110 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb, 9, 1901, 
Massachusetts Decn 
Representative Hunt has introduced a bill reading 
"Any person may kill a dog found chasing or hunting a 
deer." • , Special. 
' Notice. 
All communications intended for Fosbst awd Stkeam should 
alwaya be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishihg' Co., and 
not to any individual connected with the paper. 
Prbifrietors of fishing resorts will find it orofitable to advertise 
them in Foskst and Stkxam. 
A Day on the Pine. 
Early in -May of the present year I found myself in 
Cadillac, Mich., possessed of a few days' leisure and a 
strongly developed desire to fish. I met in the course 
of my wanderings one D. E. Melntyre (there is but one), 
a brother attorney, and having it upon good authority 
that he was a thirtj-third-degrce fishing fiend, I at- 
tgmpled to coax him forth to fish, but he only cocked 
his head .andigazed at a weather vane across the street 
and declared that the wind was wrong. Entreaty and 
threats were of no avail. I promised to have the wind 
blow from any quarter (hat he desired, but to no purpose. 
I fear that he even doubted my ability to control the 
matter. But as business had to be suspended in his 
office during my stay, and I showed no disposition to 
depart, he finally decided to take me out, and said, "I'll 
tell you what I'll do — if you will agree to return with me 
to-morrow night (and leave town as soon thereafter as 
possible), I will drive with you to Hoxieville to-night 
and we will fish the Pine to-morrow." I think that at 
the time he intended to take me out and abandon me — 
like the babes in the wood — and only neglected it be- 
cause of the change in the wind. 
We started about 5 o'clock, and only those who have 
driven through the northern part of Michigan can ap- 
preciate the beauties and the drawbacks incident to that 
drive. 
One of the horses chartered for the occasion was a 
pacer, the other a trotter. It took some time to dis- 
cover this, though, as they both walked alike and seemed 
to prefer that gate. 
The drive was about twenty-two miles, the first part 
' through a barren stretch of sand dotted with the decay- 
ing stumps of giant pines, long since gone to fatten the 
financial rating of some long-headed investor. We 
wended a devious way up sharp rises and across swamps, 
through stretches of tamarack and across preserves of 
timber, principally hardwood. Wo passed many farm- 
houses during the latter part of the drive, and I noted 
that the stock all trod softly, probably from an instinctive 
fear of breaking through the thin soil. 
Our journey ended at the home of a Teutonic gentle- 
man bearing the name of Conrad Green, under whose 
roof we spent the night. We left a request to be called 
at 4 A, M., but the call was not necessary, as Green 
had some sort of a predatory excursion planned that 
necessitated his arising at 2 A. M., and his cat-like tread, 
coupled with his "German-American" directions to his 
wife re breakfast preparations and other details prepara- 
tory to departure, foreclosed further attemps at sleep. 
My legal friend is prepared to make affidavit (I heard 
hiin . swear some myself) that our landlord wears flat- 
irons on his feet and speaks four different dialects, mixed. 
Green having "banished sleep," I sneaked forth in 
quest of fish as soon as I was able to see; and as a stream 
about three feet in width meandered through the village 
and I saw no sign forbidding, I commenced fishing at once 
within the corporate limits. 1 succeeded in catching six 
trout in a very short time, but was so discouraged by my 
companion's cries of "murder" every time I landed one 
that I was compelled to desist, fearing that he might 
arouse the polio-*. Now I am prepared to concede that 
they were not record trout — that is, not for their large 
si;,e — but I resent the imputation that they were wards 
of the village and hand-painted chub. 
While we were eating breakfast, the man arrived whom 
we had engaged to take us to the "rollway," where we 
were to commence fishing, and he informed us that one 
of his horses had been so seriously injured by barb wire 
that it would be impossible for him to take us as agreed. 
I saw the injured horse, and the wounds werp so severe 
that it .was scarcely possible to believe that they were in- 
flicted by barb wire. I am strongly in favor of legislation 
that will" make it a misdemeanor, accompanied by heavy 
penalty, for anv one to put up barb wire in fencing high- 
way or line. The injury already caused by its careless 
use is almost incalculable. 
' As there were three other families in the vilage, we 
roused them all in turn and finally secured a team and 
wagon to take us to the "rollway." 
