696 
FOREST AND STREAM 
May 31, 1913 
Putting the Cherry in Archery. 
Kansas City, Kan., May 18 . —Editor Forest 
and Stream: I wish to congratulate your jour¬ 
nal and the devotees of archery at large on the 
recent addition to the literature of archery con¬ 
tributed by my Kansas friend Challis upon the 
art of bow making. This is certainly a classic, 
and covers the ground so thoroughly that I be¬ 
lieve, if carefully studied and followed by even 
the merest tyro in the use of tools, an effective 
weapon could be supplied by him, and even if 
all the' expert bowmakers of the world should 
be cut off, the followers of this grand sport 
would be able to supply themselves with ideal 
bows. 
Mr. Challis I know can speak with author¬ 
ity. He has carried out his own ideas success¬ 
fully. He has even made a bow that can be 
folded up and put in the pocket, and he has a 
plant up there in the woods of Atchison equipped 
with a five horsepower gasolene with which he 
can perform any stunt from sawing a slit in 
the tooth of a fine tooth comb to cutting a thread 
on a microscopic watch screw. 
If the archers of this country will only as¬ 
similate the ideas of Challis, Rendtorff and 
Nichols, it will not be very long before we must 
make our target faces of hard wood in order to 
preserve them from instant mutilation. 
At last we have got on the map. We are 
very modest about sending in scores, but you 
want to look out for a cyclone from the West, 
when Canfield gets his arrows properly feath¬ 
ered. Fred T. Leport, 
Sec’y Kansas City Archery Club. 
An Archer Inquires. 
Newton, Mass., April 25. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: You may be contemplating another 
“Robert Page Lincoln Edition” of your valuable 
paper, as your issue of April 12 might reason¬ 
ably be termed, containing, as it did, two lengthy 
(i. e., wordy) articles by him, and it is with 
the view of suggesting for his treatment a sub¬ 
ject of interest to many, if not all, of your 
readers, that I write. I would request that you 
give this letter space, for I hope it may inspire 
your lucid correspondent to shed the needed 
light on the little subject unhappily darkened by 
the shadow of his colossal frame—taking for 
granted it is colossal upon the theory that a 
large base is necessary to support a large head- 
piece. 
In his masterly article, “Something About 
Bait-Casting,” Robert Page Lincoln, than whom 
none would appear to so well merit being termed 
the one real and only Izaak Walton of all pres¬ 
ent day fishermen, sagely remarks: “I use the 
bait I think will get the most fish for the day.” 
Ponder that! An entirely new procedure, and 
so contrary, too, to general practice! Verily, 
the age in which we live is thus marked the 
greatst of mankind, and upon the scroll of 
achievements recording its distinctions must be 
emblazoned this new thing of using the bait 
which one thinks will get the most fish. 
Then Mr. Lincoln adds: “I find out in the 
early morning hours what bait the bass are tak¬ 
ing best that day, and then gauge my proceed¬ 
ings accordingly. Therefore, I have with me 
both live and artificial, selected with care.” And 
now, revealing a profundity of knowledge ap¬ 
proaching the infinite, “the frogs I choose are 
not too small, and not too large. I know just 
what size attracts the bass, and follow it up.” 
There, Mr. Editor, is where we want the 
light to shine. It should be focussed on those 
few lines. There are hundreds of us amateur 
anglers anticipating some bass fishing, but be¬ 
fore we wet a line, we would know something 
of how this wonderful genius proceeds to deter¬ 
mine early of a morning what bait the bass are 
taking best that day? And then, why, oh why, 
after determining the one best bait for the day 
he should always take with him both live and 
artificial, something which he takes the time to 
carefully select, yet which his marvelous deduc¬ 
tions have already determined will be of no 
avail? Every man who fishes is thirsting for 
this hidden knowledge, is eager and anxious for 
it, and I feel, Mr. Editor, that I can assure you 
that every such man is a suppliant for detailed 
information, and that all will feel obligated to 
you for your service of obtaining and publish¬ 
ing it. 
