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Show FISH IN MINE PITS. NOVEL 8PORT IN OLD PENNSYLVANIA PENNSYL-VANIA IRON REGION. Abandoned 8hafts, 8tocked with .8mall Fry, Now Ideal 8port for Anglers Terrapin Also Raised for Profit. Allcnlown, Pn. Perhaps tho most pocullar fishing places In tho country are found In Lehigh county. When tho failure of Jay Cooko & Co. of New York started n pnnlc which two years I later swept over this county It closed every hematite oro mlno In Lehigh and caused tho loss of millions of dollars. These abandoned oro mines, covering ncrcH of hind nnd ranging In dopth from 30 to 100 foot, gradually began to (111 with water, and in that . condition they remained for years. I It was a boy who first conceived tho Idea that theso oro mines would be , (dial breeding places for fish. Ho I hnd rend a book on fish culture, and ho noticed that n particular pit had tho kind of aquatic vegetation which tho book said wub necessary. neces-sary. So ho caught n lot of sun-fish, sun-fish, cattish, suckers, eels and chubs nnd dumped thum Into tho waters ot tho pit and then forgot nil about it Those fish, undisturbed for sovcral years, multiplied with amazing rapidity. ra-pidity. Sovcral yenrs lotor a fisherman fish-erman on his way homo from a trout Btrcam hnppened to pass this particular pit. Merely as a joko ho I baited his hooks with worms and I mndo a cast. Ho had scarcely dono so when his reel commenced to sing and to his great amazement ho pulled pull-ed out two enormous sunflsh. Inside In-side ot half an hour he had filled his creel. He mndo a quiet Investigation, and readily obtained permission from the owners of tho pits to experiment ex-periment in fish culture. Ho commenced com-menced to plant black bass and yellow yel-low porch. Ho went about secretly, and the owners, who did not wunt to be annoyed an-noyed by applicants for flBhing privileges, priv-ileges, also kept quiet. To-day these pits fairly teem with fish. In the Bhallow pits tho same enterprising en-terprising individual introduced land terrapin, which are now bringing bring-ing In a substantial revenue. Somo ot the pits, however, are bo dangerous danger-ous of approach, owing to steep, overhanging and crumbling banks, that only tho most daring venturo within casting distance. At ono pit a nearby treo affords n lodging place for thoso who enjoy tho novelty of fishing from a tree. Ono man has erected a tall scaffolding from which vantago point ho cast a heavy weighted weight-ed hand line. Black bass thrive better in these pits than any other fish. Thoy grow to enormous slzo and tho coldness cold-ness and purity ot tho water gives thorn not only a gameness but a solidity solid-ity of flesh which thoy do not ac-qulro ac-qulro In the finest bass streams in this state. Several years ago the ownor of a plcco ot property on which was an nbandoncd oro pit dumped a lot of bass and pickerel fry Into the pit. Just ns soon as they grew big enough tho latter promptly destroyed de-stroyed the bass, but ho now has ono of tho finest pickerel preserves. With tho ndvent of cold weather, when tho pit will frcozo over, ho expects ex-pects to mnko money by leasing out fishing privileges. |