FOREST ■ AND STREAM. 
atnoDg the colonists at that time. [New English Canaan, or 
New Canaan, containing an abstract of New England. 
“ Forces Hist. Tracis," vol. II., tract 5.] 
The original derivation of the word alewife is somewhat 
obscure, though it may probably have originated in Alarum, 
the name applied by Ansonius, a Lalin poet of the fourth 
century to the European shads in his celebrated poem on the 
Moselle River : 
"Quls non novlt, 
Strldentesque focls opsonla pkbls olanBos." 
The transition through the French “ alose," the English 
“allis," “allice," or “alize," is not difficult, and when we find 
these names, together with “alewife," applied indiscriminately 
to the same fish, it is, to say the least, suggestive. Such an 
etymology is, at least, more satisfactory than that of Josselyn 
so often quoted: “ The ulewife is like a Herrin, but has a 
bigger bellie, therefore called an Alewife " [An account of 
two voyages to New England ; a Description of the country, 
natives and creatures. By John Josselyn, Gent., 1073, Coll 
Mass. Hist. Soc., third series, III., 1833;] or that of 
Mitchell: “Called alewife, probably from the French alevin, 
the young fish rejected as being under size or Dr. Smith’s 
etymology, which has been so often quoted, has been adopted 
by our standard lexicographers, and which Professor Trum- 
bull so thoroughly explodes in the Report of the Commis- 
sioner of the Fish and Fisheries for 1871-2, p, 1G0.* 
THE RECENT FISHERY TROUBLE. 
T 7E credit the Toronto Globe with giving us what we 
* V have no doubt is the gist of the late trouble between 
our fishermen and those of the Provinces. It seems that our 
fishermen employed for the herring catch very large seines, 
some 250 fathoms long by 350 in effepth. With these seines 
“inbarring" the herring was attempted; that Is, one end of 
the net being fixed near the shore, a complete sweep was 
made around the arc of a circle. This, the Toronto Globe 
says, is illegal, according to the Newfoundland regulations. 
It is also affirmed that the fishing took place on Sunday, 
which is also in contravention of the law. The fishermen 
from the States being requested to desist, did so, with the ex- 
ception of the crew of one vessel. These people having re- 
fused to abide by the laws, the Newfoundlanders were stupid 
enough to destroy the American nets, thus taking the law into 
their own hands. We think our Canadian contemporary is 
quite in error as to the absence of fish on our coast. Special 
fish, it is true, are to be had on the Newfoundland coast, but 
we by no means admit that the destructive process has ren- 
dered fishing on the New England coast impossible. We 
may state that the cod never have been so plenty os this year 
on American waters, from Maine down to the capes of the 
Delaware, while they have been very rare on the Newfound- 
and coast. Possibly, as was remarked at the meeting of the 
American Fishcultural Association, the cod, disgusted with 
the decision of the Halifax Fishery Commission, have left the 
waters of the Dominion for more enlightened shores. We 
regret, though, exceedingly, any lawlessness on the part ol 
American fishermen, and we would be the last to uphold any 
measures in dereliction of the laws. Such contests we are 
afraid are, however, likely to continue, rather excited by per- 
sonal feelings than otherwise. If we are not misinformed, in 
former years herring were caught by the Newfoundlanders 
and sold to the vessels coming from the States. To-day the 
fishermen from Gloucester make the catch for themselves. 
Better vessels, more fully equipped and with the improved 
apparatus used by us, will in time deprive the Newfoundland 
fishermen of a portion of their hardly acquired gains. We 
do not say this with any idea of triumph or spread-eagleism. 
It is sure to happen in the course of time. Iq the Halifax 
dispute the question was not for us as to the plentifulness of 
fish in the waters about the coasts of the Dominion or 
of the Provinces, but whether the fishermen from the Prov- 
inces had the means or ways to catch a proportionate quantity 
of fish in our own littoral. If A and B, each for their own 
separate and divided account, have agreed to get all the fruit 
which may grow in the C and D orchards, and A, because 
he has longer ladders and more baskets, can pick twice as 
many fruit in the 0 and D orchards than can B, it is B’s 
misfortune, not A’s fault. 
