May 3, 1902.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
849 
^ow, gentlemen, I will take my seat and give way to that 
orrent of mirth and merriment which I am sure is await- 
ng you. I thank you very much for the great honor 
irou have conferred upon me. I am sorry that I am so 
nuch of a duffer — ("No, no") — and I am also very sorry 
Hat I have not any fishing stories to tell you, for I should 
rave liked above all things to have outstripped anything 
:hat has ever been told at any dinner or meeting of this 
blub. (Cheers.) 
Mr. R. B. Marston, Honorable Treasurer of the club, 
responded to the toast. He said: On behalf of the whole 
club, I have to thank the chairman for the honor he has 
ione us in presiding this evening, and for proposing this 
toast. How admirably he has done so I need not tell 
you. This occasion will ever be marked with a big red 
etter in the annals of the club. I am sorry that our late 
honorable member, Mr. A. Nelson Cheney, who was a 
first-rate American sportsman, and who did so much to 
bring American and English fishermen together, has 
gone to the great majority. He did everything he could 
in America to help members who went to that country to 
fish. We have, I am glad to say, still many Americans 
on our membership roll. We are greatly indebted to our 
Amercian brethren for the capital fishing stories which 
have been published for many years in the Field, the 
Fishing Gazette and Land and Water. 
I do not know whether our chairman has heard the 
definition of an Ambassador which Izaak Walton gave 
to the world, but I think it is worth quoting. He said 
"that an Ambassador Was a man sent abroad to lie abroad 
for the benefit of his country." (Laughter.) 
The latest fish story I have heard from America is 
one which may interest the chairman because it refers 
to a friend of his. Two American anglers were out fish- 
ing in a boat all day and had had very bad sport, having 
caught only one small fish six inches in length. Presently 
a river keeper came along and saw the fish_ He irrtttle- 
diately asked the gentlemen to come ashore ,and give 
their names. This they did, the first gentleman giving 
the name of Grover Cleveland. He insisted upon going 
before a court and being fined, in this way showing the 
1 splendid spirit that exists among sportsmen in America. 
("Hear, hear," and laughter.) I believe he has that 
fish stuffed, and that it hangs in his hall over the famous 
Venezuela telegram. 
There is also a good story I should like to tell you of 
a curate — a member of the Fly Fishers* Club — who had 
permission for a day's fishing. He went one evening to 
fish, and had good sport, and next morning went to the 
1 water again. The keeper came up and called his.attention 
to the fact that his permit was for one day only. The 
curate replied: "If you refer to the first chapter of 
Genesis, fifth verse, you will find that the evening and 
the morning were the first day." (Laughter.) Yet an- 
other story. Two anglers were fly fishing in the Elbe, 
only one of whom had a permit. After they had been 
fishing for two hours one of them saw the river keeper 
coming and immediately bolted. After a wild hunt, last- 
ing twenty minutes, the keeper overtook the angler, and 
demanded his name and address. "What do you want 
my name and address for?" said the angler. "For fishing 
without a permit." '"Oh! is that all?" said the angler; 
"here you are," and he showed his ticket. "Then why 
did you run off when you saw me coming?" "Well," 
he replied, "you see, it was my friend who had not got 
a permit!" (Laughter.) This is the nineteenth time 
since the founding of the club that I have had the pleas- 
ure of responding to this toast, and I think I occupy a 
rather unique position, inasmuch as my father is a fly 
fisber and my son is a fly fisher. Moreover, we are all 
three present on this occasion. (Applause.) 
Mr. Wm. Senior proposed the health of "The Guests." 
