June 27, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
B19 
To Keep Minnows Alive. 
I "WAS told by one of the natives down at K. if I 
wanted good fishing to come down about the middle of 
April. So this spring A. and I planned a little trip down 
there. 
We were out on the pond by 4:30 in the morning, and 
A. hadn't got his line in the water ten seconds before he 
had a good bite that made him hustle for a while. I was 
watching him land his fish when I got a bite that took up 
all my attention . How that old codger did pull ! I finally 
got him into the boat, and we compared notes. A.'s 
weighed 2£lbs. and mine weighed about 21bs. "Well," A. 
said, "if we can catch a few more of these fellows we're 
'in it.' " We fished till breakfast time, half -past 6, and 
then weighed our catch. We found that we had taken 
together 281bs. of pickerel and Jib. of perch. A. had 
caught twelve fish, together weighing 151bs. I had caught 
eleven fish, weighing together 131bs. and a little over. 
We used live chub for bait, and found that we could 
keep them alive by simply keeping them rolled up in a 
wet blanket. This may be stale news for some fellows, 
but we found it out ourselves. Before we always used to 
keep them in a bucket full of water, and had to keep on 
changing the water or the little fellows would go^to 
sleep. F. E. J. 
Boston, June 4. 
Deed of Conveyance. 
Given a lake full of black bass, a lawyer and an insur- 
ance agent, a buckboard and horse, fishing tackle and 
other impedimenta, what will the result be? 
- This was the problem presented to us. The answer is 
hereinafter set forth and declared, that is to say : For and 
in consideration of the conjunction of the aforesaid pre- 
requisites the said lake did forever release unto the said 
lawyer and agent forty black bass, as follows: 
At the first cast, to the lawyer two bass of about lib. 
each, thereafter in six more casts six more bass. Then to 
the agent in seven successive casts seven bass. Again to 
the lawyer in seven casts seven more; to the agent seven 
more in about forty casts, he having failed to connect 
thirty-three strikes, amid the direful imprecations of the 
' lawyer. And so on to the full amount. Then we quit. 
To have and to hold unto the said lawyer and insurance 
agent, their heirs and (not assigns) neighbors. 
Victoria, Tex., June, 1896. MARION WABNER. 
An Ontario Fishing Center Wanted. 
It is the intention of a few office companions and my- 
self to spend a couple of weeks during the first part of 
July at some one of the numerous lakes or rivers back of 
Toronto, Canada, and as none of us have ever fished in 
the province, and as about all we can learn regarding the 
fishing and kinds of fish is through railroad ads. and 
folders, I would like to have some brother sportsman who 
knows these waters tell us where to go. We are all 
speckled or brook trout fishermen, and tossing the fly for 
black bass may also be classed as one of our choicest 
pleasures. We would like to know where we can find 
this kind of fishing, also would like to know if the trout 
of Lake Nipissing and Trout Lake and other lakes in the 
neighborhood of North Bay take kindly to the fly, and 
what flies are the most successful. If some good brother 
would like to enlighten us regarding the above and make 
our holiday an epoch we would be very greatful. 
Box 102, Oil City, Pa. ALLEGHENY. 
Long Island Blueflshing. 
Bluefishing has begun earlier than usual this year and 
large cat<fhes are reported every day. Last Saturday one 
boat in the Sheepshead Bay, Long Island, fleet returned 
with a catch of thirty odd flsh, one of which is reported 
to have weighed 121bs. 
Last Sunday a party of seven, including myself, went 
out on the Cricket, Capt. Cowdrich, of Sheepshead Bay, 
and in less than an hour after reaching the bluefish 
grounds we had six large fish. Owing to our limited ex- 
perience in this kind of fishing a number of fish got away 
that should have been caught. Those that were landed 
were all pulled in by the captain, who certainly did all 
that was expected of him. The fish were all large, the 
smallest weighing 81bs. and the largest lOlbs. before dress- 
ing. 
We fished only a couple of hours because of the indis- 
position of several of the party, who quickly recovered 
when they reached terra fama. G. F- Diehl. 
Large English Trout. 
The Fishing Gazette of Aug. 4, 1888, thus describes the 
"monarch of the Itchen:" "Weight, 161bs. 2oz.; length, 
32in,; circumference, 21in,; bait, a live minnow; captor, 
Mr. Chas. Turpin; purchaser, a fishmonger; price, 20s.; 
future, a glass case." 
Fishing Gazette of Oct. 6, 1888, records the, capture of 
"a trout, 15£l bs. in weight, caught on Friday last, near 
Overton, Hants, by W. Portal, Esq. Its girth round the 
shoulders was 20Jin. It is now in the hands of Mr. Bow- 
land Ward, F. Z. S , of Piccadilly, where it can be seen." 
