S8 
in the summer season. I have often mentioned the pleas- 
ure I have experienced with a refrigerator basket of which 
I first got word from my friend, Mr. Mershon, of Sagi- 
naw, Mich. It was with great pleasure, therefore, that I 
saw the much better basket of refrigerator pattern which 
is put on the market by the Burhngton Basket Company, 
of Burlington, la. This is a tin-lined basket provided 
with an ice receptacle, and with a tight cover which can 
be locked down. It is in effect a little ice chest, and by its 
means one can bring home his fish perfectly dry and yet 
cold and stiflf as wedges, and can keep them with little or 
no difficulty after the first arrangement of the basket. 
There is very much to sport nowadays besides the crude 
essentials which once were held necessary. Any modern 
angler who intends to bring a part of his catch home 
cannot afford to dispense with one of these very practical 
and very stoutly made baskets. I should not think of 
going fishing any more without taking along such a re- 
frigerator as part of my outfit, and many and many is the 
good lot of fish which I have saved in that way which 
otherwise I should have been obliged to give away at the 
place where they were taken. It is after all a good thing 
to remember the folks at home once in a while, because 
if one establishes a sort of rapport between himslf and 
the head of the family, the aforesaid head of the family is 
all the more willing to let him go fishing the next time. 
This tip, therefore, is very well worth keeping in mind. 
Death of Mr, Meek. 
In the death of Mr. Benjamin F. Meek, of Louisville, 
Ky., the angling fraternity not only of the grand old State 
of Kentucky but indeed of the entire United States suffers 
a very severe loss. Mr. Meek died at the ripe age of 
seventy-six, and he died full of honor. His was one of 
those conscientious, painstaking natures which was never 
satistfied with slighting anything. The fnaker of the 
early Kentucky reel, he set a pattern which has never 
been surpassed, and from the first he made reels as good 
as could be built. They were made honestly, like him- 
self. In his specialty he reached a distinguished success, 
and there are few who have done more good in the world 
or have given men more pleasure than he has. The busi- 
ness of B. F. Meek & Sons will be continued, and the 
descendants of Mr. Meek will still continue to exercise the 
hereditary and painstaking care which has always gone 
into their product. Yet I fancy that many an angler will 
look with all the more pride upon the Meek reel which 
has been his possession for many j^ears. and that it will 
now have a yet greater value as a product of the hands 
of the genuine and conscientious angler who has now gone 
fearlessly to his last accounting. j. 
Experience of Mr, Patkcf. | 
I met Mr. Thomas Parker in one of the gold-mounted 
cafes of Chicago the other evening, and in the course of< 
conversation Mr. Parker laid before me the facts of a' 
singular occurrence which had recently happened to him. 
"You see this little cigar cutter which I wear as a watch' 
charm," said Mr. Parker, "and you may observe that the[ 
diamond which formerly adorned it is now missing. Itj 
was a little diamond, a mere trifle — perhaps Avorth .$300 
or $400 — and the main interest attaches not to the stone 
itself but with the circumstances under which I happenedl 
to part company with it. 
"I was up to Oconomowoc Lake not long ago and was, 
lucky enough to hook a very decent sized pickerel, which 
I fought to a finish and was just upon the point of takin 
into the boat, As I bent over the fish to get hold of it\ 
firmly, my watch chain swung over the gunwale of the, 
boat and in some way the diamond became detached from' 
the cigar cutter and fell into the water. I could see it' 
shining and gleaming as it took its zigzag flight 50 or 60] 
feet down into the waten Then, sir, if you will believe 
me, a peculiar thing occurred. The pickerel, which had 
been none too securely hooked, at that moment shook 
himself free. He must have seen the diamond as it 
sparkled down in the water, for he made a sudden dive as 
though following it in its flight. I know nothing of what!: 
went on below in the depths of the water, and had made ' 
up my mind sorrowfully to say good-by to both the 
pickerel and the diamond, when, later in the evening " 
"The same fish struck again, of course," said one of the 
party. 
"You are right," said Mr. Parker, his eyes lighting up 
with a certain interest, "and at nearly the same place 
where I had lost the stone." 
"You cut a notch tipon the side of the boat where you 
lost it," said another of the party. 
"Of course I did," said Mr. Parker. "Otherwise how 
could I have located the spot?" ' 
"And you opened the pickerel, didn't you?" said yet 
another. 
"Of course I did,'' said Mr. Parker. "If j'ou will only 
let me go on with this story " 
"And you found " 
"Yes ; I found — what do you suppose ?" 
