294 
The Percy Summer Club. 
The Percy Summer Club, which owns a tract of land 
and a lake twenty miles north of the White Mountains, 
in New Hampshire, has had an interesting legal experi- 
ence with the authorities of the Granite State in an en- 
deavor to preserve its fishing for the exclusive benefit of 
club members. The case was finally carried before the 
United States Supreme Court, and after nearly ten years 
of Iftigation a settlement satisfactory to the club appears 
to be in sight. The case, which early in its history re- 
solved itself into a duel between the club and the State 
of New Hampshire, has established important prece- 
dents, and is reviewed here on account of its interest W 
sportsmen in general, whether they believe in private ot 
public control of the larger fishing waters. 
The Percy Summer Club was incorporated under the 
laws of New Hampshire in 1882 for the purpose of ac- 
quiring a private preserve to which its members miglit 
resort for rest and recreation. It has a limited member- 
ship, including at the present time IVIessrs. George P. 
Rowell, head of the George P. Rowell Advertising- 
Agency; Francis H. Leggett, the wholesale grocer; James 
D. Piatt, who is connected with .the Standard Oil Com- 
pany; S. H. Kauffmann, president of the Washingtuu 
Evening Star Newspaper Company, and Rudolph Kauff- 
mann, one of the editors of the Star and a son "of Mr. S. 
H. Kauffman. Mr. Rowell has given Forkst and Stream, 
in an interview, the following particulars: 
The club acquired by purchase a lake of 350 acres in 
extent and about the same amount of land at Percy, in 
the town of Stark, Coos county, N. H. The lake was 
renamed Christine Lake. It already had a number of 
local names, of which North Pond was perhaps the most 
commonly applied. On maps it is put down as Potter' .-i 
Pond, though just why this is done no once can say, i!cr 
the name is never used locally. When the club made ita 
purchase it was careful to secure title not only to the 
lots immediately adjoining Christine Lake, but also strips 
of land on both sides of a stream running into the lake 
reaching to and including its soiu-ce, and also land bor- 
dering the outlet to the point of its juncture with the 
Upper Amonoosuc River. 
At the time of the purchase the laws of New Hamp- 
shire provided that any pond or body of water reserved 
for the propagation or preservation of fish might be pre- 
served for private use by posting with the proper notices, 
and a heavy fine for trespass was attached. It was under 
this law that the corporation was originally established. 
There was at that time no recognized acknowledgment 
fixing a limit to the size of lakes which might thus be 
preserved for private use. Later, however, the Legisla- 
ture passed a law declaring all lakes of more than twenty 
acres in extent public waters and excluding them from 
the privileges of the previous section. 
When seen at his office Mr. Rowell said: "It has been 
claimed of late years that in colonial times New Hamp- 
shire was a part of Massachusetts, just as Maine was. It 
is a law in Massachusetts, and that law prevails in MaiuL', 
that all lakes of more than ten acres in extent are public 
waters. This part of New Hampshire where our pre- 
serve is situated was never included in the section of New 
Hampshire which was once a part of Massachusetts, and 
we claim, therefore, that if the Massachusetts law ever 
did prevail in New Hampshire, which we don't admit, 
that it never had application to that part of the State 
where our propertv is located. 
"We claim further that we hold title from the Kmg of 
England, and we trace our title before the State had 
existence; and that our title conveys to us not only the 
land, but also the water and the land under the water. 
This claim we have set up in the highest court of the 
land. 
"When the Legislature passed the law declaring lakes 
or ponds of more than twenty acres in extent public 
waters, we maintained that the law could not apply to us, 
because we owned the lake before the State had anything 
to do with it. The Legislature thereupon passed a law 
to the effect that any person arrested for trespass in 
cros.sing wild lands to visit public waters could not be 
held answerable for costs unless the damages amounted 
to more than $13.33. That was equivalent to throwing 
the costs of prosecution on us and deprived us of redress 
against persons fishing in our lake. Having attempted to 
protect our rights in the New Hampshire courts up to 
the highest court, and having received adverse decisions, 
we transferred our property to a corporation formed un- 
der the laws of New Jersey, and proceeded against 
the trespassers in the United States Courts. The litiga- 
tion which followed extended over several years, and 
cost more than the property did originally. 
