10 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 4, 1903. 
tered the rh-^ers and found so much ice that they went 
out again and have not yet returned. The water con- 
tinued so low that after the arrival of anglers on the 
rivers no new fish seemed to enter them until a few days 
ago. Now -word has been received from some of the 
rivers that rcceiit rains have had a beneficial effect and 
that more fish are entering them. But. in the meantime, 
.several fishermen who had but a limited time to spare for 
fishing, have returned from the rivers with the wor.st 
sport they have had for years. Those who are fortunate 
enough to be able to remain behind arc just beginning to 
enjoy fully fine fishing. From the Ste. Marguerite and the 
other tributaries of the Saguenay in particular come very 
good reports from the fishing camps. 
The many salmon fishermen interested in these rivers 
will be delighted to hear that Fishery Guardian J. N. 
Maher has recently succeeded in catching no less than 
eight of the Saguenay River poachers, red-handed. They 
were netting salmon when found, and the guardian seized 
ten nets and four wooden canoes belonging to them. 
The poachers are now being prosecuted before a local 
magistrate. These poachers have been for years the bane 
of the salmon fisheries in ihe Saguenay district, and these 
arrests will doutbless have a very salutary effect. 
The salmon fishing in the north shore rivers was very 
poor indeed up to last week, scarcely any fish having 
entered the rivers on account of the backwardness of the 
season. Here, too, the later fishermen are sure to have 
the finest sport. 
Another fatality has unfortunately to be added to the 
long list of those attributable to the angling in the sal- 
mon rivers on the coast of Labrador and the north shore 
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A boat containing a party 
of fishermen on the Romainc, which, as recently reported 
in this column, w^as lately leased by the Government to 
Sir Charles Ross, was upset and a young man named 
Plumb, eighteen years of age, was drowned. He was 
with his stepfather. Judge Nesbitt, of the Supreme Court 
of Canada, and Sir Charles Ross, at the time of the acci- 
dent. Deceased was a most promising youth and a cadet 
at the Royal Military College of Canada. 
Mr. C. B. Barnes, of Boston, and his friend, Mr. Jones, 
were among the early arrivals on the Cascapedia, and for 
the first few days of their stay had very good sport, but 
^'en upon the royal Cascapedia there have been many 
poor days this summer, and later fishermen are likely to 
have much better sport. Mr. Barnes killed sixteen fish 
and Mr. Jones seven. The former mentioned gentleman 
had the misfortune to lose an enormous fish, which he 
had played for over an hour, and which finally escaped 
by taking the line into the driftw^ood or a snag in the 
course of a run which it was impossible to control. It is 
thought by those who saw the fish and its fight that it 
mu,st have been a record one, even for this river of fifty- 
pound salmon. The Governor-General of Canada, Lord 
Minto, is at present at Camp Dureen on this river, but 
at present writing it is understood that not very much 
luck has gone his way. Messre. Kenned}'-, Douglas, arid 
Davis are among the American anglers at present in 
camp on the Cascapedia. 
Senator Forget and party are fishing the Bonaventure. 
Mr. R. E. Plumb is on the Natashquan and Mr. Ivers 
Adams, of Boston, and party are fishing the Moisie. The 
Chamberlain Shoals party on the Restigouche, consisting 
of Dr. F. W. Campl)ell, L H. Stearns, W. M. Macpher- 
son and others, have had the usual luck of the season, 
killing some good fish during the first days of the fishing, 
and then having several blank days. Some of the party 
have returned home and will go back to the riA'^er later. 
The fishing in the Restigouche in the early part of the 
season was largely affected by the illegal action of the 
netters at the mouth. Several nets were ordered up and 
some Avere seized by the Government-cruiser, but the fish- 
ing has not improved very much as yet. 
The ouananiche fishing, on the other hand, is surpris- 
ingly good, notwithstanding that the water is still a little 
high. The best of the sport will doubtless be had this 
year in July. The fish are running large, and the killing 
of doubles is considered so rislcy by the guides on accoimt 
of the size of the fish that they are generally urging the 
fishermen to use but one fly, a piece of advice which, it 
is scarcely necessary to add, has not much weight with 
anglers who are well supplied with tackle and enjoy the 
kind of sport in which there are some good chances on 
the side of the fish. 
Most of the fishing club men who have l>een trouting 
along the line of the Quebec and Lake St. John Railway ■ 
have returned home, well satisfied with the result of their 
trips, but Lake Edward and other open waters have still 
many visitors on their banks. 
