JXTLY S8, 18910 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



7 



we turned our faces from the sympathetic crowd and 

 soug;hfc to hide our grief under the shadow of placidity. 



Joe, who was interested about his boat, came to us and 

 said that if he could have the use of the boat in green, 

 in which the two soldiers were toying: with their lives, 

 he would tempt the angry seas and go after her. I 

 sought its omier, or rather the one who had it in charge, 

 a lieuteuant, a.nd asked for its loan to save the property, 

 but he flatly refused, saying, "I couldn't think of doing 

 it," or words to that effect. 



"Well." says I to Ned, "what do you think of that?" 



He at first seemed to doubt the "refusal, but when it 

 dawned upon him in its ignoble proportions, he found 

 that the infirmititi^ of the English language hemmed his 

 rasje, so he sought- consolation in Arabic, which is ex- 

 preFsly designed fnj- the use of tlic afHieted. With these 

 indignant manifostations, the lieutenant was completely 

 obliterated from our memories as if no such selfish being 

 f.ver ex isted. 



At this juncture Ned went into the cabin to tell of the 

 Involuntary departure of our boat to Mr. Ganley, of 

 BachoAv^anuna: Bay, one of the principal owners of the 

 North Shore FipJieries. As soon as he was made aware 

 of trip loss be came hurriedly on deck, and taking in the 

 situation at a glance, ordered the engineer to slow up im- 

 mediately, and then told Joe and John to take the re- 

 •raaining iViackinac sailboat that was in tow, and start for 

 the boat. The craft was pulled up, and our boys sprang 

 into her over the railing like monlfeys, and at once seiz- 

 ing the oars, soon had her riding the waves safely. 



"Now," says Mr. Ganley, "those soldiers must come 

 out of that green boat, or she will capsize below, where 

 we strike the heaviest seas," 



The boat was immediately pulled up, and the soldiers, 

 who had begun to realize by this time their hazardous 

 .situation, were glad to reach the deck: of the steamer. A 

 full head of steam was again put on, and the. little tug 

 thundered along once more. 



Mr. Ginley stated that our men would be at the "Soo" 

 with our boat long before dark. "Both of them," he 

 continued, "used to fish for me at the bay, and I have 

 seen them go out to the reefs to lift their nets when the 

 sea was boiUng in foam, I know just exactly what they 

 can do in stormy weather, and this blow is nothing to 

 them." 



We felt relieved at this statement, as the contents of 

 the boat wej e of no consequence to tis when compared to 

 hazard of life. 



Mr. Ganley ia one of nature's noblemen, and carries 

 the impress "of it in liis frank and manly countenance, 

 Hi^ presence on the boat was fortunate for us, for it not 

 only resulted in the saving of the boat and its contents, 

 but without doubt the lives of the soldiers also. 



We watched our boat as she rode the battling waves 

 nntil it disappeared from sight, and then we again took 

 additional interest in the tumultuous waters that were 

 pounding and drenching the little tug that was making 

 the most strenuous efforts for the distant port. 



Ned said to a crowd that had gathered around him: 

 "This little flurry of the sea is simply cliild's play, I have 

 seen the waves on many an occasion roll so high as to 

 throw the water in the snrokestack; and in the late fall 

 frequently noticed the boats come in to the "Soo" so com- 

 pletely covered with ice that it required hours to clear it 

 away "in order to release the crew and passengers." 



So"me one, as Ned concluded, gave a shrill whistle, 

 while another cried out "Haul in the slack;" but just at 

 that moment an unusually heavy sea broke over the rail 

 that scattered the crowd to the barrels on the lee side and 

 thus stopped Ned's yarning. The sky had now deexiened 

 into violet and the clouds coursed along it in white musses 

 like the kaleidoscope texture of cobwebs. Tlie wind 

 gathei-ed additional strength every moment and the waves 

 rose higher and higher, while the bow of the steamer 

 buried itself in the foamy masses that were spitefully 

 tossed aside. 



Some one cried out after we had got well by Parisian 

 Island: "She is all right now." 



I wondered if she had been all wrong before. It was, 

 doubtless, the response of some gladdened heart, who, as- 

 certaining that we were now out of the trough of the sea, 

 with the wind at our heels, thought that all danger, if 

 any, had passed. 



The tug was assm-edly going all right, for the pound- 

 ing at the windward had now ceased, and the angry 

 waves, though heavy, raced at us as "stern chasei-s." 

 The lake was rapidly narrowing and soon we were 

 through Wliitefish Bay and into the head of the river, 

 and then all was lovely, indeed, for the tumult of the sea 

 had here become perfectly insignificant. It was but a 

 few miles to the "Soo," through beautiful stretches of 

 scenery, and then the tr outing trip, which had been one 

 of unalloyed pleasure to us, had now become a reminis- 

 cence ever pleasant to dwell upon. 