Among records of Thames trout we have the following: 
171bs. Jubilee trout, netted and returned, 1887; 16Ibs. 
15oz. Beading trout, April 24, 1880; 151bs., caught by Mr. 
B. Shaw, Marlow, May 11, 1863; 14ll?s. 9£oz., caught by 
Mr. J. Forbes, Chertsey, July 2, 1870; 14lbs., caught by 
Mr. Ross Faulkner, Moulsey, May 21, 1883.— Correspond- 
ence Fishing Gazette. 
The Connecticut Lakes. 
Pike Station, N. H., June 16.— Trout fishing, both 
lake and brook, has been unusually good throughout 
northern New Hampshire this spring. Two members of 
our firm, who are also members of the Moosilauke League, 
have just gone to the Connecticut Lakes for a couple of 
weeks, where some unusual catches have been made this 
month. E. B. P. 
Carp Fishing. 
Fob carp fishing use black bass hooks, 0 to 4. Grass- 
hoppers, maggots, larvae of wasps are used for bait; also 
grains of wheat or barley, or pellets of wheat or corn bread 
mixed with cotton. Beport your luck to Forest and 
Stream. 
Salmon Fishing 
To let from July 1st for two rods on Grand Oascapedia River, Quebec. 
The moat famous and accessible salmon river in Canada. The 
sport this season has been superb. Largest run of flsh for years. 
Oascapedia, care FoaasT and St&ka-M. — Adv. 
WASTE OF FOOD FISHES. 
BY L. D. HUNTINGTON. 
[Read before the American Fisheries Society.] 
The yearly waste of food fish along our coast is a sub- 
ject deserving the consideration of all interested in the 
supply of healthy food. The subject should especially 
receive the careful attention of the citizens of the sea- 
board States. The waste from the indiscriminate use of 
the purse net by the menhaden fishermen along our 
coast, from Maine to North Carolina, demands proper at- 
tention and careful consideration. This industry, the 
products of which are guano and oil (from fish), is one of 
considerable importance; it is organized under the title 
of the "United States Menhaden Oil and Guano Associa- 
tion," with a capital of about $2,000,000, employing from 
2,000 to 2,500 men, with annual products of about $500, 
000 or $600,000 in guano, and about $400,000 in oil; the 
capital, number of men employed and value of products 
varying somewhat yearly. This enterprise should re- 
ceive proper consideration as a business venture, but not 
allowed to trespass upon the rights and privileges of the 
citizens of the seaboard States, by wasting the food prod- 
ucts of the waters of the coast by converting them into 
guano. In the prosecution of their business (catching 
menhaden with purse nets) they not only intrude upon 
the rights of the citizens of the seaboard States, in catch- 
ing and converting valuable food fishes into guano, but 
drive the food fish from their natural feeding grounds, 
and prevent the parent fish occupying their natural 
spawning beds and reproducing their kind. 
While it is often denied by those interested in patching 
menhaden with purse nets that they catch any food fish 
worth mentioning, I will briefly state one or two of the 
many items of evidence of the catching and of the wan- 
ton waste of food fish by them. In 1892 a bill in the in- 
terest of the menhaden fishermen, known as the Laphan 
Bill, was before Congress, the provisions of which gave 
them the right to use the purse net all along the coast, in 
the bays, estuaries and rivers, limited only beyond the 
influence of the tide; the law, habits or customs of any 
State to the contrary notwithstanding. Strenuous efforts 
were made to secure this law, which fortunately failed, 
but it nevertheless furnishes the plainest evidence of then- 
disposition to override all State laws for the protection 
of food fish, etc., in their pursuit of the menhaden. 
At a hearing on this bill before a Senate committee 
the following instances of the waste of food fish were 
brought out: Mr. S. B. Miller, a fish dealer, in answer to 
'questions asked him stated that he received at one time 
70,0001bs. of food fish, mostly weakfish, from one of 
Daniel Church's steamers, 10,0001bs. of which went on the 
market; the balance, 60,0001bs. , went to the guano factory 
on Barren Island. He also stated that at another time he 
received from the same source another large lot of food 
fish, from out of which he selected about 10, OOOlbs., that 
the balance of the lot were heated and unfit for sale, and 
that he told the captain of the boat to haul right out; of 
course these fish went to the factories. He further stated 
that with their (meaning the menhaden fishermen) man- 
ner of handling fish, the fish, after being covered 8in. 
with other fish as they are dumped in the hold of their 
vessels, would heat and be unfit for use for food in three 
hours or less. 
