The Stephenville Empire. (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 9, Ed. 1 Friday, October 29, 1909 Page: 2 of 10
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MOOTING UP THPOUOH TH/C PVA/f
'HEN «• read of King Rob-
ert the Bruce that he was
eo greatly Impressed and
Inspired by tbe spectacle of
the spider accomplishing,
after very many efforts,
that task which It was unable to do at
first, we find ourselves beginning to
wonder whether It had ever happened
to that royal fugitive to see a salmon
or aea trout leaping at a fall. There
Is no doubt whatever that In his Jour*
neylngs by flood and field this Is a
sight that muat have often met hla
eyes. Perhaps It was really too fa-
miliar to strike hla spirit as the
spider struck It—to great Issues This
leaping of the anadromous Ashes at a
fall la at once an exhibition of the
roost monumental perseverance and
also 5f tbe most wonderful achieve^
men! of muscle that we are able to
see. You may watch little Ash. like
the grilse In the the picture, leaping
sheer over the height of man. hang
Ing there a moment In the down-rush-
ing water, with tall quivering after
the amaxlng effort that has provided
all the Impetus, then swept down
again, like a helpless mass of flotsam.
Into the turmoil of water below It Is
not until you begin to regard that
turmoil that you realize half the won-
der of It. This leap, or goodness only
can tell exactly how many times of Its
own height, would be a wonder even
If It were taken from a favorable, or
at least a Arm. leaping board In-
stead. It Is taken from that mass of
fluid sliding, rushing In a direction
contrary to that In which the leap has
to be made. Recognlx|||^_ that. the
wonder becomes llttla Ims than a
miracle. If It were not done, we
ahould say It was an Impossibility.
Closely watching, as far as we can,
the preparations of the Ash for the
leap, we may see that It takes what
we should call a long run. allows It-
self to be csrrled some distance down
stream before repeating the attempt,
and. when It essays the lump, comes
to It almost vertically up through tbe
water, cleaving the foam at the fall's
foot. This action has led some to
think that the Ash does not, In fact,
have such a bad "take off" as appears,
for It Is argued that there Is a back
rush, underneath tbe surface move-
ment of the stream, towards the foot
of the fall, and that the Ash takes ad-
vantage of this to get up Its Impetus
for the Anal vertical effort. The Ash
shown In the picture are grilse, and
the grilse, for their size. are. perhaps,
the roost active of all. as It Is right
that they should he. seeing that they
are at the young and athletic age;
but the sight Is hardly as Impressive
as that of a big salmon Jumping
If we can turn our thoughts from
♦be wondei of the power WBIch the
which used to help the ascent, or It
may be due to man's action In ab-
stracting water by surface drainage or
for use In hla houses. In such a case
as this tbe salmon never will sur-
mount the fall, and It Is evident that
the natural result. In course of time,
must be tbe gradual depletion of the
river of Its Ash. Meantime such Ash
as may survive will continue their
brave efforts with a perseverance
which” wing our admiration, though a
true understanding of their psychology
must, perhaps, convince us that It Is
without moral value, being merely a
blind obedience to the Inherited In
stlnct of their race.
The great product of Labrador Is Its
fisheries Strip If of Its marine prod
ucts and you have left nothing but
mosquitoes and a barren waste. In Its
fisheries, which amount annually to
many hundreds of thousands of dol
lars. It Is easy to see what has been
the bone of contention In the past
years between England, France, and
the United States. The business ol
catching Ash Is carried on for the
most part by the large and enterprla
Ing bouses of England, with their
branch offices In Newfoundland. Eact
house has Its dependents whom It fur
nishes In the spring with food, ap
paratua and boats necessary to ob
tain a catch. In the fall the accounts
are settled. If the season has been
a remunerative one the house obtains
an ample 'return for its Investment;
but If. as often It happens, the season
has been for some reason an unprofit
able one, the house stands Its loss, pa-
tiently looking to another year to re-
imburse It for Its previous unprofita-
ble outlay. Little money ever passes
Into the hands of the catchers of cod.
