Aug. 2, 1913. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
143 
of the best grades of machine-made rods, they 
are as good as any hand-made rod; in fact, all 
machine-made rods at any price are wound by 
hand, because no machine has yet been invented 
to do this work, although frequent trials have 
been made. I have wondered if it is from this 
standpoint that the phrase “hand-made” is justi¬ 
fied. 
Varnish to a rod is the same as the skin 
is to our bodies, and that used on the best grades 
of machine-made rods can be as good a quality 
as is used on hand-made rods. There are not 
usually as many coats applied—about four on 
hand-made, and two on machine-made rods. 
There is also a great variety of qualities of 
varnishes. The best grade is very carefully made 
from pure gum imported from Zanzibar, an isl¬ 
and off the east coast of Africa. It is this var¬ 
nish that is used on hand-made rods, being 
waterproof, elastic and having a high luster. 
A factory of machine-made rods will make 
and finish several thousand rods in a month, 
employing mostly girls and boys whose skill or 
wage is not likely to be great. A maker of 
hand-made rods will make only about twelve 
rods a month without helpers. If helpers are 
employed, they are skilled workmen at a fair 
living wage. Women are preferable to men to 
apply the silk windings because their fingers are 
more deft in doing this delicate job. 
The tools used in making rods by hand are 
a small tenon saw, a file, a small hand plane 
and a form; excepting the form, the outfit could 
be carried in a coat pocket. This so-called form 
is made of hard wood 2 inches by 3 inches, and 
as long as the joint of the rod being made, into 
which is cut with mathematical and geometrical 
precision a V-shaped groove just the size and 
shape the bamboo strip is to be. ’Tis only a 
little groove, but it is the fundamental first step 
in the production of a scientific rod. It is to 
the rod-maker as the keel is to the ship builder. 
It determines the class, the size, the balance 
and the action of the rod. This style of a form 
is a great improvement over the plain short 
groove cut in a wood block about fifteen inches 
long, from which the strips were slowly filed 
and callipered until the desired size and shape 
were obtained. 
There are more people having $5 than there 
are those having $25, especially to be spent for 
an angling rod, hence the popularity of the 
machine-made rod. But I am hoping that the 
novice through advance education in scientific 
angling will possess the ne plus ultra in an ang¬ 
ling rod, as is found in a hand-made rod. It 
will be an incentive to give it gentle and pleas¬ 
ant care, and to more frequently persuade him 
to experience the joys that ever await him. And 
when life’s flickering shadows come, the memory 
of that old, tried and true rod of long ago will 
indeed be as a comforting balm. And to the 
next generation it is affectionately bequeathed. 
Single Hand Distance Casting. 
Sydney, N. S. W., July 6 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: T should much like to see a line 
in your valuable paoer on the subject of distance 
casting with the single-handed fly-rod. Do you 
in America approve of the 30-foot gut cast? I 
do not, and strongly advocate “fishing condi¬ 
tions,” but there are a lot of men over here— 
Dr. Maitland, C. H. Gorrick, and others—who 
swear by the 20 to 30-foot gut cast with which, 
favored by a gust of wind, great distances have 
been covered. In our rules the line or fly must 
not touch ground or water or any obstacle be¬ 
hind the contestant; if it does, that cast cannot 
score. This is as it should be. It teaches con¬ 
trol of the rod and line, but to me it seems 
ridiculous to allow the wind to carry out 20 to 
30 feet of gut cast, after the stroke is spent, and 
the silk line is lying dead on the water. Can 
you find space to express the American views 
on this subject? H. K. Anderson. 
A Wisconsin Small-Mouth Bass. 
Chicago, Ill., July 15 . —Editor Forest and 
Stream: I inclose herewith photograph of a 
small-mouth bass caught in Squirrel Lake, 
Minocqua, Wis. This fish after being mounted 
measured 20 x /4. inches long ig l A inches girth and 
7-LB. 7-OZ. SMALL-MOUTH. 
weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces one hour after being 
taken out of the water. Was fishing for mus- 
callonge at the time and using a Bristol rod with 
No. 8 Skinner spoon. Rud Hyman, of Chicago, 
mounted the fish and claims it is one of the best 
specimens he ever saw. Geo. H. Berge. 
Newark Bait- and Fly-Casting Club. 
