Mat 15, mi.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
in a Cbicag:) paik, and the police force resorted yesterday to 
the queslioDable but time-honored expedient; of exploding 
flyuauiite in the attempt to raise the body. The body of the 
victim, a boy who had been for some days missing, was not 
discovered, but many hundreds of pounds of perch and carp 
were destroyed by the explosions. The fish were taken 
home by the policemen; and now comes out an assertion 
that the latter used the dynamite with the purpose of killing 
the fish. 
Interesting Fly-Tying Devlcer 
Mr. L. H. McMahan, a newspaper man of Salem, Oregon, 
was in Chicago this past week on his way East, and called 
at the FoKBST and Stream oflRce in company with Mr. H. 
L. Stanton, of this city. Mr. McMahan has invented a curi- 
ous and useful little device for the purpose of attaching arti- 
ficial flies to the leader in a simple and speedy fashion. 
This is composed of nothing more than a little ring of fine 
wire built like a key ring, so that the loop of a leader can be 
slipped into it at once, just as one puts a key on a ring. 
This is made very fine and delicate, and is not so tbick and 
not much heavier than a gut loop. It is wrapped on to the 
leader at just the places the gut loops would come, and the 
leader thus dressed is no more conspicuous, and perhaps not 
so much so as when tied in the ordinary way, nor does the 
wire show more in the water than a loop of gut. The 
anglers of Salem have used this device — which is now a pat- 
ented one — and they claim that it makes casting easier and 
more effective, while as to the tying on of flies, it is nothing 
short of a boon. It obviates all tight knots and vexatious 
delays on that account. The snell can never by any possi- 
bility become fouled, and the fly thus attached to the leader 
always hangs straight down, with less tendency to foul the 
cast. The rapidity with which a fly can be changed, even in 
the darkest night, is the chief recommendation of this device. 
It may be seen on the market at some later day, though as 
yet the inventor has not put it to any use other than that of 
promoting morality and quiet in the ranks of anglerdom on 
the Coast. E. Hough. 
1206 JBoYOE BniLDiNG, Chicago. 
ICE FISHING IN TROUT WATERS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In his letter published in your issue of May 8, Mr. A. N. 
Cheney refers to the fact that several fine trout had been 
caught through the ice at the Giant's Wash Bowl in the 
town of Keene, under section 104 of the game law, which 
as it now stands limits the prohibition against taking any 
fish through the ice in waters inhabited by trout to the close 
season only. 
For two or three years prior to 1895, the first clause of 
section 104 read as follows: "No fish shall be fished for, 
caught or killed through the icE in any waters inhabited by 
trout," salmon trout or landlocked salmon." 
And when the fish and game law as redrawn was submit- 
ted to the Senate in the session of 1895, it contained the 
same clause without change, but when it came out of the 
hands of the Assembly Committee on fish and game there 
had been added to it the words, "during the close season for 
the teking of such fish," so that the first clause of section 
104 now read? as follows: "No fish shall be fished for, 
caught or killed through the ice in any waters inhabited by 
trout, salmon trout or landlocked salmon during the closed 
season for the taking of such fish." 
This is one of the many instances where the law has been 
amended in committee for the benefii, of some particular lo- 
cality or in the interest of certain individuals or clubs. 
This change is the more to be deplored because the pro- 
visions against fishing through the ice was originally put in 
the law and retained in the revision for the express purpose 
of preventing the taking of fish at any time through the ice 
where the waters were inhabited by any of the fish specified 
in this section. 
I can give one or two instances to show the necessity of 
absolute prohibition against fishing through the ice at any 
time in waters inhabited by trout and its kindred fish. 
Balsam Lake, which is known to many of the readers of 
Forest and Stream, is situated on the south side of and at 
the foot of Balsam Mountain in the Catskill region, and is 
about a, 400ft. above tide water and is frequently ice bound 
until in the month of May. Early in the '70s this lake came 
into my possession and I was then told by two or three per- 
sons whose statements 1 had no reason to doubt, that at 
some lime between 1850 and 1860 they had visited this lake 
about the middle of April and had taken out through the ice 
and carted off two barrels full of ti-out, and that a large pro- 
portion of these fish were taken with little hand-nets where 
the fish came to the surface where holes were cut in the ice. 
