Dec. 18. 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
491 
Of course, in saying that I don't know much about bass 
fishing, there are a few things belonging to the A, B, C of 
the art which, for my present purpose, I take no account of. 
They are "hornbook" rules which must readily occur to 
anybody. Just for illustration one or two of them may be 
briefly stated : 
1. A first rule in bass fighting is to find the fish, just as in 
the old cook book rule for cooking a rabbit: " irst, catch 
the rabbit." But I know of no rule by which the angler can 
tell in advance where the black bass are to be found at any 
particular time, whether in shallow water or in deep water, 
or on sand bottom or on rock bottom, or near shore or hover- 
ing about the weed beds, or whether they are somewhere in 
the middle of next year. They are sometimes in one place 
and sometimes in another; and not infrequently they may be 
found at two or more different places on the same day, or, as 
is often the case, they cannot be found anywhere. 
If any bass fisherman will give me a rule for finding the 
fish other than the rule for finding a needle in a hay-stack, I 
will deem it a great favor — that is, provided he will guarantee 
the rule. 
2. Another primitive or "hornbook" rule is to keep one's 
self, with boat, rod, etc., out of sight of the fish, or, if in 
sight, to remain perfectly motionless at the time when the 
bait or fly is presented to the fish, But this rule is several 
thousand years old. Kiug Solomon gives one version of it in 
his old book of Proverbs (Chap. 1, verse 17); audit was 
probably a thousand years old when he, as a boy, was snatch- 
ing shiners out of the brook Kedron, just outside the walls 
of Jerusalem. 
Some years ago, in a period of partial temporary idiocy, 
I thought seriously of writing a book on bass fishing. At 
that time I thought I knew a good deal on that subject — a 
good deal more than I know now or ever expect to know 
again. I am glad that I didn't do it. The world will never 
have a chance to learn now how much of an ass I might 
have shown myself to be. It was a narrow escape indeed. 
But from that day to this my knowledge of bass fishing has 
steadily decreased, and with each trip that I make it gets 
less. The foregoing is about all that now remains of the 
book I once intended to write. Shaganoss. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
In Illinois. 
Chicago, 111., Dec. 10.— Nat Cohen and S, R. Bartlett, of 
the Illinois Fish Commission, are in town this week. The 
new Chicago fish warden, Phil. Goetter, a husky and intent 
German, wants to see them Mr. Goetter passed the window 
of Fred Smith, one of the largest of our game dealers. A 
lot of under-size fish were displayed, and Goetter took charge. 
Smith said: "I know what you want. You want $25. 
Come in and sit down." But Goetter did not sit down, and 
did not want |25. Behold a sample of game-dealer ethics! 
And won't Goetter warm him up when it comes to court! 
"I say to him, 'I put my charakkter against his million dol- 
lar,'" said Goetter to me in describing this. "I say 1 want 
no twenty-fife dollar, but I bin afraid of nopotty." And I 
reckon that's to, too. 
At Kankakee C H, Erzinger had undersized fish in posses- 
sion. The jury cleared him on the ground that the fish came 
from Wisconsin. The local paper quotes the law (Mr, F. M. 
Smith, of Chicago, would better read it too) : 
"Sec. 6, after detailing the length of fish which may be 
sold or offered for sale, says: 
"And provided further that the possession of any of the 
above-named species for the purposes of sale, or offering for 
sale, of less length than above designated, shall be ^jnVwa 
fade evidence of violation, and subject the party or parties 
having them in their possession to the penalties of the law 
hereinafter mentioned." 
Nat Cohen, president of the Board of Fish Commissioners, 
has written Fish Warden Craine a letter of indignation at 
the above verdict. He says: 
•'The law says that fish under a certain size shall not be 
sold or offered for sale in the State of Illinois, and the State 
of Illinois has the right to make laws to regulate its affairs. 
You might as well acquit a man of stealing. 1 would advise 
you to take the case to the grand jury. 
"Don't stop at being beaten. Arrest any one you find sell- 
ing fish under sizs. Next time perhaps you can get a jury 
that respects the law." 
In MIchlaran. 
Spearing is permitted on inland lakes of Michigan in the 
winter months. It is said many such lakes will this winter 
be practically cleaned out, the larger fish b eing especially 
the sufferers. 
This week wardens had a circus with two Polish net- 
fishermen at Ludington, who were surrounded by friends 
who attempted a rescue. Thirty days in jail ; nine nets con- 
fiscated. 
In Iowa. 
S'.ate Fish Commissioner Delavan, of Iowa, is adopting 
with great success the Illinois plan of seining out young fish 
from drying- up sloughs and bayous, where they would 
surely perish. He says 125.000 fish so taken cost only $15 
to deliver. He has put 200,000 in large Iowa lakes, and ex- 
pects to get 1,000,000 more before he stops this winter. He 
works at Sabula, along the Mississippi River. 
