10 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Qan. 2, 1904. 
.. While I have no desire to mix in the - controversy, 
yet, as one who is interested in the industries of my 
native town, and in the interests of fair play, I make 
the following statement, which I am willing to declare 
under oath if necessary: 
. I. I have spent a portion of every sumrher on Wills- 
boro Point, Lake Champlain, for more than forty 
years, last past, and I never found better fishing 
than during the present summer. One man with hook 
and line caught tweenty-six wall-eyed pike within a 
short distance of my camp one day this summer, and 
we never failed to secure a good catch when the con- 
ditions were at all favorable. 
2. I only saw one dead fish during the entire month 
I spent in my camp, and that was a perch. We were 
intent on finding dead fish, if they were to be found, 
as we had heard of the charges made by Mr. Hatch 
and others, and were looking for verification of them. 
3. Like all fresh water lakes, Champlain purifies it- 
self every summer. The natives call it "working." At 
that time the organic matter, held in solution in the 
water, rises to the surface in the form of scum and 
finally reaches the shore. I have never known a sum- 
mer in the last forty years that this has not occurred, 
and I have seen no increase, either in the quantity or 
quality of this matter since the pulp mills were erected. 
In fact, I have seen a far larger accumulation of this 
scum on the shores of the lake some seasons years be- 
fore there was a pulp mill in the State of New York. 
4. From my personal knowledge, the charges made 
in the above referred to interview, that the waters of 
the lake about the shores of Willsboro Point were foul 
with the deposits from the pulp mills, or that there 
was a stench other than that which always arises from 
the organic matter when first thrown up on the shore, 
I know to be false. I own over eighty rods of water 
front on Willsboro Point, and was on the property 
for a full month during July and August last, and know 
that no such conditions existed as are affirmed in the 
interview above referred to. 
I, as a property owner there, resent these false state- 
ments and believe they are calculated to depreciate the 
value; of my property, hence my interest in the matter. 
Yours truly. 
MiLFORD H. Smith. 
My dear Mr. Mason: 
Your letter of Oct. 17 is received. You are at per- 
fect liberty to make any use of the letter I wrote you 
that you please, and. I, am willing and will back up any 
and every statement in, it when and wherever it is re- 
quired. 
I am entirely ignorant of Mr. Hatch's object in an- 
tagonizing every one with whom he comes in contact, 
but I know he possesses the ability to do so to a 
marked degree. 
As far as the reported threats against his life, I pre- 
sume they are quite as real as is his "Adirondack Pre- 
serve" on Willsboro Point. He has possession of 
about 200 acres, part of which he has no deed for, of 
farm land, not one acre of which is virgin forest, and 
most of which has been under cultivation for nearly 
a hundred years. Yours truly, 
MiLFORD H. Smith. 
Paper Mill Creek. 
San Francisco, Cal., Dec. 9. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have just returned from a day's outing on 
one of our local coast streams, the Paper Mill Creek, 
and the sport I had is worth chronicling. 
This creek is a bonanza to our local fishermen, easy 
of access, it yearly restocks itself, thus yielding many 
a fine basket during the season. We are fortunate in 
having good fishing during the entire year. Trouting 
for seven months in the creek proper, salmon and steel- 
head during the greater portion of the winter months, 
in tide water. 
A month or so previous to my outing, the salmon 
(Quinnat) were in the pools waiting for the annual 
freshets to enable them to ascend to their spawning 
grounds. During this time many were taken with rod 
and line, and afforded fair sport. The recent storms 
enabled them to move to the headwaters and at the 
same time brought in a few steelhead. I was in quest 
of this game fish, and cannot recall when I had such 
winter sport. I had a mile or so of tide water all to 
myself, and embraced the opportunity by landing fif- 
teen young steelhead, ranging in weight from 54 of 
a pound to 2 pounds, and one 8-pounder, 
When leaving home I had but a short time in which 
to catch the boat, and in the bustle of getting away 
picked up my 5^-ounce fly-rod, which had never 
been taken from its case, my intentions being to use 
it for the first time on my annual outing in 1904. T, 
however, had no other recourse, and I am now more 
convinced than ever that light tackle gives the greater 
sport in angling for game fishes, whether they weigh 
I pound or 20 pounds. 
