472 
The Km of a King, 
A STALWART son o£ a race whose sun has ^et, _ holds 
firmly the birch canoe, a product of his own handiwork, 
(parved at bow and stern, with strange scenes of camp 
life, and the stranger words that mean so much when a 
translation is given ; while I with the stinted grace of 
the white man, succeed in settling myself in the seat 
prepared and made comfortable by a broad back covered 
with deer skin, the cushion fashioned from interwoven 
dried grasses. A strong shove that sends the frail craft 
out into the sparkling wavelets, my guide, Lomay, seating 
himself and using the paddles, all in one apparent move- 
ment alone, and we are off for the grounds. The net 
hangs from the stern within easy reach of my copper-hued 
boatman. 
Such a morning ! Keen and crisp the air. Winds that 
tickle into motion the surface of the lake. Green be- 
decked islands, whose shores, proud in their wealth of 
trees of fir, and blackened rocks snapping into purring 
foam the waters that quiver against them. 
Dark are the shadows of the distant land, while spots of 
color, gliding on and then lost to view coming from other 
craft, each with its occupants intent on the sport of the 
day, and each possessing a distinct and vivid coloring that 
lends its charm to the scene. '■ 
Boldly my little birch is pushed by vigorous paddle 
strokes into the center of the lake, for we are bound for a 
place still far away. 
It is early in springtime. The water is so cold that it 
requires no imagination to wonder that floating ice is not 
seen. While the fish held in this zone of chill must be 
active to keep from freezing, yet comes the disadvantage 
that the gaudy, dainty fly is no lure, so one is forced to 
offer a more substantial repast. Under these circum- 
stances, use the small live miimow, on a single hook, to 
be sunk a trifle under the surface, well swiveled and with 
plenty of good line, a reel that runs well and can be re- 
lied upon, and a rod strong, not heavy, 8 to lo ounces in 
weight. Two rods equipped in this manner give fair 
play with plenty of chances for a biting fish to free him- 
self in case of any slight carelessness or a strike that is 
too light. We near the battlefield. Several small fish are 
taken, fresh baits are made as tempting as possible; and 
keeping just far enough from the shore, we glide on, still 
believing, while still retracing, for here it is that many a 
good fish has been captured. The winds are growing 
sterner in their strength, the whitecaps are larger, the 
wavelets are growing rapidly into real waves. Skill is 
required in the handling, and right well does Lomay, 
kneeling in the canoe and putting the strength of his 
muscles into every stroke, keep me safe from an ice-cold 
watery grave. 
'Tis now a time when the small fry take to the more 
sheltered creeks and nooks, and our minnow seen flash- 
ing in its turninjgs is an attractive bait. The rod held 
in the left hand feels a moderate strike ; but no sooner do 
I begin to reel in than a migtjty whirr from the right 
hand reel causes me to pass the first rod to Lomay and 
leave it to him to capture or not as best he can. For now 
I know there will be a battle, and grasping the right hand 
rod I check suddenly the swiftness of the departing line. 
Then, with intense satisfaction, I see a magnificent jump 
far astern, and the sight of a beautiful landlocked salmon 
rewards me. 
Steady, steady it now must be. 
The fish strikes the water and darts away, luckily for 
me, in the right line of direction. Meantime Lomay has 
succeeded, I do not know how, in reeling in his line and 
still keeping the canoe rightly. He wastes no time in 
using a net, but lifts the fish into the boat, not waiting 
even to kill. 
Now my beauty tires a bit, then spurts in another 
direction. Guiding as best I can, and swinging him com- 
pletely over to the other side, he moves like a restive 
horse, trying to swim away with everything. But we are 
in deep water; I give him the butt, and he tires again, 
sullen in his wrath, sinking deeper, nearing the bottom. 
A sharp pull starts him from this mood. Again he flies 
from the top of a wave high into the air. All is ready 
for him; the line holds him safe when he touches the 
water. He tries pulling against all the opposing forces, 
seeking to make a run under the boat. Here he fails, as 
he is strongly held, and gradually eases away, until sud- 
denly he dashes a short distance, immediately making his 
jump, shaking his grand old head in the effort to throw 
out the hook that holds him fast. Once more he fails 
and darts away, growing a trifle weaker in ' his rush. 
Now he is being reeled in. This time he is seen lying on 
his side. He looks as if soon he would be our "meat." 
But not so at all. As he se^s the boat, with a powerful 
swing he rights himself and rushes like a frightened deer, 
bending the rod until it seems that it must break. 
Soon the strain is too great for him. He stops for a 
meager respite, but no time is given and he is turned on 
his side, being slowly reeled in. The nearness to the 
canoe starts afresh his endeavors. With a tug that can- 
not be controlled, he makes a magnificent run far away 
toward the deeper water, pulling the canoe with him. 
