes and ponds. Still, there are many waters 

 in the western part of the district that are in territoiy 

 not owned by the lumbering companies, of which I shall 

 write further on, where the trout are as plentiful and as 

 good sport can be had as ever. Several causes have led 

 to the decrease of the trout and nearly ruined the sport 

 at angling in the waters situated or running through the 

 parts where the lumbering operations are carried on. 

 First was the clearing of the streams of all obstructions 

 for running logs, and cutting all bushes overhanging their 

 banks, thereby destroying the shade and lurking places 

 of the trout; second, the building of the mills near 

 the heads of streams and allowing all the sawdust 

 and other refuse from them to pass off in the water down 

 the stream, killing or driving the trout below to other 

 waters; and third, the indiscriminate fishing for trout at 

 all times and in all seasons and by all methods, from the 

 common hook and line to snares and gill-nets. The lum- 

 ber companies have large numbers of laborers at their 

 mills and villages, many of whom are in the habit of 

 spending the Sundays in fishing, and they have never 

 been in any way particular what method they practiced 

 if they could only get the trout. Taking all these things 

 together, is it a wonder that trout of any size have been 

 nearly exterminated in these waters? The streams to 

 which I refer here are the east and middle branches of 

 the St. Regis and their tributaries, together with the 

 ponds in their vicinity. Meacham Lake, out of which 

 the east branch has its source, is not included in these 

 waters; but owing to the judicious management of Mr. 

 Fuller in yearly restocking it and preventing fishing in it 

 out of season, the trout have increased rather than 

 diminished in numbers in the lake. 



In the western portion of the district there" are still 

 quite a number of ponds and streams in which the trout 

 are as plentiful as ever, and where excellent sport can be 

 had by the angler. These waters comprise the upper 

 portion of the west branch of the St. Regis and Parish- 

 vibe rivers and their tributaries, and also several ponds 

 of considerable size, among which are McDonald, Wolf, 

 Train, Whitney, Long and Kavanaugh. It is to this por- 

 tion of the district in which these waters are located to 

 which I would now recommend the readers of Forest 

 and Stream who are in search of sport with rod and 

 gun. This portion of the district is distant from any of 

 the villages and from the line of the railroad, conse- 

 quently it has been but comparatively little frequented as 

 yet, and the streams are free from sawmills; and but very 

 little lumbering in this section of the country has been 

 done. The only hotel near where sportsmen can find 

 accommodations is at the Blue Mountain House, at Blue 

 Mountain, near the northeast corner of the part of the 

 district to which I refer. The house is about six miles 

 west from the village of Santa Clara, the nearest point 

 on the railroad. There is a post office at the village and 

 telegraph connections. A good wagon road leads to it 

 from the Mountain House. The location is very healthy, 

 and has on that account been much resorted to of late 

 years by invalids or those troubled with pulmonary com- 

 plaints. The charges here are very moderate compared 

 to what they are in some of the other hotels in the Adiron- 

 dack region. Mr. Henry Phelps,the proprietor, had erected 

 last season at Wolf Pond a nice hunting camp for the ac- 

 commodation of his sporting guests, the country around 

 the pond being a noted hunting ground for deer. There is 

 also excellent trout fishing in the outlet, which is joined 

 near the pond by the outlet of Long Pond, two miles further 

 to the east toward Buck Mountain, which form a junc- 

 tion near the pond, making together quite a large stream 

 and forming the source of the Parishviile River. He also 

 has a camp built at Kavanaugh Pond, three miles west of 

 the house on the opposite side of Blue Mountain. Boats 

 are kept at these ponds and guides furnished to parties 

 visiting them or other hunting and fishing localities in that 

 region. Mr. Phelps is owner of a large tract of land 

 around Blue Mountain and in this part of the district, so 

 parties camping there need have no fear of being driven 

 off or molested. I mention this, as I understand that the 

 several lumber companies, with the railroad company, 

 are about to form all the territory owned or controlled by 

 them into a private park, and that it will all soon be 

 posted and that no one will be allowed to camp on it 

 without a permit from them. I have not recommended 

 the Blue Mountain House on account of any interest I 

 may have in it or its proprietor, but because it is the only 

 estabbshment of the kind in that part of the district 

 where sportsmen can find good accommodations. When 

 I go to the woods I go independently; I have a full camp- 

 ing outfit of my own, and for the last five years, when- 

 ever 1 have been there, I have camped on the borders of 

 some of the waters of the district, and generally through 

 the entire season. 



The portion of the district that I have attempted to de- 

 scribe is, I believe, the best hunting and fishing ground 

 that there now is within its borders or in the northwest- 

 ern portion of the Adirondacks. A. C. 



SNAKES' WEAPONS. 



THE mention of erotalus fangs by Mr. John C. Cahoon 

 in Forest and Stream of March 8, reminds me that 

 an apology has been due from me ever since my hurried 

 reply to "Coahoma" in Forest and Stream of July 21. 

 1887. "Coahoma" was in doubt about a "black snake" 

 which he had found on the banks of the Mississippi, and 

 whether it was a venom one or not, and he did me the 

 honor of consulting my opinion as to what it might be. 