The small fish were taken on a No. 12 hook, with a 
salmon egg for bait, using no sinker. The 8-pounder, 
on a small La Forge spinner, was taken from a pool 
known as the Rock Hole, an ideal loafing place for 
steelhead on their way to the spawning beds. When 
within a short distance of this pool I observed a fish 
break water., the brush was quite dense and I could 
not tell whether it was a salmon or steelhead. My first 
cast brought a monster salmon half out of the water 
in his mad rush to get the spinner. Not wishing to 
hook on to this fish (my time then being limited), 
which might have taken an hour or two to land, and 
feeling certain that steelhead were in the pool, I jerked 
the spinner out from between his jaws, and he disap- 
peared* leaving the water in a very disturbed state. 
Fresh fun salmon in tide water put up a good fight, 
but after being in brackish water for a month or six 
weeks they become weak and exhausted, and when 
hooked, hug the bottom and make a slow, tedious fight, 
and more especially would it have been the case on 
account of my light tackle. As it was nearing the 
noon hour I laid my rod to one side and passed an en- 
joyable ihour eating my lunch and taking the proverbial 
When the waters of this pool had subsided and re- 
sumed their natural condition, I again took up my rod, 
and after a few ineffectual casts succeeded in placing 
mv spinner under the willows, allowing sufificient time 
for it to disappear, and when about to retrieve the 
line 1 had a strike, and in less time than it takes to 
write it had hooked the beauty. He was in the air 
in a second, and a fight was on with the king of game 
fishes in our California coast streams— a steelhead 
trout. His rushes were most exciting, the first one, 
fortunately for me, was away from the willows, where I 
had hooked him, up stream fifty yards or so, I then 
gave him the butt gently, he again went in the air 
and tore down past me to the shallow end of the pool 
and landed on terra firma. I was in a dilemma, thirty 
yards from my fish and he also on land. He floundered 
around a good deal in his endeavor to reach the deep 
water, which he eventually did with what little assist- 
ance I could give, much exhausted, but with consider- 
able fight still left in him. I seldom use a gaff, and 
found some difficulty in landing him. The first at- 
tempt was a complete failure, as I pricked my finger 
on the hook when trying to grasp him by the gill. I 
immediately withdrew my hand, and he again started 
across the pool. On the second attempt he came along 
right side up with care, and I had him on the bank 
just twenty-five minutes after having hooked him. 
James Watt. 
Fish and Fishing. 
Poaching in Canadian Waters. 
American owners or lessees of Canadian fishing privi- 
leges cannot be too particular about the character of their 
guardians and the manner in which they perform their 
auty as protectors of fish life. It has only recently be- 
come the duty of the Sportsmen's Fish and Game Pro- 
tective Association of the Province of Quebec to notify 
one of the fish and game clubs in the United States con- 
trolling fishing and hunting privileges along the route of 
the Quebec and Lake St. John Railway that their 
guardian has been convicted and fined at Roberval, at 
the instance of the Association, for selling partridges 
contrary to law. It is altogether likely that the Govern- 
ment will withdraw this man's commission as a fish and 
garne guardian. I have no desire to insinuate anything 
against the general body of men employed by fish and 
game clubs in this countr}', but I do know that the war- 
den of whom I have just spoken is one of the very 
last men whom I would have suspected of offending 
against the law. Not only a firm resolve to resist tempta- 
tion, but the exercise of constant vigilance is essential 
to a proper fulfillment of the duties of warden, especially 
in a community where there is such a systematic con- 
tempt for fish and game laws as exists in many parts of 
the Dominion of Canada. 
