Morning journal and courier., 1880-04-22
A New Orleans Fish Story.
How the Buffalo Fish arc Being Drain ed From the Mississippi River Into tho Swamp.

How the Buffalo Fish arc Being Drain . ed From the Mississippi River Into tho Swamp.
 1 From the New Orleans Timesl Every one who has visited Sharpe's creyasse | must have observed the immense numbers of | buffalo-hsh that continually passing through the gap. For the benefit of those | who have only read about the crevasse. it
 may be stated that on an average over 2. GOO l of these fishes are caught daily and conveyed | to Gretna, Algiers and New Orleans for sale | The question naturally arises, how comes it that so many of this particular sort of fish pass | through the creYasse, to the almost entire ex- clusion of all other sorts. An old gentleman, who, in his day, has been a lawyer, doctor 1 and surveyor, and who now residesin Gretna,
 enjoying life of ease and comfort, addressed
 the reporter as be was standing on the levee, looking at the crib-work now going up unde Col. Hardee's management.
 q suppose you have noticed these rice fumes along the levee We'll sir, there's something curious about those things. I am believer in the theory that everybody and everything in this world constitute an attrac- tion for some one or something else. You can understand me, therefore, when say that these rice fumes attract buffalo fish. Before this crevasse occurred you could walk along this leves and at every Hume you reached you could see hundreds of these fishes in the i'm mediate neighborhood. What the attraction is can't say. If you'll go up little further you'll find large iron siphon placed over the levee. Well, sir, there used to be a Hume at that point and it WAS literally besieged, with buffalos, but since the placing of the si- phon the fieh have manifested signs of dissat- isfaction. am a great observer and the re- suit of my observation establishes an import ant sequence to what have already told you
 When Hume is opened thousands of little fish, of course, are drawn through the open ing. ltis to prey on these smaller species that the buffalos haunt the fumes. regular line of communication is kept up between the shoals of buffalos at the different fumes, so that when Hume is opened, the shoals all along the line notified by the way-couriers and hasten to the spot. Now, you see, this crevasse was caused by the water securing a passage through the rice f1un1e that was for merly cut through it's centre. The buffalo fish that were on guard began preying on the minnows end other little species that were sucked through the opening. But watch the result. By the time the notification to the other shoals got under successful headway the opening had widened, and the current through it growing very strong and swift, the buffalos themselves were carried through. AS fast as the other shoals arrived, they fol- lowed the fate of thsir predecessors. As they reach the neighborhood their efforts, against the current are futile, and it is impossible for them to convey any kind of warning to their fnny relations in the rear. If this crevasse is not stopped soon" concluded the old gen. tleman, 'It is safe to assume that the lower portion of the Mississippi river will be entire ly drained of buffalo fish,
 The reporter expressed his surprise on the receipt of the information, but was compelled to acknowledge that it relieved him of big load of depressing cogitation.