The Portland daily press., 1898-08-23
THE ANANiAS CLUB.
A Session at Which a Stranger More Thar
Qualified Himself for Membership.

A Session at Which Stranger More Than
Qualified Himself for Membership.
st. Lawrence in the bass season than any
where, stepped from the steamer one noon
recently at Santa Catalina island, Cali
fornia. The boatmen who own the stands
along shore. and who have keen eye out
for prosperous looking visitor with
rod, old not give him . second glance.
But he had seen them he had taken in
the beautiful bay, the smooth water,
well-equipped rowboats with ats for
rod fishermen hauled on the beach, the
big fish hanging on the racks, and doubt
less had caught sight of the bits of paper
each fish and the fortunate csptor.
Half an hour later the tall thin man
was wandering along the stands sizing
up the place, finally drifting into the
photograph decorated stand of the boss
tuna gaffer, about which were gathered
a group of men who represented the
Tuna and Ananias clubs. The members
of the former Wore small button OF blue
enamel, in the center of which was
tuna in silver and the words Tuna Club;
the boatmen wore lyre.shaped buckles.
the insignia Of the Ananias. A dark-eyed
tuna fisher moved up to give the stranger
a eat, and then continued the conversa-
til on. Some one had just landed with a
catch of forty barracudas, fand he was dis
cussing it.
cudas. l killed one in Bahama some
We ars ago that measured eighteen feet in
diameter. ~ 0a
The stranger shifted his seat nervously.
"Its teeth were like young bowls knives
and dozens of men are killed by them
every year. This one I took on reel;
it was sort of an arrangement liked
into the stern Of the boat, and turned on
crank, and when we hooked the fish
began to work on 1t, and for ten hours
wound and worked, during which that
barracuda towed our boat from Bull Pup
key to Punta Gorda, a distance OF ten
miles, where we finally killed it on the
beach. 1t weighed 900 pounds, and its
bite was deadly poison. :,
II am glad to hear your testimony"
said the stranger, glanclng around as the
sport. men who were looking at him as
though to see what effect the story would
have; 81 am glad, because ! had the same
experience down at St. Kits. only my
fish was bigger; he measured 81 feet in
length, was 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 taik about
your Ieaping tuna this barracuda shot
throu Oh the air like tarpon. Once he
leaped over the boat and hit at me with
his tail struck the mast and broke 1t
short off. All this time I was play ing
him on tarpon rod with No. 18 Gu tty-
hunk line."
"Eighteen, did you saya" asked a
listener
"Certainly," replied the tall, thin
man. s.I never use a heavier line"
tWill you permit me to make a note of
that?' asked the first speaker, taking out
Il notebook.
Certainly said the stranger, las
was saying" he continued, II was play
ing him on an IS line, and in these jumps
he wound that slender cord around the
boat several times, yet did not break it.
You see, when be made the third leap, l
gave him the butt in the air and turned
him SO that he fell back the way he came,
and MS they always make three leaps he
cleared himself. It's all in the hand
ling of the rod"
"Tbat reminds me of story" broke
in habitue of the stands, as the others
were gazing intently at the stranger. 81
was on the point few days ago of trying
an experiment l thought that these
rock bass might take..a fly, SO was casting
near the kelp. AS my fly went backward
on the ri flying fish that was skim
ming Ralonga took the fly. l had large
reel and plenty of line. so I played out
to see how far the fish would fly. 1t
went, as near as could Judge. 100 feet,
and as it fell a whitetish seized it. The
struggles attracted the attention of yell
lowtail that now seized the whitefish.
This time l was SO astonished that for
got to reol The yellowtail suddenly gave
desperate leap, but before landed a tuna
sprang from the water and seized it.
Naturally said the angler, blandly,
81 concluded that this was the end; bu t
no. AS a member of the Tuna Club
was about to commence sthe capture of
the tuna, when shark seized the fish,
and of course that settled it, The shark
is not game fish and l refused ato play
it, and it broke my line and the entire
party moved off. 1t was simply an illus
tration of the lion that gave party, in
viting all bis animal friends. from the
ant up. When dinner time came the lion
suggested that the scorpion eat the ant,
the cat eat the robin, the dog eat the
cat, and thea the lion ate the dog; and
everybody but the ant was satisfied"
That is remarkable story" said the
stranger, who did not seem especially
pleased, "but it is nothing to what I
have seen in the Gulf of Panama, where
the sharks are SO thick that when you go
fishing you have to dynamite the lay to
kill them of. But what l was getting
at was the story of the first mate of tho
Mozambique. She came in with flag at
half mast, and it seemed that the mate
had put after a whale. She was whaler,
and had fred at big sulphur bottom.
the gun harpoon striking it in the tail,
passing directly along the spine and
coming out at the mouth. When the
animal was hit, it turned around SO
quickly to sec what had struck 1t that the
harpoon, in coming out of the whale S
mouth, struck the Unfortunate man .and
killed him."
The stranger rose and passed on in
silence. IN. Y. Sun.