616 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



IDeo. 15, 1892. 



found one feasting on a dead horse just north of town a 

 few mornings ago, and drove within 50 feet of him 

 before he saw me. He then trotted off a few yards, 

 stopped and looked at me until I drove by. Of course, I 

 haa no gun with me at the time. 



Ducks are numerous along the river and several good 

 bags have been made of late. W. S. Eustis, of the 

 Engineer Corps, killed 24 mallards on Thanksgiving day. 



G. O. Shields. 



A Missouri Opossum Record. 



Sedalia., Mo., Dec. 3.— Prairie chickens, quail and rab- 

 bits are very scarce here this year. Generally we have 

 good cfjail and chicken shooting, but a great many nests 

 and young birds were destroyed by the June rains and 

 thunder, G, W. Nilcoln, the Sedalia pork packer, killed 

 a male opossum that weighed 13i pounds. Can any of 

 your readers beat it ? It is the largest ever heard of. 



NlMROD. 



Adirondack Deer. 



ElizABETHTOWN, N. Y., Dec. 4.— My brother John and 

 some friends went down to North Hudson, Mud and 

 Clear pondg. They killed some 9 or 10 deer, and report 

 deer very plenty. They got one of those " swamp bucks" 

 — very short legs and large body. There are some 4 or 5 

 deer wintering on Green Hill, near our village, if they 

 are let alone. Geo, H, James, 



The Hunter and the Farmer. 



Much of the friction between hunters anrl farmers tnisjht be 

 avoided by a rPHBonable respent for the property of the la,tter by 

 the hunters. AVben the hunting season opens the country is in- 

 vader! by an army of sportsmen and their dogs from the neigh- 

 boTingcity. This array is ridiculously out of proportion to the 

 fi mount of game to be captured, but tlierei is amusement in the 

 hunt even v^hen there is no game in the bag. A man will rove all 

 day without a. good Rhot. just as a meditative fisherman will sit 

 all day without inveigling a single fish into his basket. As in 

 thn serious business of life the anticipation of things is often more 

 enjovable than their possession, the hunter's -jhief amusement 

 lies in this preparation for the day. and the hopeful search among 

 the possibilitie" of upland and moor. 



While the hunter is thus having a good time "possessory or 

 anticipatory.'" the farmer greets him with anything but hospitali- 

 ty. He peppers local papers with curt trespass notices signed by 

 long iists of names, so that the nomadic gunner may Isnow specifi- 

 cally where be wiU uot be welcomed. 



Tbe hunters are to blame for this apparent lack of "old fash- 

 ioned" couutry hospitality. They rarely take tbe trouble to ask 

 the owner's permission to invede his territory. They storm it like 

 a hostile band of guerillas, laying waste fences and stone wnlle, 

 a.nd in other ways outraging the rights of property. A rar^leBS 

 shot in a neighboring county, it is reported, fired a barn, which 

 was totally destroyed. Should a band of farmers raid the yard of 

 a city dweller in search of something which it would be lawful to 

 catch on wild land, the band would be hauled at once before a 

 magistrate and fined, 



A single hunter occasionally making his appearance at the 

 farmer's door and a'^king, in a proper manner, the privilege of 

 gunnmg on the premises, would in many instances secure the 

 desired license. The chances are he would be invited to dinner, 

 and the fnT-mer's boy would tell him. where game abounded. 



betWApn the hunter and the larmar will not be settled on the 

 proper basis antil the hunters organize and purchase from farm- 

 ers who are willing to sell, the right to slroot on their premises 

 under pledges to repair all damages. Game in season is free, but 

 the right to shoot, or even to enter, upon the p'-emises of another 

 aces not exist. There are laws in abundance Imposing penalties 

 tor shnoting on the property of another. Thpy are not alwavs en- 

 torceri because the country constabulary is not well organized To 

 hunt up a magistrate and a constable is trnnblesome. and the 

 Chances are the invader will have made good his epcape before 

 the Ipgnl machmery is in effective running order.— Gemccntow/i 



fen 



mc Fish Laws of the United Stales and Canada, in the 

 ''Game Laws in Brief;' 25 rents. In the ''Book of the 

 Game Laws" (f ull text), 50 cents. 



