Nov. II, 1905.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
The Dominating Carp. 
Second Paper. 
Evanston, 111., Nov. 2 . — Blessed with a country so 
prospersous that neither Aladdin’s lamp nor the dreams 
of Midas could ever conjure up its wealth, _ it certainly 
should not stand idly by with its untold millions and see 
the finest body of pure water which is combined in our 
Great Northwestern Lakes turned into a pasture for the 
propagation of an alien fish so coarse that even a coal- 
heaver would rej ect it. • . . 
If the magnitude of the present increase of the oifen- 
sive carp now naturally progressing in these waters could 
only be realized, as well as its great danger to the ex- 
tinction of all our fishes, there would not be a single sane- 
person who would not desire the destruction of this 
foreign outlaw who is the very curse of our waters. Com- 
prehend, if you can, that h^ has now allotted to him as 
one specialty wherein to roam and_ propagate at his 
pleasure, an area of 100,000 square miles of an unbroken 
reservoir of pure water as well as an addition of_ 1,500 
rivers which are tributary to this vast basin, the pride of 
America. No wonder that a distinguished_ member of the 
American Fisheries Society proudly exclaimed, “That aU 
the barrels of money we can open will not destroy thern” ; 
and therein lies the' great danger to our game and edible 
fishes. Just so sure as the sun shines and the stars 
twinkle it will eventually be the dominating fish of this 
country. Men may come and men may go, but this coarse 
carp will go on forever, this with an apology to Tenny- 
son. The annual increase of this scavenger will progress 
in the same ratio as compound interest, and that is a 
startling fact. 
This is no Chinese puzzle, for the most simple mathe- 
matics will solve the problem to a nicety. He, however, 
who comes to seek knowledge in this matter with a inind 
to scorn and censure will find nothing for his instruction, 
for a palpable error to him is more acceptable than an 
unquestioned fact. His idol is the unregenerated carp, 
and to this he bends with the most submissive humility. 
To quote we will state “that ignorance, which is the wet 
nurse of prejudice, never yet won a case on its merits. 
There is little or no use talking about the carp’s edibil- 
ity, for it is generally recognized as a coarse fish of low 
degree, and to substitute it for our magnificent fishes, 
which are highly appreciated the world ove_r,_ is enough 
to make the very angels weep. I am not aspiring to be a 
dictator when the enjoyment of the salivaries is to be 
considered, for I believe in an open door in this com- 
merce and therefore think it best to ernulate the old 
woman of pastures green, when, after kissing the pow, 
she fervently proclaimed “Everybody to their own liking.” 
That is my platform, and therefore _ it would not be 
felicitous for anyone to strive to drive an ignoble carp 
down the turnpike of my throat for my gastrics. to dis- 
dainfully reject. 
It has culminated as a sad mistake of our Bureau of 
Fisheries, and I deeply regret that it has, for the grand 
work that able and efficient corps of officials has con- 
summated is to be highly commended. They have built 
up the fading cod fisheries to a great extent, established 
subaqueous farms for the rearing of sponges in Florida, 
and on the Potomac they are fattening oysters by a new 
process, and have also built up the shad fisheries ; in fact, 
saved them from total destruction, and in addition placed 
this year some 250.000,000 whitefish in the Great Lakes, 
as well as accomplishing other great scientific works, 
which have proved of incalculable benefit to the entire 
country. 
If they can only rid our Great Lakes of this cursed 
carp no honors will be too great to bestow upon them. 
I am fearful, as others are, that it is a task like cleansing 
the Augean stables. They are here, I think, to stay, and 
grow and multiply till they become one vast army of un- 
told millions. This fish is a_ marvel of longevity and 
growth and endurance. He will live in all waters— cold, 
warm, clear, dirty, stagnant and salt. He is hardy and 
pugnacious, and was never yet driven out of any water, 
no matter how manv game and savage fighting fish there- 
in. With such a fish, so wonderfully constructed and 
conditioned, what chance has any other fish in the. same 
waters? Place brook trout in a grayling stream and see 
how quick the grayling will disappear. That fact has 
been exemplified in the Michigan grayling streams, which 
were at one time quite generously populated with them; 
now you can hardly find a grayling in the entire Stat^ 
Not so with carp. He remains to the crack of doom and 
soon rules the waters with proud imperialism. 
