The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-07-29
A SCIENTIFIC LINE.


learning foreign language. The more
brains man has the more difficult it is
for him to catch fish or to learn languages.
You take child and put him in a
French school, and in six months he will
speak French like native, whereas the
brainicst man in England might work at
French for six years and even then he
would not speak it well
AS for fishing, the best fisherman i ever
knew was a half wtted darky boy. He
could catch more fish in an hour than any
six of the leading citizens of New Berlin
opolisville could catch in a day.
There was my old friend and neighbor,
Professor Van Wagner. He was in some
respects the ablest scientific man / ever
met but he never caught a fish in his
life except an occasional minnow.
Speaking of fishing reminds me of the
electrical fishing line that Professor Van
Wagner invented He and had been
fishing one day, and neither of us had
caught anything worth speaking Of On
our way home Van Wagner says to me:
1.-The reason why we don't catch any
fish Is the grossly unscientific way in
which we go about it. When a fish gets
on my hook, always lose him before i
can get him out of the water. Now, If 1
had metallic line connected with a small
battery and could give the fish shock
the moment he took the hook in his
mouth, l could land him without the
least trouble"
Every likely you could, said 1. But
where would be the sport OF playing the
fish,"
II don't care anything for sport, " re-
Al. II HElat
want To catch something, and tell you
right here that I'm going to invent an APP
paratus that will catch fish every time.
IL was a betting man, 1 wouldn't mind
betting you that the first time l go fishing
with my scientific apparatus I'll make the
biggest catch that has ever been known
in the state of Illinois.
And so he did, though it wasn't just
the sort of catch that he wanted to make.
About n week later Van WAGNER He'd
me over to his house, which was next door
to mine, and showed me what he had
done. He had a fishing rod, with long
line fastened to it, made of thin, flexible,
braided wire. Instead of a reel he had a
small battery attached to the rod, and by
pressing button with his thumb he could
| send current through the line which
would astonish any fish that it might
happen TO hit
He had about half dozen hooks fastcn-
| ed to his line, and he explained to me that
| If these hooks were baited properly he
would be sure of catching half a dozen
trout sSonce
The line was as flexible as a silk line,
| but il was about as strong as a ships ca
| BILE. Van WAGNER showed me that you
| couldn't break 1t either by pulling or
| twisting, and that 1t would turn the edge
| of any knife that you might try to cut 1t
| with.
Van Wagner wanted me to go to the
/ nearest trout stream with him and try the
new apparatus, but 1 declined. l knew
/ that he wouldn't succeed in catching any
fish. and that he would naturally be disap-
| pointed and express himself in scientific
language that might not be so easy To bear.
He was a good man, but when things
| went wrong with him he would use scien
tiflc terms in way that was about -four
times as irritating as any ordinary un
scientific cursing would have been.
The nearest place for trout fishing was
pool about two miles from where the
professor lived and about "A mile from any
| house.
I had told Van Wagner about this pool
for it was the place where had once lost
the biggest trout / ever hooked, but
hadn't told him that the pool was the
property of Deacon Sammis and that tn,
deacon wouldn't allow any man to fish
there without paying for the privilege.
1t so happened that Deacon Sammis wa.
away from home that day, and the profess
or went to the trout pool and baited hi
hooks-for he never tried to fish with fife
/ h, hanE nd
in to fish without being intcrfered with.
Mrs Sammis. however, had seen hin
| crossing the field with his rod and basket
| and being a woman who looked sharpl.
| after the family interests she resolved {,
| 90 down tn the pool and tell the professor
| that he must either pay or leave.
Mrs Sammis was n young woman, lie
ing the deacon's third wife and q remark
ably good looking woman.
When she came behind the professo
| and said, mo trcspassing allowed here
siri You can't fish in this pool unless yo'
| nav 50 flrstr' he looked up at her and cx
| claimed. Bless my soul What a prett
womanl'
He didn't mean anything by 1t, having
a sort of habit of talking out loud to him
self. but IL had its effect upon Mrs Sam
mis- all the same. She knew what the pro
fcssor was and was mighty pleased TO b
COMMUNICATED by so distinguished n man
| So she said: Il didn't know 1t was you
professor or course you're welcome :
fish here as much as you please. My hus
band says there's no danger OF your catch
ing anything"
Mrs. Sammis was an Intelligent woman
and she was good deal interested In tn
electric fishing line. She drew pretty clos
| To the professor while he was explainin
the battery To- her. and she said that sh
| did hope he would catch something, jus
o. show how the battery would work.
All Of sudden big trout JUMBO
| clean out Of tho water. This excited va
| Wagner, and he started to throw his liz
| lust over the place where the trout ha
Jumped, making sure that the fish wa
| waiting for him.
Now Van Wagner knew no moro abot
casting IA line than baby knows. Il
| swung the hooks over his head till the
rested on the grass behind him, and the
, | he tried to fling them back into the poo
with about as much Judgment and delicas
|, | as n he had been working with hail
The result was that one hook caugl
] Mrs San1mis i'm the upper part of tho rigl
ear and another caught the professor
! the napc Of the neck, and there they wer
. fastened to one another by bit OF III
about foot long that couldn't be cut Q