Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-04

graphs Of the mind always TO be revoly ed
with pleasure. They are the aquariums in
the first floor Of the fish commission build
ing, away down on the mall, where 9th
street. or as much of 1t as the railroad
tracks leave, cuts through that park
Here In translucent tanks OF sparkling
water are hundreds of specimens of the eX-
Qufsiteiy beautiful lima bitants of the ponds
and streams with now and then some gro
tesque and fcrbdding swimming thing 20
make the contrast all the greater. The
calico bass hoVers almost motioniesS in
his jungle of green the S.lvern smeit slow
ly swim over the shining gravel and the
gold al tench in intercollegiate lemon livery
poke their noses against the glass in par
donable curiosity.
Then there Is that singular creature, the
swell fish, Which prefers 20 rest on the
sandy bottom of histtana as II 10, let the
curious sec what exquisite eyes he has,
lustrous turquoises set in veritable rims
of gold, and he croakers. whose dark sill
yer bodies flecked with gold look like NOV
ing masses of rare quar1z The eye feas.s
with satisfaction upon the marvellous blues
and delicate greens. shimnering and chang
Ing in the sailors choice, and there
is a world of enjoyment where the sea
anemones show their wonderful forms and
magnificence of color The fish commits
sion exhibit of living pictures cannot be
described in words. No one can depict the
brook trout, or the jumping millets; the
grotesque toad fishes. which pout at You
dacity in staring at them; the delicate Or
ganism of the sting ray or the remarkable
configuration and color of the founder es-
pecial1y when their homes of captivity are
SO beautiful as those government aquar-
iums. Neutrality-suspicious. should wake up to
all this beauty and the education accom-
panyfng It that invites them down on the
mall. and Star reporter who spent an
hour down there yesterday determined to
call their attention to it.
His mission, however, was to call on the
new chief Of the fish commission, Com
mander John j. Bnce, u. s. N, retired,
the future. x
Commissioner Brice IS an energetic man,
who speaks directly to the purpose when
addressed, and knows whereof he speaks
without question. 1t was easy to perceive
that he was practical and rot a theoret-
ical man before he had said ten words.
And the reporter stretched out the meta
phorical arms eff every bass fisherman in
Washington and vicinity and spiritually
EMBODIED him with gratitude when he ex
ccriated the devastating. carp and declared
he was going to destroy all those that the
fish commission had in its possession.
The Star reporter mentioned the object
of his visit and Commissioner Brice talked:
Salmon and shnd.
THE first work Of the commission" he
said, will be the establishment Of hatch
cries all over the country, and descrip-
ton Of those on the California coast will
Illustrate the idea to be carried out With
them all. In California there will be six
teen central and subhatch.rie5. The theory
is that the central hatcheries will lie of
permanent nature, and have ponds for the
propagation of trout and fishes of that
class. with permanent working forces sta
toned at them, while around them will he
grouped the smaller or subha tc heries To-
Gated IN easy proximity TO the spawning
beds OF the salmon. To these places, dur
Ing the spawning season, men will be sent
VINO Will take the eggs from the beds and
then deposit in their places the young fry
that will be Matched in the commission
hatcheries
'"rhis fry will be kept at such places I'M
til the umbilical sack is exhausted, which
VIII be probably from Twenty-Five to twen-
'ty.sx days, and will then "be allowed 10
~ ls the intention 20 cover all of the
streams on the pacific coast that are fire.
cuented by salmon in this manner.
The same system Will be adopted on The
treated fdentically as the salmon are on
/ ne western side of the continent" ne con-
tiEued. 1T is the intention to extend these
hatcheries from, the Kennebec river en- the
nortn 10 the st. Johns river. On the south
ard by this system L believe we can be as
sured that the supply of food fish each
year will be greater than the demand
Fish froiba CATION II Easy.
/. THE propagation of fish is simple
enough" declared Commissioner Brice ut
is almost IMPOSSIBLE to destroy the life of
the fish egg. Heat is about the only prop
erty that will effectually accomplish this
Geld does not affect it-and 80 per cent of
the eggs We place in the hatcheries produce
fish. There is no reason, therefore, why
the streams of the United States should
not be full of fish of the species either
natural to their waters or which have be-
come acciimated to slchia degree that they
them.
We do not propose, to introduce fish in
a stream Withoutsa full investigation as to
It's CHARACTERISTIC ard the effect 1t will
have on the natural denizens of such wa
Now, take yodr Potomac river, for in
stance, as case in point to illustrate what
mean. A few years ago the Potomac
was full of black bass from above Cabin
John bridge to its head waters, and fisher