Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1858-12-31
Shaking Out Surgeons.

at the relation Oi the following " Item on
Surgeons by loQusciou' friend OF ours:
IL appear. our friend was located on the
Kcnncbcc river few years ago, and had u
number Of hands employed about dam
and the surgeons werc very numerous and
extremely docllc. They would frequently
come poking their noses close up to the men
standing In the water. and one Of the men
be,hought how dclieiou. mor.el Of picked
sturgeon was, and forthwith made a prcpar'
alton 20 " snake out " n clever-sired fish.
Getting an iron rod at the blaeksmi,h's 5
sbop close at hand. he bends one end like a
G.h.hook, and, slipping into the stream, he
silly places the hook under the sturgeon $
nose and into its round hole Of a surgeons
mouth. expecting TO fisien on to the harm
lees. yic,imircd f,h, and "yank" hlm clean
and clear ou, OF his watery element. But,
f" lordy," WASH, be mistaken and surpri'
ed Tho moment the hook touched the in.
side Of the surgeons mouth, the creature
backed water 30 Suddenly and iorcihly, a'
To nearly Jerk the holder cf the hook. head
from II. socket. The poor fellow was foriy
rod, under water. and going down stream
before he mustered presence Of mmd enough
to induce him to lc, 90 the hook
However, the looksrs-on Of this curious
manUuvrc, took ou, boat, and '6shed out
their halfdrownei cOmrnde. who conclu.
del ,ba, he had paid pretty dearly Tor bis
whistle.
The sturgeon catching didn't end here,
After the laugh Of the above mentioned ad'
venture had ceased. some one offered TO bet
hat tha, he could bold Sturgeon and
snake him clean out Of the water and A'
the man who had tried the experiment, felt
altogether dubious asou, IL, ho at cncc bc'
that the sturgeon would be more than a
match COR any man in the crowd.
The wager was duly ,akcd, and rod
was crooked, the operator tucked up h''
sleeve. and ,rowsers. and wades out to where
Sturgeon or two were lying 81 in the shall
low water. Of course the operation nov
became matter Of considerable interest
and as the man was stout, hearty fellow
able to hold a bull by the horns, Few enter
taincd doubts of his bringing out bis dur
gon.
/ After a long time The operator gets biz
hook under the sturgeon and leans forward
70 stick il close into the jaws Of his victim
bot no sooner va. that part Of the feat ac
compli.hed, than Mr. Sturgeon hacks out
With the velocity Of chain lightning, carry
my his as.allant under water aud dOwr
stream The man held on ; and there they
went. loaming and pitching. until the fcl
low, finding hi. breath nearly cat Of hi'
body. his neck, arms, AID less just about
half di,located, concluded TO los the ha'
and let the hook and sturgeon 20
Pretty well used up the poor fellow sue
cceled in getting ou, Of the river, convert
to the first experimental idea Of thes,repgtt
and velocity OF fish, ospeciallya big ',ur
scoS
Beginning to imagine ,ha, fish could
swim. or bad some muscular power, sevsra
of the by.,anders were rife for experiment,
ing on surgeons.
Another iron rod was converted into
hook. and two burly bull, Paddys rolun
teered TO hook the h.h. An opportunit!
wa, no, long waited for, ere jolly goo'
elastic no.ed genus sturgeon came smelling
up close To where the Paddy. had posteC
themselves upon some moss covered, slippc
~ stones. and with sudden srasmodic et
fort. the man wi,h the hook planted II firm
7 ly into the suction hole Of the fish, whil
his companion held on to rope fac, 10 ,h,
hook. Before Pat could say Jack Robin
son, Of course he wa. jcrkej or his feet, an'
letting 90 the iron, the other Paddy and th,
sturgeon set sail, having all the lun &
themselves! This proved, or very nearl,
-, a serious dcHoHmeai 20 the sturgeon
catching by hand. for Paddy wa- repeated
ly immersed in deep water, and hi. life VA
within an ace OF being we, out Of his body
The rope parted at last tPoor Pat neNe
thought OF letting go his hold,) and bein;
dipped out Of the liquid element and rolle'
over barrel until hls insides were emp,ie,
Of the water, and the heat restored through
the influence OF whi.key, he recovered, an,
further experimenting on sturgeon, that sea
son in the Kennebec. ceased.