The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-21
FITZ, THE GIANT LOBSTER.
QUITE ENOUGH OF a KRlKEN FOR
OUR FRIENDLY SEAS.

heats the Record for slre since the sixteenth Con.
fury nays, when Oiaus AaaEnusvas the Lead.
ing writer OF Fahes-Fears That Captivity
Will Bring His Latter End On with u Jump,
All day yesterday crowds blocked the space In
front Of the Aquarium tank where the gigantic
new lobster, Mr.. FitEsimmons, so called from
his mighty left, is at present boarding. He took
precedence even over the playful SOILS who bob
mp out OF tho tank to courtesy TO visitors. An adj
miring assembly estimated that he must be at
least 1000 years old, and that with one closure
Of his muscular claw he could pinch q steel rail
30 fno that 1t couldn't be distinguished from q
roll OF tin foil. His lobstership, planted square
in the contre Of the tank. moved his antenne
gracefully. and stared with his boady eyes at his
admirers.
Asa matter Of fact. Mr.. F~itzsimmons has .
right to DO proud Of himself. He 10 the biggest
specimen Of his kind ever known to have been
captured. DR.. Francis II. Herrick, in his ex-
haustive monograph on Holsters. cites several
Holsters that weighed over twenty pounds, but
declares that he has never known Of an anthem
ticated case Of q lobster weighing moro than
twenty-five. In Philadelphia there is q dead
crustacean who achieved an avoirdupois Of
twenty-five pounds, which was considered ro-
markable at the time OF tho capture. The fellow
in the Aquarium tips the scales at thirty pounds.
aHu II titEblOTc mo DlBHtSJ On TeCOru blnCo inc
time when CLAUS Magnus and his contompora-
ries in scientific fiction produced a picturesque
output OF natural history.
Mr.. Magnus published in 1885 a description OF
the northern lands and seas. in which he mcn-
tions n large and ahle-bodied tribe Of lobstors
that backslid about the bays Of the 0rkneys and
Hebrides. 1t was the habit of these cheerful
crustaceans, the writer states, to hang around
the beaches where the inhabitants bathed, well
como the swimmers with open arms, and tow
them out to SEQ Inspired by these tales. a Ger
man artist Of the period painted certain pictures
plate that the painter was thrown. into prison
and narrowly escaped being put TO death, on the
fnsl. lion OF the devil, who was at that time q
decidedly unpopular character.
Allied to Mr.. Magnus's monsters were the lob
sters or the Norway coast, called st0rjer. These
were stated TO be OF gigantic size. ono seen lbnt
not captured) in tho bay OF Erien having meas
fathom is six feet. The st6rier we're alleged to
possess large and cannibalistio a~ppetitos and to
being who came within reach. Ali mysterious
disappearances in tho region were charged 10
political reasons, found Il best to have their Mhe; en rSr
mics disappear. The kraken Is supposed to have
been q second cousin 70 this storjer family.
poses at the Aquarium couldn't tear a man to
pieces unless the man were dead. and 1t is to DO
70 tow q WINNER out TO sea, although indu6ita-
bly,, II he had fastened his left claw upon the log
Of any swimmer and pulled thereon. that swim.
mer would straightway have ceased TO be a
swimmer and have become q sinker. IL Is likely,
also. that II he should set his grip upon a mans
arm and exert his power or pressure the
bone would crush NO a hickory nut in a
experiment, however, as he is kept securely be-
hind the glass OF his tank, which Is in tho very
northeast corner Of the Aquarium. Many peo-
was in one OF the darkest tanks in the plaoe. but
he was put in that particular tank on that par
dark. and whom put into q larger tank sought the
dimmest corners.
Small and impertinent Holsters crawiod about
over him and he never moved until one Of them
touched an =ants1ne, whersapon Mr.. Fit.s,m:
small lobster crawled inside the mighty left claw,
but slid out when Il began to close slowly. Most
OF the time Mr.. sat with his tail
doubled under him: that mighty tail which with
a single jerk could sent him rearward with the
doesn't feel very lively as yet.
affected him." explained DR.. Bean. the Super
intendent OF the AQUARIUM. He is living in a
toned to. Out there where T he came no 7 fro aneo OF
water we hHye here. Il averages ;o25 there
living at a considerable depth, where the pres
sure is very great, and now he suddenly finds
like that suddenly, removed is something. OF a
shock; Imagine The lobster feels rather bloat-
in one OF the big pools, but decided not to, as he
would probably try TO hide all the time. In the
tank he can't hide.
- don't look for q long life for this fellow
continued DR.. Bean. He is probably of "a green
old age now. and might under o~rtinary tondi-
tons live to he much older. but =, prrience has
shown US that largo Holsters rom deep water
don't endure captivity we'll. some good sized
ones bad lived i've or six months in captivity,
lives any thing like as long as that. He will prob
ably brace up In q few days and feel livelier
after he becomes accustomed to his new sur
roundings."
There Is a hole in ono OF Mr.. Fitzsimmons's
claws, and he Is somewhat scraped on tho shell,
the effects of his capture