The Red Cloud chief., 1877-08-30
UNCLE JkRRY'S FISH STORY


They amt no use o talkin," sai,
Uncle Jerry Greening "fur a pick're
Is Just the teenaishusest and yoraisbus
est fish they is"
a party of fishermen were Gamma,
on the Rattlesnake Creek, near the eel
ebrated Greening Farm, i'm the bes
trout-llshing section of the ShohoIa re-
gion, In Pike County, Pa. The ouestio,
OF the v~oracity and ~tenacity of fish wa,
being discussed owe the pipe and bowl
after a days tramp of many miles. Olt
Uncle Jerry was present. The catfish
The eel. the black bass, the trout. aDC
plckerel each had its champion, and
illustrative stories that must have
made the bones of Munchausen tur,
ana rattle in their grave were related
10 prove the superiority of each i'm tn.
Two attributes mentioned. Uncle Jerry
had taken but little part in the discus
sion, and the weight of areumen,
seemed to he in favor of the catfish
Then the old fisherman came to the aid
o. the pickerel.
"A full-grown pick'rel rs healthy
said Jerry, al eat its childurn anG its
chlldurn's childurn TO the tenth genera.
ton; u I'm burned f | amt seed one
l had got holt n his " tail somehow
II was tryln' his pootiest to get away
with itself. i take t that a fish that
heZ slch a appetite s that Orter be put
down m0ng them as hez t least a ink.
lin OF v~oraIshusness. Is a pick'reI te-
%naishus? Wall. mebbe | don know
zactly what teenaishus is; but I've
cotched p!ck'rel through the ice,throwed
EN- out, and seed 'em flop round till
they frozed stiff; kep''em two r three
days, then carried EN- twenty mile to
git home, and chucked 'em ON the
Kitchen floor till | KID git ready TO clean
EN-. I've seed these same fish Law thar
by the stove bout five minutes, n then
begin To gap and work their gills, n
then pooty soon 60 to iloppin' AID skip.
pm round the room. with their laws
open like a young alligator, n wouldn't
lie still till | hit 'em in tn head wi an
AK. Mebbe Danl Webster's dictionary
don't call that teenashus. hut 4 'taint
Is pooty durn nigh on to it; amt it.
boys?"
The boys could scarcely help allow
ing that there was at least a suspicion
of tenacity about a pickerel guilty of
such conduct.
Guess | never tole Won bon, nj,
Squire BiIiens' pick'rel that he he'd
onct. did |? Wall. boys, thqr was a fish
Mebbe you won't believe this story. hut
its true s preachin', n f O ever seq
the ole Squire he'll tell You the same.
thing. lie KEEP the pick'rel in a spring
IN a pastur' on his farm. II want
moren a foot II a half long. the pick,re,
want but he were s commojus rs a fen
acre lot. burned ii haint gone L that
spring with a twelve-quar. pail full n.
liver. and, after feedin' it all to the ole
Teetotaller-they called him T~eetotal.
Ter cause he eve got full-he'd snar
his Jaws and tear round in that spripo
till she billed. cause there want any
more liver comm to him. The cows I
fed IN I'll lot got so they was 'frajd to
60 an drink in the spring. cause Tee
totaller chawed their Noses. He'd tackle
anything. Old Squire lef' a subsile
pillow layin' near tn spring n night
and mex mornin' 'twere gone. They
allus blamed a Teller t lived over tina
way WI stealth I, but | tell you he's in
nercent. That durn pick'rel eat that
plow,
wall, anyhow, the Squire bought a
new cow one day. an turned 'er in the
spring lot; | were thar. an me an the
ole man was leanin' on the fence Iookin'
at tn new cow. She fed round a while.
an then walks over t tn spring to
drink. She drunk. and turns round an
stands still. a swishin' an swoshin' her
tail in the spring. She were a nice fat
%cTitter, an ole T~eetotaller liked the
looks of 'er, an made UP his mind
Ia a er up. 80 he waltzes over
- that side o the spring. an when the
cows tail came down inter it ag'in. he
closes on il like a bar trap. Did that
cow heller? Some, / think. An then
she guv one jump aid ole Teetotaller
come out'n that spring s if he'd been
shot out'n a cannon An roun' that
lot they went, the COW a-beIlarin' an
humpin' her back, and lookin s if the
wuthlessneSs of this liver mundane
spear he'd never struck 'er so forcible
afore. while Teetotaller We're "A takin'
up the slack in 'er tail about a
foot at every jump. They hedent
made more'n circuit o the lot afore
tn pick'rel he'd put his self outside O.
all that cows tail. but in maxim a crab
fur 'er rump he missed his holt and
come t tn groun' keIflummiX.
".By the horned spoon said the ole
Squire, that settles Teetotaller"
I'VE ruined over t whar he fell,
spectin'. o course, t fin him deader'n
June shad. But. boys, you may ask
the Squire. n he'll tell you tn same
thlng-if that durn fish want a raisin'
up and tryin' to see which way that
cow he'd gone, an a spittin' out cows
ha'r enough to mix a bod o plaster, /