Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-04-11
JIGGING FOR TOMCOD
INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF A CON-
NECTICUT BUSINESS AND PASTlME.

NECTICUT BUSINESS AND PASTlME.
How the Art Which Works Such Havoc
Among the Torncods Was Discovered.
Not to Jig Along the Thames River Is to
BE Put Down as Eccentric.
''It's good thing that virtue is its
own reward, - said rln from Connect.
icut. ''That is about all the recompense
it ever gets, even i'll Con- ccticut. Now,
for instance, take the Coniitling and
credulous tomcod Like all fish, the
tomcod has habits. Unlike many fishes,
none of the tomcod's habits is bad. Yet
the most innocent and touching of them
leads the tomcod to his inevitable undo
ing over in Connecticut, especially
along the Thames river His very vir-
tues are his ruin. He might better be
vicious, rollicking, thieving dogfsh, the
tomcod might, ten times over than his
own highly reputable and innocent self
He would live many times as long as he
does and have a heap more fun, because
then folks wouldn't jig for him. A
good many scores of my compatriots
take advantage of his trustfulness and
Jig him from his chilly but congenial
home by the bushel.
'Never jigged for tomcods? Then it
is plain that you are so unfortunate as
never to have lived in Connecticut-any-
way not in any Of those parts of that in
comparable state where tomcods are Jig
ged. Not to jig for tomcods over there,
especially along the Thames river, is to
be eccentric.
''The fatal habit of the tomcod is to
be caressing. If you never noticed this
peculiarly of the tomcod make point
of doing it the very first chance you get
A good place to detect him at it is from
the end of some pier that rises from wa
ter he frequents. You will see him come
up in schools around the supporting
pieces of the pier and rub himself
against them, passing all around them,
always in gentle contact with them,
turning first this side and then that side
to the pile, rubbing his nose against it
and fondling it in many ways, as pet
cat might rub itself against your leg.
But piers are not the only objects of the
tomcod's fondness. He caresses all sorts
of jetsam and even ventures to the sur
face and pays his addresses to cold and
unconscious fiotsam. He puts his trust in
anything that offers. His credulity is
boundless. His confidence is sublime.
And the jigger plays them for all they
are worth.
people in Connecticut are very OBJ
servant folk, especially along the
Thames river. One day long ago one of
my fellow citizens sat nlusingly upon
the bank of that storied stream. He held
in his hand a small oak bough on which
leaves were clustered. At last he aim
lessly dropped the bough into the river.
It fell near the shore, and the punches
of leaves sank somewhat below the sur
face. Presently tomcods came swim
ming up to the leaves, obtruding them
selves into the line of my fellow citi-
zen's pensive vision. Scores of them sur
rounded the oak leaves and swan in a
fondling way among them and about
them, manifesting much the same dumb
delight that cat does as it rolls and
wriggles on a bunch of catnip.
''After awhile this strange affinity
between the oak leaves and the tomcods
gradually gave my fellow citizen an
idea. Pensiveness gave way to the prac-
tical. He got up and went home and
then tied some sharp hooks to the end
of long stick. Then he returned to the
river. The oak branch was still lying
close at hand in the water. He manip-
ulated its leaves beneath the water gen
tly, and as the caressing and trustful
tomcods responded to their undulating
movements my fellow citizen yanked
them out with the hooks at the end Of
his stick. So long as he kept the bunch
of oak leaves moving i'll the water the
tomcods swarmed about it, unmindful
Of the play of the destructive gaff among
them. Now and then my fellow citizen
ter. Then the tomcods would instantly
disappear. The oak back again in the
water, back would come the tomcods
and were aware of no other presence.
Soon the shore was strewn with the un-
suspecting fish, and the sport becoming
monotonous my fellow citizen filled his
basket and went home.
''Of course this interesting discovery
in piscatorial psychology, SO to speak,
soon absorbed attention in those parts,
and experimenters lined the banks of
the Thames river daily. These expert
ments at last took ON the accepted name
of jigging, and tomcod jigging became
a popular recreation in Connecticut and
isyet
can expert with a bunch of oak leaves
and jig can fill a wagon with tomcods
in few hours if he wants to, and if
every tomcod that swims was in a school
around one bunch of leaves and the jig
ger at that bunch could stay and jig
long enough he could make the race of
tomcod extinct, for every tomcod would
come right up to that bunch of leaves
and be everlastingly jigged. A great
many good Connecticut people protest
that they jig for tomcods not for plea
sure or pecuniary profit, but because of
the great moral lesson they learn from
it. Whether that is so or not, the fact
remains that the toothsome tomcod is
the most confiding, credulous and ;nno-
cent of fishes. New York Sun.
Cracks In Bread Loaves.