Then there is the question of the frogs. 
Does he tell us miserable amateurs, he of “in¬ 
tellectual highbrow” distinction, how he avoids 
taking frogs that are too long or too short; how 
he always manages to select those of the right 
length? Tell? Oh, no; not he. With strange 
modesty, yea even bashfully and hesitatingly, he 
takes us into his confidence just a wee bit— 
just enough to inform us bluntly that he knows 
all about it; that he knows the size that attracts 
the bass, and is clever enough to follow it up. 
We are delighted that he knows, but is his mere 
declaration fair to those who are beguiled into 
reading his article by its title, “Something About 
Bait-Casting,” with the legitimate idea that they 
are to learn something on the subject? We 
learn that Robert Page Lincoln knows, that he 
knows what he knows, and that is all. But what 
benefit is that to those who seek real in¬ 
formation about bait-casting? Would this emi¬ 
nent authority condemn as presumptuous, even 
worthless, a statement of “fact” when made by 
another if unaccompanied by proof or not sup¬ 
ported by theory? We incline to the belief that 
language, sufficiently vehement and caustic could 
not be found to supply his demand, and that thus 
being deprived of relieving himself of the =’i!- 
phuric gases rising from his boiling indignation 
he would explode. We find that when state¬ 
ments are made as facts and accompanied by 
argument so strong, even if too technical for 
the layman, as to be proof which at least satis¬ 
fies the one who in making them is endeavoring 
to advance the subject in which he is interested, 
Mr. Lincoln, because he holds a contrary view, 
indulges in no end of intemperate language in 
criticising them, as instance his article on 
archery, under the caption “About Teaching Be¬ 
ginners” in your issue of April 12. His article 
contained nothing about teaching beginners, but 
was a diatribe worthy of the king of an alley. 
But this gentleman, in his bait-casting arti¬ 
cle, may have been benevolently inclined. That 
is the better view, and we wish to retain it, 
though he fails to supply us with such a prece¬ 
dent or cause for this charitable supposition. He 
may have intended to give us some real benefit, 
and what I consider lacking in his article was 
possibly inadvertently omitted. So I appeal to 
him that he unlock and open wide the store 
house of his secrets that we who go for bass 
may return to our homes more contented with 
our catches than ever before. What we are in 
doubt about and would particularly like to know 
is whether in choosing frogs he prefers railroad 
frogs, horned toads, tree frogs, eighteen-inch 
bull frogs, or are they carefully selected arti¬ 
ficial frogs, and if the latter whether they should 
be imported or domestic? If railroad frogs, 
how much do they weigh, how long are they, 
how does he transport them from place to place, 
how many does he take for a day’s fishing, and 
how does he fasten them on his hook? If 
horned toads, does he select them because of 
any ability to play enticing music upon their 
horns, and if so, does he select males or fe¬ 
males, does he use them dressed or undressed, 
and what of the popular airs or operas does he 
have them play to lure the wary bass? Then, 
if tree frogs, are they taken to provide shade 
on a hot, sunny day, or at his command can 
they imitate a bark and thus possess value as 
the means to frighten away all bad boys who 
might be disposed to disturb his fishing siestas? 
If bull frogs, must they be taken from a pond 
in a cow pasture, from a pool in a steer lot? 
These are important question, though to 
those who know the answers they may seem 
frivolous. But to possess more information than 
my questions disclose could not be expected of 
me when I am credited with having read Mr. 
Lincoln’s article, and the generous and courteous 
spirit of your able correspondent will not allow 
him to expect more, or deny the information I 
crave when he learns that I am only an amateur 
archer, that I shoot a forty-pound bow, some¬ 
times a heavier one, and actually carry them 
about with me. C. T. Switzeer. 
“Konsider the postage stamp, my son, its 
usefulness konsists in being able to stick to a 
thing until it gets there.” — Josh Billings. 