Near Ft, Dodge, la., last week, Deputy Burnam arrested 
several fishermen for spearing through the ice, and each was 
fined $5 and costs. Their names were: M. A. Vinsand, 
Knut Knutson, Martin Gangstad, Herman Gangstad, Peter 
Knutson and Sever Axness. More arrests are expected to 
follow. E, Hough. 
1206 BoYOB Buii-DING, Ohicag-o. 
Fish for New Jersey Waters. 
The November report of State Fish and Gime Protector 
Chas. A. Shriner tells us that the consignment of black bass 
received on the 7th was distributed as follows: 
Lake Hopatcong, 600: Greenwood Lake, 400; Blackwood 
Lake, Camden county, 100; Union Like, Cumberland 
county, 100; Little Swartswood Lake, Sussex county, 130; 
Fair View Lake, Sussex county, 150; Grinnell Lake, Sussex 
county. 100; Pocbung Lake, Sussex county, 100; White 
Lake, Warren county, 100; Boody's and Hewes' Ponds, 
Gloucester county, 200. 
The Delaware and Raritan Canal will be drawn off during 
December, and all arrangements have been completed to 
secure the bass, pickerel, perch and other fish which are left 
in the holes; these fish will serve to fill the applications on 
hand at present, and there is every reaso-n to hope that every 
applicant will be satisfied. 
Twenty pike-perch were placed in Culver's Lake, in Sus- 
sex county, during the past month, and arrangements have 
been made to secure a supply of baitfish for this lake. A 
dozen pike-perch and a miscellaneous assortment of bass, 
perch and pickerel, about thirty in number, were placed in 
White Lake, Warren county. 
Twenty thousand trout, from 2 to 5Jin. in length, were 
distributed during the month as follows: 
Mossman Brook, at Newfoundland, in Passaic county, 
1,000; Eckhardt Spring Brook, at Newfoundland, in Passaic 
county, 1,000; Wallkill, at Sparta, in Sussex county, 1,000; 
Big Brook, at Swartswood, in Sussex countv, 1,000; Middle- 
ville Brook, at Stillwater, in Sussex county, 1,000; Paulins- 
kill, at different points in Sussex and Warren counties, 
3,000; Blairstown Brook, in Warren county, 1,000; Slab- 
town Brook, at Blairstown, Warren county, 1,000; Hock- 
hockson, Eatontown and Pine brooks, in Monmouth county, 
1,000 each; Buckhorn Brook, in Warren county. 1,000; 
Hopatcong and Roaring brooks, in Warren county, 1,000 
each; La Barreand other brooks, 2 000; Request, in Warren 
county, 2,000, 
"Men I Have Fished With." 
Mk, Fred Matheb's new book, "Men 1 Have Fished 
With," is ready for delivery, and many copies have already 
been sent out to subscribers. Among those who have seen 
the volume there is but one opinion as to its worth and its 
beauty, and so greatly are anglers impressed by it ihat not a 
few orders have been received from individuals for copies to 
present to friends. These orders in numbers run from twelve 
down to two copies. The volume is described in our adver- 
tising pages. 
tte M^ttnel 
FIXTURES. 
BENCH SHOWS. 
1898. 
Jan. ll.-Buiterl.r Bench Show Association's show. Grand Rapids, 
Mich. Miss Grace H Griswold, Sec',y. 
Feb. 15.— New England Kennel Oluh's fourteenth annual show, 
Boston. James L. Little, Sec'y. 
Feb. 81.— Westminster Kennel Club's twenty-second annual .show, 
New York. G. de F. Grant, Sec'y. 
.—St Louis Kennel Club's third annual show, St. Louis, Mo. 
Wm. Hutchinson, Sec'y. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
' 1898. 
Jan. 10.— U. S. F. T Club's winter trials, West Pomt, Miss. W. B. 
Stafford, Sec'y. 
Jan. 17.— Continental F. T. Club's trials, New Albany, Miss. W. 8. 
Bell. Sec'y. 
Jan. 24 -Pacific Coast Field Trial Clilb s trials, Bakersfleld, Cal. J. 
M. KOgarif. Sec'y. 
Jan. 24. -Champion Field Trial Association's Champion Stake, 
Tupelo. Miss. W. B. Stafford, Sec'y. 
Feb. 7. -Alabama Field Trial Club's second annual trials, Madison, 
Ala. H. K. Milner, Sec'y. 
TO MY SETTER NELL. 
The fields are all white with frozen dew. 
And the stubble and bracken are calling to you 
And me, old dog, with their bevies of quails 
'Lsng the course of the creek, by the half-sunken rails 
Of that old crooked fence, 
And the well-sheltered nooks where the cover's dense. 
