April 22, 1899.] 
FORJiST AND STREAM. 
Sll 
Then, as he thought where fish could be bought. 
His whistle replaced the sigh. 
"Oh, Molly," said he, "If yoti could but see"; 
(And Molly was piping him off), 
"How the trout would rise at the poorest flies"; 
The rest was lost in a cough, 
"Yes, dear," said she, "now give them to me" J 
(John started to fill his pipe). 
"Why these aren't trout!" so Molly did shout, 
"And, darling, they're rather ripe." 
^ After reading these verses to Macevoy, he mutnbled: 
'Uni—um— piped his eye; it's all right, but what do 
you mean by that?" 
"Mac, my boy. if you were familiar with that old 
English punster, Tom Hood, who wrote, — 
"He went and told the sexton 
And the sexton tolled the bell." 
"You would also remember his equally good pun of 
"First the bo's'n eyed his pipe 
And then he piped his eye." 
"Which in nautical lingo signifies weeping." But Mac- 
evoy could stand no more of this and had gone before 
the sentence was finished. He knows a good thing when 
he sees it, but he did not have his glasses with him. 
Puns. 
. Quoting from Tom Hood, the great English punster, 
brmgs up that statement, made by somebody, that 'a 
pun is the lowest form of wit," and the reply of some 
other somebody, "Therefore it is the foundation of all 
wit. Our American punster, John G. Saxe, proved this 
to the satisfaction of some of us, but space forbids quo- 
tations. Here are two things which may not be puns, 
but if not they may be put under the head of tautology. 
The first has no relation to fish, but the second one has, 
and so they are given. 
Once some fellow wrote on the correct repetition jf 
words, and chose the word "that," saying: "I say that 
that 'that' that that man used was superfluous." This 
was pasted in my scrap-book and under it I wrote: "He 
has five words in his string, but I can go him three bet- 
ter m this line: 'Of all the smelts that I ever smelt, I 
never smelt a smelt that smelt as that smelt smelt.' " Not 
the same word in consecutive repetition, but 'twill pass 
in a crowd. As the systematic name of the smelt i'; 
Osmerus, which, if Prof. Jordan's Greek is correct, means 
odorous, then I can imagine some learned ichthyic duf- 
fer paraphrasing tliis thus: "Of all the osmerus that ever 
I osmered," etc. 
To me a bit of nonsense, either to read or write it, is 
a safety valve— it takes a man outside his self and breaks 
up the bad habit of continuous thought. Someone 
wrote : 
"With curious art the brain, too finely wrought, 
Preys on itself, and is destroyed by thought." 
This is from the. scrap-book before mentioned, where 
wit and wisdom jostle each other. There may be minds 
which do not need relaxation, but. the little one which T 
lug around, can stand any given quantity of it. The 
mad-houses are filled with people who never relaxed the 
bowstring of thought., "No, no, that way madness lies."' 
The A.at}quity of Fly-Fishing. 
It is a; singular fact that the modern Egyptians are 
Ignorant of fly-fishing, at least Wilkinson tells us so in 
his "Egypt"; yet paintings show that it was practiced 
among the Egyptian gentry as far back as the days of 
the Ptolomies. The ruined cities of Thebes and Beni 
Hassan abound m pictures of fishing, some with 'the 
fly and others with the spear. Among the remains of an- 
cient Nimroud, which is the modern name of the Assy- 
nan city of Calah, on the east side of the Tigris, a few 
miles above the mouth of the upper Zab, there is a paint- 
ing of an angler with his rod in hand, fish by his side, 
and near his feet is a creel said to be of willow and ex- 
actly the same as those we shng on our shoulders to 
carry our fish in to-day. 
Verily, there is little that is new under the sun, unless 
It may be the X-rays and wireless telegraphy, and there 
is no telling but what some Egyptologist may dig these 
things from under the pyramids. 
We know from the paintings that 'the Egyptians la- 
vofpd the trident spear, throwing it from the bank of 
canal or river, or in a boat of papyrus, but it is not gen- 
erally known that they used the artificial fly. 
Just how long the Japanese have been fly-fishers is a 
question. I have some wonderfully delicate flies from 
Japan, the tiniest midgets, that danced in a cloud before 
your face on a spring day, tied on the most minute of 
hooks with a snell of horse-hair. 
