Feb. 9, 1895. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
109 
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WE ANGLERS. 
shell-fish, and bivalves; the promotion of fish culture, and the 
introduction of new species and varieties of fish, and to dis- 
seminate information relating thereto." 
Three years later we assumed our present name, and to our 
powers were added "the promotion of the culture and the in- 
troduction of new species of game." 
In reviewing the history of the Association from its infancy 
to the time when we have attained our majority, the most 
noticeable and striking fact is the growth and 'development of 
the Association, in the constant^ increasing interest in this 
as well as in other States, near and remote, in the culmination 
of enlightened public sentiment in relation not only to the 
preser vation and protection, but to the propagation of fish and 
game. 
"Much has been done but more remains to do," and when 
we learn of the laws which have been passed in Minnesota and 
Dakota, and nearer home, the contemplated action of the Leg- 
islatures of Maine and New Jersey, we may well realize that in 
our own State of Massachusetts, which commenced to legislate 
on this subject seventy-three years ago, our laws still need 
amendments and additions, and. we should see to it that we do 
not fall behind. 
With associations as with men, we must fully realize those 
strong words of James Russell Lowell: 
" No man is born into the world whose work 
Is not born with hirn. There is always work 
And tools to work withal, for those who will." 
In the brief space of time at my command I can only give 
you one illustration of the kind of work which engages, at the 
present moment, the attention of this Association. 
I refer to the proposed legislation in regard to lobsters. An 
- increase of more than 50 men engaged in this fishery in 1 894, 
an increase of over 3,000 pots, and a decrease of more than 
52,000 lobsters in the total eaten, the decrease from 71,000 egg- 
bearing lobsters in 1890 to 32,700 in 1893, and 34,500 in 1894, 
have at last impressed not only the consumers of this most de- 
sirable food supply, but also the fishermen themselves, who now 
seem to be alive to the fact that at no distant day this industry, 
by which they live, will be of little value unless some decided 
step is taken, and that immediately. 
A single illustration, as to locality, will suffice. At Co- 
hasset, on the South Shore, there are engaged in the capturing 
of lobsters 22 men who took during 1894, 80,000 lobsters, this 
being the third locality in our bay in point of importance. 
A close season has been alwa3^s objected to by these men, but 
to-day at the hearing before the Joint Committee at the State 
House I presented a paper signed by 19 out of the 22 fishermen, 
asking for a close season for the months of June and July. 
If this action is taken and the penalty of a fine and the con- 
fiscation of any pots found set in the Bay is enforced, and no 
lobsters allowed to be sold in the State during those months, 
there will be no difficulty as to the future supply of mature 
lobsters. 
The abundant increase naturally yielded is seen from the 
fact that the 4,026 egg-bearing lobsters collected at the United 
States Commission Station, at Wood's Holl, Mass., produced 
97,635,000 eggs, which produced 69,000,000 fry, or seventy per 
cent, of all eggs taken; 14.000,000 of the eggs were bad, so that 
the true per cent, hatched was S3. 
The introduction of the Mongolian Pheasant promises to be a 
great success in Massachusetts. Twenty eight of these birds 
were sent to Oregon in 1881, and their increase was phenome- 
nal. The game warden estimated the number killed last sea- 
son in three months, in Linn County alone, at 13,000, and two 
years ago 1,200 dozen of these birds were sent to one dealer in 
San Francisco. This is a fine game bird, and a delicious morsel 
of food. It is hardy and has two recommendations, the impor- 
tance of which can hardly be overestimated It feeds on the 
pests and enemies of the crops, and it does not drive out other 
birds. 
Now we have the advantage of thorough organization, and a 
modest though constantly accumulating fund, and judging 
from the statement made to you recently by my predecessor in 
office, that of late years there has been no measure advocated 
by us which has been defeated, and, on the other hand, no 
measure has crystallized into law which we have opposed, we 
have every reason to believe that we have only to use our best 
efforts wisely and carefully in the prosecution of the work be- 
fore us, and we may have faith that they will be crowned with 
success. 
And now one word, in closing, as to the motive which should 
serve to encourage us in our labors, for I take it that the best 
results are accomplished in this world by individuals and by 
the associations where there exists a sentiment which acts as an 
inspiration. Back of the artist's and the sculptor's work is the 
dream which neither ever realizes in marble or on the canvas 
— back of the great lawyer's argument and fee lie his worship 
of law, ordei - , and justice— back of the work of the great phy- 
sician with its compensation is the privilege of helping the 
world to bear its pains— back of the work of the clergyman 
with its beneficent and kindly ministries lie the souls of men 
and the reflection that he works not only for time but for eter- 
nity—back of the skill of the manufacturer is a finer product 
than was ever woven or twisted by loom or spindle— and so if 
the "undevout astronomer is mad" far more so is the undevout 
and thoughtless hunter. For the appreciative sportsman there 
exists a vast world of beauty, where' nature, in all her varying 
moods, conspiring to delight his eye and feed his better nature, 
spreads before him all iter treasures, and he is rested and re- 
freshed by her for all the work of life as he views the darting 
life of the fish, the ever-recurring miracle of the flight of birds, 
the tints of the sea-shell, the rustle of the autumn leaves, and 
the plash of the wave on the pebbly beach. 
