The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-16
ARTESIAN WE'LL FISHING.
Curious Specimens Caught on a Hook in
the Bowels of Indiana.

Curious Specimens Caught on Hook in
the Bowels of Indiana.
Thomas Mould and Editor E. L. Roys
are the heroes of fishing story beside which
the stories of ordinary fishermen sink into
insignifcance. Both are known as ardent
devotees of Izaak Walton, and whenever
their business permits they are usually
found in pursuit of the gamy black bass
or the voracious pickerel. On Saturday
they visited Glenmore together. The fish
were not biting with any enthusiasm and
about 4 o'clock they started for home.
AT HowelPs condensery they stopped to
talk with some workmen who were repair
ing the pump at the artesian well. 1t will
be remembered by readers of this paper
that at the time this we'll was sunk an ae-
count was given of the striking of a SUBJ
terranean stream at a depth of nearly 300
feet, the volume of which could not be as
certained except that soundings showed it
to be of considerable depth. The stream
and its probable size were the subjects of
discussion among the little group at the
well and somebody wondered if it con-
tanned any fish.
A bright idea occurred to Messrs. Mould
and Roys. Each had in his basket long
trolling line and by uniting them line
long enough to reach easily to the bottom
of the we'll was formed Amid the good
natured "jollying'' of the bystanders the
lines were rugged and hook attached. 1t
was baited with big night-walker" fish
worm and lowered 29S feet through the six
inch hole. The distance had been care
fully measured off on the line, to whichIa
heavy sinker had been attached, and the
hook fastened short distance above to a
stout piece of line. Everybody laughed
except Mr.. Roys as Mr.. Mould carefully
lowered the line and waited anxiously for
the little tug at the bait which brings Joy
to the heart of the fisherman.
After few minutes the expression on
Toms face became one of rapt attention.
81 believe I've got bite" he said. A
moment later he began to pull in the line
rapidly hand over hand. ave got some
| thing" he said, and as everybody began
| to gather about the well he drew out a fish.
| 1t was about half a pound in weight and
of the eyeless species, which are some
! times found in the waters of caverns. The
| fish was nearly foot long, shaped some
| thing like perch, and its struggles as 10
| lay upon the ground showed that it was
| game to the backbone. Unlike fish which
dwell in waters on the earth's surface and
which have dark back and light-colored or
white bellies, this fish was of a uniform
| color of light gray. 1t had very small
scales, and where the eyes might be ex-
pected to exist there were slight indenta-
| tons as of rudimentary eyes.
| When the excitement attending the cap
ture had died away the hook was baited
again and the line lowered. Editor Rows
took charge this time, and after waiting
for about ten minutes, he drew to the sur
face another of the fish, trifle larger than
the first one. Five fish were ght alto
| gether, the largest of which weighed a.
| plump pound and a half. One fish was
| brought part of the way to the top, but
loosened itself from the hook and escaped.
Mr.. Mould, who had hold OF the line
at the time, says it was the largest by
lar OF any that fastened themselves on the
| hook, and be is positive that the reason he
was unable to land the fish was that it was
! too big to pass through the we'll, which is
+, only SIX inches in diameter
The singular appearance of these fish
and the remarkable manner in which they
were captured made them objects of Curl
osity to the persons to whom they were
| shown. Reference to the encyclopedias