Our driver was "from Indiana," and we had to "show 
him," as he was a recent arrival and did not knov^ the 
road. Brother Melntyre, however, was well acquainted 
with it. and he was appointed a steering committee, and 
the start was finally made, with prospects as glorious as 
was the morning. The country through which we drove 
had much hardwood still standing, and did not present 
the forlorn .appearance of the denuded and desolate pine 
country. - ■ , • , ,• 
Aftef driving about six mdes (the advertised distance 
to the river .was but four) and discovering no traces of the 
river my . mind began to be harassed by doubts anent 
the reliability of our guide, and after invoicing the land 
marks he decided that we had taken the wrong road and 
•hat he did, not know just where "we were at," which, 
ijeing ipterprcted. meant that vv^were lost, all of v\hic,h 
was a cheerful prospect for us. We did, however, strike 
the river,, about five miles above our original destination, 
after wanderings in the wilderness, details of which would 
make the .adventures of Moses and his followers look 
like a barfv^torming trip. The harrowing part of the 
oxperience ffom my point of view lay in the fact that my 
compan-ion laid the onus of the whole thing on me, 
charging- 'first that ! talked so much that he becatnif be- 
wUtkmi. Bod second that 1 ,waa a Jonalw aojmay, with 
first option on more hard luck than would disorganize 
a half-dozen well planned fishing excursions. 
Our outfit was a trifle behind schedule time when we 
reached the river, but we /'limbered up" apd com- 
menced operations. 
The Pine is a beautiful stream, with a current like a tail 
race. It wends its devious way through a wilderness of 
green, guarded in many places by towering banks, that 
made convenient "roUways," and at all points by well de- 
fined banks. It flows at times dimpling over deep pools, 
again swiftly over gravel or sandy flats, and again swirls 
and eddies in foaming rapids. It is the natural home of 
the trout, and he who wades must be sure of foot and 
avoid the clay bottoms as he would submerged ice. 
Neither habitation nor sign ■ of man, save marks of 
ravages in harvested pine, greeted us during the day. 
Bird and animal life also seemed lacking, the distant 
drumming of the grouse and occasional spoor of deer 
being its only evidence. Mj^ companion chanced upon 
a sleeping fawn and endeavored to catch it. His in- 
tentions were of the kindest, but were evidently mis- 
understood by the fawn. He (I refer to the fawn) was 
hitting nothing but the high places when last seen, and 
ma}:^ be running yet. 
We gathered about fifty trout, of which my companion, 
fishing consistenly with the fly, caught a majority. I 
must confess that I took an occasional sneak around a 
bend and "plunked" — didn't dare do it in presence of 
Brother Melntyre for fear of losing caste as a sports- 
man. 
The mosquitoes bit a trifle better than the fish, but 
fortunately they did not swallow all that they chewed, or 
this tale had not been written. 
Our driver was at the appointed place on time, and 
we soon reached Hoxieville and were started with our 
mixed-gaited team for Cadillas. The drive was long 
and tedious, but midnight found us at its end. I was 
tired, sleepy and, as Uncle Remus would say, "pluni 
frazzled out," but I shall always recall, that occasion 
as a red-letter day, and I could wish a brother angler 
no better fortune than a day on the Pine with as good 
a companion as I had. The only way it could be bettered 
would be by increasing the days and' decreasing the 
mosquitoes. Counselor. 
JONESVtLI,E, Mich, 
Fishing up and Down the Potomac* 
Sunday Angling. 
Prime, in his charming sketch book, "I Go a-Eishing," 
in the chapter on "What flies to cast on a Sunday," s.ays, 
"The man is unworthy to call himself a wise man who 
wets a line on Sunday," and in the same paragraph 
ranks his Sundaj's as "chiefest among the enjoyments of 
the forest," 
Nearly all who have written on the subject have been 
scornful or at least positive in their denunciation of this 
desecration, and the reason is plain enough; it is a thank- 
less task to apologize for offending one's neighbors, and 
the Sunday angler is grateful enough if he can escape by 
the back door to the woods, unseen, without advertising 
his disgrace by rushing into print, his whole purpose 
being solitude. 
There are local ordinances at various points along the 
Potomac River against Sunday angling— generally a 
State law for a single county, a singularly popular method 
of local option legislation in some parts of the South, 
where a inember may get the credit of being "patron" 
for a law, as it is called in Virginia, without fcncounter- 
ing the opposition of the rest of the State,_ The result 
is a patchwork of county laws, not the combined wisdom 
of a legislative body, but a blind conesnt to the preju- 
dices of a community or the whim of an individual. 
