St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1916-05-10
Going Fishing.

Going Fishing.
Like electricity, the nshing fever is
something you can not see, chemical
ly analyze or definitely describe, but
it actually exists and you can see it
work just as plainly as you can see
the invisible current of electricity
raising an elevator or driving u wheel.
Medical science with its great adj
vancement does not find an anti-toxin
for it and il shows the same virulence
among the refined, luxury loving and
highly fed gentlemen of the twentieth
century that it did among men when
the Christ chose his twelve disciples.
One can understand why a boy wants
to go fishing. He is more than half
savage anyway and he wants to kill
something. But it seems strange that
after the half savage boy has been
chided by a loving mother on his va
rious failings, wheedled by a sensitive
sister into keeping his hair combed,
snubbed by some one else's sister be-
cause he stepped on her toes while
learning to dance, corrected and drill
ed by a spinster school teacher in the
use of the English language, taught
by a kindly souled Sunday School
teacher in the virtue of kindness, re-
strained enough to put on a dress
shirt without swearing and wear white
gloves without sweating them through,
he still likes to get into some old but
comfortable clothes, light a pipe and
hike himself away to a babbling
brook or silvery pond to seek the
common fish. 1t is a mystery we
shall not attempt to solve.
But there are some things connect
ed with the fishing fever that are so
regular in appearance and effect that
they may safely be called characters
tics Of the malady. First it seems to
be a weekend affection. 1t would be
considered very poor taste to want to
go fishing on Monday, but very likely
that is the day most men become in
oculated with the germ and It takes,
as a rule, four full days (sometimes
FIVE if the boys Sunday School teacher
has neglected him), for the germ to
get into it's period of greatest activity.
OF course many patients get by this
most acute stage of the trouble with
out taking a full dose of fishing to
check the trouble, but we know 1t is a
dangerous time to neglect the disease.
Many and many a patient feels las
though 1 should die if don't go fish
ing" 1t seems to be well established
that the approved remedy for reduc-
ing the fever is to go and get your
feet just as wet as you want to.
The remedy sometimes has unpleas-
ant effects, like over exertion, too
much smoke. total immersion, too
many mosquitoes or indiscretion in the
use of liquid refreshments, but the
latter especially is a vile thing that
robs fishing of it's true sport and deep
satisfaction.
The boy or the uneducated man
use a worm and wait for the fish to
guzzle down the wriggling morsel and
then drawing the hook into the fsh's
vitals haul their victim on to the
bank or into the boat. They seem to
enjoy it eve did for a long time) but
there is something much better than
this about real fishing. First there is
the music of the water, a perfect
harmony that soothes and comforts
tired nerves, the signing of the winds
that awakens sympathy with solitude. |
the penetrating sunlight that awakens
new life and destroys the germs of
disease and despair. the song of birds
that breathes a love uncontaminated
by the bitterness of the divorce court,
the physical fatigue that removes the
waste tissue from the whole physical
system, the satisfaction of honest eff
fort that deserves more reward than
1t generally receives. If perchance
you can use the fly and cast it with
such skill that it passes over the lair
of a big one" there is a contest be-
tween skill and desire that arouses
the keenest zest in your mind. So
stimulating. so absorbing is this art
that one never feels like stopping un-
til night has obscured the lights and
joys OF the day and the fisherman too
seeks the rest that the other Great
ures OF nature enjoy.
You arrive home and show with
some satisfaction your partly filled
creel when the thrifty wife pipes up.
How much did they cost you? Cost