The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-11-21

Tune 1s7S 10 June. 1884. and Acts Of
| % Nav 1899 p l.. AZ, so and Ga, ana
| Acts OF 20 May, 1891. This phrase rod
hook and line" is applied 10 the catcn-
| ing of all kinds of game hsh IN THESE
various acts, and to all the waters ana
| ing the waters of Lake Erie, bavs,
| ponds and bayous adjacent thereto. We
| cannot believe that the legislature, in
using the phrase rod, hook and line
| intended so narrow and unreasonable
| a construction as is used by the com.
monwealth. SO common ana UNIVERSAL
| is the use OF reels, fly hooks, bait, bobs,
| sinkers and squids. in fishing with rod,
! hook and line that we may take them
| to be included in the phrase rod, nook
| and line" in ordinary and popular use.
INTENDED BY LEGIsLATURE.
| Therefore. If we construe the legisla-
| tive language according to its popular
| acceptation, we are bound to hold that
| the appliances, or things just named,
| were understood and intended by the
| legislature to be included in the phrase
| rod, hook and line" Phil. e. Erie Il.
| r. Co. VS.. Catawissa r. r. Co, 90 Pa.
| 20; Endlich on Interp. of Statutes, sec.
| S5. This is the natural and obvious
| import of the phrase without resort
| ing to subtle and forced construction
| FOR the purpose plliltI VI llullNihH
| extending it's operation. Possibly thls
| construction will be conceded by the
| conmonwep tn.
But the contention is, that landing
| net is rot of such common and uni-
versal use as to be included in the
| phrase, rod, hook and line" Certain
| il is that the landing net was i'm COM
mon use by fishermen as far back as
1858. for Izaak Walton, in his Complete
| Angler makes Piscator say: "But
| what say you now? There is a trodt
now and a good one, too, If I can but
hold him, and two or three turns more
| will tire him. Now you see he lies sun
and the sleight is to land him. Reach
| me that landing net. SO, sir, now ne
is mine own. What say you now? Is
not this worth all my labor and your
So, in Primes ct Go A-Fishing," We
find the following. But when once
you have hooked your fish, the light
rod is vastly to be preferred, after be-
coming accustomed to handle it, what
| ever and wherever be the water. FOR
ahe rrinciple Of the rcd is in reality
| Onl, this that il is the home end o,
the line, stiffened and made springy so
that YOU can guide and manage it
cast and draw. keep a gentle pressure
with it on the hook, so that the hsh
shall not rid himself OF it, and finally
the American Anglers Book by Nor
ris. the author says: "I have known
anglers handle fish trouD so well as to
make a practice of slipping the hand
gently down the leader. and then seiz-
ing them behind the gills. sometimes
! wcaring a hand glove to insure a firmer
| grasp. Few, however, have sufficient
| skill and GOODNESS for such dangerous
practice.
ALMOST INDISPENSABLE
A landing net is almost Indispensable
when there is no convenient place for
landing your prize on the bank,or when
wading ashore would disturb the quiet
of the pool" All the testimony in this
| case is to the effect that the landing
net is, and has been, in ordinary, COM
mon and almost universal use by those
who fish for trout with rod, hook and
line In our view, therefore, the land
ing net was as much within the legis-
lative intent. when using the words
rod, hook and line as was the NY
hook, reel bait and such like appli-
| anCcS.
To assist the correctness of the argu-
ment, let us cons.Cs" what a landing
net is, and it's use. The Century Die
| tinnary defines a landing net as "a
kind of scoop net. used to bring to land,
or to hand a fish which has been
caught" substantially, the same def
milton will be found in the Standard
and Webster dictionaries Its use is
not to catch fish separately, as they
are caught in fyke and drift nets anc
seines. but it's use is to land the fish
after it is hooked. AS we have already
observed, fish is caught when hooked
Hence, under this view, a landing net
would be not necessarily part of the aC
OF catching, but simply a convenient
s,,t,, sS,fn
And. hence also, the use of il, as useC
by the defendant. was not a violation
of the letter or spirit Of the act OF
, assembly. A landing net is useless az
, a separate appliance for catching fish
and is in no sense a complete appli'
ance for catching fish, like a seine
drft-net or fyke-net when cast, drawn
! or fastened. or otherwise made use Of
= PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION.
, The purpose of the legislature. in
; passing the acts relating to the catch
ing of game fish, is perfectly plain. II
| was to stop their indiscriminate and
/ unreasonable destruction. so that the
| streams and waters might be kept
stocked. Hence. the law limits fishing
| to certain seasons and to certain means
| The mischief was the extinction OF
game fish by means of nets and th
' nets named are seines, drift-nets, fyke
I | nets. and nets of like character. Land
. | ing nets are not named in any of the
| | acts. Hand or cast nets are, in sixth
{ | section of the act under consideration
= But hand or cast nets are not landing
( | nets.
Then, can landing nets be included II
p the phrase "nets of any other descrin
l | ton" AS we have already stated, land
: ing nets are useless as separate appli
D ances for catching fish. Therefore
= they are not ejusdem generis will
= seines, drift-nets and fyke-nets, anC
r cannot be included in the phrase met
' of any other description" For the rul
Of law is, that where a general wore
follows particular and specified word
= of the same nature as itself, 1t take
- its meaning from them. and is pre-
sumed TO be restricted to the SAM
| genus as those words; or, in othe
, words, as comprehending only thing
% of the same kind as those designated
by them: Endlich on Interp. of Stat
utes. sec. 405.
o Hence. we are of opinion that land
| ing nets are not included i'm the nets
prohibited by the acts of assembly
| seems clear to us. If the Legislature
meant to prohibit the use OF landinl
nets in fishing for game fish, when tn,
A.. | landing net was in such common an,
! | almost universal use, they would hay,
said so in plain and unmistakable Ian
z guage. The fact that they did not. Il
persuasive that thev did not mean [,
: include landing nets amongst the pro
} hibitions.
= COMMONWBALTH'S POLICY.
, The diversion, or sport of fishing, /
D | engaged in by many persons. and IN,