"Finally there was an attempt made in the Legisla- 
ture of New Hampshire to have the State assume the 
cost of the litigation, that had heretofore fallen on the 
trespassers, and that action led to a compromise by which 
the State gave the members of the Percy Summer Xlub, of 
New Jersey, the right to form a new corporation under 
the laws of New Hampshire, and to buy or lease inter- 
ests belonging to the Percy Summer Club, of New Jer- 
sey. The club agreed to admit the right of the public 
to fish in the lake under restrictions which should also 
apply to our own mem_ber.ship, and received from the 
State a charter which made trespass on the lands of the 
club other than passage over a prescribed path punish- 
able by a fine of $2S for the first offense and $50 for the 
second. The public obtained no right to leave boats on 
the lake or to camp on its shores. They were obliged to 
bring their boats with them and carry them away when 
they left. ' ' ' 
"Shortly after the club got under way under its new 
charter (having leased the property from the New Jer- 
sey corporation, with whom it must be noted the title 
still remained), the United States Courts decided that 
the Percy Summer Club of New Jersey did own the lake 
and had the right to control fishing in it. The members 
did not immediately avail themselves of this decision, 
The New Hampshire law protected their land so thor- 
oughly from trespassers that they were disinclined to sur- 
render their charter. They have lived under it three 
years. The open fishing, however, has attracted so many 
visitors in the early part of the season, and they have 
succeeded in depleting the lake to stich a degree tbat 
there is now no fishing for anybody, A-t the last mee>:-' 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
ing of the managers it was practically decided to sur- 
render the New Hampshire charter and resume the rights 
accorded by the United States Court decision." 
The people in the town of Stark are friendly to the 
interests of the club. The trouble from trespassers comes 
from persons residing in two manufactming towns, 
Groveton, eight miles north of the preserve, and Berlin, 
twelve miles south. To shut out this element as far as 
possible, fishing was restricted to the hours of 10 A. M. 
to 12 M. and 2 P. M. to 7 P. M. daily, and the season was 
made to begin a month later than that prescribed in the 
State .game laws and to end fifteen days earlier. 
Christine Lake is a pristine trout lake. There are no 
other fish in the lake with the exception of minnows 
too small to take the hook, they are the black-nose dace 
scarcely 2in. in length. - . 
The trout are noted for their beautiful coloring and 
handsome shape. They are exceedingly gamy and of a 
uniform size, and so marked is this fact that it is noto- 
rious that the average weight of a catch never varies 
much from %\h. During the seventeen seasons the club 
has been iti existence only three fish have been taken 
which weighed as much as ilb. The members all fish 
with the fly and with the very lightest tackle, and fo'-- 
merly. when the lake was protected, the catch was re- 
stricted to a limit of forty, a number often taken in an 
hour's fishing in the evening. 
The club property borders on a tract of wild moun- 
tainous land corresponding in some respects to the 
Adirondacks. It is approached from Percy Station, on 
the Grand Trunk Railway, and though Lake Christine is 
only eighty rods from the station, it lies on an elevation 
23Sft. higher, and for all intents and purposes is as re- 
mote from civilization as virgin trout Jakes much more 
difficult of access, no sign of human habitation other than 
camps belonging to members of the club is to be seen 
from an}^ part of the lake, which is an ideally beautiful 
body of water, surrounded by hardwood ridges. 
The club has been ver3'^ successful so far as its internal 
relations are concerned. Each member has his own 
cottage, which he regulates after his own ideas, and the 
greatest individual freedom is allowed. There are, of 
course, general rule^ which must be observed. The 
houses are painted uniform harmonious colors, and are 
built in accordance with the designs of a recognized 
architect. There is a superintendent, who looks after the 
fishing regulations, and is prepared to receive club mem- 
bers on their arrival. 
The situation built upon is about a mile and a half 
from the public landing. 
How they Take Whitefish in Idaho. 
St. Anthony, Idaho, Mareli i^.^EdUor Forest and 
Stream: Yesterday afternoon at about 3:30 the man who 
lives just across the street came by canwing two great 
strings of fish. We were in the backyard, and as he 
passed he called out, "Want some fish?" "Why, yes." 
"Well, here's a hook and a pole. Just below the liead- 
gate there are millions of them." 
