Dec. 24, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
1005 
MERE PLATITUDES. 
The old man had four lines out for tomcods 
on the Communipaw wharf of the Central Rail¬ 
road one day last week, says the Newark Call, 
when a red-faced hobo approached, and after 
watching the silent and motionless fisher, re¬ 
marked from behind him: “Fishing, eh?” 
“No. I’m just dredging this slip and inspect¬ 
ing smoke,” said the dry old man without turn¬ 
ing around to look. “Don’t shove me over¬ 
board, please.” 
“Last thing in my mind,” said the tramp. 
“There’s always a spirit of kinship or fraternity 
twixt anglers. I’m one myself. I’ve fished in 
all parts of the world. Caught the lordly sal¬ 
mon in the Dee and taken trout in Colorado, 
Montana and New South Wales. I’ve fished in 
every sea for the denizens of the deep.” 
“Fished in Australia, you say,” said the old 
man with a click of his tongue. 
“Yep. Caught some strange things in the 
rivers of Australia. Caught a duck-billed plati¬ 
tude once. D’jever see one? It’s got a bill like 
a swan, feet like a duck and is covered with 
fur instead of scales or feathers.” 
“No. I never saw one, but I’ve seen their 
pictures,” said the old man wearily, as he 
started to wind up his lines. “But I didn't know 
that they were mere platitudes. We have many 
of them here, but there’s none so lively as the 
thing you describe, which can’t live on land and 
dies in the water.” 
MOOSE KILLED WITH A TWENTY-TWO. 
A writer tells in the Boston Globe of a curi¬ 
ous incident of a trip in New Brunswick which 
resulted in a bull moose being killed by a badly 
scared man, armed with a .22 caliber rifle. James 
Lavine, employed by the guide, Bill Gray, to 
haul supplies from camp to camp, was on his 
way to the river one day to get a load of grub. 
He took his .22 along to shoot grouse, and when 
about a mile from camp saw a moose and drove 
toward him. The moose watched him, but re¬ 
fused to move. Lavine yelled and the moose 
charged, coming at a fast trot. When the bull 
was about fifteen feet away Lavine, who had 
left his wagon, jumped into a. bosky growth of 
bushes, and tried to get through to an open 
opposite. The moose went around after him, 
and came so near that three times Lavine poked 
him in the nose with his rifle barrel, hoping to 
scare him into running away. But the moose 
was cross and determined, and when he turned 
to go further around Lavine’s retreat, the held- 
up toter of grub and other supplies let go a 
heart shot. Strange as it may seem, the little 
.22 did its work. The big moose dropped and 
was soon dead. 
PREDICTIONS. 
Predictions of a mild winter are being made 
by Blairstown, N. J., naturalists who have ob¬ 
served the habits of animals for many years. 
The evidence is considered excellent, says the 
Newark Call. 
This year a muskrat weather prophet predicts 
that the coming winter will be mild. This asser¬ 
tion he states he has proved by observation. The 
rats this season have built low winter nests, and 
for the past few years he has noticed that when 
they do this the winter is not severe. When the 
nests are high there are generally several bliz¬ 
zards and extremely cold weather. 
Another observer says that the squirrels have 
been careless about winter hoarding, and that 
fur, hair and feather indications among animals 
and fowls also indicate mild weather. 
According to one rule there will be five snow 
storms this winter. This prediction is based 
upon the fact that the December moon was five 
days old Monday, when the first snow fell. 
TPIE FARMER OBJECTS. 
Thousands of little fish are destroyed annually 
in the irrigating ditches, which could be avoided 
if a law were passed making it compulsory to 
put a fish wheel at the head of the ditches, but 
the farmers object.—Butte Inter-Mountain. 
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The shop itself, the place of business of Unci# Lisha 
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