August, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
479 
A DUTY LAID UPON US 
HE price of fishing, wails a daily paper, is going 
up. It proceeds 10 prove it by quoting prices of 
tackle and other accessories, not omitting to ring in 
the charges of the ubiquitous landlord and his co¬ 
adjutor, the guide and boatman. 
No remedy is proposed, not even the suggestion 
that the Amalgamated Association of Truthful and 
Trusty Anglers submit their grievances to the proper 
price fixing board at Washington. 
The wail is not complete, for there is a loud silence 
regarding one item in not a few outfits—namely, 
“bait.” That also is going up. In fact it is to be 
said of one particular variety of it which the Govern¬ 
ment has banned as to manufacture, that the faster 
it goes down, the faster it goes up. 
With that, however, and its kind of angling, our 
tale has not to do. 
But out on him who reckons sport by the dollar 
and cents standard! 
Old Mother Nature, with whom the fisherman is 
in intimate contact, has not gone profiteering. Her 
wares are still to be had at pre-war prices. She shows 
the same infinite variety of exquisite vistas of stream 
and woodland; her orchestras pour their melodies 
from tree and copse. The caressing winds sound their 
deep diapason through every wilderness and wake the 
pines to solemn sound. 
All this is free. Not even the revenue collector can 
enter here to lay his toll on the fortunate mortal who 
holds the privilege of admittance. 
The price of fishing going up ? Perish the thought! 
Mayhap the cost of certain accessories is a trifle more; 
in truth the landlord and the guide—if these earthly 
appurtenances still annoy on chosen trips to regions 
favored of the gods—may exact a tribute out of pro¬ 
portion to their former rates. 
But what of it? If to buy the needful things more 
money is required, then more exertion should be put 
forth to earn the money. And as more exertion re¬ 
quires corresponding efficiency, to be obtained only 
by proper rest and relaxation, it follows that we ought 
to go fishing oftener. It is a duty laid upon us. 
What angler will shame his profession by shirking 
the call? 
THE PLEASANT SIDE OF WAR 
HILE war is rightly regarded as stern and full of 
horrors, there are still little pleasant phases of it 
that escape attention. For instance Phillip Gibbs, the 
famous war correspondent, sends the following to the 
New York Times. It will be read with sympathetic 
interest: 
“The country of France is in most perfect beauty just 
now, and all the lanes about the small villages where the 
British, French and American troops are billeted are 
white with May blossoms above green bowers, and the 
air is drenched with the scent of it. There is rich pas¬ 
ture for cattle where the tall grass is tangled with dog 
daisies and clover and spread with sheets of buttercups, 
and some of the Allies’ long-range guns are camouflaged 
not designedly by this luxuriant nature about them. 
“The May fly is tempting the trout to rise in this world 
of war, and the trout is tempting soldiers who are Izaak 
Waltons in their spare time and prefer the rod to the 
rifle when the enemy is inactive. French soldiers are 
passionate fishermen and will dangle a worm above a 
stream though high explosives menace their neighbor¬ 
hood; but some of the British and American officers and 
men are also devotees of the gentle sport and I see them 
wandering along reedy banks, where birds sing in bushes 
near by and at night bullfrogs croak bass music to the 
nightingale’s lyric. 
“All this has nothing to do with war, but I like to 
write these things because they belong to the life of the 
Allies in their resting hours.” 
The lawful fishing season has just begun in France. 
This is better than war news, for the outpouring of 
crowds to the rivers and lakes is significant of the healthy 
frame of the public mind under trying circumstances. 
Paris forgot bombs and Berthas and went fishing. In 
the city itself both banks of the Seine were fringed by 
convalescent French soldiers from the hospitals, every 
man with a rod and line. In the evening, from all the 
railroad stations which were filled so many weeks with 
refugees and their pitiful bundles there came crowds of 
holiday makers—men and boys with their tackle and bags 
of fish, and women and girls with their arms filled with 
wild flowers. 
Paris is anxious, but neither losing its head nor for¬ 
getting how to take a day off. 
LOOK FOR BLACK WALNUT TREES 
OT only the Boy Scouts, but every woods-rambler 
and sportsman in the country should heed President 
Wilson’s request for a census of black walnut trees. 
This tree is an essential timber for war purposes; it has 
always been used for gunstocks and now is also in great 
demand for airplane propellers. As only the best grade 
of black walnut can be used for this purpose (and each 
airplane requires four or five propellers), it is of the ut¬ 
most importance that sportsmen make a note of the lo¬ 
cation of any of these trees they may run across. Don’t 
forget to look for black walnut trees! 
CHICAGO GAME DEALERS FINED 
IPOR violations of the L'nited States game laws Judge 
George A. Carpenter fined several South Water 
street merchants and gave them to understand that 
further violations would be severely dealt with. A dealer 
who shipped a number of quail and wild duck to a distant 
state was fined $100 and costs, while another dealer was 
fined double that amount for receiving a large number of 
quail from Indiana. 
The shippers will be dealt with at the other end of the 
line, Judge Carpenter said. This prompt and vigorous 
judicial action is encouraging to those who are working 
for conservation of America’s wild life. 
“A SOLDIER’S LETTER TO HIS DOG” 
HE year has rolled around once more. We are in the 
vacation season and no matter where it will be spent, 
there you will find Forest and Stream with its message 
of good cheer and words of wisdom. 
In these troubled times the minds of us all naturally 
swing to the boys abroad fighting the battles of humanity. 
This Republic was founded by a race of hardy men skilled 
with that distinctive American weapon, the rifle, and it is 
the sons of these men, many of them readers of Forest 
and Stream, who are now playing such an important 
part on the other side; for military authorities the world 
over recognize the fact that the lesser battles of the chase 
develop the most important soldierly qualities. 
It is, therefore, with much satisfaction that we call at¬ 
tention to the very timely and beautiful cover by A. D. 
Fuller, which we present through the courtesy of the 
Hercules Powder Company, the owners of the copyright. 
The heartfelt letter from a soldier to his dog, is also a 
bonafide missive from the Front by a Massachusetts boy. 
