Evening star., 1911-08-13
l s

with fish of various kinds. This that Mr.. Bowers
has reorganized and perfected the working machinery
of the bureau that it does for the fishing industry
what the Department of Agriculture docs for the plants
of the country. The bureau first OF all, keeps the
supply of fish up to the mark in all waters; but in ad-
diton to this it learns BY experiments and invcsga
tions whether fish indigenous to the Atlantic seaboard
be planted and made to multiply on the l'acihc
Coast whether the trout of California will live and pros
per in the streams of the Aeghenies and whether by
peculiar treatment fish found in waters be
transported to colder waters, and vice versa.
THE Human Hook, seated at his desk in Washington,
operates the meshes of the countrywide seine that
replenishes interchanges and accnazes all species
of fish. He has under him at this time trtyVe propa
eating stations and elghty-sx field and COLLECTION sta
tons These of thirty two States Last
he presented to foreign countries hundred thou
sand eggs They went to France, Japan and Argen-
tine which countries anxious to improve and re-
pensh their fish supplies. In the year he scat
tered in the of the United States three and one
quarter thousand millions of young fish and fish eggs
When it is remembered that the total value OF the fish
landed at Boston and Gloucester by American fShng
vessels in year reaches high $466 H. 1t can
be realized that this Human Hook person has large
part to play in the commercial development Of the
country.
One of the oldest things in the service he has dcvcl
oped is his fashion OF having young sh earned Tor any
distance he chooses across the country. Securing
appropriation from Congress for the purpose he bought
SIX Pullman palace and transformed them INTO fish
The lower berths OF the cars are used tor tanks
and the uppers the sleeping quarters OF the men IN
charge of the fnny tribes In end OF each car IS
an engine that aerates the water i'll the tanks tor all
beliefs to the contrary notwithstanding, fish have to
have air well as human beings For instance when
Bowers concluded that the California trout could be
made fixture in of the mountain streams along
the Atlantic seaboard he ordered his men to 60 TO Cali
forna, catch a carload of trout, and haul them back
across the Continent The instructions were carried
out. and the rainbow boys now dlsportlng them
selves in some of the streams in the Alleghenles
1t should be mentioned that while it cost the Govern
in 1898 1922 90 to propagate million fish and
eggs, it now costs, under the Human Hooks manage
nlent, only Sl46.3b.
PUT there is one thing that dns the happiness of Mr..
Bowers. He may smile as he reflects on the null
tplication of backspotted Yellowstone Park;
he NAV pat himself on the back he considers the
Of fish from overhowed lands in the upper valley OF the
Missssippi he may grin with pride in recollecting the
cement Matching troughs at Bozeman, Montana and
he may laugh with gee the reports OF how merrly
the chinook salmon has taken to the waters OF Lake
Sunapeehe may do all these things only to feel cast
down when his thoughts rest on the fish that are IN
vads For Bowers only fish fooler; he is fish
physician. Fish do get sick. They have headache and
they flop suddenly on their backs and kick the
bucket-or the water. And Bowers wants TO prevent
epidemics and contagious outbreaks in the family So
far has been secret to the uninitiaed But here 1t
goes-ish have turnors and cancers! And this IS what
Bowers reports the subject:
THE gravest phase of the matter IS the possible rcla
tonshp of some OF these diseases to less kindred
affections occurring in human beings 1t has been de
ternned that type OF cancerous affection Is OF wide
spread distribution among domestlcated trout and their
offspring planted in the streams Whether this disease
has causal relation to cancer in human beings, or
whether the two to be traced to the
source is matter Of doubt but the annually increasing
mortality from cancer IN man and certain remarkable
condolences in the geographical distribution OF the dis
and fish, render imperative that it should
be made the subject of minute inquiry
investigations at various stations of the bureau and
other hatcheeS have shown that the disease
widespread and general than suspected. Con
siderable difficulty has been encountered in obtaining
tor purposes OF experiment sufficient number OF fish
above suspicion of Infection and has been necessary
in this effort quantity of wild trout from
streams. Owing to the technical difficulties at
tending this work which equal to those retarding
the advance of knowledge relating to the and