26 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 13, 1901, 
The Appalachian National Patfc* 
AsHEViLLE, N. C, July 5; — BUilm- Forest and Stream: 
A distinguished party from Washington have been in 
Asheville and the surrounding country this week on an 
investigating tour regarding the establishment of the Ap- 
palachian National Park, of which I have written you 
several times. This party was composed of Secretary of 
Agriculture James Wilson, his secretary, J. A. Wilson ; 
W. J. Magee, of the Bureau of Ethnology; Gilford 
Pinchot, of the Bureau of Forestry : S. H. Newell, United 
States Geological Survey, and J. A. Holmes, State Geolo- 
gist. 
The party was investigating the timber conditions of 
western North Carolina, and during the next week pur- 
pose to spend the time in the woods along- the State line 
between North Carolina and Tennessee. 
Secretary Wilson has been kindly disposed toward our 
park movement from the first, and this personal investi- 
gation whicl he is making will undoubtedly only add to 
his enthusiasm in the cause and more fully acquaint him 
with the necessities of such a movement. 
Prof. Holmes, chief of the Government Forestry 
Bureau, stated while in Asheville that the numerous floods 
which had recently occurred in the various portions of 
the southeastern section are due in great part to the tim- 
ber destruction which has been carried on during the past 
ten years. He further stated that these floods, while doing 
an unlimited amount of damage, are, nevertheless, going 
to be among the strongest arguments for our forest re- 
serve when the matter comes before Congress next winter. 
The Appalachian National Park Association feels that 
in securing the personal investigation by Secretary Wilson 
and his party we have greatly strengthened our cause. 
C. P. Ambler. 
Projjrietors of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
When a Bass Gets on My Line. 
When the springtime's o'er me stealing, 
And my heart, is often thrilled 
With the overflow of feeling 
With which the world is filled. 
There can be no joy or privilege 
That is comparable to mine 
When I have a seven-pounder 
At the end of hook and line. 
I have tasted all the plea.sures 
That the wells of life afford; 
I have feasted on the bounties 
That the world delights to hoard; 
But I'd leave the festal table. 
With its wealth of ruby wine, 
To feel a seven-pounder 
"Cutting capers" with my line. 
a 
I hav« been inspired by music 
By the masters in the art; 
I have listened to the eloquence 
Of intellect and heart; 
But no melody enchants rae 
With its harmony divine, 
Akin to that which follows 
When a bass gets on rny line. 
There is music in the woodlands, 
When the summer lingers there; 
There are carols in the meadows. 
When the skies are blue and fair; 
But all these charms of nature 
I would willingly resign, 
To hear the hum of reeling 
When a bass gets on my line. 
There is nothing nearer heaven, 
When a fellow's tired quite, 
Just patiently awaiting 
For a fish to come and bite. 
To have your rod bent double 
By a bass, with mad design, 
And feel a seven-pounder 
Fiercely tugging at your line. 
If I should get to heaven, 
I presume I'd want to know 
,What the chances are for fishing — 
Like the sport I knew below— 
For, though 'mid joys supernal, . 
I would certainly repine 
For a day upon the river 
And a bass upon my line. 
James Robert Allen. 
Texas Tarpon, 
Kansas City, Mo., 'June 29. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have just received from my friend, the Rev. Father 
O'Dwyer, of Kansas City, a letter from Aransas Pass, 
where he is at present having a great time among the 
tarpon and other game fishes of the Gulf. 
The record that the good father has made is so ex- 
traordinary that I feel impelled to send it to you for 
publication, even if by so doing I run the risk of dis- 
pleasing his reverence by publishing what he intended for 
a private communication.' 
I know, though, that if he be offended he is such a 
good fellow that all I have to do is to say "culpa mea. 
peccavi,'' and he will reply, " Absolve te. Pax tecum '' 
or something similar, and all will be well again. The 
following is a copy of his letter: 
"Tarpon, Tex., June 23.— Mr. Waddell.— Dear Friend: 
I got here at 12 P. M. Tuesday. Caught five tarpon 
Wednesday, six Thursday, nine Friday and four Sat- 
urday forenoon, interspersed with .six jiackfish and two 
large jewfish. 
