Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-08-27
rom wINcHEsTER's luck.
He Bet that he Had the Most Fish and
Won, but Wants the Facts Kept Quiet.

cominander-in chief OF John Kilgaur's
500 bluestone quArrymen, from Saw
mill Rift to the Narrows, "on the
Fourth of July i celebrated the never
to.be-forgotted occasion by blowing
up fattlesnakes in our quarries. On
Monday / stood knee deep in the muir
.muriDg riffs of the Delaware and
lured the her-mouthed club with
patience and live grasshopper =
Yesterday, at evening tide, / cast the
delusive fly in the pool below Lacka-
wack dam and yanked from its pebbly
depths the quivering, goggle-eyed
sunEisb. This morning | shot a
gronnd-hog in a sun-kissed meadow,
back of Lackawack 10 night rest
Tomorrow night | bob for catfish
Sunmer joys are heeting, gentlemen.
and / intend to have a hack at 'em
oil.
THE last time / bobbed for catfish
was a good while ago. 1t was on
York Pond, where the catfish grew so
big that they're big enough to eat as
soon as they're hatched. Old Tom
Winchester of New York was with
me that night You kn W old Tom
He kept the Western Hotel in Cort-
laIdt street then; keeps the Brewer
House now. He used to come up
every year, fishing ald hunting. He
never shot anything, and the only
time he ever caught any fish was the
night I'm going to tell you about.
1T was just the kind of night for
the work There were two big fiat
bottomcd boats on the pond. They
belonged to an old fisherman who
lived near by, and he bad water-tight
apartments, about three feet square,
built in the middle of the boats, which
he kept full of water to keep bait fish
in. | knew we were bound to have o
heap of luck that night, so | lashed
the boats together, side by side, so
that old Tom could fish from one and
| from the other, and both have plenty
of room. 1t was darker than three
stacks of black cats, and | had little
bull's-eye lantern that lit aud placed
in the bow of my boat. That threw
a streak Of light ahead of us, but left
streak of darkness behind it that
was blacker than any other part of
the lake, and | couldn't see Tom, and
he couldn't see me-
II rowed out to spot where / knew
catfish were thicker than bear, aud
rige up my bob. Tom said he knew
all about fixing up bobs, and so | let
him fix his own. | bad a bunch of
worms strung together on thread on
the end of my pole as big as my fist,
and | had given Tom burch just as
big, strung on strong patent thread.
I began to fish, and bad yanked in a
dozen Of nice catfish and chucked 'em
in the bait-fish tank in the boat, but
han't heard q word from Tom.
"'What luck. Tom 2 | said.
"'LuckH be said. L can't find a
hook in all this stuff you've given me,
and if / could I'd like to know how
any white man is going to get worm
out of this new-fangled, tangled up
bait box
TON thought he had to have a
hook to bob for catfish, and that the
bob itself was bait box. So | took
his pole, tied the bunch of worms on
the end of it. and told him to sink it
down in the water, and when he felt
q bite to pull up gently, and he would
lift a catfish iuto the boat every time.
Then / went to fishing again, and
Tom put in bis bob. ! kept hauling
up fish, and Tom struck luck and
went almost crazy over the way he
was yankin' up catfish. After an.
hours fishing | got tired and quit
Tom was just in the height of his
sport, and kept ON fishing Ieouldn't
see him, but / could hear him; and /
enjoyed the way he was cujoying the
spot.
"sCan't bob for catfish, heyg' he'd
say, as be pulled up fish and slung
it into the tank in his boat. Can't
bob heyg If ! don't teach 'em some
thing about bobbin' fer catfish you can
shoot mel
And so Tom went On for ten
minutes after ! quit fishing. Then
be became silent. / didn't hear him
hauling in any more fish. Ten min
utes more went by.
Whats the matter, Tom Gone
TO sleep p
No, said he. They've quit Bit
ing / guess I've caught the last one
there is in the pond. III bet the
drinks that I've got more 6sh than
You have, allowing you twenty for
The time I've ished the longest
: III 60 you / said. I'll count
mine and chuck 'em out on the bot
tom Of the boat, aud then come over
and count yours.
Il reached in to get fish and didn't
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