WITH A FLY-ROD. 



A Sentiment to Go with a Gift, 



FEOM A FATHER TO A SON. 



Accept this md my boy. 

 At this time of Christmas .ioy, 

 For your love of sport and gentle temper mild. 

 Tor old Solomon hath said. 

 And he's very wise though dead, 

 That if you spare the rod you spoil the child. 

 Daksville, N, Y., Dee. 12. H. W. D. L, 



A BIG SEA DEVIL. 



Mu. S. G. Worth, of the U. S. Fish Commission, has 

 related to us the following incident which he had from a 

 gentleman residing in Brooklyn, N. Y. His informant 

 had followed the sea as captain of a vessel for forty-four 

 years and had observed many curious things durino- his 

 long sea life: o ° 



"Sorne years ago off the coast of Brazil," said the Cap- 

 tam, I saw a fish which was so remarkable that it at- 

 tracted the attention of the whole ship's company. The 

 carpenter had been at the wheel, and when I came on 

 deck he reported that a strange fish had been following 

 the ship all the morning. I looked at the animal and 

 tound that It was shaped like a sting rav, 30ft, across the 

 ™" rni ^""^ "^^^^ ^ tapering tail about 40ft. long, 



'The fish swam just under the water and occasionallv 

 stuck out two horns, a fathom each in length, and situ- 

 ated on the fore part of the head. I was sure that the 

 eyes were m the ends of these horns. Two young ones 

 accompanied the large fish, one swimming just on ton 

 of either fin, Tight and left. j^otuu lup 



the first officer to get out a harpoon which 



f^^. ^'7^^ ^^"^ ^"^^ ^ of ^ope. Just 



men the fish swam alongside and up to the bow, when 

 tbe oflicer harpooned it, and the crew of about sixteen 

 men commenced hauling it in. They hauled too fast, 



Sor/hT'tlTfi J, T^*^ ""^^ ^^^"^ ^""1 ^^^y l^ad 

 brought the fish half way over the rail, when the weight 

 tore the harpoon out and the monster escaped. 

 r^J \ disappear when the hauling 



beenSOoS:- the weight of the fish must havl 



niSr^f'^^'f Forest AKD Strea.^ will doubtless recog- 

 iu«9 m the above desqnptiou the sea devjl, devilfish, 



vampire or manta of tropical waters of America, although 

 the tail in this species is not so long as the captain's ob- 

 servations would imply, but is only about equal to the 

 length of the body. The maximum width of this great 

 ray is usually stated to be about 30ft., which could read- 

 ily be magnified to 30ft. under the excitement of such an 

 experience as befell the narrator of the above story. The 

 eyes of the sea devil are not situated at the ends of the 

 hornlike projections of the head, but are located on 

 eminences at the base of these frontal api^endices. 



The first popular notice of the occurrence of this great 

 ray on our shores was published by Catesby and was 

 based upon explorations in the Carolinas. Dr. Mitchill 

 also described a specimen which was captured at the 

 mouth of the Delaware Bay. 



A graphic account of fishing: for the sea devil is given 

 in " Carolina Sports," by the Hon, "William Elliott. Mr. 

 Elliott devotes nearly one hundred pages to hia descrip- 

 tion of devil fishing, and has embodied it in much that is 

 novel and exciting. He relates the following circum- 

 stance, which shows the enormous strength of this great 

 ray : "In one of the inlets of the coast of Georgia a trad- 

 ing vessel lay at anchor, and while her crew was onshore 

 one of these fish seized the cable and dragged her off, 

 anchor and all, to the consternation of the sailors, who 

 pursued their retreating bark for some miles in their boat, 

 and regained her when the devil fish had contrived, or 

 seen fit, to disengage himself from his prize." 



