314 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 7, im. 



PIKE CALLED PICKEREL. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



llr. Bean, in his description of the pike and pickerel in 

 your paper of the6tliulc,, says of the largest pickerel 

 that 81bs, is a large weight, the averge being smaller. 

 Now, a question arises from my having seen an arlicle in 

 a paper published in Reading, Mich., wherein a man 

 named James Court wright is said to have caught a pick- 

 erel from Sand Lake which weighed 261b3. A number of 

 us thought that a huge fish story, and a controvei'sy arose 

 which we ask you to please decide. What is the weight 

 of the largest pickerel caught? Also, are those fish which 

 inhabit the small lakes of Michigan genuine pickerel? 



Sergeant. 



FoBT Keogh, Montana. 



[There is great confusion in the common names of fish 

 belonging'to the pike family. The common pike in some 

 parts of the country, as for instance at Lake George, N, 

 T., is generally called pickerel. The pike, as you know, 

 grows to a Aveight of even 401bs.. and this is doubtless the 

 fish called jnckerel in some Michigan lakes. . The true 

 pici-erel is not known to excped a weight of 8ibs. Dr. 

 Bean used the name pickerel for the smaller fishes to 

 which the name is referred in most -parts of the East and 

 a large portion of the West. The name pickerel is not 

 confined, however, to the pike family, but is frequently 

 used for a very distinct fish, the pike-perch or wail eyed 

 pike. We shall soon publish the concluding portion of 

 the account of the -pike family, and this will contain 

 illustrations which will enable the angler to distinguish 

 clearly between the pike, the pickerel and the musca- 

 longe.] 



AN ALBINO BROOK TROUT. 



Editor Forest and Strea.-in-: 



A few days ago Mr. E. G. Blackford, President of the 

 New York Fish Commissiou, sent me a most singular 

 and beautiful brook trout, which he obtained from the 

 Lackawaxen, near Mount Pleasant, Wayne county, Pa. 

 The fish is an albino and must have been lovely in life. 

 Nothing of this kind has previously come to my notice in 

 the many thousands of brook trout which I have seen, 

 and I can not now recall a similar albino among any 

 members of the salmon family. The specimen has been 

 forwarded to the National Museum. 



The length of the fish is 6iin. The upper jaw reaches 

 to somewhat behind the posterior margin of the eye. 

 The teeth are well developed, those on the tongue being 

 largest. 



The head and body are pale golden yellow in color, and 

 tlie dorsal fin is entu-ely golden with the' exception of 

 two very faint pale bands across its middle portion. 

 Three small, but distinct, crimson spots on the left side 

 of the body below the lateral line in the space between 

 the middle of the pectoral and the end of the dorsal. 

 The caudal fin is golden also at the base and crimson over 

 the rest of its surface. The pectorals, ventrals and anal 

 are crimson. The ventral has a whitish outer edge, the 

 anal with a similar edge bounded behind by a thin, dark 

 stripe. On the right side of the body there are three 

 crimson spots, of which the third is the smallest and on 

 the lateral line. Very faint and pale parr marks on the 

 sides with smaller markings between them, these mark- 

 ings so faint as to be readily overlooked. No trace of 

 reticulations anywhere. T. H. Bean. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



WHEN peoijle go a-fisliing they sometimes catch 

 something besides fish. An angler who lives near 

 the Earitan River, and often enjoys a day's fishing there, 

 reports that in addition to a 15-pouud catfish, he caught 

 at different times during the season the following: One 

 scythe, one water bucket, loft, of heavy tow line, one rod 

 tip with 50ft. of line attached, and a. few other odds and 

 ends in the way of tackle. He does not mention the bait 

 he used. A few seasons ago, a gentleman chumming 

 in the Great South Bay for bluefish, hooked up a line and 

 carefully hauling it in brought up a fine Newpart bass 

 rod, with a very elegant rubber and German silver steel 

 pivot reel attached. It was not much injured and only 

 cost a trifle to put in order. It must have cost when new 

 at least $70. 



A letter from the Eestigouche reports that the ice is 

 breaking up and moving out of the lower part of the 

 river. He says, '-If warm weather continues, look out 

 for a telegram, as we shall have the earliest saliaaon fish- 

 ing on record." Reports from the Adirondacks and 

 Maine also indicate a very early season, and many parties 

 are getting ready to start. Unless wet and cold weather 

 sets in again, it will be safe to count on lake trout fishing 

 by the lOth of this month. 



