622 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
scribed was, for this length, similar to the or¬ 
dinary tapered line, and accordingly need not 
be further considered. 
‘‘Last summer, when fishing in Norway, a 
friend of mine, who was using an ordinary 
tapered line, happened to lose about a dozen 
yards or so from the end. To his surprise, the 
line worked better than it had ever done before 
—a circumstance which provoked both discus¬ 
sion and experiment. Discussion elicited the 
fact that Mr. Earl Hodgson mentions a very 
similar occurrence in his book; and one of the 
party, who had spent much time in the 
Australian bush, described how stock whips 
were there made with bellies in them (the form 
my friend’s line had now assumed), and how 
the correct adjustment of the belly was a matter 
requiring special professional knowledge. Ex¬ 
periment, after much cutting up and joining to¬ 
gether of old lines, resulted in the evolution of 
the form which I give in Fig. 2. 
figure 2 * 
“A to B is the twenty yards which are cast 
from the tip of the rod. This length has, as 
shown, a considerable belly in it, the heaviest 
part being situated about F. B to X in thin line, 
as light as is consistent with strength and a good 
dressing. I have tried this line on my own 
rapid-running Norwegian river, and also on a 
slow-running, high-banked English river, and 
have found it to work most excellently on both. 
The chief differences between it and the ordinary 
tapered line, and the consequences of these 
differences, may be stated as follows: In my 
line, when twenty yards are out, the heaviest 
part is close up by the gut cast, whereas in the 
ordinary line the heavy part is close to the point 
of the rod. The consequence of this is that, 
while the total weight to be recovered and 
handled is about the same in both cases, my 
line travels far better against a wind than the 
ordinary line, and straighter and more easily 
under all circumstances. It also swims deeper, 
an advantage which practical salmon fisher¬ 
men will appreciate. In my line, too, the 
‘shooting’ part is thin and light, whereas in the 
ordinary tapered line it is thick and heavy. In 
consequence of this, and also because my line 
is heavy in front, shooting is greatly simplified. 
This enables one to fish with a comparatively 
short line and shoot a great number of yards, 
which is less fatiguing than ordinary casting, as 
well as being safer for the point of the rod, if 
there should happen to be steep banks behind. 
“Of course, a line such as mine can easily 
be turned out by any maker, but for those who 
have some lines which they do not mind cutting 
up the following description of how to make 
one for themselves may be of value: (i) Cut 
an ordinary forty-two yard tapered line, sold as 
suitable for your rod, in half. (2) On to the 
thin end splice twenty yards of ordinary stout, 
well-dressed trolling line, and splice the end of 
this on to your backing. (3) On to the thick 
end splice four yards of line, tapering to a thick¬ 
ness suitable to join to stout treble gut; or, if 
you have not such a piece of tapered line, four 
yards of the ordinary stout spinning line will do 
very well indeed. A home-made line such as 
this will, owing to the number of joints in it, 
be somewhat unsightly; but, if properly made, 
the joins are a positive advantage, as they enable 
one to tell at once just how much line is out. 
This is very useful both for harling and for 
casting, and makers might do well to place some 
distinct marks (say a foot or two of white line) 
at a distance of twenty-five yards or so from 
the end of all lines. 
“Lest there be any who do not know how to 
splice together two ends of line, the following 
description may be of service: With some sharp 
instrument (a stiletto from a lady’s work-basket 
is admirable) unravel three-quarters of an inch 
of the two ends to be joined, dip the unraveled 
ends into varnish (shellac dissolved in methy¬ 
lated spirit), and when tacky divide each end 
into three equal parts; with a pair of scissors 
sharpen the ends of these parts, and place them 
together, one inside the other. Next wrap the 
join round tightly with four ply of fly-tying 
silk which has been well waxed with cobbler’s 
wax; roll the splice between a clean shoe and 
a clean flour till it is quite smooth, and finally 
varnish. In wrapping the splice with the fly- 
tying silk it is well first to go over the whole 
join comparatively loosely in wide coils, and 
then to work back again tightly. 
