Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-03

| about eight inches in length. The fish
cleaned with iridescence, red, blue, purple
and golden tints flashing from every por
tion as the bright sunlight played upon it
The fisherman held his prize carefully, and
as he said: 'Listenp heard vey audible
''cr-o-i-k-kr' then "kluk-kluk-er-o-i-k-k!'
"Ah, said my companion, holding the
fish up as if it was child, ''you want to
go back, do you?"
"Cr-o-k-kp' uttered the fish, that noticed
was rolling its eyes in most doleful man.
ner.
f'This hook must hurt" continued the
fisherman, as he endeavored to detach it
from the thin skin of the mouth.
Too Much for the Fisherman.
"Cr-o-i-k-ki cr-o-i-k-kl" again uttered the
fish, rolling its eyes wildly and bending its
body.
''It's bad luck to throw fish back, " soli-
loquized the captor.
'Cr-o-i-k-kv' began the fish.
'fBut, bless my heart, can't resist this, y
added the fisherman, and with a toss he
threw the fish back into its native element.
"And yet" said nv companion, rebaiting g
his hook, "they say fishes cannot talk If
that little fellow was not pleading for his
life should like to have some one explain
what he was doing"
I did not attempt to differ with him, as
while did not care to confess it in public |
entertained very much the same idea, which
was that all animals that utter sounds use
them more or less to express their emotions,
wants and desires. The little fish, the talker
as we choose to call it, was one of the very
common fishes of the gulf and found way
he
while in the. dry books of science it ap-
pears as the haemulon.
Very Like Garner's Monkeys.
In months, or years, spent on this grest
reef became very well acquainted with
the grunt family, and if must confess it, 1
often gave my Imagination play and be-
ieved understood what the takers said.
This was before the days of the phonograph;
but if 1 had possessed one Of the instru-
ments, and could have held some of my
talking fishes up to it I am confident that I
could have surprised some of the young
folk who read this article. 1t may have
been my Imagination, but fancied that the
sounds, instead of being all alike, varied in
different fish, and that could distinguish a
number of fish words. Be this as it may,
although the grunts were always caught
when was fishing for other and larger
game, L took them OF the hook as carefully
as 1 could and returned them to the water;
so that in this instance their voice, if such
it can be called, served them well.
A large number of fishes utter sounds
well remember being startled upon one oc-
casion, by a small shark, or dogfish, which
had hauled into my boat while fishing for
cod off the England coast. The fish had
made its way under my seat and suddenly
uttered bark or gutteral sound so similar
to that of a dog that was startled and made
SO vigorous movement that my compan-
iona professional fisherman-smiled and
remarked, If they did not bark what was
the use of calling them dogfsh! The sound
was repeated every time I touched the fish
and was sharp, distinct bark.
The Eel Said to BE Musician.
Upon other occasions have heard a num-
Der of fishes utter similar sound, notably
the porgy, which, when ! held it up to cut
out the hook, uttered such a chorus of
sounds that there could be no doubt that the
fish was in great distress. The gizzard shad
utters an audible whirring sound, and the
eel is said by good authorities to be the
musician of the family. 1 once endeavored
to investigate this with a singular result.