The same author relates another story of a negro ser- 

 vant in his own family. "The negro was fishing near the 

 Hilton Head Beach for sharks, and accompanied by an- 

 other hand was anchored about 50yds. from shore in a 

 four-oared boat, when a devilfish seized hold of the shark 

 line. Whether he grasped the line between his feelers or 

 .iccidentally struck the hook into his body, cannot readily 

 .be known; but he darted off" with the line, dragging the 

 boat from her anchorage, and moved seaward with such 

 fearful velocity that the fishermen threw themselves flat 

 on their faces and gave themselves up for lost. 'After 

 lying a long time in this posture,' said the old man, 'in 

 expectation of death, I gained a little heart, and stealing 

 a look over the gunwale saw iron swim — there was the 

 anchor playing duck and drake on the top of the water, 

 while the boat was going stern foremost for the sea ! At 

 last,' said he, 'we cut loose when he had almost got us out 

 to sea.' The earnestness of the old man and the look of 

 indescribable terror which he wore when telling the story, 

 convinced me that he spoke the truth." 



MUCH FUN FOR LITTLE MONEY. 



Among your many readers in this vicinity there are 

 doubtless some who, like mvself, are lovers of sport and 

 yet feel that they cannot afford to give their families and 

 themselves an expensive vacation. For the benefit of 

 such I will give my experience of giving my family a 

 ten weeks" outing, besides having a royal time myself 

 without any loss of time from my business and at less 

 expense than staying at home. 



I reside at Evanscon, twelve miles north of Chicago 

 and about thirty miles across country from the fifty odd 

 small lakes in Lake County, 111. 



Out of five pine boards, to be had at any lumber yard 

 at an expense of $3.50, 1 built my own skiff (flat bottom) 

 during ray spare hours in winter, utilizing my hay-mow 

 for a workshop. You can do the same, reader, if you 

 only have the courage to try. As soon as the roads are 

 thoroughly settled in the spring I engage a team for $7 

 to take our load to camp across the country, in order to 

 save shipping over two roads and transporting. Our load 

 consists of four spring beds and bedding, crockery, a few 

 chairs, tents, etc. ; on top of this we tie our boat and then 

 pile our three boys into the boat. We start the load early 

 BO as to enable the boys to put up at least one tent before 

 the arrival of their mother and little sister Ella,who go to 

 Chicago and take the afternoon Wisconsin Central train 

 which lands them within one mile of camp. ' 



AVe have four tents, which, with good floors in three 

 of them, cost us about $G0, and will last from 6 to 8 

 years, with ordinary care. We make our camp on the 

 bank of a beautiful lake about 40 rods from the home of 

 as "white" a farmer as the glorious State of Illinois can 

 produce. Mr. Farmer supplies us with butter fresh from 

 the churn at 15 cents per pound, milk at 4 cents per 

 quart, eggs at 10 cents per dozen, provided my boys will 

 go to the barn and hunt them, and 50 cents per week for 

 the use of the ground and the wood we burn. He con- 

 siders it an insult to offer him pay for buttermilk, skim- 

 milk, ice, vegetables and "such little things," as he calls 

 them. 



I leave my business at 9:15 P. M. Saturdays and take 

 the Wisconsin Central train at 10:45, which brings me to 

 camp at about 13:30. I lose no time getting to sleep, for 

 I am sportsman enough not even to let the sun get up 

 ahead of me when on fishing ground, I have read 

 Forest and Stream and several other sporting papers 

 for years, and have often had the blood tingle in my 

 veins when reading of the large catches made in northern 

 Wisconsin and Michigan, but I doubt if any of the gen- 

 tlemen had any more real unadulterated pleasure than I 

 have on my short and inexpensive Sunday trips not 40 

 miles away from home. 