For instance, one may travel across half a dozen counties 
and find as many different game laws, differing not only in 
dates of close seasons, but in the life included in the 
protective statutes — and no man knows all of Virginia's 
game laws. 
It has been said of Coke — perhaps of others — that he 
declared he woiild not furnish an opinion upon the 
common law without consulting the text books, nor 
venture one on statute law until he had read the morn- 
ing newspaper. So the wandering sportsman along the 
Potomac is by no means sure of his status till he has 
consulted a local attorney, and even then gets no in- 
surance for his retainer. Where laws are found when 
enforced to bring more embarrassment or loss to the 
public than ignoring them, public sentiment usually ac- 
quiesces in their tacit repeal, and custom glosses open 
defiance till their existence is forgotten. 
Occasionally now an officious citizen hales an innocent 
angler before the local magistrate with an unholy zeal; 
but for every such case may be found a thousand where 
gentle villagers have borne with silent dignity the out- 
rage of public quiet, and even private right by noisy 
picnick*rs whose only claim to be called anglers is that 
they carry rods. 
It is interesting to note the difference with vyhich Sun- 
day is regarded in the country and in the cities, Mc- 
Masters, in his "History of the United States" (Vol, II.. 
p. 566), writing of the period about a centry ago, shows 
when liberalization or demoralization regarding a de- 
votional day first set in in the original Puritan colony: 
"Pious men complained that the war had been a great 
demoralizer. * * * The treaty of peace had noj; been 
signed, the enemy were still in the land, when delegates 
to the General Court of Massachusetts boldly said the 
Sabbath was too long. Country members demaiHed a 
Sabbath of thirty-six hours; town members would give 
but eighteen, and had their way. * * * 
'• 'What.' the sober-minded cried out, 'is to become of 
this nation? Before the war nobody swore, nobody 
used cards. Now every lad is proficient in swearing and 
knows much of cards. Then, . apprentices and young 
folks kept the Sabbath, and till after sundown never left 
their homes but to go to meeting. Now they go out 
more on the Sabbath than on any other day in the week, 
Now the barber shops are open, and men of fashion must 
needs be shaved on the Lord's day. They ride on horse- 
back; they take their pleasure m chaises and hacks.' 
* * ' * Levity, profaneness, idle amusements and Sab- 
bath breaking increased in all the towns with feaifol 
rapidity" . . . . , — 
Before the war, in parts of this Southern country, when 
the proprietor might go any day of the week and the 
slave only on Saturday afternoon or Sunday, the risk 
of a fisherman finding his favorite perch occupied or 
his string surpassed by a hand on the other side of the 
stream, if he indulged on that day, led to a fixed rule 
among the gentry never to go to the stream on that day, 
and what the gentry did was of course the fashion. In 
1850, in a criticism of the books of Forrester ond Browne 
in the old Whig Review (Vol. II., page 32), in a little 
sketch, the writer, P. P., says, "The day was Sunday, 
and Joe, though far from a bigot, was a very aristocrat 
in his feelings, and had put a decided veto upon taking' 
with us any tackle for fishing. He was not, he said, 'Sot 
up about Sunday, but huntin' and fishin' on that day was 
clear nigger and went afe'in him,' so we dropped the 
subject." 
When Kit North reviewed Sir Humphrey Davy's "Sal- 
monia" in 1828 (Blackwood, Vol. XXIV., page 271), he 
asked, "Do gentlemen of England angle on Sunday? 
No. You may see a cockney or other cit, the round- 
faced, pot-bellied, happy little father of a numerous 
family with knee breeches and buckles in his shoes, on 
a punt, or on a promontory, beetling three or four feet 
above the raging billows of a canal, pulling out an oc- 
casional 'animal' somewhat more like a fish than a fowl, 
to the infant delight of the progeny, with bags of worms 
and papers of paste swarming at his feet. Such a cock- 
ney or other cit you may see angling, and angling 
blamelessly, too, on a Sunday. But London physicians 
and presidents of royal societies and members for coun- 
ties do not angle on Sunday in England, and were they 
to be met on the King's highway on their progress to 
the river, creeled and rodded add booted, while all 
honest and decent people were going to church, the first 
magistrate they met would commit them as audacious 
vagabonds to the treadmill." 
