March 12, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
481 
are much run down, but given proper protec¬ 
tion, which is almost impossible for the Govern¬ 
ment to provide, ten or fifteen years would see 
Newfoundland containing as fine salmon streams 
as any in North America. It is curious to note 
how set against this proposition the average 
resident of Newfoundland is, and the reason 
for this is his lack of knowledge of the subject. 
To the people living near the river, leasing would 
mean much; the constant employment of war¬ 
dens, the building of fishing lodges, cutting of 
paths, employment of guides throughout the sea¬ 
son, a market for milk, eggs and supplies. Be¬ 
sides this, leasing rivers attracts a more desir¬ 
able class of anglers. There are at present many 
more salmon anglers than rivers. 
There are many fishermen who go annually to 
Newfoundland or Labrador who would be glad 
to lease and improve a river, if it were possible. 
It would at first be impossible to command large 
prices for the rivers, but the lessee would en¬ 
deavor to protect that which he pays for, and 
as time goes on the value of the river would in¬ 
crease. 
Comeau, in his recently published and very 
interesting book, “Life and Sport on the North 
Shore,” in speaknig of the rapid improvement 
noted in rivers which are adequately protected, 
cites the instance of the Jupitagan on the North 
Shore. I am intimately acquainted with one of 
the lessees of the river. This is little more than 
a trout brook. In the first season only about 
ten fish were killed. The nets Were then bought 
up and at present more fish are often gotten by 
one rod in a day than were secured during the 
entire first season. This improvement took place 
in little over five years. This river was in the 
condition that most streams in Newfoundland 
now are—run down from over-netting. All 
over the world where they have been leased, 
salmon rivers have been paying investments. 
The great predominance of grilse now found 
in Newfoundland is due to netting; the small 
grilse slipping through the nets. 
I may have been particularly unfortunate in 
the selection of the rivers fished; the following, 
however, shows the percentage of net-marked 
fish caught during three seasons. In 1906, 52 
per cent, of all fish caught were net-marked; 
71 per cent, of all fish over ten pounds were 
net-marked. In 1907 (a different river), 41 per 
cent, of all fish were net-marked; 66 per cent, 
of all fish over ten pounds were net-marked. In 
1908, 63 per cent, of all fish caught were net- 
marked, while 84 per cent, of all fish over ten 
pounds were net-marked. This tells its own tale 
and requires no comment. 
The suggestion of stocking some of the streams 
with rainbow trout seems somewhat question¬ 
able. Apart from the damage they do on the 
salmon spawning beds, trout of any kind are 
a nuisance in a salmon stream. If it were pos¬ 
sible to do it honestly I would rather see the 
streams netted of trout, as is done on the fam¬ 
ous Godbout, than stocked with more; as it is, 
both sea and river trout are numerous in most 
of the streams in Newfoundland, while the 
ouananiche is found in some localities. The 
rainbow is a fine fish and has done splendidly 
in many waters, notably in New Zealand. The 
stocking of Newfoundland streams with these 
fish is, however, like bringing coals to New 
Castle. In my opinion, what Newfoundland 
needs is not restocking, but protection. The 
salmon is the important fish and is the fish 
which most needs protection. 
Newfoundland has a gold mine in its salmon 
fisheries, if these were but given a chance. It 
should be remembered that a barrel of salted 
salmon is worth but a few dollars, while many 
sportsmen would gladly leave in Newfoundland 
two or three hundred dollars for the privilege 
of taking these splendid fish on rod and line. 
Newfoundland, with its delightful summer cli¬ 
mate and beautiful rivers, offers an ideal loca¬ 
tion for a summer holiday, and with the present 
increased facilities, will undoubtedly become 
more and more a resort for tourists and sports¬ 
men. While there is still time, efficient meas¬ 
ures should be adopted to save the salmon. 
Silver Mitchell. 
Alonzo A. Donaldson. 
Alonzo A. Donaldson died at his home in 
Vineland, N. J., on March 5 in his seventy- 
fourth year. For over sixty-two years Mr. Don¬ 
aldson had been a salesman with the firm Wil¬ 
liam Mills & Son, and was one of the oldest if 
not the oldest fishing tackle salesman in the city. 
Last October he retired, purchased a small place 
at Vineland and began to raise poultry for profit. 
He was born in Doyers street, then a quiet resi¬ 
dential portion of New York city, now known as 
Chinatown, and entered the employ of the Mills 
when only twelve years of age. He was a 
veteran of the Civil War, a member of the 
Seventy-first Regiment, N. G. N. Y. 
Snub-Nosed Perch. 
Syracuse, N. Y., March 2 . — Editor Forest and 
Stream: lhe ordinary yellow perch, so com¬ 
mon in most of our lakes and streams, possesses 
many characteristics which endear it to the en¬ 
tire family of anglers—men, women and chil¬ 
dren. Associated as it invariably is with our 
earliest recollection of the gentle art, when with 
mother and sister on the banks of the neighbor¬ 
ing ‘ crick” it obligingly became a captive to our 
killing line of twine and pin, it has continued to 
occupy a prominent place in our affections, for 
has it not on many a subsequent day, both of 
our childhood and of our maturity, gladdened 
our hearts and spared our pride by its socia¬ 
bility, its willingness to nibble and its sincere 
desire .to help us maintain a position of honor, 
trust and responsibility in the community? 
Nor do I speak jocularly in this instance, for 
a big jack perch on a gossamer line will yield 
as much unadulterated pleasure to a full grown 
man as did its ancestors to our boyhood’s frolics; 
as well in regard to the character of the sport 
as in the toothsome qualities of its savory flesh. 
However, it is not of this that I would write, 
but rather of a peculiar family of snub-nosed 
fellows encountered one day last summer in 
Onondaga Lake. Fishing in this lake had been 
extremely poor for many years, but last year 
proved a notable exception. I had abundant 
opportunity to learn this in my weekly visits to 
the lake for the purpose of making a collection 
of the fresh water unios, the unusually fine fish¬ 
ing being the subject of much favorable com¬ 
ment throughout the season. 
On one of these occasions the wind was blow¬ 
ing such a gale that clamming was out of the 
question; the perch, however, were said to be 
biting ravenously. A boat was accordingly se¬ 
cured and we essayed to try our luck. Our 
tackle consisted of an angular strip of pine, one 
inch square by five feet long, a short length of 
chalkline from the lunch basket, and a snelled 
hook which mysteriously came to light from be¬ 
neath the band of our hat. For bait we found 
in a tomato can a half dozen worms discarded 
by some better equipped angler as too thin to 
cover a hook. After these were used up there 
were perch eyes and pectoral fins a-plenty. 
Surely the report was correct, for in less than 
two hours thirty-seven perch had been brought 
to boat, five over eleven inches in length and 
one over thirteen. 
Arrived at home, the fish were examined with 
some care, for even in the excitement of catch¬ 
ing them, three had been noticed which pos¬ 
sessed a peculiar frontal development. Each of 
these appeared as though some injury had af¬ 
fected its snout, arresting development and mak¬ 
ing it snub-nosed, as shown in the sketch made 
A SMALLER SPECIMEN OF THE ORDINARY PERCH CAUGHT ON THE SAME DAY, 
The illustrations, from drawings by Mr. Schneider, are slightly reduced. 
