The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-04-11
OUR LAKES OUTLET.
1t is Discovered in the Salt Wells
Of Nebraska.
OR IN THE MIND OF A REPORTER.
A Very Thin Yarn, Such as the Tribune
Innocent Would Greedily Bite at
An April Isl StOrys

us in all the glory of blue pencil 1t Il
taken from the Lincoln, Neb., State Journal
and as it appeared on April 1st, there car
be little doubt but that it was intended fol
an April fool sensation: 'There comes t
the knowledge of the Journal, matter SC
novel and curious that even the little that
can be told at this writing will surely be Of
interest to the reading public. Stated
briefly, tits simply the fact that the source
of the salt water which comes to US freely
from the artesian well in the public square
and more recently from the numerous wells
of less depth which have been sunk in the
southwest part of the city, as also the
water OF the great salt basin northwest OF
US, from which, in former years, so much
salt has been manufactured, has been dis.
covered, and in such manner that there
seems little possibility of doubt about it.
Various theories concerning its source
have from time to time been advanced, but
the prevailing impression has ever been,
though without any good reason, and alb
solutely no knowledge at all, and perhaps
in the face of some facts tending in the
direction of proof that it could not so be,
that it comes to US
PROM THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
1t has been said that ''birds of the air
carry news,n but in this case it was a fish,
little fish, that brought the tale.
1t seems that on Friday morning last,
early, before the hour for school, some
boys were playing in the vicinity where so
many drive wells were put down last sea
son. One of the boys, attracted by a con-
siderable commOtion in the water at the top
or outlet of one of the pipes, went to see
what it was. To his surprise and amuse-
ment he discovered a little fish whose
head occasionally bobbed up above the
pipe, and the energetic Tapping of whose
fms caused the disturbance which had at
tracted his attention.
1t was not long before the boys had the
fish out. In color, it was much like the
gold fish, but with jet black stripe along
the back and on the outer edges of the fins
and tail. In shape, it resembled the trout,
except that the nose or snout projected
about an inch, very much after the manner
of sword fish, while in its activity and
apparent strength of muscle, it patterned
most perfectly after a sword fish.
But this was least of the marvels in the
case, for fast in the muscle of the tail
was tiny fish hook to which was attached
a very fine but strong silken thread, to
which, at first, there seemed to be no end.
but after pulling in, hand over hand, for a
while, some thirty or forty feet out of the
pipe, the end appeared.
Presently another and another and an
other fish appeared In precisely similar
manner at wells in the immediate vicinity,
in one well two fish at the same time, until
no less than five Of them, two equipped
with the same style of
SILKEN TAIL ATTACHMENT,
had been secured and safely placed in the
pail.
AS may be supposed the boys were wild
with amaZement, and INDUCED in ali man
ner Of antics under the excitement of this
new tangled style of fishing. But fun
must yield to study, and as the school hour
arrived the boys, of course, had TO run,
and eventually the pail with the five little
fish found their way TO that repository of
all wonderful things, the university, con-
signed to the tender mercies Of Prof. /. Z.
Hicks, that genial prof ssOr whose duty 1t
is to pick such things to pieces, guess where
they came from and what they are good
for, and generally to make plain to the
simple minded common herd all that to
them is wonderful and mysterious. The
professor was not long in identifying the
little stranger with class of fishes known
to exist in salt waters. The fact was
then developed that the description of
the fish so strangely found here on Friday
corresponds exactly with variety which
is at some seasons Of the year very abund-
ant in the waters Of Salt Lake, and famil-
iarly known there as the Flasher.
1t has been repeatedly noticed by Utah
scientists that about the latter part of
March in each year they suddenly disap-
pear, no one knows where, and are not seen
again until about the middle of September
following.
Prof. Hicks stated that in the September
number of Science a paper had appeared
on the subject Of
THE OUTLET OF GREAT SALT LAKE,
written by Sergeant A. Z. Walker, in
charge of the United States signal station.
That officer had commenced scientific
his weather observations, and was espec-
tally interested in finding the underground
outlet that scientists have long declared
must exist Mr.. Walker explained that he
was celebrating a theory, which he hoped
would prove to be the correct one. He
had found that fish very much like the
flasher were found in Carson lake Nevada,
and also in the mud lakes of the same
state, and had even been caught in lake
Tahoe IL the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Sergeant Walker admitted that his theory
was bold one but he believed that an I'M
derground channel existed between Salt
lake and the Pacific ocean, and 1t was his
purpose to prove it by marking fish Just
before their annual migration, giving notice
the lakes of Nevada and California, and in
the bays of the Pacific He had not de
cided how to mark the fish. Some one had
suggested a light metal label attached to
the tail, but this was objected to, as it
might interfere with the motions of the
fish. The sergeant had in his mind, among
other devices, light cord attached to the
tail, which
WOULD IDENTIFY THE PISH
wherever found, and also assist in captur
ing the specimens
This almost forgotten article in Science
came to Prof. Hicks mind as soon as his
eye rested on the silk thread, and he stated
that without doubt Sergeant Walker
would be obliged to revise his theory, as
the underground passage certainly is
proved by the presence of the fish to be in
this direction. He Immediately sent a
telegram to Salt Lake telling of the inter
esting capture here. No answer had been
received up to o'clock last night, doubt
less because the magazine could not be
found, and the address of Sergeant
Walker was not accurately known. 1t is
hardly necessary, however, for further
confirmation of the theory that the source
of the salt water here and doubtless in the
Hutchinson, Kas., region also, has at last
been discovered.
Since the above was written. it is learned
that two out of the five little fishes have
succumbed to the change of water, sur
roundings and the tender anatomical inuuis-
itiveness of the professor, and that what is
left of them is carefully stored in glass
lar of spirits, which, for the present, will
adorn the desk of the professor in his class
room. but will eventually be relegated to
the companionship of other picked fish on
the shelves of the anatomical museum of