He said: It is very kind of your Excellency to intimate 
that in this Americanization of the world which is going 
On we fly fishers are to be invaded and to receive light 
and leading from our brethren across the Atlantic. We 
have had many American visitors in our time, and as his 
Excellency spoke this evening he must have reminded 
many present of Mr. Page, who addressed us some years 
ago at one of our annual dinners and kept us in similar 
peals of laughter to those which the chairman's speech 
to-night occasioned. We cannot emulate the orators 
from the other side of the Atlantic. Eloquence seems to 
come natural to them, but I am sure his Excellency will 
not have learned to-night for the first time that oratory 
with humor, like virtue, is its own reward. The welcome 
which his Excellency, as the principal visitor in our midst 
1 to-night, has received, has, I can assure him, been quite 
earnest, and we shall hope to see him here again.. (Ap- 
plause.) To go back for a moment to the question of the 
great American invasion, about which some people are 
so alarmed, and as to which there really may be some 
truth, I would express the hope, if the angling world 
is to be embraced in this general scheme, that among 
the trout your Excellency named just now as being bred 
in the States and distributed, there should be included 
that variety which is locally called the "cut throat." 
There is a trout in America known by that name, and if 
we are to have competition in angling as well as in 
divinity, poetry, literature, the stage, and everything else,_ 
let us have the "cut throat" trout as typical of the compe- 
tition which must ensue. (Laughter.) 
I was hopeful that Mr. Marston would have told the 
story of Mr. Reuben Wood, an American visitor, who 
was a great fisherman. Mr. Marston took him down to 
Hungerford to let him see what our English chalk stream 
angling is like. The scheme of dry fly fishing is to wait 
until you see the fish rise. It does not rise sometimes for 
weeks together, and the fishing is, therefore, apt to be 
rather slow. (Laughter.) It is because this is so very 
much a contemplative man's recreation that this club 
produces so many authors, poets, and artists, who always 
take their pens, paper, and easels with them and set the^ 
keeper to warn them of the rising trout. (Laughter.)' 
When Mr. Reuben Wood and Mr. Marston were in the 
meadows at Hungerford the trout did not rise, and after 
an hou?' or two spent in admiring the buttercups and 
listening to the songs of the birds. Mr. Reuben Wood 
turned to Mr. Marston and said: "Well, what about this 
fishing?" He produced his good strong American tackle 
and began swishing most mightily, but soon discovered 
that dry fly fishing in England is not at all like black bass 
fishing and trout fishing in America, 
Speaking of Americans, I cannot refrain from stating 
how cordially I was received by fishermen in America. 
Nothing can exceed the almost exuberant hospitality of 
our brother sportsmen on the other side of the Atlantic. 
(Applause.) Dry fly fishing is becoming one of the 
amusements of the American angler, but it is quite in 
recent times that that has been so. It is all very well 
to talk about the Americanizing of England and the rest 
of the world, but I think I can claim that, while we have 
learned a good deal from our brother anglers in America 
in the matter of tackle and all kinds of ingenious devices 
in fishing appliances, they have learned something from 
us in the methods of fishing. (Loud laughter.) I re- 
member seeing a lovely book produced by a country- 
woman of your Excellency's, which was full of splendid 
colored illustrations of the flies used by every fisherman 
in America, and many of them were our own patterns, 
metaphorically dressed up with stars and stripes to be in 
keeping with the country. (Laughter.). 
Mr. H. E. Gribble then proposed the last toast of the 
evening, "The Chairman." He said: It is my duty and 
privilege to convey formally to you the welcome with 
which the Fly Fishers desire to greet you. I think Lord 
Denbigh very accurately expressed our motives in ask- 
ing you to preside this evening. The custom for many 
years has been to invite a stranger to take the chair at 
the annual dinner, and in looking around for a chairman 
we always endeavor to get a gentleman who is, first of 
all, likely to give us a happy and humorous evening, and, 
secondly, is in some degree interested in our pastime. 
With regard to the first quality, I am sure the memory 
of your eloquent speech will forever remain with us. 
(Applause.) I cannot say that it took us by surprise in 
any way. We knew from your great reputation that we 
should have an oratorical treat, and I am sure we have 
not been disappointed. (Cheers.) I had prepared an 
eloquent speech for this occasion, but what I was going 
to say has been anticipated by Mr. Marston and other 
speakers, but I want to confirm that one of our 
reasons for wishing you to preside to-night was that you 
are representative of American fly fishers. I understood 
from you, when I saw you a few days ago, that you were 
not yourself a fly fisher, that you did not indulge in the 
art; but from your remarks this evening I am a little 
doubtful about that. (Laughter.) At all events. I am 
quite certain of this, that you have in you the power of 
becoming a first-rate fly fisher— (cheers and laughter)— 
FLY PRESENTED TO AMBASSADOR CH0ATE AT THE FLY-FIS H ERS' 
CLUB DINNER IN LONDON. 
and if you have not yet tried the sport may I humbly sug- 
gest that you should do so? Just consider what a rest 
it woud be when the Foreign Offices at each side of the 
Atlantic are having their jangles, for you to steal away 
for a day's fly fishing. You could then say, with your 
own poet: 
"Oh, where are now ambition's pains, 
What matters it who rules or reigns. 
