April 9, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
287 
Deiinison, also bf Elgin. Each had a riding horsey and 
they took also two packhorses. They traveled entirety 
by horseback and camped out all the time, starting h-om 
Elgin, crossing the long State of Illinois, crossing also 
the States of Missouri and Arkansas, the Indian Na- 
tions, and the State of Texas as far south as the town 
of Abilene. They thus had a splendid opportunity of 
seeing" a great amount of country possessing interest in 
sporting resources. Mr. Start says that in the Indian 
Nations, about sixty miles southwest of Fort Smith, 
they had the best of sport on deer and turkeys. They got 
all the turkeys they cared for, and give a very encour- 
aging report of that part of the country. The three were 
in the saddle for nine months, and have just returned. 
Mr. Start says that he will favor the Forest and Strtj.'VM 
with a story of the trip, whicli certainly should be most 
interesting. 
** Unconstitutional." 
Some of the fish dealers of Chicago, among others 
Charles Witte & Co., I. Polakow, Joseph Magziarz and 
William Shay, have prayed for an injunction against 
the State Fish Commission, staling that the latter is 
enforcing too severely Section 6 of the State fish laws, 
regarding the size of fish. The dealers say that this 
clause is unconstitutional.' Of course it is. Anything is 
"unconstitutional" which does not declare Chicago a 
wide-open market for fish and game. But I cannot avoid 
a little dig at the State Commission, which has gone to 
so great lengths to accommodate these same fish deal- 
ers of Chicago. The Commission is on record as wisli- 
ing to be very lenient in the matter of "first offenses," 
"alibis" and other pleas, which methinks are more per- 
tinent to the opera of "Erminie" than to the Fish Com- 
mission. I wonder how friends Cohen and Bartlett will 
feel when they see these fish dealers reciprocate by try- 
ing to knock their pet clause into a cocked bat? • 
I note also with interest that the commission mer- 
chants, game dealers, shippers and hotel men of St. 
Louis will meet next Monday to take further action in 
the movement, earlier mentioned, for "needed changes 
in the game laws." Are we to infer that there are some 
clauses in the Missouri State game law ailso which are 
"unconstitutional ?" 
Treat. 
I have reports from upper Wisconsin which say that 
the ice went out of the trout streams a week ago, and 
that the season is three weeks more advanced than it 
was at this time last year. E. Hough. 
1206 BoYCE Building, Chicago. 
Green Mountain Notes. 
During the past winter the local fishermen have en- 
joyed unusually good ice fishing, as every favorable bay 
of Champlain has been, while the ice lasted, dotted with 
the tiny fish-houses of the anglers, some of whom fish 
for the sport, but the majority, I am sorry to say, for the 
"dollars in it." The fish chiefly caught are perch and 
whitefish, although some of the larger fishes are not in- 
frequently captured. The suddenness of the breaking up 
of the ice this season came without warning, and many 
of the shanties were lost, the occupants barely escaping 
a watery grave. As soon as the ice leaves the marshes 
along the lake and the w^ater gets back to its normal 
clearness the local sportsmen flock there in anticipation 
of the pickerel shooting, that usually lasts two or three 
weeks, as the weather permits. The favorite method of 
hunting them is from a canoe, and they are shot while 
basking and frolicking in the sunlight among the sub- 
merged flags and rushes. The favorite weapon for this 
spot is the shotgun, loaded with buckshot cartridges, al- 
though rifles of a heavy caliber are much used. The 
pickerel season has just opened here, but as yet few 
have been secured. Their weight generally averages 
about slbs., but occasionally specimens far exceeding 
that are brought in. The record fish so far this season 
tipped the scales at lylbs. 