Striped bass are now being caught, and last Sunday a 

 few sea bass were taken in Jamaica Bay; so we may con- 

 sider the fishing season fairly opened. The 20i-pound 

 striped bass, mentioned in last week's issue of this pnper, 

 was caught on a white worm. 



There never lias been such an immense crowd of people 

 visiting the trout streams as has been witnessed this sea- 

 son. All the well-known resorts in the Eastern and 

 Middle States report that they are full to oveiflowing. 

 Some had good luck and many more bad, if it can be 

 called luck. If those interested, that is the tavern and 

 boarding house keepers and also the railroads, will see 

 that the streams are kept stocked and the laws enforced, 

 they will reap a harvest. Every year the interest in fish- 

 ing seems to increase and people find that it does them a 

 world of good to take a breathing spell, even if only for a 

 day or two, among the woods and mountains and" along 

 the streams. Many of the railroads and owners of sum- 

 mer hiDtels are doing good work in the way of restocking, 

 but there is one thing they do not insist upon, and that 

 is that their guests shall not bring in fingerlings. The 

 beginner finds that it requires more skill than he posesses 

 to capture good sized trout, so he has recourse to the little 

 side streams which should be i)reserved as feeders and 

 there slays his fifty or a hundred baby trout with bait and 

 brings them in with great satisfaction to himself a.nd to 

 the disgust of all anglers. Then there is another nuisance 

 met with at all angling resorts, and that is the fish hawk, 

 and it might be spelled hog. This is sometimes a country 

 man who fishes either for the hotels or for would-be 

 anglers who must bring home a cart load of fish, or often 

 it is a boarder from the city who is staying through the 



season. In either case they are very expert, using flies, 

 minnows or worms with equal skill; they know every 

 foot of the stream and where the big ones live, they are 

 at it from morning to night, day in and day out, and keep 

 every trout to send away, to friends they claim. No one 

 objects to a man being skillful or successful, but there 

 should be a limit put on a man's catch. No sooner do 

 a number of men start a club than they put a limit to 

 their members' catch and if this is necessary on preserved 

 waters it is still more so on an open stream. Personally 

 I think 25 fair sized trout is enough for any one to kill in 

 one day, and let weight and not numbers mark the best 

 angler. 



Good-bye to the dear old Adirondacks! Another rail- 

 road has just been incorporated to cut it in two sections 

 running from North Creek to Malone, It is too bad, but 

 nothing can or will deter rich men from making more 

 money. What do they care? Scarlet Ibis. 



Potomac River Fishing.— Washington, D. C, May 2. 

 —In company with Walter Caulfield I went fishing to- 

 day in the Potomac, near Georgetown, opposite the small 

 rocky islands known as the Three Sisters. We used 

 worms for bait and the usual rig of handlines and sinkers 

 with boats. We tried uncuccessfully from the river bank 

 for a while and then borrowed a boat and anchored in 

 the stream in about 8 or 10ft. of water. The tide was 

 low and there was a stiff wind blowing up the river. 

 Several other fishermen on the shores had no better luck 

 than om-selves. In about three hours we caught from 

 our boat sixty-three perch, the largest averaging about 

 lOin. in lenyth. Another boat fishing four lines had 

 more than twice as m^ny white perch as we. A few 

 yellow perch were caught, but these were small. About 

 2:30 P. M. the fish suddenly and almost entirely stopped 

 biting: this, I suppose, was owing to a turn of the tide. 

 Near Little Falls, a few miles away, a man caught 140 

 white perch in a little eddy, using worms for bait. It 

 seems to be the usual experience that fhore fishing is 

 about useless waste of time for these fish, at least here. 

 Near Chain Bridge there have been some good catches of 

 black bass, but it is too bad to take them 'now, when so 

 many of them arc full of eggs.— Paitl Moeris. 



