- - - 
quickly disposed of. The Virginia House, in Franklin, 
a typical Southern home, looked cool and inviting; and 
Mrs. Haup, in a waim, motherly way, bade m'e welcome. 
I had a good supper and a short stroll around the village 
streets and along the river bank, after which I was ready 
for bed. Alum water applied to the blisters on my hands 
gave instant relief. 
The next morning was cloudy, with every prospect of 
rain, but I put out in spite of the unpromising appear- 
ance of the weather. I found it so much cooler than 
yesterday that wheeling was easy and pleasant work. 
Twelve miles out I dismounted to swap yarns with a 
camp of Franklinites, among whom I found an old ac- 
quaintance, Hugh Boogs by name, who speedily helped 
me to make new ones. They were fishing, and incident- 
ally enjoying the heat destroying effects of a case of 
export beer on ice, qualified with a little whisky, brandy, 
etc., on the side, after the manner of all true fishermen. 
I tarried awhile with them, then proceeded on my way, 
after making a full hand at their dinner table, and assist- 
ing in pulling a few corks. A steady pull up the long 
divide to the old Parkersburg pike took the entire after- 
noon, and brought me to the old tollgate in Hightown, 
where I was to spend the night. I telephoned friends 
in Staunton, sixty miles away over the mountains from 
here. This little hamlet derives its name from the fact 
that it is the highest settlement in Virginia — its elevation 
being 2,800 feet. 
The next day was Sunday, but I kept right on. I had 
nothing in the'world to dq but lay around and wait until 
Monday, and I hardlv cared to do that. I had an easy 
run before me as far as mileage was concerned, but the 
immense mountains towering up before me, which had 
to be crossed, were well calculated to eat up time and 
shoe leather. For a mile or so up Hevener's Mountain 
I chatted pleasantly with Mr. D. Yeager, of Travelers' 
Repose, who was on his way home with a wagon load 
of goods, bought 'way east in Staunton, seventy miles 
from Travelers' Repose. The old Parkersburg pike was 
surA^eyed and built by Crozet. Napoleon Bonaparte's 
Chief of Engineers, and is one of the finest pieces of en- 
gineering on the American continent; and a trip ovet 
its entire length from Staunton, in the valley, to Parkers- 
burg. clear across the entire Appalachian system of 
mountains on the Ohio River, will amply repay the ad- 
venturous bicvclist who is not afraid of considerable 
mountain climbing— most of which, of course, on foot: 
It is so well graded that the rise to the tops of these 
towering mountains is made with less eflfort than is 
required to surmount many of the hills of an ordinary 
country road. The only thing to prevent the wheelman 
from riding to the tops of all these mountains is the 
great length of the grades — owing to the thousand.^ of 
feet to be surmounted most of these ascents are from 
three to five miles long. This day's trip was right over 
the backbone of the great central cham of the .A.lle- 
ghanies, and consisted in slowly walking up the grades, 
riding around the mountain spurs and wild spins dowm 
•ihe long, long western slopes, with the machine well in 
hand. There is fifteen miles of alternate climbing, riding 
and coasting to be had in crossing this great central 
range— the Alleghany Mountain, as it is locally known 
The historic top of Alleghany, and the site of the Con- 
federate Gen. Johnston's winter camp, was reached at 
11:30. A battle was founght here on the mountain top. 
The Federal forces endeavored to dislodge Johnston, but 
were repulsed. Service was being held in the little old 
weather-beaten church on top of the mountain, and scat- 
tered around were vehicles of all shapes, sizes and de- 
scriptions. I had to exercise great caution to avoid a 
stampede among the horses, or "beasts." as they are 
termed in mountain parlance— the sight of my unfamiliar 
combination was too much for their nerves. Finally 
dismounting, I led my steel steed through the gauntlet 
of hoots, keeping up a running string of "Whoa, now!" 
"Yea!" "Steady there!" etc. Some stragglers outside 
the church crowded around to see my wheel and to ask 
the usual round of questions. On the very highest point 
of the mountain, and in plain sight on either side of the 
pike, lie scattered the remains of Gen. Edward John- 
ston's winter camp — the old earthworks still doing busi- 
ness at the old stand. Heaps of stones and sunken 
hollows mark the site of the hundreds of cabins and 
hovels that vears and years ago dotted the hillsides on 
the mountain top and afforded shelter to the Confederate 
hosts who wintered on this bleak, exposed height. 
