110 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Feb. 9, 1895. 
a moment, falling back with, a crash, and making the reel 
sing "and play. A companion timed me, and doing my 
best it was about^twenty minutes before I could bring 
this fancy fish tojthe beach in a foot or more of water 
and within reach? of the gaff. It fought me at every 
turn, taking in all four hundred feet of line; making des- 
perate rushes in every direction, and several times almost 
taking me into the water to save the rod. Repeatedly 
the fish, which is known to science as "Galeorhinus 
zyopterus," went into the air; then it would rush at the 
beach quicker than I could reel in and turn and make a 
run down the harbor that threatened rod, reel, and line. 
It was a good pull for a boy to haul the thrashing fish 
out of water, but finally we had it on the sands where 
it was found to weigh a little less than sixty pounds, 
which I considered a good catch for twenty minutes 
when the trout tip of a split bamboo and an 18-strand line 
is taken into consideration. 
Each of the party caught a shark. One completely de- 
moralized a rod, while many hooks and much tackle was 
lost on others; but I think I could have managed a six- 
footfish with ease. 
If we had not known the fish to be sharks we would 
have considered the fishing fine sport; in fact, it was cer- 
tain no game fish made a better fight for its life than 
did these sharks of Catalina Harbor. 
This section of the island has no hotel, but there is a 
good one eight miles away at Little Harbor, and others 
at Avalon, reached by launch daily; or if one desired to 
camp, the isthmus,winter and summer, is a good locality, 
quail, dove, and wild goat being plentiful in the im- 
mediate vicinity. There are no dangerous sharks here, 
the place being famous for its bathing; the sharks being 
a small-mouthed oil shark. 
PlSCATOR. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
Silk Worms. 
I have a letter from Mr. Charles F. Orvis which is 
self explanatory. * 'Have just read with interest your 
article in Forest and Stream on silk worm gut. 
"You are, I think, just right in saying that the 
'working and dressing' of the silk worm gut is nothing 
more than removing the outer skin, and I will add that 
I do not believe a word about anything being used in 
removing this outer skin, for I feel sure that the skin is 
nothing more than the covering of the silk sac, and we 
found after the strands of gut were quite dry that this 
skin came off quite easily and was quite brittle. 
"We drew fine strands of gut from some Chinese 
worms that we procured, and when this outer skin was 
removed the surface of the gut was just perfect ; glossy 
and strong and excellent. There has been a good deal 
of nonsense written about this silk worm gut business. 
I think. 
"The silk composing the cocoons of the native 
worms we experimented with was of good strength and 
of large quantity, but tbe silk sacs in the worms when 
we came to draw them were not at all well filled. I 
think it is not possible that the large amount of silk 
that there was in the cocoons could have come from tbe 
silk in the sacs as we found them, but I think the worm 
secreted the silk rapidly at the expense of its full, large 
body as it spun the cocoon. 
* ' The sacs in the Chinese worms were as large in 
diameter as those in the native worms, but they were 
not as long as the sacs of the natives. The diameter of 
the sacs of the native worms was very small when com- 
pared with the size of the body. 
"I do not know that you, being a fly fisherman, will 
care to have such a long letter about worms, but you 
should not write about worms unless you expect to hear 
from others' on the subject of worms. 
Since the death of Dr. G-arlick Mr. Orvis is tbe only 
one that I know who has experimented in taking gut 
from native silk worms, and what he says will be read 
with interest. Gut from Chinese worms that I have 
had with the outer skin still on it peeled much as Mr. 
Orvis states when it was very dry, in fact, would fall 
off of itself in places .when coiling or uncoiling the 
strands, but in other places it adbered for years. I 
imagine the process of removing the outer skin is prac- 
ticed before tbe skin is thoroughly and fully dry, but I 
am very glad to have Mr. Orvis from his personal ex- 
perience confirm what I have written about the enamel 
or ' ' bark' ' of the gut. This letter that I have quoted 
only confirms my belief and brings us back to the start- 
ing place, that when .that "certain kind of food" for 
our native silk worms is found, silk producing food and 
food that will give strength to the gut, we will have the 
very best leaders that it is possible to procure from silk 
worms. A. N. Cheney. 
RED TROUT. 
Seattle, Wash.— In your issue of December 1st, Mr. S. 
C. Rice gives bis view of the "red {rout" question, and in 
the issue of January 5th, Mr. T. C. Austin also throws 
some fight on the question. Both gentlemen state, in 
good faith, that the "red trout" is Kennerley's salmon; 
yet both are mistaken in my fish, which they confuse 
with an entirely different individual, as I have taken 
pains to find out. Kennerley's salmon exist, or, at least, 
fish tallying exactly with that description exist in both 
Lake Union and Lake Washington, and are yet running 
to a limited extent, while the fish described as "red 
trout," so called, have ceased their run entirely. 
