Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-02
EDUCATRD FISH
PASSES AWAY
TERRIBLE FATE OF BELOVED
RAINBOW TROUT
Anglers, Tourists and All outdoor
People VIII Hear With Deep
Regret story Of Dicks
Demise


| Special to The Herald.
AzUSA, Sept. 1.-All over southern
California campers and lovers Of out
door life, and especially those who have
spent delightful day or week up the
San Gabriel canyon, will hear with re-
gret of the death of Dick, the fa-
nous trout Of Follows camp.
Dick was q four-year-old rainbow
trout and was the most beautiful speci-
men of salmon irrideus ever seen in
| California The fish was spawned,
Matched and spent the early months
Of its life in the upper waters Of the
West Fork San Gabriel. Up where
the side walls Of the great canyon rise
sheer a thousand feet above the foam
| tossed waters which dash over the
rocky shoals or rest quietly in black
pools fathoms deep, Dick spent the
| first month of his life.
In a limpid pool ten miles above
| Follows camp where big boulders over
hang the waters and the timber comes
sheer down to the brink of the stream
on one side, the young trout learned
to leap and catch May flies and other
Itoothsome bugs which came danger
ously near the surface. Beneath the
boulder lived big square-tailed rain
| bow who was possessed with the idea
that he owned that part of the brook
knear the big boulder pool.
When Dick first drifted down the
stream and found the pool, he decided
he would remain there. A tragic
event occurred then which almost
ended the career of the yearling trout.
In exploring the pool the youngster
approached the boulders. There was
a sudden rush from beneath the black
water and Dick had only time to turn
and dash swiftly to the surface with
a wild leap into the air. There was
a savage three pound cannibal close
behind. So fierce was the snap Of the
the nip and lost portion of his left
pectoral fin. That single blemish was
the distinctive mark by which Dick
was known years afterward.
Angler Tries for Rise
A man with wading boots sat on the
brink of the pool smoking a bulldog
pipe. Within thirty seconds, the man
was skillfully making long casts al
lowing his May fly to sink few inches
| below the surface while a brown
hackle skipped most temptingly along
the water. The smooth tapering silk
enameled line lay out like thin whip
lash, but all In vain. The big trout re-
tired far beneath the boulder and sulked
| Tie rest OI the dllGTIlOOH.
The smaller trout retreated pre-
cipitately to a hol. beneath the root
of a big sycamof at the lower end
of the pool. there to nurse wounded
fin and pride.
Day after day. the angler, an eastern
tourist, returned to whip the pool,
but he never succeeded in Turing the
big trout from the black depths be-
meath the boulders.
/ dota fn pIa
cast of that big trout" said the angler
to Ralph Follows. But the eastern
man was called away and his last
words to the master of the camp were:
eff you catch either of those trout.
bring them to camp alive and get me
a good cast"
Mr.. Follows didn't get the big one.
| but he succeeded in bringing to net the
| smaller one afterwards named Dick.
The rainbow was handled carefully and
brought to the camp in an aerated,
live bait pail and placed In a pool
which was carefully screened at out
let and intake. Dick at that time
weighed about one pound and was
twelve inches in length.
Awful Fate overtaI<es Favorite
The trout soon became pet. He
knew Mr.. Follows well and came to
| eat from his masters hand. Dick loved
| minced livers of mountain quail and
that was his chief diet. Soon the trout
grew so tame that it would go to the
edge of the pool and rest its head in
Mr.. Follows hand. Dick was taught
| tricks and would roll over, leap out of
the water and turn somersault
through a small hoop, and do other
fancy stunts for the amusement of the
tourists.
Finally, to the astonishment of
strangers. the trout was taught to live
out of water. After that, Dick led
a strange life. He wandered about the
camp and became a favorite with the
animals as we'll as the boarders The
rainbow would allow no undue fa-
miliarity, however. and although he
would rub noses with the burros, any
thing like fippancy on the part of a
dog or cat was met by smart nip.
and most anglers know what the snap
of four pound trout is.
The tragedy that ended Dicks career.
after three years of joyful camp life.
came yesterday The trout loved
Ralph Follows like child loves its
parents. II followed him around the
place like dog does it's master Fri
day Mr.. Follows started down the
canyon on foot and he told Dick not
to follow him. The rainbow dis
obeyed, however, and sneaked along
behind bushes and trees. Mr.. Fol-
lows crossed the stream on foot-log
a quarter of a mile below camp The
man had gone few steps when he
heard a slight scream and turned in
time to see Dick. the educated trout,
slip from the log into the seething
torrent below Dick was drowned be-
fore Mr.. Follows could come to his
assistance.