It Is a matter of barter wholly, and
the balance of credit Is always on the
side of tbe house. Yet, with Its mani-
fest disadvantages, the system Is a
great practical help to the fisherman
himself, since It frees him from direct
competition In the open markets and
guarantees him a home and means of
support, which If left to himself he
might often lack.
The method of catching fish differs
from that employed by any other peo-
ple except the Scandinavians. It was
Introduced from the Norwegian coast
over 20 years ago and first put Into
operation off the shores of Newfound-
land near St. John's. There It waa
so successful that trap fishing is now
employed along the whole Labrador
coast. The trap constats of an Im-
mense well, built In the form of a
square, measuring eight fathoms to
a side. These sides, which are made
of strong netting, are connected at the
bottom by a flooring of netting the
fish shows In this leap, we must direct
them on Its untiring persistency. Tbe
pertinacity with which Jt Is borne
down, time after time, and returns to
the charge, recalls the pathetic story
of Sisyphus with hts stone On many
rivers we know that the salmon's task
is really as unending as that of Sisy-
phus himself. The purpose of the fish
In attempting the ascent la. It need
hardly be said, to get up to tbe grav-
elly reaches, probably nearer tbe
sources of tbe big river or on some
of Its tributaries, where their ova
may develop safely; and In all likeli-
hood. though tbe story of their life
has sever been fully told, these are
fish striving to return to the nurseries
In which they were themselves reared
There are. however, certain falls on
certain rivers which Ash are now un-
able to ascend, or are able to do ao
only In such big spates as occur at
very Infrequent Intervals. It may be
that severaNyears will elapse before
the river Is rTUsed to such a height as
will allow the\lsh to pass the fall
This may be o^lng to tbe natural
changes producetAby the action of the
water on the rock\n heightening tbe
fall, making la sleevr. or taking away
Ahe steps or landla^L so to call
whole extending from the buoys at the
surface to very near the bottom. From
the square Inclosure thus made a net
Is sprung to the shore, where It la
fastened, generally at the foot of some
perpendicular cliff, to serve tbe pur-
pose of a leader.
The method of pulling the trap la
Interesting A large boat, capable of
carrying 40 quintals of fish and
manned by six hands. Is moored to
one corner of the trap and the work
of undermining begun, the object be-
ing to force the Ash Into one corner
that they may the more easily be
transferred to the boat by the- dlpnet.
Beginning at this oorner. the bottom
and sides of the net are pulled gradu-
ally. to the sides of the boat, as each
new hold reaches tbe gunwale the
preceding one being let go. In thle
way the Ash are gradually forced Into
the corner, from which they are trans
ferred to the boat. Oftentimes tbe sag
of the net becomes caught on the hot
tom of the boat, which Is then literally
aground on the shoal of codfish
When the catch la too large for the
boat to carry to the cleaning Itouse a
bag Is fastened to tbe top line of the
net and the fish forced Into It, where
they remain till the next day, whe»
they are taken at a special trip
E. Leftsr of Milwaukee As
eumee New Position at Salary
of $6,000 Annually.
Chicago.—Freer use of books ano
better facilities for getting them are
two of the reforms whleh book lovorz
may expect to follow shortly upon tbe
advent of Henry E. Legler, who has en-
tered upon his new duties as public
librarian of Chicago. The former
Wlsoonsln newspaperman, who Is the
administrative head of Chicago’s pub
lie library, lost no time In going to
work to earn the (6,000 salary the
board voted him. Arriving In Chi
cago on an early morning train from
his home In Milwaukee, Librarian Leg
ler hurried at once to the beautiful
building on MIcIiIkrii avenue which Is
to be hla workshop and began at once
to knuckle down to his task.
Tbe new librarian consented to out
line his plans only after expressly
Henry E. Legler.
providing that nothing he Bhould sa>
might be construed as criticism of hit
predecessor.
"Tbe principal aim Of a librarian it
to get the books under his charge lute
the hands of the people who want
them with the greatest degree of fa
clllty commensurate with proper pre
servatlon of the books themselves,’
declared Librarian Legler.
