Mat 11, it»95.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
878 
Last Sunday evening I was showing my wife Walton's 
own handwriting in this little book, now 230 yeaTa old. 
We carefully compared the handwriting with divers bits 
of Walton's writing which have been facsimilied by editors 
of his works; there could be no doubt about its genuine- 
ness, and when, in answer to a natural inquiry as to 
what I had given for this little shabby volume, I men- 
tioned the price, my wife said, "Well! I always thought 
you had Walton on the brain, but now I know itl" The 
ladies never will look on these things in the proper light. 
Walton's "Life of Hooker" was written at the earnest 
request of Dr. Sheldon, then Bishop of London, himself a 
great angler, being especially fond of barbel fishing. In 
fact, it is interesting to note that, besides Walton himself, 
at least three of those whose portraits are given in this 
window were also anglers. Dr. Donne is described as a 
great practitioner, master and patron "of angling," and 
George Herbert, divine Herbert, also Walton tells us, 
loved a.ngling. In his "Compleat Angler" he quotes those 
sweeteBt of verseB beginning — 
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright. 
Whether Thomas Ken, Walton's friend and relative, 
was an angler I know not, but the portrait of the author 
of two of the finest hymns in the English or any language 
is well placed iu such a window as this. Millions have 
sung, and millions more will sing, Ken's morning hymn, 
commencing: 
Awake, my soul, and with the sun 
Thy daily stage of duty run. 
And the equally beautiful evening hymn: 
All praise to Thee, my God, this night, 
For all the blessings of the light. 
My earliest recollection of anything is of my father, 
"The Amateur Angler," playing the music of these grand 
hymns. 
Walton's "Life of Dr. Robert Sanderson, Bishop of 
Lincoln," whose portrait is the last in the window, was 
published in 1678, five years before his death. 
Mr. Maeston, referring to the "Compleat Angler," 
said it was first published in 1653; it had gone through five 
editions in Walton's lifetime, and more than a hundred 
editions of it had since been published, several of them in 
America. He described it as a charming English classic, 
and quoted what several well-known writers had said 
about it. He said he had to heartily thank Mr. Baily, the 
Master of the Ironmongers' Company, for unveiling the 
window. He felt sure those present would agree with 
him (Mr. Marston) that it was most appropriate that the 
Master of the body with which Walton was connected 
should perform the ceremony, and he was certain they 
had been delighted with the information Mr. Baily had 
given them regarding Walton's associations with the 
Ironmongers' Company. He also desired to heartily thank 
the subscribers to the fund, the surplus from which, as 
agreed, would be devoted to the Anglers' Benevolent 
Society, of which he (Mr. Marston) was proud to say he 
was president. It was a sociely vvhich had been started 
by the workingmen anglers of London for the purpose of 
helping brethren in need, and if anyone was desiious of 
supporting the memorial, they could not do better than 
forward their subscription to that sc iety. Mr. Marston 
concluded by calling upon Mr. William Senior (angling 
editor of The Field) to say a few words, and, at the 
s tme time, thanked him and other writers of the angling 
Press for the great help rendered in connection with the 
memorial. 
Mr. Senior said that, as chairman of the riverside 
meeting held up the Lea, which had been referred to, 
the pleasing duty had been put upon him of asking Mr. 
Baily to accept their hearty thanks for having unveiled 
the window, and for the interest he had taken in the 
movement. The excellent speeches they had just listened 
to left him (Mr. Senior) very little to say. He, however, 
would like to remark that Mr. Baily might rest assured 
that his speech would be of peculiar interest to all Wal- 
tonian students, both in this country and the New World, 
for they had heard a great deal in it that was interesting, 
and much that was actually new with regard to lzaak 
Walton, He thought the statements Mr. Baily had been 
able to make as a result of his researches should inspire 
them to seek for further discoveries in old documents as 
to the life of Walton. Proceeding, Mr. Senior said it was 
to Mr. Marston that they owed not only the statue in 
Winchester Cathedral, but the beautiful window which 
had just been unveiled. Again, on behalf of the London 
anglers, he thanked Mr. Baily for having most literally, 
as well as figuratively, put the hall mark to a splendid 
work — to a beautiful window which illustrated a good 
man, which illustrated an interesting chapter or period 
in English history, and which, he further ventured to say, 
was not out of harmony with a beautiful church. 
Mr. Baily, in reply, thanked Mr. Senior very much for 
his kind words, and could only say he felt very proud, 
during his year of office, to participate in the privilege 
which had fallen to his share. 