It took 100 years to prove that fossils are organic, and 
150 years, according to Thoreau, to prove that they are 
not to be referred to the Noachian deluge. Let us have 
no such lapses of time to ascertain that the carp is wholly 
unfit for the culinary, and that it would be more duly 
honored in its complete absence from our lakes and rivers 
of pure water. I have never yet heard a single person 
. wdth whom I have conversed on this subject declare in 
favor of the carp. This alien is not in our line of progress 
as respects quality, and it simply stands for the entire 
depletion of our American fresh water fishes qnd sports 
therewdlh. To one who has learned the alphabet of the 
waters, the science of propagation and preservation, the 
mysteries of life and death under the seas, he will coincide 
with me -when I state that a great mistake has been made 
in introducing this finny harpy into our waters. The very 
devil, who stands for destruction of all good, lurks be- 
hind the deleterious carp. He is a veritable outcast in 
American waters; and yet there are some men. and in- 
telligent ones, too. who stand shoulder to shoulder with 
the carp and strive to choke him down the throats of all 
our people— ccrcmonie. It is far cheaper and better 
to protect the noble heritage that came to us in such rich 
harvests from watery realms than to experiment with a 
distrust. We have had some co,stly lessons of this kind 
taught us before, and the pestiferous _ sparrow is one of 
them.' to say nothing of the wild pigeon whose nocks 
darkened the very heavens, and the magnificent bisons, 
which were numbered by the millions as they roamed 
over our trackless prairies years ago and gave the red 
mau of the forest his sustenance ; and now we are to be 
red-ribboned with the anarchistic carp. 
fiieic e zealots who, in the ardor of their pursuit, 
forget the goal from which they started and claim every- 
thing m sight. They will find if they keep up the pur- 
suit with such vehemence that the miraculous draught 
of fishes liy our Saviour were all carp, and that it now 
has a divine flavor. They are invariably drunk with then 
certain belief and with that absorption their faculties are 
so enthused with loftiness and pride in their cause that 
they -really opine that feathers are sprouting front their 
shoulder blades. This is no frenzy finance a la Lawson, 
but a multitude of fads that will not be obliterated as 
long- as the carp is plowing the soil of our waters with its 
leatliery nose and turning up and tearing up the spawn- 
ing beds of our choice game and edible fishes, as well as 
•creaiing a turbid condition of the water as the vast 
armies advance on their vandal warfare of extermination. 
The introduction of the carp to our waters, which has 
ecu pi 1 i ;d by the United State Fish Commission in 
some fifteen hundred or more localities throughout the 
country, are now coming to the fore with startling rapid- 
ity and therefore attracting universal attention, not only 
l\ ilic j ortsmen but by others who have at heart the 
preservation of our lakes and rivers of pure water from 
the bold encroachments of this finny pariah. The cry as 
a defense or an apology for its incursion is that it will 
prove a trreat blessing to our indigent and improvident, 
as if- they were the sole beneficiaries and that alone was 
sufficient -compensation for the loss of our cherished game 
fishe.s as well as many of our choice edible fishes. Think 
01 the delicious whitefish stepping down and out with a 
tarewelt to his imperial carpship, and so of the gamy 
black bass, the toothsome brook and lake trout, the savage 
maskinonge, the pike, the perch, and so on through the 
entire list of our lake fishes. 
■What becomes of the other classes of our citizens? Are 
they not worthy of some consideration as to legislation 
relative to the transplanting and protection of otir fishes, 
or are. they to take pot luck and forever after hold their 
peace? Tfhere are not enough insurance companies to go 
around, and so, perforce, they will be left to take the 
topogfaphy of the heavens or go to some isolated waters 
where.:.Naiads come to comb and curl their golden locks 
and there angle for some overlooked sunfish. 