My catch in 11 Sundays and 8 week days the past sea- 

 son, after throwing back everything that weighed less 

 than l*lbs..was 123 bass, all "large-mouths. My largest 

 catch was 13 bass and 1 pickerel before breakfast on July 

 b. My next largest was on Aug. 14. when Mr. H, S. Far- 

 well, of Chicago, who, by the way, is the most graceful 

 bait caster I ever had the pleasui-e of meeting, did me the 

 honor of spending a day at our camp. We toot 15 bass 

 all above 31bs. before 10 A. M. ' 



Two incidents that transpired that day are too good to 

 keep. Two friends, who are well known in Chicago 

 business circles, and whom we will call S, and C. asked at 

 the eleventh hour to spend Sunday at camp with me 

 but Sir. FarweU having already accepted my invitation! 

 i could not accommodate them, so I found quarters for 

 them at the farmhouse, and one of my sons kindly 

 volunteered to row their boat, but luck was against them 

 and i P.M. found them without a fin. To say that the 

 boye were disgusted and looked blue around the gills is 

 putting it mildly. Every little while they would uncover 

 the lee-box and look at the 18 beauties therein and 

 again lament their luck: even my root beer lost its charm 

 for them. After Mr. F. and myself had chuckled to our 

 heart 8 content we divided with them, giving them the 

 Hon 8 ehare^ which pleased them immensely. The next 



morning the farmer's good wife informed my family of 

 tbe good luck my friends had had "late last night," and 

 said she had advised h^r husband to go fiahing after dark 

 in the future. When S. and C arrived home they pre- 

 sented the editor of our leading pappr with their largest 

 basp, which brought out in glowing lines the success 

 they had had on their fishing trip and vouchsafed the in- 

 formation that they excelled everything in town in the 

 piscatorial art. All any one has to do now to make their 

 "necks swell" is to ask them how many cigars it takes 

 to keep me from talking. 



The other incident, which is somewhat harder to swal- 

 low, but equally true, is as follows: Mr. F. and myself 

 had a strike at the same time, Mr. F, brought his fish 

 to net, but just as my son was about to put the nef und^r 

 mine, the line, which was a size H silk, parted about 30 

 inches above the snell. I may have thought a great 

 deal in a short time, but never a word did I say. Tbe 

 second day after my seven-year-old daughter Ella and 

 myself were casting within one hundred yards of where 

 I had lost my bass. Ella got a strike and began playing 

 her catch in true sportsmanlike manner; suddenly she 

 lowered be rod and exclaimed, "Oh, papa! he is gone." 

 I told hrr to reel in her line and see if her frog was all 

 right. On raiping her rod she shouted, "He is on again, 

 he is on again," and so he was. She brought him to net 

 and was happy. My son Morris took him from the net 

 to extricate the hook, looked disgusted and said: "Look 

 hpi-e, papa; just see how she has got her line fixed. 

 Well, if that is not just like a girl, anyway. Here is one 

 hook ■end frog up here, and down there she has another 

 hook with her fish on and no bait." On examination I 

 found she had my lost fish. The only way I can explain 

 the strange affair is that the bass took her frog, and that 

 in the fight that ensued my lost line became entangled 

 on her hook in such a manner that when he tore loose 

 from her book my line held him until he was brought to 

 net. There is no doubt about it being my fish, for there 

 was my 5-0 Kendall-sneck hook, my line and my knot. 

 I brought him home and showed him to Mr. Farwell, 

 and he too felt positive that it was my fish, 



I retire early Sunday evenings and leave camp at 5 

 A. M, Monday, and arrive at my place of business at 

 eight, sufficiently early for Monday mornings, feeling 

 that I have put in a very big and a very happy day at an 

 expense any poor man can afford, for by buying a~35-ride 

 commutation ticket, the round trip from Chicago costs 

 les^i th*an one dollar to the center of the lake region. 



