Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1888-07-18
FISHING IN GEORGIA.
Some Go After n Trout with n Gun and
Others Narcotic tho Fish.

Some Go After Trout with Gun and
Others Narcotic tho Fish.
Mr.. Ii tcher says: whenever 1 felt
as if ! wanted trout for dinner
would stroll over to the pond and bring
one down OF up rather with my rifle.
Between eleven and twelve o'clock
at midday are the hours when they can
be shot, as for some unexplained rea-
son they come up near the surface. i
always aim for the head. No, the ball
never penetratcs the head OF any por-
ton of the fish. II is seldom that even
scale is disturbed. The rifle ball
never touches them. They are killed
apparent y by conclusion. The water,
/ think, fattens the ball Immedi-
ately upon being shot they rise to the
surface, floating upon their backs. l
never take the trouble to fish with a
hook, prcfcrring my rifle" Mr.. Nc
Clelland recently noticed til the fish
were dying by hundreds and rising to
tho surface. He had pond dragged
and brought out from it fully five hun
dred dead trout or black bass. Atleast
one hundred of them would weigh
eight pounds or over They were
thrown upon the bank and the buzz
yards Toasted upon them. 1t is sus-
pected that persons to whom the owner
Of the pond had refused the right to fish
from it had poisoned its water and with
it the finny life with which it teemed.
A lazy but unlawful method of OBJ
tanning fish from the ponds was once
quite common among negroes and
others. This was Supplying or drug.
ging the fish by mean, of some mar
cotic plants. The favorite growth for
this purpose was the devils shoc-string,
small plant with extremely long,
tough and slender roots. This queer
plant, with its uncanny name was much
used by the Indians as medicine, and
Is SAID TO be the basis for several blood
purifiers with long and allitcrative
names. A plentiful supply of the plant
being obtained the negro finds log
which projects well out into the water,
and getting astridc of IL dips it in and
alternately beats it with stick or
paddle. After every good beating it is
shaken about in the water and the sup
ply replcnishcd, and this continued un-
I'll the pond Is thoroughly impregnated
with the singular properties of the
weed. The fish soon commence rising
to the surface and gasling as If for
breath. A few faint struggles follow
and then the fish lie helpless and inert
upon the surface only TO be gathered in
and served us meal. II is said that
the meat Is not at all affected by the
treatment the fish have undergone, but
it is with considerable squeamishness
and trepidat:on that person for the
first time dimes upon poisoned or mar
cotizcd fish. Atlanta Constitution.
Speaking of absinthc the New
York Graphic says: "On general prin-
ciples 1t may be said that tho average
absinthe tippler in this country has
never tasted the genuine absinthc in
his life. Its effects are frightful and
unmistakablc, and very few of its
devotees are ever restored to entire
health" Blue vitriol Is one of the in
gradients of the article In common use,
though the unadulterated compound Is
bad enough.
of the 1876 convicts accredited to
the State pcnitcntiary of North Caro-
lima only 12S are in tho prison proper
There are 159 on the penitentiary
farms and the rest arc distributed
on the different railroads. OF the
whole number about ninc-tcnths arc
! colored.