On around the turn, around the vast shoulder of the 
mountain, and the nine-mile descent into the Greenbrier 
Valley was begun; the long, down-mountain spin made 
my brake hand weary, and frequent stops were made to 
cool ofT the bearings and rest the tires. Finally, on 
around the last turn of the road, and I shot out mto the 
sunshine, and on a long stretch of gentle slope let go of 
the brake and rolled gently up in front of the old moun- 
tain hostelry, Travelers' Repose. The genial old land- 
lord. Mr. Peter Yeager, gave me a welcome and a half- 
hour's chat, after which I got under Avay for the final 
two and a half miles of my journey. Here I took leave 
of the old pike and worked my way along a rocky, 
sandy, little used road, up the river to Mr. Van Buren 
Arbogast's— my destination. High sprifig freshets had- 
washed out the river road more or less, all the way up, 
consequently most of the distance up was made on foot 
1 received a hearty welcome from Mr. Arbogast and his 
family, and sat down to a good hot- supper, to which I 
did ample justice, for I Avas a hungry lad that evening, 
sure! An after-supper stroll with my cigar, to have a 
look at the familiar river, and I tur«ied in. to dream of 
the morrow's sport. 
[to be continued.] 
Trottt on Tap. 
In the days when the only means of rapid communica- 
tion with Eastport, Me., was by steamboat for Portland 
and St. John, N. B., Bert Bean, a commercial traveler 
from Boston, paid a visit to Campobello Island, _ which 
belongs to New Brunswick, though only a short distance 
down the harbor. Bean had a little money, and liking the 
island, he bought a tract of land on top of the hill. His 
purchase contained about 100 acres, in the middle of which 
was a small pond in a hollow about 200 feet above tide- 
water, which washed the shore less than seventy-five rods 
3way. As the pond was fed by springs, Bean had it 
FOHETST AND STREAM, 
stocked with trout, which were caught in brooks on the 
mainland and brought over in pails. Then he went away 
for four years. On his return the pond ^as swarming 
with fine trouL Though the place had been fished by ex- 
pert anglers, they had never met with any luck, because 
there were so many caddice worms and other insects in 
the water that the fish had no need for taking the hook. 
Bean consulted a lawyer and found that as his pond 
contained less than ten acres, it was his to hold and pro- 
tect against all comers. He waited a few years longer 
and sent down a crew of men, who bored a hole from the 
shore through the bank facing the ocean, inserting a 
water main in the opening. When he had put a turn tap 
in the pipe so far inside the hill that it would not freeze 
in winter, he was read}' to supply fish to order. Orders 
were taken in Boston and other large places for as many 
trout as he could furnish. Then Bean came to Campo- 
bello, turned the stop cock, drew off the water and picked 
up his fish as easily as he could kindlings. He always 
left enough to stock the pond with young fry, after which 
he closed the faucet and allowed the sprrings to fill the 
pond for the growing of more trout. — ^Cleveland Plain 
Dealer. 
Albmo Fish. 
The Marine Biological Association has come into pos- 
session of one of the most interesting fish specimens caught 
roimd our coasts for some time past. It is an albino hake, 
which was taken in a trawl off Milford, and is entirely 
destitute of the usual pigmentation both on the external 
surface of the body and on the inner linings of the buccal 
cavity and gill covers. The specimen is of considerable 
scientific value for its bearing upon the problem of natural 
selection in the coloration of fishes. Although quite 
healthy and of normal length, it is in a very lean condition, 
its girth being 11 per cent, and its weight 23 per cent, 
below the normal. This is due to the check placed upon 
its catching powers by its conspicuous whiteness. The 
hake is a predaceous and nocturnal fish, and depends upon 
its dusky, inconspicuous appearance for success in catch- 
ing its active prey, while a w'hite hake would be easily 
avoided. Albinism in fish is of exceedingly rare occur- 
rence. — Westminster Gazette. 
The Fish Were All Used. 
New York, Jan. 18. — Editor Forest and Stream : While 
3'our criticisms are severe in regard to the quantity of 
fish that were caught by my companion and myself and 
the letter of Sportsman was justified by the reports, as 
given with the published photographs, I desire to correct 
the impression existing that the fish were wasted. All 
were carefully packed in moss and were carried on our 
pack mules until the last one was eaten, and with five 
himgry men in the outfit they lasted about three days, but 
we did not want fish again for the rest of the trip. 
