508 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[MarcH 31, 1906. 

Carleton, chairman of the Fish Commission of 
the State of Maine, in accordance with Mr. 
Brackett’s request. 
I inclose this copy to you in the hope that 
through international co-operation the salmon 
fishery in the St. Croix River may be preserved 
and not extinguished, as seems probable if the 
present practices are continued. 
I need not tell you that, as I am informed, Mr. 
Frank Todd, the present Fish Commissioner of 
the Dominion of Canada at St. Stephen, is the 
president of the company that is putting up the 
new pulp mill at Sprague’s Falls. 
Yours very truly, 
J. E. Hinpon Hype, 

NEw York, Sept. 20, 1905.—J. W. Brackett, 
Esq., Phillips, Me.: Dear Sir—I have to thank 
you for your favor of the 18th inst., and have no 
doubt some good will be accomplished in the 
matter. I have sent a copy of our correspond- 
ence to Mr. Carleton, and have also sent a copy 
of it, with an explanatory letter relating to the 
local Canadian Fish Guardian, to the authorities 
at Ottawa. 
I have also sent a copy of the correspondence 
ss yee Hon. George Shiras, 3d, at Washington, 
Further than this I do not know that I can do 
anything, but shall be glad to do so if you can 
tell me what I should do. Mr. McKusick, the 
lawyer of Calais, of whom I spoke, says that the 
citizens of Calais would raise a monument to any 
one who would change the present situation. 
Yours very truly, 
J. E. Hinpon Hype. 

MARINE AND FISHERIES CANADA, OTTAWA, Sept. 
23, 1905.—Sir: Permit me to acknowledge the 
receipt of your letter of the 18th inst., covering 
copy of correspondence with the Fish Commis- 
sion of the State of Maine, touching certain ille- 
gal practices and conditions obtaining on the St. 
Croix River, to the detriment of the salmon fish- 
eries and affecting the interests of the adjoining 
countries. 
am obliged for the information you have 
courteously extended, and shall take immediate 
steps to obtain, through the Department’s In- 
spector of Fisheries for the locality, any further 
information regarding the Canadian waters which 
may tend to some eventual arrangement for the 
better protection of the valuable fisheries of this 
stream. 
I note with interest the intimation in your let- 
ter to Mr. Brackett of a probability of an early 
change in the jurisdiction over migratory fishes 
as between the Federal and State Governments. 
I am, sir, Your obedient servant, 
F. GoURDEAU, 

New York, Oct. 3, 1905.—Hon. L. T. Carleton, 
Augusta, Me.: Dear Sir—Did you receive a let- 
ter from me which I sent on the 18th ult., con- 
cerning the Calais pool and the St. Croix River? 
I have received a very courteous letter from the 
Commissioner at Ottawa in which he promises to 
investigate present conditions, but, not having 
heard from you, I fear my letter may have mis- 
carried, Yours respectfully, 
J. E. Hrnpon Hype. 

STATE OF MAINE, OFFICE OF COMMISSIONERS OF 
INLAND FISHERIES AND GAME, Augusta, Me., Oct. 
4, 1905.—Mr. J. E. Hindon Hyde, 120 Broadway, 
New York: Dear Sir—Returning to the office 
this morning after an absence of several days, I 
have your favor of the 3d concerning the Calais 
pool and the St. Croix River. This river being 
the boundary between the Provinces and Maine 
gives us a great deal of trouble. We have spent 
considerable money in trying to guard it. I will 
call our game warden’s attention to the matter 
and see what we can do about it. We will do 
all that we can to prevent the recurrence of pres- 
ent conditions. Yours truly, 
Leroy T. CARLETON, Chairman. 

MARINE AND FISHERIES, OTTAWA, Can., Oct. 4, 
1905—Sir: In acknowledging the receipt of your 
note of the 3oth ultimo, I may say that the offi- 
cer to whom the matter has been referred is not 
Mr. Todd, who is a local fishery overseer, but 
the Inspector of Fisheries for the district, Capt. 
J. H. Pratt, of the Fisheries Protection cruiser 
Curlew. I am, sir, Your obedient servant, 
F. GOouRDEAU, 
Deputy Minister of Marine and Fisheries. 
J. E. Htnpon Hype, Esg., Equitable Building, 
120 Broadway, New York City. 

New York, Nov. 20, 1905.—L. F. Tobie, Esq., 
Calais, Me.: My Dear Mr. Tobie—Can you give 
me any information as to what, if anything, has 
been done recently in the way of investigating 
the conditions of the St. Croix River salmon fish- 
ing by the Canadian Government, or by the Maine 
Fish Commissioner ? They both promised me 
that they would look into the matter and do all 
in their power to improve the situation, and 
thanked me for the information which I had 
given them. 
What I am really interested in is the preserva- 
tion of the salmon in the St. Croix River, and the 
prevention of the pollution of the water by the 
sawmills and the possible future contamination 
of the water by the spent sulphurous acid which, 
if not prevented, will probably be drained from 
the new pulp mill at Sprague’s Falls into the 
river. Can you not give me some light as to the 
present situation? Yours sincerely, 
J. E. Hrnpon Hype. 
That salmon pool is a big asset of Calais and 
St. Stephen. 

