Nov. 21, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
821 
Pollution of the Hudson River. 
On Monday, Nov. 9, a petition describing the 
alleged conditions of pollution in the Hudson 
River was presented to Gov. Hughes, at Albany, 
and his powers were invoked to assist in putting 
an end to these conditions. The petition, which 
is supported by the New York Merchants’ Asso¬ 
ciation Water Pollution Committee, was circu¬ 
lated by Poultney Bigelow and bears the names 
of a large number of riparian owners in Orange, 
Ulster, Green, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and 
Columbia counties, New York. 
Among those who presented the petition were 
Edward Hatch, Jr., Dr. Albert Vanderveer and 
John Y. Culyer, of the Merchants’ Association 
Committee, and Maurice B. Dean, special repre¬ 
sentative of the attorney-general’s office. Some 
of the petitioners are Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, Mr. 
and Mrs. J. Pierpont Morgan, Mgr. O’Keefe, 
John Bigelow, Judge Alton B. Parker, Francis 
Leggett, Dr. Lyman Abbott, Prof. Henry Fair- 
field Osborn, president of the Museum of 
Natural History; John Harper, Admiral Tryon, 
Mrs. Custer, J. R. Roosevelt, Gilbert Colgate, 
Herman Livingston, Birge Harrison, Carroll 
Beckwith and Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead. 
The petitioners declare that municipalities, vil¬ 
lages, corporations, shops, factories, mills and 
other industrial establishments are now violat¬ 
ing the health laws of New York, and that the 
discharge from said municipalities, mills and 
other industrial establishments discolors the 
water, kills the fish, gives rise to unhealthy and 
offensive odors, pollutes and poisons the water, 
renders it unfit for agricultural and domestic 
purposes and constitutes a continuing nuisance. 
The petition also sets forth that “the Hudson 
River is now deprived of a natural pure water 
flow by reason of the diversion of thousands of 
billions of gallons from the Croton watershed, 
and will in the near future be likewise deprived 
of the pure water of the Catskill watershed, 
amounting to thousands of millions of gallons, 
thereby losing an important scouring and purify¬ 
ing agency; moreover, permitting the up-flow of 
the waters laden with sewage and filth of munici¬ 
palities and towns situated between these coun¬ 
ties and the Narrows.” 
Tournament Casting Classification. 
Harrison, N. J., Nov. 7 . —Editor Forest and 
Stream: In reply to the article in your issue 
of Oct. 31, in regard to professionalism, I wish 
to congratulate you and L. S. Darling for bring¬ 
ing this important subject before the angling 
fraternity. I do not think it necessary to be 
too harsh in our criticism of the National Asso¬ 
ciation of Scientific Angling Clubs’ rules, but 
when matters of such importance as declaring 
any person who might come under the definition 
of Section 2, Article 5, in the National Associa¬ 
tion of Angling Clubs’ constitution, a profes¬ 
sional, that this condition should be settled by 
a referendum vote of all the casters in each 
club affiliated with the National Association of 
Scientific Angling Clubs. 
It seems that to bar some of the best casters 
and sportsmen in the country from the national 
tournaments and exile them under the head of 
professionals, is unfair and against the best 
interests of scientific casting, and to class them 
among themselves, out of order. For instance: 
A is the owner of a tackle store, B a clerk and 
C a manager of a reel factory. Now each of 
these gentlemen belongs to a certain club and 
all are genuine sportsmen. The club' arranges 
a tournament in which the amateurs are to cast 
for places, first, second and third, etc., while the 
so-called professionals are to cast in one or two 
events by themselves. A and C are so situated 
that they have no time for practice, while B has 
developed considerable skill as an all around 
caster. Now, when contest day comes, A and 
C stay at home or forget to bring their tackle 
and so do not enter the events, while of course 
B gets the medal or trophy, or the contest is 
declared off. 
Personally, I do not see any objection to ad¬ 
mitting them to all the contests, provided they 
are properly classified, according to distance or 
IN MISCHIEF. 
per cent based on past performances; but I do 
believe a strict rule should be made to prevent 
any man exploiting his or his firm’s particular 
brand of tackle on the casting platform or at 
a club meeting. It is a good thing for the 
novice to have it demonstrated by actual prac¬ 
tice which style or construction of reel or rod 
gives best results. As it is now, either by cata¬ 
logue or advertisement, each firm produces the 
best, and when it comes to the professionals 
winning everything, they can only win one place, 
and if they were properly classified they would 
honestly earn the awards. 
Fred. T. Mapes. 
Mr. Frazer, of the Anglers’ Club of New York; 
Mr. C. McCarthy, of the Massachusetts Anglers’ 
Club, or Fred Peet, of the Chicago Fly-Casting 
Club, simply because they are amateurs? 
At a tournament held here last month we had 
a very fine exhibition of fly-casting, but as a 
contest it was most uninteresting. The winner 
had a margin of over twenty feet. 
No matter how good a sportsman a man is, he 
will not go on a platform a second time unless 
there is a possibility of being in the running. 
Under existing conditions it is almost impos¬ 
sible to run successful contests, and instead of 
creating an interest in the game we are simply 
killing it. 
What we want is less of this “holier than 
than” principle and more genuine sportsmanship. 
Have classes open to all regardless of their 
occupations and let the best man win. 
Under these conditions one man cannot run 
away with all the prizes unless he is a marvel. 
Robert A. Harris. 
Tonkin Cane. 
The shortage of Tonkin bamboo in the New 
York market seems to be at an end for the 
present, as it can now be had by amateur rod- 
makers at reasonable prices. These canes are 
received by the dealers in bundles containing 
two sizes. The larger canes are six feet long 
and 1J6 to i l / 2 inches in diameter; the smaller 
ones about 3L2 feet long and one inch or more 
in diameter. The prices are 25 and 35 cents 
each, respectively. 
The six-foot canes which we have examined 
are excellent, and some of them run very large 
at the butts. Splitting these in half shows that 
the majority have walls averaging Y, inch thick 
at the butt end and more than *4 inch at the 
top, making them available for either salt water 
or salmon rods. 
The canes we have examined are clear and 
free from checks or bruises and of good color, 
but some of them are not sufficiently seasoned 
to be worked up at once. When purchased they 
should be split in half or quartered and left in 
a warm place for several weeks until they lose 
all greenish color and become yellow on the 
enamel surface. If a test strip be bent smartly, 
then let go, and does not resume its original 
straightness, it is well to let it season longer 
or until it will acquire the steely spring which 
characterizes seasoned Tonkin. 
It is also well for the novice to remember that 
he may easily sprain his wrist in splitting large 
canes if the knife slips, letting the two parts 
spring back to their natural positions. In using a 
heavy knife it is advisable to follow it with a 
stick with which to hold the halves apart while 
the knife is forced through. Hold the knife in 
one hand and the stick in the other, or better, 
split the cane with a drawshave. 
Boston, Mass., Nov. 11 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have taken up the matter of tourna¬ 
ment arrangements with several anglers here and 
all are of the opinion that the only way to run 
successful contests is to have classes. I know 
several fairly good fly-casters who are sports¬ 
men that will not contest under existing condi¬ 
tions. 
I ask is it fair to pit an angler, whose maxi¬ 
mum cast is eighty feet, against such men as 
Fir« at Lake Hopatcong. 
A bad fire swept through the village at 
Nolan’s Point, on Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, 
recently, destroying ice houses, restaurant build¬ 
ings and cottages of fishermen and residents. 
The postoffice was also burned, and the total loss 
will reach five figures. 
Some good catches of bass have been made 
in the lake within a few days. 
