3-071-104 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Salmon-poachers' lanterns - Mr. Ffennell's collection, International Fisheries Exhibition, 1883. 'Poachers' dark lantern; the case; from River Towy; the torch; tow steeped in naphtha; a primitive lantern...Mr. Henry Ffennell's collection...is unique ; nothing of the kind has been attempted before. This collection...numbers several hundreds of implements. It will be a revelation to many of the ingenuity which is applied to the craft of the salmon poacher...The collection contains no models. All the implements shown are actual weapons of war seized by water-bailiffs from marauders caught red-handed, in flagrante delicto, harrying the salmon on the breeding beds and elsewhere, along the rivers and streams of England and Wales...Our illustration shows the rude form of dark lantern affected by the salmon poacher; and the more elaborate naphtha torch which can be flared up in a moment, and as quickly extinguished or darkened by returning it into the metal case. Anyone who wishes to understand the deadly injury inflicted upon the salmon fisheries by poachers may consult the official reports presented every year to Parliament; from these we learn that there have been during the last three years 1512 men convicted for salmon poaching'. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.