February 18, 1893] 
THE FISHING GAZETTE 
117 
might say that they had a resolution on the minutes 
asking the representative of the association, Mr. Rout- 
ledge, to bring this matter before the board at the next 
quarterly meeting. 
Mr. Rotjtledue said it would also be suggested that 
day tickets at half-a-crown for salmon fishing be granted. 
At present they could only get tickets for a week for 53. 
Mr. Strong seconded the motion for the adoption of 
the report, Ac., and it was carried. 
Mr. Routledge said that Mr. Slater had decided to 
retire from the secretaryship, and he had great pleasure 
in proposing that Mr. Coulthard be elected secretary 
for the next three years. 
Mr. Watters seconded the motion, audit was carried 
unanimously. 
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. 
Slater for the services he had rendered to the associa¬ 
tion. 
Mr. Kbndale seconded the motion, and it was car¬ 
ried with acclamation. 
Mr. Routledge said that as a member of the Fishery 
Board he might say that the proposal to construct a pass 
at Armathwaite Bay was on the agenda for the next 
meeting of the Fishery Board. 
Mr. Parkins suggested that a testimonial be pre¬ 
sented to Mr. Slater tor his services as secretary to the 
association.—After some discussion it was agreed, on 
the motion of Mr. Fletcher Ritson, that ^65 be voted 
out of the funds towards a testimonial. It was also 
decided that the committee take the necessary steps for 
the presentation of a testimonial to Mr. Slater at a 
general meeting of the association. 
On the motion of Mr. W. O. Stubbs, seconded by 
Mr. Cameron, Mr. Rudd was re-elected treasurer for 
the ensuing three years. It was announced that the 
following had been elected on the Committee to fill the 
vacancies which occurred by rotation :—Mr. W. G 
Stubbs, 45 ; Mr. Sayers, 34; Mr. W. Routledge, 33 ; 
and Mr. Taylor, Newtown, 29. Messrs. Pass and 
Fletcher Ritson were appointed auditors. 
Mr. Bell moved that the tickets be reduced to IOj., 
seeing that the Association had funds on hand. 
The motion was not carried, and the proceedings 
shortly afterwards terminated. 
BRISTOL .4NGLERS’ CENTRAL ASSOCIATION 
DINNER. 
The annual dinner of the Bristol Anglers’ Central 
Association was held on Feb. 8 at the Royal Hotel 
College Green, when there was a good attendance. Mr. 
E. W. B. Villiers took the chair, and he was supported 
by the Dean of Bristol, the Rev. H. G. Quick, and many 
others. 
In replying to the toast of “The Bishop and Clergy, 
and Ministers of all Denominations,” the Dean greeted 
his hearers as “ fellow disciples of the gentle art,” and 
announced himself as an enthusiastic fly-fisher. He 
claimed to be one of themselves, both in theory and 
practice. His father was a scientific fisherman, and 
always made his flies by the water’s edge. He could 
not say that his own earliest attempts, made at the age 
of ten, to catch smelts in a Yorkshire river, were very 
successful. (Laughter). Since then, however, ho had 
fi.shed a good many of the streams in England, and some 
of the best lakes in Scotland and North Wales. To his 
mind there was no time so recreative and so full of its 
own genuine happiness as when the water was in good 
order, the fish were on the rise, and they knew they had 
got good flies. They would never, of course, bo agreed 
as to whether they should throw up stream or down 
stream, or whether to throw quickly or less quickly, for 
those were the little differences of their craft. (Laughter). 
The great difficulty in these days was to know where to 
go. What with poaching—which generally took place 
on Sunday when he was in the cathedral and could not 
look after poachers—(laughter)—and what with the pol¬ 
lution of streams by mills and in other ways, and what 
with the tyros who flogged rivers right and left, they 
could scarcely find any place where they could get a 
good day’s sport. He was, though, hoping after Lent 
to take up his rods and go to an ideal river, strictly 
preserved, the situation of which he had not the slightest 
intention of telling any of his hearers. (Laughter). He 
longed to know of some stream near Bristol where he 
could get a decent day’s fishing, for the Avon did not 
tempt him. (Laughter). To find himself some day by a 
quiet stream, and to bring home a creel of trout would 
not, he hoped, make him less a fisher of men. (Hear, 
hear). 
