Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-22
POTOMAC POLLUTION
Pulp Mill Refuse Drives
Away Fish.
ANGLERS UP IN ARMS
SAY SPORT is SPOILED BY CARE
LESS MANUFACTURERS.
Long Continued Efforts Have Awaited
Nothing - Plant of the
Blue Ridge Club.

Twelve years ago the Potomac river above
Washington was gaining a reputation as
one of the best streams in the country in
which to angle for game fish. Stories of
the superior sport found in it's miles of
picturesque waters, numerous rapids and
equally numerous deep pools where lurked
the alert and active bass were spread over
an ever increasing area, and sportSmen We're
thereby induced to come from all parts of
the land to cast their flies in the historic
stream Their numbers were increasing
each season and the natives of Maryland,
Virginia and West Virginia living along the
river derived a considerable income from
the patronage of these visitors as well as
from that of the many Washington anglers.
Many boatmen and guides were needed to
meet the requirements of the sportsmen
and the revenue thus derived was Of
no little importance
The conditions then existing were so de-
sirable that a number of associations of
anglers were induced to erect clubhouses
some of them quite expensive, at different
points along the river. This served to draw
an additional number of devotees of the
rod and line to the locality. The Blue
Ridge Rod and Gun Club was established
about ten years ago on promontory about
one mile below Harpers Ferry. The rec
ord catch of black bass for season made
by member of that clup during It's Hrst
year was 500 fish.
Now all is changed. The establishment of
saw mills, tannerieS, factories and pulp
mills discharging their waste materials
into the waters of the stream, has tainted
it with many poisons and impurities in
furious to both plant and animal life. The
coarse matter of the refuse from these
sources has lodged in the favorite haunts
of the fish and made their breeding grounds
poisonous to the spawn as well as for the
older fish, Many spots of deep water We're
famous for the number of bass found there
in These are now mere muddy swallows,
the accumulation of sawdust and shavings
having filled the lurking places of the bass
Bubbles of impure gases rise lntermlttentiy
to the surface, making the stream seem
more like a sewer than river whose
waters should be entirely untainted be-
cause it is the source of water supply for a
great city.
Change of Landscape.
The river, once the center of many beau
tiful landscapes, is now, notably In the
vicinity of Harper's Ferry, an offensive
sight, by reason of an accumulation or
pulp mill refuse, many acres in extent,
which has lain and rotted When viewed
from the bridge across the river at that
point it is obviously a quality of filth that
should alarm the residents of the vicinity
who have concern for their health. The
nuisance of pollution of the water in the
vicinity of Cumberland by the discharge of
acids from paper mills and factories was,
several years ago, so extreme that for
thirty-six miles below the city all fish life
had become extinct, and even frogs had
disappeared from the banks. The citizens
of the municipality three years ago awak-
| ened and actions were brought in the courts
which were successful, compelling the OPP
| orators of the establishments to make
proper disposal of refuse. AS a result of
| this remedial action, bass and other fish
| have reappeared in the long-deserted
waters. and this year they have been
caught in the river opposite the city of
| Cumberland
No More Fishing.
] AS stated, the record seasons catch of