If I stand fishing here?" 
Joking apart, we desire very much to bring ourselves 
nearer and more in contact with American fly fishers. 
We recognize their ingenuity, their resource, and their 
energy, which have shown themselves in the development 
of the tools we use. We have a lot to learn from each 
other. We should be glad to see as many Americans as 
possible become members of our club. Apropos of 
that, I should like to mention that we have a rule which 
allows us to elect honorary members for a period of three 
months, and, in some cases, for longer. We hope that 
provision will be made more use of by visitors from 
America. Sociability reigns supreme at the Thursday 
evening meetings of the Fly Fishers' Club, when around 
the fireplace are gathered men acquainted with every 
river, every brook, every stream, and, I believe, with 
every fish in every stream in the country. (Laughter.) 
You can get from them hints with regard to the fish, 
the flies, and even the worms, and we should be glad 
indeed to welcome to those convivial meetings any of 
our American friends who did us the honor of paying 
us a visit. We are very much indebted to your Excel- 
lency for your kind offer to assist us in procuring the 
literature of the American State Fish Commissions. 
It was a kind thought on your part which prompted that 
offer, which we shall accept in the kindly spirit in which 
it was made. Being desirous of immortalizing this occa- 
sion I am requested by Mr. Marston, whose idea it was, 
to present to your Excellency, on behalf of the commit- 
tee, a fly as a souvenir of the occasion, and we hope 
its colors and general appearance will commend its ac- 
ceptance to you. 
Mr. Gribble then presented the chairman with a fly 
specially invented for the occasion by Mr. P. D. Malloch, 
and christened the "American Ambassador," the feathers 
representing the stars and stripes in a charming manner. 
The chairman, who was received with loud applause, 
in replying,, said: Gentlemen, at this late hour you will 
excuse me doing more than express my earnest thanks 
for the flattering manner in which your president has pro- 
posed this toast, and the cordial spirit in which it has been 
received by you. I desire now, and here, to remove his 
doubts, and all doubts that any of you may have enter- 
tained, for, from this hour onward, after this solemn, 
earnest, and comical initiation, from this hour till the 
end of my life I shall profess myself an accomplished fly 
fisher. (Cheers and laughter.) And, armed with this 
magnificent fly, which the genius of your president has 
inspired and the faculty of your artists has produced, 
symbolical as it is of the flag of my country, I propose 
to devote all the time that- Lord Lansdowne will allow me 
to a cultivation of this noble sport. (Applause.) Let me 
thank you once more for the rare pleasure which you 
have given me in permitting me to be one of your com- 
pany to-night, and for that cordial, enthusiastic hos- 
pitality which you have shown toward me, and which is 
only typical of that universal spirit of friendship and 
good will which all England manifests toward all Amer- 
ica. (Lord applause.) I shall treasure this gift during 
the. residue of my life, and shall hand it down to my 
children and my children's children — should there be any 
— as a token of the affection which you have shown to 
me. (Cheers.) In conclusion, I can only hope that the 
members of this club, collectively and individually, will 
enjoy that health, happiness and long life to which their 
skill" as anglers so justly entitles them. (Applause.) 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
The Opening of the Season. 
As to the splitting of kindling wood, there is really 
nothing in it. It is very much better to go fishing. A 
Certain Person and myself, and one friend, concluded this 
week to go up on the Prairie River in Wisconsin, at 
Lossie Cone's place below Dudley P. O., to open the sea- 
son, as I have for so many years now that my memory 
runneth not to the contrary. We rarely ever have so 
very much luck so early in the season, but we invariably 
have so good a time that we vow to go again, and usually 
more or less keep the vow in spite of kindling wood, et al. 