"Why, without any doubt you found a box of cigars," 
replied the second speaker, with a certain conviction in 
his tone. 
Mr. Parker turned away and left the party. "It is a 
shame." said he, "how some people will spoil a good 
story." 
A FfoglFarm. 
Mr. E. K. Stedman, of Mt. Carroll. 111., writes: "A 
friend of mine is desirous of starting a frog pond. I am 
not up in frog culture; and none of my books touches upon 
the subject. If you will give us a column or two in the 
Forest and Stream on this subject it will make interesting 
reading." 
The question of frog farming is an old one in the col- 
umns of Forest and Stream, where it has been justly re- 
ferred to as being a chimera of highly unsatisfactory if 
not impossible nature. The consensus of opinion is that 
frog farming cannot be carried on in a profitable manner. 
I believe, however, that there is still something to be 
learned regarding the frog proposition by a good many 
of us. In some localities the frogs — that is to say, the 
large bullfrogs, which I suppose are referred to in this 
communication — multiply with exceeding rapidity. In yet 
othf f localities it would be impossible to do anything with 
them, even although the mortal ken would be unable to 
distinguish the difference in the two plaeea. For instance, 
.1 recall two frog ponds tiituated less than a quarter of a 
fpile apart in the lower part hi WisnQi^sin, I cannot 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
whether these ponds are in Walworth or Waukesha coun- 
ty, but I think it is Walworth. We used to visit them 
sometimes when on bass fishing trips near Eagle Lake, 
Wis. We drove Avest about six or seven miles from 
Swartz's Lake, near Troy, Wis., over a rolling hilly coun- 
try, and presently came to these two ponds or lakes. 
They were situated down in the hollows among the tim- 
bered hills, and excepting that they were very shallow 
and muddy, looked something like the average salt lake of 
that country. The borders of these lakes were lined for a 
distance of 30 or 40 yards out with a deep, soft mud. To 
look at, the lakes were no better than a dozen of the com- 
mon bass lakes for the purposes of raising frogs. Yet for 
many years these little spots have been famous as a great 
place for bullfrogs. I am no frog sharp and I cannot tell 
how long it takes to raise a bullfrog. Yet the farmer on 
whose lands these ponds were located states that he has 
known i.ooo frogs to be killed on each of the ponds during 
the season. Any one of the frogs would be more than a 
foot in length. Naturally, toward the end of the summer 
season the frogs would be pretty well cut down, but next 
year by June or July there seemed to be pretty nearly as 
many as the year before. Now I always have supposed 
that it took two or three years to raise a bullfrog to its 
full stature. Yet, if so, then these bullfrogs certainly must 
migrate and come into these ponds, for there are more 
there every year in June than there are in Setpember of 
the year previous, and they are not little ones, but big ones. 
It is a favorite sport on these frog ponds to shoot bull- 
frogs with a .22 rifle, and resorters at the summer hotels 
thereabouts make this a part of their programme. I have 
mentioned in Forest and Stream that we would some- 
times kill dozens of frogs with a .22 rifle in a short time. 
The place was regularly visited by market-hunters who 
killed frogs for the market, as was also the Fox River, 
some dozen miles or more away. 
NoAV if the gentleman of whom Mr. Stedman writes be 
fortunate enough to know a piece of natural frog ground 
like the above, he could surely raise frogs, and perhaps 
raise them profitably, unless his land cost him so much 
that it would take a pretty stiff return to keep up his in- 
terest on the investment. These ponds were worth nothing 
to the farmer who owned them, and he allowed any one to 
shoot frogs on them who cared to do so. Whether a man 
could get rich raising frogs even under these favorable 
circumstances is a question which ought properly to be 
referred to Dun & Co., or to Bradstreet. who. as I believe, 
do not report any very great number ot millionaire frog 
farmers. On the whole, it would perhaps be .safer to sup- 
pose that the frog flourishes best not as an exotic or a hot- 
house flower, but as one of the products of unfenced na- 
The great frog markets of Chicago — that is to say. the 
4 live bait markets— are supplied by men who make a busi- 
ness of catching bait frogs along the marshes and ditches 
of upper Indiana. These, however, are wild frogs, and T 
do not know of any one who has attempted a frog pre- 
IJVVY 13, 1901. 
I serve. 
Daily Hint from Paris. 
One of the afflictions of our modern civilization is the 
light-colored Fedora hat. Almost every citizen has one 
of these things in his repertoire. No matter what might 
be his complexion — sallow, muddy, or bright, voluptuous 
red — he thinks himself safe in buying one of these lead- 
colored afflictions, and not only buying it but wearing it. 
