The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1899-07-29

To the Fishermen
DEAE BEGTnHEN.

The plaiiesJ OF the year,
Olpurwmg hills and fragrant bloom,
And rivers bright ami clear
The banks of the brooks are green;
the boughs Of the trees bend down; the
trout are Gutteriug in the streams be-
low and the birds are nesting above.
The bees are humlning among the flow
ers; the forests are singing; the waters
are laughing, and all the world is
radiant with joy. Love rides on every
passing breeze and turks in every How
er. 1t is natures sweetest resurrec-
ton, and beauty reigns supreme.
What a glorious time to resurrect the
fishing tackle from its dusty tomb in
the lumber room, and the red worm
from his Shiny sepulchre under the
sod, and to impale him on the hook and
send him diving after suckers What a
glorious time to camp and frolic on the
margin of the froliclling stream, with
skillets aud lard, and streaked and
striped bacon, and plenty of onions,
and corn bread, and good butter and
eggs, and fddlers to play, and mig
gers for cooks; big fat trout frying in
the pan, black coffee simmering in the
pot, and snake medicine" in the
''ehist," 1t is the Eden of the seasons;
it is the heaven of life.
what "a Joy to lInger by the fishing hole,
And la2ly hold your fishing pole,
And wait for the fish to bite! What a
delightful thrill is the thrill of nib
Bile! And when you hook two-pound
bass and eagerly undertake to land
him high and dry, what beautiful
thoughts pass through your brain and
what eloquent figures Of speech escape
from your lips when your line gets
tangled among the limbs ten feet above
your head, and you see your huttcring
prize dangle for moment in the air,
and then, with 4 farewell hOunce, bid
You good evening as he drops back into
the water and darts away like an ar
row This is splendid illustration of
the feelings of candidate for political
office who is sure OF his election. He
sees victory dangling for moment in
the air about ten feet above his head,
and then, with a farewell bounce, it
gets away from him, and there is
weeping and crashing of teeth"
Fishing is the greatest sport in the
world. There is nothing SO eXhilarating
to the nervous system as the shock of
Jerk, and there is nothing 50 relaxing
as the sight of a vanishing perch with
broken hook in his mouth. There is
also great deal of relaxation in sitting
on a snag five hours with bated breath
and baited hook waiting for an eXhilar-
alton whicl, never comes | have known
gentlemen to engage in this sort of re-
taxation all day long, and save their
reputation as fishermen only by buying
Il string of the tinny tribe from some
old dusiy wizard Of the pscatorial art,
and then swearing in camp that they
did it with their little red worms.
This is another illustration Of the sue
cess of some statesmen.
The ultima thule Of happiness is the
sweet expectancy of a laughing and
EARNING gang Of fishermen advancing
to the fishing ground in the morning
with buckets full of minnows, and
hands full of tackle, and pockets full Of
cigars and tobacco and "sich like
Poets may sing of banquets in gilded
halls where all the mingled sweets of
the culinary art are heaped upon the
table, and where fairies CLINT like
speckled trout in the crimson depths of
wine, and painted devils dance in the
amber floods of corn and rye" but
give me a tishermans lunch and a
fsherman's appetite beneath the
spreading tree down by the riverside in
the deep-tangIed Wildwood where the
waters murmur at my feet and birds
make music all the day. Let the red
nosed jewellers sip their wine and
chucl1le over the triumph of their trusts
and combines, but give me drink of
sparkling water from the cold noun
tain spring and liberty among the hills.
Let the men of millions have their
pleasure in their palaces; ! envy them
not; let them pass the gilded hours
bowling and scraping on velvet carpets
ard lolling on Silllen sofas; but give me
the pleasure Of the reel and line, and
let ne bow and scrape on natures rich
of green, among the redbuds
and honey-suckles, and loll on the moss
covered logs amid violets and bluebells
near the bend of the river, where the
cranes bow and scrape to the tadpOles,
and the bullfrog sings his sweetest
song. Let historians tell of the glory
of heroes bringing home their spoils
from conquered lands, but give me
triumphal march to my own happy
home with beautiful string of fish
The hero will roll and tumble at night
with horrible dreams of blood and
death, but will sleep like baby, and
dream of trout four feet long.
Did you ever hear theold story of the
family of five brothers who lived in a
cabin? The only spleeping arrange
nents they had were two quilts; they
all slept together on one, and covered +.
with the other, and in the night when |.
one wished to turn over he shouted |.
spoon" to the rest, aud they all turned |
at once. One day one of the boys went |
10 the river to shoot fish; he climbed |
tree on the bank and crawled out on /.
limb over the stream and lay there /
looking down and watching for scaly |
victim to shoot at; but his position was
so comfortable that he went to sleep, /
and a miSchievous fellow passing by, |
knowing the habit of the family, /
shouted spoon" at the top Of his voice;
the sleeping fisherman Immediately |
yhirled over and fell ten feet splashing |