I have before me at the present moment a letter from 
a prominent public man in the district of Gaspe, a part of 
which reads as follows: "There is much to say in these 
parts about fish and game protection. The only protection 
there is here is that furnished by the guardians appointed 
by the different river owners or lessees. The Govern- 
ment guardians hereabouts don't count for anything, and 
are perfectly useless as far as fish and game protection 
is concerned. Our population does not hunt much, so 
there is not much game poaching, but for fish the owners' 
guardians have to keep a sharp lookout. In the unleased 
streams the fish disappear nearly as soon as they enter the 
river." The reference to fish in the above extract, as 
will immediately have been perceived by most readers, is 
to salmon, and I know from many sources that the pic- 
ture is not overdrawn. The fish and game protective 
associations of Quebec and Montreal have far too much 
to do nearer home to be able to keep a watchman upon 
each of these unleased rivers so ifar away from their 
center of operations, and it is a lamentable fact that 
nothing in the way of protection need be looked for from 
the majority of the poorly paid guardians of the Govern- 
ment scattered throughout the country districts. Yet it 
would amply repay the Government to properly protect 
their unleased salmon rivers for a term of years until 
they become well stocked with fish, when there will be no 
difiiculty in leasing them for a large rental. At present, 
as soon as one or more salmon make their appearance 
in one of these streams, they are scooped out of it, either 
with a spear or with a net. 
Shipments of Lake St, John Fish for New York. 
It is very much to be regretted that Vvhile so much 
trouble and expense are being incurred to hatch and plant 
ou^naniche and salmon fry in Lake St. John waters, the 
Government should continue to issue licenses for netting 
the waters of the lake. It is claimed by the netters that 
ouananiche are not taken by them, but it is pretty well 
known that all is fish that comes to the nets of this class 
of fishermen, and the protective association at Quebec 
has kept a pretty sharp lookout upon the consignments 
of fish from Lake St. John which reached that city since 
ihe_ close of the ouananiche season. In the boxes of fish 
which were_ expressed to New York' after the close of 
the season it was confidently expected that ouananinche 
would be found. Several have been opened and examined ; 
in Quebec, but not one of those addressed to New York 
dealers contained ouananiche. The fish which have been 
shipped through from Lake St. John are principally pike, 
pike-perch or dore, and ling or burbot. Then certain, 
boxes consigned to Canadian dealers were opened, and in 
them were found more of the ouananiche than of any 
oiher kind of fish. Of course they were all confiscated, 
and after two or three consignments had thus been seized, 
the export of the fish in question completely ceased. No 
doubt occasional ouananiche are still taken in the nets 
under the ice at Lake St. John, but if so they are all used 
for local consumption. Considerable surprise was ex- 
pressed by some of the members of the Protective Asso- 
ciation at the fact that the ouananiche shipped by dealers 
from Lake St. John, being the choicest of the fish ex- 
ported by thein, were all consigned to Canadian instead 
of to American dealers. Local dealers with whom I have 
talked upon the subject say that the ouananiche, despite 
the superior quality of its flesh, is not sought or wanted 
by the trade in New York, because it is virtually un- 
known to cqnsumers and to the market men, there, and 
would l)e practically valueless, especially when shipped 
in smaU quantities mixed in with other varieties of fish. 
It is a blessing to anglers that this is so. It is also a 
comfort to them to know that there is a good demand 
in the United States for pike and dore and burbot, and 
that these are being taken in considerable numbers from 
the waters of Lake St. John, where they rank among the 
worst enemies of the ouananiche. 
, . E. T. D. Chambers* 
A Nebraska Fish Story* 
Omaha, Neb. — Captain Charles H. Townsend, the' 
chief clerk in the Chief Quartermaster's office, Depart 
ment of the Missouri, recently received by express a 
muskallonge caught by his niece. Miss Georgia D. Town- 
send, at Lake Ripley, Wisconsin, while fishing through 
a hole in the ice. The fish weighed 2914 pounds, and for 
two or three days was on exhibition in the window of 
the Townsend Gun Company, where it attracted a great 
deal of attention. Yesterday a colored man was engaged 
to clean the fish, and while engaged in the work re 
marked that it was the first fish he had ever seen or heard 
of that had a tongue. The "tongUe" proved to be the 
tail of a large black bass, which had been swallowed by 
the big fish, and which weighed 3 pounds 5 ounces. 