The Chairman proposed the “ Bristol Central” and 
the “ Provincial Angling Association,” and mentioned 
that he had attended a meeting of conservators at Bath, 
and had brought forward the subject of the pollution 
of rivers. Ho found, however, that the Board of Con¬ 
servators were practically powerless as regards bringing 
action against the polluters of streams, for even if they 
had the necessary standing they were entirely without 
the necessary funds. It would be a big task to tackle 
all the polluters of their streams, and as the board had 
no income except what was derived from the licences 
paid for fishing, they could not undertake such a task. 
It was hoped, however, that the County Council 
might at some future time remedy their present 
grievances. Bath and Bradford and Trowbridge 
were all sinners in this respect, but 'Trowbridge was 
the worst sinner of the lot. (Hear, hear). Bath, too, 
flashed her sewers with chloride of lime, which killed 
the fish in the river by tons. Ho was glad to say that 
seven out of the ton Bristol angling clubs had now 
oined the central association. (Applause). 
Mr. ,1. W. CuNDALL, hon. secretary, who responded, 
said that the _ Bristol Central Association was in about 
the same position as it was a year' ago. The efforts 
they made during the summer to secure the preserva¬ 
tion of a long stretch of the Avon above Ivoynsham 
had, unfortunately, fallen through owing to a failure to 
agree with the owner of the fishing rights as 
to details. The Provincial Association had greatly 
advanced, and the London and North Western 
Railway Company, and the Great Western Railway 
Company, were now making substantial concessions to 
members all through the provinces. In conclusion, 
ho pointed out that in the brotherhood of anglers 
they were all fraternally inclined, and there were no 
class distinctions. The only distinction they recognised 
was that of skill. (Hoar, hear). 
Mr. R. D. Frost proposed “ The Avon, Brue, and 
Parrett Fishery Board.” coupling with the toast the 
name of Mr. T. Foster Barham. 
Mr. Foster Barham, in returning thanks, said the 
fishing throughout the district had been poor during the 
past year. There had been very little water, and the 
cry about pollution was louder than ever. (Hear, hear.) 
He mentioned a case of pollution of a river in the 
district which had recently been brought under his 
notice, in which everything that swam in the water was 
killed. The specimens of dead fish sent him with respect 
to this case included a magnificent trout, weighing 51b. 
4oz. If any poor man, he remarked, threw a handful of 
lime into the river to catch a few fish they might put 
him in prison ; but when a manufactory or public body 
poured refuse into a stream and killed all the fish for 
three or four miles there was no chance of doing any¬ 
thing with them, except by having recourse to the 
Rivers Pollution Act. This was one of those Acts 
passed with the intention of satisfying a popular cry, 
but it was so hedged round with difficulties and for¬ 
malities as to bo quite unworkable. (Hear, hear.) The 
only hope for the future was that the county councils, 
with the ratepayers at their back, might be induced to 
take up the question of the pollution of rivers, or an 
enlightened Government — (laughter) — might be 
persuaded to pass a Rivers Pollution Act that could be 
worked, but until then their streams would remain in 
their present filthy condition. (Hear, hear.) 
Other toasts followed, and during the evening a 
number of songs were sung. 
RIGHT OF FISHING IN THE VYRNWY. 
The case of George v. Carpenter came on for hearing 
on Tuesday week, before Justices Lawrance and Henn 
Collins, sitting as a divisional court in the Queen’s 
Bench Division. Mr. Willis Bund appeared for the 
appellant, and Mr. Joseph Walton, Q.C., Mr. W. F. 
Taylor, and Mr. P. C. Morris, for the respondents. 
Mr. Bund said this was an appeal on a case stated by 
two justices of Montgomeryshire, which raise! the 
point whether the Corporation of Liverpool, who had 
obtained an Act of Parliament to erect a dam across a 
river, were thereby entitled to say that the part of the 
river above the dam was taken out of the fishery district. 
