Sept. 3, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



189 



My day at Bamegat City is something like this. Out of 

 my cottage window I can liit the sea with a stone, and 

 like the gleam of my childhood's joys seem the pulsations 

 or heart-beats in this wild watery realm. I joy at the 

 sight of the sea as little " Bebee," my much loving, much- 

 beloved little baby grandchild, does, when, night-tu-ed, 

 she crawls into my lap and says : " Babab, 'oo put me to 

 seep," and I do, 



The sea puts me to sleep with some sweet, invisible, 

 restful spirit, that drives away creditors and care, as the 

 Arab folds his tent at daybreak and silently steals away. 



But how I put in the Barnegat day is the question 

 before the house. It is -5 a. x. Bathing "in the buff" is 

 allowed at that hour. I catch up httle Bebee in her silk 

 night shirt, and half asleep, throwing on my own bathing 

 robe, loose, a morning study wrapper, I skip to the beach 

 — a half dozen steps. Bebee is wild with happiness and 

 claps her hands with joy as every little billow, kissing its 

 mate, breaks into white sea foam. 



In ten minutes we are out and in the cottage. Bebee, 

 rubbed down with a coarse towel, is asleep in one minute. 

 Then I turn over and dream of scooping in big fees. 



At 8 o'clock I eat a good breakfast and saunter down to 

 Paderewski's wharf, near the Sunset House. Herr Pade- 

 rewski always offers me a "whack" at his never-full, half- 

 empty gin bottle, but as I have joined Ben Archer's Tem- 

 perance Society, William T. Bailey, Secretary, I mildly 

 but firmly refuse. 



This morning I saw a fight between a 14ft. shark and a 

 he dolphin. The sea was incarnadined with blood. The 

 equal battle raged because each scavenger of the sea had 

 been preda.torily feeding or poacliing on the other's moss- 

 bunker preserves. It takes four bushel baskets of moss- 

 bunkers for one he dolphin's breakfast. The fight raged 

 15 minutes. The shark has to turn over to use iiis mouth. 

 I know some lawyers who make profitable and golden use 

 of the mouth in debate and don't turn over at all. When 

 the shark was trying to get in its fine work the dolphin 

 eviscerated the sea scavenger and that ended the fight, 

 and the porpoise danced up and down and leaped over the 

 body of its dead foe, as a New York la^vyer does when he 

 gets an extra $250 allowance for costs or counsel fees! 



We read the Sun or Forest and Stream till dinner 

 time, when the Oceanic cuisine teaches us the truth of 

 the aphorism that "there are many sweethearts and only 

 one dinner." After dinner we take a nap one horn-, write 

 some blood-curdling fishing experience for Forest and 

 Stream and then go down and tell Paderewski to saddle 

 his yacht, and then for two hours all alone we sail the 

 ocean blue and with a single shining squid and a cotton- 

 laid twine line 100yds. long trailing behind us we hook 20 

 blueflsh before the gentle god of day has taken his bath 

 behind the western star, the fish ranging from 3 to 151bs. 

 Then supper of Spanish mackerel and frogs' legs and 

 young mud hens. 



Then I discuss the cause of temperance with Brothers 

 Archer and Bailey; then come the glorious nights on the 

 piazza of the cottage. The young and sickle moon looks 

 down on you softly as a maiden's prayer, and overhead 

 the stars look like "patines of bright gold," and the very 

 balm of Gilead seems to be coming in with the soft, 

 healtli- bearing south wind, and as dear little Bebee lies 

 asleep in my arms I softly murmur, "Alabama! here we 

 rest." Jajvies jVIatlock Soovel. 



FISHING TACKLE AND TACKLING FISH. 



Manchester, N. H., Aug. 23.— Suggested by a criti- 

 cism which Mr. Cheney pays to another of your corre- 

 spondents for a teclmical error in naming a rod, and 

 thereupon proceeds to, schoolma'am-like, give him a 

 "pointer" on the propriety of titles, is a train of homely 

 thought, supported by personal ©bservation and living 

 examples respectLtig the matter of tackle. 



