Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1896-02-15
A TRUTHFUL fish STORY.
The Size of One in the River Near the
Great Falls.

1AC SALO VI OAO III b1O 4sANOE xNO0G Jig
Great Falls.
A lot of them were sitting around
telling fish stories, although it was
cold enough outside to freeze bait in
bottle, and Star reporter was taking
In the wild, weird tales with more or
less discount, when a member of the
South Mountain Rod and Gun club took
the floor, and at once, by his calm and
confident manner, assured all hearers
that whatever might be the lack Of YER
acity in the preceding tales there would
be none in what he was about to unfold.
Speaking of the fish ts.et gets away
as the largest" he said, 81 am quite
prepared t. believe that it is true.
There Fnay have been time when had
doubts on this subject, but they were
dispelled last year by an experience I
had at Great Falls
"What were you fishing there for %
inquired an expert in a scornful tone.
81 was with a party of amateurs on
a sort of a picnic,' responded the mar
rator rather alphabetically, for he is
an artist who does not like to have his
skill brought into question. "But to
ICSd <AS L NcsS 14ISs 0clo u
there fishing last summer, or spring,
rather, the only time, you know, when
amateurs and poets think fish will bite,
and / had gone over to the Virginia
shore and was monkeying around there
about 100 yards above the falls. don't
know whether you gentlemen are ac-
quainted there or not, but / can tell
you that the Potomac water comes
down with rush that ought to bring
enough mud to Washington to subsoil
tic insides of twice as many people
as live in the capital city.
"Then it breaks over the bluff and
goes swishing and swirling, and hust-
ling and hurting, and twisting ard
tNirling around over the rocks and
bowlder below, until you would think
Satan himself had set up his churn
there and was using all the water SO
his tenants couldn't get any for drink
ing purposes. AS I was saying, | was
monkeying around above the falls max
ing a cast now and then just for the
fun of it, when all of sudden I got q
jerk at my line that was so sudden and
spirited as to cause me to lose my foot
ing on the slippery stone where [ was
standing, and the next thing I knew
1 was in the seething waters. anG' l
can assure you that they seethed a
thousand times more on close acq uaint-
ance than they did at long range.
fortunately held on to my rod as
] was swept away, because it was d
valuable one, and I didn't want to
lose it. In half second after I struck
the water was sweeping down toward
the falls, and yelled for help, but of
course help was impossible, and knew
that in another second I was going to
be on my way to eternity. I had just
begun to think of all the sins had COM
n.itted, when / felt myself slowing up,
and then almost instantly stopped and
began going back up stream.
''The current was SO strong that my
resistance to it was very nearly as un-
pleasant as the going down was, but
1 felt that I might yet be saved, and
the way I gripped that rod and caught
onto it with both hands was lesson
to beginners in active industry.
couldn't account for it at first, but by
the time / had been dragged back to
still water it occurred to me that it was
the fish had caught that was doing it,
and my sportsman instincts took the
place of fright, and I began to figure
on how to land that fish. But I couldn' I
do it, and after several vain attempts
/ had to let go the rod and swim ashore
I'm quite sure that in all my experience
L have never caught a larger fish
than
''The one you didn't CATCH" inter
rupted a veteran member of the club
and nobody else had a word to say
Washington Star.