It is not at all incredible that this number of fish should 
have been taken at that time for the lake had been but little 
fished and was absolutely alive with trout. 
About 1875, while I still owned the lake, it was visited by 
two or three persons living in the neighborhood about the 
beginning of April, and nearly if not quite a bushel of trout 
were taken out in the same way and sent to New York for 
sale, and this fact was given to me in the course of the year 
by one or two persons who saw the catch, and, if I remember 
correctly, one of them w is engaged in taking the trout. 
It is not necessary to multiply instances, but I have no 
doubt that the experience of other anglers will fully coincide 
with my own. 
This obnoxious amendment should be stricken out, and 
the first clause of section 104 made as it was in 1895 
J. S. Y C. 
PoHGHKEBPSiE, N. T.,^May 6. 
Adirondack Fishing Notes. 
ILviNBOW, N. Y., May 5.— W. P. Heath and party have 
been taking some very fine creels of trout from Rainbow in 
the past four days. Several were caught weighing above 
31bs apiece. One was taken by Guy Duvey, of Malvern, 
the 4th iust. that weighed 41bs "loz. Auolher was caught 
weighing Bflbs. They are the speckled or brook trout. Sixty 
were brougnt in the 4th inst. The 41b. loz. trout measured 
3lin. long and 13iu. girth ' 
At Loon Lake House, Loon Lake, fifteen fishermen from 
New York and adjacent cities are enjoying the finest of trout 
fishing on this lake. Over 200 trout were taken io the first 
three days. Finer fishing cannot be found at any place than 
at these five lakes. The average will not fall below l^lbs. 
apiece. T.hi3 is the legitimate result of fishculture. 
0. McV. T. 
The total weight of all trout taken is not given in the above 
figures because trout were eaten at every meal and no weight 
was taken of them. One of the party in thirty minutes 
, caught fifteen trout that weighed just 33 bs, dressed. These 
trout are the square-tailed, speckled trout, and the general 
verdict throughout the Adirondacks is that finer fishing has 
never been found here. I saw one that was taken frorn an^ 
other body of water near here that weighed when caught 
41bs. loz., another t:hat weighed Sflbs. 
At Ray Brook, four miles from here, larger catches are 
being made every day than ever before. A party of three 
Montclair gentlemen arc there enjoying the finest of fly- 
fishing. The stream flows through an open meadow, with 
plenty of room for casting, and with no fear of becoming 
entangled in the brush or the branches, that are often a neces- 
sary adjunct to brook fishing. There are several dams 
placed at the most available points, which give plenty of 
still and deep water. 
A party of gentlemen came in over the A. & St. L. and 
they are stopping at Lake Placid. They are expecting the 
same success that others have met with in lakes near by, 
and it now seems that this season will take a high place in 
future history as being the beginning of the finest fishing 
ever found in these mountain lakes and streams. T. 
Florida Fishing Incidents. 
Mr. 0, M. Long and Mr. Drigger's little boy were fishing 
in Yellow Fever Creek last Friday, and the catch made by 
the boy was a 71b. bass, Upon dressiog the fish a diamond 
rattle snake was discovered in the fish, measuring 3ft. in 
length and llin. in circumference. This spoiled the appetite 
for that particular black bass. 
Miss Anna Holloway, the little thirteen-year old daughter 
of Mr, and Mrs R. T. Holloway, of Lexington, Ky., proved 
herself a heroine yesterday in her father's choice sport, by 
landing a tarpon lib. heavier than herself. It was a beau- 
tiful fish and a thorough fighter, but Miss Anna reeled him 
to gaff in twelve minutes. It was oft. 6in. long, and tipped 
the beam at the 901 b. notch. The young lady receives the 
congratulations with becoming dignity, while the colonel 
rejoices over his daughter's fine GOtch.— Fort Myers Press. 
Alvah Dunninff— Sir William Johnston. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have read with pleasure the discussion in reference to Adirondack 
history by Col. Fred Mather and others in the last two numbers of 
Forest and Stream. The story of Sir William Johnston's Indian 
campaigns is charmingly and truthfully told by tne late Dr Francis 
Parkman in his "Monlcalm and Wolfe," Vol. 1, chapters IX , X. A 
careful reading of this work will repay any who may be interested 
in the early history of northern New York and the Adirondack 
region. chauncey P. Williams, 
Albany, N. Y. 