Mr. E. G. Blackford, the well-known fish dealer of Ful- 
ton Market, before same committee stated that from his 
own knowledge every year those fishes which feed upon 
menhaden grow more scarce; that there had been several 
instances which had been spoken of there, of his own 
knowledge, where the menhaden vessels have taken large 
schools of food fish and have brought them to market; 
the very large catch of 1891, about a year ago, just about 
that time of the year, were principally of weakfish. Some 
four or more vessels came up to Fulton Market with a 
cargo or quantity of at least 200,0001bs., nearly all weak- 
fish, and out of that 200,0001bs. about one-quarter were 
marketed, the balance of these cargoes was sent to the 
factories and rendered into oil and scrap. Mr. Blackford 
further stated that in his opinion the effect of the great 
amount of fishing that is carried on for menhaden all 
along the coast breaks up the schools of fish which are 
followed by the striped bass and bluefish, and has a tend- 
ency to make these fish seek other feeding grounds. 
Mr. George Hildreth, of New Jersey, formerly a men- 
haden fisherman, in answer to the following question, 
i. e.: "Well, on the average would there be considerable 
food fish?" replied, "There would sometimes be quite a 
number of food fish among them (meaning menhaden), 
and other times very little — whatever there was within the 
bounds of the net." In connection with the latter part of 
Mr. Hildreth's answer, that the purse net caught what- 
ever there was within its bounds, I will quote Prof. G. 
Brown Goode, endorsement (Mis. Docn. 49, Second Ses- 
sion, Forty-fifth Congress, page 117). He says, "The 
purse seine is doubtless more effective than any other fish- 
ing apparatus ever devised; by its use a school of almost 
any size can be secured without the loss of a single fish." 
The enormous demand of the oil factories can be met only 
by fisheries conducted upon the grandest scale, and the 
purse seine is used by the factory fleet to the exclusion of 
all other nets. 
The purse net, as Prof. G. Brown Goode and Mr. Hil- 
dreth say, takes all fish within its inclosure or bounds, 
which must necessarily include the taking of a very 
large quantity of food fish in its use in taking the average 
yearly catch of 500,000,000 of menhaden. 
Agreeable to statement compiled by Hugh M. Smith 
and published in the United States Fish Commission Bul- 
letin is given the number of hauls made by two men- 
haden steamers for one season as 1,078 and the proportion 
of the catch as one-twentieth of the menhaden taken for 
that time; this would give a total of 21,560 hauls made in 
a season from the best available data on the subject. The 
average length of the purse nets used by the menhaden 
fishermen is about 1,360ft. Taking the average length of 
the nets used as 1,850ft., each haul would inclose 3f 0 % 
acres, which makes an aggregate of 61,589 acres of water 
along our coast, bays and estuaries upon the feeding and 
spawning grounds of many of our valuable food fishes 
thoroughly screened of the food fish yearly. The food 
fish so taken are hastily dumped by steam power by scoops 
holding five barrels each in a mass in the hold of a ves- 
sel (precluding the possibility of detecting the various 
species of fish taken with the menhaden, even if desired), 
where they soon sour and become unfit for food; taken to 
the factories and rendered into oil and guano. As before 
stated, it is claimed by many interested in the menhaden 
fishery that they take but few if any food fish with the 
purse net, while taking yearly about 500,000,000 men- 
haden. Those who are familiar with the purse net and not 
interested in the menhaden oil and guano business have 
yet to learn how it is possible for the net to take the men- 
haden without taking the food fish it incloses, especially 
when the depth of the water does not exceed that of the' 
net used, so that it reaches to the bottom and incloses a 
certain space of water, forming a flexible wall from the 
surface to the bottom, then being pursed up along the 
bottom. I would ask how it is possible for the food fish to> 
escape and the menhaden only taken. Aside from the 
waste of the food fish so taken, the indiscriminate use of 
the purse net in the shallow waters along the coast, in 
the bay, inlets and estuaries — the natural feeding and 
spawning grounds of many of our valuable food fish — 
drives them to other localities and seriously affects their 
natural reproduction. 
|! ' From such statements of the value of the yearly products 
as I have seen in print, the proportion gives about 60 per 
cent, in guano and about 40 per cent, in oil. Food fish 
rendered may not add to the product of oil, but do to the 
product of guano. The subject of coast food fish supply 
is one that should especially interest the hundreds of 
thousands of citizens of the seaboard States; that the 
present waste of food fish from the indiscriminate use of 
the purse net by the menhaden fishermen within the 
three-mile limit is an abuse of the rights of all citizens. 
