The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-04-26
A Shad Fishing Party,

A jolly party of sports went shad fish
ing down the creek on Friday, and the
day proved to be one of much pleasure.
I The naphtha launch Panku was pressed
into service for the occasion, with Com
modore Comfy in charge. A. Lincoln
! Sailer was captain, and Charles Burtis
/ acted as navigator. The party started at
o'clock, and in SO minutes they were at
Centreton, where Edward Hults with his
! fishing apparatus was lying in wait for
a tow to the scene of action.
When landing was made below Irish
wharf the crowd of fourteen went to
work with alacrity, and in short time
the first haul was made. This resulted in
the capture of two shad, three herring
and one catfish, and then there was
trouble, for the men nearly went wild
over their luck. They shouted and danced.
Hulse ripped the back of his vest open
from excessive laughter, John Armstrong
threw out his false teeth and the Commo-
dore fell flat ON the gravel beach. But
this was not all, for Mysteries followed
when Henry Mcdonald, clad in his dane
ing pomps, was discovered numbering the
newly caught fish. There was sufficient
vitality left in the crowd for some one to
whisper to Henry to stop but he could
not hear them, so with his bludgeon and
jack knife he finished the job, and the
shad were mighty glad when the ordeal
was over. That's the way they do it in
Scotland, Henry softly murmured
The second haul brought in four her
ring and one shad. The latter was
beauty; but, seeing Henry standing near
by with his knife and club in hand, it
jumped over the cork line and escaped.
This was more than the fishermen could
stand, so Druggist Ward made decoction
containing knockout drops which soon
put Henry to sleep, and then confidence
was restored.
A number of hauls were made after
this with varying results, about 38 fish
having been caught
The Panku was lying in shallow water
beside a wharf when the Annie L. Van
solver went rushing by. Captain Sailer
had hold of the wharf, but the suction of
the steamer was so great he could not hold
fast, so the boat went one way and the
wharf another, and as consequence the
captain fell from under his hat and into
the water. As he grabbed the wharf piling
some one shouted to Joseph G. Bower:
Hey, there, catch Lin; he's overboardP'
and that ponderous bread basket of the
Sheriff moved with astonishing agility.
Joe tried to play the part OF hero but
he made a miserable failure. Pull him
up!' sang out chorus of voices, but in
stead Of grabbing his struggling friend by
rope that was dangling in the water, after
which he tried in vain to make the boys
believe that he was not excited. Lin was
finally rescued and restored to his crew
But the experience of those in the cabin
was also exciting, for the Panku came
near careening over Everything was
sent from one side of the boat to the
other. Postmaster Wills, who had been
stored away in a bunker with headache
which he received by listening to duet
rendered by Policeman Denness and AS
SCISSOR Girven, made an unsuccessful at
tempt to crawl out of a port hole, and
in doing so he became slightly
bruised. Benjamin w. Zelley stepped on
lamper eel and went down on top of the
engine. Arising as gracefully as posi-
BILE, Ben remarked: Darn if | didn't
think saw two young chickens walking
out from among those hard boiled eggs"
Matters were soon quoted down, how
ever, and the serving of rations drove
away all fear of sea sickness. 1t was now
lunch time, and just as the navigator was
about to ask a blessing, Ernest D. Hole
man put another spark IN the powder by
asking: Il wonders if the 'armory has been
ordered out of Mount Holly yet? ?"
The party did themselves proud at din
ner, for all hands were hungry This is
what Farmer John Davis got away with;
One roast chicken, one glass of jelly,
cup custard, eight boiled eggs, five slices
of bread and butter, two pieces of pound
cake, two sandwiches, four sardines, one
apple and half pie. Boys, must get
away with this, /" he solemnly remarked;
eff don't the folks at home will think l
am ill"
Joseph A. Ward has photographs of the
party which he will sell for the benefit of
Cuba.
The water was shaken out of the net at
o'clock and the Panku was moored at
her dock two hours later. Everybody was
pleased with their outing and they want
to 90 again