012 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Angling Talks. By George Dawson. Frice 50 cents, Fly- 

 Rods and Fly-Tackle. By H. P. Wells. Price $2.60. Fly- 

 Fishing and Fly-Making for Ti'Otd, By J. H. Keene. 

 Price $1.50. Amencan Angler's Book. By Thad. Norris. 

 Price $5.50. 



TSE FULL TEXTS of the game fish laws of all the States, 

 Territories and British Provinces are given in the Booh of 

 the Qame Laws. 



THE U. S. FISH COMMISSION EXHIBIT. 



MUCH interesting work is now being done in Wash- 

 ington by the several Qovernrjient departments in 

 preparing the great collective displa,y of the IJ. S. Govern- 

 ment for the World's Columbian Exposition. Captain J. 

 W. Collins, the representative of the TJ. S. Fish Commie- 

 sion, in charge of the preparation of the exhibit of that 

 bureau, informs us that his exhibit will be the most com- 

 plete historical representation of the fisheries ever put 

 before the world, although it will be the first of its kind 

 displayed to the American public. 



As boats and vessels were the basis from which the 

 fisheries were developed, Captain Collins has undertaken 

 to show these in a historical series, beginning with the 

 fishing shallop of "ye olden time," and showing the suc- 

 cessive steps to the type in use at the present time, which 

 will be represented by a model of beauty and grace, as 

 produced by Edward Burgess in his fishing vessel, the 

 Fredonia. 



Already ten lull-rigged models have been prepared, 

 these including an authentic representation of the old- 

 time Marblehead fishing schooner, the Pinkie, a type of 

 vessel used during the 'oOs, another during the '60a, and 

 others during the 708, and the pioneer of the new deep- 

 draft fishing vessels, the Fish Commission schooner 

 Grampus, 



One of the interesting features of the di-^play will be a 

 series of the food and economic fishes of North America, 

 including the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, 

 and the Great Lakes and interior river fishes. The work 

 of making new moulds and casts of fishes is being done 

 by Mr. Sherman F, Denton, who uses a certain glue 

 compound for the casts. The secret of this compound is 

 known only to himself, and produces a product that can- 

 not be readily broken like plaster of Paris, This feature 

 is of peculiar importance, since considerable difiiculty 

 has already been experienced in transporting casts made 

 of plaster of Paris, because of their liability to break. 



Already about 133 casts have been prepared, as well as 



?apier mache casts of larger species, such as sharks, etc. 

 wo most interesting fishes were received at the exhibit 

 not long ago, being additions to the fish fauna of the 

 United States. One of them, the esoolar, while known 

 to inhabit the Mediterranean and the waters of the 

 warmer climates, has never been found in abundance, 

 but is highly prized as a food fish at the Canary Islands. 

 The second is the opah {Lanipris guttatus), the "first spec- 

 men ever recorded as having been taken in American 

 waters. This is a very beautiful fish, an inhabitant of 

 the Gulf Stream. Its colors are brilliant, the fins and 

 edges of the belly being a beautiful red, its sides a sil- 

 very white, and its back and head from a deep to a light 

 blue, with white spots radiating in all directions from 

 the eye. It will thus be seen that its general coloration 

 is_ that of the national emblem, though C Apt. Collins is 

 disappointed that there are more than forty-two spots on 

 the blue field. Both of these fishes were taken on the 

 La Have Ridge by American fishing schooners, and 

 much credit is due to the thoughtfulness of the captains 

 of these vessels in bringing them to port. 



The fishcultural section is under the direction of Mr. 

 W. deC, Eavenel. Thus far all of the historical ap- 

 paratus has been brought together, put into shape and 

 packed ready for shipment. There will also be included 

 in this section models of the principal hatcheries in use 

 by the United States Fish Commission, more particularly 

 the representative stations for each of the important 

 fisheries. 



It is proposed to show at Chicago a model hatchery in 

 full operation, with jars of eggs of the different species of 

 fish that can be obtained while the Exposition ia open, 

 while the process of hatching other fish will be shown by 

 means of artificial eggs. 



Our attention has also been called to the proposed plan 

 for the live-fish display. Ample provision has been made 

 for the accommodation of the most extensive exhibit of 

 aquaria ever established in this country, in one of the 

 buildings connected with the fisheries department. Mr. 

 W. P. Seal, the well-known aquarium expert of the U. S. 

 Fish Commission, is in charge of this work, and it is as 

 well to recite what he has to say on the subject: 



"The building designed for the aquarium is a polygon, 

 about l35ft. in diameter, having a central rotunda 60ft. 

 in width, in the middle of which will be a pool 26ft. in 

 diameter, surrounding a mass of rugged moss and fern- 

 covered rooks, from which streams of water will ooze 

 and drip to the reeds and rushes in the pool below, where 

 gorgeously colored fishes will dieport. 



