The tile-fish is not found

(1)

190 FOREST AND STREAM.

[Oct.5,188&

Illinois

Wnj>F0Wi.—

Aurora. 111.. Sept. 88.—Prairie chicken shootingIthinkhas beenbetterthanan average.

Thereare agood ninnybirdsleftfornextyear. Therewill

notbemauy

moresln.i(Msseason, Theyarcwildunci rise out.or range. Boineofm\friends report quail quite plenty.

EnglisljsnipeIisolojma itihomi)havebegiui toi>uiinan ap butarenol very plenty,owing,I presume, toits being sodry. Blueiind greenwinged teiH arc ins, ^•

numbers, withafewyoungmallards,billthenapersonWill

havetoKnowwheretolook toAndthem, i-hoitouryoung mallardslaslWednesday,thefirslIhavejetm. By(he way'.

it isabout limetothinkofloadingshell- forliefall shoal ing,andwhile doingboagood mainwill wantto know wheretheyaregoing to look Col good'link shooting. 1

willdescribe oneplacewhoresfriendami myselfspem a

weekof a^ goodshooting asonewouldcareloenjoy, li

wasonthe Kankakee Riverabove Womanee, on westside, abouttwentymilesfromthe town. ¥ottwil) have totake your

own

tentwith yon, Can getateamto takeyouout, amiIfitisnol avery wel fall,youwill not require a boat.

Thebestsnootingis'liackfrom theriveraboutamileorso, thaii-duringthemorninganileveningshooting,butinthe.

mlddleof thedaythc riveristhe place. I would advise anyone goingtherelotakealongagoodrifle,amiifiigeta vrr_: i,iutery hireateam ami driver and goto LittleBeaver Lake. Theywill timl agoodmanygeesethere,will Rome swan. Thewritershotone While there, a-flnoaspecimen asIever saw. Onewill haveno trouble in (hiding this lakea-byi 11'|uirin/niosiany onethatlivt-in thatsection candirecthimtoil.

We

tookalongtwodozen decoys, ami partiesgoingthere,shoulddothesame,althoughgoodshoot- ingwillbehad-without them, It this letter Is not ⁱ\plicit enoughI willtakeploasun inanswering misinquiriesthai .in-i.i,|i,asedli.mi,-I.,A llOYT.

Ni:\\ STORE^.--(aml.ii-.TiogaCounty.—Ruffedgroii.se..ud woodcockneversoscarcehere;have beenmil several times, anil seennone.—J.0.F.

!mh-\na.—Indianapolis. Iml..Seja. 25.

We

areall pa- tientlywaitingforOct.

16—

the15thcomeson Sundny. Pros- necls'eond.

—

S.

pectsgood

<HsXtnp tgirq ^fUchei[in^s.

"Tbat remindsme^'

THEstoryof

theclergyman,thelishamiih< small boy toldinyourLasjieo! Sept.14,remindaTneofanopca sionwheuanEllzabaih.N..1..ministerwasdisconnertadin asomewhat similfti way. He waa illustratingsomepoinl bytheloadingand dischargeof agun. Describingthe pro- cess,heaccompaniedhiswordsbya highlyrealisticpanto-

mime

performance,pouringintoHiemuzzleof hi>imaginary gnuliistthepowder, than uwad, theshot,ami wads- again

"rammingherhome'' everytime,thru withdrawingtheram- rod, he put on the cap, raised the guntohi.--houli Sighted along the barrel-, and,mining suddenly to his audien.ee,exclaimed,

•Ami

now, whai do ^l do next?"

''Pull Ihe.trigger!"shoutedasmall hoyinafrontpew

'I'llpullyourtrigger foryou,youlittlewretch."said the disconcertedclergyman, droopinghi>arm-and shaking hi.

fingetthreatening!}altheofteu&ing urchin,

Yoinsi.asof the iiariioiilclergymantuul tliefishrecalls atiincidentwhich once happened

m

>citylessthanathou- sand miles from Pswtueket, K.1. Therei-nothing aboul fish nor game in it; ifclassified itwould probablycome undertheheadofthevegetablekingdom l'was eh-rg\ii '-.ii.-i.-iIvie. intin-church. Iii.iI'mnI|.«^:'.v gal an elderlydeacon. The minister gave out, among oiler notices,oneofameetingto be"held asusual on wedineS- dayevening." ''Ton are mistaken,"said thedeacon,rising in bispew,"the meetiagwiU be hejd on Thursdayeven- ing." "Ah,yes," said theyoungminister,inaloud voice tocorrectbis error,"TlnirBUay evening;" thenmihwei and confidentially to^tin-deacon,"Right,brother: Iacknowledge

tliecorn."