Pound Neis on Statrn Island.— The reign of the pouud 
net fishermen in 8taten Island waters has been glorious, but 
transient. The nets were introduced two or three years ago, 
and took into their capacious meshes all the varieties of fish 
which of yore there rewarded the angler's patience. Now, 
before the final depletion of these fishing grounds, the Walton 
and Excelsior Clubs have, after much patient labor In 
8 , Ubj - eCt ' sepure<1 the passage of a bill which for- 
severe^nenni? 8elnc < pnrse or pound nets at any time under 
S* 1 1®"’ “I' 1 f ° rb,d8 llie use of fyke, drift or other 
TJSFSJS"* 1 T SepL '• Th0 ownera or occupants 
rpRirW^fM tafe,e ’ Bnd ? Dy P crsou who has been an actual 
Hfl? tbe °,'.' un, y for two years, are permitted to use 
.L-l ne * 8( extending out not over 110 feet from low-water 
Other persons may obtain a license to use such nets 
Sept. 1 to June 1, though no person can obtain u 
license for more than a single net. 
Oon Thanks. — We are much obliged to the Secretaries of 
the following clubs— the Yonkers Game and Fish Protective 
Society, the Black Hawk Club of Wisconsin und the Faro - 
ington Sportsmen’s Association— for copies of their Constitu- 
tion and By-Laws. Will other clubs kindly follow suit ? 
Michigan.— Residents along the banks of the Kulamazoo 
complain because the dam owners do not put up fi-,h chutes 
as required by law. Fish Commissioner Hon. Eli Miller is 
determined the law shall be observed, and he has completed 
the drawmgs and specifications of such shutes as are needed, 
and t lie engravers are now at work printing such cuts and ex- 
planations as will leave the supervisors no option but to en- 
force the law. 
Practical Instructions for Winter Preservation of 
Quail.— In reply to numerous inquiries elicited bv a com 
municatiou in our issue of Jan. 31, our correspondent gives 
the following very valuablo suggestions for the winter preser- 
vation of quail : 
Watertown, WIs., Feb. W. 
A park may be constructed very cheaply with a few bundles of laibs. 
havm« drat put up a frame by sotting posts In the ground, and nailing 
on scantling iwo by four. The lnclosure should be sixteen or twenty 
feet square und eight feet high, which will take two laths in length for 
the height of walls. The top may be covered with laths also, by having 
some girts or poles for them to rest on A part of the top should be cov- 
ered with hoards so that it will not leak lu a rain-storm, and the 
north and west sides boarded tight to keep off the cold winds, aud 
under the close part of the root. Set In a shock of corn stalks well 
spread out at the bottom for the birds to run under ; this they will nse 
for their sleeping apartments. Some brush or a small tree-top might 
be put In one end of the park for them to perch upon. There Bhould 
also be a bushel or two of sand aud flue gravel thrown In. Make your 
door so you can go in and out yourself, and be sure and have a lock on 
it und carry the k<y yonrself, for there are some two-legged 
sneaks that will catcb quail out of season. Now, put In your quad 
(this house will accommodate a hundred or more), and feed them 
every day with line wheat, screenings, or any kind of grain, and watch 
them and see how they enjoy It. They will soon look for your coming 
to feed them, and you will yourself enjoy It and consider yourself well 
paid for your trouble. 
In One weather my friend, Mr. Hoyt, lets his quail out, and they go 
about over the farm where they please, but they always come hack of 
their own neesrd. A few days ago he let them go, and on their return 
the next day they brought another flock of about two dozen more 
home with them to share tha hospitality of their friend und protector, 
snd Mr. Hoyt now has over Oily of these little hoarders that receive 
their dally food from his hands. a. m. Eaton, 
AN EXCELLENT IDEA. 
CIBOULAR FROM THE WEST JERSEY GAME PHOTEOTIVE SOCIETY, 
OF CAMDEN, N. J. 
Forest and Stream will be sent for fractions of a year 
as follows : Six months, $2 ; three months, $1. To clubs of 
two or more, $3 per annum. 
* I forget whether or not I made a note for you on the alleged deri- 
vation of " ulewife " from "aloof." l»r. J. V. O- smith, In his " Natural 
History of the Fishes of Massachusetts, 1833," was perhaps the lirst to 
record the suggestion that alewife is derived from the Indian word, 
aloof, signifying a lony fish." Dr Bartlett's Dictionary of American- 
isms, Webster’s, and I believe, Worcester's Dictionaries accept this 
etymology, and Professor Sohele De Vere, In his recently published 
volume of "Americanisms," Is misled Into recognizing In "alewife " a 
most ludicrous corruption of the Narragansett term '‘aloof," though he 
appears to have been struck by the objection that neither '• I " nor 
can have a place in a Narrsgansett word, aud he suggests that the 
original name may have beeu ainoop. 
