New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-09-24
THE " HELL-BENDER."
Detroit.

THE "HELL-BENDER"
So now the hcll-bcnGer' has struck on. We
are not surprised. 1t is little more than year
sine, a newspaper correspondent visiting BlIz-
yards Bay enjoyed rear view Of the present
President Ct the United States. sitting in the
st,ln sheets Of catboat. fishing. The CORE
spondcnt could not make ont with cleamcss
precisely what Mr.. Cleveland was fishing for,
but BY dint of strenuous search and diligont
crass-c examination Of persons engaged in piS-
catcral pursuits in the ncighborhocd OF Buz-
yards Bay he did learn that he was using
hell giummetS" for bait. Considerable i'm
nortancc was attached to Mr.. Clcveland's bait.
II was known that he had fshcd with Mug
wumps eight years previous and made n great
catch Also that he had used the same bait
four years later and come ashore empty Great
interest was manifested in the change of bait.
II was known that he had NIugwumps in great
rlcnty sitting on his porch Mt Gray Gables, and
that it was not for lack of them that he had
adopted row bait. SO the place on Washing
ton->t.. Boston. where he procured "hell-
grummets" the price he raid per hundred, and
the winning ways they had for unwary fish
swimming in the sea. hungry and ready to snap
at ANYTHING that promised fitness to an empty
stomach. were all described in detail by the
newspapers that kept an ear at the candidate
kcyholc and stcp-ladder at his tranSom. 1t
was great bait It caught the American People
Well. since the catch was made a great many
things have happened. A financial panic for
ono thing; followed by a shrinkage OF hum
drcls Of m Hons OF dollars in all values. Ac-
compan,ing this. widc>prJa al industrial distress
and thousands of workingmen thrown out OF
employment. Running along coincidcnt, but
not necessarily consequent upon the great
catch. we have had outbreaks of lawleSSneSs
thr,ughou, the South. wars and rImorS OF wars
in South America. an epidemic OF railroad dis
aStar> extinct volcanoes breaking ont in now
eruyti0nS. cydrncs and earthquakes. iob-lot
of Governors threatening to ride in blood 20
the brides and whcm everything in
= general catastrophe unless they can have
their own way. an extra session II Congress,
4 DEADLOCK and an outbreak of bad temper
disasters at sea. differences Of opinion aS 10
the nomination of Isaac II. Maynard, ard a
general disposition on the part Of the Amcri-
can Public t. accept Lieutenant TottonS
mathematical processes elaborated from the
Prophet Daniel that the whole world has gone
pat haf-past If and is now trembling on the
verge # - Low Twelve" TO the casual OBJ
server il really seems II though more things
had hap; cncd since the great catch with d" hell
grummct>" than ever happened before in The
same length OF time since the First Pclopon-
nc,ian War
And now. a' we Learn from Harrisburg dis
IL bo hnll
blenders, have struck on. They have appeared
in large number, in the Sisquchanna River
The he'll cndcr is described rs kind of ALI
Gator. According to 1.-THE sun" dispatch. it
"crow, to be a foot and a half lcng. Il lays
from 80 10 90 eggs which the SIN matches
II eats fish and will steal young chickens. II
has head like pug dog. with mouth that
reaches all around the head. II has tongue
that is round and fills nearly the whole interior
# the mouth" Whoever roads this dc>crip
ton slowly and with care will observe striking
roins of resemblance between the hell
bender Of the Susquchanna and the " hell
bender" which began t. appear in large num-
bor> last March on the banks Of the Potomac.
It's propensity to " steal young ducks and chick
ems" it, "hcad Ike a pug dog" the " mouth
that reaches all around the head and above
ALL the "t9nguc that j. round and fills the
whole interior Of the mouth are so Strikngly
ike tie Potomac hcll-bcnder" that natural
ISIS will hardly hesitate 10 say that they must
have had re same origin. Moreover. accord
ing t. "Thc sun" while the people on the
banks cf the Susquchanra tscat them aS Il
nuisance AMI throw them away. Tom Muir
lry Of the Congressional restaurant considers
them "bcitcr than the diamond back tcrrapin."
Which makes it the more probable that the
Potomac "hcll -bcndcr" is Of the same genus
and has the same origin rs the half alligator
Of the SuSGuchanna. The Potomac product
u.cl t. be described as half horse and half
alligator" The SuSquchanna fish is described
rs "haf lizald.o But they are clearly of the
same family.
50 the "holl-bcndcr' fellows the "hcIl-
grummct." And doubtless persons who are in
the habit Of using language carclc<Sly when
overcome with emotion will say: What in
- cJmcS npXtc