Importance of the Canadian Fisheries. 
The newly published Year Book of Canada for 1902, 
just issued by the Dominion Government, contains some 
valuable information concerning the commercial fisheries 
of Canada. It may surprise some people to learn that the 
total value of last year's yield of the marine and fresh 
water fisheries of Canada was $25,737,153, or $4,179,514 
more than that of the preceding year. No fewer than 
78,290 fishermen were engaged during the year, exclusive 
of 15,135 nien who found employment in lobster canneries, 
while the salmon canning industry of British. Columbia 
gave employment to 18,942 persons. The value of vessels, 
boats, nets, piers, etc., connected with the fisheries of the 
Dominion is placed at $11,491,300. The number of fry 
distributed from the Government hatcheries last year was 
larger than that of any previous year, the totals outside of 
120,000,000 young lobsters, having been 151,401,000. 
Mr. Carnegie's Hatcheries. 
Speaking of fish hatcheries reminds me that Mr. Car- 
negie is devoting a good deal of time and attention to 
the same subject on his Skibo estate. Many sportsmen, 
as well as most of the intimate friends of the master of 
this estate, are aware of the fact that while Mr. Carnegie 
never handles a gun, he is an ardent angler, and will 
linger patiently for hours beside a moorland stream. The 
scarcity of salmon, both in sea and stream, however, has 
been very marked within recent years in the neighborhood 
of Skibo, and with the view of improving the angling on 
his estate, Mr. Carnegie has constructed both salmon 
and trout hatcheries on an elaborate and extensive scale. 
The sites of the tanks on the banks of the River Evelix 
Jj?ive been personally selected by Mr. and Mrs. Carnegie, 
and the aid of almost every expert in Scotland has been 
solicited in order to render the scheme successful. 
The Supply of Salmoa, 
There would be some hope for the future of the remain- 
ing American, Canadan and Newfoundland salmon rivers 
if those who are interested in the commercial fisheries 
of these coimtries could be induced to take the same in- 
telligent interest in the preservation of the supply of fish 
in the waters where they set their nets as is manifested by 
the corresponding classes in Great Britain. Judging by 
the loud complaints in the newspapers, the Government of 
Great Britain is no more to be depended upon for enforc- 
ing the laws enacted for the preservation of fish than are 
those on this side of the Atlantic. It is true that there 
have been recent Royal Commissions upon both the Irish 
salmon fisheries and upon those of the Tweed. Their re- 
ports were made some time ago, but no Government ac- 
tion followed them. Recognizing the fact that it was 
obviously unwise to hope for any substantial and inmre- 
diate legislative reform unless influential pressure could 
be brought to bear, the Fishmongers' Company have taken 
a step which entitles them to the gratitude of all who are 
interested in the salmon fisheries, ■whether as a means of 
profit or for sport, and it ought to be unnecessary to add 
that the interests of the nets and the rods are practically 
identical. If there are no fish in the upper waters to 
provide sport for anglers, it is certain that the yield of the 
nets will fall off. At a recent meeting convoked at the 
instance of the Fishmongers' Company, a salmon and 
trout association for the United Kingdom was formed. 
At the head of the list of members, already fairly long, 
occur the names of the Duke of Abercorn, the Duke of 
Bedford, the Earl of Denbigh, Sir Herbert Maxwell, and 
other distinguished persons, while among others of the 
membership, notable for their special technical knowledge 
of the sul)jcct, are Messrs. Willis Bund, author of "Sal- 
mon Problems ;" A. D. Berrington, W. H. Grenfell, Henry 
Fcnnell, Dr. Noel Baton, and others. The objects of the 
new association arc to improve the salmon and trout 
fisheries of the United Kingdom, and to render operative 
such .recommendations of recent Royal Commissions as 
may be deemed advisable. Sub-committees will be ap- 
])ointed to deal with the various aspects of salmon and 
tTOUt fisheries, both as commercial industries and from 
the sporting standpoint, and attention will be directed to 
the important questions of river pollution, water supply 
and fishculture. 
It is quite impossible to point out how very much room 
there is for a somewhat similar organization on this side 
of the water. Those interested solely in the commercial 
fisheries of this country and of the United States are 
singularly blind, as a general rule, to the fact that their 
interests are identical with those of the angler, their chief 
endeavor being to prevent the parent fish, as far as possi- 
ble, from ascending the river to spawn, in order that they 
may swell the yield of their nets. It is simply another 
cf.se of killing the goose which lays the golden egg. 