This little skit does scant credit to Kit's wit or ac- 
curacy, but a single word saves it from the charge of ill 
nature, "blamelessly." But still the habit grew, for a 
quarter of a century later Angus B. Reach, in some 
random remarks on English and Scotch angling, said, in 
Sharpe's London Magazine (Vol. XVIII., page 149), 
"He who in the early Sunday morning ascends a second- 
class carriage on the Great Western Railway, or for that 
matter one or two other railways, will be tolerably sure 
to find himself amongst a community of the gentle craft. 
They are of all ages, from old men Izaak Waltons to 
Izaak Walton's grandchildren if he had any, and of 
different ranks of society — grades which seem, however, 
to be all bound together by the magic of the itinpot and 
the lob worm." 
And still the habit grew, for in 1884, in the volume on 
"Practical Lessons in the Gentle Craft" of the Fisheries 
Exhibition literature (page 444), occurs the following: 
"It is, however, at the London, Brighton & South Coast 
Railway station and that at Liverpool street on the Great 
Eastern line that the most extraordinary sight in con- 
nection with the coarse fisherman of London is to be 
seen on every Sunday morning. It may be that mention 
of the day selected may offend the 'unco guid' section 
of polite society, but it must be remembered as a setoff 
that nine out of every ten of the great crowd gathered 
round the booking office window are recruits from the 
still greater host of workers with bone, muscle, thew, and 
sinew, to whom loss of time during the working hours 
of the week means not only loss of bread, but perhaps 
the loss of some small delicacy to a sick and ailing child. 
Thus it would seem particularly hard to attempt restraint 
upon such men in the gratification of their simple 
pleasures, nor is it by any means certain that they do not 
imbibe far more real good through their vigil by the river 
side than if they had donned the carefully saved suit of 
go-to-meeting broadcloth and dozed drowsily and 
drouthily over a drawling doctrinal dissertation de- 
livered by a divine of the 'Stiggins' type. Rest assured, 
if there be a sick baby, the little one is rarely forgotten, 
and smoke-grimed daddy, all the better and healthier in 
soul and body for his twelve hours' rest from the roaring 
forge, gathers her or him, as the case may be, a bonny 
bundle of wild blossoms, which he takes with him as the 
topmost layer of the cargo in his roach basket." 
Our gentle friend Red Spinner found a favorite diver- 
sion in watching the antics of the town fishermen turned 
loose for a Sunday on the streams and in his "Waterside 
Sketches" (1885, page 38), said, "I was stopping at Hen- 
ley, and, although I never actually indulge in my favorite 
amusement on Sunday, conscientious scruples do not 
prevent my watching with the keenest sort of interest any 
sort of rod work that comes under my notice on the day 
of rest. The first train on Sunday morning would bring 
down scores of rods, and most amusing it was to watch 
the anglers disperse along 'the riverside. * * * One 
morning I saw a dozen young fellows racing as if for 
dear life toward the meadows, foaming with rage at a 
dapper little French polisher who outstripped them all." 
A pious friend was found one Sunday by the side of a 
rapid stream which had washed under the roots of a 
great plane tree that leaned far over the deep pool and 
darkened it with a shadow, dividing his attention between 
a bob and a book. Taken to task for violating his prin- 
ciples in this graceless way he said, "Sit down. If this 
is your favorite spot it will help nothing for me to go 
awav, for the true angler, like the true lover, wants to be 
first or not at all. You see the majority of mankind' are 
too lazy to think, and so swallow their opinions and 
their prejudices ready made. Sunday was made for man; 
it was made for me; it was made for rest. When men 
spent their lives in the fields and on the waters as shep 
herds or fishermen, their day of rest was bath and shade 
and quiet and thought and the sociability of a congrega- 
tion and a forgetting the things of their week's life, and 
such a day meant renewed health, strength and a breath- 
ing spell that made the burdens of the morrow lighter. 
If Sunday were made now by the same people who made 
it first they would drive the outdoor men to shelter on the 
Sabbath, as they did then, and they would make it the 
duty of the setlentary to fly to the woods. What rest for 
a man who lives at a desk six days in the week can he 
find in a day spent as he spends his other six, in a day of 
quiet under a roof? Give him a day of pure air in the 
groves, 'God's first temples,' close to nature, which he is 
ip danger of forgetting; give him Hfe and set his soul to 
singing the music of the woods and waters or you will 
condemn hitti to tMsmf here and tmyhe wreck so%\ 