The flight of ducks here this spring is fully 
up to the average as regards numbers; blacks, 
mallards and teal predominate. Vermont allows 
no spring shooting, and but few instances of 
violation of the law occur. But few ducks nest with 
us, traveling further north to their breeding grounds in 
Canada. The deep snow that northern New England en- 
joyed the past winter proved providential to the furred 
and feathered game, as the market hunters could not 
get about in the woods to carry on their work of slaugh- 
ter, and the spring rabbits and ruffed grouse are more 
plentiful in consequence. Deer also seem, according to 
reports, to have wintered well, and notwithstanding the 
open season last October are yet with us' in consider- 
able numbers. Of late several cases of violation of the 
deer law have come to light in isolated places where 
the people think that deer can be killed at any time 
with impunity. A number of these cases are now being 
investigated, and prosecutions will undoubtedly follow, 
as in one instance the feet and other portions of a deer 
were found in possession of the suspected parties. As 
a whole the deer are guarded by the farmers with a 
jealous eye, and are in many instances allowed to roam 
with the cattle and become so tame from their protec- 
tion that they have little fear of man. The open season 
last fall resulted in the destruction of many of these 
semi-domesticated animals, and the public at large and 
the press were loud in their clamor for the repeal of 
the statute, which undoubtedly will be repealed at the 
next session. 
Another enemy to our song birds has appeared here, 
as the subjoined clipping, taken from the Burlington 
News of yesterday, shows: "We have laws in this State 
for the protection of insectivorous and song birds, and 
it would be well if the authorities were more strict in 
enforcing them. The Italian residents of East Mont- 
pelier must have tastes that are fastidious indeed, for 
not only do they slaughter our robins and snowbirds, 
and convert them into edible morsels for their own 
tables, but they are reported to be doing thriving busi- 
ness marketing our feathered friends among their coun- 
trymen in the cities. This is an offense that is both 
abominable and disgusting, and should be punished to 
the full extent of the law." 
Of course "little things" like this will crop out in 
every family. But just the same it shows that Vermont 
game protection partakes somewhat of the "more the- 
ory than practice" style in some portions of the State 
at least. It is to be hoped that the municipal authori- 
tips of the city will take up the case and stop the ruth- 
less slaughter of innocents. Kenewah. 
Milton, April 2. 
Winter Moose Killmg- in New Brunswick and 
Maine. 
restaurant fraud who works it. Don't tell me they .don't 
willfully break the law, for I know better. They think it 
smart to evade the law, and a lot of chicken-hearted, 
would-be sportsmen stand idly by and see them do it..' 
I started to write about Florida, but have gotten cldSe 
to home — and I'm glad of it. I have exactly the same 
opinion of the pot hunter who breaks a law for gain 
and the hotel man who does the same thing, and if any- 
thing the latter is the worse. 
Aroostook County, Me., March 27. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: Recent articles on moose slaughtering this 
winter prompt me to write you certain facts as I per- 
sonally know them; and I believe that your long per- 
sonal acquaintance with me will give you confidence in 
my statements. 
For more than six weeks now moose steak has been 
served at a hotel in Edmundston, just across the river, 
in New Brunswick, with deer and caribou for occa- 
sional change. Of three moose whose horns have re- 
cently been purchased (to serve as trophies), one was 
killed in New Brunswick and the others here in Aroos- 
took county. On my visits to Edmundston I have heard 
travelers at the hotel say they get moose steaks at the 
hotels up river on either side; meat is not disguised by 
another name, but it is "moose steak," plump and plain. 
More than this, lots of settlers and woodsmen of my ac- 
quaintance have told me of their getting out meat by 
the sled load; and these men go into the roads every 
year after the choppers are discharged, and get as much 
as they and their neighbors Avant. Of late years the 
snow has not been deep enough to decimate the moose 
to the extent of this season; but some are gotten with 
dogs every year; and snow has been so deep this season 
(5 to 7ft.) that a man finds it no trick to "do 'em" with- 
out a dog. There has not been such a depth of snow 
since twelve years ago, when, as now, the slaughter was 
immense. 
There are writers now, as in previous times, who 
through sordid motives in some instances, and through 
ignorance of the facts in others, deny there is much, 
if any, illegal killing, and their misstatements make my 
gorge rise. I, who have spent so large a part of my 
life in the far-back woods, know the situation thorough- 
ly. To be sure, a great many kill just to supply their 
own families (who would go hungry, otherwise, a great 
deAl), just as their ancestors did; and they think it right, 
as they waste none and seldom sell. But there are others, 
and they kill, kill, kill as long as they can find a customer 
for skins and meat; and this class cross the river — the di- 
viding line — and hawk it almost openly in New Bruns- 
wick. I verily believe there have already been killed 
fifty moose since Feb. i in the northern half of Aroos- 
took county, and deer by the hundreds. Poaching goes 
on just the same on the Canadian side. 