A Large Leather Carp.— Washington, D, C— In pass- 

 ing through the market to-day my attention was called to 

 a monster carp lying on one of the fish stands. Several 

 of the marketmen told me it is the largest they have seen 

 from the Potomac. This fine one was caught in the shad 

 seine of Wm. M. Neitzey.at Stony Point. Thinking that 

 the readers of Forest and Stream may be pleased to 

 know something abrait the measurements of this fish I 

 have recorded the folio wing data: AVeight, 24lbs.; length, 

 3;3in.; head, 7in.: tail fin, 6in.; middle rays of tail fin, 

 3in,; depth of body, about llin.; least depth of tail, 4in ; 

 length of barbel, lin. The dorsal fin has three spines and 

 twenty-two soft rays. The third anal spine is very stout 

 and 4in. long. The carp are pretty constantly to be found 

 in our markets and sell readily at a moderate price. — 



BONART. 



PENNSYLVA>nA NoTES.— From Hon. H, C. Ford, presi- 

 dent of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission, we learn that 

 numerous salmon measuring 5 to 6in. in length were 

 caught by anglers in the upper Delaware Rivpr last fall 

 and supposed to be a new kind of trout. They w^ere 

 doubtless some of the 10 ),000 fry deposited near Hancock 

 and Deposit in the preceding February. Tbe fish basket 

 bills in the House and Senate of Pennsylvania were de- 

 feated only after a spirited and somewhat protracted 

 fight. Mr. Ford fears that the continued dry weather 

 will lower the trout streams too much "^for good 

 fishing. Low water in the rivers is just the thing for 

 black bass in summer, but for the trout livelier currents 

 are required. Shad were running through the Lacka- 

 waxen fish ways on April 19. 



Brook Trout in Towa.— Waukon, Iowa, April 29.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream: On the 25th inst. the writer, 

 together with two friends, went about eight miles north- 

 west of Waukon, Iowa, to a small stream called Patterson 

 Cx-eek and caught what is considered in this section of the 

 country a fine string of brook trout; the lai-gest one 

 weighing 13oz. and the smallest 6oz. ; and you may 

 believe that we were a proud trio, as it is a rare thing in 

 this county to see a string of brook trout, There are 

 several streams that would by stocking make fine trout 

 fishing in a few years, and we hope to have them stocked 

 in the near future. We have excellent bass and p ke 

 fishing within a few miles of Waukon , lo wa. — ^A Constant 

 Reader of Forest and Stream. 



"Monarch of the Pool." — The address of Mr. L. M. 

 Gerrish, mentioned in this article last week as one who 

 would guide to the trout waters therein described, is 

 Brownville, Me^ 



Rennet 



All communications must reach us by Tuesday 

 of the week they are to be published; and should 

 be sent as much earlier as may be convenient. 



FIXTURES. 

 DOG SHOWS. 



Sept., 1 to 4.— Dog Show of tlie A''ouTigBtown Keimel Club, at 

 yoiingsfown. O. 



Sept. 0 toll.— First Anauil Dog Show of the Hamilton Kennel 

 Olnti, at Hamilton, Ont. 



Sept. 14 to IS.— Toronto Industrial Exhibition Association Third 

 International Dos; Show, at Toronto. C. A. St' De, See'y anii .Sunt. 



Sept. ~3 to 2!i.— Inatiguva] Do? Sliow of the Montreal Exposition 

 Company, at Montreal, Canada. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Nov. 3.— Inaneural Trials of the Uniied States Field Trial Club, 

 at Bicknell, Ind. P. T. Madison, Secrelary. 



Nov. 10.— Eastern Field Trials Cluli's Tbirtcenth Annual Trials, 

 at High Point, N. C. Member&' .Stake Nov. 12. W. A. Coaler, 



Nnv.' 30.— Central Field Trial Club's Third Annual Trials, at 

 Lexington, N. C. C. H. Odell, Sec'y, 44 and 46 Wall street, New 

 York city. 



Dec. 14.-Philadelphia Kennel Club's Field Trials. Oh&rles B. 

 Connell, Secretary. - - 



THE VREDENBURGH-PESHALL CASE. 



OUE. report of the trial last week grave a concise but coiq- 

 prehensive and intelligible review of the case. We 

 supplement it to-day with the text of .Judge Martine's 

 charge to the jury. A fortnight ago, while the trial was in 

 progress, we spolie of the manifest fairness which character- 

 ized J udge Martine's rulings, and the same spirit of judicial 

 impartiality is recognized through the charge. Just what 

 effect the charge had on the individual jtxrors, we have not; 

 learned, but as was reported last week, the acquittal of Mr. 

