The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-09-21

UP the place, finally drifting into tho
pnotograph-decorated stand of the boss
tuha gamer, about which were gath
eTeu a group OF men who represented
the Iuna and Ananias clubs. The
members OF the former wore a small
button OF blue enamel, i'm the center of
"hlch was a tuna i'm silver and the
WORDS Iuna Club; the boatmen wore
iyre-shaped buckles, the insignia OF the
Ananlas. A dark-eyed tuna fisher NOV
ed up to give the stranger a seat. and
then continued the conversation. Some
one mad just landed with a catch OF
IL.
But o should see the Florida bar
facudas. 1 killed one in Bahama some
years & mat measured is feet in
diameter"
The stranger shifted his seat, ner-
vously.
Its teeth were k young bowie
knives, and dozens of men are killed
by them every year. This one / took on
a reel; IL was a sort of an arrangement
fixed into the stern of the boat and
turned on a crank, and when we hooked
the hsh 1 began to work on 1t. and for
10 hours i wound and worked, during
which that barracuda towed our boat
from Bull Pup Key to Punta Gorda.
Instance or 10 miles, where we finally
Killed II on the beach. II weighed 200
pounds, and it's bite was deadly pois-
on"
Il am glad to hear your testimony"
SAID the stranger, glancing rou at
the sportsmen, who were looking at
MN as though to see what effect the
story would have; Il am glad, because
j had the same experience down at St.
Kits. only my fish was bigger; he
measured q feet in length, was five
feet in girth, and weighed 900 pounds.
When he struck at our boat it looked
as though his mouth was filled with
cleaning sabres: and talk about your
leaping tuna! this barracuda shot
through the air like a tarpon. Once
he leaped over the boat and hit at me
with his tail, struck the mast. and
broke ii short off. All this time / was
playing him on a tarpon rod with a
No. Is cuttyhunk line"
Eighteen, did you say?' asked a
listener.
Certainly" replied the tall. thin
man. l never use a heavier line"
Wi you permit me to make a note
of that?" asked the first speaker, taxi
ing out a note book.
Certainly" said the stranger. LAS
/ was saying" he continued, Il was
playing him on an IS line, and in these
jumps he wound that slende cord
around the o a several times. yet did
not break IL. You see, when he made
the third leap, l gave him the butt in
the air n turned him so that he fell
back the way he came. and as they al
ways make three leaps. he cleared him
self. It's all in the handling of the
rod"
That reminds me of a story" broke
in a habitue of the stands. as the others
were gazing intently at the stranger.
Il was on the point a few days ago
of trying an experiment. | thought
these rock bass might take a fly.
so was "a Sting near the Ealn AG my Hy
went backward on the rise a flying fish
was Swimming along took the fly.
| a a large reel and plenty of line,
so | played out TO see how far the fish
fly. 1t went, as near as 1 could
Judge, 100 feet, and as IL fell a white
fish seized it. The struggles attracted
the attention of a yellowtail that nov
seized the whitefsh. This time l was
so astonished that | forgot to reel. The
suddenly gave a desperate
leap, but before it landed a tuna sprang
the water and seized it.
Naturally" said the angler. blandly,
Il concluded that this was the end:
no. AS a member of the Tuna
Club, | was about to commence the
capture of the tuna. when a shark
seized the fish. and of course that set
it. The shark is not a game fish
and / refused to play it. and it broke
my line and the entire party moved
HiAs ~ ""S SAiAiBi an vi
the lion that gave a party, inviting all
his animal friends from the ant up.
dinner time came. the lion sug-
gested that the scorpion eat the ant,
the cat eat the robin, the dog eat the
at, and then the lion ate the dog: and
everybody but the ant was satisfied"
That is a remarkable story" said
he stranger, who did not SCENE espe-
pleased, but il is nothing 10 what
| have seen in the Gulf of Panama,
where the sharks are SO thick that
you go fishing you have to dyna-
mite the bay to kill them off. But
| was getting at was the story
If the first mate of the Mozambique.
came in with flag at half mast,
nd il seemed that the mate had put
a whale. She was n whaler, and
lad fired at a big sulphur bottom. the
gun harpoon striking it in the all.
directly along the spine and
out at the mouth. When the
animal was hit. it turned around so
to see what had struck ii hat
he harpoon, in coming out of the
whales mouth. struck the unfortunate
nan and killed him"
The stranger rose and passed on in