I give you these facts for your and my own satisfaction. 
It is five years since I have shot a gun; my hunting, 
days may be over; but my heart is in the woods, and I 
want to see the game preserved so that others coming 
after me may be able to enjoy the sports I have. B. B. 
Florida and ''The Planfc/' 
Mr. F. M. Gilbert, of Evansville, Iiid., who has re- 
cently been on an unsuccessful game expedition in the 
De Funiak district of Florida, sends us, as the results 
of his experience and observations and reflections, this 
summary of the situation: 
To reduce the matter to figures, I have seen more 
deer in one day in Arkansas, hardly a hundred miles 
from St. Louis, than a good hunter can see in one 
month in this section of Florida. And, further, I did 
not have the help of the hounds in Arkansas, but had 
to still-hunt. 
I will also assert that if one meets ten natives in the 
woods in that section, nine of them will have guns and 
five will have dogs that will pick a trail. I met a preach- 
er coming out of the swamps one evening to call on a 
brother, and he had his Winchester across his saddle. 
I firmly believe that there is plenty of game left in 
Florida, but to get it one must not stop at any railroad 
town. He- must go so far away toward the Gulf that 
he can hunt in places from which the natives cannot 
transport their game. In other words, he must be so 
far from the railroad that a native with his ever-ready 
ox team could not kill a deer and haul it to the railroad 
before it spoiled. 
Near any of the bays that put in from the Gulf the 
hunting is good — at least such are the reports. 
If Florida only knew it, her market hunters are rob- 
bing her of millions of dollars of revenue. Who spends 
money in Florida? The native pot hunters? No! The 
people from the North. Take away the hunting and 
fishing, and Northern men will go somewhere else. A 
few consumptives may go there to sit on the hotel 
porches and eat air, but the average Northern man 
wants something a little more exciting. 
The lesson that Florida teaches to-day is the same one 
that has been taught us of the North. Where are our 
deer and turkeys? Our wild pigeons? Our ducks and 
geese? Gone to market. A horde of greedy pot hunters 
have robbed our States of what belonged to us all. 
If I owned a sporting journal, my one great and only 
text would be "Stop market hunting." 
We have at last a non-selling law in Indiana, and we 
ought to have another, and that is, "Keep away out- 
siders." I know I am treading on the corns of many 
a good old Kentucky friend, but honestly, isn't it tough 
on us to protect our quail and then have Kentucky, Illi- 
nois and Ohio come in and shoot them? 
The sportsmen of our State are just as courteous as 
those of any other, but all true sportsmen can see where . 
we are drifting. We should throw around the little 
brown beauties — the only game we have left — every safe- 
guard that man can devise and good laws carry out, 
or they will go as did the buffalo, the wild pigeons and 
all our large game. 
Kentucky should join us in the good work. Our 
seasons should open and close at the same time, and 
thus stop that gigantic farce of killing in the open sea- 
son in one State to selling in the close season in an- 
other. 
The "short-billed snipe" farce should ston, aod if I 
had iny way I woiild tar and feather every -hotel and 
Fresh- Water Angling* 
No. J.— Brook Trout. 
BY FRED MATHER. 
Under the head of brook trout {S. fontinalis) will be 
included most all the trouts and chars, for the methods 
of taking the brown trout, rainbow trout and all kindred 
species except the Eastern lake trout, the blue- back and 
such deep-water niembers of the family as are seldom, 
or never, taken with the fly. 
When a novice asks advice about the kind of an out- 
fit he should purchase, I quote to him from Polonius' 
advice to his son: "Costly thy habit as thy purse can 
buy." And this means that an angler should have the 
best tackle that he can afford, for the best is all that the 
term implies. It is when the struggle comes with a des- 
perate fish that the angler has the supreme satisfaction 
of knowing that he has the best material to fight with, 
and only an accident may lose him the fight, if he has 
confidence in his own skill in not overstraining his tackle 
by injudicious strikes, checking a vigorous run too sud- 
denly, or by letting a fish get into weeds, or a treetop, 
when it might have been steered away from these things. 