"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," so a 

 rod, call it what you please, will handle the fish just as 

 successfully as though properly named, and a man is not 

 obhged to be an adept in tackle knowledge, nor to have a 

 well-stocked retail establishment at his elbow to enjoy 

 fishing. I have often noticed that the man with the most 

 tinsel, extensive and expensive outfit, including a wagon 

 load of fancy flies, leaders, etc., etc., as though a drum- 

 mer for some wholesale house, elaborate suit of newest 

 design, drinks the best brandy, and tells the loudest 

 stories of his exploits, is not always most heavily loaded 

 (with fish) when he returns from a trip. On the contrary, 

 the simpler the rig, mattering nob whether he knows a 

 fly-rod, teclmically, from a pump handle, the more satis- 

 factory the result. 



Understand, I admit that sport is one thing and filHng 

 a creel often another. The latter is the subject nearest 

 this thought. The old deacon told his son in reference to 

 getting money, "Get it honestly, if you can, but get it," 

 so I would suggest to sportsmen — use as good and showy 

 a rig as you can afford or care for, that will do the busi- 

 ness as near to your liking as pussible, and expert manipu- 

 lation of what you select will easil}' do the rest. 



I have in mind a man whose superior in the art of 

 brook trout fishing I never saw, who never owned a reel 

 or fly-rod in his Ufe, and the four-jointed bamboo he uses 

 has the appearance of having served three generations, 

 and the 8 or 10ft. of fine would hold a shark, but his hook 

 always has just such a bend to it, accomplished witla a 

 pair of pincers by himself, and each angle-worm goes on 

 it by exact rule, and what probably is of fully as much 

 consequence, he has an easy, stealthy, Indian-like step, 

 that makes no jar, always approaching tlie stream from the 

 shady side in a low, stooping posture, in the dress of an ordi- 

 nary farmer, reducing the likelihood of notice by the trout 

 to a minimum, and I have often watched him with inter- 

 est and pleasure, not failing to notice the tension of his 

 nerve, and the strict attention he pays to the ijursuit, 

 always finding him as hard to "call off" for home as 

 though to leave was death. Another man of the same 

 class is a bait-fisherman specialist from a boat. He never 

 uses any rod, and his line looks suited for a clothes reel, 

 but he is also a crank on design of hooks and mode of 

 adjusting bait. The rapidity with which he takes an un- 

 lucky fish into the boat, whether weighing 5oz. or 51bs. , 

 would astonish any of Edison's inventions. A large 

 black bass, for instance, is imparted such a tremendous 

 momentum while in the water that he fairly flies, 

 as though throvra from a catapult, above the water 

 and into the boat, And anotlxer, very successful 

 at ■ casting flies and bait, who never had a reel, 

 uses a pole about 20ft. long which perhaps will 



weigh as many pounds, made from some sapling, cut, 

 peeled and dried, a line two-thirds as long as the pole, 

 large and of linen, making a derrick-shaped arrangement 

 that no snag is likely to break, and fi-om which fish of 

 any nature or size land on shore or in a boat "without 

 ceremony. 



Such is catching fish, pure and simple, but the pro- 

 cesses practiced wfll not, in my opinion, allow it to 

 properly come under the heading of "sport," but it only 

 goes to show the practical and utter uselessness of much 

 of the so-called "fishing tackle," for anything but show 

 and pleasure; and the latter being the oiae aim of a large 

 majority of anglers, we shall all continue to use the class 

 of rig that will require an encyclopedia or a Cheney 

 properly to enumerate. Payson. 



MICHIGAN, MY MICHIGAN.-IV. 



Lansing, Aug. 26.— Prof. Cook tells me, that the first 

 edition of 8,000 copies of his book, "Birds of Mchigan," 

 is fully exhausted, and that the secretary reports over 

 1,000 applications for a copy of the book have been re- 

 ceived and placed on file. The Board of Agriculture will 

 quite likely order an extra edition. Prof. Cook has ac- 

 cepted a professorship in the College of Agriculture of 

 California, and he has resigned his position in the Mchi- 

 gan Agricultural College, to take effect at the close of the 

 coUege year. We deeply regret that he is to leave us, as 

 his entire fife work has been intimately connected with 

 the educational interests of Michigan, and with us he 

 can do great good, but — money is mighty, and wfil pre- 

 vail. 