Joe returned before dark with our boat, which he had 

 captured near Gros Cap Island, and that was the closing 

 incident of the month's outing. Alex. Starbxjck. 



CnfCES-NATI. 



NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., July 18.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: Articles by Gen. Brace in your paper on 

 the State Association have interested me, and I hope that 

 they will attract sufficient attention to result in a move- 

 ment that will lead to a State organization with branches 

 in every county, whose object shall be better protection. 

 If Gen. Bruce should receive enough encouragement, 

 . let him call a meeting at Syracuse, and through your 

 paper invite all parties interested. 



It has occurred to me that much more will be accom- 

 plished and that we will have the general public with us 

 it we make our object protection of food fish; that is, 

 fish that is found in ttie market at ten cents a pound or 

 less. 



Let the matter of game fish j)rotection come in after- 

 ward, for what do 90 per cent, of the people care whether 

 tlie brook trout are protected. 



They can never enjoy them by catching, nor afford to 

 buy them, or in other words, an organization desiring to 

 get protection by the laws must not confine themselves 

 to narrow, selfish purposes, but endeavor to accomplish 

 something resulting in the good for the public generally. 



This they can do by increasing the supply of cheap 

 food fi«h, and when they have accomplished this and the 

 good results seen they will have no diiBculty in enlarg- 

 ing the laws to protect the game fish, 



Frank J. Amsd£;:v. 



RUBBER WADERS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The insatiate Hough having fired one conundrum at 

 his fellow fishermen about his wading gear, follows it up 

 with another far weightier shaft, almost before his how- 

 string has ceased to vibrate from the first, The writer 

 (who thought he knew before just what Mr, Hough 

 wanted) has been a little more wary this time and has 

 been waiting patiently to hear some piscatorial expert 

 tell Mr, Hough why his waders persist in leaking. But 

 as nobody else seems disposed to venture an opinion, pos- 

 sibly a suggestion or two may be serviceable. Mr. H. does 

 not say whether the wading outfit of which he complains 

 is a, new one and leaks ah initio, or whether the ditiiculty 

 which he seeks to remedy comes from use. If in the first 

 case, the probability is that his waders "seep," that is to 

 say, they leak in the seams. This is the most annoying 

 defect and the hardest to remedy. The higher priced 

 waders, made on silesia, are most liable to this kind of 

 leakage, and one large dealer in rubber goods says confi- 

 dentially that he has always found silesia waders, such 

 as list at $10 to $14, open to this objection. The easiest 

 remedy is to apply a coating of liquid rubber cement 

 along the seams, but this is only temporary and must be 

 renewed at intervals. Strip? of what is known as "sur- 

 geons' tissue" (a very thin rubber sheeting) might be laid 

 along the seam and cemented down \vith a hot iron, or 

 still better, a somewhat heavier sheeting could be used 

 and fastened in place with rubber cement. A good way 

 7iot to prevent leaking is to coat the feet and legs of the 

 waders with a waterproof j^aint ijrepared for folding 

 boats, as the writer onc6 did. The operation was a suc- 

 cess, as far as stopping the original leak was concerned, 

 but the original material (silesia) became so hard and 

 stiff that it cracked neaidy every time the pantaloons 

 were put on, and the last estate of that garment was in- 

 finitely worse than the first. 



The ordinary dull finish waders, such as list at |6, are 

 much less liable to leak in the seams than the more ex- 

 pensive goods; but they crack and split after a time, 

 especially if used much in cool weather and cold water. 

 The golden mean is a wader that is light enough to be 

 thoroughly pliable and to avoid crackins:, and yet heavy 

 enough to be serviceable and strong under all probable 

 conditions of wading and necessarj^ walking on shore. 



As to repairs. If Mr. Hough will go into the nearest 

 bicycle shop in Chicago and purchase a 25-cent roll of the 

 rublier cement used for fastening the rubber tires on 

 wheels, he will have a most valuable adjunct to his fish- 

 ing kit. A bit of rubber cloth coated with it and jjressed 

 on with a hot iron will make any ordinary sized hole or 

 rent impervious to water, and its general adhesive quali- 

 ties are of the highest order. It is a most excellent arti- 

 cle for fastening the ferrules on a rod, since they are 

 simply immovable at all natural temperatures, but plip 

 off readily when heated. For snelling hooks or tying 

 files, a bit of this cement produces the most durable of 

 work, and after he has once used it he will never be 

 without it. Lastly, if Mr. Hough will ever stop in Toledo 

 longer than is necessary for him to jump from one train 

 to another, possibly we might be able to tell him several 

 other things he would like to know. Jay Beebe, 



Toledo, O., July 18. 