All this is generalship, and cannot be taught by books, 
but the purchase of tackle can be taught in this manner. 
The first question which I ask of a novice is: - "What 
do you care to spend on an outfit?" 
If he answers, "Twenty dollars," I say, "Get a wooden 
rod, a click reel, line, leaders, flies, creel and waders." 
If he thinks he can aff^ord a more expensive outfit I 
advise him that he will be better satisfied, and will giye 
reasons for it as we proceed. In England there are some 
old-fashioned anglers who think that trouting with an 
angle worm is an art that ranks as high as fly-fishing. 
They were brought up in that belief, and a man's relig- 
ious belief is most often the result of birth and early 
influences. 
There is no question that the trout will take the worm 
in places where it will not rise freely to the tly, and there 
are places where the fly, in expert hands, will take more 
trout than the drowned worm. But, when it comes to 
a question of angling for pleasure and fishing for meat, 
I would rather take one trout with the fly than a hun- 
dred with bait. The newspapers have delighted in pic- 
turing the rural youth, with a "letter in the post-office," 
selling his catch to "the city angler with a $40 pole," the 
inference being that fine tackle is useless. Fine tackle 
will beat coarse in the same hands, even in the hands of 
the barefooted boy. 
Rods. 
There is no rod equal to a good spHt-bamboo. I say 
good, because there are most miserable ones on the 
market; if you want one of the latter you can get it for 
a dollar in a department store. A set of nicely drawn 
ferules is worth more than that. Do not think of buy- 
ing a split-bamboo rod anywhere but in the store' of a 
reputable dealer in fishing tackle, and paying not less 
than $8, and from that up to $40, for it. I have a $40 
rod that has been in use for fifteen years; it has been 
cast with in tournaments, which is severe work, and it 
is as straight, springy and as good to-day as ever. If 
the split-bamboo is beyond your purse, get a good com- 
bination of ash and lancewood, a greenheart or betha- 
bara; greenheart is a rather heavy wood, and of wooden 
rods I prefer two joints of second growth ash and a 
lancewood tip. See that the ferules are well drawn and 
fit all the way, snug. If there is a tendency to throw 
apart, try another rod. I do not care for dowels nor 
for very limber rods, such as "kick back," and are known 
as "double action." 
A loft. rod is long enough, and the weight may be 
from s to looz., as one likes. Metal reel seats are a 
matter of taste, and I like them. The weight of a rod 
is no indication of its muscle-tiring power, as that de- 
pends largely on where the rod balances, i. e., whether 
it is topheavy or is light at the butt. See that the grip is 
not a blister teaser, wound with cord or other abomina- 
tion. Often at the beginning of the season have I had 
to wrap a handkerchief about the grip at the first inti- 
mation of a blister. A large hand will cramp on a small 
grip, therefore the grip should fill the hand. Cork makes 
a good grip, and I have a felt covering which I use. on 
a grip that is wound with rattan, but my hands are very 
tender. 
A rod put together in a store and "tried" is not fairly 
tried. With a reel of more or less weight below the 
hand and 40ft. of line to lift from the water there is a 
different feeling. Test your rod in this way, by all 
means, before buying; then and then only caii you de- 
cide if the rod is what you want. A rod may be an ex,-; 
cellent one and yet not suit you and your style of castt 
ing; yet a man may get used to any rod in time, but 
will not do as good work, and as easily, as if he Vvas 
better fitted in the first place. There has been iniporteid 
recently a close-grained, reddish African wood, called 
assegai, which is used by the Zulus for their 'spears, 
which are called by the same name; and this is said to 
be superior to lancewood for the springy shafts of golf 
sticks, and may come into use for rods. Ironwood, Or 
hornbeam, is too heavy and will warp. 
A jointed rod is merely a convenience; a one-piece 
rod is the ideal rod fOr a man who always fishes in one 
place and keeps his rod there. I once saw such a rod 
made of red cedar, and its action was fine, but it was 
so fragile that its owner would, not allow; another to han- 
dle it. ' Thre^ joint's are better than tv/oy fpr th^fe is'fl#); 
ferule in the middle; but beware of the "trunk rod," a 