The soft, glinting rays that the sun has first shed 
Make the carpet of grasses a gem-studded bed 
For our feet to traverse; and the crisp morning air 
Gives promise most cheering that Bob Whites are there. 
So away! Let's away! To the fields! Let's away! 
And beat out the bush ere oncoming day 
Has scattered the dewdrops the air has just lent 
To enable you, Nell, to follow the scent 
Of those little brown beauties, and locate them there; 
And they're flushed and scattered to stubble, or where 
The birds can be started one or two at a time, 
With nothing to bother the shot, or the rhyme 
Of the crack of the gun and the fall of the bird. 
And the game bag is filled to the very top gird. B. L. S. 
A NORTH CAROLINA FOX HUNT. 
Haslin, N. C. — Editor Foi'est and Stream: Having been 
tied up with the many duties incident to Southern planta- 
tion life at this period of the year, and in addition getting 
my place in shape for sportsmen during the present season, 
I had no time that could well be spared from regular rou- 
tine of work to get afield with dog and gun, or follow an 
exciting chase with the hounds — two amusements to me 
which hold untouched charms. Thirsting as I was for this 
very essential to my contentment, my brother sportsmen 
can draw a slight mind picture of my dehght a few even- 
ings since; when a leisure time had come, and on walking to 
the front veranda I heard the deep bass voice of iSounce, 
the long, mellow squeal of Buck, the sharp, snappy rattle of 
Sanko, ringing out on the calm, crisp air of an autumn 
evening, each note bearing the message to me that reynard 
was moving, and that my good friend Jarvis, listening for 
the familiar whoop from me, was out for sport. 
In an instant thoughts were transformed into action, and 
a notice to Adam to turn Doc and Corker out of their ken- 
nel, who had also heard the voices of their comrades and 
were raising a howl to get "into the band wagon." A few 
moments later we were moving to join the fray. Soon they 
met the pack and were lending^ their shrill tenor voices, and 
making the woodland ring with the echo of a music that 
forces the spirit of a sportsman to move with every bound 
of the dogs. 
Now old Prince joins, adding his deep, convincing note 
to the already enchanting chorus. The pack is complete; 
away they lead, bounding over ditches, through hedges, 
leaping a fence — to the woodland reynard makes a grand 
circle, hard pressed by his followers, the vim of each voice 
furnishing unmistakable evidence that foxy is only a few 
paces in the lead. The music is grand; the packing perfect. 
Reynard circles to the right and toward us. On, on, they 
come, a continual cry. He passes a little to the right, over 
a fence, and makes a short double. Now for a few moments 
a diligent search is made for the trail. Listen 1 it is Bounce 
— away out in the cornfield, rushing and screaming, telling 
the fox that he must plan and execute. Joined now by 
half dozen as determined dogs as ever ran a trail, each pres- 
sing for the lead, we stand and listen, mutually agreeing 
that nothing could be more enchanting. 
Now by closely observing the movement of the dogs, we 
find that another circle has been resorted to— the dogs seem 
to double their resolution. And such a chase I A din of 
eager voices, pressing close to the trail just made by reynard, 
rushing hither and thither, then away", and the music fades 
to a low distant whisper. Now all is still for a moment. 
The sly old fellow has evidently doubled his track in order 
to gain a long lead when he points his nose toward his native 
bramble. A long, triumphant scream from Doc informs us 
that he is right. We soon find this to be the real situation. 
They all join and head directly for us, coming at a terrible 
speed, nearer and nearer. There is not a falter. What a 
union of voices ! Each note distinguishable, lending an es- 
sential to the completion of the music. Plainer and clearer 
can we hear them, bearing straight toward- us. Reynard is 
putting all his energy in every move, trying to reach the 
bramble just ahead, where he hopes to dodge and rest, if 
not to fully foil the pack. Here they come, full cry. We 
raise a regular war whoop, and away to the left he dashes; 
back and around, finally to reach his favorite spot only to 
get a short rest, when Buck and Corker make it plain that 
other quarters must be sought. And again away he dashes, 
with the music of the pack close to his heels; he leads for 
another test of speed and endurance. 
-Toined again, the pack makes "night hideous" for Rey- 
nard. He dashes out in the open field, across, near the 
roadway, each voice ringing clear on the still air of a 
November moonlight night. Around they swing, and 
down toward us they come. With a rush the fox passes, 
only a few paces ahead. On they go to woodland. Again 
driving, pushing and rushing, they force Reynard to circle. 
The music is grand beyond description. We stand totally 
oblivious to all save the bounding, leaping compacts of 
muscle, bone and sinew. 
We have stood, listened, have run and enjoyed the scenes 
of this grand opera, enacted on the beautiful and inspiring 
stage of nature, for four mortal hours. Now for the first 
time we realize that soon it must close. As the moon nears 
the horizontal line of woodland in the west darkness begins 
to steal over the scene. 