Midges. 
The above paragraph brings up the question of these 
dancing midges. I don't know what they are; no man 
knows. Of course they are catalogued by some bugolo- 
gist and given a double-jointed name twenty times longer 
than they are^ but when you have that all tucked away 
•under your hat you are no wiser. 
The snow is hardly of¥ before there are bunches of 
these things; they gather in bunches of a bushel or so, 
and play tag in a nuptial sort of way, and in a few days 
they are no more. With them it's a short life and a merry 
one; eggs are laid in or about the spring water, and so 
the round goes on. 
The particular midges here referred to are not the 
biting "no-see-ums," black flies or other pests. They 
play in the sun for a few days in early spring, procreate 
and die. The curious thing about them is that they will 
accompany a man, keeping about his head and dancing 
in front of his face and yet have no bloodthirsty designs 
on him. The larva of one of these gnats, for no doubt 
there are others, may be found on the crest of a dam in 
the swiftest of water; a small worm with a hard head, 
and if detached will spin a thread and work back by it' 
Later it makes a pupa case on Ihe darn. Any troui 
culturist can find it in summer, and years ago a man 
given to sensation, a sort of "j^ellow" fishculturist, made 
the startling announcement that there was a "web worm " 
\yhich spun a web to catch trout. It merelv spins a 
single thread, which enables it to get back to a place of 
safety, for no fish can get it where the waters are pouring 
over a dam, and as long as it can maintain its position 
there it is safe. 
Curiosities in the Tackle Shops. 
Every dealer in fishing tackle is compelled to keep a 
lot of freak things, and they are queerer than the wood, 
bone and iron hooks of the Eskimos. Last summer I 
fished for striped bass with the late Jeremiah Sullivan, on 
the north shore of Long Island Sound, from New 
Rochelle some ten miles east. We had a boatman and 
the best of sand and blood worms; fished all day and 
never caught a fish. Yet it was a. grand day. Jerry had 
grown up in the tackle business from the store of the 
original Conroy, in Fulton street, and had fished with 
Genio C. Scott, of the elder lot of anglers, and was a 
frequent companion of Mr. G. P. Morisini, one of the 
best of striped bass angler about New York to-day. Few 
were the New York City anglers who did not know- 
honest "Jerry" Sullivan, who died a few weeks ago, hav- 
ing been eighteen j'ears with Conroy. 
As the boatman rowed along over ground where manv 
good bass had been taken a few days before, and were 
taken a few days afterward, I said: "Jerry, I've plugged 
along with such tackle as I have been accustomed to use 
for difi^erent fishes, but often wonder at things which I 
see in the showcases. Those artificial mice, rubber frogs, 
dobsons, and, most of all, rubber angleworms. Do they 
reallv catch fish?" 
"O. 3'c.s, suckers," and he reeled in to clear- liis'hook of 
weeds. Then he added: "Pardon me; I thought I had 
a strike, and will modify my statement by saying that 
there is a demand for these things; other firms keep 
them, and we must It is possible that the rubber mice 
, and frogs may be more or less effective, because they are 
put in motion; but no fish would touch a rubber worm jY 
a dobson, because they don't smell right." 
"Then you think a fish is prompted to take a bait 
more by smell than sight?" 
Jerry replaced some blood worms which the weeds had 
torn off, and then replied: "Not a surface lure, like a 
fly or a spoon, where the motion attracts the fish, but 
when a man is still-fishing with bait it would be a fool 
fish which would take a bit of rubber for a worm. Boys 
are attracted by these things; old boys, too, who know 
no better, and I sell them tmlcss they should ask if thev 
are good, when I tell them the truth." 
"Then you do not offer advice." 
"Never; I might get a rebuke if I did. If a person 
asks for an article, it is fair to suppose that he knows 
what he wants; but if he thinks that I may know more 
of the use of some fancy article than he does, and asks 
for an opinion on it, he gets it. The tackle stores keep 
lots of fancy things, got up like Peter Pindar's razors, to 
sell. Things that an angler of experience would only 
look at as curiosities, just as he would regard strange 
coins which represent no value to him." 
