Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-10-13
A SCIENTIFIC Line.

pidhio u iH'iH HIS tic liolc uiiiCut ~
is for him to catch fish or TO learn
languages.
You take child and put him in II
French school. and in six months he
will speak French like Il native; where
as, the brainiest man in En- gland might
work at French for six years. and even
then he would n)t speak it well.
AS for fishing, the best fisherman l
ever knew was IA half-witted darkey
boy. He could catch more fish in an
hour than any six of the leading citi-
zens of New Herlinoposville could
catch in a day.
There was my old friend and neigh
Dor, Prof. Van Wagner. He was in
some r. spcc,s the atl,st scientific man
L ever met: but he never caught a fish
in his life except an occasional min
now.
Speaking of fishing, reminds me of
che electrical fishing line Prof. Van
Wagner invented. lie ana | had been
fishing one day and neither of us had
caught anythin" worth speaking of.
On our way home Van WAGNER said:
The reason why we don't catch any
fish is the grossly unscientliic way in
which we go about it. When fish
gets on my hook always lose him be-
fore | can get him out of the water.
Now, if had metallic line connected
with small battery and could give
the fish shock the moment he took
the hook i'm his mouth, l could land
him without the least trouble
''Very likely you &C uld, said l. But
where would be the SPORT of playing
the fish,"
Il don't care anything for sport re-
marked the professor. when | go
fishing | want to catch something,
and tell YOU right here that | am
going to haven't an apparatus that will
catch II fish every time. If | was
betting man. | wouldn't mind betting
you that the first time | go fishing
with my scientific apparatus Ill make
The biggest catch that has ever been
known i'm the State of Illinois"
And 50 he did. though it wasn't just
the sort Of catch he wanted to make.
About a week later Van WAGNER
called me over to his house, which
was next door to njnc. and show ell he
what he had done. He had Il fishing
rod, with long line fastened to it,
made of thin. flexible. braided wire.
Instead of Il reel. he had q snail bat
terry attached to the rod, and by press
ing a button with his thumb lie could
send a current through the line that
would astOniSh any fish that ii might
happen 10 nit.
He had about half dozen hooks
fastened to his line and lie explained
to me that If these hooks were baited
properly he would be sure of catching
half dozen trout at once.
The lire was as flexible as Il silk
line. but it was about as strong rs Il
ships cable. Van Wagner showed
me that you couldn't break it either
by pulling or twisting. and that il
would turn the edge of any knife that
you might try to cut it with.
Van Wagner wanted me to go to
the nearSet trout stream with him and
try the new apparatus. But de-
cIined. | knew he couldn't succeed in
catching any fish, and that he would
naturally be disappointed and express
himself in scientific language that
might not be so easy to bear.
He was good man: but when
things went wrong with him he would
use scientific terms in such way that
was about four hundred times as irri-
tating as any ordinary unscicntific
cursing would have been.
The nearest place for trOut-tiShing
was pool a&Out two miles from
where the professor lived and about Il
mile from any house.
had told Van Wagner about this
pool, for it was the place where had
once LOST the biggest trout | had ever
hooked, and | hadn't told him that
the pool was the property of Deacon
Sammis, ard that the Deacon wouldn't
allow any man to fish thee without
paying for the privilege.
1t so happened that Deacon Sammis
was away from home that day, and
the professor went to the trout pool
and baited his hoOks-fOr he never
tried to fish with hies-and sat down
on the bank and started i'm to fish.
without being interfered with.
Mrs. Sammis. however. Lad seen
him crossing the field with his rod and
basket. and being woman who
looked sharply aft r the family inter-
ests. she resolved to 90 down to the
pool and tell the professor that he
must either pay or leave.
Mrs. Samns was Il young woman,
being the deacOn's third wife. and n
remarkably gooI-looking woman.
When she came behind the profess
or and said. NO trespassing allowed
here, sir You can't fish in this pool
unless you pay 81 first he looked up
at her. AMI exclaimed: BLESS my
soul! What Il petty woman
He didn't mean ANYTHING by il, hav-
ing u sort of habit Of talking out loud
to himself; but it had its effect upon
Mrs. Sanmis. I'LL the same. She knew
who the professor was. and was
mighty pleased to be coniplimentcd by
so distinguished Il Han.
SO she said: II didi.'t know it was
you. professor. or course. you're wei
come to fish here rs much as YOU
please My husband says there's no
danger of your catching anything"
Mrs. Samnlis was an intelligent wo-
man. and she was II &, cd deal interest
ed in the elect 'ic fishing line. She
drew pretty close to the professor
while be was eXp'.ining the battery
to her. and she SAID she did hope he
would catch something, just to show
how the battery would work.
All of sudden a big trout jumped
clean ont of the water. This excited
Van Warenpr and he sta rtpl to throw