Sa-ranac Lake, N. Y, May 7 —A part7 of eight returned 
from a short fishing trip to the Slang, near Little Tupper's 
Lake with 146f lbs. of speckled trout. One dressed weighed 
S^lbs. The total catch was taken in just ten hours' fishing. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
William Johnston was an Irish lad. He came to America while a 
youth under the care of an uncle, and became a clerk, an a^ent, a 
farmer, a fur dealer, a merchant, a contractor, a General, a Baronet, 
and the Chief Superintendent of Indian Affairs on this continent. He 
came to the front so rapidly that in the year 1757 he took the rank of 
Major (lleneral. At this time England and France, with the Indians 
divided, were contending for the possession of North America. 
WilUam Johnston was entrusted with the task of capturing Crown 
Point. After its capture he defeated Baron Diesku, which Yictory 
was the only one during the whole year's campaign, and was so 
greatly esteemed by the King that he created htm a Baronet, while 
Parliament presented him with £5,000. 
In 1758 he effected a peace with fifteen tribes. In 1759 he defeated 
D'Aubrey and captured Fort Niagara In 1760 he assisted at the cap- 
ture of Montreal. Then he became Chief Superintendent. 
During these four years Al?ah's father may have been imder Sir 
William's command. 
In the spring of 1774, Log^n, the far-famed Iroquois chief, who was 
friendly to the whiles, had his family shot down. Logan sent out 
runners to the Six Nations to rise againss the whites. It was among 
the Six Nations that Sir William ruled supreme, having a far larger 
authority over them than any of their own sachems. The news of 
Logan's loss was received by the Six Nations with alarm, as Logan 
was the son of Shikellimus, a distinguished Cayuga sachem, and 
therefore one of their own flesh and blood. The Six Nations desired 
Sir WilUam to bold a congress with them upon this serious matter 
This was granted, and by July 6th 600 Iroquois had assembled. Sir 
William for some time had been hard at work to restrain the Sis Na- 
• tions from taking any pare in the war, and when the congress as- 
sembled was so pxbaused, as to bring on a sharp attack of dysentery. 
For a number of years he was subject to attacks of Illness of a dysen- 
teric character, often prostrating uini on his bed for days. On the 
ath and 9th the congress was in lull progress. On the 11th he made a 
long speech on a very hot day . Tne great cause was gained, but it 
was at the expense at the life of Sir William, as he lived but a few 
minutes, dying from exhaustion. The closing scenes of his days 
wpre in harmony with aU his previous years— that of success. He 
died July 11, 1774. 
The fight at Lexington, which inaugurated the American Revolu- 
tion, took place April 19, 1775. 
Sir John Johnston, son of Sir William, fought throughout the w&r, 
and with him Old man Dunning may have foaght the Indians. 
Being one of the descendants of so remarkable a man, I have, time 
and again, searched our American history, and have gleaned the 
aoove facts. It is fair to inter that Dunning fought Indians with 
Sir William, and also with Sir John, and that my great grandfather 
died from natural causes. Bill John.ston. 
LoNnoN, Ont. 
New York Game Liegislation. 
The following are the new laws of 1897: 
Chap 6-3. Forbids deer hounding in towns of Dresden and Putnam 
for ten years 
Chap. 64 Permits for wi'dfowl shooting use of floating devices in 
Long Island Sound, Great South Bay, Shinnecock and Peconic bays- 
boats propelled by hand in all Long Island waters, and sailboats in 
Long Island Sound, Gardiner and Peconic bays 
Chap. 93. Forbids taking fish trom a State net. 
Chap. 94. Makes the hmits of the Thousand Island waters extend 
from Tibbit's Point Lighthouse to Saint Regis. 
Chap. 1.50. Opens trout season in Spring Brook Creek March 29 
Chap. 151. Permits sale of Long Island caught trout on and after 
March 29 in New York city. 