Mr. Frank E. Briggs and Mr. Sedina have just re- 

 turned from a two weeks trouting excursion to the Little 

 Manistee in northern Michigan. They have had lots of 

 fine sport and great luck. They have remembered several 

 of their Lansing friends by presenting each of them with 

 a nice string of extra fine trout averaging about l^lbs. 

 each. Mr. Elton Essylstine sjjent a couple of weeks early 

 in the season at the same place where the Briggs- 

 Sedina party have so successfully laid siege to the trout 

 family, and Mr. Essylsttne's good luck was the inspiration 

 responsible for the sojourn of the Lansing fishermen on 

 the charming Manistee. Mr. Briggs is a sportsmen to the 

 manor born. This is his second trouting trip to northern 

 Michigan this season, and this together with his regular 

 weekly outings at Pine Lake, Park Lake, and at his great 

 friend Cliff Foster's, ought to keep him in good shape to 

 handle his Parker hammerless to good advantage a little 

 later among the quail and ruffed grouse. He is a good 

 judge of guns and tackle, and nothing in the way of 

 sporting goods is too good for his use or too good for him 

 to buy. The woods and lakes, and streams of Michigan 

 are as familiar to him as his own cozy room at the State 

 Treasurer's Otiice. The big trout in his far away home, 

 the covey of ruffed grouse in the tangled thicket, the 

 bevy of quail in the stubbie, are all well known to him, 

 and when he touches the button at the front door he is 

 siu-e to find the whole family at home. 



A friend of mine at Lansing wished to got a .22cal. re- 

 peater, and as he desired to know exactly what to expect 

 of the gun he addressed a letter to the Wmchester people, 

 and I inclose their reply, which is sirfficiently plain so 

 that any person can understand fully what was asked. 

 The inquiry related to the .22 Ion ^, .22 short and .22-7-45 

 repeating rifle, model 1890. They write: 



Your favor of Jime 29 relating to the .22cal. rifle is received and con- 

 tents Boted. All of those guns weigh very nearly alike. They are 

 sighted to shoot center at 100ft. The term "point blank" does not in- 

 dicate anything to us. In old brass field pieces, where the line of the 

 metal bore a large angle to thehne of the r>ore, there were two points 

 blank, first where the projectile coming out of the gun passed the line 

 of the metal in rising, and again in falling. Such a state of things can- 

 not be said to exist in small arms, although this term is often used. 

 We are at a loss to know what people mean by it. We have, therefore, 

 stated generally that the guns are sighted to shoot center at 100ft. In 

 going that distance the bullet may rise an inch above the line of sight; 

 It is intended to touch the line of sight again at the target point. 

 Touching your last question, these .32 guns, lired at the height of the 

 shoulder and exactly level, will probably carry 75yds. 



He ordered a .22-7-45 Winchester repeater model 1890. 

 When the gim came Mr. C. J. Davis, one of the best rifle 

 shots in Michigan, took it to try at a mark. At 50yds. the 

 ball went true to the center. At 80yds. it did not fall be- 

 low the center more than lin., the ball penetratmg a lin. 

 board and a 4 in. board, and then went on its way. I am 

 satisfied from this simple test that the Winchester people 

 do not know what the shooting ability of the .a2-7-45 re- 

 peater really is. It certainly has a far greater range and 

 a much greater penetration than one would exjject after 

 reading the above letter. It would seem that the Win- 

 chester people would ascertain accurately just what their 

 rifles woifld do before putting them on the market. In a 

 thickly settled country like Michigan one must know 

 exactly where a ball wiU go in order to avoid unpleasant 

 complications. I will try to give you actual results at the 

 target of the shooting ability of the .22-7-45 Winchester 

 repeater as soon as a favorable opportunity presents. 



