Morning journal and courier., 1883-12-01
Some Choice Fish Stories.
Told at a Gathering Where the Facts were Warmly Asserted.
 From the New York Sum-

Told at Gathering Where the Facts were Warmly Asserted. From the New York Sum- ''Pve been up in Oregon salmon fishing,' | a sportsman remarked, land it's the coming | country, not alone for it's game, but for the 1 settler. The country is rich with game. Even
 the pigs so a-fishing."
 "rime," some one called out.
 ''It's fact" the speaker asserted warmly,
 ''and can prove 1t. I was polling up the OC- iumbia river one afternoon, taking 1t easy, when 1 noticed drove of pigs wade down l into the stream just below canning factory,
 and thinking it amusing sight to see pig swim, drew nearer, and soon found that
 they were in water three feet deep. All at
 once down they went I thought at first that scmo big fish had grabbed them, but in &
 minute up came a porker holding big sal
 mon head in it's mouth Another had ala en
 tire fish. and in a short time all brought up
 their fish,
 tYou didn't see them catcl. 8 live sal
 mon ?'
 ''No, Twas the reply, q draw the line there;
 but dive and swim under water they did, and
 I learned 1t was common practice.''
 ''In two thousand years." an evoIutionist
 interrupted, you will find those pigs with
 webbsd feet, and scales instead of hairs and
 catching live fish Is only matter of time.
 That's the way tho whales got in the way of
 going to sea. They were originally lnnd ami
 mals, and finally by staying in the water so
 much they lost the use of their limbs, and so
 took to the sea entirely. If you don't believe
 if cut up whale, and you'll find the remains
 of pelvis and ru2imentary hind limbs'
 Speaking of fishing" the teller of the pig
 yarn said, Oregon Is the place; look at the
 business they do in salmon canning. There
 are thousands of persons more or less inter
 ested, and when you count the makers,
 packers, catohers, net makers, cleaners, mid
 dlemen, &c they foot up small army that
 derive their living directly from this fish.
 Last year the pack of ths Columbia river
 catch alone amounted to mora than half
 million cases, that to the first hands brought
 g., ,OOO 0O0 and this didn't include the salmon
 that are barreled. Where do they go {? Why
 all over the world. Vessels come to Astoria
 and last season they took 900 cans to for eign ports; the balance go 10 Frisco The capital invested in canning slone amounts to nearly g., 900, GOO.
 "On my way north ir the stage, we crossed a river so thick with large trout-Iike fish that in Rading the wheels killed hundrods of them. The water appeared absolutely solid. I never such sight in my life. They
 went jumping along as if they were forced out of the water"
 'I've seen the same thing South" anothor of the group said Last season I was in southern Florida, and, putting up New river above Miami we ran into a school of large
 
 that I ever saw. The water vas actually packed solid with them, and 1t being very shoal we literally sailed in a shoal of fish. As we gathered headway they jumped into the air by thousands, jumping over the boat that we lowed astern, and several falling into it, so that instead of fishing the fish came to us still more remarkable case occurred to a well known archRologist who spends his win ters in Florida watess. He was making up 9 | river under good headway when he struck a | school of pompinos, so solid that the yacht l fairly knocked them out of water, and when l once alarmed there commenced the most ex- 1 traordinary sceDe. The pGmpinos began to | jump, leaving the water as if shot out of 8 l gun and flying away for distance of twenty | five or thirty feet, landing on their sides and | away for ten or fifteen feet more l They went in every direction over the yacht | at the crew, who had to dodge and lie fiat to l keep out of the way, as a blow from one i would have laid man like shot They | struck against the sail and fell on the deck in l great quantities. Many fish have 8 similar habit whsn alarmed, and l knew of Case where lady was reading in her cabin when a flying fish came whizzing through the port and smashed the globe into hundred pieces, hor almost to death. Ia eastern seas the gar fish are extremely dangerous; thsy attain length four or five feet and rush out of the water at the slightest alaam, and go Eoundezing away over the water lp blind sort of way. If native or anyone happens to intercept them he is generally run through as if with knife. captain of an East I2. diaman told me of a sight that he witAesseS at the Aru Islands. He was on the reef with ] B native, the former carrying shield made of soms hard but light wood, and twice dur ing Rn hour the man caught gar on 1t that would otherwise have struck him. He mere y presented the shield, and they hit it with sounding crack and fell back into the water, ] sort of firing themselves at mark
 Speaking of battles with fish," the first speaker said, "thare is an authentic account 'n record of battle with swordHsh on the English coast. A man was in bathing, when ! large fish darted ln hstwesp his legs, fairly lpsetting him. He was a fisherman, and hiakiDg it an accident, be went in shore and got boat hook. Going out to where the fish vas swimming about, it immediately made or him, fairly leaping out of tae water to pierce him; but he succeeded in knocking it 'ne side. end, seeing 1t was swordfsh, he Gsde for shore, the fish following him up, eceiving the blows and stabs from the boat look, and finally in its rage actually throw ng itself upon the sands"
 If you want to see fishes fight" another member of the party said, ''go to South America l was theRe as the representative | if house down in the Swamp once, and up ne of the large rivers saw fish about a oot long thas would clean man out in less AAA ho LAAS. ny dtLenLlOn was attracted to | hem by seeing good many ducks lying round and hopping about with their feet but stumps lefs Sc. inquired nto it, and the natives tela ne that it was his little fsk, and t WAS fact. You couldn't oss stone overheard without thousand of Aen rushing to the spot. They reminded 1e more of wolves than anything else. They | anded together, and even attacked large shes, overcoming them .ky 9oroe of num- ers, and tearing ts4en to pieces. Large land ] nim.ses.e tAat attempted to swim aaresz were ttaGked and the flesh stripped from their ones; and there wGa a Gt1sy current that a orse and rider, in crossing the stream where ae animal had to swim, were reduced al- ! aost to skeletons by the fish before they cached the shore. They have some curSoua { Vays of fishing down there. Most of the ] nen use the bow and arrow, skaoking the fish n the back, but tho qoLomonest way is to ( oison them Wita the famous wourali It is sed by all the Indians between the Orinoco nd the Amazon, and it is curious fact that man is shot with poisonous arrow he les almost instantly, but he can eat the fish