S.\RT5£LL Prentice, 
[Mr. Prentice refers to a note in our issue of Jan. 5, 
relative to a reported catch of sixty-eight large trout by 
members of a surveying party in Montana. The writer of 
the communication assumed that in part the fish were 
wasted. This statement by Mr. Prentice, however, is 
such as to justify. the fishing.] 
Maine Fish Hatching:. 
Boston, Jan. 19. — Senator Mcfarlane, of Maine, has 
introduced a resolution calling upon the Commission to 
furnish the Legislature with, the cost of hatching and dis- 
tributing fish for a number of years back. He wants the 
Legislature to know just how much both fry and finger- 
lings are costing the State. He will attempt: to convince 
the Legislature that the cost of fish propagation as now 
managed is too great and that he believes, with oJiers, 
that it would be far cheaper for the State to encourage 
private hatcheries, buying the fish hatched at a fixed price. 
If few fish were hatched, the State would have little to 
pay. If a great many were hatched, as the Senate is re- 
ported to believe there would be, then the State would 
reap the benefit of abundant restocking at a reasonable 
cost. Speci.al. 
^he fennel 
- — ^ — ■ 
Fixtures. 
BENCH SHOWS. 
Jan. 23-26.— Chicago.— Chicago Pet Dog Club's annual show, 
Mrs. J. T. Buhrer, Sec'y. 
Feb. 19-22.— New York.— Westminster Kennel Club's twenty-fifth 
annual show. Tames Mortimer. Supt. 
March 6-9.— Pittsburg, Pa.— Duquesne Kennel Club s annual 
bench show. F. S. Stedman, Sec'y. 
March 1316.— Chicago.— Mascoutah Kennel Club's eleventh an- 
nual show. John L. Lincohi, Sec'y. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
February (First Week).— Grand Junction, Tenn.— Championship 
Field Trial Association's annual trials. W. B. Stafford, Sec'y. 
Fox-Hunting Reminiscences. 
. The story of the Wellman Fox, which was so delight- 
fully told by Carlos S. Plead in Forest and Stream of 
Jan. 5, calls up many very pleasant memories of days 
spent in pursuit of this crafty little animal. I will freely 
confess that the pttrsuit of larger game has not destroyed 
my relish for fox hunting, fox hunting with a good gun, 
a good dog, and a good companion or two, and minus 
the anise seed bag, and all the other frills which are in- 
separable from the fashionable sport called fox hunting. 
I think I was about ten years old when I had an ex- 
perience which implanted the Jove of fox hunting so 
deeply and so thoroughly within me that it will probably 
abide with me w-hile life lasts. I was standing upon the 
piazza of my home one December morning, away back in 
1858, I think it was, when the mellow, flutelike voices of 
three hounds in full cry were wafted to my ears upon the 
frosty air. Looking in the direction of the sound I was 
struck speechless, breathless, paralyzed in fact, by the 
sight of a fo3f not over 20 rois distant, running across 
t)AN. 26, !90t. 
the fields with that airy, .graceful motiQi^ .which is char- 
acteristic of this animal. ' ', '- 
One of my older brothers owned at the time an old-' 
fashioned singel-barreled English fowling piece. It was 
quite a remarkable gun in many respects, but I will 
mention but one of its many peculiarities. Its barrel was 
octagon, and fully 5 feet long, yet so light was the fine 
metal of which it was made, and the whole arm was so 
nicely balanced, that, young as I then was, I could hold 
and fire it without artificial rest. 
The fox disappeared from view about the time I re- 
.gained control of my faculties, and to seize the old gun 
and rush pell-mell over fences and through ditches to 
where the track of the fox showed in the fresh snow was 
the work of a moment. It was the first fox I had ever 
seen, and I was laboring under such excitement that I 
could not have stopped long enough to formulate any 
plan for its capture, even had I known enough to do so. 
All I thought about was chasing and catching it, and 
chase it I did. 
I don't believe I ever ran a mile in less time than I 
ran one then. I remember that I was scrambling up 
over a high rail fence when a great black streak shot 
past me in the air, without touching the fence, across a 
small field, and into a woods, before I fairly realized 
that it was a hound in pursuit of the fox. I will say here, 
this hound was owned by Calvin Metcalf, a veteran fox 
hunter, and I shall have more to say about this hound. 
