The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-04-10
JOGGING FOR TOMCOD
INTERESTING DESCRIPTION A CON-
NeCTlCUT BUSINESS AND PASTlME.

How tho Art Which Works Such Havoc
Among tho Tomcods Was Discovered.
Not to Jig Along tho Thames River Is To
BE Put Down rs Eccentric
It's good thing that virtue is its
own reward, said man from Connect
icut. THAT is about all tho rccomDcnsc
it ever gets, even i'll Connecticut. Now,
for instance, take tho coniiding and
crcdulous 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 i'll Connecticut, especially
along the Thames river. His very vir-
tues are his ruin. He might better be Il,
vicious, rollicking, thieving dogfish, the
toncod might, ten times over than his
own highly reputable and innocent self.
He would live many times us long us he
docs and have heap moro fun, because
then folks wouldn't jig for him. \
good many scores of my compatriots
take advantage of his trustfulncss and
jig him from his chilly but congcnial
homo by the bushcl
Never jagged for tomcods? Then it
is plain that you are so unfortunate MS
never to have lived in Connccticut-any-
way not i'll any Of those parts of that ill
comparable state where tomcods are Jig
gcd Not to jig for tomcods over there,
especially along the Thames river, is to
be eccentric.
I.,T., Il l,.,I.
bc carcssing. If you never noticed this
popularity of the tomcod, make a point
of doing it the very first chance you get.
a good place to detect him ut it is from
the end Of some pier that rises from Wa
ter he frcqucnts. You will see him como
up i'll schools around the supporting
pieces of the pier and rub himself
against them, passing all around them,
always i'll gentle contact with them,
turning first this side and then that side
10 the pile, rubbing his nose against it
and fondling it i'll many ways, as Il pet
cat might rub itself against Your leg.
But piers are not the only objects OF the
tomcod's fondncsS. He carcs.;os Ill sorts
of jctsam and even ventures TO the SIR
face and pays his addresses; to cold and
unconscious iiutSam. He put; hi; rrust III
anything that offers His crc,julity is
boundlcsS. His confidence is sublime.
And the digger plays them for all they
are worth.
People iii Connecticut are very OBJ
servant folk, especially along the
Thames river one day long, ago one OF
my fellow citizen, SIT lnusingly upon
the bank Of that atorictl stream lie held
i'll his hand Il small oak bough OH which
leaves were clustered At last he aim
lcssly dropped the Dough into the river.
1t fell near the shore and the lunches
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 ; pcnsivc vision. Scores of them sur
rounded the oak leaves and swan in Il
fondling way among them and about
them, manifcsting much the same dumb
delight thar Il cat does us it rolls aud
wrigglcs Oh Il bunch of catnip.
After awhile this strange affinity
between the oak leaves and the tomcods
gradually gave my fellow citizen AN
idea. Pensivcncss gave way TO the prac-
teal. He got up and went home and
then tied some sharp hooks to the end
of Il long stick. Then he returned TO the
river The oak branch WAS still lying
close ut hand in the water. He nanip-
ulatcd its leaves beneath the water gen
tly, and "a ihc carcssing and trnstiu!
tomcods responded To their undulating
movements my fellow citizen yanlcd
them out with the hooks at the end of
his stick. 80 long as he kept the bunch
Of oak leaves moving III the water the
tomcods sWarmed about il, unmindful
OF the play oi the destructive gatf among
them. Now and then my fellow citizen
would remove the hough from the WA
ter Thcn 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 strcwn with the I'M
suSpcctlng 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 cNpcrimcntcrS lined the banks of
the Thames river daily These expert
mcnts at last took on the accepted name
Of digging, and tomcod juggling became
Il popular recreation III Connecticut and
is yet.
An expert with Il bunch of oal; leaves
and Il lig can fill Il wagon with tomcods
i'll a 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 ut that bunch could stay and jig
long enough he could make tho race of
tomcod extinct, for every tomcod would