JUNE 23, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 

fish-hog, and was always averse to taking any 
“under-holts” on the finny tribe. He was always 
ready for a fair fight to a finish, and if the fish 
escaped, he had no sorrow to express, but only 
congratulations for the gallant conqueror. He 
coined many mystic words and phrases that be- 
came household words in the Kingfisher camp. 
Short of stature and compact in physical build, 
he had unbounded endurance in plying the oars, 
and was nimble as a deer and tireless as a 
panther in following the blazed trail or leading 
a way out through the trackless woods. As an 
adept in selecting a camp site, a veteran in 
arranging the details of tent pitching, dining and 
kitchen paraphernalia, and sifting of “camp 
calamities,’ was unexcelled. His love for pure 
cold water was so pronounced that he was al- 
ways the first to hear the ripple of a spring in 
the woods or see the sparkle of water stealing 
into the lake along the bank. He was always at 
home in the camp neighborhood, making friends 
with the oldest and the youngest. By the camp- 
fire at night, he was brimming with social 
humor, ready for a prank, a joke, or an en- 
joyable account of the day’s adventures. His 
ideas of life were practical and devoid of orna- 
mental adornment, as his writings bore evi- 
dence, without being intrusive. He was the 
recognized head of the Kingfisher band, and our 
association as camp comrades during the four- 
teen years from the first camp at Sweeny’s 
Creek, to the last at Hubbard Lake, when the 
Kingfishers virtually disbanded, form a rich halo 
of precious memories that cannot die. His last 
letter expressed the belief that he was nearing 
the “Great Divide,” yet the full meaning of that 
expressive belief can only be realized in the 
knowledge that our camping and angling days 
are ended, and his rod and reel will never again 
feel the touch of his familiar hand. OLp Sam. 

A Tribute from Old Comrades. 
As Kentucky members of the old Kingfisher 
Club, we desire to unite in the tribute of “Old 
Sam” (Samuel R. Smith) to the memory of 
James M. Hickman, who has answered the last 
call and crossed the “Great Divide.” While his 
death has touched our hearts with profound 
sorrow, it has also vividly recalled his many 
excellent traits, and the social virtues that dis- 
tinguished his character and made delightful our 
camp life beside the northern waters. The 
cordial ‘‘shake’ that accompanied his out- 
stretched hand, the aptly coined words and 
phrases that illustrated the happenings of camp 
life, the patient philosophy with which he met 
every difficulty, the “hilarity” he provoked from 
the group around the camp-fire, his love of the 
woods and waters, and the genuine spirit of the 
true angler that was ever reflected in his life, 
we can never forget. As the years go by, and 
one by one our old camp comrades drop from 
the ranks, the bonds of friendship grow tighter, 
and the recollections of camp life become 
sweeter and more precious. 
CeCe hurR: 
RicHARD Morris, 
Gro. L. PAYNE, 
FRANK G. STAGG, 
F. C. Cannon. 
FRANKFORT, Ky., June 12. 
Bass Fishing at Rideau Lake. 
PENNSYLVANIA, June 9.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: If the correspondent in your issve of 
June 2, writing of fishing in Big and Little 
Rideau, and who says he is a greenhorn, had 
cast his lines in those waters twenty years ago; 
he would have a different idea of what he calls 
good fishing. 
He may be of a feather with a certain New 
York politician whom I met a few years ago 
while trying out the waters of the Belgrade 
Lakes, and who had probably never wet a line 
unless off the docks of New York City. He 
arrived with enough tackle to start a small store 
and heavy enough for deep sea fishing, and the 
next doy spent the whole day on Long Lake. 
That night, on the arrival of a friend of his, he 
was telling him of the glorious sport he had had 
with the bass. “Why,” said he, ‘do you know 
999 

