Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-02-28
THE FIDDLER CRAB.
SOME FACTS AND A GOOD STORY
ABOUT THE QUEER CREATURES.
Their Principal Uses Are ss Fish Bait and
tn Have Fun With-How "A BarreIfuI Got
Loose on staten Island and Justice Gar
ret Was Fooled.

ret Was Fooled.
Fiddlers are % cents a quart. This may
! BE- IA startling announcement for musi-
J clans, bat the liddlcrs we are dealing with
do not play i'm orcheStras. In other words,
! soldier crabs are - cents quart. SoldieY
crabs are best known To the boatmen and
the fishermen. They are among the small
est species of crab and are used rs bait for
sheepshead and blackfish. If they have
any other utility. nobody so far has found
II out. They swarm i'm the swampy places
on the coasts of Long Island and staten
Island. In the sand it is easy enough TO
catch them. Two boards placed in the
shape of V constitute the apparatus for
the capture of fddcrs. When the boards
are set, the sportsman or markctman, as
the case may be, simply drives the ilddlers
before him, and all that run inside the
| two boards are grabbed by handfuls and
tossed into pail or barrel The unfortu-
nate creatures will live in captivity for a
week or two. In muddy places it is diff
cult To catch flddlers, for the simple reason
that on the approach of danger they disap-
pear in the holes which they make in the
| mud.
Fiddlcrs are queer looking little things,
and their habits are interesting Each enc
knows his own home and guards it jeal
| Ously. In the little holes in the mud the
married understand they are nearly all
married-live happily with their wives
and families. and when an intruder at
tempts To climb down the chimney and
establish himself i'm the abode of another
fiddler the liveliest kind of fight Is sure
to follow.
The invader does not go down farm
| fact he appears to holler at the fiddler
down below and challenge him out to
! fight, for as sure as he presents himself at
the top the fellow below comes mp. \
rough and tumble fight is then inaugural
ed II is sure 10 end with the loss of y
| limb. When the fiddler loses his claw in
the battle, he simply gives up the struggle
and sncaks away, ana his cncmy being
chivalrouS, never attempts TO iujurc
wounded foe Unlike other soldiers the
soldier crabs, or tlddlers, never have 10
wear artificial limbs, for when one Is taken
Of in "A fight all he has 10 do l. 10 retire
10 some secluded spot and wait for another
| limb To grow.
There are two kind, of fGdlcrs--thc
chinabackS and the nigrcrS. some anglers
| prefer the former, and Others insist that
the Niger hddlcr~ with the yellow claws
make the best bait
One fine October morning several year,
ago two well remembered ishcrmcn-Cap-
| tainS Van Pct ana Hod1es-startcd out
in n cathoat from Staplcton. y. y. bound
for Cuncy Island 20 got half a barrel Of
iddlers In a Snort time they captured
more fiddler, than they could possibly Use
during the remaining trips of the season
to the Romer fishing grounds They re-
l in hair
fast and snug and carried the barrel of fd.
oilers ashore. Hodges intended 10 keep
them in hi, garden, 80 that no thieviug
anglers might steal them from the boat.
On the way home they stopped at u lager
beer saloon, where they refreshed them
selves and met some friends, Late in the
evening Hodges concluded that it was
about time for him to 90 home Van Pclt
offered to accompany him "a help carry
the barrel IL iddlcrS, bat iIod-cN insisted
that lac was able 10 manage lac iddlcr>
alone - off bc started promising TO
meet his friend Van Pcltat 40 clork sharp
on the following morning To go down 10
the Romer and slaughter sAcep-hoad and
blaCktish
Next morning at the appointed hour
Van Pelt was i'm the saloon equipped with
everything that Is necessary 10 catch fish
except Of course, the bait After waiting
for nearly an hour Hodges staggered into
the saloon
well you're fine fellow" said Van
Pclt. "Whcrc did YOU catch it all 80 early
and whore the devil are the fiddcr>y'
Fiddlers--thcy re- everywhere "
"Wliat do you mean
"Felcrs put 'cm into other rcllcrs beds
and the girl, is sweeping en- out O tn
halls. Fiddlero ev'rywhere!'
"What n the world are YOU gettin att
"Well. I'll tell you, Jake When ! left
here last night II was "a dead beat TO
wind ard home, but on one tack | failed
to clear Mike Oats pump, and me and all
the iiddlcrs was capsiZCd l got up and
tried To catch some OF en- but they was
too fresh and away they went helter
sAelter down the street, into stores and all
round everywhere | wasn't lively enough
Tor EN-, and the whole baTrcllul got away.
In the saloons and stores some of the boys
got EN-, and the fellers who don't want
60 fish with EN- are havin fine fun with
en-. "
Seated at table in the same saloon,
witt his big stovepipc hat. in which he
kept his bandanna handkerchief, in front
of him, was the well remembered and far
lhIlltu JuSllCt 0dTItlN. Ills HDilbI wits last
asleep. Before Jake finished his lamcnta-
tions over the loss of the fiddiers two
young men entered the saloon Seeing
chat the judge was asleep, one of them
went over, lifted up the bandanna. and
pulling from his pocket hstful of liddlers
he put them into the judicial hat and GOV
cred them carefully with the bandanna.
Then he woke up the Judge and invited
him TO take drink. His honor was will
Ing. He carelcssly put on his hat and adj
ganoed to the bar with dignity. After he
had had his drink ne felt strange sensa
ton on the top of his head He removed
his hat took out his bandanna and rubbed
his forehead. Some flddlers fell out of the
bandanna, and swarm of them came out
Of the hat
"Jumpin Christmas What thunder's
them thin9s2' he shouted.
Everybody IN the saloon by prearrange
ment kept his face perfectly straight and
wore rather astonishcd look.
Whats the matter. judge" said Jake.
9TH matter Whst--what's them
things