While this may not be anything out of the ordinary, it 
certainly rattled the windows in this section. The ques- 
tion which now arises is, should Miss Townsend be given 
credit for having caught a fish that weighed 29^ pounds, 
or should the weight of the bass be deducted? If the 
latter, should a further deduction be made for the weight 
of a minnow found in the bass? While not wishing to 
deprive the young lady of the honor of having caught the 
largest fish exhibited in Omaha for a number of years, 
some are inclined to the belief that she should be credited 
with having caught three fish on one hook, instead of 
one. The writer will state that he saw the fish, and was 
present when the two were weighed. 
John Dicks Howe. 
Big Fish of the Monocacy. 
Frederick, Md.— One of the largest small-mouth black 
bass ever caught out of the Monocacy River, Maryland, 
was taken by Nicholas Brust. The length was 21% 
inches, the girth 14^4, and its weight 6 pounds the day 
after it was caught. There have been caught also some 
very fine strings of bass from the Monocacy this year, 
running in size from i>4 pounds to over 4 pounds, and 
even to 6 pounds. The 6-pound bass is given credit as 
being the largest ever caught in the Monocacy. 
August and Nicholas Brust also caught a very fine 
string of bass on the Potomac River, the largest weigh- 
ing 5J4i the seven weighing 171-^ pounds, J. B. 
— ^ — 
Westminster tKennelj Club's Show. 
New York. — Appended is our list of judges for the 
ixxt show, to be held February 10-13, 1904: 
James Mortimer, Supt. 
Dudley E. Waters, Grand Rapids, Mich.— St. Bernards. 
J. Blackburn Miller, New York, N. Y.— Great Danes. 
John Brett, Fisher's Island, N. Y.- — Greyhounds, fox- 
licunds (American), Chesapeake Bay dogs, pointers, 
setters. 
Dr. S. J. Bradbury, Lynbrook, L. I. — Sporting spaniel-sl 
W. J. Pegg, London, England. — Bulldogs and bull- 
terriers. 
E. D. Faulkner, New York, N. Y. — French bulldogs. 
Alex. L. Goode, Boston, Mass.— Boston terriers. 
Chas. D. Bernheimer, New York, N. Y.- — Poodles. 
E. Lester Jones, Madison, N. J. — Beagles. 
E. Powell, Jr., Shrewsbury, England.— Fox-terriers 
and Welsh terriers. 
O. W. Donner, Rye, N. Y. — Irish terriers. 
Dr. F. C. Ewing, St. Louis, Mo. — Scottish terriers. 
George Raper, Gomersal, England. — rBloodhoundsi 
mastiffs, Newfoundlands, deerhounds, . Russian wolf- 
hounds, foxhounds (English), griffons, retrievers, collies, 
old English sheep dogs, Dalmatians, Chows, Airedales, 
Basset hounds, dachshunds, whippets, black and tan ter- 
riers, Skyes, Bedlingtons, Dandle Dinmonts, Schipperkes, 
pugs, all toys, miscellaneous classes and unclassified 
specials. 
Df. "Webb's Preserve Open. 
Utica, N. Y., Dec. 26.— The noted park of Dr, W. 
Seward Webb, which includes 8,000 acres of forests and 
lakes, and had confined several herds of moose, elk, cairi- 
bcu, black-tailed deer, English stags, and other game, has 
been thrown open to the public. Dr. Webb havinsr de- 
molished the fence which has for many years defined the 
margins of the preserve. 
From the first Dr. Webb has been one of the largest 
owners of Adirondack lands. The park has been stocked 
systematically from year to year with game and fish, and 
several families of beavers have made their homes in it. 
Dr. Webb has from time to time granted hunting and 
fishing permits to reputable sportsmeh , who desired to 
visit his Adirondack lands, and in this manner has main- 
tained friendly relations with the element which now Op- 
poses the reservation of private lands' in the " North 
Woods. _ ' ' ■ 
It is said that his decision to turn his carefully selected 
moose, elk, boars, etc., loose upon public lands was not 
brought about by the opposition to the plans of wealthy 
men in the woods, but is caused by forest fires, which 
necessitate the removal of the standing timber to the saw- 
mills. The water journey between Tupper . Lake and 
Beaver River, which was interrupted by Dr. Webb's 
fence, will now be open to canoes,, as wil many ofl;$f 
waterway?— New York Times^ _ ■ : - 