The Rev. Wm. Martin said, on behalf of the church- 
wardens and parishioners, he accepted most gratefully the 
beautiful window offered them, and placed in the church 
that day. They also desired to tender their warmest 
thanks to Mr. Marston and others who had taken such an 
interest in the memorial. He did not look upon it simply 
as the memorial of one worthy man, but of seven worthy 
men, and he thought it would be very interesting if some 
one would write the history in connection with the win- 
dow, bringing into the book also the history of those men. 
A hymn was then sung, and with the benediction the 
unveiling service was brought to a close. 
Nearly all the subscriptions promised, amounting to 
about £115, having been received, Mr. R. B. Marston, the 
Hon. Sec. and Treasurer of the Walton Memorial Fund, 
last Tuesday paid Mtssrs. Percy Bacon Bros., 11 Newman 
street, Oxford street, the sums agreed upon for the Win- 
dow and the Marble Tablet, viz., £100 and £10 respectively, 
and when all the subscriptions are finally received he 
hopes to have a surplus of from £5 to £10 to hand over to 
the Anglers' Benevolent Society. 
Now is the Season of Our Discontent. 
THESE bright sunny days with the zephvr breezes are 
turning my thoughts to the deep green woods and the 
purling brooks, and ere long I hope to be where the tree 
shadows make and the tinted trout hide. 
Alex. Starbuck. 
DO FISH FEEL PAIN? 
Colorado. — Editor Forest and Stream: In recent and 
frequent correspondence I notice controversy is rife as to 
whether or not fish experience pain from wounds or lacer- 
ations. That a fish is subject to great fright is certain; 
which would seem to infer that their nervous composition 
was capable of sustaining a shock. But that it is sensible 
to injury or pain, I willingly resign to older heads for the 
solving of what, to me, is an intricate problem. 
"F. S. J. C.," in Forest and Stream of the 27th. cites 
several instances which seem to contradict the theory that 
a fish has any nervous organization whatever. I also have 
in mind several instances of similar character which 
were recalled by the perusal of these articles on this sub- 
ject. 
Last fall, while trouting along one of the numerous good 
streams that abound in this section, I came across a shady 
pool of considerable size and depth, wherein I was certain 
lurked some of the aged denizens of the creek. It 
was in the evening and I was fishing up stream. I cast 
my flies under the overhanging boughs, and hardly had 
they touohed on the water before I was made aware of the 
resence of a lusty trout in a heavy strike. I was kept 
usy for the next few minutes keeping him out of the 
roots which lined the banks, when my line suddenly 
slackened and I drew it in, to discover that my lower fly 
— a brown hackle — had been broken off where the hook 
joins the gut. I repaired the break and made another cast, 
being immediately rewarded with a second strike, which 
from the disturbance created I concluded must be the 
same fish. He, in some manner, failed to hook himself, 
but a second later my line straightened out and whizzed 
through the water toward the right bank, and not wish- 
ing to lose my prize, I turned the butt toward him, when 
the hold again broke, depositing my flies in the tree tops 
overhead. In trying to dislodge them I broke the gut, 
and, as usual] in such cases, my flies remained in the tree 
top— probably do yet — and there I was, discovering, to my 
dismay, that my fly book was in my coat pocket in camp, 
a couple of hundred yards down the creek. 
As to the time it took to reach camp I cannot say: but 
in a very brief period I had returned to where my rod 
was lying and affixed a new fly. Again a cast was made 
and again the fish responded in fine shape. This time he 
was successfully landed— a very beautiful specimen, tip- 
ping the beam at a trifle over 21bs.— and upon examina- 
tion I found my brown hackle lodged in the roof of his 
cavernous mouth; also a strip of skin about an inch and a 
quarter long by half an inch wide torn from his side, and 
a very ugly wound exposed, from which blood was still 
dripping. In striking the second time he had probably 
snagged himself on my lower fly. 
Later we were fishing in the Mesa Lakes— a very beau- 
tiful group of mirror-like ponds that are the delight of 
the disciples of Walton from all over the country 
—and gradually worked our way around to where 
a small creek empties its crystal waters into the 
lake. We were having splendid success, having landed 
thirty-four in nearly as many minutes, and then we 
had to fish after that, managing to secure some very 
beautiful trophies. Where the creek enters the lake it 
falls over a 6ft. embankment, leaving a shallow stream of 
about 20ft. between the falls and the main body of water. 
