Oct. 9, 1897. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
^91 
certain crescendo passages with your heel, which might 
offend any mnsical ear which was trying to sleep on the floor 
below." 
"I think you are right in this matter," he said, "where the 
orchestra consists of a banjo and a boot, the latter should 
subordinate its tones or be abolished entirely. Perhaps the 
banjo should be hung up until next Tuesday night and I'll 
tell you how Fish Commissioner Reeder, of this State, had 
his nose sunburned. Do you know II J. Reeder?'' 
"Very well. Met him when his father was Governor of 
Kansas, and since that time he has been a fish commissioner 
and 1 have met him frequently and have had much corre- 
spondence with him, We've all had our noses burned, blis- 
tered and peeled by the sun. Was Reeder's nose an excep- 
tion in any way?" 
"No," said the veteran angler, "it was as susceptible to 
the mfluence of the sun as a Maryland peach, and that's the 
point. I made some verses on it to an original meter, I'll 
read 'em: 
'The shades of night were falling fast.' " 
"Yes, that is original, and grand! How on earth did you 
ever come to think in that direction?" 
"Never mind about the applause until the curtain is about 
to descend, and please do not interrupt again until this lyric 
is finished." 
"Go on!" 
"The shades of night were falling fast." 
"Yes, you remarked that before, the window shades were 
being pulled down." 
"As o'er the Bel. Del. Hoad there passed 
A sun-bui-ned nose, with face attached, 
That had been to the South dispatched 
For catfish I 
'"Neath forehead high and yaller hair 
Was a Grecian rose and complesion fair, 
A bright blue eye and curled up lash, 
And he ever kept shouting through his mustache: 
'Oh, catfish r 
*' 'Oh, don't go out,' quoth Howard, 'stop! 
Il's awful hot where the white-caps hop; 
You'll burn your nose on the upper side,' 
But the ghastly fisherman still replied : 
'More catfish V . 
"The boat at length came up to land, 
With a sun-burned nose, a line cut hand, 
And a barrel of fish bought for a price; 
Says the nose-burned man, 'they're remarkably n'ce, 
Fresh catfish!' 
"Now, young man, be warned by me, 
If ever again you go to sea, 
Bear this painful burn in mind 
And leave your tender nose behind, 
For catfish !" 
Tears as big; as goose eggs came to my eyes as I grasped 
the poet's hand, and asked his pardon if the ceiling below 
should fall on account of my tears; I'm so easily affected. 
When he handed me the paper I pocketed the poem in order 
to give it to an appreciative world, which his modesty for- 
bade him to do. 
The workshop of Uncle Thad, I love to call him so, dif- 
fered from that of the rod-maker of to-day. The latter has 
his ferrules drawn by an expert, who perhaps draws tubes 
for microscopes and telescopes; and thf-y fit throughout the 
whole length, and never throw apart. In Uncle Tuad's day, 
and he was abreast of the times in rod-making, if not ahead 
of it, he made his ferrules by hand and brazed them, after- 
ward smoothing them with flat files, grinding them together 
with emery powder and oil, and then burnished them in a 
lathe. 
I handled many of his rods, and wanted one. I feared 
to tell him so, because the notion might occur to him to give 
me one; so I had a friend buy a rod for me, and I used it 
several yeais, its value increasing each season, until it was 
stolen from me in a car while returning from a fishing trip. 
If I had used that rod until it was "superannuated" it would 
be in an honored place on my wall in company with a pair 
of buffalo horns from the only buffalo I ever killed, a pair of 
snowshoes worn in Wisconsin in 1856, a banjo made by my 
own hands, and a sword which I wore in the early 60s, 
which was "Held by the Enemy," as the title of a play goes, 
for over a quarter of a century. 
In the day on which things happen they are merely inci- 
dents which are not forgotten, but laid aside as trifles. Half 
a century later, or even half of that, they assume an import- 
ance which is surprising. An instance of this is my remin- 
iscence of perch fishing at Bettetton . There was nothing of 
importance to record; but the lapse of time serves to figure 
"Uncle Thad" Norris in a strong light, and to bring up the 
man so that I can attempt to sketch him in a manner that 
will interest people who never knew him The photograph 
which is here reproduced was apparently made from a paint- 
ing of Mr. Norris when he wag nearing middle age, and is 
the only one I have been able to get. 
Thaddeus Norris was born near Warrenton, Fauquier 
county, Va., in 1811, and moved to Philadelphia abDut 1835, 
where he resided until his death, which occurred on April 
11, 1877. A widow, two sons and two daughters survived 
him. 