Surely this is his last struggle, I think as I begin to wind 
in, but long before the line is half shortened he plunges 
upward, and as quickly down. No play can be granted. 
The line is made tighter; the butt is given, and a test 
between fish and tackle ensues, in which the tackle tri- 
umphs surely and slowly. On the surface he is seen, and 
near enougl]! to try the net; but useless it is.' As if he 
knew well that net, he gathers all his powers a.nd- da^ts 
away from it. Three times this same fighting is gone 
through with. At a fourth trial the net closes about him. 
He is lifted from his home, exhau,sted and panting. The 
spirit of 'fight still reniains. Even the quick blow on his 
head frotn a heavy piece of wood has to be repeated before 
he gives up that wonderful gamy life; and as he quiver- 
ing lies so, in rainhow lines the shades of coloring flash 
out, as if a halo of gorgeous ti'iat? should mark the death 
of a king, ?is king indeed he is, 'ijyeighing 8^ pounds. 
A loag fight, a strong fight and a plucky ,deatli. Inch 
for inch marked the battle, one by one only hid each 
counter movfejnent' been met. Lomay, the stoic, even 
grunts out : "Gcfod"'— high praise from his lips— while L 
content, tired by the exertion, rest, filling and lighting 
my briar, as siftoothei' waters are reached, where soon 
beside a glowing fire each and ever}' move of the str"q:gk 
_is,.talk*4'mw'fgain^'..' - , ■ • 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
So this day was a marked one, and now, as the king 
looks down at me with his real glass eye, as I see him 
almost alive on the wall of my den, I dream of the in- 
vasion of his domain and of his capture; and could he but 
speak, I feel would say, "I had fair play, even if kin|;dom 
and life were lost." So would I ih sparkling wine drink 
to his memory in praise of his nerve, his work and the 
royal sport he gave. F. M. Johnson. 
Boston. 
Landing Nets in Pennsylvania. 
Following is the full text of Judge Craig's opinion in 
the Pennsylvania landing net case: 
Opinion. 
This is a proceeding under section I of the act of As- 
sembly of May 22, i88g, P. L. 267. It was conceded at 
the argument that the decision of the case rests with us, 
without the intervention of a jury; Com. vs. Waldman, 
140 Pa., 89. 
It is charged that the defendant violated the law in using 
a net, an appliance other than rod, hook and line, while 
catching trout. The uncontradicted evidence is, and we 
so find from the testimony, that the defendant did, on 
April IS, 1899, fish for trout in McMichael's Creek, Mon- 
roe county, Pennsylvania, using rod, hook and line, with 
fly and reel, and, after hooking a trout, further employed 
a landing net for the purpose of lifting it from its natural 
element and bringing it to shore, and putting it into his 
physical possession. Is this, the catching of a fish, by 
making use of a net, or any other appliance, except rod, 
hook and line, within the meaning of tlie act of Assembly? 
The language of the act of Assembly is this : 
"That, hereafter, no person or persons shall cast, draw, 
-fasten or otherwise make use of any seine, drift-net, 
fyke-net, or net or nets of any other description, or use 
any other appliance, for the catching of fish, except rod, 
hook and line, in any rivers, streams or waters of this 
commonwealth," etc. '• 
Manifestly, if we interpret the, words, "rod, hook and 
line" within the limitation of their literal import, then it 
would be obnoxious to this act to use a reel, or fly, or 
bait, or bob, or sinker, or squid in connection with rod, 
hook and line, when fishing for game fish; for these are 
appliances for catching fish, in the general sense of the 
terms. Such interpretation would be contrary to the 
.legislative intent, for it would practically defeat all catch- 
ing of game fish. Such a construction would lead to ab- 
surdity; and it is not presumed that the Legislature in- 
tended their own stultification. Hence, it is held that, 
when the language of an act is susceptible of two senses, 
the sense will be adopted which will not lead to absurd 
consequences; Amer. and Eng. Ency. of Law, Vol. 23, 
page 362; Endlich on Interp. of Statutes, Sec. 925. 
At the argument, it seemed to be conceded by the 
Commonwealth that the appliances we have named could 
be used, in connection .with the rod, hook and line, in 
catching game fish without violating the statute. But the 
stress of the contention was made to rest upon the use of 
the landing net by the defendant, in getting physical pos- 
session of the trout after it was hooked, or, as the Com- 
monwealth put it, in catching fish by using a landing net, 
in connection with rod, hook and line. Much argument 
was expended on the question. Was the fish caught when 
hooked, or was it not caught until it was put into phys- 
ical possession of the defendant by means of a landing 
net? At first blush, this seems a question worthy of the 
best days of the schoolmen. Happily we are relieved 
from the niceties of words and abstract ideas by the testi- 
mony of experts in fishing. These were judges and law- 
yers and doctors and fish commissione.rs, and public 
officials, and men of large and small aft'airjs, who had had 
long practical experience. The preponderating weight of 
their evidence is that a game fish is caught when hooked, 
and that the landing net is used, either conveniently or 
necessarily, for bringing the fish into the physical pos- 
session of the fisherman. Accordingly, we find the fact to 
be as thus testified to. 
