The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-14
KILLED A BIG PORP0ISE.
carr. O'DELL WENT SUMMING FOR
IT ON TINE HARLEM.

HE Ezeitins Chase-The Fish Said 70 Have
HAD Compsnious-u wss Nearly SIC
Feet Long ssd weighed ESQ Pounds.
There Is a diversity Of opinion among tho tug
boat Captains and the rivermen in the neigh
borhood as to the exact number Of porpoises
which were seen yesterday and Tuesday swim
ming around in the Harlem River between the
bridges at Second and Fourth avenues. They
all agree, however, that there was one anyway,
for there is evidence ON this point which Is
simply indlsputable: Down on the dock of
Reynor's boat house, on the door OF a
little shanty, there hangs a newly painted
sign which reads, Admission 10 cents"
Inside on the floor lies the body OF a %porpoise.
measuring five feet seven inches from snout to
tail and weighing 900 pounds, with nnumera-
BILE bullet holes In Its fat. puffy side. This Is the
evidence, and Thomas O'Dell, Captain Of the
naphtha launch winona, Is the man who sue
ceeded l In planting a load Of buckshot in the
fsh's body. John Wood, who was with him
when the deed was done, says there were four
porpoises swimming around in the sluggish
water below the Third avenue bridge on Tues
day morning. What is more, he declares that
they have been there before in former years.
and that the Mullen boys chased them around
with a boat for over three hours one day last fall.
OF COURSE, he cannot be positive that they are
the same porpoises, because all p%orpoises look
very much alike. Still. he says he would not be
surprised II 1t turned out that TN fish whose
career was brought TO an abrupt end by the
buckshot from O'Dell's gun was the same old
porpoiso that has been coming up the Harlem
for years.
On the other hand. Capt. Mathews of the
DALEY Towing Company Is willing to stake his
reputation as a truthful man that there was but
one %porpoise. He says that he and Capt. Burns
OF the Crawford were sitting In the towing
company's Office at 8 o'clock on Tuesday morn
ing, and the subject of their talk was of a tech
nical nature. Suddenly Burns, who was gazing
out of the window at the river. shouted oh!
look at the porroise!'
Capt. Mathews looked. and sure enough
within sixty feet of the dock was a hugo por-
poise tumbling about in the water. The big fish
rolled and jumped about, evidently unconscious
OF ,is proximity to the heunts Of Harlem. by
Chimniic,' he yelled TO his companion. I" come
and see de black pig swimmin' around in dc
water"
Before many minutes went by there were fifty
people gathered on the bridge watching the an
crowd had swelled into a.thousand. and many
small boys were having great, fun aiming rocks
a. the hsh every time ITS big body appeared on
MhC1 sol McNall, Port Captain Of the DALEY
along, and heard all about the p~orpoise, they
were greatly interested.
said &F Ga ,Ise M to Gs1c 10 That Gsp ,hG SI,, monster HidIH AVE-,
think would have to do another hard days
work IN my life"
How :" said Sol. ""e' "
Why, just get one OF those large nets and
breathe, said Mathews.
Capt. soils eyes ylistened. Here was a solu-
Wood all about It, and the latter was surprised
that they hadn't thought about il before. So
f@es a Isl Srr s% S Of Poin { S Msr tiE" T Al s' @Srs a tine
successful in their quest. as the lone fisherman
About 10 o'clock the big fish wormed its way
through the piles Of the temporary bridge at
Third avenue. All through the aftSrnoon IL
Fourth avenues, now diving beneath the water,
and now appearing again 100 feet from where II
and John Wood, a brother Of Ollie Wood. put
out in a row boat with the intention of capturing
with them. and o'Deil fired repeatedly al IL but
the birdshot with which his shells were loaded
a aban not ,dpr penetrate , , tSediIIs thick kin; After rowing
times at their game the hunters gave up the
A IL o'clock yesterday morning O'Dell saw
the ~porpoise floating about Just off Raynor's
dock. He procured a number Of shells, loaded
until a point in the deep water, near The
big fish Owed under. and when it appeared
again, i was within fifty feet Of the pursuer's
poise made a mighty leap into the air and. fall
ing back again, rolled over on its back. O'Dell
llfeu again, ana tht shOCk seemed to right the
fish. for IL started to swim slowly away, streak
ing the water with its blood.
Wood pulled the boat alongside the p~orpolse.
and, reaching out his hand, caught II by the
I'M. The porpoise, however. was not dead yet,
and it started Town the river with terrific speed.
dragging. the boat and its occupants after il.
Mood held on to the fin for dear life, and soon
The ilsh's speed slackened. After several weak
on its back and gave up the ghost. With the
Md OF a boatman, who was watching the sport.
Wood and O'Dell got the %porpoise into their
and rowed back to the dock.
When an examination was made II was found
hat no less than twenty-five of the buckshot
had penetrated to the vitsls of the porpoise,
There were also a number Of marks on the skin
he previous day.