Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1894-06-28
THREE TIMES AND OUT.
Hon. Jim Sweeney Tells How His Es-
says in Pisciculture We're Fooled.


says In Pisciculture We're Fooled.
"No; | don't fish any more" said
Hon. Jim Sweeney, the journalist
statesman, of Luzernc, county, Pa. 81
have no heart for fishing, owing to the
way was treated up in my county by
some of my constituents when | was in
the legislature There was lot of
nice streams around Hazleton, but
they had all been fished out, and no.
body would take any interest in having
them restocked, So | went quietly to
work and stocked Laurel run at my
own expense with trout. / kept the
matter all to myself, for didn't want
anyone to take advantage of what |
had done before had chance to en-
Joy some sport on the rejuvenated
stream myself. Three years after put
the fry in the creek investigated, and
found that it was alive with big trout
and rugged myself out with seventy
five dollars worth of new tackle and
one nice day in May took jaunt to the
creek. The first thing saw was sign
on tree warning everyone to keep off
those grounds under penalty of the law.
The stream was posted its whole length.
A big, double-fsted native, who was on
guard over the stream, informed me
that the creek and the land along it
had been leased by private parties, and
| learned that, although the trout in
the stream were mine, if vcntured to
catch any of them they would cost me
ut least five dollars apiece. So had to
let others have fun with my trout, and
they've been having it ever since and
I've never had chance to kill even
one.
1.-The Nescopeck river was good
stream to stock with black bass, and
rs had been knocked out of my trout
| concluded that | would put the Nesco-
peck in shape to give me some black
bass fishing at some future day. ]
stocked it just as had stocked Laurel
run, and kept that quiet, too There
had never been any bass in the river,
and found that mine were doing fine
ly there. When the stream was ready
to be finished, / started out to have a
days sport with the first black bass
fishing known on the Nescopeck. On
the way | heard the news that big
break had occurred in the upper Le-
high coal mines and that a flood of
sulphur water from the mines was
pouring into the Nescopeck river.
When ! got to the river the shores were
lined by the hundred and thousand
with my black bass-great, big, lusty
fellows they were, too-and every liv.
ing thing in the river was killed. Not
thing escaped the deadly poison, and
there has never been any fishing there
| since.
81 remembered that soon after hao
| stocked Laurel Run with trout ] had
| procured some German carp to accom-
modate constituent of mine, who said
he knew pond where carp would thrive
and some day give great sport to fisher
men who like that sort of fishing. 1t is
big drop from trout and black bass tc
carp, but felt | would like to have
some little return for my efforts to en-
nance the piscatorial interests of my
district, so ! determined to try the carp
They, at least, were beyond the influ
ence of capital and sulphur water My
constituent told me that the carp had
done SO well that the pond was full OF
them, and that one yard long was ne
rarity, and the beauty of it was, he said
that no one knew it but he. The pond
was nine miles away. We had driven
almost to it when we met a man
knew. He had wagon load of some
thing covered with straw. / asked him
what he was carting home.
"'Sucllersl' he replied. The darn
dest biggest suckers | ever saw, and
where they could have dropped from
we can't make out, for the last time we
drawed the pond off, four years ago
there wasn't sucker in it a foot long.
"Then | learned that the people
thereabouts were in the habit of draw
ing off a pond in that vicinity every
three or four years to scoop out the
suckers that lived in it. And that pond
was the one l had stocked with carp
and this time they had landed them.
gave up on. the spot, and have never
had the heart to go fishing since. IN
Y. Sun.