Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-04-21
WHITNEY LAKE oARP.

WHITNEY LAKE CARP.
i
what al old Fisherman says-Carp
in GeneraI-A Big Maui of the Fish
In Warrington.
Speaking Of the big carp now and then
captured in Whitney Lake an old fisher-
man says: These fish multiply rapidly |
and it will not be surprising If many more
big carp are caught in the lake. AS Is
quite generally known the carp fret got |
Into the lake by an overflow of the Davis |
pond close by the lake, by which scores of |
fish found their way into the lake. Mr..
Davis is one of the firm of Davis Brothers,
brick manufacturers, and has perhaps
900 of these fish In his pond, all of
which are exceedingly tame aud many of
them will eat out of strangers hand.
The Washington Post tells of big haul
of carp made there and of the applica-
lions for these fish of the fish commission,
as follows:
Half a dozen colored men In high rub
Der boots wading around with a seine in
the single muddy puddle, that was all the
water left in one of the government fsh
ponds, down by the monument, was the
eight that yesterday attracted q considers
sells little island kingdora south of the
white house. 1t was the annual draining
of the fish ponds, and that containing the
carp was the first one emptied.
The bottom of the pond Ia laid oat like
the molding bed in front of blast fur
mace, with q single deep ditch running
along the length Of it, and from along the
sides bitches not quite so deep running
down into the main canal. When the time
comes for the transferring of the fish a
sluiceway is opened from the pond to the
river and the water allowed to gradually
run out. The mouth of the sluios Is, how
ever, protected by netting screen, so that
the fish will not go out to stock the Poto-
mac as they have done before now in time
of foods, and as the reeed:ng waters of
the pond leave them they are forced to
seek the deeper channels of the lateral Ca
nails, and are finally driven down into the
main ditch and collected by thousands in
the deepest end OF the channel.
Then came in the fish farmers in their
high boots, and the carp are Melted out of
the pool into tubs and buckets by the hun
dreds and thousands and carried over to
WIG 0P0kA 6PHoV Al 4&oAo VI bA0
ent's house in the midst of the pond reser-
walton. Here they are sorted out accord
ing to age, race and color. though it is not
stated whether previous condition of serv-
itude has anything to do with the matter.
The different ages are put to themselves,
the youngsters for shipping to applicants
in all parts of the country, and the old
ones for breeding purposes during the
coming season.
Some of the fish in the ponds are very
large, weighing from ten to fifteen pounds,
bat the most of them are only yearlings,
that is to say, little more than q finger
long. At this age they are perfectly able
to care for themselves, and when sent out
to soma distant part Of the country and
dumped into strange pond they seldom
fail to thrive and hunt out a living for
themselves. The shipping in done In the
special car of the fish commission, and the
infant carp are packed in two-gallon tin
buckets with Fifty fish in each. One thous-
and of these buckets can be packed in a
single car, and the fish thrive perfectly
well for several days without change of
water.
Application for the fish is made to the
| fish commission, and the applicant is fur
| nished with printed blank that is filled
| out, Endorsed by his congressman and re-
turned for fling to the Office at Washing
ton. When the fish are shipped the sppli.
cant is notified that they will be at the
nearest railroad station to his residence at
a certain day and by a certain train, and
he can thus meet and take charge of them
as soon as delivered.
All the fish in the gift of the commits
sion are distributed In this way, bat the
carp are the only ones that are tough
enough to stand the bucket transportation
The others, bass, trout, shad and gold fish
arc shipped in tank cars, which have ap
paratus for keeping the water in constant
circulation and aerated.
ponds for sorting, they are not at once
sorted in the tubs. They are put into the
big, cementlined tanks in the center oil
the fish reservation and thoroughly wash.
ed, and then as they are taken out agar
| with dip net they are counted one at
time, so that when DR.. Hesssl reports tina
he has in stock 60, 900 carp ready for trans
portation. he knows just what he is stat
ing. 1t is hard, however, to estimate In
| advance the number of fish that will b.
taken out of the big pond at the fall drain
ing, as it may vary from one to two hun
bred thousand.
These young fish are separated into sew
eral sizss az they are counted and placed
in ponds by themselves ready to be taker
out when needed. The old once are alet
given a pond to themselves till afte
Spawning, when they are taken out and tn,
youngsters left to themselves. Nearly al
of the carp that were taken from the frs
pond yesterday were of the scale variety
In the other pond, which will be emptiee
In few days, there are the leather and tn,
mirror carp, the last ths handsomsst of al
the species, its sides decorated with grea
FURNISHED scales. But the leather carp i
| regarded as the best food fish, and it is O
this variety that the most shipments ar
| made.
The carp, from being carelessly raised a
well as badly cooked, are not very highl.
esteemed in this particular region, wher
food, but in other parts of the countr,
these finny immigrants of Germany ar;
very well liked.
DR.. Bean of the fish commission say
that when he was at Cleveland, O., he wa
told by Mr.. Strsnahan, the proprietor O
the Arcade restaurant, one of the best IL
the city, that carp was alternated will
whitefish on the bill of fare each day, ant
that there was quite as much demand fol
the former as for the latter. And In pass
ing through Quincy the doctor noticed I
great many people in boats fishing on thu
lake, all of them after carp, of which they
spoke very highly as food fsh, and he wal
told by Professor Bartlett that large par
of the fishers were people out of work and
that the great quantity of good carp to b.
easily had for the catching in the lake wal
no small item in enabling them to weather
out the hard times.
The carp here do not bring very high
price, ten to fifteen cents in the western
country being the most that is paid fol
them; but, considering the enormous
growth of some of the fsh in western
waters, even this would be handsome
profit on cultivating them. One instance
is on record of lingering carp sent BY
the commission to Texas that attained 8
growth of twentythree inches in eleven
months.
Major Starr Resigns.
Major W. W. Starr of Bridgeport, for 6
number of years past brigade engineer and
signal officer of the G. N. G., recently ten.
dered his resignation to the adjutsnt gen.