The district in question comprised a very large area, 
and part of it was known as the River Vyrnwy. In 1830 
the Corporation of Liverpool obtained parliamentary 
powers to take water from the Vyrnwy to sujiply Liver¬ 
pool, and under the authority of that Act they con¬ 
structed a dam across the river. Previously to that, 
the Severn Fishery Board had granted licences to 
capture trout in the whole of the Vyrnwy. They con¬ 
tinued to do BO till 1890, and in that year the Corpora¬ 
tion, having finished building their dam, thereby turning 
the river above it into a reservoir, claimed that nobody 
fishing in their reservoir ought to pay licence duty. 
Mr. J. Watson, Q.C., for the respondents, said his 
point was, that the effect of what was done by the Act 
of Parliament was, to put an end to that tributary of 
the Severn which lay beyond the line of the dam. In 
other words, that as the River Vyrnwy ceased to exist 
in any sense of the word as a river after the dam was 
made, and the water allowed to fill up the reservoir, the 
dam itself did not become a tributary in any ordinary 
sense. 
Mr. Justice Lawrance, in giving judgment, said 
there were two questions to decide. First, whether the 
Vyrnwy was a tributary of the Severn ; and secondly, 
whether the right of the conservators'to issue licences 
to fish had been extinguished. In his judgment, the 
first question should be answered in the negative, and 
therefore it was not needful to answer the second : but 
if it were necessary, he should answer it in the affirma¬ 
tive. Whatever might have been the position of the 
River Vyrnwy before the Liverpool Waterworks Act was 
passsed, there could be no doubt it was once a tributary 
of the Severn, but was not so now. The fishery above 
the dam was absolutely distinct from that below, as 
much as if they were 100 miles apart. Ho was of 
opinion the Vyrnwy had ceased to be a tributary. 
Mr. Justice Collins said he was of the same opinion. 
It was admitted if the reservoir could not be described 
as a tributary of the Severn, it was not within the 
jurisdiction of the conservators. He had to confess 
that his mind had fluctuated considerably during the 
course of the arguments, and if it had not been for the 
case of Harbottle and Terry, which was cited, hedoubted 
whether he should have arrived at his present con¬ 
clusion, which was in accordance with that of his learned 
brother. The decision of the justices would stand, and 
the appeal dismissed, with costs. 
Judgment accordingly. 
DIPPING ANGLING PRESERVATION SOCIETY. 
The twenty-fourth annual general meeting of this 
society was held on Tuesday evening last, at the Great 
White Horse Hotel, Ipswich, Mr. H. A. Byng presiding. 
'The Chairman expressed his pleasure at meeting so 
numerous and representative a gathering of members, 
more especially as ho remembered those bygone times, 
when the society met wanting men, wanting funds, and 
wanting force to carry on their objects. All this, he 
was glad to say, was past; the society, after some 
vicissitudes, which few present could remember, was 
now a success, and he congratulated them upon the 
fact. (Applause.) 
The Hon. Secretary (Mr. Edgecombe) reported that 
the year, on the whole, had not been tavourable for 
anglers generally, but that, in spite of this, the pre¬ 
served waters had shown good sport. Good takes of 
pike had been made, fish of (ilb. and 71b. coming well to 
the front, while the largest fish recorded was 9Jlb. ; 
there had been nice takes of roach, the largest fish 
weighing lib. lOoz. ; perch had shown up well, for the 
few fishers who angled for them, the largest fish being 
11b. 4Joz.; bream are more numerous, and fish of Sjlb. 
and 2|lb. were taken ; tench are plentiful, one of 31b. Joz. 
being the biggest recorded; dace are quietly increasing 
in numbers; and trout are occasionally met with. He 
was glad to report that the first close season under the 
Mundella Acts was well observed, and every care had 
been taken by the hon. water bailiffs to carry out the 
bye-laws. Good additions of splendid chub had been 
made to previous stock, 409 carp of 21b. to 71b., 
1000 tench, and (iOO Prussian carp, gudgeon, and roach 
without count had also been added to stock, through the 
kindness of a friend of society. The financial statement 
showed receipts, including balance of 1891, .£1413s. lid., 
as .£80 143. 9d., and expenditure d£G4 Is. 3d., leaving 
balance in hand of dfilfi 13s. fid. on the general account. 
The stocking account showed a balance in favour of the 
society of 18s. fid., after expenditure of .£9 Ss. Oj-i. upon 
chub, &c. 
'The report and accounts passed with satisfaction. 
