Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1909. 
VOL. LXXIII,—No. 12. 
No. 127 Franklin St., New York. 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1909, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary, 
Louis Dean Speir, Treasurer, 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful interest 
in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate a refined 
taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1S73. 
POLAR NEWS. 
Commander Robert E. Peary, and his little 
band of explorers, scientific men and hunters, 
together with their faithful dogs, will return to 
their homes next week; Dr. Frederick A. Cook 
will arrive about the same time; and Harry 
Whitney will leave off hunting arctic game 
shortly and join them. 
It will not be long, therefore, ere the world 
will have the stories of these hardy men. The 
records of their observations will be pored over 
by students; the* narratives relating to the long 
journeys will interest the public in general and 
travelers in particular; their adventures with big 
game and their records of the birds and mam¬ 
mals collected or observed in the polar regions 
will be read with keen appreciation by sports¬ 
men everywhere. 
The achievements of the explorers will fur¬ 
nish new material in abundance, and so many in¬ 
terests were represented that the publication of 
the narratives in detail is awaited with im¬ 
patience by naval, yachting, athletic, sporting and 
scientific organizations as well as the general 
public. Hundreds of years of speculation as to 
the land or water at the pole, and the animal 
life, if any, existing there will be settled, and 
a better understanding gained as to the northern¬ 
most range of wildfowl and of mammals. Such 
a mass of valuable reading matter from one 
part of the globe, but of deep interest to so 
many people, has never before been brought out 
in the brief time that will elapse ere the read¬ 
ing world is placed in possession of all the facts. 
It is understood that Mr. Peary’s party, at 
least, obtained a large collection of photographs 
in the polar region, and indeed throughout the 
voyage of the Roosevelt and the sledge 
journeys, and these will be a material addition 
to the literature of the expedition. 
BASS FOR AFRICA. 
The success met with in the shipment of trout 
°va is bringing about a number of changes in 
the waters of the old and the new world; 
changes which, a few years ago, seemed more 
than improbable. The fish culturists of Scotland 
and England, enjoying the benefits of wider ex¬ 
perience, were the first to succeed in trans¬ 
porting ova to Australia and New Zealand, but 
of late years the United States Fisheries Bureau 
has also met with success in stocking South 
American and other far-away waters with fish 
hatched there from ova taken from hatcheries 
as far west as the Rocky Mountains and from 
California. The loss in these long distance ship¬ 
ments has been surprisingly small, and this has 
encouraged both anglers and fish culturists, so 
that in the course of time there will be game 
fish in all waters that are adapted to the best 
varieties. When a sportsman-tourist visits a 
land new to him, the question he will put will 
be, not what variety of fish may be found there, 
but just where he may find the most favorable 
places. 
In view of these facts it is not surprising that, 
when Theodore Roosevelt called attention to the 
possibilities of stocking Lake Naivasha, in British 
East Africa, with large-mouth black bass, the 
United States Fisheries Bureau should agree to 
undertake the work. In this, however, it is likely 
stock will be taken from European waters where 
our bass have been propagated. If the experi¬ 
ment proves to be successful, a new source of 
food supply will be available for both natives 
and white men. 
LEAPING TUNA. 
Tuna fishing has attracted a host of sports¬ 
men tourists to Pacific waters in recent weeks. 
For five years the leaping tuna failed to respond 
to lures towed about Catalina Island or were 
absent, it is not clear which. Now and then 
rumors of the presence of these large fish were 
circulated, but it was not until the Summer just 
past that any of the big ones were captured. 
When they did return the excitement ran high, 
and men who had spent weeks at the island and 
had gone to their homes or were en route re¬ 
turned to take part in the sport' of fishing for 
them. Since then Avalon has indeed been the 
mecca for big-game anglers and hordes of en¬ 
thusiasts cross the channel every day for a try 
at the tuna. 
As to the Atlantic tuna, a short communica¬ 
tion printed in another column conveys the latest 
word. None has been taken so far. The size 
and power of the tuna in Northeastern waters 
have been described in these columns by J. K. L. 
Ross, and Dr. Breck now tells us that Mr. Ross 
again tried to bring one of the big fish to gaff, 
but was compelled to cut away from it after 
seventeen hours’ time. Physical exhaustion 
alone would induce any strong man to do this, 
but it is probable Mr. Ross’ boat was being towed 
seaward. 
The landing of at least one Atlantic tuna with 
rod and reel would stimulate interest in this 
branch of fishing. Mr. Ross richly deserves this 
honor, and we wish him “better luck next time,” 
but do not forget that other anglers are trying 
for the same prize. Surely the successful one 
will not lack congratulations. 
FOREST AND STREAM STORIES. 
Readers of Forest and Stream inform us 
daily that in it they find more and more of the 
kind of reading matter they enjoy. Since the 
publication of several of last winter’s prize 
stories these favorable comments have increased 
in number. 
There are more of these prize stories, among 
them a very pleasing and timely one which ap¬ 
pears in the current issue, while others will be 
printed from time to time. Then there is our 
new prize competition, open to all until the first 
of the new year. Sportsmen have covered more 
territory this year than ever before, and each 
one of them has sufficient material for a good 
story, long or brief, as the case may be. That 
our prize competition will attract many of the 
best of these narratives is assured, for they are 
already being entered but will not be read until 
the competition closes. 
Other sportsmen are preparing for journeys 
into the game fields. All or nearly all of them 
will take cameras with them and make notes as 
they go along, with the intention of writing up 
their experiences on their return. M they will 
keep in mind the fact that good pictures add 
materially to the value of a narrative, they will 
gain a point in their favor. Pictures that tell 
a part of the story are the sort sportsmen should 
try to obtain, and with the marvelous improve¬ 
ment in photography and its appliances in recent 
years, this is not difficult. 
John W. Titcomb, chief of the fish cultural 
branch of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, 
has resigned to go into private business. Mr. 
Titcomb has been identified with fish and game 
protection and propagation for many years. He 
became fish commissioner of Vermont in 1891 
and two years later entered the fishery service 
of the Federal Government as superintendent of 
the hatchery at St. Johnsbury, Vt. Later on he 
was called to Washington to take charge of the 
extensive fish cultural operations of the Govern¬ 
ment. Under his direction this service has 
grown and increased greatly in efficiency and 
value. Mr. Titcomb has long been a leading 
member of the American Fisheries Society of 
which he was president in 1899-1900. Several 
foreign governments made application through 
diplomatic channels for his services in connec¬ 
tion with the inauguration of fish cultural work, 
and to Mr. Titcomb is due the impetus that has 
been given to fish, culture in South America as 
an outcome of his conspicuously successful ef¬ 
forts on behalf of the Argentine Republic. 
« 
Our cover picture this week is an enlarge¬ 
ment from a small negative made by a sports¬ 
man who recently returned from a hunting trip 
in British East Africa. 
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