There is only one real excuse for buying the pale Fedora, 
and that is with an eye to the future. Worn for two or 
three years, with its brim bent down, its binding removed 
and its high band properly stretched, the pale Fedora may 
in time, if it be not too heavy or too thick, be turned into a 
very decent sort of angling hat. In purchasing one it is 
well to prove its susceptibility to perforation. If in your 
judgment you can stick a No. 8 fly-hook through it, and 
not only stick it through but get it out again, then buy the 
hat. 
While upon the subject of apparel. I am moved to men- 
tion a certain little incident in surgical tailoring which I 
'saw during my late trip to Montana. My very good 
friend. Jack Monroe, joined us one evening at our bear 
camp on the Two Medicine Lake. Jack was wearing a 
pair of Mackinaw trousers, which had seen better days, 
especially in the neighborhood of the knees. He had been 
hunting coyotes and creeping and crawling along after 
antelope, wolves and one thing and another, until he had 
worn the knees of these trousers pretty much to pieces. 
This, however, did not disconcert him. "I will show you 
something," said he. And borrowing a needle and thread 
he did shoAV us something. He took his hunting knife and 
calmly cut the legs off the trousers about midway on the 
thigh. Then he reversed the legs on the stumps and 
sewed them fast on again, with the result, that the worn 
out knees were now behind him instead of in front of him. 
Viewed from the front, his Mackinaws were now just as 
good as new. As to the rear view, it is enough to say 
that it was not quite the same. It was a little difficult for 
us for some time to tell at a distance whether Jack was 
a-coming or a-going, but he declared the arrangement 
entirely satisfactory to himself. "This," said he. "is what 
in the West we call upsetting a pair of pants." T have 
never heard the term used in that connection, but recom- 
mend both the term and its impli&d operation to the 
fashionable tailors of the larger cities, where I am satisfied 
it is not yet in general use. He who makes two pairs of 
pants grow where before there had been but one is prop- 
erly to be called a benefactor of humanity. 
E. HOTTGH. 
Hastvosb Buildiho, Chicago, lU. 
American Fishcfies Society. 
Detroit, Mich., July 3. — The annual meeting of the 
American Fisheries Society avUI be held at Milwaukee. 
Wis., July 19, 20 and 21, 1901. The meeting will be called 
to order at 10 o'clock A. M. July 19. at the Hotel Pfister. 
We earnestly desire a large attendance at this meeting, 
and to this end Ave urge CA'ery member to make special 
efforts to be present and to bring along as many ncAV 
members as possible. The list of contributors of papers 
and lectures is a sufficient guaranty that the ppogramme 
Avill be one of unusual merit and interest. In connection 
Avith the meeting, a trip will he made to Bayfield, Lake 
Superior, to inspect the new Rtation of the Wisconsin 
Fish Commission, conceded to |ie r>x\p. nf \]\^ largest fish 
jmtchini plants In t-li? country, ~ ' ' "y^ 
Correspondence intended for the President, Secretsry or 
Treasurer, not mailed to their regular address prior to 
July 17, should be mailed to them at Milwaukee, care of 
Hotel Pfister. 
Papers and lectures for the Milwaukee meeting will in- 
clude the following: 
J. C. Parker. Michigan, "Man as a Controlling Factor in 
Aquatic Life." 
S. P. Bartlett, Illinois, "More About Carp." 
A. D. Mead, Rhode Island, "Experiments in Lobster 
Culture." 
W. J. Orr. Michigan, "Fish Laws and Their Proper 
Enforcement." 
W. C. Marsh, District of Columbia, "The Brook Trout 
Disease." 
J. J. Stranahan, Georgia, "The Prevention of Canni- 
balism in Rearing Black Bass." 
Charles G. Atkins, Maine, "The Study of the Diseases 
of Fishes. 
Grant M. Morse, Michigan, "Uniform General Laws; 
the Keynote to Practical Protection and Perpetuation of 
Our Wild Life." 
W. T. Thompson, Ncav Hampshire, "Brook Trout 
Notes." 
A. C. Babbitt, Michigan. "Transportation of Brook 
Trout Fry." 
J. Bavard Lamkin, Georgia, "Feeding of Black Bass 
Fry." 
J. W. Titcomb, Vermont, lecture. 
C. H. ToAvnsend, District of Columbia, lecture. 
F. B. DiCKERSON, Pres. 
Seymour Bower, Sec. 