Not long afterward thecongregationrajseda liberalsum amis ail llievomer manofflobrush up inBurope,where your genial correspondent "Piseco"

may

perchance mi:

across him.

'Talkingofpreachers,"saidCaleb Parker, "remindsme of a story theytell ofL'nele Cephas Bascojin, of North Haven. UncleCephaswaiashoemaker,and he never went to seamuch,onlytoanchorhis»THflh,tlieNarrowsabreast of hishouseandcatchamess ofscup, or i" pole aloadof salthay fromSanqujttIsland. But he usedto visit hismar- rieddaughIi-r,inTr< •inont.andUptheretheyknewliecame fromthe seaboard,andtheyusedtocall him 'CaptainBas- com.' So.one timewhenhewa$then-, theyhadaSabbath- School Concert,and nolhingwoulddo fail 'Captain Das- eoiub'musttalklotheboy- andtella-eavain,and drawn moral. Well, Uncle Cephas was rather pleasedwith his

nameol 'Captainlia-eoinb.' ,:mlhedidn't, liketo£0 back onit,andsohefluxedroundto getup something, liseems hehad heard a summer hoardertalkinSabbath-schoolat Northhaven: hetoldhowapoorboymindedhismotherand thengottotendstore,andihenkeep.storehimself,and then he lumpedi them: •That|> 1my.'.-ay-he.

'mm

Stands before you.' Bo Uncle Cephas thought bim apa similar yarn. Well, hehad never spokein meeting before,andhe

hemmed

andhawedsome,buthe goton quite wellwhile he wastellingaboutacertain poorbuy.andall that,andhow theboy,

when

hegrewup,wasout<atsea in an openboat, and -awa-Teat -wordil-iimakinglorthe boat Hail Colum- bia,andbound^tostave rightthrough her and .-inkher;and howthis

man

lietook an oarandgiveilaswing^ami broke the critter'sswordsquareoff;and thenUncleCephas—he'd beguntoget alittleMustered

-he

stopped-bort.andwaved hi- arms, and, sayslie, 'Roy-,w Iml doyouthink! That Kwiudlishnowsliuidsbel'ure.you.' 1 eul'lale thatbrought thehousedown."—OctoberOemtwry.

ndproof,flai

SoutbthinoTairEv-ebv Sportsman Needs.—Oneof theEollpse pocket re-oappers, de-cappers,loaders,en- Manufactured^by0.i.

MQB9E,\ 00..Hamden. Conn See advertisement

$ea

it

ntt Miter

Open

Seabohs. -fleetoihofopm utatm*fwqumu. anaftoJi .„insutofJulySO.

limnI..-I,ii.|.|..»nus.iposition nhicli willseniumdeceive Him

uliilia mailemiiKill>.arllis.iwneulniianVtli,I-.-is-iinii-tliinp;wrOlil>.

"..!'!,,,.....

b'OEEST

mo STREAM

a.m;u;i;s

TQUENAM3CNT.

Nolle,-,,!'ihelir-l.nilllllllFotlKST AND STHKAMAued.-rs Tourmniieiiiwillbe Iinoureditorialcolumns.

THE TILEFISH

IS

NOT FOUND.

01

^1;^r.âd,^r-^will^remember^thatÎhe^lileli-h. LxijMillatl'iMH ,/,„„„,./.*»it/,;j,.<.which wasanewly discovered foodhsb dugûpⁱⁿ^great quantitiesindeepwater by theU.S.Fish

Ioiumis-ioii. suffered severelylaalyearfromsomeunknown cause. Themileson mile-of dead'li-hreportedby incom- ing vesselswere supposedtobelargelycomposedoithisflsh.

It'ivasa i|uesiiouwhethertheBpedeswasexterminated or not,amiifnot,thenthefishermen shouldbe learnedlolake them^Cotmarket amithepeople -houidbecomehuniliarwith tbem. Withthisendin view. Sir.Blackford chartered a vessel for Prof.Bairdamithejweni insearehof the lilctUi.

Aiihough ii.i- ti-ii was nol found they diacovered anew species. Mr. BamelPhilips Of theeditorial staffofthe"X.