While speaking of the .22cal. gun I am reminded of a 

 circumstance that happened at Lansing two years ago 

 that fatally illustrated the penetrating ability of an ordin- 

 ary BB shot. A small lad and his sister were shooting 

 with a breakdown wooden gun, with one BB shot in the 

 magazine. The gun accidentaUy went off, sending the 

 shot into the chest of the little girl, and she died in a few 

 hours. Another circumstance, equally as remarkable, 

 occurred the same season. A gentleman with the same 

 style of a wooden gun and one BB shot fii-ed at a yearling 

 Jersey heifer. The shot struck the Jersey near the eye 

 and killed it on the spot. It is qmte essential that one 

 who is to shoot so powerful a gtm, even as the .22cal. 

 rifle, should know exactly what the gun is going to do. 



This morning as I was riding through a swampy piece 

 of ground bordering a shallow pond, I noticed that the 

 blackbirds, of the crow variety, were flocking together 

 preparatory to their f aU southern journey. It recalled an 

 amusing fishing scene at the same place last spring. One 

 morning early I was just nearing this same little pond, 

 when I noticed a large flock of crow blackbirds busfly 

 engaged about something that seemed to interest them 

 greatly. I stopped my horse, and after waiting a whfie 

 to feel assured that I was not going to disturb them the 

 bu'ds began to dive into the water and were soon catch- 

 ing tadpoles by the score. The water was 5 or Gin. deep 

 and the bottom of the pond was covered with tadpoles. 

 The birds would dive into the water, in many cases going 

 in all over, and they would come out with a tadpole in 



their claws or beak almost every time. I have often seen 

 blackbirds steal young sparrows|from their nest and tear 

 them to pieces and eat them, _but I never before saw 

 blackbirds fish for tadpoles. By" the way, did you know 

 that a nice broiled crow blackbird, on a well-browned bit 

 of toast, was a mighty dainty dish? 



Yes, we have quite a crop of rattlesnakes this year. 

 Mr, Philo T. Daniels killed a couple of dozen nice fat fel-^ 

 lows last week while cutting hay on the Chandler Marsh. 

 One day last spring, a lady who fives in the edge of our 

 city put her milk pans out in the sun to dry. In a little 

 while she thought she heard something di-umming on the 

 pans, and on looking out she discovered a big rattler 

 cofied up on one of the pans and apparently amusing him- 

 self by rattling. One of Mr. Daniels's fellows had ten rat- 

 tles, but the milk-pan rattler had only seven. We have 

 a rattlesnake catcher who lives at the big marsh. He 

 seems to have a f aciflty of getting along with the snakes 

 without trouble, and usually has half a dozen quite tame 

 rattlers as pets. 



The new law creating the Michigan Naval Reserve is to 

 include aU yacht clubs, vessel men, sailors, tug owners, 

 and all men who are employed about harbors and such as 

 from their familiarity with our lakes and rivers can be of 

 service in case of war. The bfil was gotten up by mem- 

 bers of the Detroit Yacht Club, and quite likely the State 

 organization wiU be more or less controlled by the club. 

 Col, McComas, of Lansing, is an ex-commodore of the 

 yacht club, and he is greatly in favor of the organization. 

 The Navy Department has sent the Governor the neces- 

 sary blanks and instructions for the enrollment, and the 

 work will be begun at an early date. Julian. 



[The rifleman appears to have misinterpreted the manu- 

 facturers' statement respecting the range of the Winches- 

 ter. A gun sighted to shoot center at lOOft. will of course 

 carry its ball further than the 80yds. , and when aimed at 

 the mark at that distance, the barrel of a gim so sighted 

 is by no means "held exactly leveL"] 



ON TILEFISH GROUNDS. 



The U. S. Fish Commission schooner Grampus returned 

 to Wood's HoU yesterday noon after having survived the 

 recent hurricane which caused so many disasters to vessels 

 off om- coast. She was on the tilefish ground, 95 miles 

 S.E. by S. from Sandy Hook, during the storms of last 

 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, lying to an anchor 

 with 165 fathoms of hawser out. 