Of ' course, with the disappearance of our cherished 
fishes Hhe' devotees of the gentle art may as w'ell hang 
their pliant rods upon the willows, the tackle shops close 
their ironl door, the work shops allied thereto also go 
intcS retirement and all because the carp has become the 
monarch of the waters and pulled in the latch-string. Woe 
is me, Alhama ! Oh, ye gods ! what thick encircling dark- 
ness 'blinds the minds of men. There are truths which 
some despise because they have not examined, and which 
they will not examine because they despise. There is 
one person, and that is our worthy President, who will, 
we are positive, protest against the turning of our Great 
Lakes into pastures for the rearing of the ignoble carp, 
This will be fully realized on reading the dedication of 
his new book to John Burroughs. In it he distinctly em- 
phasizes his appreciation of the rich heritage which is left 
us. He very forcibly and feelingly says : 
“Every believer in manliness and therefore in manly 
.sport, and every lover of nature, every man who appre- 
ciates the majesty and beauty of the wilderness and of 
wild life, should strike hands with the far-sighted 
men who wish to preserve our material resources in the 
effort to keep our forests and our game beasts, game birds 
and game fish — indeed, all the living creatures of prairie 
and woodland and seashore — from wanton destruction.” 
If the persistent advocates for transplanting and pro- 
pagating carp in our Great Lakes can find a shred of con- 
solation in the above dedication they must possess an em- 
pire in their brains and a vanity like an insatiate cor- 
morant that soon preys upon itself. 
I am not alone in confronting this problem, for it has 
interested every one who is heart and soul in the saving 
of our -fresh water fishes, so dear to all. Public opinion 
is now. becoming so strong in this matter that Congress 
will -doubtless have to recognize it and strive to correct 
the -evil before it is too late. It looks to me as if this 
scavenger has now such an overpowering hold on our 
great reservoirs that the work of reducing them to any 
material extent will prove such a gigantic undertaking as 
to fairly daze our officials. The State of Illinois, realiz- 
ing a- similar condition in Fox Lake, one of her great nur" 
series of game and food fishes, made an attempt last year 
to have, the undesirable fish eliminated therefrom. They 
took out about 40,000 pounds of them and then retired in 
dismay: from the hopeless task. This will undoubtedly be 
the fate, of our Great Lakes unless some great genius dis- 
covers a method to achieve the desired triumph. 
The only way, I think, to operate with hopes of success 
is to meet force with force. Let the Government increase 
its number of hatcheries, and do it generously, and so 
plant in the Great Lakes such a multiplicity of fry (young 
fish) of all species, (U‘, specially the best. If three or four 
hundred millions of fry are now annually put in, run it 
up to the billions, and if there is anything in propaga- 
tion, which I am confident there is, the increase would 
soon show itself. In addition to this let there be a rest of 
the lake fisheries for at least three years, and to make 
this effective, let there be an international harmony with 
Canada, for it is equally interested in our lake fisheries 
and has been loudly complaining of the evils the carp has 
wrought. A large number of men thus thrown out of 
employment by the closing of the fisheries could find em- 
ployment in the new hatcheries. If all the men_ could 
not thus secure work they could very readliy find it ®lse~ 
where and at wages more remunerative than now and 
employment much easier than the hard work they now 
have. This I think feasible, and the cost of the experi- 
ment would return fourfold to our Federal uncle. 
The State of Michigan will suffer more than any other 
State from the depletion of our Great Lakes. It is a per- 
fect paradise for hnglers, and I have not the least doubt 
that eight or ten thousand sportsmen visit it every year 
for the thrilling delights of rod and gun. Trout streams 
radiate it in every direction, inland lakes alive with fish 
dot it in every quarter, and then the lakes on its northern 
boundary present the best trout and bass fishing extant. 
Its railroad — the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railway — is 
called the “Fishing Line,” and it is no misnomer. I have 
for the past twenty years or more angled in^ the generous 
waters of that State and have had more thrilling delights 
in there taking trout, black bass and maskinonge than 
any other place. Again, en passant, it is the great deer 
State of the country, while its fields and forests abound 
w'ith partridge and the wild ducks are cut down by the 
hundreds where the wild rice grows in expansive waters 
and lagoons. 