“In conclusion, I may say that though I give 
thirty-five yards as the length of cast to which 
my line is specially adapted, I can, in fact, get 
somewhat further than this with it. I do not, 
however, consider it advisable to do so; in fact, 
twenty-five to thirty y^ards is quite long enough 
for most practical fishing. Beyond that distance 
the strike is apt to become weak, and the fish 
has already too much law.” 
[April 20, 1907. 
The Kennel. 
Mr. Osthaus’ Work. 
For many years the sportsmen of America 
have considered the great artist, Mr. Edmund 
H. Osthaus, of Toledo, O., as their personal 
and exclusive property in an artistic sense, and ] 
for many reasons. The chief of these are that 
he was each season, through many years, closely 
associated with them at the field trials north, 
south, east and west; that he judged in the field!, 
trials—when he could be prevailed upon to do j 
so—with most gratifying satisfaction to all con- j 
testants; that he bestowed on them many de¬ 
lights through the wonderfully realistic pro- | 
ducts of his masterful brush, and through the 
charms of his good fellowship and companionship. 
But in this country, true genius cannot always 
remain in a state of partial discovery, nor can 
any group of men, however appreciative, hope 
wholly to monopolize it. The rare visits of Mr. 
Osthaus to New York have always extended the 
list of his friends and increased in number the 
possessors of his works. 
The pictures which he had on exhibition for 
a while at the Waldorf-Astoria last winter added 
much more to his fame. The New York Herald 
reproduced some of his work with the most 
unstinted praise, and other periodicals were not 
slow to follow the lead when the whereabouts 
of the art treasures were indicated. 
The most recent publication in this respect 
is to be found in the Munsey’s Magazine, of 
April. It contains an excellent portrait of Mr. 
Osthaus at work, and reproductions of a num¬ 
ber of his paintings; “Cast-off,” depicts three 
dogs clearing a fence with fierce enthusiasm 
as they start on the day’s hunt; “The Cold 
Trail,” portraying foxhounds in the soft, mellow 
glow of the daybreak, picking the course of a 
cold fox trail; “October,” “Slow Music”; and 
“Early Trials,” a charming picture of a setter 
with a litter of young puppies. 
To our readers, the brief biographical sketch 
which accompanies the pictures will be of in¬ 
terest. Mr. Osthaus was born in Hildesheini, 
Germany, Aug. 5, 1858._ His father was a 
gentleman farmer, and his mother an English 
woman of much beauty and personal charm. 
He had a natural fondness for out-door life 
and the beauties of nature. His artistic tem¬ 
perament early manifested itself in sketches of 
the sheep in the pastures and of the deer which 
betimes wandered from the neighboring forests. 
As in nearly all such cases, this penchant for 1 
the artistic was viewed with disapproval by the 
father, who desired his son to study and learn 
architecture. After much importuning, hisj 
father reluctantly consented to a six months’ 1 
probation for him at the academy in Diissel- 
dorf, in which the son acquitted himself so 
well that he was permitted to take the entire: 
course. While thus engaged in his studies, hisi 
parents joined fortunes with the Archduke 
Maximilian in his endeavor to establish a new 
empire in Mexico, and after a four-years’ so¬ 
journ in that land, barely escaped with their] 
lives, when Maximilian was executed. They 
settled in the United States. After completing 
his studies at Diisseldorf, Mr. Osthaus entered 
the atelier of Mr. Christian Kroner, a renowned, 
painter of forest scenery and wild animals, and 
sometime later joined his parents in America. 
From 1885 to 1893, he was engaged as chief 
instructor in the Toledo Academy of Fine Arts,, 
an institution established by D. R. Locke, bet-1 
ter known as the humorist, “Petroleum V. 
Nasby.” Since that time, he has been a freeij 
lance with his brush. 
His many friends will rejoice at this broader]; 
recognition of his sterling merit, which is still 
much less than is his due, for he paints horses, 
cattle and landscapes with the same charming 
excellence which marks his sporting scenes, and; 
that is saying much. 
We publish herewith a cut of Rip Rap, which 
illustrates the finished style of Mr. Osthaus, anc 
at the same time portrays one of the mosll 
famous and best pointers that ever sniffed thdj 
air in search of the American game birds. 
