The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-08-14
THE HABITS OF FISH.

TFrom the Los Angeles Times.l
1t is not too much to say that in some
ways the love of SalnOn paSSeLh that
of women. To reach the objects Of their
affection they perform feats and under
go hardshipS greater than any man
could do or bear, and to maintain II
they fight with courage and fury
which might make many soldier en-
vious.
The salmon trials begin when they
first leave the sea on their long upflNet
journey to meet their sweethearts
Presently, perhaps, they meet a high
waterfall. Then the salmon backs
away as far as possible, makes a loco
mOt1Ve-Ike rush and leaps Tor the top
He actually Whizzes through the air,
his tail is moving like lightning, MS
scales shine like silver enamel PER
haps he fails to reach the top by foot
but he catches the water, hangs sus-
pended for moment, and then with
miraculous strength forces his way up
and reaches the quiet water beyond
Perhaps the next waterfall is five feet
higher, and the salmon leaps in vain
Then, finding the feat Impossible, he
actually climbs the sides, jumping up
from ledge to ledge and resting in little
pools until the river above is reached
Then he goes on pushing through rap
ids and foundering over shadows until
the spawning ground is reached In
many of the larger rivers OF TINS con-
tinent the salmon is no beauty when he
reaches his journeys end. His scales,
perhaps, are worn off, his fins torn ana
"a
nevertheless he Wooes his ladylove bold
", caresses her tenderly, fights his
rivals hercely and wins his bride like a
soldier.
But all fish are not so romantic. The
Goldfish, for instance, is unsentimeltal
and actually ridiculous. He is a great,
gray, ugly fish, and his name itself is
absurd If there were such a thing as
submarine humor he would figure in
it as the goat does in our own comics
The Goldfish has, in fact, an appetite
which makes the goats look pale, and
when fishermen cut the fish open they
assert that they often find such things
as scissors, suspender buckles, horse
shoes, potato parings, oil cans, door
knobs, marlin spikes, corn cobs and
india rubber shoes.
Another startling story told by fisher
men is that in heavy weather Goldfish
eat stones to ballast them, but it is
more likely that these rocks are taken
in while attached to sea anemones, Of
which the Goldfish are very fond. 1t may
be inferred that Goldfish do not object to
nibble the fingers or hands of human
beings, because the wedding ring Of
a drowned woman was once found in a
Gods stomach and the finder got $50
reward for its return
Oysters and clans in the shell are
very popular with the Goldfish, and there
are vast heaps of dead shells in the
ocean, 'nested'' together like straw
berry boxes, which are believed to
have once been in the StOmachs Of cod
fish The appetites of these fish are in
satiable. They will fill their stomaehs,
fill their outlets and fill their mouths
with food and still cry to get more.
If people knew more about the fish
they eat it is possible that a slice of
baked blue" might fill many a man
with shuddering horror. for the bluefish
is perhaps the most terrible and blood
thirsty thing in all nature. The tiger
has a sweet and cheerful disposition
compared to the bluefish, the shark
seems a phlegmatic and amiable crea-
ture, and the wolf, by comparison, IS
positively mild. The bluefish make
menhaden their especial prey. When
a school of these fish perceive bluefish
near they swim away with such terrific
haste that the ocean foams under them.
but the bluefsh can not be distanced.
They rush among the helpless mem
haden biting, tearing, thFashing and
even throwing them into the air.
They do not stop to swallow their
prey, but kill purely for the love of
slaughter. The sea is Redeemed with
blood and dotted with dead fish, but
bluefish kill on until exhaustion stops
them or until the menhaden get into
such shallow water that the bluefish do
not care to follow. Sometimes these
helpless fish are so blind with terror
that they swim ashore and are piled
I'D in WindrOWs foot deep.