There is over netting at the mouths of nearlj'- all the 
Canadian salmon rivers, and I Avas only told last week by 
one American angler that he had been compelled to give 
up his lease of a river because he found that his efforts to 
stock it were neutralized bj' the netting at its mouth. 
E. T. D. Chambers. 
The Adirondack Fish Mortality. 
Edit or Forest and Stream: 
One of the lamentable results of the extensive forest • 
fires in the Adirondack region this year, notably in Frank- 
lin and Essex counties, was the destruction of an enor- 
mous number of speckled trout. Just wdiat caused the 
death of so many fish is not definitely known, but it 
seems absolutely certain that tlie mortality was in some 
way occasioned by the wilderness conflagrations. 
Various theories have been advanced in regard to the 
actual and immediate agency Avhich brought such whole- 
sale slaughter, but none of them appear to be entirely 
satisfactor3^ Reports received from Elizabethtown and 
Lake Placid were to the eft'ect that quantities of dead 
trout had been found along streams that pass through the 
regions burned over, the fires evidently having warmed 
the water sufficiently to kill the fish. Another statement 
was that several hundred pounds of trout had been picked 
up along the Upper Boquet River, as a result of the 
serious forest fires in that section, one of the explanations 
volunteered being that the Avater in the river became so 
hot that the fish were unable to survive. It seems quite 
possible that the Avater in, a small brook, flowing at a 
moderate rate for some distance through a portion of the 
wilderness Avhere fires were raging fiercely, might be 
heated sufficiently so that the trout it contained Avould be 
killed. On the other hand, it appears almost absurd to 
argue that the water in a large stream having any con- 
siderable depth, could be warmed up by the fires to such 
an extent as to cause the death of its finny inhabitants. 
As the Boquet River and some of the other streams in 
Avhich dead trout were found have quite a respectable 
volume of Avaler, people of an inquiring turn of mind are 
trying to think out some other possible reason for the 
death of the fish. 
The story comes from New Hampshire that dead fish 
were observed in the streams of that State during the 
late Avilderness eonllagrations, and a New Hampshire 
authority takes the ground that they were killed by pot- 
T'sh or alkali leached from the forest fire ashes into the 
brooks by the heavy rains. On the face of it, such an ex- 
planation looks quite reasonable, and possibly there is 
some truth in it, but it Avill not apply to the Adirondack 
region, for the trout which were found dead there per- • 
ished during the drought and the fires, prior to the time 
v/hen the rains set in. 
It is said that one of the results from the recent burn- 
ing of the Malone paper mill Avas that all fish in Salmon 
River below the mill for ten miles were killed by the acid 
from the sulphite mill being precipitated into the stream. 
That great destruction of fish life might be_ occasioned 
in some such way as this can easily be credited, but so 
far as can be learned, no one has yet advanced the theory 
that the trout in the Adirondack streams first mentioned 
may have died from poisoning. In the absence, however, 
of any explanation which is wholly satisfactory as to the 
manner in which the trout in Boquet River aticd a tium- 
ber of other streams met their fate, is it not worth while 
for someone to look into the subject carefully and ascer- 
tain Avhether or not it is possible they were poisoned by 
wood acid, wood alcohol, the creosote in wood tar, or 
some other product from the burned trees? Pyroligneous 
acid, or wood vinegar, a crude commercial form of acetic 
acid, is made by the destructi\'e distillation of wood, and 
Avho can say that Avhen the fires were raging fiercest they 
did not sometimes produce from the green wood con- 
sumed a liquid substance of a somewhat similar nature, 
which, finding its way into the streams, caused the death 
of the trout by poisoning? Of course, in destructive or 
dry distillation, a closed vessel or receptacle is required, 
and this important feature in the process of manufactur- 
ing wood acid was lacking in the forest fires, but that 
there were juices constantly exuding from the green 
v/ood under the itifluence of the great heat cannot be 
doubted, and the question is. Were these of a poisonous 
nature? It seems quite possible that some of the liquid 
products of the burning wood may have possessed proper- 
ties Avhich rendered them destructive to fish life. 
This klea is simply thrown out as a suggestion, but it 
appears to merit the thoughtful consideration of those 
Avho are investigating the subject. Perhaps if all the 
conditions were known the heat theory would appear 
more plausible, but under the circumstanc.es the possibility 
that the fish were poisoned seems to be sti'ong enough 
to warrant attention, It is hoped that the State 
authorities will look into the matter carefully, and 
eventually be able to furnish the public with positive in- 
formation concerning the cause of the great mortality 
among the Adirondack trout. W. E. Wolcott. 
