:»cry from the rain, and burdened as we were, 
the utmost caution was necessary to avoid a 
slip. A fall upon the rocks under a pack is a 
serious matter. At last we reached the easier 
slopes along the brook, and here began one of 
he wettest experiences I have ever had in the 
(roods. This particular trail has not been cut 
>ut for years and as the forest has been lum¬ 
ped, the young growth is so thick that it meets 
>ver the trail about breast high. The brush 
vas soaked with rain and for nearly three miles 
re had to force our way through what was a 
ierpetual shower bath. When the Tyro led I 
ould perceive only one dry spot upon him, a 
pace about six inches square on the seat of 
is trousers. As if to compensate for the wet- 
ess of the brush, the footing underneath was 
ood and we made rapid time. By four o’clock 
t /e were out of the brush and by five on the 
pad. At this point a heavy shower came up, 
.ut we had already reached the point of satura- 
on and were above noticing a petty shower. 
I need not tell in detail how we reached a 
ozy farmhouse, donned complete outfits of dry 
othes and ate of the good things set before 
' until we were fairly ashamed of ourselves. 
"Well, Tyro,” said I, just before we dropped 
f to sleep that night, ‘‘what do you think of 
ie woods?” 
“T hey are wet,” he answered retrospectively, 
nd then there are those—wha’-do-you-call- 
ms > an< ^ I could hear him softly scratching 
s midge-bitten arms, and then, after a pause, 
There do you expect to camp next year?” 
Casting with Heavy Weights. 
At every casting tournament in New York 
ty in which surf casting has been made a 
rt, objections have been made to the weight 
1 lead used. 1 he 2 i y 2 ounce weight was made 
pndard for surf casting a great many years 
•0, and all records for this style of casting 
‘ 'e been made with it. Those who have ad- 
cated weights of 3 ounces or more are not 
'merous, or their protests would have been 
nsidered by the National Association in adopt- 
i, r rules for surf casting events; but they have 
1 pressed some casters with the belief that the 
'le discriminated against them. They claim 
-md with good cause—that in casting in the 
s f along the New Jersey coast, that a 2^2 
cnee weight will not hold bottom in a tideway 
c when the surf is heavy. 
The zy 2 ounce weight never did and does not 
'w represent a sea lead, as such. It represents 
t. weight of a bait, which it was agreed when 
1 rule, was established, averaged about 2 y 2 
Clces in weight. At that time lead-tipped 
'° Pl u S s bad not been adopted, and alumi- 
, - n was not on the market, hence lead was the 
c y satisfactory material to employ. 
n view of these facts some of the results 
C . the , recent tournament of the British Sea 
glers’ Association are of interest, for they 
V v . w ^ at bas been done with lead weights 
,vler than 2 x /2 ounces. 
r 4 ounce lead the winner’s best cast was 
l, 6et ’ ^ ounce weight the best cast of 
man was under 160 feet; 8 ounce weights, 
. er 141 ^ eet - The best casts made in the 
•rnament were: 4 ounce, 190 feet 2 inches; 
^unce, 195 f ee t gi^ inches; 8 ounce, under 152 
ontrasted to these performances, there is the 
record of the tournament of the Highbury Ang¬ 
ling Society, held a week previously at Farn- 
ham, England. With 2 i y 2 ounce weight J. T. 
Emery,, the winner, cast 241 feet 8 inches, 232 
feet 8 inches and 214 feet 7 inches in the three 
trials allowed. 
Duiing the last-named tournament an event 
was. held which is in every way worthy of being 
copied here. It was dry-fly casting for distance 
only. The winner cast 84^ feet, 83 and 78 feet 
in his three trials. What the rods weighed we 
do not know, but such an exhibition is needed 
here to develop interest in our medium weight 
fly rods. There are many of our casters who 
do not compete in the single hand distance trout 
fly casting because they lack the strength neces¬ 
sary to wield 9 y 2 to 12 ounce rods ny 2 feet 
long, but they make very creditable casting with 
five and 8 y 2 ounce rods. If this dry fly distance 
THE SHANTY BY THE TRAIL. 
