Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1857-09-02
GBt 9ailg Sqg,
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. ., 1857.
Editorial CorresPoudence.

in response to the line, to that effect, which had
been dropped to him, Immediately upon our arri-
val. banished, however, all thought of present
sleep from my eyes, at least until I had allur'
ed one Of the same sort from his watery bed; and
acting by the advice Of one of the half dozen ex-
cellent old salts who composed the crew, and who
seemed well pleased to enlighten my verdancy,
nv hook was soon baited and over the side. Al
though the sinker attached to the line was
leaden weight, Weighing three pounds, it seemed
to me that 1t would never touch bottom. and the
thirty-6ve fathoms of water (two hundred and
ten feet), that rolled between oar keel and the
terra hrma beneath, appeared to be nearly as
many hundred. However, to the bottom it final
ly went, for l could feel that my hand was re-
lieved from the strain that its weight imposed,
and then, under the advice Of my excellent friend
who told me how to attach the bait "ship shape"
pulled in about six feet, so as to leave the bait
in position Just to clear the bottom. A few
moments Of breathless anxiety, and-there came
a sudden JERK, as if somebody down below was
DESTROYS that somebody up above should do some
thing adequate to the occasion, at once. The
hint was speedily taken, but long before the thir
ty-fve fathoms of line could be pulled in, the
weight at the end of it seemed to be less heavy,
and when the end finally appeared--there was
nought but a sinker and hare hook. Ny good
friend who had acted the part of instructor, thus
far in acquainting me with the modaS operaadt
OF deep sea fishing, enjoyed quiet laugh at my
expense in view of the earnest enthusiasm man
Tested by me in getting my sinker out of water so
speedily and quietly adjusting the other half Of
the pogie to the hook, threw it over again.
Down, down it went, as beiore-a moments
pause-another sudden jerk-I had him-some-
thing more than sinker this tme-and in the
course Of few minutes, or as soon as l could
pull in, hand over hand very nice looking
Goldfish, large enough to safford chowder for
dozen, had Joined his companion, and Tapped his
broad tail spitsfully upon deck, while he opened
his huge mouth, as if to breath the direst impre-
cations upon the " iron that entered into his"
Jaw. Tins encouraged felt emboldened to take
a fresh pogie, cut it in two myself, and attach it
to the hook. Over again it went, and out ran the
line For a few minutes all was still, and 1t
seemed as if should have my labor for my pains
But short time, however, had elapsed, before
there was another tremendous jerk from below.
such an one as you might imagine would be given
upon the bell-rope of the Old South Church.
when the sexton takes hold to ring an alarm Of
FIRE; or more, in fact, such an one as our worthy
friends, The Geographic operators, experience at
times, when Jove himself lets fly charge of
Heavens own thunder along the wires. as if to
assert the priority of his patent over that of Pro-
lessor Morse. Another jerk-as if one of our city
fTemen had taken hold of the rope to help the
sexton ring the bell--and the line was nearly out
of my hand. The sensation was new one, but
it was enjoyed by me intensely. There were al
ternate hopes and fears, as l slowly pulled him
in, whether the big monster of the deep might
not get away, and it seemed an age before the
first ten fathoms of line were coiled at my feet.
Then there was sudden pause, as if the scaly
fellow had determined not to come, and had jump
ed to a sudden conclusion that he had business
elsewhere, or made mistake, got upon the wrong
track, forgotten to take formal leave, or some
thing of that sort. And then, as few feet of the
line slipped through my hands, there came sud-
den and startling thought, as to whether my
self was securely planted upon deck, and wheth-
er or not, in my then present position, might
not be pulled over, and so the fish catch me, and
invite his neighbors down below to make meal
off Of raw Yankee, instead of myself catching
him, to be sold in Boston market for chowder,
and to furnish an item for an editorial letter to
the Spy However, these doubts and fears soon
subsidized, as the fish yielded to the force exerted
upon my endsof the line, and soon he was along
side He ceased to struggle as soon as he inhal-
ed the first breath of air, and one of the crew just
at that moment insinuating gait into his gilIs
we had on board another cod whose weight was
estimated at about thirty pounds. 1t was rare
sport to me, and can compare the emotions
with which viewed him, as he foundered upon
the deck, only to those which were experienced
on the night of the last annual election, when
we learned the joyful result Of the balloiing in
Worcester Csunty, and the triumph of the entire
Republican ticket.
1t would have been pleasant to continue the
sport through the night but painful sensation
in my hands convinced me that they were already
well blistered, and an examination by lamp. light
showed that the skin had been chafed through
upon my fingers, in several places. So my line
was wound up, not without difficulty, however,
and with no other ceremony than pulling off boots
and overals, turned in for nap, alongside of
one Of our crew, who generously offered me one
half Of his berth, provided could content my
self to stow in, in the fashion of heads and
points," the narowaess Of the berth preventing
more liberal allowance of space. 1t was long
time before sleep came to my eyes, but finally the
fatigues Of the day oyercame the excitement and
novelty of the occasion, and was lost to all con.
seriousness Of sublunary things.
But visions of sub-aqueous things haunted my
imagination, and my slumbers were neither sound
nor dreamless. AT times, it seemed to me as if /
was down at the bottom of the sea- cropping
about on the lodges, and making selections from
old Neptune's stock for my own private con-
sumption, to the amount of several hundreds.
Then, again, it seemed as if the eyes OF mann
moth cod were peering at me through the dusky
water, and as if the jaws that belonged to it
would like to chew me up like menhaden. Then
this danger seemed to pass away, and dreamed
that we had filled the hold and covered the decks
with hsh, to such an extent that the sides of the
eaoin' even, were covered with monster Goldfish,
hung up on spikes around the hunks, and that the
vessel was gradually sinking beneath the waves.
The terrors of this thought caused me IN wake
suddenly, but only partially; and, opening my
eyes, ! looked out Of my berth. There was
vivid consciousness in my mind that II was all
dream, but STILL on the opposite side Of the cabin.
suspended like curtain or iestoon, was an OBJ.
ject that seemed to me, in the waning light Of
dim launn in fha htnDaclo iil,a n