V. Timi--iamiseerciaiAofthe American Fishculttirtil.,-o eiaiioii.accompaniedtheexpeditionandgivesthefollowing accountof histrip,datedGloucester,Mats Sept. 26:

Take a little eraf! of forty-five tons,sailforsome120 inilcsoul into the Atlantic,and with a goodsouthwesterly breezelliegreen waters willroll,and the. vessel willhave theliveliestofmotions. Sometimesshe

may

duckherbow- spritunder,or her boom

may

graze the crest of^asurging sea;hutstaunch sheisand^trim,and if,asinthaipoetical languagewhichsailorsuse,"she i- in good tune"

—

^ballast

allrights—andisnot toolow bythe head, she will ridealong mostgallantly,anddespite the heaving seas andtheirim padwill,asshe spinsoulheraighl knots,beassafeas the biggealship thaieversailed, .lusl.-m-h:icraftas thisisthe Juste Reeve.-,awell-known smack,thathasmade herweckly trips allthrough the-summer from the lobstergrounds of Meiiem-ha Bight, on the Vineyard, to Fulton Market Because Capt.

Redmond

presentedoneofthe best types of theAmericanfisherman, andwasmasterof theJosieReeves, captainand-mackwas chartered by Mr.K.<i.Blackfordfor theUnitedStatesPish Commission,totake atrip off ibe coaal in searchofthe lilcli.-h. Theliiilc expeditionwas under thedirectionof Capt.J.W. Collins,attached lothe UnitedStatesFishCommission. Thisofficer,win. formany yearshashad in charge flahing vesselsgoing out of Glou- cesterin search ofhalibul and cod. is absolutely familiar withall.kindsof fishing gear, themethodsofsecuringfish,

and from histhorough practical acquaintance withthe detailsof^thisperilousbusiness issingularly fitted forthe positionheoccupies. Amanof thiskind must heable to take thewheel, beready foranj emergeney, andal the sametime possessavery considerableamounl ofscientific knowledgeinregardtothevariouskindsofhih liecatches, Althe BerlinFishKxbibitionCapl. Collinswa-oneOfour c lissioner-.amivi-ibd theGermanand EnglishCoastsin orderiounderstandtheirvariousmethodsof flahing.

We

^leflCiee.uporl.I..I.,ontin- I'.Mh.anditwa-ju-l be f sundown thai,withapleasa'U breeze,all-nils sel.Ihe JosieReevesslidthroughthewater,and byso'clock, wiih an increasing wind. .UontaukPointwaspassed anil kecpine

well cl.-.n-ofShagawarn Keel,howling merrilyalong;we

made oul for tin- sea, steering welleastwardatfirst,and tinnworking^soiilherh^.

ThatikeI'ileii.-hhad been veryabundant befnreinexactly

tin-localities

whue

iiiedeadii-h were found wasverycer- tain,because the Fish Hawk, thesteamer attached tothe commission, rarehweivl to thesetile-fish grounds without takingquiteanumber. ButthiswartheFish Hawk,bav- in--goneioihesameplaces,couldnol timlany.if.then,the UnitedStates Fish Commissioncould not flno the

MtMsh

ihis summer,^would theJosie Reeves be morefortunate?

Used to the businessof trawling,with athoroughlysea- w(»rth\ boat, ablycommanded, withagood and willing crew, .provided withthemost perfectapparatus, haying ah exaclknowledgeofwherethe "-roundwassituated, having on recordall llielocdilie.-wheretheflab had been foundin 1879,188Q,and1881,thechanceswerethataload oftilciisli

wouldbesecured. CaptEirby,inMay.1879,had secured on onlyapariof a.-ingle'.rawf-i.-aOOpoundsof theli-h.

On

Thursday, withawhole-Bail breeze, the JosieReeve-arrived atthe exactlocality. Byobservation,wewereat40.03deg.

70.28min.w.--i.and by'deadreciomngand carefulsound- ine-.jii-iwherethetileflshshould abound. Thesoundings areofa somewhatpeculiarcharacter. Thewatersouth of Long Islandshallows very slowl\ai first,withagradual slope,somewhat moreihauafathomto the mile, until.sixty- eight or seventv fathomsare met,when,all of asudden, downgoesthesea torn,and from 140lo200fathomsare struck" Followinglhisridge,whieliextendssome[00miles southofLongIsland,onthedeep -oumlings. trending somewhat incirnlarh lothe-oiiihward.ihelishing«a- dune.Takia leadof eighteenpound- and plumb ^ihe depths some 150 fathoms andtrytog.Iitupthe000feet,and withiheweight Ofwateritisagood half-hourofwork.