"Surrounding the rotunda, under a glass roof, run two 

 lines of aquaria, separated by a gallery, or corridor, loft, 

 wide. The inner line of aquaria, ten in number, will 

 have glass on both sides, one of which will front on the 

 rotunda, and the other on the gallery. These tanks will 

 have a depth of 7ft. of water, the bottoms running down 

 on an incline from each side to about 2ft. below the 

 bottom of the glass, which will be 5ft. high. The diam- 

 eters of these tanks will be about 10ft. They will be 

 from io to 60ft. long, with a capacity of from 7,0C0 to 

 28,000 gallons, or a total of over 90,000 gallons, weighing 

 more than 380 tons. The outer line of aquaria, forty in 

 number, will have glass in the front only, the backs 

 being of slate, and what is known as 'slope-back' in de- 

 sign. The glass in these will also be oft. high. The 

 width of this series of tanks will be Bft. at bottom and 

 6ft. at the top, the length from 5^ to lift., the capacity 

 varying from 900 to 1,800 gallons," with a total capacity 

 of over 50,000 gallons. The entire series of aquaria will 

 contain 140,000 gallons of water, weighing about 600 tons. 



"Fifteen tanks will be devoted to marine species. These 

 will have a capacity of from 900 to 14,000 gallons, or a 

 total of about 40,000 gallons. The entire amount of sea 

 water in circulation will be nearly 75,000 gallons. The 



pumps and piping for this part of the exhibit will be con- 

 structed of hard and soft rubber, wood and glass. Two 

 pumps will be made in duplicate, to provide against acci- 

 dents, though but one will be used at a time. Every 

 f ft'ort will be made to provide for anv possible contin- 

 gency in this respect. It is expected that the building 

 will be completed a year before the opening of the exhi- 

 bition, thus affording ample time for deliberately and 

 methodically establishing satisfactory conditions, and for 

 the transfer of the plant and animal life, so that when 

 the exposition opens there will be one of the most won- 

 derful displays of the kind ever presented to mortal eye, 



"Among the fresh-water species of large size that will 

 be displayed will be the Atlantic and Pacific salmon, the 

 mascalonge, the lake trout, the sturgeon, the spoon-bill 

 catfish, the great Mississippi catfish, the long and short- 

 nosed gar. the alligator gar, etc. Smaller species will 

 include all the species of trout, the whiteflsh and other 

 lake fishes, the basses, carp, buffalo and other Cyprinidse, 

 catfishes, sunfishes, eels, etc. 



"Of the larger salt-water fishes there will be repre- 

 sented sharks, dogfish, skates, rays, torpedoes, the goose- 

 fish, striped bass, drums, grunts, sheepshead, porgies, 

 tautog, flounders, bluefish, equeteague or weakfish and 

 many others, 



"Smaller species will be represented by sculpins, sea- 

 robins, toad-fish, sea- ravens, puffers or swell-fish, mullet, 

 blennies, gobies, sticklebacks, pipe-fish, sea-horses, as well 

 as many Mexican, South American, Asiatic and European 

 varieties. There will also be Octopi, commonly known as 

 devil-fishes, and possibly cuttle-fishes, but these latter are 

 difficult to transport in good condition when living. The 

 same may be said of the jellyfishes, but attempts will be 

 made to exhibit them at Chicago, with some hope of suc- 

 cess. OP the lower forms of life, generally, there will be 

 representatives of the mollusks, anemones, starfishes, sea- 

 urchins, holothurians or sea-cucumbers, corals, etc. 



"There will be a wonderful showing in the aquaria of 

 algai, or sea weeds. The exquisite foliage and wonder- 

 ful coloring of these plants cannot be described, but must 

 be left to the imagination. It may be stated, however, 

 that the colors range through the various shades of yel- 

 low-brown, green, red and purple, some species display- 

 ing the most exquisitely beautiful hues. The fresh 

 waters will also be represented by natural growths of the 

 great variety of their plant life. The magnificent filies 

 of our ponds will be seen from their other aspect. We 

 are familiar with them in the ponds of our beautiful 

 parks; but to see them from beneath the water, with the 

 fishes dispersed among them, as never before displayed or 

 even attempted, will be one of the novel and interesting 

 features of the Exposition, 



"Outside of the Fisheries Building will be a series of 

 ponds illustrating methods of pond culture and the possi- 

 bilities in the practical and ornamental use of aquatic 

 and semi-aquatic plants; the question of having in these 

 ponds an exhibition of manatees, seals, sea lions, etc., 

 has been under consideration. 



"The time is near at hand when the great cities of the 

 country will vie with each other in the establishment of 

 great aquaria, for the wonders of the waters are fast be- 

 coming objects of popular, as well as scientific, interest, 

 and our growing wealth and leisure cannot be devoted to 

 projects of greater interest. 