Mr. Austin describes the actions and appearance of a 
small fish, which I first noticed at the portage between 
the two lakes, about the time the salmon commenced 
to run up from the Sound, and which I took for young 
male salmon, from the fact that those of ten or twelve 
inches in length were all males, while those of only a 
trifle larger size showed a preponderance of females. In 
general appearance they resemble very closely the jack 
salmon of the Sound, except that they are very light or 
pink-red in color, tbe spots showing darker on this ground 
color. This fish is what I now suppose to be Kennerley's 
salmon, and it is running yet to a limited extent. I 
found them also in the same stream that I found my red 
trout in, and also in other small steams f owing into Lake 
Washington. But these fish are not the red trout at all. 
The fish I had reference to in my article is still, I be- 
lieve, one wbich differs slightly from, yet closely resem- 
bles, the common lake trout, on the way to some particu- 
lar spawning ground, and must not be" confounded with 
the fish native to tbe stream which tbe red trout ascend, 
for they ascend only the one stream, so far as my knowl- 
edge goes at present. The native stream fish are rainbow 
trout, which are there the year round, and which will, 
as Mr. Austin says, "take a fly from the midst of the red 
fish." There are apparently two kinds of trout in Lake 
Washington and Lake Union, which look almost alike, 
yet are not alike if examined side by side, one being heaw 
and chunky in shape, while the other is slimmer and of 
more graceful lines. They a.re both caught on the same 
fishing grounds and with the same bait and on the same 
day, but are different fish apparently, for many reasons 
which show on close examination. Now, I have a theory 
(it is only a theory because I am not at all certain) , that 
the chunky trout spawns in the lake, while the slimmer 
one goes to the stream, for they do not bite at the time of 
the red trout rim, and I think they are the red trout 
spoken of in my article on that subject, because they 
conform in every detail, except color and a decided sick 
look, with the slim lake trout. They certainly do not bite 
in the lake at this time, and they do not resemble the 
fish I take to be Kennerley's salmon except in the same 
general way that all tbe family of trout resemble one an- 
other. 
The case stands this way with me. I find that a fish 
which I believe to he a species of lake trout ascends one 
particular creek running into Lake Washington for a few 
weeks in the fall in countless numbers. I can find no 
other stream used by this particular fish. In appearance, 
it is an inflamed, unhealthy red , apparently from irrita- 
tion and contact with obstacles in the stream; has what 
appear to be almost running- .sores, or places which would 
be produced in flesh by a splinter or thorn entering, fes- 
tering and then healing up without being extracted, leav- 
ing a hard, whitish place of the same general appearance 
of a sore on the sides. The fins and tail are whitish and 
sore looking and badly, worn. White worms cling to the 
gills in such numbers sometimes that they must inter- 
fere largely with the regular work of these organs. A 
white worm of different appearance clings close to the 
body near the root of the fin or where the fin joins the 
body. The fish is indifferent to the presence 'of man, 
though in plain sight. It is of lean and slender form, but 
has very slight cleft or fork to the tail, a feature gener- 
ally pronounced in a slender fish of any kind. To sum 
up, this fish is undoubtedly diseased, wormy, sluggish, 
sick, sore, and about half-dead. Is it, then, Kennerley's 
salmon? Is it a fish whose color has gained it the name 
of little red fish? I doubt it. I am not positive that I 
know Kennerley's salmon when I meet him, yet, if he is 
such a disreputable, small-pox looking tramp as the red 
trout (for want of a better name) seems to be, i think I 
do not care to meet with him at all. 
As Mr. Rice intimates, I can stand a little or a whole 
lot of contradictory evidence, in fact, I'm looking for it 
and am glad the gentleman spoke, but I must say de- 
cidedly that I think both he and Mr. Austin have drawn 
a conclusion too quickly and have confused two fish, 
which have some general characteristics in common. 