AN AFTERNOON ON THE SACO. 



AS I was unable to make satisfactory arrangements for 

 my annual trip to the Maine wilderness, I decided 

 to take a week's vacation at my old home, a small village 

 in Maine, near the Saco River. A few years ago, thanks 

 to the elficient Fish and Game Commissioners of the 

 State, this river was stocked with black bass; and with 

 these and what few partridges we might drive up, I 

 hoped to have some fair sport. My companion in "Fish- 

 ing Under Difliculties" being unable to join me until the 

 second or tbird day of my vacation, I was forced to en- 

 tertain myself alone. 



So one noon I approached my father with, "Don't you 

 want to go fishing this afternoon?'' "No, I don't believe 

 I can go," But as it did not come out with his itsual 

 decision, I took it as an acceptance and proceeded to get 

 ready. When I came out with my minnow pail, basket 

 and an extra rod, and asked him if he was ready, he 

 replied, "Yes. I guess so, but I don't want to fish." "Oh, 

 well, I can tend two rods all right,'' I replied; and we 

 started for the river. We lost no time in getting our boat 

 fixed up, and started for a sandbar to catch our bait. 

 After I had secured five or six minnows, father frequently 

 advised me that we had "more bait than we'd git fish." 

 Acting upon his advice, I made for our fishing ground 

 with about a dozen lively minnows. We soon reached 

 my favorite spot, a wide, deep pool in the river at the 

 foot of some rapids, and tied up under an old tree. 



As soon as I could get fix^d up and a minnow on the 

 hook I passed it to "the boy" and again heard "I don't 

 want to fish." "Well, you hold the rod till I get mine 

 ready," I replied. I took plenty of time in doing this, 

 hopingr that fatker would get a strike, and knowdng that 

 if he did I should only have one rod to handle. And sure 

 enough, before my arrangements were complete, he had 

 hooked a small bass and landed him in the boat with 

 little ceremony. I lost no time in baiting his hook and 

 we cast om- minnows together. Taking as much interest 

 in watching his line as my own, I was soon rewarded by 

 seeing it rapidly taken to the middle of the river, "I've 

 got a good one this time," and in came a monster— chub. 

 "Humph! only a chub." While he was disposing of his 

 catch I had secured another, and was rewarded by hear- 

 ing th.e old gent say: "We're catching cat food" now." 

 But on the next cast he hooked a dandy bass and by the 

 time we had him in the landing-net, my companion was 

 enthused with the true fisherman's ardor. And now, 

 while waiting for the uncertain bass, and losing several 

 minnows rather mysteriously, he entertained me with 

 many reminiscences of his boyhood, and how sixty or 

 more years ago he had run away fishing, to receive on 

 his return the usual .clipper application, which in no wise 

 discouraged him from trying it again, however. And 

 later, how he had been codfishing on the banks when it 

 took more pluck and time than it now requires to make 

 the trij). 



While listening to him I had felt something fooling 

 around my hook, and with a quick pull I hooked what 

 seemed to be the bottom of the river. Reeling in my 

 line I was told, ' 'If I can get my hands on that line I'll 

 show you how to do it." I stepped into the bow and 

 brought the line in so that he could grasp it, and he 



quickly pulled a 41b3, eel into the boat. And now the 

 fun began. The eel had the hook well down in his 

 throat, and how to get it out was a corker. "Let me 

 hold him," and father made a grab at the eel. But the 

 eel wouldn't have it. "I know I can hold him," and rub- 

 bing his hands on the bottom of tiie boat, the old gent 

 grabbed him again, with a grip that would have held a 

 veritable sea serpent. With considerable trouble I got 

 the hook out, and we put him in the locker with the rest 

 of our catch. And as we put him away we knew that 

 the robber which had taken our minnows had met his 

 fate. A few more casts and the last of our minnows was 

 gone. As the sun was getting low we started for home. 

 Secm-ing the boat, I put our r^tch into the basket and 

 found the scores to be: Father's— 1 chub, 1 eel and 5 bass. 

 Mine— 4 chub. But notwithstanding my poor success I 

 had passed the pleasantest half day of my vacation. 

 Maldbn, Mass. The DRUMMER. 



THE CATFISH OF THE SOUTH. 



THERE are some things about our catfish down here 

 in Texas that are not known to those living in the 

 North, and are woi'thy of note. • They abound in great 

 numbers in our rivers, and are highly esteemed as table 

 fish, and here in Victoria, Texas, catching them is quite 

 an industry that furnishes employment the year round 

 for a number of men, who delight more in the hunter's 

 and trapppr's life than in following the more humdrum 

 home pursuits. 