Utica, N. Y., Juhe 27. 
In Western Massachusetts. 
Springfiet.d, Mass., June.— The best of our trout 
season is nosv behind us here in AA'estern Massachusetts, 
and only the most enthusiastic anglers have done much 
fishing. No rain fell during the month of May, and 
this made the brooks so low that the trout went into 
the deep pools in the woods, where it was impossible 
to cast a fly over them. No one can remember a more 
disappointing season, for it opened well and every one 
was Avaiting for the time when the apple trees broke 
into a cloud of pink and white bloom, for it is then 
that our season is at its height. But the brooks be- 
gan to fall before the flowers came, and not until after 
June I did we haA'e any rain, and even noAV the brooks 
are not getting much of the water, as the parched 
fields and woods claim it all. Down here on the 
southern border of the State our anglers can take ad- 
A'antagc of the Connecticut law and fish there from 
April I to 15, on which latter date our season now 
opens and remains open until July 15, while the Con^ 
necticut season closes July i, and then we will have 
our friends from over the border Avith us and retttrn a 
fcAV favors. This law of ours is a sore subject, as it 
was put through the Legislature while our anglers 
were dreaming of past trips to the brook and lake sides, 
and as a result of the nap, the season in our four 
Avestern counties — Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and 
Franklin — were shortened two months, while the ang- 
lers in the eastern part of the State can fish from April 
I to Sept. I, as of yore. Some of our leading anglers, 
headed by James Brigham, got up a petition asking the 
Legislature to give us back our old season here in 
Hampden county, but the people up in Berkshire de- 
feated us. Next season the fight will be made again, 
and the season should be changed, .as the fifteen days 
Avhich Avere taken off from the first of the open time, are 
apt to give us our best sport, and there is ahvays good 
fishing in the meadows on an August evening. Our 
fish do not run for the spaAvning beds until after Octo- 
ber I, and as most of our good brooks are controlled 
by clubs, it is hard to see Avhy we should be protected 
from ourseh^es Avhen we have to rent or buy our water, 
and the State will not give us fish or fingerlings to 
stock our brooks. 
The March weather was beautiful, the days warm 
and clear, and the nights not too cold. This could 
have but one result. It made people crazy to fish, and 
many a trout was stolen before the seaso-n opened. 
April I came at last, cold and drear, but everyone who 
had friends on the other side of the State line went 
bounding down there and great Avas their reward. The 
brooks, Avhich run into the Scantic River, are always 
good early in the season; Kettle Brook, at Windsor 
Locks, yielded up some big ones, and many of those 
in Stafford contributed big trout. ' Even the oldest 
angler was surprised at the size of the fish, for they 
Avere large and in perfect condition. The strange part 
of the day was that the fish took a fly freely, and jungle 
cocks and alder flies seemed to be the most killing. It 
was a cold day, but our local woman ventured out and 
landed one trout weighing 17 ounces, an imusually large 
one for this section of the country. Our own season 
opened more inauspiciously, and a stinging sleet and 
rain cut the hands of the ardent ones on the first tAvo 
days, and the half frozen fish SAvallowed the worms and 
then laj' an the bottom like suckers. Fly-fishing was 
out of the question, and it Avas A^ery tame sport. A 
week or so later the fishing improved, and the bigger 
fish began to take interest in royal-coachman and coav- 
dungs, but tlie hackles did not kill for another Aveek 
for some strange reason, for they have always been 
one of the most killing flies on our brooks, especially 
a small brown hackle with a red and gold body. It is 
not a nice thing to record, but most of our anglers 
use Avorms in fishing our brooks. Fl}f-fishing has not 
the hold here that it should have, and the reason is 
hard to understand, as both the North and South 
Branch clubs — our two largest and best trout clubs — 
"control beautiful stretches of meadow fishing where the 
fly-fishing is of the best, and excellent sport can be 
enjoyed Avith a 4-ounce rod if it is properly handled. 
The fishing on both the North and South branches 
Avas good during the early part of the season, but 
during May was poor, as the brooks were both too 
low. None of the members of either club ever try to 
catch big creels, as they do not want to deplete their 
waters, and put back all small fish, but some fine bas- 
kets of 20 or 25 fish have been taken during the early 
