Jan. 24, 1914. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
115 
heard Tillison telling him of “brown mule”— 
mosquitoes—feet—boat—ducking and I don’t 
know what else—such yells you never heard. It 
was very amusing—to the other fellow. I said, 
“Cut that out, Dr., and give me something.” 
“Why,” said he, “you couldn’t retain it. I have 
no needle and if I gave you anything you would 
have to hold it in your hand.” 
I proceeded to bless out the whole medical 
profession and one Dr. in paricular. I told him 
what I thought of him and also that we had one 
of the best druggists of Jacksonville with us 
and I knew he would do something for me. I 
was lying in the stern of the boat and gazing at 
the stars.” “Dr. Holland,” said I, “g.w me some¬ 
thing. “In your astronomical observations,” said 
he, “didn’t you see that the sign was not in the 
feet?” And also something about it making an 
inveterate user of the “weed” sick to attempt to 
cover all the territory which I had attempted. 
Then I exploded, but for two or three hours 
star-gazing was my line. When I had recovered 
sufficiently to do any fishing the tide was right 
for channel bass and some were taking the hook. 
Dr. Garner was fishing with reel, while others 
were using hand lines. 
He had landed one nice one and getting an¬ 
other strike he called me to watch him reel in. 
He had out about 100 feet of line and some of 
the rushes of this fish were magnificent. The 
Dr. played him well and after a time got him al¬ 
most to the boat, when that “wolf of the ocean,” 
a large shark, took that fish at one grasp. If 
sharks could be slain by language, this one would 
not have been in existence long. 
’ They were berated individually, collectively, 
the whole family, and this one in particular. 
This gave me the fishing fever and I asked the 
boatman for a line when W. T. Jr. yelled “Oh 
Papa, I’ve got one, help me.” The boatman 
started to his assistance, bur I told him to let 
the boy land him. Sometimes the fish, which was 
a large one, would run the line through the boy’s 
hands so fast that it would burn them. He held 
on, however, and brought his fish after a few 
minutes, alongside the boat only to have it cut 
off by another shark. We were all sorry for the 
boy. He was so excited and enthused and then 
had to lose. The boatman rebaited for him and 
cheered him up as much as he could. In a short 
time he had another strike and succeeded in land¬ 
ing this fish and another—weighing 22 and 25 
pounds respectively, which are shown in the pic¬ 
ture. Holland was not idle a 1 this time. He landed 
three nice ones. Dr. Garner secured four, while 
I got one. Under the soft southern moon the 
night was beautiful and at intervals all during 
the night from the palms that fringed the shore, 
the mocking-birds serenaded us. One who has 
not heard this greatest of all songsters in his 
native habitat has missed a rare treat indeed. 
T^p fish were enough and we weighed anchor re¬ 
turning to Mayport and thence to Jacksonville. 
Dr. G. was mean enough to offer me a chew of 
tobacco—but for me—never again. 
Nova Scotia Fishing 
Digby, N. S January 11, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
As we were near Melvin Bay and from ob¬ 
servation I concluded it contained the best fish¬ 
ing grounds, bought some shore front, built a 
camp a dozen years ago and have fished in that 
section every summer since. As a rule find the 
fishing best in August and September, although 
I have had many good catches in July and early 
October. 
There are plenty of fish in the Lake but the 
last few years the big fish are getting scarce. 
Now I consider myself lucky to get one five- 
pound fish in a season. That, however, is hardly 
a drawback, as the acme of sport is hooking a 
two or three-pound bass with light tackle. (I use 
shingle gut and Number 1 sproat hook). The 
fish in the clear water of the Lake seem to have 
tremendous strength and will tire the arm of the 
most seasoned fisherman, before bringing it to 
the landing net. 
In July, after spawning, the fish are pretty 
well scattered and will be caught in comparatively 
shoal water near the shore. A good number are 
caught trolling; in fact, some fishermen troll all 
season and get equally bass and pickerel. 
It is rare to see any fly fishing, but occa¬ 
sionally one will see about July 1st an enthusiast 
who with patience and a good boatman, follow¬ 
ing the shore line, continuing all day, will proba¬ 
bly have a good catch. Fly fishing is much better 
in June but the law stops all fishing for bass until 
July 1st. 
We follow the fish in August and Septem¬ 
ber and get our best catches over the rocky ledges 
in water from fifteen to thirty feet deep. 
The fishing in Melvin Bay in the Fall of 
1913 was not as good as usual. I think the blast¬ 
ing on the side of Mount Ossipee all summer 
long, twice a day, had something to do with it. 
The concussion must have been felt on the Lake 
at the foot of the mountain, and like thunder 
evidently affected the fish. 
People must see the Lake to appreciate it. 
Even if there was no fishing, nothing could in¬ 
duce me to give up my camp among the pines. 
J. B. S. 
Can Fish Cause Cancer? 