The Narragansoit and Massaclm etts name of the alewife and her- 
ring (common 10 several species) was Aunum-og (plur), as noted by 
Roger Williams, and, with slight dialectic variation, by President 
Stiles, as you have seen. The only authority for •• aloof ” Is a letter of 
(the second) John Wluthrop, printed In the " Philosophical Transac- 
tions for 10TB" (No. 149), In which ho mentions the use of "the 
Ashes called aloof »» ” for manuring com fields. If we could refer to 
Wlnthrop’s manuscript, 1 am confluent wo should And that a copyist 
or prl ter bad substituted '* atoofeg " for » al<*fe«," i,e. alote or allies. 
We are in receipt of a circular, issued by the West Jersey 
Game Protective Association, which is admirable of its kind. 
LoDg ago we urged on fish commissioners the necessity of in- 
forming the general public what were the shapes and colors 
of fish placed by them in streams, and insisted that the only 
sensible method of instruction was the pictorial one. “How," 
we asked, “could an ignorant person tell whether he was 
catching a smolt or a fresh-water herring?" Acting on this 
idea, the circular we have before us is headed with a neatly 
colored lithograph of a California salmon one year old, the 
size of life. The printed matter reads as follows: 
Office ok the Wbst Jkrsby Game Protective Soc'y, l 
Camden, oew Jersey. | 
Editor Forest and Stream and Rod and Gun : 
Dear Sir-Above you have a representation taken from life of a Cali- 
fornia salmon, one year old. 
As tho West Jersey Game Protective Society, during the last two 
years, has placed lu the streams of Southern New Jersey a large num- 
ber of these flvh, as per the following statement : 
Great Egg Harbor River, 19,600; Mullica River, 19,000; Meurlce 
River, 18,600; Tuokahoe River, e.ooo ; Cohansey Creek, 9,600 ; Alio ways 
Creek, 8,000; Mantua Creek, 6,600; Timber Creek, 3.610; Oldman's 
Creek, 3,600; Salem Creek, 3,000; Dennis Creek, 9, 5oo ; Raccoon Creek, 
1 , 000 ; Woodbury Creek, 600. 
With the view of Introducing them In the waters of that psrt of the 
State, the committee having the matter in charge huve thought It ad- 
visable to tuke this meaus of luformlug the people la the vicinity of the 
abovc-menUoned streams In order tbul they may he protected and if 
caught, returned to the streams again. 
Your ossiHtanco In protecting these Ash and aiding tho soclAty In its 
efforts Is earnestly requested. Gbohob emlbn, 
Richard T. Mii.ler, 
Bsnjamin W. Richards, 
Committee, 
the FOREST AND STREAM AND ROD 
AND GUN TOURNAMENT 
For the Short-Range Championship 
maU- thr ^ medala ’ wbicb will be awarded to the teams 
: ** **<>° d -«d third best scores. Other orZ 
Ooei^f f ’ l ° ,ak ° Place at Conlin’s shooting gallery 
Open to teams from any organized rifle club. 
The teams 
Which they represent. lUfleLi /m.tJToTnV “V.® VUr ' 0U8 C ‘ Uh8 
mum pull of trigger, three pounds- .17 r !" WOl ‘ fht ; “ lnU 
tlielr own rifles »nd ammunition, or mo t 1 tUtDiah 
m»j desire. Number of Stiou-Tan i„ ‘ 80lu ’ r * a* they 
Shots Two .hot, win be alLed each 
hand. Targets— 200 -vard* . e0n, P«tltor. Position— Off- 
N. K. A. reduced m proportion totting!! a!* ° f U ‘° 
No practice allowed ou the dav of f h „ S ‘ho gallery. 1'raotlce— 
dollars to be paid at the office of the Fo“m Fee - F,vo 
and Gon, No. in Fulton street, N Y aii . ,o, J i * ND ll0D 
must bo entered ten days before the time hi m. J,^''""' l " , 0,u ‘ H ' to 
take place. The match to be governed hv n , B,,n0ttnM * <° 
relating to teams. Capuint of me V M ° f 11,0 N «• A * 
week before the cnnimeno mect of the match U ' # “ 4 *' ial1 " ,ect ouo 
arrangements, choose referees, and deckle m wh’a^r ” prollralnar * 
*ve teams shall shoot. The ref "e« Than ■ ,be,r 
clslon m all cases shall be Anal umpire, whose de- 
The match will commence on Monday March is „ . 
as was before published. 87 ’ M r “ '*• und not on ‘ho 11 th 
Clubs can enter up to the 13th of March. 
Pnize Offered.— T he U M P rv n 
‘‘NICK” ON ThFrigby -SHARPS CHAL- 
LENGE. 
Notice to Sportsmen.— H aving received so manycoramnnicatlons 
asking us for Information In legard to oar slx-sectlun bamboo trout, 
black bass, grilse aud aulrnon rods, we have prepared a circular on the 
subject, which we shall lake pleasure In forwarding to any address. 