Photograph by A. L. Wheeler. 
event were added to the list of recognized con¬ 
tests to be cast with rods of 8 y 2 ounces or less, 
then such a rod would be of good use in trout 
fishing in rough streams, in bass fishing and in 
the accuracy fly, the dry-fly accuracy and in this 
proposed dry fly distance casting. 
The National Association meets in this city 
next month, and it is hoped such an event will 
be arranged for future contests. 
Trout Fishing in North Carolina. 
Hendersonville, N. C., July 10 .—Editor For¬ 
est and Stream: Local anglers were counting 
on fine sport with the trout this summer. Many 
have been the disappointments because of con¬ 
tinued rains. Through June it rained almost 
every day, and July has so far proven almost 
as bad. On the 22d of June I went to Green 
River, and finding the water muddy near the 
station I walked five miles up stream until I 
reached clear water, but was after a little time 
driven out by rain, but not until I had caught 
eleven rainbow trout. 
An apparent change in the weather caused me 
to write a line to a friend to meet me at the 
station here on Monday last, and this he did. 
We got off at Zirconia station, walked to a farm 
house four miles up the river and spent the 
night. Testerday morning we walked up stream 
a mile and a half further. The water we found 
clear enough and the indications gave promise 
of fine sport for the day. It was cloudy, and 
this I liked, but for a gathering mist hanging 
around the mountain tops. 
We stopped to eat a small lunch at noon and 
counted out thirty-one nice trout. Just then 
the rain struck us, but we fished on till the 
water got muddy and no trout would rise. 
During the forenoon my friend had a very 
singular thing happen to him. He caught a 
trout about ten inches long, opened his creel 
and putting the trout in closed down and made 
the lid fast. While wading a few minutes later 
through some dead water he heard “plunk,” as 
something fell quite close to him into the water. 
Looking down he saw his trout as it vanished. 
Now when you know that the hole in the lid 
of a twelve-pound creel is only about 1 y 2 inches 
by 2J2 inches the feat of that trout was some¬ 
thing quite remarkable. In floundering about 
his head must have got in the opening and being 
on a bend, so to speak, of his tail, simply sprung 
out into the water. 
On our walk back to the station a heavier 
rain caught us and we were soaked good, but 
we had to pass near the dam of an electric 
power plant and this dam backs water for over 
two miles. I told my friend that this dam 
would catch the muddy water and hold it back 
for an hour or so at least, and we might try 
for another trout or so just below it, and this 
we did, catching three nice ones. I caught all 
of my twenty trout with barbless hook flies, and 
after this year will use no other. My friend 
used one barbless and two barbed flies on his cast 
and caught something like half of his trout on it. 
These continued rains are hard on the angler, 
hard on the farmer, hard on the young quail 
and hard generally. The concatenation of ideas 
is quite singular at times. Now this word, hard 
as applied above, brings to mind an actual oc¬ 
currence of many years ago in the “low coun¬ 
try” of South Carolina. A large planter had 
a tame buck. The little darkies, as well as 
others, played with it as a fawn. They “butted” 
with it, and it was quite a pet, but at last it 
came to a more dangerous age and had to be 
shot. One of the negroes in going to the rice 
fields one day carried with her a small three- 
legged pot. Now a three-legged iron pot is 
quite hard. Suddenfy. she saw the pet buck 
standing a little way off in a fighting attitude, 
so she at once defied the pet, and shaking her 
head at the buck said to him, “Dis time I git 
you. Dis time I git you.” The buck needed 
no further encouragement for an attack, and 
very promptly charged her. The impact of his 
charge drove the pot down fast and tight over 
her head and quite beyond her power to remove 
it. Her smothered cries were heard by other 
negroes who quickly came to the rescue; but 
the pot had to be broken to get it off. 
Ernest L. Ewbank. 
PURE MILK FOR BABY. 
Sanitary milk production was first started 
by Gail Borden in the early 50s. The best 
systems to-day are largely based on his 
methods, but none are so thorough and so 
rigidly enforced as the Borden System. For 
over fifty years the Eagle Brand Condensed 
Milk has proved its claim as the best food for 
infanta.— Adv. 
U&uuCi u. uf I. uf&Agfi-t^tFAiGN 
