IN OLD ENGLAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 298, 10 September 1908, Page 8

IN OLD ENGLAND.

3 INTERVIEW WITH MR. W. H. TISDALL t ; :■ —; — ; SPORT ifr THE HOMELAND, l Mr..W. H.; Tisdall, who has returned ti Wellington after a trip Home, lasting tin k best'part of eighteen months', has somo in teresting remarks to,niako concerning spor 5 in tho Old Country. [ ' The Cost of Trout-Fishing. "They pay tremendous money for theii trout-fishing'in England," said ho, "price: . that peoplo couldn't- look at hero, yet it ii astonishing how many go in for it. An in . stance that came under my notice was ir ; Hampshire, where Isaak Waltons' wero pay. i ing. £25 for, a quarter-mile of fishing'rights,''-which meant £100 a mile, and tho number, of ro'3s,was restricted t-o four. 01 course,, accommodation, 'tackle, train fares, etc., were jadditionalrto that. I only quote this as an instanco 1 know of, but even largei prices wore paid'in other,, parts, lam sure." "The fishing? Not a circumstance to what is obtainable anywhere in New Zealand. A :quartor-pdund: ; trout-is- 'a great catch, and you don't get them every- day. They would not believe me at first about the size of our trout, but some-of . tlie'i fishing publications are removing the doubts as to the veracity of the Now Zealander: on-the trout question. "One gentlman I met at Home, who knows 'New Zealand, told me-that it paid him to come' to Now Zealand: for the trout-fishing, as his expenses in Englafid would total moro than , his farri'-and-'accommodation in Now ■Zealand — ; apart"from :: which' there was the supbrior ;fishing."to' .be'igot; here." i Coarse Fishing . Craze. —River Bank by tho ; ; V n> , Yard, i ,:..f'Coarso'Vfishing"has'' caught on immensely "with the working classes, who form angling clubs,' the object^of which is to get the maximum pleasure out of pertjh and roach fishing, of which thero is plenty all over the country. 'It.Uias caught on so tremendously that as .many; as fivo.thousand ipooplo from Sheffield .'take Jtrairi,''to the various, fishing resorts .every Saturday and;Suiiflay. Of course, the docs . not 'compare ivith ours—it is nothing wonderful' to'itako" 31b. perch in-tho South Island,; but ,tho 41b'. fish at Home is a 'catch.' 'I remember 'as a boy holding the ■record for our . district" for some' time, -when I.'took a .ljlb. pereh^.Tho!number of fishers "is'! so great .that:.thc,:riVers are fished to the .yard, each one 'having' about, twenty yards of ; bank; - places'-being drawn jby ballot by .the*.officials'.-'ofj..theclub.-which has sccured ,ths;fishing lights'-'qfcih^.-river or. stream. •Thero; week or so for the biggest fislvlahd'thoy are so keen to'.win that tho fish aro weighed with fine ■sho.t—ryou ican,,win |by,-a, .shot and get tho trojihyl" Game .In ; Plenty. ■ "There is only one-way to see tho counties' of-. England as I they should bo seen — that'is per.motor, car.. On the train you fly; from one point to another and miss half the "sights, and all .the. charm of rural England'in,: summer time! .I,.'did quite a lot of motoring through the Midlands, and Wales, and-shall never forget the delightful experience.' : • 'There', is; magnificent . shooting all over England,, ;As we' glided about the country roads ;and: lanes -we -would/rouse any number of pheasants; partridges/.'hares, and rabbits,all -troll, preserved, you bet, but such numbers of them—they, must breed them by the thousand. ,It was also a pretty sight toseo the herds of deer' grazing in the park lands in-different parts! of. the country. Nothing is more picturesque; or.grnceful than to seo them' raise their heads and gaze with startled eyes at the rushing motor-car." . Mr. Tisdall visited , the Franco-British Exhibition, which he considers is a'magnificent show, :that promised to be a thorough success.'; -An 1 element in"the exhibition was the 'thousands of < foreigners-that wero visiting the place. . They -were so. numerous that oither; German or French was heard spoken just'as often as; English. One of the chief attractions 1 at the exhibition in outside amusements "Was the giant " flip-flap " —the sucessor--to the .-chute arid the great wheel, "and "of giving one that eerie sensation'Which'attacks' the utterly helpless in the, clutches -of a remorseless automaton. The , " flip-flajj " consists of two big shafts worked '.oh' a -mutual swivel from opposite 'sides.' ; At th"e''Md of eacli shaft is a seated basket for the passengers. Having a full complement the'shafts,' or arms, slowly describe an - are, rising gradually until you can take, in.,the. whole, of-the country round, and then,,.descending-.slowly to the ground, peeping it.s. porpcndicular all the time. ' Nothing; is-more stalked about at the exhibition-than- tho-" flip-flap." ; The Great, Glow. .''Did.iyou read'aboiit 1 tho big glow?" asked Mr. : ;.Tisdall. In "response to an answer .in'the negative' he related the story of a; luminous phonoriiena visible in the Midlands of.'England for threo successive nights duriiig. the,,'first "week of July. " I havo "ever seen anything so wonderfully, beautiful in my life,he ' "It took possession of vthe northern " sky as the twilight faded about 10 .p.ih.y-and.movcd slowly round to the east; where .'it; "merged into sunrise. Scientists .'did.-not :agree that it was the Aurora l Borealis—-its-form; was 'so different tho glow. being formed of- 'every tint imaginable.,. It .^as 4 . suggested :-that. it was tile rcflectifln of ..the sun's- light on the ice-fields of thenorth,-visible on account of tho phe-nomenal-rarity-of: the atmosphere following a spoil of glorious, weather. Tho light it gayo wteso,bright,that one could road tho npws'paper With: ease. right through, the night without the aid. of artificial light. On the third night of-the. groat glow I viewed it from, a hill-top in Warwiokshiro. It was a sight (I can never forget;"-;".