Both gentlemen mention Lake Whatcom as the abode of 
the "red fish." I have never been to Lake Whatcom, 
but I think they describe the red fish which lives in Lake 
Washington, and it is probably identical but it is not the 
reel trout by a long way. I am going to keep on investi- 
gating this subject, and if I find that my red trout is 
Kennerley's salmon, I shall be glad to say so, for I chased 
up a rumor and found a fish at the end of it, did not rec- 
ognize the brand, and told Forest and Stream about it, 
as I think all hunters and fishermen should do when they 
find anything strange, new or interesting, for it makes 
good reading, and is the only way to settle many a vex- 
ing question and to identify strangers. Forest and 
Stream has a pretty good-sized and very attentive audi- 
ence, whose lives are volumes of experience, and there is 
always some one among them who knows more about 
some particular subject than his neighbor, and gives in- 
formation free gratis when called for by a brother knight 
of the open air. It is an educator, fair, impartial, and 
just, which gives a man's view as he sees it, leaving the 
reader to draw his own conclusions, and for that reason 
should not be abused by making a personal controversy 
of any subject. I have given my view on the red trout 
question, deducted from those "untenable" signs which 
we all understand but cannot express to others, and have 
read and re-read the views of Messrs. Rice and Austin. 
All may be right or all may be at sea. Quien sabe? The 
matter comes to just this: The red trout is either a new 
species of fish, or rather my hope was to give a descrip- 
tion of its habits not well-known before; or else it is Ken- 
nerley's salmon doing some very reckless acts and in need 
of watching anyhow. I shall Avatch my part every time 
I get a chance, and at the first opportunity shall paddle 
over and have a bias wawa" with John, an old Siwash 
who has navigated these lakes since he was a boy. May 
be he will a "tale unfold." El Comanche. 
The British Nobility and Game. 
Commenting upon Mr. Hough's note of the Gaiety 
girls' "gag" that the British nobility were only of use to 
supply the game markets, Mr. Yerner de Guise writers: 
"In England when the owner of the shooting has sup- 
plied hampers of game to the companions of his day's 
sport, sent some to his friends, and often to the poor and 
sick, the balance is not to be thrown away, must be sold 
to dealers, whereby is afforded an abundance of cheap 
and pleasant food, a change of diet for the delicate and 
those whose incomes prevent them from ever shooting a 
pheasant on the wing, and who would otherwise be de- 
prived of enjoying such a dainty dish. 'Pot-hunters' is 
the last name to apply to English sportsmen, each head of 
game costing much more to produce than can be got for 
it when dead. In addition, consider the thousands of 
men, who in various ways gain a living from the liber- 
ality with which in England game preserves are stocked. 
It will be a good time when such a practice is the rule 
throughout the States." 
an attractive bouquet of the new Sweet Peas, now so fashionable 
while on the rearms a Ibird's eye view of FORDHOOK FARM 
where many of Burpee's seeds are grown and where there were 
conducted the past season more than six thousand trials of vege- 
tables and flowers grown from seed. This Catalogue is really a 
complete book on seeds, as it contains 174 pages, besides several 
colored plates and special circulars. The illustrations, 400 in num- 
ber, are all true to nature, beinE? mostly engraved from photo- 
graphs, while the descrintions of both new and standard seeds are 
noteworthy for their accuracy. Messrs. W. ATLEE BURPEE & 
CO. make the nominal charge of 10c. for the Farm Annual, which 
is less than actual cost of publication, but will be pleased to mail 
a copy free to many of our readers who intend to purchase seeds 
this spring. It contaias much useful information which cannot 
be had in any other form, and we strongly recommend all who 
have occasion to buy seeds to consult the Catalogue of these well- 
known Philadelphia Seed Growers.— Adv. 
Mifiimilinvz 
The Follett Case Ended. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In the case of the appeal from the District Court in Great 
Barrington, Mass., February, 1894, where tbe defendants were 
convicted of netting troutc^ontrary to law in Lee Brook, in the 
town of Sheffield, Mass , and were fined, R E. Follett, $150, and 
J. M. Davis, $10, has just again come before the January session 
of the Superior Court in Pittsfield and they were again found 
guilty. R. E. Follett was convicted of taking illegally sixty 
fish, for which offense the law imposes a fine of $5 per fish; and 
J. M. Davis, who aided and abetted him of taking two fish. 
The evidence in the case divulged the fact that R. E. Follett, 
who holds the office of Fish Commissioner of the State of Con- 
necticut, is not a resident of that State. He admitted on cross 
examination that his home and residence was in the town of 
Sheffield, Mass. It will be remembered that Mr. Follett 
claimed he had a right to net in this Lee Brook, a portion only 
of which he holds under lease, because in June, 189B, he turned 
into the brook from his pond some twelve huudred cultivated 
trout and which he claims were fed liver and lights near the 
head of the stream. He admitted netting and taking fish down 
some two or three miles of the stream, and that in September, 
when he claimed to net them, some sixty or seventy -five days 
after he had turned in these cultivated fish, and they had run 
with the wild trout up and dovvu three or four miles of the 
stream, he could readily distinguish his trout from the wild 
ones. The court ruled that after having turned his fish into the 
running waters of the stream he had no longer any control 
over them. The sportsmen of Southern Berkshire feel gratified 
at the result of the trial, because it indorses their views of the 
illegality of the netting Which has virtually destroyed one of 
the best trout streams of Southern Berkshire, and they desire 
publicly to express their appreciation of the services of Game 
Warden Benjamin Smith, of Pittsfieid, Mass., and District 
Attorney C. L. Gardner, who so ably presented the case for the 
commonwealth. REPORTER. 