“As rapidly as the finances will al
low I believe In extending the free-de
livery stations. The number of branch
libraries ought also to be Increased
Free home delivery has been tried In
a few cities, but It is not yet necessar>
for Chicago -and does not compare
with other and more urgent needs
for what money Chicago has to ex
pend on Its public library. With the
help of the school officials It Is out
hope that the circulation of books in
the Juvenile department may be in
oreased to a great extent.
“More liberal privileges. It would
seem to me, may be extended to card
holders. Elsewhere It la not an un
usual custom for patrons of public li-
braries to be allowed the right ol
taking out two or three, or even more,
books at one time on one card, pro
vidlng they do not attempt to monopo-
lise books for which there appears tc
be widespread demand. Here, I am
told, tbe bolder of a card may tak«
out only one book at a time. I think
that system may be changed with due
regard for the convenience of all con
cerned.
“The general trend everywhere also
appears to he toward Increasing the
freedom of admission to book stacks
However, I want to make It clear that
whatever changes I recommend will
be only after careful consideration
and after obtaining tbe consent of tbe
trustees."
Recently Mr. Legler refused an of-
fer to take charge of the St. Louis
public library and he also refused an
offer to become New York state li-
brarian. He was for many years a
newspaper reporter, then became sec
retary of the Milwaukee school board.
BRAVK aiRL.
“Saved!" cried the beautiful girl In
triumph. "SavedI" The old gentle-
man In the easy chair dropped his pa-
per la astonishment.
“Who is saved, my daughter?” he
Interrogated, with alarm.
"The whole city. My name shall
go down to posterity as a heroine."
Still the old gentleman was visibly
perplexed.
"But, my dear, I haven't heard of
any great conflagrations or earth-
quakes. In what way waa the city in
danger?"
It waa then that the beautiful girl
oame over and aat down on the arm of
bis chair.
"Listen, father, and you shall hear.
Twenty minutes ago Perclval Van
Pickle proposed to me, and vowed If I
refused to become hla wife he would
Jump Into the main reservoir and end
It all. When I thought of those 20
packs of Turkish cigarettes Perclval
carries In his pockets I knew the wa-
ter would be poisoned and the people
doomed. Then I—I accepted. Don't
you think I’m a brave girl?”
Suspicious of Favorites.
*T understand that politician aspires
to be recognised as a favorite eon?"
"Yep," answered Fanner Corntoesel.
"He 'pears to have some such ideas.”
“Don’t you approve of them?"
“Not altogether. My observation is
that the pet of a family la Jes’ as like-
ly to prove a disappointment as any of
the other members."
AOUP MARKS.
Guest—You called “Minna.” Is that
the blonde, the dark one or the old
woman?
Walter—How do you know our
eooks?
Guest—By the soup.
The Pole.
Little drops of water.
Moving chunks of Ice,
Made It eo elusive
Had to And It twtea.
and for five years has been In charge
of Wisconsin's state library commie
sion, which handles hundreds of trav
cling libraries.
Kitchener a Diplomat.
It la said of I^>rd Kitchener that, on
A1b own confession, he has never met
the woman for whom he cared to step
aside from his work. Queen Victoria
once asked him If It were true that
he did not care for any woman. “It
ia true.with one exception,” said the
tactful “K.” “And who Is that?” asked
•the queen. “Your majesty," said
Kitchener. “They say he Is a woman
hater, but I have not found him so,”
Queen Victoria said afterward.—Lon-
don Opinion.
The Mean Man.
“Pop,” said the farmer's boy, "I
have been reading a lot about these
Marathons these days and I'd like to
enter some.”
“All right, my lad.” hastened the
old man, taking a fresh chew of to-
bacco. “Just yeou go down to the
woodpile and start a wood-chopping
Marathon and when yeou are through
yeou can ubo tbe sawdust to play cir-
cus. Now, who Bays I'm not a con-
siderate father?"
A Prudent Precaution.
“Isn’t your husband going to take
part In that automobile speeding con-
test?"
“No, I simply tormented him till he
gave up the Idea: Tou-Knflw, jenny,
I never did look well In black."
Impractical.
