Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-05-30
Looker-On In Iona

Spirit Lake, May 30.-Real estate
owners on the short line around the
lake are getting wise. The owner Of
building lots with riparian rights, or
as one man once told the writer; with
librarian rights" sell for q small sum;
say $3.50, a few lots on condition the
purchaser builds this year" Such lots
are never together. Neither are they
corner lots. All this is a good thing
for the purchaser, and seller, for all
intermediate lots are then held at $500
to $1,000. According to possibilities and
probabilities of an electric line from
somewhere. With an electric line
around the Okobojis, or say around
West Okoboji, there would be a sale
Of hundreds of lots the first year.
Only those that have put in the sea-
son in a cottage on the lake, where it
required half a day and livery team
to go after a gallon of gasoline know
what it means to be located five miles
from nowhere.
One of the principal occupations of
the lake cottagers is eating Other
things are comparative, so that tel
ephone is almost necessity, or starv-
alton is a result nearer than some of
these people at the lake ever exper
fenced before. But even telephone
message will not bring the ice man or
the meat man or the oil man till to-
morrow provided he has made his
daily trip and the hired girl forgot to
ORDER Theoretically there's always
something in the house." but practic-
ally when the provisions are "out,"
your borrowing neighbors is also
"out." Wise cottagers always keep
supply of candles on hand. The kero-
sene can has way of being empty,
just as the lamps need filling. Five
miles is a long row in a boat to
get five gallons of oil. An old story is
that in Scotland contracts for labor
were made that prevented employers
compelling their hired help to eat
fresh salmon more than three times
week. And so with the cottage So
journer fish fried and fish baked and
even boiled fish, or fish chowder,
oftener than seven days in a week be-
comes somewhat monotonous. The
writer once had a visitor one that
never had had fresh fish enough. One
day, one of those starvation days.
when everything was in town five
miles away, it was determined to give
him fish enough This was done and
since then at home he walks five
blocks to avoid the fish market.
It's strange however, how few fish
now are Thrown back" Minnesota has
no law to protect pickerel Catch them
any time, any way, any time, they're
Snakes up there. But at Okobou
they are game fish and at Clear Lake
where the small boy catches a five
pound pickerel "off the dock" all of the
steamboats, blow their whistles, the
church bells ring, the stores close, and
the mayor declares legal holiday n
that is, all this metaphorically speak
ing, for there are so many fishermen,
fisherwomen and fisher boys and girls
that there are not enough fish to go
around. Every perch, cropple ana
sunfish is now saved, it counts one.
Hotels now put on the bill of fare,
fried perch" Probably ten years from
now we shall be ordering roast gar
and buffalo fish on toast. No lake can
stand the fishing that is done When
place becomes a fashion resort. At
low estimate 800 brats were on the
lake around here today and each day
when the weather is good. Surprising
they average % pounds to each BOAT
and they will, when all kinds are now
saved, that figures 800 pounds day.
There are 80 days in June. Figure out
the number of pounds taken out of
1a1y in months
The time is coming-it's here now
that we must have laws to prevent this
wholesale fishing. Wisconsin allows
each person to ship or carry away only
90 pounds in a week, always provided
you can ship any two fish of any size.
Minnesota, so the writer is told. does
not allow the sale of black bass and
some other kinds of game fish, but It's
a deal letter law nearly everywhere It's
the "hog' fishing that does the work.
There's no excuse for two men to
catch 60 pike in a day as was done