 Peshall for having said the accounts were "juggled" was 

 arrived at only after the jury had looked into the books in 

 the jury room. 



We understand that Mr, Peshall will now apply to the 

 courts for a mandamus coiMpelllDg the A. K. C. to remove 

 the .suspension put upon him in secret meeting and without 

 a hearing last 'September. As the courts have reoeatedly 

 ruled on this point, there is no doubt that Mr. Peshall will 

 be restored to his rights. 



THE COURT'S CHARGE. 

 Gentlemen of Vtr Jurii: 



I suppose It will not be amiss iti a case that has fcaXen as mucli 

 time as this has taken, to get at the tacts, to the end thatyon may 

 determine whether guilt or innocence is heiv. presented, to eon- 

 EJ atulate you that you are now about to be disohai-ged from the 

 further consideration of the case. The ca'^e is now to be submitted 

 to you for you to determine whether a citizen of this community 

 has been libeled. 



Rut you may well ask. What is libel? because it has been the 

 subject of much consideration by the writers upon law, and has 

 been the subject frequently of consideration in courts of justice. 



1 may say to you that this accusation, that a charge of this 

 character is not a charge of a trivial cliaracter, in that it is 

 claimed that it is a charge which offends ttie person against whom 

 it is aimed, because it brings him into disrepute and hob's him up 

 to contempt, contumely and hatred. Therefore, although it is 

 called a crime, and it is a crime of a lower order, not being con- 

 sidered so great, in the scale of crime, as that other class of crimes 

 which offends the person, such as assault with a weapon, still, 

 gentlemen, it is a crime which we have to consider in these courts 

 of justice jnsfc as we w"uld any otlier cri'iie of the same grade. 



'•The groitnd of the criminal proceeding in cases of this kind is 

 the public mischief which libels aio calculated to create in. 

 alienating the minds of the people from religion and good morals, 

 rendering them hostile to the government and magistracy of the 

 countr.y. and, v/here particular individuals arc attacked in caus- 

 ing sucli irritation in their minds as may indtice them to commit 

 a breach of the peace," and it i? for that reason that libels can be 

 brotight to the criminal side of tbe bar. 



"Slander in writing has at all times, and with good reason, lieen 

 punished in a more exemplary manner than slanderous words, 

 for, as it has a greater tendency to provoke men to breaches of 

 the peace, quarrels and murders, it is of mtich more dangerous 

 consequence to society." 



"A libel, in its strict legal sense, consists of .slander expressed in 

 any other way than by mere words. If it were simpl.v'the word 

 of mouth, it would be slander. But when the .slander is expressed 

 in writing, iben the law calls the .slander libel; and it may be ex- 

 pressed by printed slander it may he conveyed by figures, it may 

 he coti veyed by signs, by pictures or other symliol; and if may be 

 defined as a censorious or ridiculing writing, picture or' sign, 

 made with a mischievous and mab'cious interit toward govern- 

 ment, magistrates or individuals," and the charge here is that it 

 was done against an individual. 



"Any slander, either expressed in printing, writing, signs or 

 pictures, tending either to Dlaclcen the memory nf one that is dead, 

 or tlie reputation of one who is alive, and to expose him to dis- 

 grace or contempt is indictable." 



Now, gen'lemen, to substantiate the charge made here there 

 must be something more tlian the mere writing of the article. It 

 must be accompanied or followed by publicitiMn. Publication, in 

 this sense, does not mean the advertising it, neccbsardy, in a 

 new.-pap r, but there may be various modes of publication". The 

 ptiblication may be made by reading the article to a person who 

 may be met on the highway, by showing it to a friend, or by send- 

 ing it to another person with the intent that he shall pnhiish it. 

 Therefore, I say to you that it does not m^an solely the putdica- 

 tion in a newspaper. But, in this particular case at bar, it i.s 

 charged that that was the mode and meihodof publicarion— to 

 wit, that the publication was caused bv this dnfendant to be made 

 in a newspaper known as the Fokest and t'TiiiLiiM. 



It is charged that the publication was his inducing act, and that 

 it was he who sent that minuseript or that matter, of whieh he 

 says he is the author, to that newspaper, and that that was Ms 

 mode of publication of that matter. 



If that matter was not libelous there was no harm in that pub- 

 lication, and no offense was committed. 



