Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-03-08
VARIETIES OF SHAD.
An Old Fisherman ON Fishing Up the |
Coast, ON the ST. Johns River, and I'm |
South America.

Coast, ON the ST. Johns River, and I'm
South America.
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From the Philadelphia Times. ia
Yes, said an old fisherman at Gloucester, I'm
an old shadder or 1 wouldn't be here awaitin'
for shad flies. The seasons a commencin', and
we're gittin' 'em from Caroliny now, S11.5O a
piece and SO on up and down. accordin' to size
Shad don't git up here afore the last Of April
You'll know 1t by the shad fies Just as soon as
you see them buzzin' around you'll smell the fried
roe. Yes, used to be regular professional shad-
der. Why, bless you, I'se been shaddin' up the
Amazon river, but the regular shad business is
on our coast, and II you'll git on the Old Do
minion steamers bound for Florida in the fall
down for the season-rOugh-lookin men to see
but the solid grit Of Jersey, Philadelphy and
Connecticut; and, though they 90 half rates,
they often have q thousand dollars worth of
generally. some gOin to the ST. Marys and the rest
to the ST. Johns This is about far south as they
git, as just below there is no regular way of
shippin' north. Shad flshn' in the st. Johns
commences about December l, and can tell
you it's lively there for few months.
Shad are curious fish and hard to git at, but
I've seen 'em rise to fly just like trout. The
government has spent good many thousand
dollars in trying to introduce 'em into Connect-
cut waters. where they are, of course, found to
some extent, but mills and factories Of various
kinds drive 'em out. There's one kind OF shad
called gizzard that the first ever caught
nearly scart the life out Of me. got little
seine round about 200, and the minute got 'em
above water there commenced the durndest
whirrin' and whizZin' you ever heard. First l
thought somethn' was afyin' overhead. but It
was them fish, every one of 'em talkn' away for
dear life l felt more like cfIuckin' Of 'em back.
You can tell 'em by the spine on their backs
But the finest shad in the world" continued
the old Id. man. getting up h and opening box
scales," he added, handing out a magnif-
cent scale as large as the open palm and gleam-
ing like new silver dollar. ''There amt one
man out of ten but what reckons that the silver
is poured on to it; but it amt and is as natural
from six to eight foot long shaped like shad
and blazin' all over with them silver scales.
When they Jump out of the water they look like
a streak Of moonlight comm through keyhole
They're so powerful that there's only one man in
the United States that has ever shown the spirit
to catch one with q rod and line. His name is
Jones and he lives in Philadelphia. In the st.
Johns, when Jew fish takes hold, why you
want to haul in the anchor and let go, and he'll
haul you for all he's worth. I've seen one tip
over small boat. And jump! Why, they Jump
shad in the way Of taste, the flesh bein' little
coarser, but you wouldn't call Jew fish bad,
can tell you.
South American shad were shad The ma
tives call 'em picunras, and they shoot them with
bow and arrows. The first time ever saw 'em
l was up the Amazon on tradin' schooner, and
when we worked up into narrow branch Of
the river we came to sort of village of fish
ermen. Seem one Of the boats goin' out l
asked II couldn't 60 along. They didn't have
sign of a hook-nothin' but bow and arrows.
They pulled or padded for about an hour
bringin' the boat into a large shallow lake, and
1t wasn't long afore they sighted fish by the
ripple on the water. In another minute one of
the men had put an arrow into it and fish
that I'll take my affidavy was twelve foot long
lept into the air and came down with such q
crash you'd thought the waves would
have tipped the canoe over, but off it
went, we after it and the chap In the bow a
sendin in arrows whenever he got the chance,
until four or five was stickil' out Ut the Mater
After while we got alongside and they put q
spear into it and held on by the rope, and the
way that fish towed us was a caution. thought
the cuss never would give up, but at last they
got him into shOal water. And how do you sup
pose they got him into the boat? Why, all
hands tumbled out. got overheard and thecanoe
was sunk and the fish tloated in and then she
was bailed out That beat all the labor savin'
machines / ever see. Them yeller chaps was
actually too lazy to lift the fish. 1t was rOuser
though, and weighed nigh on to 500 pounds
with scales like steel armOr. They never git up
this way-it's too far-but United States shad is
NoN -NA -A>f ~ e~N"SnA, III SoAASAo'AoA'
Death-Esed Eccentricities of Editor
kinsella.
New York Correspondence Chicago Tribune
Thomas Kinsella, who edited the Brooklyn
Eagle. and who last week died and was buried,
lived singular life, some of the strangest &C.
centricities of which have not come to light in
the papers hereaway. His pucky fight for
recognition; his climb from common ''case'
of the type-setter in the office through all the
intermediate positions to that Of editor-in- chief
and managerial this has been dwet on-but
his matrimonial and theological versatility the
local papers have dropped a veil over. kinsella
was an 1rishman and Catholic, as was his
first wife, who bore him five daughters All
went we'll till he fell in with the wife of a
politician and office-hOder of local celebrity,
known as Tom Fields. OF her he became deeply
enamored, and after short courtship, as it
We're, divorces were obtained, at his instiga-
ton all around. and Mr.. Kinsella and Mrs
Fields were duly married by Henry Ward
Beecher. Fields brought suit against KinseIla
for alternating the affections of his wife, and won
the suit, the jury awarding him $50 600 He
declared that ne didn't want the money for him
self, but wanted to deposit it in the name of his
erring spouse, tor her to use whenever her new
admirer should desert her. This he did and
the $4,000 has been on interest ever since-till
last week.
Mr.. klnsella'S daughters abandoned him and
followed the misfortunes Of their cast-off
mother; while he and Mrs. Fields Kinsella,
as she has always been called in BROOKLYN took
hgh-priced pew in Mr.. Beechers church, of
which they became members. This all happened
some years ago. and Mr.. Knsella was an ardent
supporter Of the great Plymouth pastor during
his trials.
When Mr.. Kinsella was brought face to face
with death in his last illness he sent for Mr.
Beecher, who came and prayed with him. and
talked with him, but it did not seem to Ego
to the spot" he said. The old menaces of the
life to come which had been instilled into him by
the Catholic church when a child rose inpera-
lively before him. He was afraid to die and he
admitted it.
His latest wife guarded his haunted bedside
but he induced some friend to carry a note to a
Catholic priest with whom he was well ac-
quainted. The priest came but could not get
in. Mrs. "Fields' -kinsella assured him that
II she wanted him she would send for him. but
that ut present his services were superfuous
He retreated reluctantly, was again summoned
and boldly made his way to the sick mans bed
side. kinsella wanted confession, communion
baptism and the rights OF the Catholic church.
a Catholic, except by speedy repentance of his
sins, especially the sin of putting away his wife
and marrying another. He was in mortal
agony and mortal tear. He said he would do
as he was told. Under the urgency u his spr-
itual adviser he called Mrs 'Fields" -kinsella
into the room and formally discarded her, and
ordered her to pack up and leave. and then
his former wife was recalled to his bedside.
The will was changed. This is the strange
story told. and generally believed. 1 suppose
1t is correct. And now the first wife, who