The Newark Bait- and Fly-Casting Club 
held its regular monthly tournament at Wee- 
quahic Park Lake last Saturday. Results: 
Distance Fly-Casting, Unlimited Rod — 
Frazer, 106 feet; Champion, 101; Doughty, 91; 
Muldoon, 79. 
Accuracy Dry-Fly Casting, Five-Ounce Rod 
—Frazer, 13 demerits; second. Doughty, 14 de¬ 
merits; third, Champion, 21 demerits; fourth, 
Muldoon, 32 demerits. 
Quarter - Ounce Accuracy Bait - Casting— 
First, Doughty, 97.6 per cent.; Muldoon, 96.85 
per cent.; Jacobus, 94 per cent.; Champion, 91.95 
per cent.; Gruv-er, 91.06 per cent. 
Quarter-Ounce Distance Bait-Casting Aver¬ 
age Five Casts—First, Doughty, longest cast, 137 
feet; average, no feet 5 inches; Champion, 
longest cast, 112 feet; average, 93 feet 5 inches; 
Muldoon, longest cast, 100 feet; average, 86 feet 
7 inches: Jacobus, longest cast, 80 feet; average, 
65 feet 7 inches; Gruver, longest cast, 70 feet; 
average, 54 feet 5 inches. 
Columbus Anglers’ Club. 
[Forest and Stream is the official organ of this club.] 
The term anglers means those who seek fish 
with the hook, line and rod. The term fisher¬ 
men means those who catch fish with a seine. 
I would suggest that these terms be more 
thoughtfully used in their respective meaning. 
Each angler shouid see to it that the term angler 
means a high plain—that of being at least a lady 
or a gentleman who seek recreation with nature’s 
beauties as well as a filled creel, and to feel well 
repaid for the day's outing if you didn’t get a 
strike. 
The Columbus Anglers’ Club now has a 
membership of about 1,400. And in going 
through the list with attention directed on the 
occupations, we note that many walks of life 
are represented. The Governor of Ohio who 
has signed his name as “Jim Cox” is an active 
member, and from 1 to 115 each of the follow¬ 
ing: Ohio Congressmen; U. S. Revenue Col¬ 
lector; State, county and municipal officials; col¬ 
lege professors; physicians; dentists; druggists; 
attorneys-at-law ; capitalists ; bankers ; newspaper 
men, editors, cartoonists and reporters; man¬ 
agers of hotels, newspapers, theaters, baseball 
and commercial enterprises; superintendents of 
schools and institutions; merchants in dry goods, 
clothing, tailoring, shoes, jewelry, groceries, 
hardware, lumber and furniture; cashiers of 
banks and business houses; clerks in banks, 
offices, hotels, stores; railway general passenger 
agent, passenger and freight conductors, post 
clerks, engineers and firemen; street car con¬ 
ductors and motormen; mechanical engineers; 
machinists; mechanics; electricians; publishers; 
real estate and insurance agents; telegraph and 
telephone operators; stenographers; decorators; 
policemen, and still other worthy vocations. 
Last March many of the club members 
paraded High street in anglers’ costumes to a 
banquet hall where a feast was awaiting a thou¬ 
sand strong. But greater were their hearts as 
the entire menu was given to feed the hungry 
flood refugees. To this they added a cash do¬ 
nation, and to be still more helpful, many equip¬ 
ped with rubber boots and shovels gave their 
time and muscle to the removal of the debris 
of the flood district; and the thirty physicians 
as members of this club closed their offices for 
three days to give their constant medical help 
to these sufferers needing same. And all the 
while still other members were as eagerly busy 
at other places of charity no less important So 
much was the help from the Columbus Aneders’ 
Club that some favorable comment was officially 
and publicly given out. This is enough proof 
that unselfishness, sympathy and gallantry are 
attributes that are lavishly distributed among 
its members. 
The fame of the Columbus Anglers’ Club 
in a complimentary way has gone beyond the 
confines of the State, the most pleasing part 
of which are calls from other counties for its 
members to organize anglers’ clubs in their 
midst, and which clubs are to be federated with 
the Columbus Anglers’ Club. This is a good 
idea and should be enthusiastically encouraged, 
and it is the natural movement that will lead 
up to a power that no one would enjoy fighting. 
Columbus, Ohio’s capital, being in the center 
of the State, and where the politicians and law- 
(Continued on page 158.) 
