The Washington times., 1894-06-04
TO THE WRONG MAN.
The Fresh Young Man Tells Of the Char
actcristics of the MuIlygrub.

The Fresh Young Man Tells of the Char.
actcristics of the MuIlygrub.
The fresh young man sat at the head Of the
table. He was eating fish. red faced man
dressed in a tweed suit came in and was
shown by the head waiter to seat on the left
Of the fresh young man. The red faced man
was an Englishman. At least he had an Eng
lish accent that sounded as if 1t was his right
and not by adoption. He gave the waiter an
order. and while he was waiting he began
talking with the fresh young man.
pardon me-" the red faced man began.
"but would you mind telling me what kind Of
q fish this is you are eating?"
Certainly not. replied the fresh young man
beamingly. This is a very excellent specimen
of what is known locally as the mullygrub. 1t
is fish that is found in great quantities in
the shoal waters Of Lake Erie. the lake on
the shore OF which this city stands. and, so
far as | know, is caught nowhere else. The
mullygrub is remarkable fish. 1t grows to
the length OF two feet sometimes but is at its
best for eating purposes when about ten
inches long. Ii IS deicately favored, many
persons claiming that the flavor is that of an
excellent champaign. while others insist that
1t tastes OF Mediord rum. That point has
long been matter of local contention, but
am reliably informed that in the olden days
the Indians who lived originally in these
parts distilled excellent rum from the fish. SO
think the rum partisans of to-day have
rather the best of it,
Indeed" broke in the red-faced man,
''that is very astonishing"
"Oh. yes continued the fresh young man,
"but it is not the most surprising about these
fish. Their greatest peculiarly is the manner
in which they are caught. 1t is utterly i'm
Ia 70 tnta fbar, ,ri-h
They will not bite at any bait vet invited by
man. Nor is it possible to catch them with n
net. Their dorsal fms are sharper than
knife blade, and when caught in n net they
simply Gu. their way out to liberty. For this
reason the fishermen do not cast a he: IN
places where the mullygrub are known TO
abound. The only way to catch these fish is
to hire a German band to play the wedding
| march from Lohengrin' while standing on
the shore. So great an admiration have these
fish for the music furnished by German bands
and for that one tune that they swim up to
shore and wriggle their way out on the sand.
Then it is easy to gather them up. That is
the way the entire catch is secured. and thus
many worthy German musicians are enabled
to earn comfortable livings when otherwise
they would be obliged to walk around the
streets for an uncertain income, to say the
least"
"How very extraordinary" murmured the
| red faced man.
1T certainly is" went on the fresh young
man. ''but there is still another habit OF the
mullygrub which is unique. The female
muliygrub does not taye the roe common in
fish. Instead she lays eggs which resemble
| the eggs OF robins, being of pale blue, though
somewhat smaller. These eggs are deposited
in the sand after midnight in the full of the
moon. and during days when the sun is not
shining the male mullygrnb sits on them to
keep them warm. The little muilygrubs are
born with four legs, which they use to walk
with into the water after they are Matched.
In three days these legs drop of and the fins
appear
Il can hardly believe it," said the red faced
man.
''Oh. yes; yes, indeed. What I have told
you can easily be verified anywhere in Buffalo.
Then again when the mulygrub reaches the
age OF one year it sheds its skin. 1t also has
the faculty of changing its color on occasion.
l have seen n mullygrub, when in good spirits.
change rapidly from red to white and then to
blue and alter that take on combination of
tine three colors with small patch of stars
possible you have never heard of this wonder
fui fish,"
at certainly is" replied the red-faced man.
May inquire where you live? You are an
Enciishman are you not!'
mo, not exactly. was born in England.
but Just at present am engaged in superin-
tending the large fish hatchery recently estab-
lished in Canada
And the fresh young man fainted.-Buffalo
Express.