I was gradually leading Jerry to two things, about 
which I had curiosity. While the average angler has 
his own notions of things and gets the ideas of the few 
friends that he fishes with, his field of observation is 
small compared to that of a man who sells fishing tackle 
and talks with a hundred or more men each day, experi- 
enced anglers with differing views concerning some de- 
tails of their tackle; old fishing cranks who want some- 
thing different from anything on the market; young fish- 
ing cranks who once fished with some guide in the wil- 
derness and who know more about fishing tackle than the 
veteran angler or dealer, and the honest man, wlio 
knows about what he wants, but realizes that he has not 
had much experience and asks advice of the merchant. 
Automatic Reels. 
With all this in mind the talk had been led to the 
point where I asked: "What is your opinion of auto- 
matic reels? There are several on the market, and I 
only refer to the principle on which they work, and not 
to any maker. Do they sell well?" 
"Confound these blood worms ; that one bit me ; they're 
getting scarce, and we will have to use more sand worms. 
O, yes; you asked a question. Well, the salt-water 
anglers won't use them: a few are sold to trout fisher- 
men about New York, but they are more popular inland. 
You saw the trout reel I used last spring; that tells what 
kind of a reel I prefer. What is your opinion ?" 
This was a natural, if unexpected, question, and was 
answered thus: "Like you, I find these reels more popu- 
lar in central New York then elsewhere; some anglers 
swear by them— good anglers, too— but, Jerry, there are 
things about them that prohibit their use on my rod. 
They are constructed on the principle of the Hartshorn 
window-shade roller — the more line you reel off the 
stronger the spring acts, and the more you reel in the 
weaker the spring. This is all right on a window-shade, 
where a few feet is the limit of its work, but 60ft of line 
is another thing. Then, my boy, it is silent. About 
half the enjoyment of trout or bass fishing is the song of 
the reel, simulating the exultant chirr of the kingfisher 
after a dive of more or less success; a reel without a click 
has no charm for me." 
Jerry was evidently annoyed; he had invited me to h^s 
favorite grounds for striped bass and the dav was blank. 
Perspiration was on his forehead, but I laughed at our 
non-success and told him that next year, when he should 
be my guest on the same day and grounds, there might 
be no fish taken, but there was a hope that the outing 
would be as agreeable as that of to-day. 
He said: "Your first objection is a sound one; the 
spring weakens as it reels in and there is no such thing 
as the 'escapement' of a watch to regulate this; and il 
one should be invented, there would still be your secon'i 
objection, which is entirely sentimental. Izaak Walton 
never knew a click reel; he enjoj^ed fishing, as we read 
Why do you demand a click on your trout and bass reel 
and not on the multiplier that j^ou are to-day using for 
striped' bass?" 
The question was superfluous, for no man knew bet- 
ter than ■•Jerry" Sullivan that a "click" is not only a 
clreck on a fast rimning line, but alsu indicates "the 
Sliced at -\vhich the line is running. He also knew that 
the "song of the reel" is the sweetest of all songs to the 
angler. But he was answered on these lines, and when 
he turned and put a question which unexpectedly put me 
on the defensive,- 1 replied: "You will not deny, Jerry 
that we fish for sport. As boys we found our greatest 
sport in using hand-lines and pulling in fish hand-under- 
hand. Then came the use of rods and reels and the wind- 
ing in of fighting fish. To me, the enjoyment of trout 
fishing is the reeling in, on a click reel, of a fighting trou% 
and as for a spring on my rod taking in this trout, why, 
I'd as soon signal to a steam engine on the bank to 
pull it in. I want to feel every bit of tremulo on both 
hands; the exquisite throbbing of the rod and its elec- 
tric effect on the crank of the reel, as well as hearing its 
song." 
Poor Jerry! He had laid out to give me a grand day's 
fishing and had failed so far as fish were concerned. All 
sportsmen have had such experiences if they haVe lived 
long. They know ^ of good grounds for fish or game, 
where they often have line sport, but it's ten to one that 
the day is blank when they write a friend to fish or shoot 
with them. 
About Rods. 
"Jerry," said I, "there are rods that I would not have 
found among ray effects when I leave earthly waters to 
try those of the Styx; and if we are to use the ghosts of 
our departed rods on those misty shores, it is sure that 
none of the rat-traps will be seen in our hands by the 
shades of angling friends gone before." 