Chap. 175. Pxotects mink, skunk, muskrat, fox. May 1 to Nov. 16, In 
Cattaraugus, Oneida, Madison and Otsego countie?. 
Chap. 18i. Permits use of set lilies eOJft. long in Canandaigua 
Lake. 
Chap. 220. Appropriation for purchase of Adirondack lands. 
Chap. 250, Relates to Warren county. Forbids taking from Lake 
George and Glen Lake pike, perch, great northern pike, June 1 to 
Junel.i; bullheads, June 1 to July 1 ; or black bass or Oswego bass 
from any waters in town of Horicon, Jan, 1 to July 10. Perch may be 
taken from Lake George at any lime. 
Chap 2o9. Relates to the Forest Preserve in Uls'er county 
Chap. 273. Appropriates $30,000 for the St. Lawrence River reser- 
vation. 
Chap. S80. Permits in Owasco Lake ice fishing for bullheads, catfish, 
eels, percn, sunflsh. 
Chap, mi Makes woodcock season in Richmond county open Julv 
4 to Dec. 31. 
Chap. 3^6. Limits minnow nets to 40ft. length, 4ft. depth, and 30ft. 
hauling rope. 
Chap. .33 J. Permits drying nets on shores of Lakes Brie and Ontario 
ana Cattaraugus Creek. 
Chap. SHi. ir-roiects quail in Chemung county uniil 1898 
Chap. — , signed May 10. Prescribes as open deer season, Aug 15 
to Nov. 15, both inclusive. One person may take only two deer in a 
season. Deer protected for five years in Ulster, Greene, Delaware 
and Sullivan counties. Jack lights and all artificial lights toroidden 
tor five years. Hounding is forbiodeu for five years. 
Black Bass Season.— Among the bills left w'lth the Governor, but 
not signed at tne time of our going to press (Tuesday), is A 1389 
(McLaughhn), to make the open season for black bass June aO to 
Dec. 31 inclusive; for picbereJ, pike, wall-eyed pike. May 1 to Jan. 31 
mclusivB. Does not apply to ihe Thousand Islands, where the law is 
unchanged. 
FIXTU RfES. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Sept. 1.— Continental Field Trials Club's chicken trials, Morris, Wlan 
Sept. 6. - Manitoba Field Trials Club, Jlorris, Man. 
Nov, 2 — Monongahela Valley Game and Fish Protective Associ- 
ation's trials, Greene county. Pa. 
Nov. 8.— Union Field Trials Club's trials, Carlisle, Ind. 
Nov. 15.— E. F. T. Club's trials, Newton, N. C. 
Nov, 16.— International Field Trials Club's eighth annual trials, 
Chatham, Ont. 
Nov. S2i— Ui S. F. T. Club's autumn trials. 
Jan, 10.- 
Jan. 17,- 
1898. 
-U. S. F. T Club's winter trials. West Point, Mi-ss. 
-Continental F. T. Club's trials, New Albany, Miss. 
ABOUT DOGS. 
Ottawa, Ca.n.— Editor Forest and Stream: There is per- 
haps no more strongly marked traits in the character of a 
true sportsman than his love for those dumb, four-footed 
companions with which he has been accustomed to spend 
long, happy days on marsh, woodland and prairie. 
None who have studied the habits of dogs will doubt the 
demotion to their masters of these faitnful, affectionate 
creatures who, though dumb, are yet eloquent in their intel- 
ligent expression of good-will toward those who treat them 
kindly. 
The writer has shot over many setters, pointers and 
spaniels and bas had three Irish 'retrievers, all of whom 
showed an intelligence and afiiection which might well shame 
the hordes of street loafers who throng om* street corners on 
sunny days. 
Patient, tireless and at all times so easily pleased, there is 
something in the character of a dog from which our human- 
ity may learn a useful lesson. I well remember a clear cold 
day in late October when my old friend Audrian Covalli and 
rnyself found ourselves between two small lakes in Wiscon- 
sin, which were connected by a narrow stream with boggy 
banks. The pin-tails and mallards were very busy flying 
from one lake to the other and we had but a single dog. He 
was of doubtful parentage, but possessed the heart of a hero 
and a cat-like activity wbich was beautiful to behold. In 
our eagerness to retrieve the fast-falling birds we forgot that 
poor Dash was not impervious to cold and hard work, and for 
a brisk three quarters of an hour we let him bring in dead 
and wounded ducks through heavy mud and icy cold water. 