 That issue of Forest and Stream reached me just as I 

 was on the point of dispatching the obituary notice of a 

 thirteen-year-old python (Python sebce), and I hastily 

 added in a P. S. a few words to "Coahoma." The sub- 

 ject then passed from my thoughts until it came back in 

 print, when to my dismay I saw that I had made a very 

 misleading statement in writing "If the snake had no 

 teeth on the palate it was a venomous one!" Whereas I 

 should have said upper jaw instead of palate. For in point 

 of fact all snakes, whether venomous or not, have palate 

 teeth, finely pointed and slanting backward in two rows 

 toward the throat. The palate teeth are important aids 

 to the snake in feeding, and without them the prey could 

 not be firmly retained. I regret so careless an error on 

 my part, and regret also my delay in acknowledging it. 

 The readers of Forest and Stream, who must have ob- 

 served the mistake, have been too polite to call attention 

 to it, and "Coahoma" again invites my opinion regarding 

 the "immature" fangs which he has observed in a moc- 

 casin snake. But first let me entirely efface the effect of 

 my late discrepancy and offer a Httle diagram of the 

 three forms of dentition which prevail in the palate and 

 upper jaws of snakes: 



Fig. 1 represents the colubrine, or entu-ely harmless 

 6nakes, which have four rows of upper teeth, two on the 

 palate and one in each jaw. Fig. 2 represents the venom- 

 ous colubrines, such as the coral elaps of America and 

 the cobra of India, with one or two simple teeth in addi- 

 tion to fixed fangs. Fig. 3 represents the vipers and the 

 CrotalicUe, which have fangs only in the upper jaw, and 



4 



PALATE AND UPPER JAW TEETH OF S?.A1-ES. 



The larger dots represent tlie fangs. 

 [From Fayrer'a l,i Thanatop?iidia.' n ] 



sufficiently terrible to do the work required of them. The> 

 palate teeth of these serpents are fewer, as will be seen. 

 So that what I ought, and intended, to have said was that 

 the absence of a row of simple teeth in the upper jaw of a. 

 snake would be a pretty sure proof of its being venomous- 

 Potent as are the viperine and erotalus fangs toxically,, 

 they are feeble mechanically, and easily come out, as- 

 from the force of the stroke. The other day, at the Lon- 

 don Zoological Gardens, a very young viper (a puff adder 

 from Africa) struck at one of the others of the same^ 

 brood, and a fang was left sticking in the side of the' 

 head. It was with no fratricidal intention that the little 

 viper attacked its brother (or sister), but in sheer stu- 

 pidity, during feeding time. The young puff adder, hear- 

 ing the keeper open the trap door whence came the food 

 supplies, struck at the nearest living creature, which 

 happened to be one of its own relations. Even in young: 

 vipers — and as "pit vipers" the rattlesnakes are included! 

 — the reserve fangs in various stages are found. Those 

 ophiologists who have devoted careful attention to the- 

 development of the poison tooth are of opinion that the) 

 shedding and replacement of the functional fang is a 

 regular process, and not that a secondary one is: 

 awaiting an accident, so to speak, to become func- 

 tional. But when, by accident, the functional fang; 

 is lost, a longer period may elapse before it is re- 

 placed than if it were expelled by a mature secondary. 

 Dr. Weir Mitchell has shown this. ' 'A crop of young, 

 teeth, or of fangs, work their way into the intervals of 

 the old ones and gradually expel these latter," writes 

 another distinguished opliiologist. Occasionally the 

 most advanced reserve fang is sufficiently forward even 

 to inflict a wound, which accounts for the fact that 

 sometimes the marks of two punctures are seen close 

 together on one or both sides where the person has been 

 bitten, proving that a secondary as well as the functional 

 fang had inflicted a bite in that spot. 



In the above diagram the two fangs (Fig. 4) above the 

 viperine jaw are Crotalus fangs: one, folded back against 

 the gum, is in its natural position when at rest; the other 

 is as when brought down ready for use. It is interesting 

 to observe the difference of form between a Crotalus and 

 a viper fang. The close observer will detect a sort of 

 double curve, or a slight recurve of the extreme point in 

 a Crotalus fang, while the viper's is strictly crescent- 

 shaped, a true segment of a circle. This double curve 

 will be seen in most of the familiar American snakes, 

 the moccasin z the black water viper and the copperhead, 

 which, though not possessing a rattle, belong to the 

 Crotalidm, They have that curious pit — the doubles- 

 narine of the French ophiologist Duineril— in then- 

 cheek, and other rattlesnake characteristics. After 

 once noting this peculiarity of the Crotalus fang, it is 

 not difficult in a collection of mixed fangs, to separate 

 them from the rest. Those in the diagram are perhaps a 

 trifle too stout for their length. To represent the ex- 

 treme fineness and exquisite finish of a serpent's poison 

 tooth by pen and ink is impossible. The finest needle 

 under a magnifier is coarse in comparison with it. 



There is another feature in those members of the rattle- 

 snake family which have no rattles, but which from the 

 pit or fosse in the cheeks are called "pit vipers." And 

 this is a spine at the end of the tail which brings nfe- 