Canadian Angling Notes. 
TKe reports from the ouananiche waters are more satis- 
factory this season, so far, than those from the salmon 
rivers! Some of the more famous of the latter have . 
proved A^ery disappointing this .season. Especially is this 
the case on a number of the South Shore streams. The 
Cascapedia has not turned out at all well, and some 
anglers were therefore several days Avithout getting a 
single fish. One gentleman Avho .spent a day or tAVO on 
the river lays the blame for this unfortunate condition of 
affairs upon the net fishing near the mouth of the river. 
The Margaree, in Cape Breton, and other salmon streams 
in the Canadian Maritime Provinces, have also turned 
out badly. Most of these have been overnetted in their 
estuaries. 
Mr. Louis Cabot's fishing on the Grand River Avas un- 
fortunately cut short by a summons to return home on 
account of illness in his family. 
Up to within the last fcAv days the water has been 
very low in many of these streams, and this may have 
had much to do in hindering the run of fish into them, and 
in keeping the salmon about the shores of the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence and of the Bale des Chaleurs. Avhere more than 
usual of them found their Avay into the nets. If the recent 
rains haA'e reached to the country drained by these riA'ers 
there is every reason to suppose that the July run of fish 
will be very much ahead of the June one, and that this 
year, as last, the latter part of the season Avill furnish 
much more of fishermen's luck than the first part. 
On the Grande Decharge the fishing continues good. 
The University Club party, already mentioned as having 
gone there, including Messrs. George Pollack, Woodbury 
Kane and H. E. McVicar, enjoyed very good sport, and 
some satisfactory catches have been made by Canadian 
anglers as Avell. Mr. Heald, of Ncav York, and party, have 
lately left for the same Avaters. 
It is interesting to note that Avithin the last fcAv Aveeks a 
number. of salmon parr haA'e been taken in some of the 
Lake St. John Avaters, showing that thus far the plant 
of Salmo salar in these Avaters is proving a success, as, in 
fact, there is no reason Avhy it should not. Another large 
plant Avill be made in the autumn from the Roberval 
hatchery. From the letters of inquiry received concern- 
ing these fish, it would appear that quite an interest is 
being taken in the experiment. Its success must largely 
depend upon the perpetuation of the anadromous habit in 
the young fish. Will they go down the Saguenay to the 
sea as smolts, and if they do will they return to the 
tributary waters of Lake St. John, in which they were 
planted, to spawn? This is the question! 
If the adult fish should remain during the winter, as 
many suppose the ouananiche to do, in the waters of Lake 
St. John, it Avill not likely require many generations to 
reduce the salmon to the size of the ouananiche. 
E. T. D. Chambers. 
Quebec, July 8. 
A Phenomenal Record. 
-Mr. Howard M. Paul, of Camp Nawadaha, Blue Moun- 
tain Lake, N. Y., accompanied by Mr. James H. Carpen- 
ter, of Troy, N. Y., made a fishing trip into the heart of 
the Adirondacks, and had the pleasure of breaking the 
record for seasons back, in Terrell and Salmon ponds, that 
Avill be for years a hard one to equal. 
Mr. Paul caught a lake trout, weight 25 pounds, length 
41 inches, girth measurement 2i->^ inches. This fish is the 
largest one ever known to have been caught in this section. 
Mr. Carpenter caught three large trout in one hour, just 
before sunset. The Aveight and measurement of these fish, 
which may be of interest, proves to be as foUoAVS : No. 
1. AA'eight 4 pounds 11 ounces, measurement 25 inches; 
No. 2, weight 9 pounds i ounce, measurement 28 inches ; 
No. 3, Aveight iS pounds 2 ounces, measurement 32 inches. 
Mr. Paul is very much elated over his 25-pound trout, 
and has had it mounted as a trophy for his office, Avhich 
Avill certainly never fail to bring back pleasant recollec- 
tions of the sport he had in landing .such a rare speci- 
men. 
A Self-Bttfying: Fish. 
A FISH of curious habits exists in New Zealand, and 
is called by the Maories the kakmvai. It is generally dis- 
coA'ered Avhen a man is digging out rabbits or making 
))ost holes in the summer time, and it lies at a depth of a 
foot or two feet under the soil. The character of the 
soil, whether sandy or loamy, does not seem to matter. 
The rtsh is from two to three inches long, silvery, shaped 
lib a mmy^\ b«t r#iy mn ^\n^x ^nfl t?^^rln|. It 