An incident occurred which illustrates his dry humor. 
We were looking at some fish in the tanks at the Centenn'ai 
Exposition, when a noisy sort of fellow introduced himself 
to Mr. Norris as "a brother of the angle," and after a long 
recital of his exploits, said: "Yes, Mr. Norris, I'm the boss 
fisherman of western Pennsylvania, and I can catch more 
fish than any one 1 ever met.'' 
. "I am always pleased to meet a thorough angler," said 
Uncle Thad, very seriously. "I suppose you fish with the 
fly?" 
"Always, Mr. Norris; always." 
"Always rig the line properly with a float and sinker?" 
"Oh, yes, always use the float and sinker." 
"That's right; I see that you are really an expert angler, 
and I ain glad to know you." 
Mr. Norris never smiled, nor did his eye change when it 
met mine, and the man suspected nothing. After the man 
departed Uncle Thad said: "I often meet such men, and I 
sized him up for a man who knew nothing of fly-fishing and 
would need a float and sinker if he tried to cast a fly." 
Genial Uncle Thad! When I read of his death the words 
came upon me "like the falling of a great oak in the stillness 
of the woods," Fbed I^Iather. 
UNIFORM PROTECTION OF FOOD FISH. 
A paper read by Dr. Bushrod W. James, of Philadelphia, before the 
American Fisheries Society. 
The extended superficial area of the United States, with 
its waterways permeating far into the interior, from the At- 
lantic to the Paciflc Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, warrants 
the protection of these streams to prevent the annihilation of 
the fish, as well as for their extended propagation and 
growth, as very great values may be obtained in a few years 
by the operation of judicious and well-considered legal en- 
actments for the protection of the streams in which the fish 
are placed when very young, and for clearing and keeping 
clear these streams from all devices which tend to the cap- 
ture of the fish before they have had opportunity of spawning 
in the waters which they frequent. 
Most of the Slates into which streams enter from the ocean 
have already passed laws looking to this need, and New Jtr- 
sey and Pennsylvania, being border States of the Delaware 
River, many years ago entered into a compact to protect the 
stream in this manner, and keep it an open waterway or 
highway, and as a result the money value of the fish caught 
in that river is increasing annually many thousands of dol- 
lars. The Susquehanna, which passes through Maryland 
and into Pennsylvania, has not as yet received the ample 
protective laws needed, and the result is that the money 
value of the food taken in the way of fish from that stream 
has been at a standstill for years and, in fact, has been 
diminishing in value. 
The Ddlaware River rises well up in the interior of the 
State of New York, so that we have the States of Delaware, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York all interested in 
this valuable waterway. What is said of this Eastern stream 
might be said of Western rivers flowing into the Pacific 
Ocean, ^nd we might likewise add the great aqueous artery 
of the continent, the Mississippi, and its branches, which, no 
doubt, might contain many inillion dollars' worth more of 
food fish than they now do; and yet, each State having the 
right to make fish protective laws, might find the laws quite 
annulled by other States through whose borders the streams 
pass, the more northern States being at the mercy of 
those far down the river whose laws are not enforced, 
and where money can be made by catching food fish in great 
numbers for the market, to their probable annihilation in a 
few years. 
We could hardly expect in the rapidly flowing streams of 
the mountain regions of the far West to successfully protect 
a very great variety of the food fish, but even those should 
be Ihoroughly protected by adequate stafutes by the Legis- 
latures of the States through which these raounlaiu streams 
run. Many lakes, however, occur in some of these States, 
even in the mountain sections. These should hi protected, 
and not only that, but they should be stocked with the best 
varieties of edible fish, and of the kind that will not destroy 
their companions. 
This condition of things existing in almost every State of 
the Union, it will readily be seen how great the need is 
for uniform laws for food protection throughout the entire 
country. 
I would here urge that this national society, composed of 
Fish Commissioners and members from the various States all 
over the country, consider well this subject of legislative 
action to this end. 
The resolution we adopted last year, aiming at the har- 
monious action of each State with its neighbor in the inter- 
ests of general propagation and protection, was in the right 
direction, and any action from that committee should be 
supplemented by a general support on the part of the Ameri- 
can Fisheries Society. 
I do not mean to exclude the interests of the Great Lakes 
during the pa5t few years for propagition purposes, and with 
partially good results; but they can never carry out the full 
intent of those who have the general good of the community 
at stake in this matter of supplying a most valuable and de- 
lectable form of diet for the towns and cities where a market 
cjn be had for this form of food. 