When his task was done and we turned our faces homeward, 
Dash stretched his tired body on the moist green sward and 
devoted himself to sundry feeble wags of a much be-drag- 
gled tail, His pathetic eyes seemed to say, "I would like to 
go, but I can't." In the end I carried him four miles, and 
that night the dear old dog, surrounded by every care that 
loving hands could offer, closed his eyes in the sleep that 
knows no waking. 
If there is a paradise for faithful dogs, who shall say that 
Dash had not earned an exalted place? 
A dozen years ago 1 owned a pure-bred Irish water spaniel 
bitch. She had lived a few months beyond fifteen years, 
and starting out one morning with a younger dog, Dido, de- 
spite her age, insisted on joining the party. 
We shot well into the afternoon with varied luck, and 
toward evening I started a pair of wood-ducks. The first- 
barrel bird fell dead on the hard land, the other came down 
fifty odd yards away, wing-tipped, in the long marsh grass. 
Both dogs disappeared, and in a few minutes the younger 
returned empty-mouthed 
The powerlul dog whistle failed to recall Dido, and I 
wandered slowly ahead, and waited half a mile further on 
near a patch of snipe ground. An hour passed in waiting, 
and then I made out, far away, the weary Dido, plodding at 
funeral pace on my trail. 1 noticed that her head looked 
larger than usual, and in about twenty minutes she ap- 
peared, carefully carrying the still alive wood-duck to her 
master. This was the crowning feat of Dido's sporting life, 
for we sadly buried her three days later, a martyr to the 
sport she loved so well. 
I once shot a woodcock which had risen a dozen feet 
above the cover, and saw it fall among some willows. On 
reaching the spot where the bird ought to have been, my 
cocker, Snap, showed no sign of getting scent, though twice 
I took him down wind and worked up in the required 
direction. The second lime he insisted on getting on his 
hindlegs as if trying to work in the air. His next move 
was a sturdy attempt to climb a bunch of willows, and 
glancing upward I saw my woodcock caught in the crotch 
of a small hmb about 10ft. from the ground, 
I remember a curious incident which happened to me in 
Florida on a March day when the wind was blowing a furi- 
ous gale. 1 had noticed my pointer bitch Dora drawing 
swiftly and steadily over a sand flat which was almost de- 
void of vegetation. Attracted by some object in the dis- 
tance, I lost sight of her for a moment, and on turning 
to look for her found that she had disappeared. 1 could see 
clearly in any direction for quite half a mile. Dora when 
last seen was 100yds. away, clearly on hot scent, and in the 
twinkling of an eye had vanished as though the sand had 
swallowed her up. Following in the direction which she 
had taken, the mystery was cleared. Close to some low 
scrub I found an old well with sloping sides. Halfway 
down it and poised sideways on a nan'ow ledge was my agile 
Dora, her mouth moist, her eyes gleaming, and every 
muscle of ier healthy body strung to tension in a rigid 
point. 
Not less than eighteen quail were within a few feet of her 
eager nose, and presently they began to buzz out of their 
shelter in ones and twos, but all making down wind with in- 
describable speed while my Greener chattered spitefully. I 
don't like to say how many empty shells marked the spot, 
but in less than a minute 1 could count five dead quail dot- 
ting the sand, none of which were nearer than 30yds. from 
me. 
During this fusilade Dora never budged from her rather 
precarious point, and after some trouble I routed out the last 
quail and winged it at a distance of nearly 40yds. Tnen my 
precious Dora climbed up the locky .side of the well and 
wagged her lately paralyzed tail in pleasant anticipation of 
more work. 
No doubt what I am writieg may seem trivial and com- 
monplace to some of your readers, but those who know dogs 
and their habits, and are sportsmen in the true sense of the 
word, will find something in this sketch which will call to 
mind similar experience, and perhaps waken pleasant mem- 
ories of hard days spent long ago. 
As 1 write there is sleeping on the rug at my feet an Irish 
cocker spaniel who, during the last thirteen years, has been 
