The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-06
THE ANANIAs CLUB.
A Session at Which Stranger More
Than Qualified Himself for Mem

From the New OK sun.
A tall thin man, better known on the st.
Lawrence in the bass season than any
where, stepped from the steamer one noon
recently at Santa Catalina Island, Cali
fornia. The boatmea who own the stands
along shore, and who have keen eye out
for a prosperous looking visitor with a rod,
did not give him a second glance. But
he had seen them-he had taken in the
beautiful bay, the smooth water, well
equipped row boats with seats for rod FISH
ermen hauled on the beach, the big fish
hanging on the racks. and doubtless had
caught sight OF the bits Of paper pinned
to them, recording the weight OF each fish
and the fortunate captor.
Half an hour later the tall, thin man
was wandering along the stands sizing
up the place, finally drifting into the pho
tograph-decorated stand of the boss tuna
gaher about which were gathered a group
Of men who represented the Tuna and
Ananias clubs. The members Of the form
CT wore a small button of blue enamel, IN
the center Of which was A 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 seat, and
then continued the conversation. Some
one had just landed with a catch Of forty
barracudas, and he was discussing it.
But you should see the Florida barra-
cudas. I killed one in Bahama some years
ago that measured eighteen feet in diam
eter.'
The stranger shifted his seat nervously.
Its teeth were ike young Bowie knives,
and dozens OF men are killed by them
every year. This one 1 took on a reel;
it was a sort of an arrangement fixed into
the stern Of the boat and turned on
crank. and when We hooked the FISH be-
gan 10 work on IT, and for ten hours 1
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 go pounds, and its bite
was deadly poison"
4 am glad to hear your testimony"
said the stranger, glazing around at the
sportsmen who were looking al him as
though 10 see what effect the story would
have; Il am glad because / had the same
experience down at st. Kits, only my fish
was bigger; ne measured tWenty-seVen feet
in length. was five feet in girth and weigh
ed so pounds When he struck al our boat
It looked as though his mouth was filled
with cleaning sabeFs; and talk about
your leaplng tunal this barracuda shot
through the air Ike a tarpon. Once he
leaped over the boat and hit me with his
tail, struck the mast, and broke il short
off. All this time I was playing him on a
tarpon rod with a No. IS cuttyhunk line"
Eighteen, did you say?" asked lis
tener.
Certainly" replied the tail. thin man.
Il never use a heavier line"
"NAi you permit me to make a note of
that?' asked the first speaker, taking out
notebook
Certainly" said the stranger las I
was saying" he continued, Il was playing
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 he made the third leap, I gave
him the butt in the air and turned him so
that he fell back the way he came, and
as they always make three leaps he clear
ed himself. It's all In the handling Of the
rod"
That reminds me of a story" broke In
habitue of the stands, as the others
were gazing intently at the stranger. 81
was on the point a few days ago of irving
an experiment 1 thought that these rock
bass might take a fly, so was casting near
| the kelp. As my fly went backward on
the rise a flying fish that was skimming
| along took the fly. ! had a large reel
and plenty of line, so played out to see
how far the fish would fly. 1t went as
| near as l could judge, 100 feet, and as it
| fell whitefish seized it. The struggles
attracted the attention of a yellowtail
| that now seized the whitefsh This time
I was so astonished that I forgot to reel
| The yellowtail suddenly gave a desperate
leap, but before it landed a tuna sprang
| from the water and seized it.
| Naturally" said the angler blandly 'I
| concluded that this was the end; but 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 settled it. The shark is
not a game fish and refused to play it.
! and it broke my line and the entire party
| moved off. 1t was simply an ilustrati ton
| or the lion that gave a party inviting all
his 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 then the
lion ate the dog; and everybody but the
| ant was satisfied
THAT is a remarkable story" said the
! stranger, who did not seem especially,
| pleased, but 1t is nothing TO what have
seen in the Gulf of Panama, where the
sharks are so thick that when you go fish
| ing you have to dynamite the bay to kin
them off. But what 1 was getting at was
the story of the first mate of the Mozam-
| bique. She came in with flag at half mast
and II seemed that the mate had put after
| a whale She was a whaler, and had fired
al Dig 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. il
| turned so quickly to see what had struck
1t that the harpoon, in coming out Of the
whales mouth. struck the unfortunate
man and killed him"
The stranger rose and passed on in
| silence.
According to lie Petit Journal of Paris,
the dirtiest people In the world drtier