272 
THE EISHING GAZETTE 
[April 15, 1893 
thesis—could entirely divest myself of the idea 
that the writer is laughing in his sleeve, I would 
have driven over at once, and secured a supply to 
turn down in these meadows, and so had con¬ 
tinuous May-Hy fishing during the spring. I am 
anxiously waiting further information concern¬ 
ing this startling phenomenon, and hope the 
writer will give more details. 
KNdLlSll ANGJ.ERS ' AND NOR¬ 
WEGIAN 8PORTING AGENTS. 
BEYER V. CORBETT. 
Sir, —I beg to enclose a copy of a report of the 
case of Beyer v. myself, which has been already 
referred to several times in your columns. The 
decision is of such importance to Norwegian 
anglers that I trust you will find space for its 
publication for the information of the many 
fishermen who are interested in the result. 
I am. Sir, yours obediently, 
_ Julian Corbeit. 
3 udgment in this case, which has been already 
referred to in our columns as raising points of 
great importance to intending lessees of Nor¬ 
wegian fishings, was delivered at A''ossevangen on 
the 23rd March last. 
The facts are as follows : In June of last year 
the plaintiif, who is the well-known Bergen agent, 
advertised in the Field that he had to let from 
Aug. 1 to Sept. I nearly six miles of the Evanger 
river. Incorporated in the advertisement was an 
account of it which had appeared in the Fishing 
Gazette, and which stated thatthe fishingwas in the 
hands of an Englishman. Mr. Julian Corbett, 
the defendant, thereupon applied for particulars, 
and the plaintiff replied explaining that his fish¬ 
ing was exactly as described in the Fishing 
Gazette, except that the Englishman had now no 
more than a pool or two. Cpon this the defen¬ 
dant telegraphed that he would take the river 
on the understanding that the plaintiff had the 
exclusive right over six miles of fair fishable 
water. Immediate payment was demanded, but 
this the defendant refused, and finally he agreed 
to pay half the rent, that is to say £30, down and 
the remainder within a week after arrival, if the 
water proved as represented. 
On reaching the river the defendant found that 
but a small part of the water described was the 
plaintiff’s, the greater and best portions of it being 
still in the hands of the Englishman, who had 
had it for many years; that the plaintiff had but 
two-thirds of the extent of fishing he had repre¬ 
sented ; that a substantial part of this was an un- 
fishable lake; and that a productive salmon-trap 
was still in the bands of the riparian owners. 
Upon this he offered either to throw up the con¬ 
tract on repayment of the money already paid, or 
to remain and fish without further payment. 
Both these offers the plaintiff refused, and 
persisted in demanding immediate payment of the 
balance of the rent agreed upon, and thereupon 
the defendant gave him notice that he would 
remain and fish the water under protest, leaving 
the plaintiff to his remedy at law. 
After an unsuccessful attempt to settle the 
matter by arbitration, an action for the balance 
of the rent was commenced before the Soren- 
skrive in the local court at A^ossevangen, and the 
defendant at the end of his term returned to 
England, leaving his case in the hands of Herr 
A. C. Schauke, solictor, of A"oss. 
In due course, evidence was officially obtained 
at a local inquiry, and upon this the Sorenskriver 
has now decided that Mr. Beyer was guilty of 
misrepresentation upon three points, vi/,., that 
instead of having six Enerlish miles or 9648 metres 
of water, he had only 6640 metres; that he had 
not disclosed that there was included in this 
6640 metres a lake called the Seimsvand; and 
that he had concealed the fact that a salmon-tran 
existed on the water. The defendant was there¬ 
fore held entitled upon these misrepresentations 
to a reduction from the balance claimed, the 
amount of such reduction to be ascertained by 
the taxing officer of the court at Mr. Beyer’s cost. 
On the costs of the action the court differed, 
but finally it was decided not to condemn Mr. 
Beyer to pay the defendant’s costs, on the ground 
that the doctrine of law upon which the defendant 
had rightly acted, was one that the Norwegian 
courts had only recognised within the last few 
years. As an obiter dictum, the judge was, how¬ 
ever, of opinion that if the defendant, instead of 
electing to fish under protest, had left the river 
and brought an action against Mr. Beyer for the 
£30 he had already obtained by his misrepre¬ 
sentations, together with damages in respect of 
a fruitless journey to Norway, there would have 
been no choice but to order Beyer to pay the 
whole of the costs. 
The effect of the decision, it will be seen, is to 
place in the hands of English fishermen a very- 
simple remedy against the deceptions of local 
agents, and it should go far to check the practices 
which of late years have been bringing the 
pleasantest of summer fishing grounds into evil 
odour. 
We have also received the following note from 
Mr. Beyer:— 
A NOTK PROM MR. BEYER. 
Bergen, Norway, 
April 8,1893. 
Dear Sir, —In the event of your paper having 
contained anything re the verdict passed in the 
famous case, Julian Corbett r. Thorvald Beyer, I 
beg you kindly to inform your readers that I 
shall, as soon as the documents of the process 
are returned from the court—and if you allow 
me—explain my side of the case and demon¬ 
strate— 
1. That the misrepresentation was not wilfully 
done, but entirely against my will and know¬ 
ledge. 
2. That I (“the well-known Bergen agent”) am 
not the creator of the “Bergen system,” or 
generally practising it, as your readers may judge 
me to be from Mr. Corbett’s letters in English 
sporting papers. 
3. That I, to the contrary, have the reputation 
of giving exact and correct information about 
salmon fishing in Norway. 
4. That the verdict in my case contra Mr. 
Corbett is so far from being a victory to him, 
that it is entirely equal to the offer I made him 
before the case begun, viz., arbitration. 
