San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-02-05
Correspondence to the LIGHT.
PROGRESS OF THE WORK
At the United States Fish Hatchery
at San Marcos.

visited the GROUNDS upon winch
the United States government is
about to establish a fish hatchery.
The place is twenty-five acre
tract in the northern part OF the
city, near the springs OF the San
Marcos river, and at the foot Of the
mountain upon which the Texas
Chautauqua holds its annual meet
ings. In order to secure the es-
Establishment the citizens Of San
Marcos went into an agreement to
dam the river to a certain height,
sufficient to allow the water to
flow Of its own accord into the
Matching ponds. The dam has
been built, although l understand
the government has not yet
formally accepted it.
The work is going ahead in the
same vigor. 1t is directed by Mr..
VIM. III. Benton, engineer in
charge Of construction, who sees to
it that beauty goes hand in hand
with utility, for aside from the
Matching ponds which are being
made, the grounds are at the same
time laid out into beautiful park,
gravel walks and drives, lined with
indig enous trees, with plots well
arranged with shrubs and flowers,
and in fact every thing is being
done to make the place garden
worthy for the gods to dwell in,
Add to this the Crane. Chautauqua
mountain which rises to the imme-
diate north Of it, protecting it from
the blasts of Boreas, a mountain
covered with jumpers and live
oaks, whose foliage blend with
each other and with the tall elms
at the foot Of the hill, whose branch
es are decorated with the sub.trop-
ical bearded moss, an ever-spark-
ling river issuing fresh from it's
caves in the mountain, a more per-
feet dwelling place Odin may seek
in vain.
The ponds are being constructed
for the propagation OF black bass
and rock bass, the former of which
is well known native of almost
all Texas rivers and ponds and the
gamest fresh water fish of this part
Of the United States. There may
be experiments made with other
fish native to this state, later
on, but for the present the
station will confine itself to
the two varieties mentioned.
1t will be a new experiment in so
far as it will be outdoor Matching
instead of indoor, as it is being
done in the north. There are being
constructed eight large ponds and
two storage ponds, the latter are
for the transference of fish to and
from the railroad cars, and a switch
will be built connecting the station
with the railroad, so that no time
is being lost in the transference of
fish, which are shipped in large
mich cans with perforated covers.
The ponds range in size from a
quarter to a third of an acre and
will be paved with rock on the
slopes and gravelled at the bottom.
The soil Of the plat where they
are located is somewhat Of
mixture between black land and
chocolate loan. They are being ar
ranged with a perfect overflow and
drainage system all through.
Arrangements are also being
made to bore an artesian well, the
derrick having been put in place
already. This is done to furnish
an auxiliary supply over the I'M
certainty OF the dam.
The method Of Matching fish by
artificial means demands continual
attention. The spawn is taken
from the female fish by pres
sure and dropped into tray
over which runs regular supply
of fresh water, then the melt is
taken from the male fish in SINH
lar manner and distributed over
the eggs. These hatch in due sea-
son when the little fish, hardly the
size Of pea, are put into the ponds
until ready for shipment to any
party who may be interested
to put them into a public
stream or pond.
On account Of our favorable eli
mate for fish the experiment may
be made here with the natural me-
thod of Matching, by having two
ponds connected with neck and
a screen mesh suitable to let the
small fry through so that the big
fish cannot catch them. AS the
young fish go up stream as soon as
Matched they will thus get into the
upper pond and be protected from
the ravenous appetites Of their
projenitors.
TWO LIVES SAVED.
Mrs phnnha Thomas of Junction City