On Monday morning it began to blow, increasing to a 

 gale N.E. to N., from 19 A. M. to 1 P. M., and moderating 

 about 3 P. M. On the evening of the 23d it breezed fi-om 

 7 to 9, when it blew a gale and increased to a hurricane 

 by midnight. This continued until 5 A. M. on the 24th, 

 when it gradually decreased during the forenoon. 



The Grampus was anchored, but struck adrift early in 

 the evening of the 23d. Between 10 and 11 P. M. a Col- 

 lins drag was put out by a new 4-inch manila warp, and 

 this parted at once, with the loss of drag and line. She 

 was then dragging her anchor, which brought her up to 

 the wind occasionally until 3 A. M. on the 24th. Then she 

 shoaled the water and came head to it. Oil had been used 

 freely both forward and aft with good results in breaking 

 the force of the seas. 



At 4:30 A. M. a heavy sea broke high over the bow and 

 swept the deck, breaking the main rail, smashing hatch 

 covei"8, wrecking the wheel-box and cariying away the 

 stern boat; it actually stripped the brass from the after 

 part of the rail. Water poured into the companionways 

 as big as a barrel and stood in the cabin and forecastle 

 more than a foot deep. 



The hawser parted with a snap and this saved the vessel. 

 The first officer, Mr. Hand, was fleetmg the hawser when 

 the sea came aboard, and the second mate, Mr. Conley, 

 was tending the oil bags. Mr. Hand saw the sea coming 

 and jumjied into the rigging as high as he could, but the 

 sea broke 5ft. over him, loosened his hold and carried him 

 back to the house stunned and bruised. Mr. Conley 

 stooped under the rail and escaped the force of the blow, 

 but was washed back and forth, bringing up finally 

 against the break of the quarterdeck. 



The men on watch jumped into the main rigging and 

 saved themselves from injury. The Grampus was de- 

 scribed by Capt. Adams as all in a tremble, and she must 

 be badly strained. On Thursday morning she was kept 

 off before the wind under a reefed storm trysaU. and fore- 

 staysail, and sail was gradually increased on the run 

 home. The vessel Uved in the very heart of the storm, 

 and, considering that she is small and heavily sparred, it 

 is wonderful that she came out of it so bravely. 



The tUefish ground has been visited twice by the 

 Grampus during August. The depth ranges from 70 to 

 75 fathoms, and the bottom temperature is about 52°F. 

 The fish were taken on trawl fines baited with menhaden. 

 On the first trip, in two and a half days' fishing, 24 fish 

 were caught weighing from 7 to 351bs. Three of the 

 females had their ovaries partly developed. The eggs are 

 said to be about as large as those of the cod. 



Other fish taken in company with the tfiefish were 

 skates, little dogfish, conger eels and hake. The hooka 

 also brought up sea anemones and starfish. On the Sxst 

 trip a shark and a smaU swordfish took the hooks while 

 the men were hauling the trawl. A large squid was 

 taken nearly in perfect condition from the stomach of 

 one of these fish and a slender species of eel. The fish as 

 a rule come up with the stomachs tm-ned inside out. 



The second trip was broken up by storms and the trawl 

 was set only parts of two days. Twenty fish were taken, 

 the smaUest about Iflbs, and the largest 351bs. 



On the fishing ground were seen a few phalaropes and 

 porpoises at the surface. During the first trip eight or 

 ten large swordfish were seen and a school of supposed 

 bonitos. 



The tilefish was tried as a food fish at Woods Holl and 

 found exceUent either baked or broiled. The flesh tastes 

 very much like crab meat. Specimens in alcohol will be 

 sent to the National Museum, the Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology and to various universities. The species is 

 graduaUy increasing in numbers and wiU doubtless re- 

 establish itself on the coast. T. H. B. 



IVie Forest and Stream is put to press each iveek on Tues- 

 day. Oorres2}ondtnce intended for publication should reach 

 us at the latest by Monday, and asiinuch earlier as practicable 