When I get ready to break camp in the fall I sell wy 

 skiff to the farmer for $10, and the storing of what sluif 

 I want to leave until the next summer. The .$10 pays for 

 the teamster one way and the coat of material, besid -s 

 having the use of it for ten weeks without cost. 



Now reader, figure the difference between the cost of 

 living at prices quoted above and, say, $12 for car fare, 

 and what we pay in the city, to say nothing of the bene- 

 fits in health and comfort your family derive from living 

 in the pure air of the country during the hot summer 

 months, and I think you will go and do bkewisp, or ae 

 much better as your means will permit, UNCLii JoHS. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



Broiled Scrod. 



I READ in the newspapers that broiled scrod has just 

 been introduced into New Y''ork city from Boston, and 

 has found such favor that there is an increasing demand 

 for this excellent dish, but the fish dealers in New York 

 are unable to furnish this fish and that the supply comes 

 from Boston. My fondness for broiled scrod has caused 

 some of my friends to poke quite a bit of fun at me. I have 

 eaten it in all sorts of places in Boston and at all hours, 

 but I did not first eat it there. Something over twenty 

 years ago I was much in New York city, and in the fall 

 and winter months, if it was possible I made it a point to 

 go to Dorlon's in Fulton Market for lunch, if I was in the 

 lower part of the city at the lunch hour. I was extremely 

 fond of oysters, and believed I could get them better at 

 Dorlon & Shaffer's than at any other place. One day I 

 went as usual to Fulton Market and met Mr. Dorlon be- 

 fore I reached his store, and remarked that I was tired of 

 oysters. He thought a moment and said "You go in and 

 order two bottles of white label Bass, and I will furnish 

 the rest." In a few moments he came in and sat down 

 and the waiter put a covered dish between us on the 

 table. When tbe cover was removed 1 found that the 

 dish contained a broiled fish, and somewhat to my disgust 

 it appeared to be a codfish. Dorlon thought I was find- 

 ing fault too early in the game, and so I was, for when I 

 had finished I thought I never had eaten mything of the 

 fish kind that was more delicious. Mr. Dorlon said that 

 when I came into the market the fish was alive. He 

 called it broiled young codfish, and so I called it until I 

 found in New England that it was called scrod or 

 rather escrod: but call it broiled young codfish, broiled 

 scrod or escrod, schrode or scrode, as it is also termed, 

 and cook it in Boston or New York, it is good, fit for the 

 gods and fishfermen. One thing, however, is imjiortant, 

 if the fish is not fresh out of the water, oruer something 

 else. 



Hudson River Salmon. 

 This is a subject that I return to as a duty, and with a 

 certain regularity as the seasons come and go, because it 

 is a subject that I am deeply interested in, and wish to 

 interest others in it. Last year the salmon made their 

 way up the Hudson as fai- as Baker's Falls at Sandy Hill, 

 and this because the dam was taken out at Fort Edward 

 to be rebuilt. This year the new Fort Edward dam was 

 sufficient to stop the salmon going above that place, but 

 I thought surely they would be seen below the dam, 

 which they were not. Then I heard that the fishway at 

 Thomson's Mills (Fort Miller) was filled with drift and 

 that it was closed and, so far as I can learn, nothing has 

 been done by the New York Fish Commissioners to have 

 it opened or cleaned. This fall I heard that a salmon had 

 wandered way off" up into Schoharie Creek from the Mo- 

 hawk, and this made me think that something was wrong 

 with the other fishway at Mechanicville, or the salmon 

 would not try the Mohawk arid its tributaries, for none 

 have been planted there. Next I heard that the Me- 

 chanicville fishway was also filled with driftwood, and 

 for this reason useless for the purpose for which it was 

 built. This, indeed, was a state of things! After the 

 State had spent $7,500 to build the fishways, the Commis- 

 sioners did not evince sufficient interest to keep the fish- 

 ways in working order, If the fishways had been iw 



