The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-11
LUCK OF TROUT ANGLERS,
THE PHANTOM FISH CAUGHT BTL
NEW FORK FISHERMAN.

Facts on which q LeEend OF Sullivan Comfy
was Founded-Trout Caught without HooLN
Things tho speckled Warriors VIII Eat-A
Trout Waterman who Hooked an Alligator.
"When 1 was n boy some fifty odd years ago
up in Sullivan county" said the oldest OF the
trout fishermen. "there stood the grassgrown
ruins OF q fine old colonial house about ak miles
from my homo. Along the stream which bors
dcrcd the garden was an old brick wall 200 feet
long. You could not get a native to throw q LIE
in there for n small fortune, and there was O sus
perstition that every one who did throw In q line
there would get famed or die before tho year was
out. There WAS n ghost trout In the stream, and
tho story was this: In Revolutionary times .
Britisher with n lot OF money settled up there
and laid out u flno estate. His house was like q
fortress, and all he cared about was having guests
and hunting and fishing. In those times the
trout were big fellows, and ran by thousands.
At tho stream ho built q brick wall to hold up
his garden front, tie his boats TO, and fish from.
and just In front Of the wall was q deep hole
often found in streams up there, which rumop
said was bottomless. When the British were
driven out of this country he took to drink,
After this his wife vanished, and the neighbour
said that she had disappeared too suddenly fof
his story Of her return to Now York to BIO OF.
actly correct. But in those outlying districtt
little trouble was taken about such matters, and
" uibhPpOhA ahSc "ub hONOA NooblbhtOus -
During one of his dobauches he went TO flsa
off his brick wall ON a Sunday. Not q bite could
no get, and being drunk he tangled his line
around his head, and tore his hook right through
his eye, binding himself. He nursed himself all
the week. but hearing his servants ascribe hip
accident TO his Sunday fishing he started the
next Saturday night and swore he would catchs
fish by dawn of Sunday to show tho fools WHAT
they knew about it. Large brush fires were liz,
AID paN Ill. I~l- $4,000 -.- l--A .-----
ming for strong drinks, for not a rise did he GET
and his constant cursing made his mouth dry,
AL Sunday he fshod in vain, and Just at mida
night he felt his line straighten out and tighten,
and Just as he commenced to play the fsh an
arm holding the line in its hand and a woman'S
head, with a face like his dead wires, rose abovS
the water. and q voice said:
"'You numbering scoundrel; not content
with drowning me. you must disturb my rest
with your NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of the water
above my unconsecrated grave. A warning 1
gave ye last week by the loss of your eye; 60
home and repent, for the next cast ye make 10
the last!' and with that she sank again.
with a mighty curse, embracing everything
on, under, and above the earth, the BritisheS
made another cast. hooked something. struck,
fought. lost his balance, and, falling into tho
water, Immediately sank. Although the waters
were dragged. the body was never found.
Now comes the queer part of the story. Local
tradition says that every fellow who fished there,
of the wall. never got a rise the first day, but
the second day he got just one; and that ho
playe d the fish. but never landed 1t, for
1t slipped away, leaving a clean hook just when
the butt was turned to bring it to the net.
Tradition added that some evil always caught
the fishermen during the year. Fifteen years or
had been burst nv his father. The latter came
up. fshed Of the wall. and secured the usual
the trout at over three poundsIa big weight for
eS;id.o as Likely to happen to him, but he
the next day to Try for the big fellow.
: cast, Rsoofe sht the ss1 Thing sn foul na andf d i sp0G It oT peTq 10
find the phantom ~trout-dead! 1t was a very
so@ ast time, long @ls' before sfoS f hed been nn se frihle oo Sad IN IN
the upper lip, and the front bone OF the jaw had
been We're Ser the cartilage 'I and pG skin. sn and these isss
were torn to o fringe by many bookings and
s sacihn1i,eo Old R s!ssq@fhS aas' a aRsi q a. Cd 1sS' a tas u an
least that was the theory Of the New Yorker. and
there have been safely brought to land and the
have stopped. You can still see the
Live and learn, said another of the party.
:" One never knows what queer things may hap
pen when trout fishing: i was only two years
look at that I ever SAVIOR We ali thought he;
iho ~ 1000 - tNo-pouiuCE ho -olouBul " IL q u
means the fish had been struck by the gut,
Just above the fin. The old man Of the party
said he had known a fish to rise at the fly, Jump
Ing nearly clear Of the water. and SO get noosed
Well, remarked the guide. 81 have seen
|ros a T man, 9 sd my 8 Hear wo ogo a and m,b fa1e s a siSsr
5of Of = S thin YoFf fi maf up be here threw and bis s sGu,a , mot
Just then a trout rose at the stub. The angler
a queer fellow, fond of a joke, and he tore
nook, with a piece of silk. made a cast and
,aught his fish. 1t was the only one he caught
hat day, and he took it home. he said, to have
accounting what trout will eat" said
lid some fishing in Scotland, and at a dinner Of
anglers at Glasgow. proof was. given OF the
tSsnty:ssysn small psrsh inside It; twenty:
light fish to one hook breaks tho record!'
t nsSMC w years ,4 aso,mIl snid III the r silent 1t, man m Nam. and
md talking about, trouting, when q fellow
md, after some hours left us. handing us his
and asking us 70 make up q party and come
.ondcd a little and he offered to meet us with his
,arriage and reiterated his invitation, 30 we
net. we were lunched with champagne. sc, We
we're taken to the stream and it TGs a bssutyl
few hours and Rugged ourselves at
'ur good luck; and then, after a cigar and a
zee urapple' the carriage came OUT 10 take us 10
he station. four miles away. Then, accom-
'anicd by his handsome daughter. our host
anne TO say good-by and present his bill: car
iagc 80 much. lunch SO much: SO many pounds
4 trout so much; total so much. He was a pro-
cssional pisciculturist. and 1t was lucky We had
nough money in the crowd to meet the total"
Il guess the funniest thing that ever hap.
'cncd TO n fisherman" said the Englishman.
was at the old Welsh Harp, close to London. A
GLOW went there one day and began casting in
hose historic waters with n small spoon and
". and getting a mighty strike he prepared
Iimsolf for a sOCkdollager. When, after a fierce
ussle lasting nearly an hour. he managed TO
eel up. and brought II three'foot alligator to
his feelings may be better imagined than
lie Thought of all the drinks he had
yer taken, inside of two seconds, and swore of
l turned OUT to have eseaped from a In1eeigbbbonre.
ng aquarium n few days previous. and had
for the first water within distance
4 Halt Holder for Grnsshoppera.
A neat little contrivance for holding live bait