Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-10-12

soul out to the borders of the brook,
equipped for a days Joy with the trout
"The first thing | saw as / was ur-
folding my tackle on the margin OF tre
brook was a big signboard ON a tree,
bearing this inscription in staring black
letters: "a
............... observation-disclosures
;: Private Property. :
E: Trespassing Forbidden Under sPen-
+: atty of the Law.
~........... ................ ......'.'.'.'''"'''
81 was still in shocked contemplation
of tie sign when a big, double-fisted
fellow came along and wanted to know
what | was doing there. | told him, ant
he said that if | could lick him could
go. ahead and catch trout there, but II
1 did, every one l caught would cost me
SIS, because that stream had been leased
its entire length by private parties
nobody was permitted to fish it except
them and their friends.
"'And anyhow said the big guardian
of the brook, 4 don't believe you q
lick me, so you better go back home.'
1.-THE weight of argument seemed to
be all on his side, and | retired. Every
trout in the brook was mine, but | lad
to let others have the fun of catching
'em. | never had the satisfaction OF
killing even one.
1.-THE Nescopeck river, one of the theE
pleasant e%nvironing waters Of Halle
ton, seemed to me to be a good stream
to stock with black bass, and as | had
been bereft of my trout by migrate con-
stituents, | concluded that | would put
the Nescopeck in shape to gfveim me some
black bass fishing at a future day.
"I stocked the river with bass, just
as I had restored trout to Laurel Run
and kept the fact to myself for the same
reason. 80
There had never been black bass in
the Nescopeck, and found, by and by,
that mine were doing finely there.
When the stream was ready to be fished
| started out to have a days sport with
the first black bass fishing ever known
in the river.
"On the way to the stream l heard the
news that a big break hadg occurred in
the Upper Lehigh coal mines, and that
a flood of sulphur water from them was
pouring into the Nescopeck river.
when | got to the river the shores
were lined by hundreds and thousands
Of my black ~bass-great, big, lusty fell
lows among them, too, | tell ybu!-ana
every living thing in that stream was
killed.
mot a thing escaped the deadly pot
son from the mines, and there has never
been any fishing in that river since.
"Then | remembered that soon after I
had stocked Laurel Run with trout l had
procured some German carp to accom-
modate a constituent Of mine who said
he knew a pond where carp would thrive
and some day give great sport to fisher
men who liked that sort of thing.
1T was a far cry from trout and black
bass to carp, but | felt that I would like
some little return for my efforts to en-
nance the piscatorial interests of my
district; so I determined 10 try the carp.
""They. at least | unused, are sure
~ beyond the reach OF deadly capital
and sulphur water
81 went 20 the constituent In whose
interest I had labored in the carp mat.
ter, and he told me that the fish had
done so well that the pond vas full Of
them.
"'Why,' said he. enthusiastically,
some of 'em is a yard long
"And he said that the beauty OF Il
was that not a soul knew about them
but himself. The pond was nine miles
from Hazleton.
II hired a horse and wagon. and my
constituent and I started for the pond
to have a day with the carp. We had
driven almost to the pond when We met
a man whom | know.
'He had a wagon load Of something
covered with straw. Istopped him and
asked him what he was carrying home
as I wanted to be sociahle and nice.
thinking of being a candidate again.
"'What be l carryin' homer he ex-
claimed. Suckers! The darnedest big
,gest and latest suckers / ever see,,
And where they could have dropped
from we can't none of us make out. for
when we drawed of the pond four ear
ago there wasn't a sucker in it a foot
long!'
Then I learned that the people there
abouts we're I'm the habit of drawing off
a pond in that vicinity every three or
four years to scoop out the suckers that
lived in it. And tha& pond was the n
I had stocked with carp. and those carp
were the big. fat suckers the fisher
nan had landed this time.
II gave up on the spot. and ever since
then the coming Of fishing time brings
to ne OILY sighs and bitter thoughts"
IN, T. sun.