Jerry looked up and remarked: "In the natural course 
of things you should be there to greet me, but nothing 
is more uncertain. If you refer to split bamboo rods in 
the department stores at 99 cents, a sum that would not 
cover the cost of the ferules on a good rod, it is safe to 
say that we will not be ashamed to have all the anglers 
from Izaak Walton down to "a Jamaica Bay flounder 
fisherman inspect our rods." 
The "natural course of things" did not work out in this 
case, and Jerry died last month of acute pneumonia. He 
had' a wealth of anecdote of the older New York angler.-, 
whom he knew as a boy, and many of whom he fished 
with. Once I asked the late Genio C. Scott, author of 
"Fishing in American Waters," now out of print, about 
the proper style of hook for taking lake trout, and he 
replied: "There is a hook made for those fish which is 
long in the bend but short in the point; but you had 
better go and consult Jerry Sullivan." 
Auf Wiedefsehen. 
An old song says: "Say au revoir, but not good- 
bye," and an older ballad tells in the most doleful of 
metres: 
"Farewell, farewell, is a lonesome sound 
And is oftimes heard with a sigh; 
But give to me that good old word 
That comes from the heart, 'good-bye.' " 
The time has come for me to say something of this 
kind, but there is nothing in the French "au revoir" or 
the English "good-bye," which is a corruption of "God 
be with you," which appeals to me like the German "un- 
til we. meet again." 
There had been a sort of a dream that I should go to 
take charge of a great trout preserve in Wisconsin. The 
dream spread out over two years, as dreams always 
spread, and then somehow it narrowed down to a date. 
The date was somewhere in the coming June — and things 
were getting brisk, with some April lectures and a new 
fishcultural book to see through the press; but, when a 
telegram came with orders to start on April 15, there was 
no margin. Therefore, all correspondents are hereby 
notified that my personal address for one year— the con- 
tract is for one year onljr — will be Brule, Douglas county, 
Wis. 
This place is in a wilderness where bears, deer, wild- 
cats, sharp-tailed grouse and other beasts may polish my 
bones, but I will go and face the sharp tails of the 
grouse, and between dropping a line to the trout mav 
drop a few lines to Forest and Stream. So — auf 
wiedersehen. Fred Mather. 
Old Shad Times in Connecticut* 
Allusion is frequently made at this season, when Shad 
begin to run in the Connecticut River, to the time when 
shad were so abundant there as to sell for a penny 
apiece. In the New York Herald of April 9 the writer 
was quoted in regard to some historical reminiscences and 
data which he published some years ago. The same were 
obtained, I may say, by laborious investigation of public 
documents during a summer sojourn at Old Hadley, in 
the Connectivut River Valley, and are in all respects 
authentic and official. One of the most voluminous of 
these references is Sylvester Judge's sketch of Old Had- 
ley, Avhich is available at the local libraries at Hadley and 
Northampton. I am surprised, therefore, to read in the 
Forest and Stream of April 13 that "no authentic data 
exist," and to note the intimation that these old state- 
ments regarding the glut of salmon, shad and canvas- 
back ducks, are so nearly obsolete as to come within the 
realm of myths. Charles Hallock. 
[The gluts of salmon and shad and ducks are not 
mjlhical ; but did the fish or the fowl figure in apprentices' 
indentures as articles of food from which for certain stipu- 
lated days they were to have relief?] 
Jeremiah. SuUivan. 
The late Jeremiah Sullivan, for many years associated 
with Mr. T. J. Conroy in the fishing tackle business in 
New York, had been with Mr. Conroy for eighteen years, 
during which time he made many friends among the 
anglers of New York who had dealings with him, and all 
will be grieved to learn of his death. Mr. Sullivan was 
thirty-eight years old, and up to the time of his illness 
was in perfect health, and frequently found time to leave 
his business for a few days' fishing wdth some of the local 
salt-water fishermen, among whom he was particularly 
well known and respected. 
"Chtldfen Together." 
Forest and Stveain Pub. Co. : 
Dear .Sir— Find enclosed 25 cents for one copy ol "Game 1 aw.? in 
Briet and Woodcrafl Magazine," to be sent to the following ' ad- 
dress. We can't get alon.e ^without Forest and Stream \Ve 
were children together, and t am only four years the older- but 
my brother took it, and our mother read aloud the stories 'after 
we were in bed How well T remember one evening she came 
across the word cuss, and the little lecture we got: but she keot 
reading just the same. T T D 