Several large red fellows were seen lazily moving about 
in the shallow water, and we took great caution lest we 
should be observed. They would not take the fly in the 
creek with any great activity, so my companion could not 
resist the temptation, and pulling his .38 Smith & Wesson 
shot at a fine large fellow, which he hit. After consider- 
able splashing he started down the stream like a flash, 
leaping clear out of the water at one time. My fly was 
resting on the water at the mouth of the creek, dancing 
on top of the current, when suddenly my reel began to 
sing and about 30yds. of line spun out into the lake, which 
was immediately hauled in after a slight struggle with a 
trout of considerable weight on the end. Blood was run- 
ning out of him very profusely, and we found a large, 
jagged hole torn through him, made by the revolver ball. 
A short time ago a young friend of mine was fishing in 
the Grand River, a short distance from the city, and 
landed a 121b. whitefish with a big steel hook fastened 
in his belly, to which was attached about 6ft. of line tied 
in the center of a twig 3 or 4ft. in length. Some boy had 
evidently fastened his line over night and the stick had 
pulled out of the bank when the fish became snagged. 
If he could have felt pain he certainly would have felt it 
pulling against that 4ft. stick through deep water. The 
hole, which the hook had torn pretty badly, was appar- 
ently very much inflamed from appearances. 
Several other instances have occurred to me, but I will 
not recount them at present. But whether fish feel pain 
under such wounds 1 am at a loss to determine; if they 
do, then their instinct for preying on insects is predom- 
inant over all others, and they lose their pain in their 
greed. Some experienced head inform us on the subject. 
Chas. G. Sumner. 
Asbury Park, N. J.— Editor Forest and Stream: The 
recent discussion of this subject is to ail students of nature 
one of importance and is worthy of consideration by all 
classes and conditions of men. To the sportsman it has a 
meaning of great breadth. If the negative be sustained 
then there need be no qualms of conscience over the 
quarry, as struggling for freedom he darts hither and yon, 
seeking to free himself from a bondage of the nature of 
which he is ignorant. 
If on the other hand the affirmative is the case, then 
there is but one duty for the angler, to land the captive as 
quickly as is consistent with safety and at once dispatch 
the sufferer. 
Personally I am a strong believer in the affirmative. 
To believe otherwise is, in my opinion, contrary to all the 
laws of nature which govern and direct the entire animal 
kingdom. Wherever brain power exists there must of 
necessity be capacity for pain, and in just the proportion 
of intelligence and nervous organization of the animal 
affected is it lessened or intensified. The horse is more 
keenly sensitive to the stroke of the whip than would be 
any other animal of lower intelligence and less nervous 
development. Fishes, occupying as they do a very low 
plane in the kingdom to which they belong, must of 
necessity be very much less susceptible to the sensation 
we call pain than the warm-blooded animals; but I can- 
not b?lieve they are entirely devoid of pain nerves. 
If we except their wonderful propensities for reproduc- 
tion, their strongest impulse is that of appetite. Numer- 
ous personal observations convince me fully that hunger 
entirely overbalances any other physical discomfort they 
may be subjected to. I once hooked an immense plaice 
in the inlet of one of our rivers, and, using light tackle, 
was compelled to drown him before attempting to land 
him in the boat. The water was very clear, and I was 
enabled to watch every movement of the fitih, To my 
surprise I saw him strike thrice at the swinging 3inker I 
was using, and upon landing him I found the hook firmly 
imbedded in the stomach. 
On another occasion I took a weakfish, whose back was 
terribly lacerated by the claws of a fish-hawk ; and so re- 
cently had the injury been sustained that blood was ooz- 
ing freely from the wounds. In both cases it would seem 
that the pain incident to the circumstances would have 
been intense, yet the desire for food arose paramount. 
: A. A. Brower, the noted angler, a few days since told 
me he once took a pickerel which had gorged a catfish, 
and the sharp, spike-like rays of the fins were protruding 
through both of the pickerel's sides, yet in this unpleas- 
ant predicament he did not hesitate to take the bait. 
Still, with all the evidence which can easily be pro- 
cured to the contrary, it is but fair to presume there is a 
certain sense of pain, however dull that sense may be, 
which pervades all animated nature, of which fish a re not 
by many degrees the lowest type. Leonard Htjlit. 
NEW ENGLAND WATERS. 
Boston, May 4.— The days of anticipation for New 
England anglers are almost over, and now comes the 
effort to realize on the hopes built up during the past 
winter. From every side come reports that lake after 
lake is yielding up its icy surface under the influencft of 
the warm spring sun and melting rains. All of the New 
Hampshire lakes are now free and clear, and most of the 
Maine lakes are in the same desirable condition . The 
Rangeleys and Moosehead are still hard and fast, and 
just when the great day will be is, indeed, hard to say. 
