The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1882-12-12
The TaIlapoosa Fish.


81 Think said Uncle Jeems, that
that ar story ar likely enough. When
Bagby was guvner | was fishing on the
big bend Nv the Tallapoosa whar had
once been with Gen. Jackson at the bat
tie OF the "Horse-shoe,' as it is called,
and sot my lires out in cove and
kindled torch, fur 1t was darker than
the inside Of tar barl. / fotch my AK
with me. thinking / mout find ripe
'possum in boiler log. WE'LL when ]
got my torch to burning found the
water was low, but thar had been some
awful big rains some time before, and
that thar was the cussedest boots of owls
ever heard, never had any fen luck
when they put in their blab. So | flash
ed my torch and took a good look ut
the black water and | seed somethin'
moving and splurging about; at last
made il out, 1t was the biggest catfish
ever seed. You'ns has seen Ben Dink-
erers new ferry-boat. 1t was big as
that-broader but not adzactly so long.
Right at the mouth of the cove stood a
holler sweet gum. So seized my ak,
and in no time | felled it across the
mouth Of the cove to keep il from get
ting back into the river again. Fishin'
was up for the night, so I trugs back
home an gets acrowd Nv neighbors next
morning, and we fetched a yoke of
steers and log-chain and power of ropes,
crow-bars and such like. Jerry Can
ant, fetched cross.cut saw and
grubbin-hoc, for you see we war all bent
on gitten that fish banciously out Nv the
water.
Shur enuf, that fish war thar in the
morning confumixin in the mud with
the whole upper part of his backbone,
four feet above the water line. Sum
was fur taking him out alive, and sum
was for killing him outright and takin'
him out piece at time Canant low ID
he might have some vauables in his
in'ards, which would be lost il we did
that So we made lassoe Of an inch
rope, and arter dozen trials got it just
beyond his gills, and socked q crowbar
behind ii to keep it from slipping of,
then we hitched the log-chain and steers
to the rope, and with the help NV all
hands we dragged him out, Cact, gin
tlemau. 1t tuck sum time to cut his
head off
The next thing We did was to cut
some big levers and git him on his back
AFTER we chopped of his hind eend he
stopped his cussed wiggln. Jerry Can.
ants cross-cut saw was too short, so we
jist nat ally explored his insides by dig
gin and cuttin and hackin ontilth loose
meat, scattered all about over the
ground, looked worse As if lightnin had
struck a city butcher-shop; arter which
we got into his craw or guzzle-bag, and
wish may be odestitied if we didn't
find an anvil-a blacksmithshop and
that warn't all--thar wus a sledge-ham-
mer, part of the bellussus, the smith
leather apron, "A wagon-hub, a bed-post
and well nigh on to a keg o'horse-shoe
nails
Beside all those leetle things we
found a horses hofi with shoe on, a
par o saddle-bags with two half-gallon
| jugs full Of corn whisky in EN-. We
sorter expected to find the blacksmith
thar, but We didn't. The next thing we
found was taarapiu, tar bucket, a
par NV old shoes, some cells and mud
turtles. and at the bottom Nv his vat we
found a music-book, the old 'Mosoora
Harmony and wish ! mout be dick.
Grated il all the few---so laws hadn't
taken roots in the side w his stummick
and was a CROWN. The fish would have
made a fine squelin' worm if weshadn't
spite his music-boX, I've seed hoss
bars grow in water and tadpoles and
wiggle-tais, but music notes sorter gla-
gumpheates my facwilties Dag it,
never had any luck fishing arter that,
and never did ketch fish in the ITALIA
poosa since" - AmerictlS (Ga,) Repub.
| ltcGu.