The National tribune., 1896-03-19

Fishing remarked the Colonel, is lik,
learning a foreign language. The more
brains man has the more difficult it is fo
| him to catch fish or to learn languages.
You take child and put him in a French
school, and in six months he viii speai
| French like native, whereas the brainies
man in England might work at French fol-
six years, and even then he would not speak
il well.
As for fishing, the best fisherman ever
knew was a hall-witted darky boy. He
could catch more fish in an hour than any
six OF the leading citizens of New Berlinopo.
lisville could catch in day.
There was my old friend and neighbor
Prof Van Wagener. He was in some re-
spects the ablest scientific man / ever met
but he never caught fish in his life, except
an occasional minnow.
Speaking of fishing reminds me of the
electrical fshing-line that Prot. Van Wag-
ener invented. He and had been fishing
one day, and neither of us had caught any
thing worth speaking Of Ga our way home
Van Wagner says 10 me:
"The reason why we don't catch any fish
is the grossly unscientifc way in which we
20 about il. When fish gets on my hook
! always lose him before i can get him ont
of the water. Now. if had a metallic line,
connected with small battery, and could
give the fish shock the moment he took
the hook in his mouth, / could land him
without the least trouble"
"Very likely you could" said /. "Bnt
where would be the sport of playing the
fish? 90
" don't care anything for sport" replied
the Professor. When / go fishing I want
10 catch something. aud tell you right here
that I'm going TO invent an apparatus that
viii catch fish every time. Ii ] was a bet
ting l wouldn't mind betting You that
tie first lime 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 week later Van Wagner called
me over to his house. which was next door
to mine, and showed me what he had done.
He had a fshing-rod, with a long line fas-
tened TO it, made of thin, flexible, braided
wire Instead of a reel, he had a small bat
terry attached to the rod, and by pressing
button with his thumb he could send cur
rent through the line which would astonish
any fish that il might happen to hit.
He had abont half dozen hooks fastened
TO his line, and he explained to me that if
these hooks were baiied properly he would
be sure of catching half dozen trout at
once.
The lire was as flexible as silk line, but
it was about rs strong as ships cable. Van
Wagner showed me that you couldn't break
it either by pulling or twisting, and that it
would turn the edge Of any knife that you
might try to cut it with
Van Wagener wanted me to 20 to the
nearest trout Stream yiih him and try the
new apparatus, bat declined. / knew that
he wouldn't succeed in catching any fish,
and that he would naturally be disapr ointed,
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 scien-
tihc terms in way that was about four
times as Irritating as any ordinary unscien-
tiic cursing would have been.
The nearest place for trout-6shing was a
pool about two miles from where the Pro-
fessOr lived, and about half mile from any
house.
/ had told Van WAGNER about this pool.
for il was the place where ! had once lost
the biggest trout i ever hooked: but /
hadn't told him that the pool was the prop
erty of Deacon Sammis, and that the Deacon
wouldn't allow any man to fish there with
out paying for the privilege.
1t so happened that Deacon Samms 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 fies-and
sat down on the bank, and started in 10 fish
without being interfered with.
Mrs. Sammis, however, had seen him
crossing the field with his rod and Lasket,
aud being woman who looked sharply
after tie family interests, she Iesols ed to go
down TO the pool and tell the Professor that
he must either pay or leave.
Mrs. Sammis was a young woman, being
the Deacon's third wife, and remarkably
good-looking woman.
When she came behind the Professor and
sand, No trespassing allowed here, sir; you
can't fish in this pool unless you pay SIS
first J" be looked up at her and exclaimed,
: Bless my soul! what pretty woman."