By the way, it should be stated for the benefit of many 
anglers who like this beautiful little stream, that it is 
this year more accessible than it has ever been before. 
Formerly we had to go on the Milwaukee road to Merrill, 
and thence take a long drive across country some sixteen 
to eighteen miles. The train reached Merrill at about 
10 o'clock in the morning, and it was always the fashion 
Of the local liveryman not to start across country with 
one until after one had eaten his dinner at the local hotel. 
When it comes to feeding a dozen or so fishermen, the 
hotel is just that much more ahead of the game than 
it would be if the liveryman started out a couple of 
hours ahead of the dinner hour. Now we have changed 
all that. That is a certain down-east Yankee, now a 
multi-millionaire, by the name of W. H. Bradley, who has 
built a railroacl from Tomahawk to Gleason, directly on 
the banks of the Prairie, apparently with no other pur- 
pose in view than to make life more worth living to the 
trout fishermen of that region. Therefore, you now go 
up above Merrill on the Milwaukee road, and disem- 
bark at Tomahawk, which point you reach at 11:10 in the 
morning, having left Chicago at 10:30 the night before. 
The local train of Mr. Bradley's railroad, which is known 
as the Marinette. Tomahawk & Western, will be seen 
puffing placidly at a little depot near that of the greater 
railroad. It is better to get off at the railroad crossing 
and wait for the Bradley train to come and pick you up 
there, thus saving you the ride of a few hundred yards 
between the two depots. Once on Mr. Bradley's railroad 
you have one of the most delightful and pleasant little 
trips in the world. It is only by a miracle of executive 
skill that the little train manages to spend more than two 
hours in getting over to Gleason. By the time you have 
reached Gleason you have gone around two sides of a 
triangle, the other side of which is bounded by the dusty 
wagon road from Dudley. 
Gleason station is located about a mile down the river 
from Lossie Cone's place. Of course you go to Lossie's 
and have notified him in advance so that Chester is there 
with the spanking team of bays to whirl you up to your 
luncheon, just a little late, but very much better than you 
would have had at Merrill ; not that one has any very 
great grudge against Merrill or against the astute livery- 
man who keeps you there for luncheon. 
Take you, if you like, your big trout of Canada and 
your legions of the Snake River and the Rio Grande and 
the big streams of the Rockies, from the British line to 
Mexico, take you your black bass, even your salmon if 
you like, take you all New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, 
and even all New Zealand, but for me give me the Prairie, 
and no hotel save that of Lossie Cone's, and give us open- 
ing day, April 15, rain or shine, snow or sleet or what 
you like, save only that it be opening day for that creature 
"which is known as the brook trout. 
A Certain Person basely intimates that I am growing 
old and poky, for that I no longer spring aloft in the 
air, cracking my heels joyfully, and exulting in deeds 
about to be, as doth the strong man when he runneth a 
race. There may be truth in this, though it is not fit mat- 
ter for argument. Certain it is our little party of three — 
two men and a woman — concerned themselves^ not at all 
with the question of whether the trout were going to rise. 
It was enough to be alive and to have the water in which 
we might wade and upon which we might cast a fly, even 
though the fish failed to do their part in the little comedy 
of the spring. We took the whole family in the two- 
seated rig, all except Lossie — Lossie was serving on a 
jury and could not get away to see the season open— 
and drove up the river a mile or so above Dudley's place, 
near what is known as Stub Pool. This brought us to 
the farm of one Johnson, and Mr. Johnson stood lean- 
ing on the gate as we drove up. He is always -there 
leaning on the gate on the morning of April 15, always 
smiling, and always glad to see you. For myself, I had a 
new rod, some new leaders and some new flies. My com- 
panion, prompter tharf myself to gear up, waded into the 
stream below the bridge and took madame with him, rub- 
ber boots and all, while I was tinkering on the banks. 
At this hour, 10 o'clock in the morning, the sun was shin- 
ing bright upon the water. My companion showed 
madame the rudiments of casting the fly, and forsooth she 
did get out perhaps twenty feet of line. There was a 
