The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-01

lobster Is, and In his small way Is quite as fierce fighter. He (the gender Is immateriaD breeds rapidly. Otherwise the race would soon become extinct, as fish and turtles devour great numbers, and man contributes largely to it's dec- imation.
 The oraw found in this latitude is al- most one-tenth the weight of lobster, In the south they attain a greater size. Specimens twelve inches long have been caught in Florida and Louisiana. The northern eraw is rarely more than four inches long, A notable cireum- stance is that the large crawhsh, par ticularly those living in clear water, are almost as red while alive as they are after being boiled. This is not the case with the other members of the crusta- cean family, When very young the craw is white like shrimp, Then he Is great bait for bass and pickerel Af- ter he gets old and dark fish will not strike at him, but the meat of his tail will attract perch and crappie when even live minnows are unavailing.
 Catching crawfish is even better sport for lazy man than shooting frogs. All the apparatus needed is a few yards of twine, chunk of liver (raw meat of any kind will do, but liver is preferable) and a few light sticks yard long. Tie two and one-half feet of string to the end of stick, fasten piece of liv- CT to the other end of the string; let the liver sink into the water two feet: jab the butt end of your three-foot rod into the bank; then fix another tackle and do likewise.
 One fisherman can attend to half a dozen lines No hooks are needed. The crawfish seizes the bait firmly with one claw and proceeds to tear off liver with the other and feed himself. The motion of the line tells when you have a bite. Free your rod from the bank and raise the crawfish gently and steadily upward. He will cling to the liver till he is dropped into your bas- ket, provided you handle your line so as not to jostle him. Of course, if you want to be hog and take all chance of escape from the craw,. you can use a landing net, but the true sportsman scorns such an advantage. If you are pot-hunter you can catch craws by the wholesale with almost no trouble. Bait a basket with refuse and sink it In the water where crawflsh congregate. Let it remain a few hours, then lift it out. It will be half full of craws fight ing for the food. But that method of catching the simple but succulent mem Der of the genus Cambarus cannot be too severely condemned.
 After you get your crawfish you prob ably won't know whafit to do with T l1.. a the kitchen you first put kettle of water on the fire to boil, Put in a handful of salt and plenty of pepper. Cayenne Is good, but real artists prefer Mexican pods. While the kettle is com- ing to a fierce boil wash your craws in cold, clear water.
 Now comes that part of the operation which is wrongfully-almost criminaIly neglected by cooks who prepare craws for public sale. Grasp your craw firm ly about the body and claws with your left hand, so that he cannot pinch. You will find that he has five legs, one of which grows out of his body in the solar pleXus region. Twist this off. Then break the tip of the tail and pull it off. It will bring with it black string. This is the craws intestine, and should always be removed before the fish is cooked. As soon as this is done, toss the craw into the boiling wa ter, which has already been seasoned to suit the taste. In five minutes he Is done and ready to be served. Of course, if you are fastfdious, you can skin the tails and serve only the white meat with dressing, or brown them in the oven.
 Most people eat only the sweet, white flesh concealed under the shell of the tail and in the claws of the crawfish. Others like the dark contents of the body. George Horner of the Louisville and Nashville railroad and Artist Cum ningham go in for this portion of the craw with great zest, and when you see one of them at crawfsh lunch you may feel assured there will be no waste. The craw tastes like lobster, but is more delicate. One person can finish one hundred at sitting and not feel overloaded. They are sold at fifteen cents a dozen by the itinerant vendors, and the few hfgh-class restaurants that keep them charge a trifie more.
 To person who knows how crawfish should be prepared the practice of boil ing them before they are cleaned and serving them without removing the in- testines is revolting, but the frequent CTS of the summer gardens don't seem to know the difference.-St. Louis Globe-Democrat.