"You may judge for yourself what kind of fishing is 
here and what a time 1 have had. T arfi'-writing ac'cord- 
ing to promise, find to eommunicalc what 1 knOw Avill 
be agreeable information. It may induce you to come 
here before i leave, which will be about two weeks from 
next Wednesday. Yours sincerely, M. J. O'Dwyer." 
Just think of landing in three and a half days twenty- 
four tarpon, six jackfish and two large jewfish! Such 
sport puts the Florida fishing entirely in the back- 
ground. It is true that one would get more bites in 
Florida than at Aransas Pass just now, but they would 
be from mosquitoes. 
It is with feelings of deepest regret that I have had to 
decline the good father's invitation to join him, although 
perhaps by the time I could get there he would have 
caught all the fish in the Pass, and have left none for 
me. My professional duties this busy year will prevent 
me from going so far from my office. However, I hope 
to go soon with a friend to Galveston to try the sport 
there for a few days. 
Inclosed is a clipping from a late Galveston paper, 
which you may see fit to reproduce in whole or in part 
for the benefit of those of your reaeders who are tarpon 
cranks, J. A. L. Waddell. 
From the Galveston Tribune. 
"Galveston Bay is teeming with tarpons." So says 
Robert I. Cohen, who is about the most persistent fisher- 
man to be found anywhere in Texas. Mr. Cohen be- 
longs to the Missouri class of people. When h^ makes 
a statement he is genex-ally prepared to prove what he 
says. He has been tarpon fishing. He caught a tarpon 
and the fish was landed and brought to Galveston. 
Mr. Cohen is very enthusiastic on the subject of 
tarpon fishing. He says — but let him tell his own story: 
"The flats are fairly alive with the big silver-scaled 
fish," said Mr. Cohen. "They are not there in twos or 
in threes, but hundreds of tarpon are making sport right 
within a stone's throw of the Galveston wharves. 
"I have been fishing for mackerel for a long time. 
Mackerel fishing is fine sport, and I thought it was good 
enough for me. But Dr. Mayfield is responsible for my 
forsaking the gamy mackerel for the still more gamy 
tarpon. Dr. Mayfield telephoned me yesterday morn- 
ing there were more tarpon in front of the quarantine 
station than there were stars in the heavens. 
"Well, to make a long story not so long, I got a lot 
of paraphernalia needed in the landing of a tarpon and 
hired a man to row me to where Dr. Mayfield said the 
tarpon were making merry. I had hardly thrown my 
line over, when, 'whir' and a big fish had been hung. 
Sport? Well, I should say so! He jumped out of the 
water ever so many feet, swam this way and then that, 
when all at once he managed to cut the line, and I 
began to think that what I didn't know about tarpon 
fishing would fill a big book. 
"Just as I thought a brilliant opportunity had passed 
by, my son, Robert I., Jr., hung another fish, if any- 
thing larger than the one that had gotten on my line; 
but he was no more fortunate in landing him that I 
was. It did not take two jiffies for us to lose two fine 
tarpon hooks. 
"After that the big fish bit almost as fast as we could 
throw the ba.ited mullet overboard, and in one instance 
a tarpon was hooked with nothing but a piece of white 
handkerchief for bait. 
"After we had been out about half an hour the fellow 
that we at last managed to land got fastened on the 
hook. When Mr. Silver-Scaled Fish ascertained that he 
was hung good and hard he made as gallant a fight for 
liberty as one would care to witness. He would throw 
himself out of the water with the speed of a locomotive, 
and as soon as he reached the surface would dart away 
first this way and then that. But I was beginning to 
learn a trick or two about landing a tarpon. When he 
would give slack in the line I would wind up the reel 
just as fast as I could, and as he would bear away from 
the skiff I played out the line just fast enough to keep 
him well tantalized. 