The medical profession is a queer combina¬ 
tion of contradictions, or is a groping for mere’ 
licht, to quote Goethe? Dr. H. R. Gaylord, di¬ 
rector of the N. Y. State Institute for the Study 
of Malignant Diseases, says: 
“Cancer has been successfully transmitted to 
dogs and rats, and there is no doubt that sus¬ 
ceptible human beings drinking water coming 
from fish hatcheries which undoubtedly contain 
the infected agent, which is the cause of this 
disease, would acquire goiter.” Several towns 
and cities in New York state get water from 
streams along which there are fish hatcheries. 
It has taken six years of careful work to deter¬ 
mine the scope of this disease in connection with 
fish hatcheries and this is the most serious 
and important problem in fish culture. He says: 
“If the artificial propagation of trout is not to be 
deliberately abandoned, research will have to be 
immediately instituted to determine how fish cul¬ 
ture may be carried on without the propagation 
of this disease. 
“The mouth and gills of an infected fish are 
affected first. Bone, cartilege and muscles even¬ 
tually are invaded. All the various types of the 
disease occur in one tumor. 
“Three examples of the disease have been 
found in wild fish. One occurs in a brook trout 
which may have been planted from a hatchery. 
One was in a whitefish from Lake Keuka. None 
of the specimens of whitefish is fed or reared 
artificially. The third was a landlocked salmon 
from Lake Sebago, Me., which is the source of 
the water supply of the city of Portland. 
“The disease has been observed in sixteen 
specimens of salmon. 
“The geological formation of the sources of 
the water supply in which the disease occurs has 
apparently nothing to do with its origin. 
“The disease is occasionally epidemic and 
occurs in ponds and troughs of whatever con¬ 
struction in which fish are reared and fed, the 
ordinary foods of fish culture like raw liver and 
other meat. It shows a tendency to inciease 
downward in a waterflow. Tumors increase 
with the age of fish. Signs of the disease have 
been seen in fish under five months of age.” 
A Record of Waste 
The fish, flesh, and fowl of Labrador have 
been exploited to the last degree, and no scientific 
or practical effort has been made for their pro¬ 
tection or rehabilitation. Our auks, curleu, ducks, 
and many other birds have become either extinct 
or dangerously depleted. Our deer, owing to 
forest fires caused by carelessness and unrestrict¬ 
ed slaughter by Indians, as well as white set¬ 
tlers, have so far diminished as to bring semi¬ 
starvation to doors where once there was always 
plenty. The destruction of seal herds has 
brought families once affluent to miserable pov¬ 
erty. For some reason our unrivalled herring 
and mackeral have left us altogether. The sal¬ 
mon catch is only a shadow of what it once was, 
and even the returns of our still valuable cod 
fishery show increasing uncertainty in quantity 
and distribution. The growing number of trap¬ 
pers, the lack of protection, or the destruction 
of their food supplies, has made the annual win¬ 
ter fur-hunt insufficient to maintain in comfort 
all who prosecute it, and that in spite of the im¬ 
mense increase in the price of pelts. Seals and 
whales are rapidly approaching a similar fate.— 
By Dr. Grenfell, in The Wide World Magazine. 
Illegal use of Parcels Post 
T HE American Game Protective Association 
has just received from the Post Office De¬ 
partment at Washington a telegram stat¬ 
ing that an order has been issued which will 
effectively put a stop to the illegal use of the 
parcels post in the shipment of game. The de¬ 
partment’s action will be hailed with delight by 
sportsmen and conservationists generally through¬ 
out the country. They feel that a very serious 
menace to the adequate preservation of our game 
supply has been averted. 
The telegram in question reads as follows: 
“The Post Office Department has issued an 
order prohibiting acceptance for mailing of game 
killed or offered for shipment in violation of the 
laws of any state, territory or district in which 
it was killed or tendered for shipment. The 
order permits acceptance for purposes of mailing 
of game lawfully killed and offered for ship¬ 
ment, but fresh game may not be mailed beyond 
the second zone.” 
The telegram comes from Third Assistant 
Postmaster General Dockery. 
At the offices of the American Game Pro¬ 
tective Association, in the Woolwocth Building, 
President John B. Burnham gave out the follow¬ 
ing statement regarding the department’s action : 
“This matter means a great deal for game 
conservation in this country. 
“Ever since the parcels post has been in 
operation, it has furnished an ideal means for the 
shipment of illegal game and added to the wor¬ 
ries of the game commissions of the various 
states and the officials of the Biological Survey 
of the Federal Government. 
“For a number of months, the American 
Game Protective Association has been trying to 
solve the problem involved in this matter. It 
was understood that the Postmaster General was- 
friendly to any reasonable suggestion. Dr. T. 
S. Palmer, of the Biological Survey, at Washing¬ 
ton, and the fish and game commissioners of the 
various states interested themselves in the prob- 
(Continued on page 124.) 
