Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-09-27
He Followed
His Bent
BY p. A. Mitchell


out Of school and put me to work
Mother was so discouraged at this that
the teacher, who was kind hearted
man. undertook to comfort her.
TO tell the TRUTH" he said, "you can
never tell what kind of q man a boy is
going TO make. For my part believe
In following ones bent. What we do
well we usually do easily. Has Tommy
ever shown especial adaptability for
any particular work?"
NO"
well, would advise you to let him
do what he likes to do. Perhaps he
will some day find out what he is fitted
for"
''If let him do that he will go fish
ing all the while"
1t seemed to me that the teacher gave
up trying to be optimistic for me. for
he left my mother to console herself IS
best she could. | consoled myself for
my worthlessness by taking my rod
and going to the brook. 1t was full of
trout, and ] thought that l might as
well get some for supper. l could at
least do that even If l were a no ac-
count boy. I brought home a fine
string of fish.
Mother took me out of school and
called on me to help herabou the house.
! was very poor helper and hated the
work. AS soon as l could get my
chores done l made off with my rod,
and mother saw no more of me till
came home. always with a string of
fish. That was the only way that
was really useful
/ could catch fish where all others
failed. The reason for this was that I
noted the habits Of the fish and knew
just when and where to look for them.
/ noticed that there was certain kind
of fly that trout would always take. 1
had no fly in my case that they would
take with the same avidity. caught
one of these live flies and, taking 1t
home. made one as near like 1t as l
could. had a box Of paints, which
served me very WELL My artificial fly
would not have pleased an entomolo-
gist, but it fooled the fish.
Some boy friends of mine spread the
story Of my making my own fly, and it
got to the ears of the manager of q fish
ing tackle mandatory in the neigh
borhOod. He came to see me one day
and asked me about ii. l showed him
my artificial fly and how successful
had been with it. He told me that II
would catch one Of the live flies Of
that species for him he would give me
SIS for it. did so and got the money.
1t seemed to me large sum, and I
felt very proud of it.
Several times on the way home l
took 1t out of my pocket to have an
other good look at it.
When took the bill to my mother
and explained how l had got it she
said that it was probably the only S. I
would ever make.
/ used to talk about fish to other
fishermen They never tired of listen
ing to me. One day when was about
nineteen Years old one of them asked
me to write out for him some points
that had told him. l did so, and he
seemed very much pleased with what
l gave him. He was an author and
told ME that if | would write an in
struction book Oh angling he would put
1t in proper shape for me and submit
1t to his publisher. l put down a lot
OF things in Il tumble; he arranged
them all in good grammatical English,
and the book was published with my
name on the title page.
A couple of years after this l took q
lot of notes had made on the habits,
the breeding and other information
about fish. and with a little revision by
my literary friend it was issued by the
firm which had published my first book
1t was not long after this that a
state fishery was established, and the
government was looking for a superin-
tendent. The governor had used my
books on angling. and one day l was
astonished to receive letter from him
asking if would accept the position
of superintendent Of the state fishery
with fine salary
! took the letter to my mother, and
when she read it she threw her arms
around me and Rugged me.
who'd have thought" she said, that
a boy who wouldn't work and was
bound to waste his time all day tied to
fish pole would ever come to any
good?"
My position as superintendent of the
state fishery at once gave me a wide
reputation, and was constantly called
upon for information in matters per-
tanning to fish culture. A neighboring
state offered me better salary than |
was being paid and rather than lose
me my own state offered me large ad-
vance, which accepted and remained
where ! was.
BY this time ! was married, but !
did not forget my cid mother who had
told my teacher that If her boy were
permitted to do as he pleased he would
do nothing but go fishing. She is now
an enthusiastic advocate of letting q
boy follow his own bent. even If that
bent seems idleness.