Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1903-05-14

WI ate Ju66lC0 PAONOPAooAASB
more attention was paid anglers than
poets. The deduction is invulnerable.
Does not Isaak Walton say:
Angling is somewhat like poetry,
men are to be born so.'
and are there not more fishermen
than poets?
Occasionally we see a man that is
both poet and an angler. You will
recall Longfellow's vultures that come
not singlyi Such a man is to be pit
led! Between getting an inspiration
and bite, and his friends can never
tell whether he is about to start fish
ing or go into a trance. This COM
bination of bobbers and metre is sup
posed to be the author of that touch
ing, bit of verse we have so often
quoted on the rolling river bank, our
worm cavorting in our grimy hand:
When the wind is in the north,
Skillful fishers go not forth.
When the wind is in the south.
1t blows the bait in the fish's mouth.
When the wind is in the east,
lis neither good for man nor beast,
When the wind is in the west,
Then it is the very best!''
In youthful days we swore by the
above, but to-day we suspect the au-
thor of mixing some very bad versifi-
cation with a bit of Indian lore. For
consolation we now turn, not to the
poet-fsher and his windy poemette,
but to good old Walton. who says:
I'VE may say of angling as DR..
Boteler said of strawberries: Doubt
less God could have made better
berry, but doubtless God never did,
and so Gf 1 might be judge, God
never did make more calm, quiet,
innocent recreation than angling"
All this is mere musing, preface to
a thought that is time to get your
fishing tackle and fish stories into
shape for a hard campaign. If pos
sible, invent some new lies, but if
originality has the spring malaria,
SO disguise the old ones, that they
will not be recognized. You may re-
call the farmer who admonished the
hunters not to shoot rabbits on his
farm unless they had long tails-the
short-tailed ones were all his.
We are not so grasping. Once upon
a time we were fishing and a large
bass accidentally swallowed our boat
chain. Two years later we caught a
fish in the same waters that had a
natural look about him. We cut him
open in search of landmarks, and
would you believe tive found our
boat chain; but it had rusted dread
fully. In fact, the action of the water
had so affected the iron links that
they had entirely disappeared, but the
nice round holes were preserved as
perfectly as when the fish swallowed
them.
AS previously stated, we are not
grasping. We ask only this story for
our own during the present season.
1t is a modest story, and we cleave
to it only because of its strict alleg-
lance to truth and veracity. We would
ask, that during the coming summer,
this lie be not infringed on. If neces-
sary, we will apply for patent.
Do you recall the fish story of An
tony? At that period when he was
calling Cleopatra babe" and getting
her rouge on the end of his probes
els, they went fishing together. The
wind was in the north that day and
Antony spat on his hook in vain.
Fearing disgrace in the eyes of his in
amorata, he ordered lackey to dive
with a fish and place it on his hook.
Then, with great manifestation of
prowess, he landed the fin. The hoax
was discerned by Cleopatra, and next
day when many were assembled, she
ordered diver to place a dried her
ring on his line. The, result was
boisterous, and after the laughter had
subsidized, the fair charmer remarked:
go, general! Leave fishing to us
petty princes of Pharos and Campus,
your game is cities, kingdoms and
provinces!"