In this case, unlilie any other character of case that may be sub- 

 mitted to a jury, the law gives you a verv great - a very wide lati- 

 tude. First, you are to say was it a lihel. The Court canuot 

 characterize it. The Court cannot say, "If such was the language, 

 that is libelous." because you are to determine whether it was 

 libelous, and if it was not libelous, no offense has been com- 

 mitted. 



The Constitution of this State has said that the jury, in cases of 

 this kind, shall be the judees both of the lawand '>r the facts; and 

 1 confess, gentlemen, that I have liad some difliculty in informing 

 myself as to what th« motive or reason was that led those persons 

 who took part in that constitutional co'iveutiou to ingraft this 

 provision into the Oianstitution iL^elf. There ma.y he some ques- 

 tion as to just what that reason was. But, gertlemen, in view of 

 the fact tbat "there is no specific and preclie definition lo be 

 found of what facts and circumstances Ci.inatituie a libel, and 

 that consequently it is ditficulr,if not impossible, to pronounce 

 that any writing is, pci' sc and exclusive of all circumstances, 

 libelous; that its libelous character must depend on its intent and 

 tendency, and the one and the other of whicla, being matter of fact, 

 must be found by tbe jury," it maybe tliat those who ingrafted 

 this into our Constitution bad that in view, for certain it is that 

 it is diffictilt. if not impossible, sometimes to pronounce that any 

 writing is ver se libelous, that exclusive of all circumstances it is 

 libelous. Its libelous character depends upon its intent and ten- 

 dency, so that the jury must say what wa<s its intent and what 

 was its tendency, and whether it was libelous trnder all the cir- 

 cumstances. This defendant is indicted under the section of the 

 code which defines libel. It reads as follows: 



"A malicious publication, by writing, or otherwise than by 

 mere speech, which expo.=esanyJivin.gpBr.son to hatred, contempt, 

 ridicnle or obloquy, or which has a tendency to injure any person 

 in his business or occupation, is a libel." 



I have read only so much of that sect ion of tho code as, in my 

 judgment, bears directly upon this case, or such portion of it as 

 It may be claimed by the learned District Attorney that this 

 accusation may comf under. Before there can be a libel you 

 must find that there was a malicious puidication, by writing, or 

 otherwise than by more speecii, wliich exposes a liviTig person to 

 hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy, or which has a tendency 

 to injttre any person in his business or occupation. 



You may ask yourselves then, was this a malicious publication 

 — this libelous article, so claimed, which is in eviden e before .you 

 —was it a malicious publication? Did it exp se a 1-ving person to 

 hat^^d, to contempt, lo ridicule or obloquy, or had it a tendency 

 to injure a person in his business or occupation? 



W.MS the publication malicious? 



Our code says: 



"A publication having the tendency or effect, mentioned in 

 section two hundred and forty-two, is to be deemed malicious, if 

 no jurisdiction or excuse therefor is shown." 



Of course, the contrary foUoM's. If justification or excuse is 

 shown it is not to be deemed to he malicious. 



"The puhlicHtion is justified when the matter charged as libel- 

 ous is true and nublisfied with good motives and for justifiable 

 ends." 



I charge you. gputlempn— but recollect in this case that you are 

 to determine botb the law and tbe facts— I charge you- 1 a^k you 

 the question wheth'T, if the publication was true, and still was 

 published with malicious intent, whether it is a libelous publica- 

 tion. I shall not under' at- e to determine any question o' law in 

 this case in submitting the case to you for your determinfi tion. 



"The publication is excused when it is honestly made, in the 

 belief of its truth and upon reasonable grounds for this belief, 

 and consists of fair comments up^in the conduct of a iierson in 

 respect of Dublic affairs, or upon a thing which the proprietor 

 thereof otfers or explains to the public." 



Kow, gentlemen, these persons were all associated together in 

 some way— as to what their respects ve rii^bts in that association 

 or club were, I willlea ve you to determine upon the proof. But cer- 

 tain it is that all the person^ who have been before you, whether 

 as officers of ihis Kennel Cmbor as deh gares tnit, all had ini erests, 

 all had a concern in tbe affairs of that a^-sociatiou, and Istiall leave 

 it for you to say whether this defeudanr, as it is admitted he did 

 in this case, when he, from time to time, demanded further and 

 additional information than that wtiich had been theretolore 



