Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-11-10
FOUNDER STRIKING.
A SPORT OF THE NEGROES OF THE
SOUTHERN COAST.
IT PuHzles . White Man. but the Darky Can
Hit Founder With His Spear Where
You Would See Only Mud-The Expert
fisherman Never Misses His Fish.

zimmerman never " tsses His Fish.
Did you ever Strike a floundera
Probably not unless you have lived or
passed some time on the coast Of the
southern states
One lovely August evening, just be-
fore sunset, as stood ON the back porch
of oar summer home ON the coast Of
South Carolina, noticed that our boy
Bob, great big black cheerful looking
fellow about 10 years old, as lazy ras-
cal and as big thief as his whole race
could produce, seemed to be very busy
over boat at the little wharf only
short distance from the house. and as
! stood there watching him the mystery
was explained.
Noticing that / was watching him
with good deal Of interest, he came
np to the steps, and removing the tat
tered rim of what was once a felt hat
said:
Boss man, TIE goin 'strikin' floun-
der tonight. Like to go long? It's easy
huff, y he said Jest put ON ole close
that don't matter bout victim, and I'll
call for you after supper. -
After having finished supper and en-
joyed n cigar and a stroll on the beach,
watching the bathers i'll the surf and
spying distant sail on the horizon, i
proceeded to dress for the occasion TAX
ing Bob's advice, / selected an old pair
of baseball shoes, an ancient pair Of
cadet trousers that had stood the test of
many a dress parade-a relic of my
rat year-a cap of the same descrip-
ton and flannel shirt and heavy
coat, for 1t was cool on the water after
sunset, even in midsummer, not forget
ting TO take a good supply of tobacco
and pipe to keep off the gnats and
sand flies and a plug of chewing tobac-
co for my companion. Negroes always
claim to be ont when white man is
around.
l joined Bob at the back door. and we
made our way down TO the landing
Here We found large fiat bottomed
scow, on one side of which was fixed an
old crate, III which n fire was burning
fercSly, while at the other end was "a
huge pile of dry oak, with plenty Of fat
pine for kindling. Standing in the
|
size and blacBness of my attendant,
whom Bob designated to me as my
mammy's sister Sally's boy Rufe.''
Greeting the grinning Rufus, who re-
piled by scraping the bottom of the boat
with one foot, while he touched where
his hat would have been had he worn
any, for no such article encountered his
woody crown, we all made ourselves
comfortable, Bob standing at the bow,
Rufus at the stern, with pole. while
was invited to take the middle seat near
the fire and requested to keep the boat
clear of water, which as soon as we be-
gan our journey rushed through the
| many creviceS with astonishing rapid
ity
The night was very dark, but lighted
| by our fire we began TO follow the shore,
and our flat bottom enabled us to keep
| III very close. And now came TO me
| what was the strangest part of the pro-
| ceeding. Bob, standing, as have said,
in the bow, armed with a striking pole,
| which is simply a heavy rod about s
feet long, with two pronged fork at
| one end, kept his eyes fixed ON the wa
ter, which was brightly lit up for sew
eral feet i'll front of the boat. while he
held the pole raised i'll his right hand.
All at once, and without word, he
| suddenly thrust the pole into the water
| i'll front of him, and with a chuckle of
triumph dashed the pole into the bot
tom OF the boz, and struggling and
| splashing around was dark fiat object
N FL
ing wounds NIT, The prongs of the
fork. The f1ounC,1 was exactly the col
| or of the bottom of the water and yerv
fiat, and how on earth anybody, even a
hungry negro, could distinguish it with
the boat going at a pretty rapid rate
was something / could not make out
and have never been able to fathom.
To be sure, the water was quite shall
low, ranging III depth from l to 2ls
feet, and the light from the fire was
very bright, but when you take into
consideration the fact that the soil was
almost black and very muddy and soft,
| and that the fish almost bury them
selves therein, it will be seen that it re-
quires no small amount of skill and
qulckness to detect the founder with
the boat being rapidly poled along
And never saw Bob miss. 1t would
be NATURAL to supposethat the .'striker''
would occasionally mistake some object
for. founder in waters that teemed
with all kinds of fish, or rliat sometimes
he would fail to secure the fish, even if
he struck correctly, for it is known
fact that 1.-THE biggest fish l ever caught
was the one that got away but, no. 1
never knew Bob or any of the other
many negroes whom i afterward saw
out striking to be guilty of failure.
Sometimes the founder would be pierced
by only one prong instead of two, and
sometimes the wound would be very
near the side of the fish, but secure him
they always did.
That night we were out about two
hours and secured eight of as fine floun-
ders as ever saw, ranging in size from
10 to Is inches, three of which fur
nished a very fine breakfast dish the
next morning. -Philadelphia Times.