that I caught six bass to-day, and the largest 
one must have weighed nearly 2lb.” 
For over twenty years I fished the Rideau 
Lakes and Canal, and I think I know nearly 
every guide and every bit of fishing water from 
Kingston to Ottawa; and while the fishing there 
is fairly good there is no comparison between 
that of to-day and the fishing of earlier days, 
and I still maintain that the injury has been 
done largely by the motor boats. In the waters 
not much disturbed by the boats, and where the 
large-mouth bass abound, there is not so much 
diminution of the sport, but what angler would 
waste his time with large-mouth bass when he 
can find the small-mouth variety, which are the 
Yankees of the fish world. TOHICKON. 
The Webster Trout. 
THE.thriving little city of Patchogue out on 
Long Island is the center of a trout district that 
before the day of private preserves could not be 
beaten either for big fish or ease in getting at 
them. Even now sport can be had there if 
one knows where to go. Almost every male 
in the town is a trout fisherman, but the chief 
by common consent is Judge A. H. Carman, 
president of the Carman River Fishing Club. 
The Judge can tell a good story well, as witness 
the following: 
“This region was the favorite fishing ground 
of Daniel Webster. He would begin at the bay 
and fish our streams back to their source in the 
middle of the island, ten or twelve miles. Henry 
Clay sometimes fished with him. There was a 
big trout in Carman’s River they could never 
get to take the hook; neither could any one 
else, though scores had seen him, and according 
to the stories told he was as big as a small 
whale. 
“One hot June day, when all the townspeople 
were at church and the minister had just got 
to his sixthly, Carman’a little nigger boy 
rushed in, mouth open, eyes bulging, one hand 
holding up his baggy trousers, and yelling, ‘The 
big trout is in the hole! The big trout is in 
the hole!’ All knew what hole was meant. It 
was a spring under a big willow tree, where 
Carman’s dairy house had once stood, and sent 
a little brook into the river. So every man and 
boy in the house was on his feet in an instant. 
“ “Hold on, brethren,’ shouted the parson, who 
was a fisherman himself, ‘let’s all have a fair 
start.’ Then they made a rush across the fields 
for the old spring hole, the women and girls 
tagging after. Arrived there, their first thought 
was to stop up the entrance, then they got out 
Carman’s old menhaden seine that hadn't seen 
the water in ten years and was full of holes, and 
wrapped it round and round the sides and bot- 
tom of the hole, while the big trout made the 
water boil as an accompaniment. 
“At last, having him hard and fast, they went 
back and completed their devotions. 
some one sent a telegram to Webster, and he 
sent back a check of ten dollars for the trout, 
and ordered him held alive until he arrived. 
He came as soon as the stage coach could bring 
him, and in his presence the trout was taken 
out, laid on a broad oak plank and his outline 
carefully drawn with chalk. From this a 
weather vane was cut out and swung on Sam 
Carman’s mill for years; or until a West India 
cyclone came up the coast and split it so it fell. 
It is still in existence, however, and you will 
find it in the shop of Nathaniel Miller, one of 
our oldest residents. 
“Webster took the trout to New York, invited 
in all his friends and made a grand banquet of 
it in the Astor House, where he always stopped 
when in the city. The feast was held in the 
northeast room, second floor, the Vesey street 
and Broadway corner. 
“There is a boy at Artist Lake, where I some 
times go fishing for black bass,” continued the 
Judge, “who will be a millionaire if he lives. It 
is a pretty little sheet of water several miles 
cast of Ronkonkoma, and I usually have better 
luck there than at the larger and better known 
lake. One day when I was going up I wrote 
to this boy in advance and told him to have all 
the small frogs he could get at the lake on a 
certain day. He demanded two cents apiece, 
Next day > 
which I agreed to pay. Well, we got there, and 
there was my boy with a dry-goods box full of 
frogs, and a cheese cloth over them to keep 
them from hopping out. He had enlisted all 
the small boys and scoured the country for 
miles around. It cost me five dollars to settle 
the bill.” OB ie le 

Fly-Casting Rites: 
tditor Forest and Stream: 
In view of the ancl increasing interest in 
fly and bait casting tournament or contest work, 
it is believed by the Chicago Fly Casting Club 
that many of your readers would be gratified to 
know that this club will be glad to send, free of 
charge, to anyone interested in this delightful ad- 
junct to the sport of angling, a copy of its con- 
stitution, rules and events, on application to 
George A. Davis, secretary and treasurer, 24 
Sherman street, Chicago. 
This book is the result of fourteen years’ ex- 
perience and careful compilation and_ revision. 
It is believed these rules represent the best 
modern methods in the events enumerated, and 
that the events conform, as far as possible, to 
the most largely practiced methods of scientific 
angling in America. This is attested to by the 
fact that many clubs that have been organized 
since the Chicago Club (the first to organize), 
started, adopted ‘the constitution, rules and events 
verbatim, except for necessary. changes due to 
local name, ele, 
This offer is made solely to promote the very 
enjoyable sport of tournament or contest work 
and a more widespread knowledge of prevailing 
methods, and it is sincerely hoped you will give 
the matter as wide publicity as you think its im- 
portance warrants. 

H. WHEELER PERCE, 
Chairman Committee on Rules. 
9909 O_p CoLony BuiLpInG, 
First Weakfish at Prince’s Bay. 
Prince’s Bay, Staten Island, N. Y., June 6.— 
On the last of the flood tide, Henry George, of 
this place, to-day caught the first weakfish of the 
season with shrimp bait. Mr. George caught his 
fish on what we call the “flats” near Prince’s Bay 
light house. It was a fish eligible to be in the 
“tide runner class.” Before this news is read by 
the public, we shall have some good fishing for 
these tide runners if conditions stay right, but it 
is only the good fisherman that can catch these 
large fish in three or four feet of water on the 
flats. Tom, Dick and Harry would better not 
try it with their ten pound sinkers and wooden 
windlass; they will catch nothing but bad luck. 
This is a little late to record the first weakfish, 
but we are always a little later here than some 
other places near by, but when they get here the 
fish of Prince’s Bay are the best in size and qual- 
ity around Staten Island. 
One Angler’s Ideal. 
A rop, a brook; a pipe, a book; 
These leave naught for which to wish, 
Except, of course, a sign of fish! 
WALTON, JR. 
NOTICE TO NEWS STAND BUYERS 
Give Your Dealer an Order. 
After June 30 the ForEST AND STREAM will be 
unreturnable by dealers, but will be supplied by 

them to regular customers and on order. Readers 
accustomed to buy at news stands and book 
stores should not fail to give their dealers a 
standing order in advance, so that they may not 
fail to obtain the paper regularly. 
STIMULATION WITHOUT REACTION 
After a day of enjoyable sport, it is wise to choose a 
drink which helps to restore the vital powers rather than 
one which tends to deplete them, as in the case with 
many drinks. Borden’s Malted Milk is delicious, con- 
centrated nourishment, invaluable to the camper, made 
ready for use by adding water, hot or cold.—Adv. 
