Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-06-27

wouldn't match out, an SO she KEEP on
a-settin' and a-settin' tell she jes' stahved
to death an turned bottom side up an
all de aigs'
Well" replied Wilkinson. chat must
nave been fool catfish why
No. she WASH no fool catfeesh. neither"
exclaimed the old man, warmly. Deed
she wasn't Dat catfeesh had a heap c.
We'll. then, why didn't she do as the cat
nsh called Arius. which lives down in Cen
tral America and over in the East Indies?
as soon as the eggs are laid the male
there until they are Matched out. He
Doesn't loaf around enc place day after
Gay. He gees where he pleases and takes
ms eggs along. Why didn't she do that"
great incredulity. 'Catfeesh go roun' wild
he's mouf stuffed full O. aigs an not
SWaller en-, Eur cough 'em out? How
bout when he chew he's grub. Chew up
a:gs an all? Yah, yah Oh, no. Dat fool
oatfet sh you all ben talkin' bout ain no
sech fool % dat. No, sab. She amt trust
IN her aigs in nobody's mouf to git chew
Fish don't chew" replied Wilkinson.
"Oh,. go long"' said the darby, with
some irritation.
Well they don't. But why didn't she 10
this. then: There is a catfish in South
America which carries her eggs around
stuck to the under part of her body. She
Goes not starve to death watching nest
ana ner eggs don't get stolen, either. That
hshS name Is PlatyStacus."
Dey ain no use it telln' me no sech
names Dey ain fifteen, an don wan to
hyah nuthin' bout 'em. A man KANT
feesh an talk, nohow.'
But Wilkinson persisted.
The Dorns Catfish.
IF that catfish had only had half the
sense of another one 1 know about, called
Doras, which lives in South America, she
news. When the breeding season comes
the mates crawl out on the land and scoop
out hole in the beach. When that Is done
they wriggle around and gather up leaves
and twigs and make nest in the hole;
then the mother fish lays her eggs and
they cover them over with leaves and
guard them until they are Matched. The
breeding time is during the rainy season,
SO their gills are kept wet all the time
and they can breathe as well on shore as
the other fishes can't leave the stream to
get at the nest, so the eggs, except from
snakes and such things, are pretty safe"
A Fighting Catty.
This was rather heavy shot for the old
dsrlky's equanimity. He shifted uneasily,
but evidently determined to make another
effort to keep up his side he said, after a
pause:
well sab, dat minds me Of de man
whut owned de place mex to my ole mahs-
tabs, down in Ferginny. Dey was gret,
big catfeesh lived down in deep hole in
de creek on dis mans place. undah syco-
mo- tree. an dis catfcesh he'd come out'n
de watah jes' lax de one you all's ben
talkin' bout An dis yah man he was
gret spote-fit chickens an sech, tell you
couldn res'-an' he went to wuk, sab, an
cotched dis yah catfeesh an trained him
an trained him so he'd comes6ut w'enevah
dis man w'istle. An he lal Mt dat catfeeSh
n chicken
spurs didn have no mo- show agin him
wild he's spikes than a goslin' agin
weazel He'd TEX dat feesh in a tub O.
watah an go ovah to Marylan', sab, an
whop anything dey could fotch agin him.
an all he'd have to do would be to stan
roun' Wen de flesh was fightin' an souse
him now an agin wild dippah of watah.
Ian! but he sholy did think heap O dat
flesh. He wouldn' a swopped him fur a
boss.
The Electrical Fish.
THAT was a pretty smart fish. no doubt.
but let me tell you about a catfish which
lives in the Nile in Egypt. You know
where that is-where Moses was found
among the bull rushes. Well, this IS an
electrical fish. If you touch it anywhere,
particularly on the belly. you will get an
electric shock-the same as when you touch
the ends of a broken telegraph wire or
catch hold of the handles of one of these
machines you see on the streets for testing
You know what 1 mean, don't you, uncle?
That is the kind of catfish Malapterurus
eleCtricus is
The old negro was slowly pulling In his
line. He wound it deliberately, drew up his
string of half a dozen fish from the water
licked up his bait can and rose to his feet.
"Fo' de Lawd!' he gasped, surveying the
placid Wilkinson with mingled wonder and
reproach. "Fo' de Lawd! Eff you ain de
mos outrageous. de mos beatenes' liah
dat -
More Remarkable Fish.
mo, no." replied Wilkinson, earnestly.
You are mistaken. uncle; have not told
you single thing that is not strictly true.
No, the trouble is that you don't know
very much about catfish, as many as you
are many kinds which you would not know
to be catfish at all There is the South
American fish, Caliichthys. which is COW
cred with big. bOny plates, like armor. 1t
leaves the water like the ones we were
talking about, and travels around every
where on the land in great droves. You
don't need hook and line to catch them
you don't even need a dog, unless it
might be to dig them up out of the
ground, for they often bury themselves
all you have to do is to take your basket
and your hoe and go out and dig them as
you would sweet potatoes. And there
are"
Don say no mol Dom
There are lots Of other armored cat
hsh which you would never recognize in
the world unless you knew the character
istics OF the order. You ought to know
those. uncle. I'll tell you what they are.
In the first place. the Nematognathi-that
Is the catfish order-are always either
naked or covered with osseous scutes
Barbels are always present, and the SUBJ
operculum is invariably absent. The max
Hilary is only rudimentary. The parietals
and the supraoccipital are continent and
the four anterior vertebrate are co-ossiied
and are provided with ossicula auditus
You will notice that, uncle. Then there Is
no mesopterygium-"
The old darky had been standing with
his hand raised and his jaw wagging in the
vain effort to say something or to stop the
glib. incomprehensible torrent, but with a
gesture of fmpotent rage he turned and
hcbbled off tile wharf. Just before he left
our sight he stopped and picked up a
brick, then hurried on. shaking bis head.
c.. B. H
Scissors for Soft Boiled Eggs.
From the New York Times.
Egg scissors have come They take or