The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-08-25
TO THE WRONG MAN.
The Fresh Young Man Tells OF the Charao-
tcristics of the MuilygruL.

tcristics of the MuilygruL.
Tho fresh young man sat at the head
# the table He was eating a fish. A
red faced man dressed in tweed suit
"anc in and was shown By the head wait.
~ TO seat On tho left Of thc fresh young
.n. Tho red faced man was an Eng
ishman. At least he had an English az.
cent that smnd,d Is il il was his right
and not by adoption. He gave the wait
81 an o.y,ci, aud while he was waiting
he began talking with the fresh young
man.
"'n.~'..l r.,o, g." TO I'd f,-o1 ,,an h..
gan, "LuU would you mind telling me
what Kind of a fish that is you are eat
iug?'
Certainly not, replied the fresh
young man be1mingly. This Is very
excellent specimen Of what is known To-
cally as the mullygruh 1t is fish that
is found i'll great quantities in the shoal
waters of Lake Erie, the lake on the
| shore of which this city stands, and, so
| far as l know, is caught nowhere else.
The mullygrub is remarkable fish. 1t
/ grows to the length of two feet some
times, but is at its best for eating pur
! poses when about 10 inches long 1t is
delicatcly favored, many persons claim
ing that the favor is that of an excel
lent champagne, while others insist that
it tastes of McGford rum. That point
has long been q matter Of local COnten-
ton, but / am reliably informed that in
the olden days the Indians who lived
originally in these parts distilled excel
lent rum from the fish, so ! think the
rum partisans of today have rather the
best of it, -
Indeed " broke in the red faced man,
"that is very astonishing. "
ooh, yes. " continued the fresh
young man, but it is not the most sur
prising thing about these fish. Their
greatest peculiarly is the manner in
which they are caught. 1t is utterly i'm
possible to take them with Il hook and
line. They will not bite at any bait yet
invented by man. Nor is it possible to
catch them with net. Their dorsal fms
are sharper than a knife blade, and
when caught il a net they simply cut
their way out to liberty. For this rea-
son the fishermen do not cast net in
places where the mullygrub are known
to abound. The only way to catch these
fish is to hire a German band to play
.ho wedding march from LoEengrin
while standing on the shore. So great
an admiration have these fish for the
music furnished by German bands and
for that one tune that they swim up to
shore and wliggle their way out ON the
sand. Then it is easy to gather them
up. That is the way the entire catch is
secured, and thus many worthy German
musicians are enabled to earn comforts
bic livingS when otherwise they would
be obliged to walk around the streets
for an uncertain income, to say the
least. "
''How very eXtraordinaryn' muir
INJURED the red faced man.
1T certainly is, went ON the fresh
young man, but there is still another
habit of the mullygrub which i.
unique. The female mullygrub does moi
have the roe common i'll fish. Instead
she lays eggs which resemble the egg;
Of robins, being of pale blue though
somewhat smaller. These eggs are de
posted in the sand after midnight il
tho full of the moon, and during day.
; when the sun is not shining the mai,
mulJygrub sits on them to keep then
! warm. The littlo mullygrubs are born
with four legs, which they use to wall
with into the water after they are hatch
ed. In three days these legs drop OF
and tho fins appear.
, Il can hardly believe it, D." said the
red faced man.
ooh, yes; yes, indeed. What | hav,
told you can easily be verified anywhere
in Buffalo Then again when the mul
lygrub reaches the age of one year i
( sheds its skin. 1t also has the faculty
of changing its color on occasion.
have seen Il mullySrub, when in goo(
! spirits, change rapidly from red to whit
|. and then to blue and after that taxi
n on combination Of the three cOlors
g with a small patch Of stars just wher,
: the head Joins the body. But is it pos
, sible you have never heard Of this won
% derful fish?'
ut certainly is, " replied the red face(
. man.
t MAY inquire where you live? Yol
o are an Englishman, are You not?"
g "No, not exactly | was born il
. England, but just at present ! am en-
gagged in experimenting the large fsl
hatchery recently established III Can
ada.
e And the fresh young man tainted. -
u Buffalo Express.
u Brilliant.
gPa emo 70 locly +bo 1,,nl- 1oOr