^ ^ Forest and Stream and Hod and Gun 
S m**n in % ^cshes of the |W. 
V\^E have upon our bench two enthusiastic fishermen— 
♦ n i . . dges M ’ and J - They are both tall, large men of 
full habit, hardly adapted to the labor of following a frout 
stream all day through difficult country, but for sitting pa 
tiently upon a log or in a boat they can’t be beat. They both 
are possessed of the true inspiration of old Izaak Walton, and 
ZlLT?l meDt fll ! 8 thC 80Ul ° f When comfortably 
seated by lake or pool with rod in hand. They have their 
specialties.' That of Judge J. is trout; of Judge M., bass 
This paper is to be devoted to an account of a contest between 
• ?? l “ bl3Ck baS9 Ia9t summer - ^ Oconomowoc ; but 
r7? e t0 . be in, P artial . “ d will preface it with a story lately 
told me by an eye witness of an incident in the experience of 
one of L includiDg tbe Jud 8 e . went to 
one of the bays of Michigan in pursuit of recreation. One 
day they found themselves at the mouth of a trout brook 
emptying into the bay, which furnished excellent fly fishing 
at its junction with the lake waters. Now the Judge was nol 
particularly expert with a fly-his best hold was mud worms 
-and he proceeded alone up the stream to find a spot where 
he could use his worms to advantage. He found, after a good 
deal of labor in scrambling over rocks and through bushes 
and once tumbling into the brook and getting well soaked a 
Splendid pool. It lay at the foot of a high fall between ele- 
vated rocky cliffs. With difficulty he established himself in 
a good position, disposed his basket handily near by, took off 
his coat, wiped the perspiration from his brow with a sigh of 
relief and satisfaction, and proceeded to business. He found 
the pool well stocked with trout, and he had plenty of cus- 
tomers for his worms. He had laid away three or four in his 
basket, and happiness coursed all through his veins. Fie was 
thoroughly at peace with himself and all the world It is too 
bad to disturb the serenity of this picture and to ruffle the 
placid brow of the Judge, but I am writing history. He had 
again cast iu his worm and was waiting quietly for the ex- 
pected bite, when a strange thing happened ; a goodlv sized 
trout emerged from the centre of the pool and proceeded 
flapping and struggling, straight up toward heaven In 
amazement the Judge followed him with his eye until he saw 
him land in the hands of a lusty boy at the top of the over- 
hanging cliff, and he saw two small faces peeping at him and 
two fish poles sticking over the edge. He took in the situa- 
tion at once, and his brow clouded with righteous wrath 
Here was a clear trespass upon his rights; was not this his 
pool ? Had he not discovered, and, as it were, pre-empted it? 
Was he not in the actual and visible possession ? Whether he 
had a valid legal title or not, he had the pedis posscssio and 
trespass would lie as agaiust a mere intruder. Law and 
equity were both on his side. He shouted to the boys in 
tones which rose above the roar of the waterfall, and ordered 
them away, but they did not go away worth a cent • instead 
thereof two lines descended into the pool beyond the reach of 
the Judge, and other trout began to go struggling toward 
heaven in the wake of the first. This was insufferable, unen- 
durable. He fumed and threatened, but there the bovs stayed 
and the trout continued to ascend. He shook his fist at them 
and hurled at them all the terrors of the law. He would send 
them to jail for the larceny of his fish ; he would commit 
them for contempt of court ; but they would not listen to 
reason and cared naught for the threats of the law The onlv 
reply vouchsafed was made by one of the boys placing his 
thumb to His nose and making sundry gyrations with his 
fingers. The heights were inaccessible to the Judge, and he 
was compelled to sit there and see his fish dancing up right 
before his face to swell the string of those boys, until the 
pool was exhausted. Could the agony of Tantalus have been 
grea ^ ‘ .Wbero now was the majesty of the law ? Was all 
respect for the judicial ermine gone from the land ' Had 
communism come with its destroying hand, striking at the 
very foundat.on of society, and effacing all regard for the 
ngh s of property or persons ? With sad andjloomy heart 
the Judge gathered up his basket, with its five or six trout 
put on his coat and departed. To this day, occasionally the 
Judge sitting on the bench, apparently iu a reverie wears a 
despondent and angry expression. He is thinking of those 
^Vc will leave him to his melancholy reflections and turn to 
the more cheerful picture of the the experience of Judge M 
He was spending a few days at Oconomowoc during his sum" 
mer vacation, lured there by the reputed beauty of the coun- 
try the charm of its numerous lakes, the attractiveness of its 
good flshiug, and the doles far niente of all its surroundings 
the day following his arrival he sallied forth, accompanied bv 
an amicus curia, to test the fishing. Armed with a light rod 
and a Kentucky reel, he was prepared for work. Genesee 
J^iiKe was selected as the locus in quo. A bucket of minnows 
was provided, a good boat procured; the friend took the bow 
Sr 1 *><!*• Killed himself 
off they went. The dav wns ®? ld lb e Judge, and 
face of the Judge beamed ’ and ,he good-natured 
nature surrounding him Soon rh??? 7 Wltb tbc 8eren, ‘y of 
and the Judge prepared fo?sp!>? reached, 
without wnich he would i, n „~ 1 on bl9 spectacles, 
Club. He placed 1 11™ be . CD “ D ,?™iles without hU 
raised himself to his feet and 7 U ^ n b ‘ 8 book . 
