The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-08-12

pletion OF the two weeks recreation (?)
In the camp. TO be sure some III
smelling, iIl~flavored fish were received
at the basement door, bat the Ice
was insufficient and the cook told the
grocer's boy that her brother In Full
ton market said that the Rangely
lakes were above tide water and these
trophies had graced the marble slabs
of the East River Ash mongers. There
are all kinds Of frauds la the world.
but the most self-deceived and self
deceiving falglr OF the whole outfit Isl
the amateur fisherman, who steals off
from reputable hone and goes at
ruinOus expense to some pirates hut
beyond the confines Of reputable So
ciety, TO consort with creatures as
abandoned as himself, and get back
to nature. as he calls 1t. which In
common English is to revert to bar
barism and savagery from which he
would never have emerged. IL he had
not been pulled mp against his will,
by main force. The camp is not only
breeding place for insects, but OF
lies. AS the ants prepare their meat
I'm summer, so in the fishermans camp
they lay in their fakes and sophistries
for the year. and emit them to the
unbelieving ears of those who have
remained at home and have lived
reputably in decent homes. with no
moral lapses. They are good fellows
as men, but as fishermen they are
bad lot and the fish do I'll Trust
fisherman with your money. but do
not believe him on the subject Of fish,
even though he takes his lunches in
the Bible house and his apartments
are in the Tract Society.
So much for the fisherman. And
now a word as to fishing.
Will any one give an adequate rea-
son why full grown man, OF average
Intelligence, fair education and re-
spectacle social connections, should go
fishingi II II is for food for susie
nance the answer is sufficient. The
body must be nourished. and man shall
not live by bread alone. 1t is said
that fish feeds the brain. but there
Is no evidence that the fisherman feeds
on his own wares. If 1t is for financial
gain, as the advertisement says, there
lis a reasoni'
But eliminating these. why do fish,
erman ash They answer, for the
sport of It'll" But sportsmanship re-
quires that the contestants shall be
equally matched. The featherweight
fights with the featherweight and not
with the heavyweight. But In fishing
a six-foot man matches himself
against a six-inch fish. The man has
had the advantages Of the public
schools. The fish has had no educa-
tional privileges. Carnegie has estab-
lished no free libraries on the fishing
grounds and there are no educational
boards among the fish for Mayor
Gaynor to replace with salaried Off
GERS. The brain of a fisherman weighs
about twelve ounces in the clear,
though one would never suspect 1T:
the brain OF fish could be carried
in the vanity box of a Vassar girl
without sagging the chain. 1t is not
fair fight In the open. but the man
Is hidden and takes every advantage
of the fish. Instead of angling with
an honest hook which advertises just
what 1t rs he covers 1t with worm
that looks as IL it were a legitimate
MONDAY lunch, or he covers the hook
with a cleverly constructed bug or in-
sect or fly, deliberately intending TO
cheat and deceive the poor, innocent
fish. who, being I'm the habit OF assoc
ciating with honest people and know
Ing nothing Of the Duplicates Of on
shore folk, is made the victim of his
own guileless innocence. And when
bv deception, deliberately planned, the
man. who is the heir of all the ages
and has within his brain science and
knowledge; the man who has built
railways and discovered planets and
has been educated by the debates be-
tween the B. r.. 4. and the Inter-
borough, has iured his victim to the
shore by his receptions. he not only
Is not ashamed of himself, as he ought
to be, but he gIoats over it and brags
about 1t and lies about It! The reason
why man lies about his fish is prob
ably because he Is so ashamed that
a man so big has caught a thing so
small that he thinks by lacking up
the FISH he can lessen the discrepancy
between the contestants
No. Isaac Walton may try and
iegitimatize an illegitImate business by
fine-spun rhetoric and Christopher
North may write this fish in my bag
at Ave or suicide OF six" and poets
and parsons may ooze mushy senti-
mentalisns over the glory of fishing,
but it Is piracy In the worst form.
literally murder In cold blood, because
the f1sh are not hot-tenapered.