Being in the exactlocality, ihe trawls, which had been bailed earlyinIhemorning, weremadeready.

It istime

now

-tohaul

up

the trawls. Thedory is low- ered, thetwo men ⁱⁿ ^oilers^and ^heavy ^bools ^leke^flying leaps into theboat,and. with afew Vigorous strokesof the oars, are fast toIhebuovkeg. Thenihe -trainandpull begins. The two menhaul'all theycan. A-thedoryrises wiihthewave crest ihcv lakeadvantage of thenatural heave,andletgojustwhentheywould_behauled overboard.

Inchbyinchtheylight for the ma-tery. At.la-t the first anchorisup.putin t.heboat,and theyarerunning overthe ground hue^{which 1ms}^thehooks on it.

We

putin close to them.

A

reward has beenoffered lorthefirstiilefish.

Wo

seefromthejumpingdeckof the JosieReeves an occasional silvery-lookingfishcome from thehooks, but ^thegolden gleamof thetllefish isnot here. Theseare commonplace hake. Alldaythe

men

settheirtrawls—twosetsofthem

at.atime—and workwiththevimof donkey engines,and thereis aneveraLoplmldUlut. Capt.Redmondisinoneof the dories. A-he pullsinat nightcallhe says-."I haven'l ntileiish,nothing'but hake; but.here aresome handsome

fish. Ineversawiheir liku before. Wouldn't Blackford likeiohave one? Red uscan be.and heretheyare."and

ronebeautifulredfish,somesmallerthan u blaekfish,some verv

much

^larger,^aretossedon the deck. If

we

have not foundthetilefislj,maybe

we

have stumbledon something else. Capt. Collinsexaminesthemcarefully.

He

has never scon Ibe like before, liisaverybeautifulfish,with

warm

redluslreandblackand cream-colored_mottljngS. It looks faintlyingeneral build like TatliogUO'litiU,bul ili-a luitler lish.anditspectoral- arcbloodredandofvervgrealbreadth andsweep [lave

we

hittheduckand m:

commit anichtlvyological bull. Siilt we,hodhopei tileiish.^Ihitunlikethecolored fisherman,Who wjienu-hing for catties,caughlastriped bassand wasdisgusted,weare nolwithouthope.

Theweaiberstillcontinuingline,wepreparedforanother day'strawling. Everything beingmadesnugfor the night, wewent westward,makingconsiderablesouthing, Fortwo moredays

we

flshed, persistently, indofatigably, Ou Fri day

we

tooksomedozenmoreoil)n>e handsome red fish,

someverymuchlargerthanthefirst,bul qf^.'.pAiohlihia not asign. Of haketherteworeplentywithskates galore,and dogfish,andaLppbivt, too, the ugliestof allfish,that ani-

Threi jthatth„...

ing. But. Ihe tileiish

alil.. Ittofgbl blowalliipleased!

tldbeworked llie

m

nwe,vwill- till notcome. Then we looked hi;;,

nm

uie un-usuwould 1101. come. im-n we IOOKC.Q againatllu;redlish. Theyhadbeen,withtin-wholeof Ihe catch,put onice. Tinylookedso tempting. Thespecif menmiseraofthc Fi-hCommissionmighl waa:them allto .!,.„n-anii,I,,.!,...:,,.! \*1,.,,,

,"

, '. I.'t. .,',.^.^.) TIT..

aalcohol. Whai ond th edfish had to b<

lish.but to thei

thedelighiofbe Thepropositioi

mberofthelehthyi g thefirihumaiibe

•made bytin

We

al d

srcles,dorsals,amd-.

en.- such a chance u again. To Captj ag discoveredonew ihagouswouldcome lg

who

shouldea1ii.

moc!