The argument is largely concerned with the definition 
of the word "catch." In construing it, we are to take 
the ordinary and popular meaning; Amer. and Eng. Enc. 
of Law, Vol. 23, page 326; Endlich on Intei-p. of Statutes, 
Sec. 76. But here we are not without perplexity. There 
are few words in the English language which have such 
a variety of meanings as the word catch. Webster's In- 
ternational Dictionary gives fifteen shades of meaning, 
one of which is "to take captive, as in a snare or net or 
on a hook, as to catch a bird or fish." The Century Dic- 
tionary gives twenty-two meanings of the word, one of 
which is "to take captive, as in a snare or trap; to take 
with a lure or bait, as to catch a fish." The Standard 
Dictionary furnishes thirteen meanings, one of which is 
"to take by trapping, or snaring; to take with a bait or 
by strategem, as to catch fish, game, etc." So, if we ap- 
peal to popular usage, as reflected in lexicons, we are left 
in uncertainty as to what the exact meaning of the word 
"catch" is in the act. A bear, or a skunk, or a rat, cap- 
tured alive in a trap, under these definitions, may be said 
to be caught in the ordinary and popular meaning, al- 
though not in the physical possession of the trapper. So, 
a trout may be said to be caught when held by the hook, 
as well as when in the landing net or creel. 
In construing this act, we must not forget that it is 
penal in its character, and therefore subject to general 
rule of strict construction: that "where an act contains 
such an ambiguity as to leave reasonable doubt of its 
rheaning, it is the duty of the Court not to inflict the 
■penalty; that where it admits of two constructions, that 
which operates in favor of life or liberty is to be pre- 
ferred;" Endlich on Interp. of Statutes. Sec. 330. This 
rule would compel us to cowstrue the doubtful phraseology 
■of the act against the infliction of the penalty and in favor 
of the liberty of the citizen. As we have already shown 
'that to catch a trout may rhean either when it is hopked 
or when 'it is landed with a landing net, it follows th^t 
•under the rule applicable to penaL statutes we must Adopt 
the constriiction, mo^t favorable to thif def^nd^nt. 
: But. 'afccoi-ding to our view, it is pot neqessary to 9m- 
•ni-oy thjs' rule of consti-uctioTi in th.e decision of this case. 
The phrase "rod, hook and line'' is a very old one. In 
"A Treatysp of Fysshynge Wyth an Angle," by Dame 
hiliana A. Berners. edited 149^. we read as follows: 
) XOac 9, 1899. 
. called anyglynge with rodde and a lyne and an hooke." 
And we jfind our Legislature using this same phrase, in 
what , appears a technical sense, in the acts of May 16, 
1878; J[^^e 3, 1878; June ip, 1884, and acts of May 22, 
1889, P. L., 47, so and 64, and act of May 20, 1891. This 
phrase "rod, hook and line" is applied to the catching of 
all kinds of game fish in these various acts,; and to all 
the waters and streams of the Commonwealth, including 
the waters of Lake Erie, bays, ponds and bayous adja- 
cent thereto. We cannot believe that the Legislature, , in 
using the phrase "rod, hook and line," intended so nar- 
row and unreasonable a construction as is urged by the 
Commonwealth. So common and universal is the use of 
reels, fly-hooks, bait, -bobs, sinkers and squids in fishing 
with rod, hook and line that we may take them to be in- 
cluded in the phrase "rod, hook and line," in ordinary 
and popular use. Therefore, if we construe the legislative 
language according to its popular acceptation, we are 
bound to hold that the appliances, or things just named, 
were understood and intended by the Legislature to be 
included in the phrase "rod, hook and line"; Phil. & Erie 
R. R, Co. vs. Catawissa R. R. Co., S3 Pa., 20; Endlich on 
Interp. of Statutes, Sec. 85. This is the natural and ob- 
vious import of the phrase, without resorting to subtle 
and forced construction for the purpose either of limit- 
ing or extending its operation. Possibly this construc- 
tion will be conceded by the Commonwealth. But the 
contention is that a landing net is not of such common 
and universal use as to be included in the phrase "rod, 
hook and line." Certain it is that the landing net was in 
common use by fishermen as far back as 1653, for Izaak 
Walton, in his" "Complete Angler," makes Piscator say: 
"But what say you now? There is a trout now, and a 
good one, too, if I can but hold him, and two or three 
turns more will tire him. Now you see he lies still, and 
the sleight is to land him. Reach me that landing net. 