Let the carp once get a strong foothold in these inland 
streams and lakes and make a clean sweep of the lakes on 
the north, the loss alone of the sporting element would 
aggregate a most surprising sum. Railroad passenger 
traffic would decline, hotels and boarding houses suffer, 
the many summer resorts on the waters languish, and, 
in fact, it would throw many out of employment. 
Now Michigan has a silver-tongued orator in the per- 
son of the Hon. William Alden Smith' and an otherwise 
active, enterprising and intelligent gentleman who would 
be the very person to bring this matter before Congress. 
In his early days he was associated with the Fish and 
Game Commission of that State and has a complete 
knowledge of the fisheries, both conimercially and spor- 
tively, and is thus eminently qualified to take up this 
gage of battle. We have known him for many years, 
have watched his c.ourse in Congress, which has been a 
very honorable and remarkable one, and we know he 
could do more to rectify this depletion of the Great Lakes 
than anyone. Let his constituents request his support in 
this matter and we are confident he will take up the battle 
and win it if any one can, for it is a most honorable and 
meritorious cause. 
If the public really knew all the facts about the intro- 
duction of this coarse and ungodly fish whose reproduc- 
tivity is perfectly marvellous, and whose tenacity to exist 
under the most unfavorable conditions, and whose aston- 
ishing growth and longevity are the wonder of all scien- 
tists and naturalists, it would rise up in its wrath and de- 
mand its immediate removal from our waters. Think of 
a country — and it is a possibility — with any one absolutely 
dominating species of fish. Again imagine, by way of 
comparison, of our forests with but one species of bird 
and that a crow or buzzard. This gives you some idea 
as to how we are drifting in our natural history. If we 
are to continue our transplanting of the finny tribe let' it 
be of a superior quality and not of a species with a cloven 
foot The carp is really the serpent in paradise. 
I 'have presented this additional letter on the “domi- 
nating carp,” as there was much I desired to state that 
was not given in my first. Alex. Starbuck. 
The Angler of the Qnais. 
It is said that the French touch no form of pleasure 
which they do not adorn and refine. In Paris they 
have adorned the pleasure of angling with a pole unique 
for size among the fishing rods of this earth, and they 
have refined it to the point of infinity by eliminating 
from it all expectation of catching fish. I mean that 
in Paris there is no worry or excitement about angling. 
It is all pure pleasure. The panoply of sport always 
appeals strongly to the French heart. No one is more 
carefully be-gaitered, be-gunned, be-dogged, and be- 
bandoliered than the shooter whom one meets in the 
heart of Paris on the eve of the ouverture; no one 
wears baggier knickerbockers than the French cyclist, 
or a more pronounced badge in his cap; no one glares 
through bigger goggles when he rides in a motor car. 
So 'no one has a longer rod than the French angler. 
“But,” you object, “the quais at Paris are high and 
steep, and he must have a long rod to reach the water 
at all,” That is very plausible, but I fear that it is not 
quite a fair statement of the case. It would be more 
true to say that, in order to have a long rod, he must 
fish off the quais. Anywhere else his weapon must 
excite ridicule. On an ordinary bank of three to five 
feet height what should a man be doing with about 
twenty-five feet of bamboo in his hands? But I may 
be doing him an injustice. There is a possible alterna- 
tive explanation of this prodigality of rod. Perhaps it 
is the complete absence of sport which brings the 
contemplative Parisian to the riverside; but whether it 
be his passion for a striking equipment or the im- 
possibility of catching fish which is responsible for his 
presence on the quais he is equally worthy of study, 
for, vainglorious or avid of tranquility , he is surely the 
happiest of all fishermen. 
During the past month of August I had many op- 
portunities of observing him. I _ have done so with 
amusement when I was merry, with contempt when I 
was out of temper, with exasperation when I looked 
for sport, and wdth despair at all times. But I have had 
to spend a week on a Derbyshire trout stream since 
in order to think of him with envy. You must know 
that I am one of those unfortunate anglers whom the 
dry fly has robbed of all pleasure in other forms of 