"After I had toyed with him for perhaps twenty min- 
utes and was beginning to think that he had the vitality 
of a Mexican burro — for I was nearly played out my- 
self — he began to give signs of weakening. By slow de- 
greees we coaxed and towed him to Pelican spit, where, 
with the aid of a big sharp knife, he gave up the ghost. 
"I don't think there is a place in the earth that can 
touch Galveston Bay for tarpon fishing. The big fish 
are there in great numbers, and are as hungry as they 
can be. They are giving the mullets a hard fight for 
existence. One can see in the course of a half hour 
dozens of tarpon swimming near the surface and leaping 
out of the water in their efforts to get a dainty meal of a 
good-sized mullet. During ctie time we were out at least 
twenty-five of the big fish got fastened on our lines. But 
tarpon are not the kind of fish to "be easily caught, and 
I think we played in big luck to land even one." 
Mr. Cohen brought the tarpon he caught to town 
with him, and the fish was on exhibition all morning in 
front of a sporting goods store on Mechanic street. 
If F. W. Muller, Jr., is to be believed, tarpon fishing is 
not the only kind of sport that can be found in the 
waters around Galveston these days. According to Mr. 
Muller the beach is swarming with fat Spanish mackerel. 
He says that he was on the beach this morning off the 
foot of Seventeenth street, and in less than no time had 
caught twenty of this kind of fish. 
Peafl Fisheries in Venezuela* 
Considerable interest having lately been evinced in the 
United States regarding the Venezuelan Island of Mar- 
garita, I transmit a short description of one of the prin- 
cipal sources of the island's wealth — its pearl fisheries. 
The pearls of Margarita have been known to white men 
since the discovery of the island by Columbus and his 
followers. It was on this island,, and on the mainland 
adjoining, that the Spaniards found the natives decked 
with pearls. History claims that these pearls were one of 
the prime causes of trouble among the adventurers who 
first visited and settled on these shores. 
Pearls having lately risen in value, there has been ex- 
traordinary activity on the island. Buyers from different 
parts of the world reside there and purchase from the 
native fishermen the products wrested from the depths. 
About four hundred sailboats are used by the natives 
in^the fishtiries of Margarita and its neighboring Islands of 
Coclie and Cubagua. The principal beds are at El Tirano, 
northeast, and Macanao, northwest of Margarita. About 
two thousand men find constant employment in this trade. 
The fishers use metal scoops, which are dragged over the 
oyster beds and, when filled, brought to the surface, where 
the shells are opened and carefully exammed. The boats 
in use are from 3 to 15 tons, and pay to the Venezuelan 
authorities 15 bolivars ($2.90) each for permits to fish. 
The pearls are very fine in quality, beautiful in luster 
and run from white to yellow; occasionally a black one. 
priceless in value, is brought to the surface. One white 
pearl of large size and good quality was sold in Margarita 
within two weeks for $1,700. The shell of the oyster 
is not of much commercial value, being too thin for the 
manufacture of buttons and other fancy articles, such as 
are made from the Oriental pearl shell ; this is due, I 
am told by an authority, to the short life of the Margaritan 
pearl oyster, eight years being about the average age. 
Pearls from dead oysters have very little value, as they 
lose their luster. 
A French company Iras recently started fishing for 
pearls by means of divers and diving apparatus, and ex- 
pects great results from the enterprise. The divers claim 
they can select the larger oysters and leave the smaller 
undisturbed, giving them time to grow and increase in 
value. The value of pearls found near Margarita is esti- 
mated at about $600,000 per year. Most of these pearls 
go to the Paris market, which, sellers claim, gives the 
best results. 
Louis GOLD.SCHMIDT, CoUSUl. 
La Guayra, May 25. ' 
A Raid on the Kidels* 
From '•^Ifer Majesty^ s Tower," hy William Hepuaorih Dixon. 