We lost no time hurrying into our overshoes and jack- 
ets, and got the pole, which proved to be the. middle part 
of an old cane fish pole, with about 4ft. of strong fi.sh 
line tied to the end, and fastened to this a grab-hook. 
The head-gate is the waste-gate, where the surplus waf-er 
from the big canal is turned back again into the Snake 
River. The water falling over the planks placed in the 
gate has washed out the sand, leaving a deep hole, with 
great lava rocks standing, and through these the water 
rushes in white foam. At the foot of these rapids we 
stopped. Fred dropped the hook into the water, gave a 
sudd den jerk, and brought out a fish that might weigh 
>4Ib. He looked at me sort of astonished and said: 
"Well." The next few casts were unsuccessful, but he 
caught another, and then gave me the pole and walked 
down stream. About 2ort. down he called me, and there, 
where the water was more quiet, we could see them thick 
as the pebbles on the bottom. We took turns using the 
pole, and when we had ten Fred went home, while I 
fished on. A boy of about ten years came down and 
watched me and took the fish off my hook when I threw 
them out. I was fifteen minutes catching ten more. 
Just above me a little girl was fishing with an ordin- 
ary tying twine doubled and tied to a willow stick. Her 
hook was badly tangled in an overhanging willow and 
all her efforts failed to loosen it; the boy proffered his 
services, untangled the hook and proceeded to use it. 
After he had made fourteen casts, landing twelve fish, one 
strand of twine broke; but he fished away and I left them 
with twenty-seven fish lying on the snow. 
From our window we look out upon the canal 75ft. 
away, and to-day being Sunday have seen half the town 
population fishing there. So thick was the crowd some- 
times that hooks and lines were tangled together; but 
none the less all were having fun. I am positive th.it 
more than 1,000 fish have been taken from that hole since 
we fished there yesterday, and yet their moving tails and 
fins make the water appear black. 
The fish are called here river whitefish. The law does 
not protect them, as it is known that they subsist prin- 
cipally on trout spawn during the trout spawning season 
and are therefore more of a detriment than otherwise. 
I am told that this same thing occurs every year. The 
fish in their journey up-stream, which they make as soon 
as the warm weather begins, are stopped by the swift 
water and falls of the head-gate, and are caught by the 
thousands by means of the grab-hook. They very sel- 
dom take a fly, but we have caught them in the south 
fork of Snake River — Jackson's Hole — with bait. They 
are very good eating; almost equal to trout. 
Mrs. F. E. White. 
Ohio River Trot-Line Fishing 
Central Ctty, W. Va., — Perhaps if I had been a 
knight of the rod and reel — a real scientific angler — ^I 
might not see so much sport in this style of fi.shing which 
is practiced to a considerable extent in the Ohio River. 
Describing the method, a good-sized line, say of looft. 
to looyds. in length — -which the fisherm.an calls the "stag- 
ing" — is used, on which are tied short lines at a distance 
of 2 or 3ft. apart. On these are the hooks, generally 
[April 15, 1899. 
small, which are baited usually with crawfish, which 
abound in the brooks and are caught with a dragnet. 
Several stones are tied to the staging in order to sink 
it to the bottom of the river, leaving the baited lines 
free to move and attract the fish. 
As the tide of the Ohio is about three times as strong 
as that of the Hudson, the fisher generally has an assist- 
ant to keep flie boat in place and at right angles with the 
line while he makes, a haul, takes off the fish, rebaifs 
and drops the line as he proceeds. Several times I have 
been out acting as an assistant for my son at sunrise, 
just as the fog was lifting, the sunlight streaming tii rough 
the mist and reflected from the w'ater as from a river of 
polished glass. The scene was enchanting, and thus en- 
hanced the glory of the sport. 
The hooks being small, a gaff-hook is used to secure 
the fi.sh (if he is large), after he has been carefully 
brought near the boat, or rather the boat pulled to the 
fish. To take in half a dozen or so of dii?erent kinds of 
fish, some weighing 6 or Slbs., on such a morning as I 
have described, is an experience not soon to be erased 
from the memory, N, D, Elting. 
Small Chinook Salmon. 
Fish Commissioner McGuire writes in the Portland, 
Oregonian: There has been a great deal said and writ- 
ten during the past twelve or fifteen years on the subject 
of the destruction of small chinook salmon, weighing 
from J4 to 81bs., too small to be of commercial value. 