and seemed to gather together n'n a bt€ned bl . 8 tnl1 fonn ' 
poised himself CTacefullv but fl mi P°^ crs for business. He 
cast. Swinging the rod’ in ,?. ? 5 ’. and 10 “ ak e a 
his head to gather momentum 0 1£ bo ^ ? r , tbret ‘ t,rn . e8 a '. )0,lt 
thumMrcmi ^hT^otfl oHl^e red Ut u 
minnow was adiusted And «„„*» u . Iae P 01nt - Another 
time with betteJ succet The hai^ T? pted ’ and ‘“is 
liberty wKh^du?^ P ers <?° a > 
of the Constitution of the L 8 ' tK ^1*““' 
$ *« siS 
the Judge had himself hooked the bait is immaterial 
and h ? wou!d look at the situation above 
and taking a good run to obtain headway he snramr ihr,, 
t kcl °, ut of the water and looked about him. P He saw the 
determined expression of the Judge’s face, the set lins and ti‘ 
^tf^g-th^ the glasses with fierce excitement • he 
s tbe b r h Th ng ,d f r 6 r ] n ,]aDted u p° n ** 
M ,lG h b d tb ,? rod wnb an iron grip- Sal ii tied that 
; b0 ^dge was prejudiced against him. he immediately moved 
Jo int? K ge i? T*?’ and s,ar,ed hastily off for the next 
?2i but the Judge overruled the motion, and began to 
reel him in. The bass now felt that his case was well nigh 
hopeless, and that the court was organized to convict • but he 
concluded to join issue and fight it out on that hne hopingto 
detect some flaw or error in the proceedings. He struck for a 
lot of rushes and weeds, growing near by, and notwithstand- 
safety 6 ^H^^onr/!] 6 f^ dge t° prevent, he reached them in 
“J® 1 /-,, fIe wormed himself back and forth and side 
wavs through them until he had got the line wo In d 
hP ba? 8 ,! Cd 8Dt twi8ted a11 about them, and then 
he sat down to rest and prepare for trial But the 
Kn 6 m B 8 “ wl? u If he COuld not rcel lbe hsh to the boat 
.m«n ill ree - tbe bo - at t0 the flsb * and he did. Then calling 
upon the amicus curia to prod round iu the weeds with an 
oar, after great efforts, got his line clear, rdToroedri e fi?l" 
to leave h,s retreat and strike out into the open wate but 
he was now well rested ami full of fight. With the speed of 
he rushed through the water, tarrying out with him a 
hundred feet of line, and then he flung himself high out of 
fronTth?™ Q ! bo .° k bl . s bead vigorously, seeking to teur loose 
w h B ' but in vam - The Judge held him 
f , He ,ben turned himself about and rushed 
slveS him l Th b0at A f D ‘ i lbl , 9 un «Pectcd manceuvre nearly 
Luhfp iJ h 8udden slackening of the line nonplussed the 
?hp d § i. , n d h g8 l ed ab0,,t him ,n amazement. In a moment 
!l.P , rushlnK P“ st ‘he boat, and then the Judge saw 
the trick and went to work upon his reel with I ven- 
fheTo/ ,/m l,1D f a,el5 .’ f ° r him the h00k was deeply set, and 
lin<.wh™u d n0t . cast 11 ou ‘- , However, he nearly parted the 
line when the end was reached, and he was brought to with a 
imoo i7 fhcu went hunting round for a stump or snag to 
wh c i he might fasten the line; but. failing to find one, he re- 
sorted to short lunges to break it, but it was strong, and held 
him. He then thought to throw himself upon tbe mercy of 
the court, and put his head above water for that purpose, but 
the stem ferocity of the Judge’s face discouraged him, and he 
was dumb. He now gave himself up as lost, and struggled 
