The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-01-19
FISHING WITH SPINNER,
The Old General Liked . Good Cock
tail and an Amusing
Story.
He Was a Scientist as Wolf as
b Disciple Of 12aak
Walton.
Amos J.. Cummings Describes an Outing
with Him in the Wiids Of
Florida.

Florida.
Especial Correspondence Of THE INDEPENDENT
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.-In the winter o
1S74-75 / was encamped at Turtle Mound il
Florida. II is a great shell heap and a wei
known landmark On the Atlantic coast. 1
overlooks Hillsboro river, an outlet Of Mos
quito lagoon. A sand-spit makes into tn
river from its base. My tent was pitchet
upon this spit, and for q good reason. Tn
friendly wind blew the mosquitoes back
into the palmetto scrub fringinR the beach
One morning at daylight, while in my tent
heard a cry from without. Upon emery
ing from the tent. ] saw a sail boat con
tanning two stalwart gentlemen. There wert
in the sere and yellow leaf. One wal
General Charles L. Macarthur Of Troy, and
the other General Francis T.. Spinner Of
national renown. McArther was stubby
and portly, while Spinner was gaunt and
haReard. Both wore heavy grey mustaches
The boat was headed for the sand-spit
They had been ont all night fighting head
what was known as Che DEVILS Elbow, al
~ JAN VA ~ AVAoOA$ bAA Wc4O
ing to make Smyrna, twelve miles away
They had neither provisionsno nor ~stimulants.
A midnight shower had added to their dis
comfort. The morning breeze was treating
them with great unfriendliness. They were
chilly. hungry and thirsty.
As the boat grated on the shell-sprinkled
beach, Macarthur sprang ashore He pre-
sented his companion to me. General Spin
ner was then over 70 years old. He had
sharp blue eyes, a lrm-set mouth and q
deeply lined face. His head WAS bent and
he seemed famished. had within the tent
The general spread his hands over the little
camp fire, where yams we're roasting and
coffee boiling. Climbing to the top Of the
mound ! pluckad a wild orange from a tree
that stood in a hollow near its apex, and
used the juice to compound a cocktail. It
was made in an old tin cup. The general
swallowed it. It sent a genial warmth
through his once rugged frame and set him
talking. He took a second and a third
cocktail before breakfast. Then he did full
justice to venison from a buck killed on the
beach the day before, and masticated more
system and the Old Grow warmed the
cookies Of his heart. After remaining with
me two hours or more, his skipper hoisted
sail and he disappeared in what is known
as 6hipyard Beach.
Three days a~fterward, I found him at the
uOC0l III NOW 0uyIuAs ! WAS CudIku0u Will
him. For three weeks he hunted and fished
with me. Never did I meet a man with a
greater fund of information. In our strolls
upon the beach we picked up many a shell.
The General was a concholoRist and called
ca CHI shell by its proper designation. Eggs
OF conks. spawn Of skates. sea fans. ant
find and name. When hunting in tropical
thickets, he would spend hours in examin-
ing air plants and parasites. He discovered
parasites preying upon parasites, and gave
the history OF each. He knew every species
Of bird, and went into ecstacies over the
cardinal, the %nonpareil, the bull-fnch, the
many others. His ardent desire was to kill
an ivory-billed woodpecker. II have never
seen hui one,' he said, and that was in
the Smithsonian institute" In the swales
dottinR the piny woods ee discovered what
the natives term a fy-trap-a plant that fed
upon insects.
He took an equal delight in fishing, and
the fishing was magnificent. For three days
he angled in Sheepshead cut with a rod and
reel until his arms ached with executions.
Next he went for the red and the gray snap
per and other Ramey fish. Then the erouper
light upon securing a red grouper. Its
eyes, gills n mouth were of a
ruby color and the tracings on its back
were OF oriental crimson Finally, how
ever, he settled upon the channel or spot
bass. Day after day he would stand upon
the beach, making casts and Keeling. them
in from the sloughs along shore. We had
a bottle of pepper sauce in the boat. In
our excursions we found many a bed of fat
oysters in secluded hooks among the Man
grove islands. The raw oysters, with a
flavoring of pepper sauce, were rare delica-
cies. At times we built a fire upon firm
ground and roasted them.
We were fshinO Ona aftopuoop in n ont
Lear the inlet. Mullet bait was used, and
heavy sinkers, the bait resting on the bot
tom. At times the sinker would be raised
and there would be a logy lunge at the
line, as though the hook had caught on a
moving load of hay. An experienced Flor
The robbers were immense stingrays, He
would hold his reel firmly, lower his rod,
and allow the great ray to break the line
and walk of. A huge ray seized my bait
while Gen. Spinner was in the boat. I
braced myself, lowered the tip of the rod,
and said: Take what you've got. You'll
get no more"
What is it?" the general eagerly in
quired.
IA stingray." I replied.
Eight him! Fight him! Bring him in"'
he said. Il never saw one."
For two hours and a half / struggled with
the winged leviathan. He sulked and wob-
bled over the bottom for a long time, but
ut last l got him to the surface. The gen.
oral was stationed at the bow with a dou-
ble-barreled shotgun. He gave the fish two
charges of buckshot as he appeared. The
monster srouted blood like a whale. After
he was dead we towed him ashore near
Lowd's hotel. He tipped the scale at Isl
pounds. After weighing him we went to
dinner. Upon our return the general start
ed as if he had seen a ghost.
why, that fish is still alive" he said.
"See him move. It's wonderful"
We turned it over with a boat hook, and
found in its abdominal cavity a razor
backed hog, which had taken advantage of
our absence to tear out its entrails.
We had a wonderful run of similar ad-
ventures. Add to all such ~enjoyments the
generals wonderful fund of political rem
iniscences, disquisitions upon finance, upon
social and economic subjects, science, lit
erature and art, and wonderful running
comments upon public men and the news
of the day, and you will begin to nave an
insight into the astonishing variety and ex-
tent of this mans knowledge. He always
loved the sea. In his old age, when the
cancer that sapped his life was doing it's
work. he tented winter after winter upon
the beach at Pablo. He spent the time
fishing and hunting. Here he was fire.