Well, as I sat on top of that fence I began to feel as 
though I had lost my job, for it was evident to me that 
that dog could outrun me. While I sat thinking the mat- 
ter over, two more hounds passed me in full cry. This 
diiscouraged me completely. But the ardor of the chase 
was still strong within me, and so' I decided to take a 
wide circle on my return home, hoping that by so doing 
I would find some sort of game. This took me around 
to the other side of the woods through which the chase 
had gone, and here I came upon the fresh tracks of an- 
other fox. Running, too. Evidently started from his 
lair by the racket the dogs made when passing near to it. 
Once more I started on the trail, but this time I went 
more cautiously. My surplus enthusiasm had been 
worked off, and 1 could think and reason. Do^wn through 
valleys, up over hills, through woods and alder thickets 
I stuck to that track until it led me into a woods which 
was quite near to my home. This woods had a thick 
undergrowth of hemlock, maple, birch and other small 
growths, and here the trail zigzagged about so that it 
w^as very difficult to follow it. Gradually a very peculiar 
sensation began to creep over me. I have often experi- 
enced it since when stalking game — a sort of presenti- 
ment or intuition that the game is near. With bated 
brF.ath and noiseless steps I crept forward. 
In the district school where my young ideas were 
taught how to shoot, there was a text book used, known 
as Sanders' Third Reader. 
Among many other things which I had learned from 
it was a very interesting little story about a boy who had 
two chickens which were stolen by a fox. The boy's 
Uncle Rufus undertook to kill the crafty robber, and 
started off on what the boy at first thought were little 
dog tracks. Soon the hunter managed to get quite near 
the fox, when he squeaked like a hurt mouse, the fox 
trotted back around a fallen tree-top, the hunter fired 
and the old fox fell dead. 
While I crept forward on the trail this story occurred 
to me, and boy like, I thought I would try Uncle 
Rufus' ruse on the fox I was following. No sooner 
had I given the first faint squeak than it was answered 
by the Wah-wah-wah of the fox, and so close to me 
that I came near fainting. .A-s it Avas, I sank limply into 
the .snow, hoping and praying that that fox would go 
anywhere except toward me, yet dimly conscious that it 
would be a terrible disgrace to let it escape if it gave me 
a chance to kill it. This thought nerved me for a 
supreme effort, and pulling back the hammer of the gun 
I swung the long barrel around until it pointed in the 
rlirection of the sound I had heard. It seems to me even 
yet that fate had decreed beforehand that I should kill 
that fox, for no sooner had I got the barrel of the gun 
leveled than, pop, up came the head and shoulders of the 
fox above a little hillock, aot more than two rods dis- 
tant and directly in line with the barrel of my gun, and 
then he very obligingly stopped and looked in every 
direction except toward me, as if he were purposely wait- 
ing for me to kill him. With my last strength I pulled 
the trigger, and the old gun did the rest. 
' I "have killed over a hundred foxes since that day, but 
never a larger or finer one. My! but didn't I feel big? 
Washington's overcoat did not contain cloth enough to 
tnake a vest for an individual of the size I felt myself to 
be as I strutted to the house with that fox on my shoul- 
der. 
I could fill a good-sized volume with incidents from 
my own experience to illustrate the subtle cunning of 
the fox, However, I will relate but a single episode, 
which must serve as a specimen brick. About the year 
1885 there lived a fox that sorely puzzled the hunters and 
hounds of Gansevoort and vicinity. Many times was 
this fox run with our best hounds and always with the 
same result. At a certain spot it would seem to vanish, 
and the most careful investigation would always fail to 
discover the way it did it. Some of the baffled hunters 
asserted that the fox had wings and that when it had run 
until there was no more fun in running it would start 
from this particular spot and sail off into another town- 
ship. One of tliese hunters finally registered a vow that 
he would unravel the mystery if it took all the remain- 
der of his life. Three times did he essay the feat and 
three times did he go home a sadder and no wiser man. 
The fourth time it chanced that a fresh snow covered the 
ground, v/hich photographed every jump of the dog and 
fox. The hunter reached the point where the fox usually 
did its vanishing act almost as soon as his hound reached 
it, and at once tied up the dog to prevent him from track- 
ing around in the snow. There was a large field, and 
north of this field there was a large woods. A fence 
separated the woods from the field- The center third of 
this fence was made of posts and boards. The two end 
thirds were built of rails. The hunter took the trail of 
the fox and dog, and soon found where the fox ha4 
jumped up on the outer end of one of the rail fences. 
The snow on the top rail plainly showed the footprints 
of the fox vmtii it reached the point where the rail fence 