Carats, Me., Nov. 24, 1905.—Mr. J. E. Hindon 
Hyde, 120 Broadway, New York City: Dear Sir 
—Acknowledging yours of Nov. 20. There has 
been some sort of an investigation going on in 
regard to the salmon pool but just what I do not 
know. Have heard nothing from the Maine au- 
thorities, but Captain Pratt, of the Canadian 
revenue cutter Curlew has been looking into this 
matter and called at my office several weeks ago 
to see me in regard to it. I was absent at the 
time and have heard nothing further. I have tried 
to get the Calais papers to ‘enthuse a little in re- 
gard to the salmon pool in hopes of bringing this 
place to the front as a fishing resort. With re- 
gards, I remain, Yours truly, 
Le. E, Sour, 
Assistant General Passenger Agent. 
The Drumming of Fishes. 
THE sounds produced by certain fishes have 
often been wondered at by anglers and to some 
extent discussed by scientific men. The anglers 
have had only questions to ask on the subject, 
and until recently the scientific men have done 
little beyond making conjectures. Thus the drum- 
ming of fishes has long been misunderstood, 
though the fact has been very well known. How 
the sounds were produced has not been known 
at all. It has been conjectured that this function 
of drumming was connected in some way with 
the air bladder, but it has remained for Mr. Hugh 
M. Smith and Prof. R. W. Tower to explain just 
how they were made. 
This drumming sound is most common among 
the Scienide, or drum family, which contains the 
drum fish, the squeteague or weakfish, the croaker 
and the kingfish, and is caused by two large 
muscles lying on either side of the body between 
the abdominal muscles and the peritoneum and 
extending the whole length of the abdomen on 
both sides of the median line. This muscle is 
in close relation with the large air bladder, and 
by its rapid contraction produces a drumming 
sound through the aid of the tense air bladder. 
In the weakfish this muscle exists only in the 
males, and only the males are able to make a 
drumming sound. It is probable that the mechan- 
ism for drumming is found in most of the genera 
of this family, but it is not found in all. In the 
croaker (Micropogon undulatus) the muscle is 
present in both sexes and both make the drum- 
ming sound, while in the kingfishes (Menticir- 
rhus) the drumming muscle and the air bladder 
are absent in both sexes and no drumming sounds 
are made. 
In the drum fish and some other genera, it has 
been observed that the drumming sounds are 
heard most frequently during the spawning sea- 
son—good evidence that this is primarily a sexual 
. function. 
It is evident that if these animals are able to 
make sounds there should be the ability to appre- 
ciate them, and a recent study of the weakfish ear 
made by Dr. George H. Parker at the Woods 
Hole Laboratory of the Bureau of Fisheries has 
shown that that species possesses a well developed 
sound-perceiving organ. It is found also that 
in the drum family the ear bones are exceptionally 
large, and on the other hand Mr. Smith has found 
that in the kingfishes, where no drumming organs 
are present, the ear bones are relatively smaller 
than in any other genera that have been exam- 
ined. The subject is interestingly treated of in 
Mr. Smith’s paper in a recent number of Science. 
Fish Scarcity and Motor Boats. 
Tue New Bern, N. C., Journal says: “It has 
been noted a number of times in the local col- 
umns of the Journal the scarcity of fish in this 
market. Word comes from Morehead City that 
the fish market there is remarkably bare of fish, 
and has been all the winter, much to the injury 
of business in that place. This does not mean 
that no fish are caught, for there are always fish 
for home consumption, but there has been no 
fish for shipment, and this is a serious matter 
for a place like Morehead City, as well as New 
Bern, whose great trade has always been sea 
food products. 
“Inquiries have been made here and at More- 
head City by the Journal, as to the reasons for 
this unusual fish scarcity, and while several have 
been given by the fishermen, the one which seems 
to be prominent, is that the many motor boats, all 
kinds of power boats, which are now employed 
in the waters of the rivers and sounds, is the main 
cause for the fish scarcity. 
' “While this reason may at first cause a smile, 
yet it must be remembered that one of the de- 
mands always made upon fishermen was absolute 
quiet, and while the fish caught for market are 
very largely if not altogether taken by net and 
seine, yet it may be quite possible that the power 
propelled boats, all of them noisy, might cause 
an alarm among the fish coming into the sounds 
and rivers, and frighten many fish back to the 
ocean depths. At present it is the motor boat, not 
the sailboat, that brings the fish to market, after 
having been at the fishing grounds gathering up 
its cargo, and every foot it goes there is noise in 
the water, caused by these actively propelled 
boats, and it may be no fisherman’s tale, that 
these boats are responsible for the fish being 
scarce. 
“Accepting this to be true, the question is, 
what of the fish supply for the future? Will the 
fish in the water become accustomed to the motor 
boat, and so return to the rivers and sounds, or 
must it be for the fishermen to take to deep sea 
fishing? The question is an interesting one and 
must be determined one way or the other before 
many seasons pass, and so settle the matter of 
New Bern and Morehead City, being sea food 
markets, specially in the matter of fish.” 
Trout’s Narrow Escape. 
A CORRESPONDENT of the Field relates that he 
shot a flying heron that had been fishing in the 
River Colne, at Uxbridge, and as the bird fell 
there dropped out of its mouth a trout nearly 
one-half pound in weight. The fish was alive, 
though scored on the back. A keeper procufed a 
live-bait can, filled it with water, and put the 
trout into it. After a minute or so the fish gained 
strength. In a few hours it seemed quite resus- 
citated, and apparently none the worse for its 
narrow escape from death. It was accordingly 
returned to the river to recover itself fully— 
London Standard. 
A New California Fly-Casting Club. 
Tue Marysville Fly-Casting Club was recently 
organized with the following officers: Charles 
Peek, President; Morgan Williams, Secretary ; 
Leslie Crooks, Treasurer. Fly-casting competi- 
tions are to be held at Ellis Lake. 