We keep on hand all grades, the prtoes of which range from $16 to$160. 
We put our stamp only on the best, In order to protect our customers 
and our reputation, for we are unwilling to sell a poor rod with a false 
enamel (made by burning and staining to Imitate the genuine article) 
without letting our customers know Just what they are getting. 
P. O. Box 1,294.— [Ado. Ashby 4 Lmboi>, 33 Maldcn-Laue. 
rpHE .question of the relative superiority of breech and muz- 
f 1 7 hD 8 will never be decided by the series^ 
international matches on which we have entered with the Cen! 
leu mal Trophy as our hone of contention. Popularly a conclu 
sion may be reached, and this may he the correct one or it „, ay 
not, as minor and irrelevant circumstance* may decide The 
riflemen understand this, though they may not be ready at all 
times to acknowledge it. There are a thousand and one little 
omissions which may help to defeat what la really the better 
team, and on the reverse, accidents and bits of luck nmy come 
in to give the nominal victory to the squad of inferior ahilftw 
Many pretend to despise the tests laid down an I ™ rr “ V 
by technical boards of examiners, on the gro.md thViioUr 
frequently their conclusions give favor to an aruiwh'disnhL 
quent tnal in the hands of soldiers or marksmen shows to be 
an nfenor one. They omit certain elements und inm. am 
factors which go to reach the final result of coiiinan. rJE a. ne 
nor. y while, on the other hand, in a popular m. to the , St 
\SEHZ \ lu «&■ 
urgen HySmled .^and'rmne 'Sn^idfe ^'J^inqu i ry nmre's 
than those having a pecuniary interest in lla/rri j£ r ? 
look with some interest to the proposed Sharus-ftwhwSi?, 1 
if not toomuch hedged about with restrictions, us hktf/tSo^ 
some interesting, and, to the present, conclusive resuhs f t u 
to be in general a combined test of time and results. Mr Rhrhw 
has all along asserted that one of the strongest reasons out iJ 
ward in advocating the breech-loader is entirely lost 8 ff of 
in the great matches, and that instead of being an aim “3 
precision and rapidity," it becomes a slowly, bund led weapon 
of great accuracy only. weapon 
M Tlie time seliedule of the lust match would hardly bear out 
Mr. Rigby in tins as at every rang.-, on each day the £ 
squad had concluded their rounds long in advance of tb tlr an 
tugonisis and enjoyed a brief season of rest before proceed^ 
But as I before remarked, this popular stylo of ilcmSSaSon 
is not conclusive, aud now Mr. It. proposes a distinct nm cb 
two men per side, at 1,000 yards, shooting for a fixed length 
of time (! hour; ; the one squad using muzzle-loaders and iho 
other American breech-loaders, cleaning at discretion the 
prize going to the pair making the best score in the allotted 
lime. It is directed mainly at the point of Uh- excessive und dir 
proportioned cleaning which Mr. Higby claims is necessary to 
g<* reasonably fair work from an American breech- loading 
°f course such a direct challenge did not Jong go unan- 
swered. J he Sharps Itifie Company snapped it up forthwith- 
the men, as they proposed, were to be armed respectively with 
Itigby and Sharps rifles, to shoot under the N. 1( a rules 
but they proposed matches on separate ranges, each sound to 
shoot in its own country and to secure equality as to weather 
conditions, three days’ shooting to be done, three hours on 
each day. and the grand aggregate to count. These conditions 
were specified to avoid the trouble and expense of a personal 
meeting, and yet secure as nearly similar conditions us such 
an encounter would give. 
Under date of Feb. 12th Mr. Higby begins to ‘'hedge " II s 
first challenge proposed a mutch “between two men shoof- 
mg with muzzle-loaders and two men with American breech 
loaders, " und yet when he finds so ready an acceptance he 
says: “ I did not propose to enter into a contest of muzzle- 
loaders against breech-loaders in general, but against Creed- 
more [Creedmoor— NickJ rifles, loaded und treated in the 
special manner which was found at the Centennial Matches 
to guin the best results." In other words, Mr. Higby 
keeps himself well posted on rillo progress here, and 
knows Hint the Centennial breech-loaders are to-day defunct 
arms, that they have been superseded by improved weapons 
und that when the next match shall be fought, although 
the muzzle-loading teams may use their old and trusted 
weapons, the American team will come into the field with a 
different and better weapon than any yet s. en in public 
Of course the American squad will use their latest pinks of 
perfection in the small-arms line; ami if we are to be restricted 
to breech-loaders that we once used, it might as well be Dro- 
posed to hold us hack to the original Colt revolving rifle 