No business is justified in using food fish, which were in- 
tended for food for the people, for the purpose of manu- 
facturing into fertilizers; nor is any business justified the 
prosecution of which in any way interferes with the peo- 
ple's supply of food fish. There should be proper restric- 
tions that would be just to all — to the menhaden industry 
as well as to millions of hard-working citizens who depend 
upon the continual food fish supply for a livelihood, the> 
many thousands who at times take fish for food for their' 
families, the many thousands who of choice prefer to> 
catch their supply of food fi3h from the waters adjacent 
to them instead of from the market, as well as thousands 
who resort to the waters along the coast for food fish asi 
well as for recreation and health. The food fish should be> 
protected within the three-mile limit before it is too late.. 
If the use of the purse net was properly restricted or pro- 
hibited within a reasonable distance from the shores, andt 
used only in waters beyond the depth of the net used, it; 
would go far to stop the present waste and to insure a con- 
tinued supply, now so seriously threatened. 
I would most respectfully ask the consideration of the 
members of this Society, and especially those who are 
Commissioners of Fisheries of the respective seaboard 
States, to this important question. 
' he MmnttL 
FIXTURES 
BENCH 8HOWB. 
Sept. 7 to 11.— Rhode Island State Fair Association's fcwrrtn annua* 
show, Providence, R. I. 
Sept. 7 to 11.— Toronto Exhibition Association's eighth annual show, 
Toronto, Can. C. A. Stone, Secy of bench show. 
Sept. 22 to 24.— Milwaukee Kennel and Pet Stock Association's second 
annual dog show, Milwaukee. W. W. Welch, Sec'y. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Sept. 2.— Morris, Man.— Manitoba Field Trials Club. John Wootton, 
Sec'y. 
Sept. 7.— Kennedy, Minn.— Continental Field Trial Club's chicken 
trials. P. T. Madison, Sec'y, Indianapolis, Ind. 
Oct. 9.— Brunswick Fur Club's annual meet. Bradford S. TurDin, 
Sec'y. ' 
Oct. 26.— Hempstead, L. I.— Natioonal Beagle Club's trials. Geo. 
W. RogerB, Sec'y, 250 W. Twenty-second street, New York. 
Oct. 28— Greene county, Pa.— The Monongahela Valley Game and! 
Fish Protective Association's second annual trials. S. B. Cummines, 
Sec'y, Pittsburg. B 
Nov. 2.— Bicknell, Ind.— Continental Field Trial Club's quail triala- 
P. T. Madison, Sec'y. 
Nov. 2.— Oxford, Mass.— New England Beagle Club's trials. W; Si 
Clark, Sec'y, Linden, Mass. 
Nov. 10 —Columbus, Wis.— Northwestern Beagle Club's trials. Loufei 
Steffen, Sec'y, Milwaukee. 
Nov. 10.— Leamington, Ont.— Peninsular Field Trial Club, Learnings- 
ton, Ont. 
Nov. 10.— Central Beagle Club's trials. L. O. Seidel, Sec'y. 
Nov. 16.— Newton, N. C— E. F. T. Club's trials. S. C. Bradley, Sec**?,, 
Greenfield Hill, Conn. . . 
Nov. 17.— Chatham, Ont.— International Field Trial Club's trials. 
W. B. Wells, Sec'y, Chatham, Ont. 
Nov. 28— Newton, N. 0— U. S. F. T. Club's fall trials. W. B. Staf- 
ford, Sec'y. 
Dec. 14.— Athens, Ala.— Dixie Red Fox Club's second annual trials 
J. H. Wallace, Sec'y. 
DOG AND PICTURE. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I note with much pleasure A Posteriori's comments 
upon my insistence, with illustration from real dog life, 
that a dog may have — that at least one dog has — the 
power to cognize a portrait. 
He says: "I think an isolated incident should not be 
taken as proving that such high perception is common to , 
the whole race of dogs." 
True, such an incident should not be so taken. Tiger - 
is a genius; but the genius has no additional faculty^. 
Shakespeare was only more highly endowed with the', 
faculties of which the average man has some. Tiger cog- 
nizing a portrait, it is evident that the powers by which a , 
portrait is cognized are not man's alone. Man shares 
them with the lower animal. The day is gone by when-, 
the great man is thought to be any more descended from 
the gods than is any other man. A few years before Thei 
Christ, Julius Caesar was thought to be, within two or 
three generations, the son of Venus and Anchises. To- 
day we would, find it rather hard to have the average 
American care who his parents were. True, there are 
some sons of their fathers; but the genius of America is 
to take every man for what he is himself. Is man de- 
scended or ascended from the lower animal, or was he 
immediately made by the Creator? "We are coming to 
care less and less. We take man as we find him. And I 
find myself finding him with no essential difference be- 
tween him and the rest of sentient beings. So with 
Tiger, a genius 1 But not essentially different from other 
dogs. 
Again he says: "This is a point on which the observa- 
tions of your numerous readers would be invaluable, in 
establishing whether the dog's cognition is of such a high 
