Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1895-09-02
THE CURIOUS CANDLE FISH.

mense shoals. A dispatch from Van
couver says that while the fishing lasted
it was more profitable than gold mining.
One catch that was made beat all pre-
viouS records.
A gentleman rejoicing in the appro-
pirate name of Finnis captured seventy
buckets Of the living candles, which are
called by the natives eulachons, and he
sold them for $3.50 at the market price
of % cents bucket. When candles are
being hauled out OF the water and sold
at this rate the local gas companies
might as well go out of business, and as
a result the Standard Oil company on
the Pacific coast has been driven from
the market temporarily.
The eulachons or candle fish, which
belong to the smelt family, have long
been fashionable among the natives Of
Alaska They are largely composed Of
fat. When dried they are stored away
and used as candles during the long
winter. After the Alaskan has had his
dinner he takes out dried fish,. sticks
the tail in a crack of the table and
touches a match to the nose.
Then the fish burns with bright and
steady glimmer Thus the Alaska poet
never burns the midnight OIL for his
literary labors are Illuminated by a
eula chon, which, if unusually large, may
burn for an hour or more before it sput-
tiers out at the tail.
The Alaskans also use these fish at
their rude religious ceremonies. Rows
of candle fish are stuck in a board with
their heads upward. Before the cere-
mony an old man lights the fish. They
burn like a row Of candles and throw
weird light over the congregation at their
devotions.
These fish are so common in the waters
of Alaska that the natives scoop them
up with a board. A large plank like
paddle is studded with nails and an In
dian standing on the shore or in a boat
sweeps it through the water, gathering IN
great numbers of these natural candles
when the shoal is thick. At New West
minister last week the catch of candle
fish was so large that they are now being
ship them to different points as an ex-
pertinent This will jeopardize the oil
monopoly all along the Pacific coast.
Another advantage about these Great
ures is that if they are not available as
candles they may be eaten, and they also
make an excellent substitute for cod
liver oil. They are SO full Of fat as to
be almost transparent
The scientific name of these creatures
is thaleichthys pacifcus, but none Of the
natives of Alaska would recognize them
other than as "water candles" They are
described as an anadromous deep-sea
salmonoid fish.
1u0y I0SSuUlS lIlo SlISlC Ill 1O1Al Jul
with weaker dentition and smaller scales,
and they are of dusky coloration, growing
to nearly foot in length. In the spring
time immense shoals of these fish are to
be met with along the whole northwest
coast OF. America, and they. ascend all
the rivers north of the Columbia to spawn:
The natives of British Columbia call
the eulachon the parrish, and use it as d
candle by inserting in it the pith of 2
rush or a strip of bark as wick.
Another species is the anaplopoma
fimbria, which resembles the pollock and
attains length of twenty inches and a
weight of five pounds. Such a candle
would burn for several nights. This larg-
err species is called the black candle fish,
the horse mackerel and the beshow.
1t would only need a shoal of natural
matches now to complete the happiness
Of the Alaskan Indians and the destruc-
ton of the oil monopoly in our arctic
province. The supply Of ocean candles
gathered this spring will, it is said. last
the Indians for several years unless they
take to eating them.