We ship from here per week about 4,0001bs., and the 

 other day I heard a fisherman say that he was eroing to 

 quit, as that week he had only caught about 800Ibs., and 

 that catch didn't pay him well enough. They sell re,adily 

 to the shipper here at 3 cents per pound, and keep better 

 than almost any other fish, and have fewer bones. They 

 grow to weigh over lOOlbs., and are of two kinds. The 

 mud cat has a very large head and yellowish color, and 

 is not attractive looking: but these are not the most 

 abundant and are not very frequently caught. 



The fish that is mostly "ca;ught is a blue catfish, with 

 long slender body and smfill head, and when taken from 

 the water it is really a handsome fish. They are caught 

 by stretching lines across a river or bayou, and attaching 

 to it a number of short lines, with sinker, baited with 

 beef or perch, and in endeavoring to secure the bait the 

 fish usually hook themselves. The long trot line being 

 tied to small ti-ees, which are flexible like a pole, and give 

 way somewhat to the struggles of the fish, serve to pre- 

 vent their escaping until the fisherman in his boat comes 

 along and secures them. 



These fish inhabit the same clear water as the black 

 bass, and are as game as any fish caught in our waters. 

 I have caught them on a spoon in the clear water, and 

 watched them dart at the bait and take it with almost as 

 swift a rush as the bass, and the playing of a 10 or 181b. 

 blue cat furnishes as much enjoyment as the handling of 

 any fish that can be caught, the only difference being a 

 sense of security which the angler has after one is once 

 securely struck, owing to the toughness of their mouths. 

 But even their tough mouths do not always secure the 

 hooked fish to the angler. 



I have on two occasions hooked blue cats, of about 5 or 

 Gibs, weight., on my 12oz, pole, and had them escape by 

 making a vigorous spring out of the water and several 

 feet in the air and shaking the hook from their mouths 

 on the slack thixs gained. 



In common with a majority of fishermen, I had never 

 believed that a catfish would take an artificial bait until 

 by actual experience I have found otherwise. I have 

 caught them on a trolling phantom minnow, on a spoon, 

 and on an alligator's tooth, with feathered-tail hook and 

 when in pursuit of bass. Now, I am never surprised to 

 find that a furious rush and swirl of water results in the 

 canture of one of these game and thorny fish. 



I feel compelled by a sense of justice to this despised 

 species, so little thought of by fishermen and so con- 

 temptously mentioned generally, to say this much in its 

 favor. The pleasures of bass fishing with us are not 

 marred by the fact that one may now and then capture 

 one of these fine fish: for they are more highly esteemed 

 by those who live nearest to our angling waters than any 

 other fish for the table, Gur, 

 YiCTOKTA, Texas, July i. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



THE railway service between New York and the Thou- 

 sand Islands has been greatly improved lately; 

 formerly it took 18 hours to reach Clayton, and now the 

 time has been reduced to about 10 hours. The Clayton 

 express leaving this city at 7;30 P, M. lands the angler at 

 Clayton at 5:30 A. M., in time for a bath and breakfast 

 before starting out for the day's fishing. Large catches 

 of black bass are reported from the St. Lawrence River, 

 but it seems a pity that so many fish should be taken just 

 for the sake of making a display at the landing. At a 

 locality where so many thousands are constantly fishing 

 it would improve matters very much if fishermen could 

 be limited to a reasonable number, say twenty-five bass 

 to a rod and the rest returned to the water. 



The through sleeper to North Creek which used to leave 

 the Grand Central depot at 7:30 has not been j)ut on this 

 season, though so advertised in the Adirondack guide 

 books. It is a great disappointment and inconvenience 

 to hundreds of sportsmen and tourists who wish to visit 

 the Blue Mountains and Raquette region. Whenever 

 there is any disagreement among railroad men the public 

 have to suifer. Sportsmen, perhaps, do not mind it so 

 much, for anything that tends to keep the crowd away 

 helps the supply of fish and game. The N. Y. Central is 

 now booming the Saranac and St. Regis region. Speak- 

 ing of the St. Regis, Superintendent Pillsbury recently 

 retm-ned from his usual trip to PaulSmiths, and any one 

 that saw samples of trout that he brought back would 

 not think that the fishing was played out in the Adiron- 

 dacks. But Mr. Pillsbury is a past-master in the art of 

 fishing, and seems to know exactly when and where to 

 go for big speckled trout, 



A telegram just received from the Restigouche River 

 states that the water is high and salmon taking splen- 

 didly, Scarlet-Ibis. 



Two SwoBn-Pisiu>'G Schooners of Stonington, Conn., 

 caiitured twentj-fQiU" larg(? swordfish in a week recently. 



