Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1889-07-30
SUNDAYS;
AS A SPORTSMAN.
Interesting Gossip About West Vrginias Senior Sen
aur-A Short Poem 10 Fisher Iohn-Soma
or His Adventures.

The following extract is taken from a
Washington letter to the Louisville
Colnricr-Jo,ss'saL It Porlrays the genial
and popular Senator from West Virginia
in a role in which he is familiar to West
Virginisns, and adds some new touches
that will interest his admirers every
where:
81 suppose the best an-around fisher
man in the Senate is Mr.. Kenna, Of West
Virgins" Wade Hampton said yesterday.
There is no nonsense about him. he Is
DO dude. He goes in 10 catch fish.
Dressed in rough jean trousers, flannel
shirt, a SLOUGH hat and high boots, well
creased. he rowe his own boat and attends
10 his own bait. With his tall, robust
figure and young, handsome face, he looks
the rustic Apollo. And Kenna is prob
ably the best rifle shot in the Senate. He
ia q great man after deer and bear, and
for years has kept a pack Of beagles, with
which he annually scours the TANKS of
the Alleghenies."
had heard the same praise of John E.
Kenns before, and the following tribute
to his skill has been printed q card and
circulated among his friends in this city
To SENATOR JOHN L. KENNA.
Beyond the Alleghauies crest
Through forests dipping 20 the West,
Where toward kanawha many a stream
I'm frances OF a shady dream,
CO.'S Offering lingering babbling by,
John lightly steps and 1ings his ly.
From day 20 day. from year 10 year,
10 fills the fnny folk with fear.
che comes " they whisper sot and far,
ellie sees exactly where We are;
We seek sequestered hooks in vain,
We Zee and To- he's there again;
He knows the haunts of Mister Trout,
And i'm dark caverus hunts US out.
On every bend Of every brook,
He drops his captivating hook"
They know that death 4, lurking nigh
When John. the Fisher, casts a iiy,
Aud 30 unnumbered terrors thrill
Zach awc-struck, palpitating gill,
And as Aurora draws anew
Her curtain from the skies Of blue,
The big bass 20 their babies say,
Beware OF Fisher John today -
and, as luck would have it, yesterday
met Senator Keuna, who is here finishing
the plans for the new and handsome resi-
deuce which be is going 10 build opposite
the Capitol this summer. l asked him to
tell me about Congressional fishermen.
Il suppose" be replied, that the most
expert fisherman and huntsman in Con-
gress is Wade Hampton"
1T is a little odd, F" l said, that he made
almost exactly the same remark about
you"
"He is mistaken, then" he rejOined.
s'If he said that no man loved the chase in
any of its forms better than !, he would
have hit IL, but I lack time to crafty my
inclinations. Lincoln's story illustrates
my state; no man likes it better or gets less
Of It,"
Now, Hampton is a sportsman Of the
nescetur sort. He was born to it. HIS
father was reat hunter, and to him
Fraank Forester dedicated his American
Birds,i calling him The King Of Sports
men, The Senator lost his leg while
hunting latter being wounded four times
in hattle). but he can 20 fishing still, and
with his wooden leg wade more streams
and climb over more rOcks, and ges nearer
the right spot and cast the fly further than
any other member Of Congress. He re-
Gently landed d ifty-6yepound striped
bass down on the coast with a seven-ounce
bamboo rod"
"There is good fishing in West Virgin
ia?' I asked
''Yes, there are a great many trout
there yet. Senator Camden could get 3
good many fish, but he was one Of the pio-
neer sort. He despised all modern appli-
anoes. He used a hickory pole with a
string hitched 70 it, and when he got bite
he would sling six-pound bass into the
top Of the nearest beach tree, snd he re-
gardsd his explode as an utter failure if be
didn't have more trouble getting his fish
out Of the tree than be had getting 1t out
Of the creek
They say, Senator, you are great
hunter Of big game, suggested.
Subject to the same limitations as be-
fore" he said. II like it. have killed
a good many deer in West Virginia, aud
good many out there are still waiting for
me to visit them"
BEAR ?' l asked.
No l have killed very few. I shot
ore black bear with squirrel rifle and
fetched him out of the top Of tree seventy
feet high. He weighed only $50 pounds,
but would probably have weighed $50 if
be hsd been fat"