New York Fish Commission. 
Gov. Morton has appointed Barnet H. Davis, of Palmyra, 
Commissioner of Fisheries to fill the vacancy caused by the 
resignation of Robert Hamilton. 
Burpee's Farm Annual for 1895. 
Always Afresh and original, BURPEE'S FARM ANNUAL foi- 
ls^ is even better ^than lever before. The cover is most artistic 
and beautiful; lithographed in ten colors, it shows on the front 
jgfawfu unci offish tjJrotvctwn. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
A .Large Illinois Negro Discover e<l. 
Chicago, 111., Feb. l.-The Executive Committee, of the 
Illinois State Sportsmen's Association, met this afternoon. The 
result is the discovery in tbe association woodpile of the 
largest negro known to date. In brief, the committee found 
that they had been asked to father, and to some extent had 
unwittingly already fathered, a legislative measure which 
would, if passed, wipe off the statute books of Illinois every 
trace of game protective legislation. Moreover, they found 
that there was extreme danger of the passage of the measure at 
an early date. 
By the above, reference is meant to the so-called Warden 
Blow bill, which was substantially indorsed by the Executive 
Lommittee at their last meeting, as reported in these columns. 
At that meeting there was no attorney present from the law 
committee. The bill purported to have been endorsed at one 
time by Mr. Wolf red N. Low (this week deceased) No mem- 
ber of tbe committee suspected any covert meaning beneath the 
wording of the bill, and it was not examined as to its technical 
construction. With a few suggestions it was reported on favor- 
ably. At once State Warden Blow, who was at Springfield, 
attending the assembly session, busied himself in the interest of 
the bill Members of the State Association did all they could 
to influence members of the Legislature in its favor. Senator 
Campbell was induced to assume the task of introducing the 
bill. ° 
A Good Bill for the Game Dealers. 
The discovereyof the contents of the woodpile, of the true 
inwardness of this bill, is due to just one man, and he happened 
not to be on the law committee, Mr. F. S. Baird, one of the 
prominent- sportsmen of the association. Mr. Baird read over 
the measure and found that all it meant, legally construed, was 
to throw open the markets of Chicago for the sale of game the 
year^ round, to abolish the present game law entirely, and clean 
the State of the game and game laws at one motion. Horrified 
at this, and made suspicious by some things he had heard 
Mr. Baird went to President Shertiard, and Chairman Organ of 
the committee, and begged the speedy calling of another meet- 
ing. Meantime, a telegram, over President Shephard's name 
was sent to Senator Campbell, not to introduce the bill, and 
that another meeting was called for Friday afternoon. Warden 
Blow was by wire invited to attend the meeting, and Senator 
Campbell showed him the message. Warden Blow was not at 
the meeting. But this morning's dispatches from Springfield 
stated that the Blow game bill was introduced yesterday by 
Representative Snedeker. 
The Bill Tound Very faulty. 
Thus the sportsmen were put in the unenviable light at 
Sprmgheld of being divided among themselves and of not 
knowing their own minds. This iu the face of the game deal- 
ers forces, always strong at the Legislature, and in spite of the 
well-Known hostility of the man Altgeld, Governor of un- 
fortunate Illinois, to any measure of game protection. 
Such was the state of affairs when, in some consternation 
the Executive Committee met this afternoon. There were 
present, Messrs. Organ, Shepard, Meyer, Wilcox and Price 
officially of the committee; Mr. F. S. Baird, the discoverer of 
the flaw in the bill, Mr. M. R. Bortree, Mr. W. J. Edbrooke 
some representatives of the press, and others interested in pro- 
tective matters. The meeting was made open to all. 
Mr. Mott, of the law committee, tad prepared an opinion on 
the bill, with some suggestions of improvement. This opinion 
was read, after Chairman Organ had briefly stated the purpose 
of tbe meeting, which he did by declaring that it looked as 
tnough the bill had been drafted in the interest of South Water 
street, and he did not care who heard hira say it. Mr Mott's 
legal opinion made the Blow bill out to be an injury and not a 
benefit. The present law was declared to be much better The 
proposed bill would not prohibit the selling of robins larks 
etc., in open market. It made the shooting season too long on 
game birds, and that at the time when the birds were young 
