The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-05-02
By E. B. Morris.l

10y lie De MOfT1Ssb
Do you know that the pollution OF
The streams within the state OF West
Virginia by sulphur water from the
coal mines chemical discharges from
the factories and saw dust from the
mills deprive the people OF fully. fifty
million pounds OF FISH annually worth
s.. 600 eco at only ten cents a pound?
O. course. we know that we have
been deprived of the finest fishing 10
be found anywhere And those OF US
who live along the streams into which
the sulphur water from the mines is
discharged. are deprived OF the oppor-
tunlty of going IN swimmin .. an
enjoyable sport We have always looked
forward TO each year since boyhood.
as well as a weekly necessity during
rhe summer season. since many OF US
do not own bath tubs But none of us
know how many millions or dollars
the people of West Virginia are
Obliged 10 pay out each year for doc
tor bills and medicine on account OF
the pollution.
Roughly estimated. there are 1000
elusive of their extreme heads and
tributaries and not including the Ohio.
Big Sandy and Potomac rivers. which
form about 600 miles OF the boundary
line OF the state. Assuming the aver
age width OF these streams within the
state 10 be 100 feet and their depth TO
be three feet, which Is not far out
of the way, we have one billion, Ave
hundred and eighty-four million Gu
bic feet of water. exclusive Of heads,
tributaries and boundary streams.
Allowing 100 cubic feet of water for
each 1ish, We find that by giving eacn
fish 2 space OF FIVE feet long, five feet
wide and four feet deep. we can &C
commodate 10 $4,000 fsa. While the
heads and tributaries would be used
for spawning purposes, principaiis,
vet il would be within conservatism
to say that they would accommodate
as many fish as the larger streams,
and that the average weight OF the
fish when three years old would be
one and one-haIf pounds each-many
would exceed that weight. while few
would go under it. This gives us 81
CSC. 600 fish which would weigh A.
$50, 900 pounds and be dirt cheap at
ten cents a pound. Tne trout would
find a ready market at fifty to sew
enty-f1ve cents pound. while the
black bass would bring from twenty
TO thirty cents pound
If the pollution was stopped and
the streams stocked with fish that
were native to them BEFORE the poltu-
ton began, it would not only afford
a wholesome sport that is enjoyed by
nearly. every one. but it would be a
great help TO. the poor people who
cannot afford the luxury OF fresh fish
as often as they would like to have
them-and they taste just as good to
the poor as they do to the rich. It
would also bring hundreds Of wealthy
men to the state every season to en-
Joy the sport who would leave thous-
ands of dollars among class OF peo-
Pile who need 1t and they seldom take
away many fish. They come to fish
for the love OF the sport. and If usual
" costs them at the rate OF about 50
per fish.
Fisherman's Paradise Gone.
The ..old timers around Cfarksburs
we'll remember when the West Fork
river was a paradise for fishermen.
1t was filed with pike "blue-ca1s.'
..uaud-cats''- Of them weighing
upward of fifty pounds1-"red-hn
suckers. white suckers, mud-suckers.
black bass, perch and sun-fsh. fish
erman did not have pike worth TAX
ing unless il was over three feet long
Uncle John Steele would have
thrown a three-foot pike back into the
river as too small to take home.