"The experience at Chicago will thus be valuable in 

 affording a basis of practical knowledge which will be 

 available for the general information." 



THE BIG TROUT OF THE STONE DAM. 



IN the summer of 1890 it was my good fortune to spend 

 a couple of weeks with two companions in camp at 

 the forks of the Magalloway, about four miles below Par- 

 machenee Lake. In the last few years I had met a num- 

 ber of anglers who had been in that region, and each and 

 every one had sung the praises of the pool at the old 

 stone dam on the Little Magalloway, and told, as only 

 anglers can, of the number of two and three-pound trout 

 taken at this pool, but they added that there always 

 remslined the giant of the waters, whom many had seen, 

 a few had hooked and had with him a few moments of 

 anxious and expectant pleasure ; but none had been able 

 to become intimately acquainted and to place their 

 hands upon his gleaming sides. I had heard so much of 

 this talk, that the one spot on earth, or rather water, 

 where I longed to cast my fly was that stretch at the old 

 stone dam on the Little Magalloway. 



It is needless to say that as soon as we got camp well 

 fixed we made a call at the old stone dam, which is about 

 a mile up the Little Magalloway from the forks. A 

 glorious morning's walk over the trail past Sunday Pond 

 brought ua to the stone dam. The sun was just giving 

 the pool its early morning greeting as we reached it. It 

 was indeed an ideal spot, and if beneath its rippling 

 surface the patriarchs of the trout tribe were taking their 

 morning swim and were ready for breakfast, I also would 

 sing its praises. Jointing our rods, we commenced cast- 

 ing the fly from the head of the pool; and at the first cast 

 they were ready for business. We caught a goodly num- 

 ber before they stopped rising to the fly. They were nice, 

 fat, handsome fellows, from a quarter to three-quarter 

 pound in weight, and made glorious sport on a light rod, 

 as we frequently took two or three at a cast. We did not 

 get any of the old "he busters," but I, too, saw the father, 

 nay the grandfather, of the trout of the Magalloway. 



I had hooked a good half-pound trout, and it had made 

 a gallant struggle for life and freedom, but the constant 

 spring of the rod was too much for bim, and be lay upon 

 his side at the top of the water; and I was slowly reeling 

 him in, when a giant trout rose directly beneath him, 

 opened a pair of monstrous jaws, slowly brought them 

 together again, and my half-pound trout disappeared from 

 view as would a two-inch shiner in the mouth of a 51b. 

 basB, What happened next 1 do not know, for I lost my 

 head, had "buck fever," or something else, and the boys 

 said I jumped about two feet in the air and gave an awful 

 "yank," The first thing I realized was that my trout was 

 in the air, and I had a glimpse of a fan-like tail as it dis- 

 appeared from view. Perhaps it will be best to drop the 

 ourtaiu on the next few moments. Suffice to say that 

 every angler has had some such experience and can pic- 

 ture the scene for himself and I siroerely hope he can do 

 it justice. I cannot. 



For the next few days by common consent that pool 

 was my property, and I spent at least an hour there every 

 day. I was there in the early moruino- before the sun 

 was up, and at nigfit when it was so dark I could not keep 



, the trail by Sunday Pond — and climbing windfalls after 

 dark is not pleasant traveling, I cast upon its waters flies 



I of every size, shape and color, from tiny midge to large 

 and gaudy bass fly, and when these failed I descended to 



I bait, the abused angle worm, wood grub, a strip of fish, 

 the fin of a trout, and live bait from a two-inch shiner to 

 a half-pound chub. Many a handsome trout did I get, 

 but not one glimpse of the old patriarch of the pool until 

 the last day of our stay, 



I was making my farewell visit to the stone dam alone, 

 and was idly casting a fly upon its waters, and was just 

 ready to reel up and leave, when, throwing my fly in the 

 rapids near the dam, it was taken by a 8ma"ll quarter- 

 pound trout and I commenced to reel him in. But he 

 was a gamy little fellow and was darting here and 

 there as quick as a flash; and the thought struck me, 

 why not try him for a bait? But no, I will never be 

 guilty of piercing the sides or lips of a lordly trout 

 and using him for bait; but as this is my last cast, and I 

 can see that you are lightly hooked in the lip, for the 

 gaudy wings of the Parmachenee-belle can be plainly 

 seen, you may take one run down through the pool, and 

 if you do not get away I will gently release you and you 

 shall go free. I drew the line from the reel to give him 

 all the play he wanted; and down to the center of the 

 pool he went, and there he stopned for a few playful 

 darts this way and then that. Then he started again 

 down the pool, until I had all the line from the spool and 

 thought it about time to reel him in. But I could not 

 start the reel, and still he went, I involuntarily struck 

 and raised the tip, and for an instant a big fin showed 

 above the water and I knew I was fast again to the old 

 patriarch of the waters. What a predicament. There I 

 stood on a rock at the head of the pool with one of 

 Chubb's little 4oz, "Kaymond" rods in my hand, not a 

 single turn of the line upon the spool of my reel, and 

 I40ft. away, hook' d with a No, 8 Sproat, was the giant 

 trout of the Magalloway. There was one thing to do. 