We wait a few moments, and the dcgs near us, coming 
quite close — now for the final rush. With a whoop of en- 
couragement from us, they make a determined dive, but lose. 
We check them, both feeling that Reynard has fought a 
good fight, and that another bright page has been scribbled 
down in memory's album. Now we wend our way home- 
ward to dream of the determined rushes of the pack and 
the successful schemes of Reynard. F. P. Latham, 
DOGS AS DRAFT ANIMALS. 
The subjoined paper on the use of dogs as draft animals 
in Belgium was written by Harvey Johnson, the U. S. Con- 
sul at Antwerp, and was sent in a report to the Department 
of State. Since the matter of transportation in the Klon- 
dike region has come so conspicuously into the notice of the 
American people, the paper will have a special interest, al- 
though it is intrinsically interesting in itself. 
I have been unable to find any otBcial statistics on the sub- 
ject, except those showing the number of dogs (draft and 
others kinds) in the cities and towns. There are no "dog 
farms" in this neighborhood. Men of means do not interest 
themselves in raising draft dogs as they interest themselves 
in raising horses, sheep, chickens, etc. The dog business is 
almost entirely in the hands of the country peasants. The 
large majority of these peasants are persons wko, upon a 
small piece of ground (almost invariably rented), produce 
vegetables, fruit, flowers, etc., for sale in the neighboring 
cities. In addition they raise a few dogs, rarely more than 
half a dozen. They bring their produce "to town" in carts 
drawn by their own dogs, and when there exists a surplus of 
dogs they are brought to the city on "market days" along 
with the other things and sold. 
There seems to have been such a long-continued and indis- 
criminate intermingling of the various breeds that the dra;ffc 
dog now used in Belgium cannot with propriety be accord- 
ed a distinctive name, and must be called, for want of a bet- 
ter name, the "Belgian draft dog." 
I can no better illustrate the lack of attention to breed 
than by narrating an experience which I had while riding on 
my bicycle in the country about ten miles from Antwerp. 
Seeing upon the door of a modest one-story brick cottage of 
a peasant a placard vsdth the words: "Chiens d Vendre" 
(dogs to sell), I dismounted, knocked at the door, and at 
once found myself in the presence of the proprietor of the 
premises. After the greetings, and after informing the gen- 
tleman of the purpose of my visit, he gave me the following 
statement, assisted by periodical auestions thrown into the 
narration by myself: 
"I have six fine dogs to sell. Three of them have short 
hair and three are sheared, so as to please everybody. These 
dogs are just ready for use— strong, healthy, and just a little 
under two years old. I know these dogs well, because I 
raised them myself, I want 125 francs (about .$35) apiece, 
butlwUl take less for spot cash. The breed? Oh, mon 
Bieu! I can't tell you much about the breed; the breed 
makes no difiference. What you want is a strong, well- 
trained dog, and that's what mine are. However, I may tell 
you that my six dogs are all from the same father and 
mother. The father is, if I remember correctly, one-fourth 
Belgian, two-fourths Danish and three-fourths Scotch, and 
the mother is, I think, three-fourths Belgian and one-fourth 
English." 
Assuring the gentleman of my appreciation of his remark- 
able memory and wonderful mathematical ability, and 
thanking him, I departed. 
Seriously speaking, the story of this polite and humble 
peasant shows very accurately thtr attention (or rather lack 
of attention) that is given to the question of breed. 
The dog generally in use varies in size and color, but in 
probably the majority of cases he is, when standing, about 
2ft. high, of a dark gray or dark brown color, has short hair 
and the tail cut. In addition to his work as a draft animal, 
he is a faithful guardian of his master's home. 
The price naturally depends upon the size, health and age. 
A well-kept dog two years old, 2ft. high, trained and ready 
for work, will sell for .$18 or §20. The same animal at the 
age of six or seven years will not bring more than $8 or $10. 
The service of the draft dog is easily taught by the master 
and easily learned by the animal. It consists merely in 
hitching the untrained dog to the cart by the side of his more 
advanced associate, and in a few days he is prepared for the 
"battle of life." 
It is difficult to say exactly the weight of the load which 
can be drawn by one dog, for the reason that he is harnessed 
alone much less frequently than in company with one, two 
three, and sometimes four others. In the latter case they 
are harnessed abreast. In the cities and towns, when em- 
ployed by butchers, bakers, laundries, etc., to draw their 
delivery carts, one dog is often used, and is harnessed under 
the cart. The cart is provided with two handles, like those 
of a wheelbarrow, which are held by a boy, the boy thus 
guiding the cart through the narrow streets while the dog 
pulls. In case of need, the boy assists by pushing the cart 
as he would a wheelbarrow. Sometimes two dogs are placed 
under the cart, but not more. 
The highest utility is attained where two, three, four or 
five are harnessed abreast and placed in front of the cart. 