The election of officers then took place, when Lord de 
Saumarez and Major Robert Phillipps were re elected 
hon. presidents, and Capt. E. G. Pretyman president. 
The subject of the merging of the “Angling Club ” 
in connection with the society was discussed, and ulti¬ 
mately the amalgamation was decided upon, so as to 
bring all the members of the society into touch with 
angling interests and work; the club itself having 
since its original formation been the lever of improve¬ 
ment in matters piscatorial. 
A proposal was made that the minimum sizes of pike 
and perch to be taken in the society’s waters should 
be raised to 22in. instead of 20in., and 8in. instead of 
fiin. respectively ; this was at once resolved upon, and 
is to come into force from date. 
A committee was formed to remodel rules to meet the 
conditions of the society. Hearty votes of thanks 
were accorded to riparian owners, and tenants of pre¬ 
served waters; to the Great Eastern Railway coupled 
with the name of Mr. J. Flower; to the chairman for 
his able conduct in the chair ; to the host, Mr. M. P. 
Clark, for his unwavering support and courtesy ; and 
to the hon. secretary for his long services and attention 
to interests of the society. 
A splendid specimen of a male otter killed in the 
neighbourhood of the town, weighing 24lb., and 
measuring 4ft. in length, was on view in the room. 
Two members present at the meeting mentioned that 
they had taken during the afternoon a nice pike of 71b., 
and 7Jib. of fine roach. 
Fishery Prosecutions. —At a recent Court of 
Petty Sessions, held at Mullingar, a respectable looking 
farmer, named Timothy Brennan, was prosecuted by 
the Westmeath Lakes Fish Preservation Society for 
attempting to gaff spawning trout in a tributary of 
Lough Owed. Brennan, who was defended by Mr. Ham, 
Solicitor, was convicted and fined in the minimum 
penalty of d£4 with .£1 costs, with the alternative of 
imprisonment. At the previous court, held at Mullin¬ 
gar, there were five convictions for chasing, injuring, or 
disturbing spawning fish on the tributaries of Lough 
Ennell. Small fines were imposed in each case, as the 
offenders were juveniles. 
“Imperial” Silver Cup Competition. —Before a 
large assembly of the angling fraternity, eight competi¬ 
tors registered fish at the Imperial Hotel, Southwark- 
street, S.E., on the 12th inst. Intense excitement pre¬ 
vailed. Result to date; Mr. J. W. Biggs (Funny 
Folks), Feb. 5, 83 ; Feb. 12, 35; total number of points, 
118. Mr. R. H. Morris (Battersea Friendly) Feb. 5, 
61 ; Feb. 12, 12—73. Mr. A. Richards (Burton Pisca- 
torials), Feb. 5, 32; Feb. 12, 40—72. Mr. G. W. 
Marsh (Dalston), Feb. 5, 4t; Feb. 12, 14—58. Mr. G. 
Lang (St. George’s), Feb. 5,29; Feb. 12,10—39. Mr. 
W. Gordon (Wellington), Feb. 5, 17 ; Feb. 12, 12—29. 
Mr. A. Dejonge (Battersea Friendly), Feb. 5, 12; Feb. 
12, 15—27. Mr. J. Edwards (Dalston), Feb. 5, 15—15. 
Mr. J. Smith (Bermondsey Brothers), Feb. 5, 12—12. 
Mr. J. Osborne (Mildmay), Feb. 12, 11—11. Mr. S. Hill 
(Funny Folks), Feb. 5, 7—7. Mr. J. Shelton (Blaok- 
friars) Feb. 12, 6—6. Mr. J. Wheelhouse (Blackfriars), 
Feb. 12, 6—6. Mr. J. E. Wigley (Rodney), Feb. 12, 4— 
4. The subscribers to this competition are Messrs. J. 
Osborne (Mildmay A.S.), T. Thompson (Havelock A.S.), 
A. Brooks (Caxtonians), G. Reeves (Caxtoniaus), and 
Rawlings, limited. £5 5b. is the value of the cup. Mr. 
F. E. LOngley presents an additional prize of a roach 
pole, value ^£1 2s. 6d., made expressly for this competi¬ 
tion by Mr. Richardson, of “ Ye Pluckie Perche.” 