±il;pnnij.-iii'iu\%il-uiiiui; o\ im-::.1-1.'.":,\n-onuclll.-l o.

ave jua onefried,"and he"diditincoldblood, ('apt.

foTlins,toudied perhapsbytheeloquent appealoftheti<h ater,consented,and ihe"cook had twoofthe fish.. givehgiven ml proved to be Ihe mosl

I.alishwhich everygourmand and

itasteand nilabout. Ithad afirm with a delicate, crabbyflavor. On ptember,afterhavingflshedallday.

what andiheskvtowindwardlooling Jling,r.wa-thought wisertoseek^•

fpi

aland God's

i[.he

requirements of the UnitedStatesFishCommission—als

down

wetookanortheasterlycourse and made for Block Island.

liblewa fresh breeze,and the,lo-ieBeeves made liloek [alandonSnndaj alS A.M.. theli-h; showingdearsome;

tenmiles wesl li\ d.avbreaklie-ion-ran.'-of-in..11islanos forming the right-band sidfe breakwaterof BtrazarA'sBay wasmade, and by_10,justas thickwea'herwasthreatening]

theanchorwas droppedatWood's Hide,within ofthe FishHawk.

Theparticularti-iibavin- beenhand..1..•..

I[oil,, i,|„..v.

Ologists of the commission, it wasdeclared lo

b.-amw

memberofthefamiliof

SeorWW,

firsldescribedlivJordan in18S0.Suchof the

8mrp«m m

have beenbeforedescribed have been onlysomethreeinchesinlength Tie-fishliken inthis cruise areOvera^font ⁱⁿ length There are dill'.-i- eiicesillIheiiiurkiliL'..-. andm-i\ probablj OU exaininatioii someotherspecificvariations willbe discoverable^*

"Arc we to be forgiven forhavingcatentwooftbesfl lish?"weiinjiiiiedrather.iii\ioii-l>Of

me

Commiss ^.-.

"Oh,certainly; you did precisely right. Scientific re- ihiug.'buitoturnwhat weanay iindintouse isthegreat practical bent ofthe Fish Commission. I i.e- lieve^Ican congratulate Cain.Collinson having foundwiaa

fbelievetobei

w

fish,and whatismore, to have beoi amongthefirstto eatit.andii there were only enoughof ill.in.1shouldvery

much

like to tryone too; bulImust sendthe best of thelish atonceloWashingtontohavenaits ofthem, andtherestare now in alclioholand will form material for carefulstudy."

Asto

why

theLophiomtilmwasnotcaught onihe tripof the JosieReeveswearenot preparedtoState. As towhat killedthefish,orwhetherallibe li.-ii were destroyedIhis year,no one can hazard an opinion. Thesolution of these curious problemswillrequire uraciladditional studs

*Prof.Ooocfftlia-ssiucniduiitiflfedtiie lisliusficorpteitn dnctt/lopi

THE HENSHALL ROD.

rllAVF

^read^{with no}^little^interest ^the^numerousegsaM ontishimr rods,and wonderIfthatsubjectwillbesei'lul atall Theonlysolutionthat.1canseetothe problemis ihat. everyanglerusejusl thekind, pattern, -i/

weightandmaterial ofrodthathelikes best;thendon'tlei anvbodydisparagehimabouthisrod and thusdestroy his happiness. Bjs

own

waysuitshimbest,

When

inFloridalaslwinierwitb

my

friendDr.HenshalF,

1had only onerod. IIwaswhai hestyled Ihe v---

rod"—wiih ashbintand lancewoodsecond ioim ..milip.

1thinkiiweighs abouteighlounces,bullm\

it. Iusedthatrodallthetime whilethere,andhavi na..u illasgoodconditionas thedayI gatn nojdidIuse imi one tip during the time. This being ⁱlit- first andonly jointedrodthat1everhador used, thereforewouldnotbe

,1propercriticas to light orheavyrods,asweattheSouth, always,"'fomaneipaiion."ti-ei! cam poleswithout i-'l-.

Astotheholdingqualitiesof this rod.its"give andtake,"

itsperpetualelasticity,! don/1 minis can I

Thebassthai welook inthatcountryaresimplyenor- mous, ami aniighl-ouneerod thai will masi.-rlho.se cigliLlo ten-pound fellowsiscertainlygood enoughforthemo-l ob stmalestickler. I though! Dial if thisrodwasafraction sufferitwouldhe betterforsuchlargebass,butforany- thingundersix-poundbass1wouldnothaveitchanged.

A

half'houristoolonglofightonebass,andsoifthe rodwas a thirdslilferitwouldcurtailIhe fightsayo twenty minutes orfifteen.

OneeveningIwasaloue oua beautifulstreaminmycan- vasboat. Iliadhalegrown"bream''forbait,which were soheavy(eight-ounce bait) thatIcouldcastthemonlythirty or.forty feet,yet I tookseven bass,of whichthesmalliasi weighed ''our pounds and toe largesttenpound-