 and I gave him the butt. Whether the little rod was too 

 much for him or he concluded he had gone that way far 

 enough I do not know, but he turned and started for the 

 head of the pool diagonally from me, and I had time to 

 get a goodly lot of line on the reel; and then I took a 

 good long breath. It is useless for me to attempt to des- 

 cribe the battle that followed. How long it lasted I do 

 not know; but it was down the center, forward and back, 

 cross over and all hands round and repeat, until at last 

 he lay upon his side and w.as drawn' across the landing 

 net, and I had barely strength to lift him from the water. 

 What a big one he was. Four, five pounds; yes, we will 

 call bim a six-pounder; as handsome in foim and as 

 brilliant in coloring as a half-pound trout. And why 

 should he not be, this cannibal of the waters, who would 

 refuse every kind of bait or fly and would have naught 

 but his own beautiful spotted tribe, his relatives or per- 

 haps his own children. But you have had your last one, 

 you old rascal, and the other trout can now swim in 

 peace. 



To understand the "subsequent proceedings" it will be 

 necessary for me to describe the stone dam. This was 

 not made by man, but was a natural ledge, running clear 

 across and extending up the river for perhaps a couple of 

 rods; but the fall was mostly in the last rod before the 

 water fell in the pool below, somewhat more than half- 

 way across, when the water was at its usual summer 

 height the ledge protruded from the water. This was 

 worn smooth by the action of the water, and formed a 

 flat table-Hke surface with rounded sides. The water upon 

 each side of this ran with the swiftness and force of a race- 

 way ; but with cai'e and a cool head it was possible for one 

 to wade and jump to this rock without having the water 

 come above a pair of high boots. Directly below this 

 ledge, and jutting into the pool, were two large rocks, 

 which could be reached from the ledge by a little careful 

 wading, and from these rocks a good caster could reach 

 all the best parts of the pool below. It was from this 

 rock that I had been casting and upon which I now stood 

 with my prize; and I wanted to get to shore with the fish 

 soon as possible. Grasping the net above the trout, I c^pt 

 to the ledge above and attempted to crossto the shore; but 

 I was so weak I could hardly stand and hold the fish. 

 With my first step the water nearly took my feet from 

 under me; and I realized that I must rest before I could 

 cross in safety, I therefore lay the landing net down upon 

 the ledge with the big trout in it, and the handle pointing 

 up stream, and stepped upon the frame in such a way that 

 the fish could not get out, I had hardly straightened up 

 when I heard a grating on the ledge, and just caught a 

 gUmpse of a long handle as it swung or rolled into the 

 water. The moment the full force of the current caught 

 it my feet flew out from under me and I sat down with 

 a "dull thud," and the only reason why the ground did 

 not shake was that I only weigh I30lbs, and there was no 

 ground there to shake; it was all rock. 



The current was fast drawing me in; I was wet all 

 over before 'I could manage to grasp a protruding rock 

 and drag myself out to look for my landing-net and fish. 

 The frame bad caught in the rocks and the handle was 

 playing shuttlecock on top of the racing water. Quickly 

 grasping it, I began to raise the net; and as I did so the 

 big trout came to the top of the water, some little way 

 below, and with a dash was carried to the pool beneath. 

 As he reached the more quiet waters of the pool and lay 

 upon his side, he gave one "spat" with that giant tail, 

 wTiich was plainly heard above the roar of the waters, 

 and disappeared from my view forever. No, not for- 

 ever. Many a time during the past winter, as I have sat 

 by the open fire, my feet upon the fender, watching the 

 fantastic shapes the blaze would assume, have I seen the 

 handsome form of that monstrous trout, and the scene at 

 the old stone dam was all before me. And many a time 

 in my dreams have I fought that battle over again and 

 have been awakened by the "spat" of that fanlike tail as 

 the trout disappeared from view — only to find that the 

 noise was made by the alarm clock. 



I told my companions that day that I had not got the 

 big trout, that I had slipped into the water and was now 

 ready to go home. From that day to this I have never 

 told the story of the big trout. It was a very sore spot in 

 my memory (and I had another one somewhere else) for 

 many a day, but time works wonders. The sportsman 

 only remembers the pleasure of a trip, the trials? and dis- 

 oomflture are forgotten or are made light of; and now I 

 am enabled to look back with some degree of pleasm'e 

 and tbink of that royal battle with the monstrous trout 

 of the big pool at the old stone dam on the Litlle Magal- 

 loway. Ojipompasoosuc. 