but feebly, and soon the Judge bad him alongside, and he 
was easily taken in with the landing net, and was scheduled 
by the Judge among his net assets. The Judge had 
triumphed, and the victim of his skill lay an uuresisliDg 
captive in the clutches ot the law. No appeal, writ of 
error, or habeas corjnu could help him, and he gracefully 
submitted to the inevitable. I have omitted to detail the 
various mishaps of the Judge on his side. I could tell how 
his line repeatedly got snarled on the reel, anil bunched on the 
spool; how it got fouled on an oar; bow he occasionally in his 
ex citement ran the reel the wrong way; how be nearly broke 
the rod when he first struck the fish, etc. — lut respect for my 
BZ^ZZ h Z lDeXt ° PPCar b ‘ m constrains me to 
derived great ri enj‘o™^ ar, ' 8 L’ and ’ bovin K often 
IBS 7 M.Trfe “VF ijK&KSFK 
8 of 6 the 1 truth 'when !' “ 10 ^ 
mmm 
fa? K n f wh-f 
S»w» P Sfc&fK 
if r 11,1 bass the Rangeley nine-pound brook trout but 
SEWS? S3 to do '" Sel hi ‘ CU ”“ i "S." “»'i tta tank hold, 
Chicago , III., June, 1878. 
For Forest and Stream and Hod and Gun 
THE BEE TREE. 
WEARS ago, when life was complete anil nothing to think 
of only to plan for fun on the morrow, we one morning 
strolled into thc log house of a friend, Joe B , in the hack woods 
of Canada, and found him and his brother Mosc and a settler 
Phil. C., preparing to start for the woods to cut a bee tree & 
hearty invitation was extended to ua to be one of the party 
and Joe B - set off the fun we would have in liis quaint, rat- 
tling way, till he, boy-like, was filled with excitement “If 8 
a real peeler now, I tell ye ; one I lit on ’bout a year ago an’ 
there’s as much honey in it as would sweeten the tempers of 
all the old maids in the country. By Jinks, it’s a buster !’’ 
Bee hunting is great sport, followed as it is in the most beau, 
tiful season of tbe year, and has been deemed worthy the at- 
tention of such writers as T. B. Thorp and Mrs. Kirkland It 
is a fascinating amusement, and, in those who follow it, ex- 
cites almost the spirit of gambling, the stake is so small as 
compared with tbe possible prize. It must be admitted that 
the temptation is great, when the small amount of labor re- 
quired to cut down a half decayed bee tree is repaid by quan- 
tities of first rate honey, a luxury at any time and pluce 
ihere are various ways of finding bee trees ; the most com- 
mon way is by burning some comb and honey in some likely 
locality, to scent the air and attract thc bees, and having a small 
quantity inclosed in a box with u glass top, the bees, if in the 
neighborhood, will soon be buzzing around and make for the 
box. The cover is then shut down, and the box closely 
watched till nearly loaded up ; then thc cover is carefully 
raised, a small pinch of flour sprinkled on the insect, and a 
note taken of the time. (This is done in order to distinguish 
this bee from the others who will likely return fn*n the tree 
to the baiLbox with him. and the length of time elapsing during 
his trip determines the distance of the tree ) Presently the bee 
wmgs his way out of the box, the bee hunters throw them- 
selves down, and, shading their eves, watch the bee as be 
circles rapidly arouud, and then is off on a bee line for the 
