The Republican journal., 1903-08-13

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colonies, one of which we visited. It
is a substantial structure, some 5 feet
in height and 40 or so in length, CON-
posed of brush. mud and stones, and
flows pond of considerable size. Our
noisy approach probably prevented our
seeing any of the inhabitants.
Before going into the woods we call
! ed on local druggist and had prepared,
after formula of his own, lotion to
keep away flies and mosquitoes. If we
remember rightly it was composed of
two parts sweet oil, one part oil Of tar
and few drops of oil of pennyroyal.
We found this effective when frequent
ly applied. We learned to-day, how
ever, that it was not best to let the
other fellow carry the fly driver. Moth
ing but the best of fishing would have
made endurable the attacks of flies and
mosquitoes which we endured to-day.
Our chief annoyance was a large fly
called by woodsmen ''brass heads, "
which came upon us in swarms, draw
ing blood in large quantities.
We reached camp at Z. tired, hungry
and footsore and wet to the skin from
two or three falls while wading the
streams. 1t is impossible to fish these
streams, or, indeed, any good trout
stream of much size, without wading.
After hearty supper, of which fried
trout was the most popular dish, we
turned in, our clothing still wet and
clinging to us. To us this seemed a
rash proceeding, but we were assured
by the experienced members of our
party that it was the best thing we
could do. After good nights rest we
arose with our clothing dry and the
soreness gone from our limbs. The
steaming process through which we had
gone was something of the nature of
Turkish bath in it's effects. Sleeping in
wet clothes is the regular practice OF
river drivers, and they are said to never
suffer i'll effects from so doing.
When we arose wefound it raining
most welcome sight after the long
drouth. 1t had been our intention to
start for home this morning, but
thoughts of the fine fishing on Little
Spencer were too fresh in our minds,
and we decided to put in another half
day there. Rain is no hindrance to the
true fisherman, and it was not to us.
Getting wet is a necessary part OF the
sport and should be accepted philo-
sophically.
Under the guidance of Mr.. Dunphy
we struck out for Parker's Bog, four
miles distant on the Little Spencer.
On the way we passed through beav-
ers cut-down. A large portion OF their
diet is said to be poplar bark, scanty
diet for such laborers. Quantities OF
the peeled sticks line the streams in the
vicinity of their dams. This cut-down
was in a growth of small poplars some
20 or 30 rods from their dam. Lying
on the ground were 40 or 80 freshly cut
trees, limbed and cut into lengths of
from to feet, according to their size.
The cutting was done as neatly as lum-
herman could do it. A well-worn trail
led from the grove to the dam, down
which the sticks would be dragged dur
ing the night. A considerable tract had
been cleared. We had supposed the
beaver was nearly extinct animal IN
Maine They are said to be very nu-
merous in this section and are regarded
as a great nuisance by the owners OF
timberlands. In many instances their
dams flow large tracts of land, killing
the timber. They also make great
havoc in the poplar growth, which is
now considered valuable. We saw
poplar on the bank of Dead River near
ly foot in diameter which they had
cut half through. This was said to
have been the work of bank beavers, or
oilers. We were told bank beavers were
former members of large colonies, from
which they had been driven because
they would not work. Too lazy to build
udlll, lley Jake up Cutll dUolC uuuoA
the bank of stream.
A lumberman had large drive on
one of the streams in this vicinity last
spring which he was unable to get out
for lack of water. With quantity of
dynamite he blew up beavers dam
some distance above, and with the
large volume of water thus released was
able to get his logs into the main river
without hitch. An old lumberman
said he once went with fishing party
to a stream in this vicinity where he
had previously made large catches. On
reaching the locality they were surpris-
ed to find the land overlooked and were
unable to get near the stream. Investi-
CATION showed that the mischief was
caused by beavers dam, which they
tore away, with the idea of returning
to fish the stream the next day. The
next morning they found the dam near
ly rebuilt.
We found the fishing everything one
oonld ask for ami rein rned to the camp