Good laws should be enacted all along the Great Like 
bordering States, and they should be thoroughly enforced' 
and a rigid observance of them continually maintained; and 
under no circumstances should the small fish be ciught be- 
fore they are of a size to have spawned at least once. 
By this method an amply sufficient supply of growing fish 
would constantly fill the waters of the Great Lakes along 
our northern border. Canada should unite wilh the United 
States at all points to help fill the lakes along her shores, 
and by this mutual action her revenue from this one source 
alone would be greatly increased, as well as that of our own 
States 
Nothing but good can be obtained from a uniform, har- 
monious protection maintaining all interests in this way. In 
this age the depredating, contentious, "grasp-all-you-can" 
principle should be relegated to oblivion, and unity of pur- 
pose will redound to the mutual advantage of all parties 
living along the borders pf these great international highways 
and receptacles for food fish supplies. Kindness and 
mutual reciprocity usually work to the advantage and inter- 
est of all parlies concerned; and in this matter, if in no other 
article of commerce, we should aim to obtain these uniform 
concessions on the part of all ^tates and countries adjoining 
each other. 
In regard to uniformity of laws for the streams running 
into the interior of the country from the large sea, lake or 
gulf areas, I believe that the United States Government 
should formulate a protective plan of extending not only 
over the commercial end of the streams, but that laws pro- 
tecting the tributary divisions of those streams should be 
passed, and the enactments kept fully operative. I maintain 
that there is strong ground for governmental supervision of 
these waterways, inasmuch as the local laws of one indi- 
vidual State cannot be enforced in the ad j icent common- 
wealths; and the great difficulty which nas existed, and 
which it is almost impossible to overcome, as to how these 
various State enactments can be made entirely harmonious 
and uniform, it seems quite a necessity to resort to the me- 
thod of Interstate protection by national enactment, and es- 
pecially over all the national waterways. 
1 would like to impress this point still more forcibly from 
another standpoint, and that is that it is the duty of the Gov- 
ernment to do all in its power to advance the interests of the 
citizsns of the United States and enact laws which will be 
for their general good, and add to the prosperity of the 
country. The addition of many million dollars' worth of 
food in this shape to the country is certainly not only laud- 
able, but it is quite important for the Government to provide 
this increase of provisions, and the increased value which 
would thereby be secured. 
These laws should be enacted at a very early day likewise. 
because of the reckless impoverishment which is going on 
aU over the country, in this^ as well as in various directions, 
such as forestry interests and the valuable land grants which 
the government and the people have so lavishly turned into 
the hands of reckless speculators. 
It is not too late to reform this matter, and measures 
should at once be instituted for the uniform codification and 
adoption of the best laws that can be thought out and 
worked out upon this interesting, important and urgent ques- 
tion. 
THE MAINE TROUT SEASON. 
BosTOK, Oct. 3.— The Maine fishing season has closed, 
and on the whole it has been a most remarkable one, with 
much high water and consequent good sport, holding out 
remarkably late. Still the month of September was poor in 
HQOst waters, barring a few of the more distant and inacces- 
sible lakes and streams. Small trout were freely taken oa 
the fly late in August and early in September on the more 
distant waters of the Rangeleys and Aroostook county. But 
later in September— and in fact up to the close— the flshing 
was very poor. Mr. J. D. Kinsley is out from his fall trip 
to the Rangeleys. He found the fishing generally poor, with 
many a sportsman scarcely getting a flsh. Still Mr. Parish, 
of Connecticut, had mo3t remarkable luck at the Upper 
Dam, landing a trout of O^lbs. late in September, and a 
landlocked salmon of Qlbs., both on the fly. The fish were 
taken from the pool. Mr. Michael H. Curley is out from 
quite an extended tour of the Rangeley waters, where he 
found the fishing rather slim, except at Kennebago, where 
he had good sport with small trout. 
A later report from the Upper Dam is handed me by a 
gentleman who does not care to have his name mentioned, 
doubtless because he was there and really got hold of a big 
fellow, "at least 2ft. long;" but alas for the leader! It 
parted at the flrst great strain of the big trout, and he is left 
there to breed. 