5. That the price of the fishing (£60 for a 
period of thirty-two days) was so reasonable, 
and the bag made (63.51b.) so good, that not 
many sportsmen would have acted as Mr. Corbett 
did. 
In the meantime I remain, dear sir, yours very 
truly, Thorvald Beyer. 
R. B. Marston, Esq., 
Editor of the Fishing Gazette, 
St. Dunstan's House, Fetter-lane, London. 
WM. BAllTLEET AND SONS’ EXHI¬ 
BIT AT THE CHICAGO WOHLD’S 
COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 
This old-established firm is making an exhibit in 
the Fisheries Department which fully sustains 
their world-wide reputation. The case itself is of 
classic design and highly decorated. 
The exhibit comprises fish hooks of every 
description for sea, lake, and river fishi ag of their 
celebrated Archer brand.s, which are used by 
fishermen in all quarters of the globe, and include 
the well-known Fennell Turn-down E’ ed Hooks, 
of which Messrs. Bartleet hold the so'‘.e right of 
sale in the States, artificial fish baits, the new 
patent Serpcntanic flexible metal baic being a 
prominent feature in this class. 
Amongst the great varieties of lines aco nplete 
range of their Archer brand waterproof lines is 
shown. The exhibit also comprises every descrip¬ 
tion of artificial flies, floats, and spinners. 
Amongst the latter we notice their well-known 
patent Archer Spinner, which is becoming as 
well known in the United States markets as it is 
at heme. 
Attached to the ense are shown facsimiles of 
the sixteen gold and prize medals which have 
been awarded to Me-srs. AVm. Bart'eel and Sous 
at the various exhibitions in which they have 
been represented, having in every instance taken 
the highest possible honours. We understand 
that in this instance the firm has decided to enter 
their exhibit as not for competition, viz., oifly as 
ail honorary exhibit. 
TOaltoniana 
A CONTEMPORARY had it recently that an 801b. 
salmon had been caught by an angler in Loch 
Tay. I suppose it was the old misprint of the 3 
and the 8. It is about time that an Act of Par¬ 
liament was obtained, making a change in the 
design of those figures. Their similarity does 
give river reporters such opportunities for exag¬ 
geration, with the safe excuse in the background 
that the MS. had been incorrectly read by the 
printer. I saw another good misprint the other 
day. The kelts had been prevented going down 
to the sea “owing to the lice in the rivers.” The 
printer had put in an “ 1.” That was all. 
Thebe is no more iniquitous form of fish 
poaching than dynamiting a river. All fish, big 
and little, and all fish food, is destroyed fora con¬ 
siderable distance, and in the case of a trout 
stream fearful havoc is wrought. Of course, 
poison is nearly as bad in its effects. It is pain¬ 
ful to hear of dynamite being used in the beau¬ 
tiful Wye, near Bakewell, and very satisfactory 
to know that the four men who used it were this 
week each sentenced to a month’s hard labour. 
Going, going, and nearly gone is the season 
for stocking. If you w'ould buy your yearling 
trout for improving your fishing do so at once. 
It will soon be too hot for them to travel. Do 
not buy fry or eggs unless advised to do so by a 
competent fish culturist who has seen the ivater. 
More often than not no results are obtained from 
fry. Yearlings or two-year-olds are the fish to 
buy as a general rule, and, though theymay seem 
expensive, it is the best economy in the long run 
to buy them. _ 
Many a trout stream might be vastly improved 
without buying any trout at all. Clean the shal¬ 
lows of mud ; arrange hiding-places for the trout ; 
erect partial dams liere and there; plant water¬ 
cress ; introduce fresh-water shrimp, if it is not 
already in the stream ; make your water pleasant 
for the fish and they will stay with you ; and when 
you catch them others will take their places. 
Templar. 
THE PROPOSED NEW THAMES 
FISHERY BYE-LAWS. 
A ciRCUL.AR has been issued by Messrs. James 
Simonds (president), Arthur C. Butler (vice- 
president), and Fredk. Brown (hon. sec.), on 
behalf of the Reading and District Angling 
Association, urguig the county councils of Berks, 
Oxon, and Bucks, and the corporations of all the 
up-river towns, to enter an energetic protest 
against the obnoxious proposed netting bye-law 
framed by the Thames Conservators, following the 
lead recently set by the town council of Henley- 
on-Thames. We are pleased to say the request 
has been most heartily complied with in the two 
towns whose corporations haA'e met up to the 
present, viz., Wallingford, on-the 5th inst., and 
Reading, on the following day. At each the 
following resolution was moved by the mayor, 
and carried unanimously :— 
“ That in the opinion of this council the pro¬ 
posed new Thames Fishery Bye-law, No. 33, and 
others, which would exclude portions of the river 
from the opera,tions of the bye-laws, as published 
on March 3,1893, in the London Gazette, by giving 
largely increased privileges of netting, night- 
lineing, &c., to persons owning fisheries in the 
River Thames, would most seriously injure such 
fisheries, which have now no value except for 
sporting purposes, and have for many years been 
stocked, im])roved, and protected at a large outlay 
of voluntary subscription and effort. The said 
bye-laws appear to be in excess of the powers 
conferred upon the Thames Conservancy by the 
Thames Acts of 1864 and 1866. to make liye-laws 
‘ for the preservation, protection, and regula ion 
of the Thames fisheries and the prohibition of 
nets and apparatus;’ and that in the opinion of 
this council their enactment would be injurious 
to the true interests both of theow ners of fi-heries 
and of the public generally, to Avhom the 'I'hames 
is of immense importance as an angling ai d 
health resort, and also to the trade of the river- 
