The morning call., 1891-03-22
TALKS FOR BOYS.
By Colonel Thomas VI. Knox.
The Coming of the shad.

SoAvASA AAS1N0b III @AAShs
The Coming of the Shad.
The first shad Of the season will be due in
New York before long, possibly before
these lines appear in print. The arrival Of
this delicious fish is an event of great mo-
ment to many thousands of people, and as
the time approaches the announcement that
shad has been taken in the bay of New
York is auxiously awaited. Shad-eatching
is very important industry in all the prin-
cipal rivers of the Atlantic coast. 1t
is regulated by law, partly in order to
prevent the total destruction of an in
dustry and partly because the shad-catchers,
in their zeal, frequently set the poles to
which their nets were attached in localities
where they seriously interfere with nayiga-
ton. The first laws regulating the fishery
were for the purpose of preventing the plac-
ing OF poles on the routes OF steamboats,, and
the officers who sought to enforce tile law
were resisted by the fishermen TO the point
OF bloOdshed. An indignant fisherman once
wrote letter to the papers on the subject,
claiming that the laws were oppressive on
the ground, as he alleged, that shading
was invented before steamboatlng," and
therefore shading should have the right oil
way. Later laws have been directed to-
ward the protection of the shad, but even
these have not sufficed to make the SUPPLY
equal 20 the demand; the Fish Commissions
OF the various States bordering on the At
lantlc have taken measures Tor the propaga-
ton of the shad, and the results thus far
have been very satisfactory.
Dutch Custom in America.
By an old custom which was brought
here from Holland, the first shad of the
season is sent to the Mayor of New York,
who makes a handsome present in return
for the courtesy. The Dutch custom, from
which the American one is copied, is con-
nected with the herring fishery, and has
been III vogue for centuries. The herring
fleet sails away for the fishing grounds in
the early part of June, accompanied by a
Government gun-boat. The first haul OF
behring's is sent to the King in q car Crna-
mented with flags; the King receives the
present with many expressions OF gratitude
and congratulation, and sends purse of
800 fiorins about 5000 to the fortunate
fishermen who have made the haul. The
American imitator of the Dutch King does
not attempt 10 equal the royal li5erality, but
it safe TO say that the first shad OF the season
costs him very dear.
Safety on Railways.
The investigation of recent accident on
a railway, involving the loss of several
lives, shows that the operators upon whom
the safety of the trains depended had sew
eral things to attend TO, and all for a salary
of $50 per month. 1t was demonstrated that
trains do sometimes run past danger signals,
and the inference is obvious that the public
does not know all the risks it runs when
travelling by rail. The man who will invent
system of railway signals perfectly
automatic in action and impossible to
tampering will have the basis of an
enormous fortune, besides deserving the
| thanks of everybody who has occasion TO
| travel by railway. A well-known railway
| official says there will always be accidents as
| long as it is necessary TO depend upon
! human intelligence; the most careful man
| in the world will make mistake sometime
| or other in the course Of his life, and the
| majority OF US have good many mistakes
| added up TO our accounts. Until railways
| can be run automatically our lives will be in
| a certain degree of danger, small 1t is true,
| but still the danger OF blunder exists. The
| developments in the use of electricity are in
| the direction of automatic signaling and
| management, and may in time enable rail
| way managers to dispense with human
agency in this line OF work. Then it will
| be necessary to devise an automatic loco
motive or an automatic engineer, or. failing
| this, a system that Will bring train to a
| dead stop whenever the engineer makes q
| mistake in reading and obeying the signals
| Ingenious men are studying the problem,
people imagine
Dizziness of Intellect Preferred to fright
ness.
Some years ago l was invited by an En-
| gish railway official to visit the pointsman's
room in the Cannon street Station, London
| in some parts of the day 40 trains arrive
and depart from Cannon-street Station
| every hour. 1t may therefore be inferred
,hn Il,
| place. Before we entered the door the Off
| cial requested me not TO speak in presence
| of the pointsmen, as all conversation was
| forbidden. OF course | complied with his
request, and he set me the example by say
| ing nothing while we were III the room nor
| until the door had closed after our exit
| Several men stood in front of long row of
| levers, which they moved in mechanical
sort OF way, the only words spoken by any
| one in tine room being the calling of num-
| beIS by a young man who was seated at
| telegraph instrument, the numbers being
| the indications for moving the levers. AS
we descended the steps TO the ground and
| were once more where we could speak, | re-
marked to the official that they must require
| very keen-wit.ed men 10 work the levers
| correctly and avoid accidents. Pardon
| me-" said lie, but that is where you are
| wrong. We don't want a bright man at all
| in the pOlntSmanS room, but Il dull, steady
| and almost what you would call stupid
man. We want one who will think of his
| work and nothing else. Your dull man will
| do that, but your bright man has his thoughts
| wandering all over the world, and he is the
| one that makes mistakes much more fire.
quently than the other" Here is food for
thought. and subsequent observation has
convinced me that the railway official who
made that remark knew what lie was talk
ing about
Christmas at the Antipodes.
Recently / had a letter from friend in
Australia in which he described Christmas
festivity that he bad just attended. 1t was
picnic at favorite resort a few miles out
OF Melbourne, an outdoor picnic, and he said
he should have enjoyed it little more if the
weather had not been as sutry as it was.
In this part of the world we do not associate
picnics and sultry weather with Christmas,
neither do we associate the Fourth of July
with the season of midwinter, as the Ameri-
cans who live in the Southern hemisphere
are obliged to do. An Australian newspaper
gives an account OF the "sprng meeting of
the Racing Club, which occurred in Sep
TENDER; the fall meeting takes place in
May, and by the end Of that month or
the beginning of June the winter is
fairly begun. Australia is the anti rodes