RECORD OF THE LAST THREE DAYS OF THE SEASON OF 1897, AT VPPKR 
DAM, MIC 
Sept. 28— Caught by S. 0. Pease One trout weighing 51b? 2oz 
Sept. 88-Caught by S C. Pease One trout weighing 51bs. 7oz[ 
Sept. 29-Oaught by J. 0. Dougherty . . .One trout weighing 71b.s 6oz 
Sepf. S9-Ciught by W. J. Farquar One trout weighing 61bs. loz 
o 29-Caught by A. G. Frost One trout weighing 41bs. 3oz' 
bept. 29-Caught by J. C. Dougherty . . .One trout weighing 61bs. 
bept. 30-Caught by J 0. Dougherty . . .One trout weighing Slbs. 12cz 
bept. 30— Caught by J. C. Dougheny . . .One trout weighing 41bs. Soz 
bept. 30-Caught by J. Lynch One trout weighing 31bs. 6oz. 
bept. 3}— Caught by R. A. Parish One trout weighing 31bs. 4oz 
bept. 30-Caught by R. A. Parish One trout weighing 81bs. 12oz. 
A total weight of BSJ^Ibs. in three days, by six fly-fishermen; aver- 
age weight, 61bs. 3oz. ' 
Mr. Parish seems to have carried off the pennant for the 
season of 1897. He is greatly charmed with the Pool at the 
Upper Dam. and well he may be, for where in the wide world 
could another such a record have been made? It is all the 
more remarkable when it is considered that this wonderful 
pool is reached in only one day from Boston, since the open- 
ing of the Rumford Falls & Rangeley Lakes Railroad, or in 
a day and a night from New York. 
But the crack of the rifls is sounding in that section now, 
and the flsh rods are put away. Mr. W. S. Bemis is out from 
that region with the first deer of the season, to come to 
Baston. I understand that he took it in the vicinity of Billy 
SduIc's Carnp, Cupsuptic Lake. He was absent from Boston 
only three days; going in Sept. 30, via. Rumford Falls and 
Bemis, and hunting Oct. 1, and home again Oct. 2. 
A report from Bangor says that the woods above that part 
of the State were full of hunters on thenightof Sept. 30. and 
that they commenced operations a 12 o'clock. I have not 
yet seen any deer from that section, though doubtless they 
will be here early this week. The new law has cut up and 
cut down the moose-hunting season, commencing Oct. 15, 
and closing D^c 1. The hunters will all be on the ground 
on the opening date. If the mosse are not located before- 
hand, then I don't understand hunters. 
R-^ports from Farmiogton and that region are not so pleas- 
ing. Thehuntingseason has opened with plenty of game and 
hunters still more plenty. But one has made the old mis- 
take ; taken his friend for a deer and shot him dead, accord- 
ing to the daily papers. Special, 
NOTES FROM HEMLOCK LAKE. 
Madame and I are on our annual vacation at Comfort Cove 
Cottage, Hemlock Lake, N. Y., and we are more than ever 
convinced that September is the month of all in the twelve 
for real restful comfort at the Lake. 
Having in middle life taken to the wheel as a sensible and 
healthful means of locomotion, we were entirely independ- 
ent of horses and wagons and made our sixteen miles in 
excellent form, while our supplies were delivered free of 
expense at the barn opposite our cottage. 
O ir daily routine would not interest "the readers of Forest 
AND Stream, being simply what all who have spent two 
weeks at a cottage by the lake have experienced, but there 
have been a few side issues that possibly may prove worth 
noting, being perhaps a little out of the. ordinary. 
All along the east side of the lake is an excellent road. In 
many places it is dug out of the steep banks and skirts the 
water's edge; again it winds through the woodland, shady 
and cool, but always in sight of the water. Every day we 
would cross to the barn take to our wheels and spin down 
this delightful highway. The precipitous nature of the 
shore prevents cultivation, and the hills are clothed with 
virgin forest clear to their tops. Grouse are abundant, and 
as we speed noiselessly along we never fail to get up from 
two to half a dozen in a four mile ride. In my palmiest 
schooling days I never got so near these wary birds as in my 
rides along this road. Often I come on them feeding in the 
ditch, and it is interesting to watch them eye the strange 
machine stealing up on them before they break into flight. 
Again they will be seen dusting themselves in the middle of 
the track, and one can make quite a study of their form and 
color before discovery. All this suggests that knowing the 
tendency of the grouse to frequent wooded highways, won't 
some inventive genius arrange a scatter gun to carry on the 
handle bars, worked by the teeth perhaps, that will flll the 
air with shot and down the innocent bird before he knows 
an enemy is approaching? 
^I have often heai'd of squirrels swimming lakes and streams, 
but never until the other day did I see it myself. I was' 
rowing down to the lumbjr camp after milk, when I saw 
something bobbing along in the water behind me. At first 
I thought it was a muskrat, but discovering my mistake 
stopped rowing and watched the little fellow make for the 
shore; he swam very swiftly, and as he leaped on the bank I 
saw it was a large gray squirrel; he paused on a log, looked 