One of the King's officers, the Tower warden, was a 
man with extensive powers, and a hundred archers at 
his back. A subject always in dispute between this 
officer and the city folk was a claim put forth by him 
to catch fish in what the commons called an unfair 
way. The warden claimed a right to put kidels in the 
water, not only in front of the wharf, but in any other 
part of the stream. A kidel was a weir filled up with 
nets, which caught all fish coming down with the tide, 
both the small fry and the old flappers. * * * For a small 
sum of money any rascal on the river could buy his 
hcense, and set up kidels in the Lea and in -the Medway 
as well as in the Thames. The eft'ect of netting these 
rivers was to destroy the salmon and shad, as well as to 
capture the flounder and the trout. *.* * In the Great 
Charter there was a special clause on kidels; King J,ohn 
consenting, among other things, that, under pain of ex- 
communication, all kidels should be removed from the 
Thames and from his other streams. Yet the warden, 
paying scant attention to a parchment which he probably 
could not read, laid down his weirs and nets as be- 
fore, only desisting for a time when the Sheriff of Lon- 
don, backed by an armed band, dropped down the river 
and seized his nets. * * * 
Complaints were laid before Andrew Buckrell, Mayor; 
Henry de Cotham, Sheriff, and other magistrates, that 
many new kidels had been laid in the Thames and the 
Medway, by authority of the Tower Warden, contrary 
to the City Franchise, and to the great injury of the 
common people. More than elsewhere this wrong was 
being done to them in the Medway, in the neighborhood 
of Yantlet Creek. This was a ticklish thing, for, al- 
though the Thames lay under the jurisdiction of I.on- 
don for many purposes, it was not clear that the Mayor 
and a city band had any right to pursue offenders up the 
Medway, and to seize them imder the walls of Rochester 
Castle. They put their right to the test. Jordan de 
Coventry, Second Sheriff, with a body of men, well 
armed and resolute, started on Jan. 6, 1236-37, for Yant- 
let Creek, where they fell suddenly and stoutly on the 
master fishermen and their servants. They found no 
less than thirty kidels beyond that creek toward the sea. 
With little ado they tore up the nets and seized the 
masters: Joscelyn and four good men of Rochester; 
seven good men of Strood; three good men at Cliff, all 
master-mariners, with nine others, their helpers and abet- 
tors, in the wrong. Jordan brought these captured nets 
and culprits up to London, where he^ gave the nets to the 
First Sheriff, and lodged the master-mariners in New- 
gate. 
When the news of this raid reached Rochester, Strood 
and Cliff', much din arose, and men from these towns 
rode up to London to see what could be done for Jos- 
celyn and his fellows. They applied to the king for 
help, on the ground that no man had power to seize the 
king's subjects by force and cast them into jail without 
his license. Henry inclined to take this view; but the 
mayor and sheriffs maintained their right to arrest of- 
fenders against the king's laws and the city franchises. 
Being then absent from London, Henry sent a writ to 
the mayor commanding him to accept bail for the appear- 
ance of his prisoners until such time as the king could 
hold a court to try the case. This court was called in 
the Palace of Kennington, when Budkrell and the citi- 
zens Joscelyn and the master-mariners appeared before 
the Archbishop of York, the Lord Chancellor, and other 
great personages, among whom the most eminent was 
William de Raleigh, the famous justiciar, a collateral 
ancestor of Sir Walter. 
William de Raleigh, who held a brief, as it were, for 
the Crown, put Buckrell and his men on their mettle. 
"How," he asked them, "had they, with such rash daring, 
seized the king's liegemen in their boats and cast them 
into a common jail?" Buckrell answered him: "That 
he had seized Joscelyn and the rest for just reasons: 
because, being taken in the act of using kidels, they were 
infringing the rights of the city, lessening the dignity of 
the Crown, and incurring t-he ban of excommunication, 
in accordance with an express clause in the Great Char- 
ter." He asked, in conclusion, that the judges should 
enforce the law and punish the master-mariners by a 
heavy fine, Willianj de Raleigh took this view of "the 
kidel business, and his verdict gave immense delight at 
Guildhall. He sentenced Joscelyn and the other mas- 
ters to pay a fine of ten pounds each — the fines to be 
rendered to the chief men in the city. .A. great fire was 
lighted in Westcheape, and the captured nets from Yant- 
let Creek w«re burned in presence of a joyful crowd. 