So, sir, now he is mine own. What say you now? Is not 
this worth all my labor and your patience?" So, in 
Prime's.; "I Go a-Fishing," we find the following: "But 
when once you have hooked your fish, the light rod is 
vastly to be preferred, after becoming accustomed to han- 
dle it, whatever and wherever be the water. For the 
principle of the rod is in reality only this: That it is the 
home end of the line, stiffened and made springy, so that 
you can guide and manage it — cast and draw, keep a gen- 
tle pressure with it on the hook, so that the fish shall 
not rid himself of it, and finally lift him to the landing 
net." Again, in the "American Angler's Book," by Nor- 
ris, the author says: "I have known anglers handle fish 
(trout) so well as to make a practice of slipping the hand 
gently down the leader, and then seizing them behind the 
gills, sometimes wearing a hand glove to insure a firmer 
grasp. Few, however, have sufficient skill and coolness 
for such dangerous practice. A landing net is almost 
indispensable when there is no convenient place for land- 
ing your prize on the bank, or when wading ashore would 
disturb the quiet of the pool." All the testimony in this 
case is to the effect that the landing net is, and has been, 
in ordinary, common and almost universal use by those 
who fish for tro«t with rod, hook and line. In our view, 
■therefore, the landing net was as much within the legis- 
lative intent when using the words "rod, hook and line" 
as was the fly-hook, reel, bait and such like appliances. 
To assist the correctness of the argument, let us con- 
sider what a landing net, is, and its use. The Century 
Dictionary defines a landing net as "a kind of scoop net 
used to bring to land or to hand a fish which has been 
caught." Substantially the same definition will be found 
in the Standard and Webster dictionaries. Its use is not 
to catch a fish separately, as they are caught in fyke and 
drift nets and seines; but its use is to land the fish after 
it is hooked. As we have already observed, a fish is 
caught when hooked. Hence, under this view, a landing 
net would be necessarily part of the act of catching, but 
simply a convenient means of obtaining physical posses- 
sion. And, hence, also, the use of it, as used by the de- 
fendant, was not a violation of the letter or spirit of the 
act of Assembly. A landing net is useless as a separate 
appliance for catching fish; and is in no sense a complete 
appliance for catching fish, like a seine, drift-net or 
fyke-net when cast, drawn or fastened, or otherwise made 
use of. 
The purpose, of the Legislature in passing the acts re- 
lating to the catching of game fish is perfectly plain. It 
was to stop their indiscriminate and unreasonable destruc- 
tion, so that the streams and waters might be kept 
stocked. Hence, the law limits fising to certain seasons 
and to certain means. The mischief was the extinction of 
game fish by means of nets; and the nets named are 
seines, drift-nets, fyke-nets and nets of like character. 
Landing nets are not named in any of the acts. Hand or 
cast nets are, in the sixth section of the act under cdin- 
sider^tion. But hand or cast nets are not landing nets. 
Then, can landing nets be included in the phrase "nets 
of any other description"? As we have already stated, 
landing nets are useless as separate appliances for catch- 
ing fish. Therefore, they are not ejusdem generis with 
seines, drift-nets and fyke-nets, and cannot be included in 
the phrase "nets of any other description." For the rule 
of law is that where ^ general word follows particular and 
specified words of the same nature as itself, it takes its 
meaning from them, and is presumed to be restricted to 
the same genus as those words; or, in other words, as 
•comprehending only things of the same kind as those 
designated by them; Endlich on Interp. of Statutes, Sec. 
405. Hence, we are of opinibn that landing nets are not 
included in the nets prohibited by the acts of Assembly. 
It seems clear to us, if the Legislature meant to prohibit 
the use of landing nets in fishing for game fish, when the 
landing net was in such common and almost universal 
nse, thev would have said so in plain and unmistakable' 
language. The f^ct that they did not is persuasive that 
they did not mean to include landing nets among the pro- 
hibitions. 
The diversion or sport of fishing is engaged in by many 
persons, and the policy of the Commonwealth has been 
to en-co^rage the' pastime. , If we ^vere to hold the law 
to be as' contended by the Commonwealth' iti- this 'c'asc,. 
we shoutfl. as shown by the -testimsooy,' destroy -.the Very 
•jpurpose ' of the Comrn-cj/nwe-Altli. ' The coftsfraction we 
give to the act of "May 22, ifjfep, will, in our opinion, best 
effectuate the intention of/tne Legislature. Arid this is 
what we are required to do>' Com, vs. Fraim. 16 Pa., 163; 
Of co.urse. if the Igiw prohibited tftie use of landing nets 
fo'^atoe fishing, in pUin and tinioistakabk laogaa«e,-it 