These small fish are taken by the traps, wheels and 
seines, the smallest gill-net mesh used on the Columbia 
River being large enough to allow them to escape. The 
contention of gill-net fishermen and many others for 
years has been that the destruction of these small fish 
would ultimately exterminate the chinook. In this con^ 
tention they were sustained. by the statement of David 
Starr Jordan, president of Stanford University, an ac- 
knowledged authority on the salmon and trout of the 
Pacific Coast, who, some years ago, after investigation, 
of the subject, wrote; 
"The utter disappearance of the salmon fishing on the 
Columbia River is only a question of a few years unless 
some vigorous means are taken to prevent the destruc- 
tion of small fish." 
According to the statement of canners and other per- 
sons connected with the salmon fishery, these small chi- 
nook salmon are all males, which, though undeveloped as 
to size, are sexually mature. They base their opinion on 
the generally accepted theory that only fish capable of 
undergoing the reproductive act enter the river; that 
male fish of this small size are known to have had ripe 
milt and to have undergone the spawning process, anrl 
that no female salmon weighing less than 7lbs. has ever 
been taken in the river. I have been disinclined and slow 
to accept this theory of cannerymen and others, belie\-- 
ing that it was possibly inspired by selfish interests, and 
because it seemed to me contrary to nature that these 
small fish should all be males, and I determined to in- 
vestigate the subject whenever opportunity should offer. 
This I have done during the past two years. I have 
opened and examined about 150 of these small salmon, 
weighing from 2 to 8Ibs., and every one of them proved 
to be males. I have also watched these dwarfed fish on 
the spawning beds, and can confirm the statement made 
by W. F. Hubbard, superintendent of the United States 
hatchery on the Clackamas, that after spawming they die, 
as do the larger fish. After making these investigations, 
I wrote to President Jordan, calling his attention to his 
statement on this subject, quoted above. His reply i3 
appended: 
"It now seems probable that the small chinook salmon 
running in the river are all young males. They are all 
sexually mature, and the greater part of them die on 
the spawning beds. -As no females are found among 
these young fish, it would seem that their destruction can 
do no harm. As it is, the adult males are sufficiently nu- 
merous to serve the needs of the species." 
The testimony of Dr. Gilbert, of Stanford Utiivcrsit.v, 
and Waldo F. Hubbard, superintendent of the United 
States piscicultural work in Oregon, is similar to the 
above. Although the case is not susceptible of absolute 
proof, yet the evidence seems to favor the view which 
I have heretofore contended was contrary to all that 
common observation teaches in regard to animal life. 
However, this is not more wonderful than the fact that 
practically all chinook die after spawning, while the 
steelhead returns to the ocean after performing this func- 
tion. 
The passengers on the ferryboat Piedmont, on the 
9:30 o'clock trip from Oakland on a recent morning were 
treated, to the spectacle of a speed test between a sea 
eagle and a carrier pigeon, in which the smaller bird won 
by saving its life. When the boat was opposite Goat 
Island, P. H. Schlotzhauer, a pigeon fancier of Alameda, 
released five birds. Among them was the famous five- 
year-old homer Duke of Richmond. 
The pigeons rose into the air and circled several times. 
Four of them turned toward the east, but the fifth, which 
was the Duke of Richmond, was seen to flirt and drop 
toward Piedmont. Then the passengers niade.out that 
the pigeon was being pursued by a large bird. 
The two birds were at an elevation of i,oooft. when 
the chase began, with the carrier a short distance in the 
lead. As if by instinct he dropped straight for the place 
where his master had released him, and, landing upon the 
ladies' deck of the Piedmont, fluttered through the cabin 
door. The sea eagle was "so confident that it would 
strike its prey that it did not check ifs pursuit until within 
loft. of the rail of the ferryboat. Then it wheeled sud- 
denly, and, hovering about the stern of the boat for a few 
moments winged its way back toward Goat Island. 
Once inside the cabin, the frightened pigeon ran down 
the aisle until it came to a passenger reading a news- 
paper. As if sure of protection, it fluttered tip to his side 
and perched on the arm of his seat. — San Francisco 
Chronicle. 
The Forest asd Stream is put to press each v.-eek on Tuesday. 
Correspondence iatended for publication sliould reach \i§ at tht; 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable, ^ 