“She Is very liberal In her chari-
ties.” said one woman.
“Yea," answered the other, “liberal,
but not always practical. For In-
stance. she wanted to send a load
of alarm clocks to Africa to aid suf-
ferers from the sleeping sickness.”
A Mistake.
“I wonder," mused the Curious Phil-
osopher, “if nature In that Instance
didn't make a mistake?"
“What mistake?”
“When she put a Ud on the eye and
none on the chest."
A PEEVISH PLAINT.
The learned writers for the press
Are very, very good
At proving bow we waste on drees
Or furbelow* or food.
Each writer oew who makes his best
With other sages vise
To show unheppy mortals how
Thay may economise.-.
They tell ue of tbe thrifty Prenoh.
Who all exceeaes shun.
But I’m not anxious to retrench;
It Isn't any fun.
I’m weary of this endless «ong;
I wish some eeer wise
Would show ue how to get along
■ And not economize.
A 80LID REASON.
■SM
Mr. Smith—Why do you vomex
want to vote? Don't you know that
the majority of the women don’t want
you to?
Mrs. Smith—That’s exactly why w*
are determined to do it—the cats!
The Application.
Unto those who talk and talk
This proverb should appeal:
The steam that blows the whistle
Will never turn the wheeL
Two of a Kind.
“Thle,” said the senior member
the law firm, “is another case of Greek
meeting Greek.."
"How’s that?” queried the Junior
member.
"One affinity Is suing another afflnl-
ty," replied the other.
Just Possible.
as born and raised, on this
fap*C said the stranger, "but I have-
't get foot on It for 20 years. It cer-
tainly has run down a good deal since
then."
“Mebby It has,” rejoined tbe old
farmer, “but I reckon It'd run down a
heap sight worse if yew had stayed
on It”
His Difficulty.
“Jinks seems to be having a hard
pull to get along.”
“His bard pull is Just the reason he
can't get on."
“How do you make that out?*’
"Because he's a dentist”
!
A CONFE88ION.
Barber—Wby, your face is all
carved up! What mutton-headed
Idiot shaved you last?
Patient—1 shaved myself!
It’s the Price.
It Is not looks that make the stylo*
That fill the fashion books;
The sunbonnet has got the peach*
Basket plum’ out for looks.
Hardly That Kind.
“Pop, tell me one thing.”
“Yes, mv son." _
“When they want pets on board of
ships, do they take old sea dogs?”
Whistles.
Whistling Is a fixed habit In man,
but it can be overcome. The man on
tbe tugboat la only an overgrown wil-
low-whistle boy. The boy is spanked
Into a knowledge that there Is a sea-
son and a time when whittling may
be Indulged without rousing the Ire
and edging the nerves of
hood. There le a certain
Ing which may fit
Hobo Arlatocraoy.
'But your leisure class In America
teems rather small.”
”Oh, I don’t know. Look at the
park yonder. There are about as
many aa the benches will accomo-
date.”
Its Kind.
Enthusiastic Parent—I tell you
tbere're dollars In my daughter's play-
on the plena.
I
Source of 8upply.
"You haven't got nerve enough to
make a success of anything,” said the
village grocer to the shiftless party.
"What you need Is more sand.”
“Guess you’re right, old man,” re-
Joined the a. p., “and if sand Is what
I need sand Is what I’ll have. Glmma
a quarter's worth of sugar.”
8ame Old 8tory.
“Don’t ydll believe,” queried tha
fair advocate of woman’s rights, "that
men live faster than women?”
”1 sure do,” replied the mere man.
“I was Just ten months older than my
wife when we married; now I am 41
and she was 30 last week.”
The Way to Look.
"Don't you think this natural gas -A
proposal la a matter for weighty con-
sideration ?’’
“Well, I ahould call it more of a
light issue.”
- -......
Suited to Hla Means.
“They eay hla money ia all Inflated
>
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Hawkins, W. H. The Stephenville Empire. (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 9, Ed. 1 Friday, October 29, 1909, newspaper, October 29, 1909; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth877845/m1/2/?q=central+place+railroads: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Stephenville Public Library.