Perhaps it may come before Fouest and Stream's next 
issue. Certainly it cannot be far from that date. A 
party who left Rangeley on May 1 told me that there was 
still 20in. of blue ice out in the lakes, but as the edges 
are very much broken and decayed there is nothing to 
anchor it, and a good wind or rain would soon finish it. 
A letter from Moosehead states that it was very cold in 
that region about May 1, but prophesies at the same time 
that the ice will go out by the 6th. This seems rather 
too sanguine. Another letter received from Grand Lake, 
Maine, states that the lake is clear of ice to Manson's 
Island and was expected to be all clear in two or three 
days. Since then I have heard that it is entirely cleared. 
Lake George, in New York, has been open for some time, 
and one or two Boston parties are making up to go there. 
Reports from Sebago indicate the fishing to be excellent, 
most of the salmon taken thus far being heavy-weights. 
Many parties are either pn their way to the lakes or 
making up to go, and this week will see an exodus of 
fishermen from Boston and surrounding towns, all armed 
with trolling tackle such as is witnessed but once each 
year. 
Messrs. J. J. Gilligan and Thornton A. Smith, both great 
lovers of the sport, took a short trip recently, to try a 
much -fished brook at North Lakeville, Mass. They were 
quite successful, catching a number of trout, and Mr. 
Gilligan succeeded in landing one big fellow weighing 
slightly over 21bs. To pick out a beauty of this size from 
a stream so near Boston is a rare experience, and in order 
to have ocular proof of his prowess, to show his friends, 
he is having it set up by Frazer. 
While fishing at Moosehead last season, Mr. F. H. Tal- 
cott, of Boston, succeeded in hooking a very large fish. 
It took him a long time to get his victim near the boat* 
and although the fish was in an exhausted condition, it 
required many successive efforts on the part of his guide 
and a great loss of nerve tissue to Mr. Talcott to get his 
majesty in out of the wet, owing to the net (although of 
ordinary size) being totally inadequate for the occasion. 
Vowing that he would never be caught in such a scrape 
again, Mr. Talcott has had a small gaff hook made out of 
a large size cod hook. This can be attached to the net 
handle, and the next time a Moosehead fish tries to evade 
Mr. Talcott's company by rolling out of the net. he will 
be promptly and tenderly lifted into the boat. The idea 
is excellent, and one that might be copied to advantage 
by brother anglers. 
Mr. L. S. Dow and party from Hartford, Conn., passed 
through Boston last Thursday, on their way for a few 
days' fishing at Winisquam Lake, N. H. Mr. Dow has 
fished these waters very successfully for a number of sea- 
sons, and those of his party who have not visited this 
locality before will be under the right tuition to insure 
success. 
W. D. Brackett, of Stoneham, Mas*., and W. P. Clark, 
of Peabody, Mass., will leave for the Rangeleys as soon as 
word comes that the ice is out. These two gentlemen 
present a record for constant companionship which very 
few men can boast of. This is the twenty-fourth succes- 
sive season that they have fished together at the Upper 
Dam. When one considers the many causes arising from 
business, sickness, etc., which necessitate the postpone- 
ment or total abandonment of fishing trips time and 
again, this showing may be pronounced as remarkable, 
and I doubt if it can be equaled in New England. Frank 
E. White, of Brockton, and Mr. Brown, of Peabody, will 
accompany them on this trip. 
Mr. Louis G. Hoyt, of Kingston, N. H., has issued a 
circular regarding a contemplated fishing trip which is 
quite unique in character. All of the party are well- 
known anglers, and that a good time awaits them is an 
assured fact. The circular reads as follows: "The steamer 
Iris will leave Lakeport, N. H, on Saturday, May 11, at 1 
P. M., for a cruise on Lake Winnepesaukee, trout trolling 
with the following party: Dr. A. B. Jewell, Newton' 
Mass.; Dr. F. O. Loveland, Newton; Russell H. Fellows 
and John H. Fellows, Brentwood, N. H; Stephen F 
Nichols and Louis G. Hoyt, Kingston, N. H ; Dr J E s" 
Pray and Gilman B. Hoyt, Exeter, N. H. The party will 
be left at Wolf boro at 2 P. M. May 15, where the catch 
will be shipped to Boston by special freight leaving at 2:40 
P. M. A part of the party will from here proceed north 
to Dan Hole m search of salmon. The public will have 
notice of the size of the catch by the Boston quotation for 
trout the following day. The boat will have a caterer, 
and will be stocked with provisions and the customary 
wherewithal for a successful fishing trip, and nothing 
need be supplied by any of the party except time and 
patience. The angling experience of the members has 