" He goes forth under the open sky, and lists 
To Nature's teachings, while from all around — 
Earth, and her wa ters, and the depths of air — 
Comes a still voice. The hills 
Rock-ribbed, and aucient as the sun; the vales 
Stretching in pensive quietness between; 
The venerable woods; rivers that move 
£ In majesty, and the complaining brooks • 
That make the meadows green; and poured round all, 
Old ocean's gray and melancholy waste," 
all are his. 
A great heritage has come to him, and feeling the responsi- 
bility of having, to some extent, dominion over the fL°h of the 
sea and over the fowls of the air. and iu gratitude for his en- 
joyment of it all he unselfishly desires to do something, in his 
small way, to hand this inheritance down unimpaired to those 
who shall live when the dust rests upon his memory. 
The other after dinner speakers were Gov. Wolcott, 
Speaker Meyer, Rev. Mr. Horton, Captain Wyman, Rev. 
Mr. Savage, Mr. Tyndale and Commissioners Shurtleff 
of New Hampshire, Stanleyof Maine and Titcomb of 
Vermont. They were all interesting, containing, as 
they did, appropriate hits at some of the peculiarities 
of rod and gun men, as well as sound and practical 
words upon the importance of fish and game protection. 
In conclusion let me say that Mr. B. C. Clark, the new 
president, has three important qualifications for his 
new position — means, inclination and time. In the 
past he has employed all these liberally in behalf of the 
association — that he will do in the future goes without 
saying. Wm. B. Smabt. 
Revolvers Not Essential in Florida. 
Hawthorn, Fla.— Editor of Forest and Stream: I 
have read carefully all of Alfred C, Harmsvvortli's letter 
on Florida fishing. His statement that we dislike En- 
glishmen from envy is not true. AVhenever Englishmen 
show desirable qualities they are fully appreciated. But 
in most cases Englishmen show so little common sense, 
good judgment and attractiveness, that we feel disgusted, 
or a sympathy for them, not envy, I assure you. 
The main point I wish to speak of is this statement in 
his letter of Jan. 26: "Down in Florida, and especially in 
South Florida, human life is held at a discount. , A 
shooting is almost an everyday occurrence." Then he 
advises 'all Britishers or men from the Northern States, to 
take a revolver and have it at all times. He says that we 
have a large lot of villains here, and that our juries will 
not return verdicts against them for fear of revenge. 
These are ugly falsshoods. 
I appeal to the thousands of pleasure-seekers and sports- 
men who come to Florida every winter, to bear witness 
that each and every one of them who have come here, 
acting as they should, if they have not had the very best 
return for it. They have had no need for the revolver, 
unless to shoot a snake, 'gater, or at a mark. Eleven or 
twelve years ago, when whiskey was sold in every little 
town, and the cowboys would get drunk and raise the 
wind, it was quite frequent that one of them got a bullet 
that was deserved. Now things have changed. In very 
few places without police force sufficient to control these 
things is there any whiskey sold? The people of Florida 
to-day are the most temperate, most moral, and most 
ready to do a stranger a favor of any State in the Union. 
There is less stealing here than in any place I know of. 
We leave our houses all open night and day, in the coun- 
try and small towns. Mr. Harmsworth's friend, Hart, is 
a fair sample of the Florida cracker— kind, obliging, 
faithful, brave, and easily satisfied. The twelve years 
that I have been shooting and fishing all over Florida, I 
have met many like G-uidj Hart, but none that want to 
shoot me. 
W. S. Moore. 
THE SHARK AS GAME FISH. 
1 ' Some years ago I had the temerity to advocate, I think 
in the Forest and Stream, the shark as a game fish, de- 
scribing some of my experiences with these creatures in 
Florida from the mouth of the St.. John's to Loggerhead. 
When a dozen men are arrayed against a shark it is an 
unequal fight, but let one man challenge an ordinary ten- 
foot shark and there is sport for either one and sometimes 
for both. . 
Some of the finest sport I have ever had with a rod was 
With a small oil shark at Santa Catalina Island, Southern 
California. Vicious sharks are unknown here, but on the 
west side of the island in a perfect miniature harbor, that 
almost cuts the island in two, is found a harmless mem- 
ber of the family, known as the oil shark, which affords 
fine sport. It attains a length of about 5 1-2 feet, and a 
weight of from 40 to 70 pounds, and apparently frequents 
the shallow waters of the upper harbor to feed. 
One morning we left Avalon, the little town of the 
island where the hotels are, for Catalina harbor, making 
the trip of about fifteen miles in an hour and a half, and 
anchoring in Isthmus Cove, walked over the narrow 
isthmus to the harbor where we soon took our places on 
the beach. I had a 16-ounce bass-rod which I had fitted 
with a short split bamboo trout tip. The line was 500 feet 
of 18 strand cuttyhunk, very small and light, two feet of 
piano-wire leader, and a stout, though not large hook, 
about the size used for cod and hake in the East. 
The fish were well out from shore, and it was necessary 
to unreel about one hundred feet of line, and throw it 
out, as the bait was a three-pound fish, too heavy to cast 
with the rod. 
There were five in the party, all trying to break the 
record for the largest fish on the lightest rod. I had 
fastened my line on a small stick as a tell-tale, and it was 
not long before it dropped and began to run out. I gave 
it about twenty feet, then hooked my fish. As it felt the 
cold steel, the shark, a finely-shaped, harmless fellow at 
least five feet in length, dashed clear of the water in as 
fine a rise as I ever saw a black bass make, shook its head 
