The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1899-12-29
Spacious Tales of Fish
Dinny Gewgan Surprised by "a
Thin Gray Pamphlet

into Casey's with thin gray pamphlet
under his arm. "I've got something
to show him."
Hes out in the court hitting up
the ball." said Joe, the steward of the
Handban club. 'Come in here, Dinny.
You're being asked for"
"Am l, now?" said Dinny, trotting
in. lis it yersilf, John? I'm timber
in up to cilibrate me sixty-tift' bert
day, come MKT Chuesda'. Lave me
take tin aces an I'll give yez a game"
''I'm to play the new man from the
old country this afternoon" said the
professor, land I'm saving my hands.
1t wasn't for game that 1 called for
you. 1 want to show you this book a
friend of mine sent to me-"
"a boo-ook, is ut? Sure, thin, I've
lift me spic-taycles at home" said
Dinny, cunningly. 'What might ut be
about, thot book?'
''Its Il fish book, Dinny, issued by
the United States fish commission, and
sent to me by my political friends in
Washington"
''Some O. thin fish stories the polly
tishuns do be tellin'? What fer wud
they sind thin to you, I dunno? Why
wudn't they sind ut to me thot has
caught more fishes av more kinds than
amy mon in BROOKLYN"
''That's the very reason Tn, bring
ing it to you, Dinny. It's scientific
book, and there are some parts of it
that 1 don't just understand, and 1
thought that you, knowing so much
about fishes"
'Sure, thin, you KEN to the right
pless thot time, john" interrupted the
old man. 81 know livery bone in livery
fish's body in these waters an have
swallied most av thin. IT'S sorrow
that / lift me spic-taycles behind, but
do you rade ut out, an rade slow, thot
1 can di-gist the substantiousness av
the slientifical portions. Who writ
the book?"
"a man named Herrick; Prof. Her
rick
''Av coorse," said Dinny, heartily.
ST know UNI well. He used t wave a
shtick in front of the orchestry at the
Shtar the-ayter. Thot's how he's a
proffiser. So, becuz he belongs to a
Sout' Brooklyn fishin' club he thinks
he can write a book about ut! The
consate of the haste! He dunno tn
diffrunce bechune a sandworm and a
lead sinker. What does he say?''
perhaps it isn't the same man.
suggested Prof. Coggins, but Dinny
waived away that suggestion and babe
him read ahead.
'The title of the book" said Prof.
Coggins, sis The Peripheral Nervous
System of the Bony Fishes"
saints difind us, John!" said Din
ny, with his eyes wide. "What Ian
guage is that, dunno?"
''That's the kind of English they
speak down in Washington"
mo, no, John,'' said the old man,
solemnly. "Av that's English I'm a
dago, an I'll sell paynuts on the coor-
ner."
sob, you'll recognize it when you
get little further along" said Prof.
Coggins, reasurringly. 'I'll skip the
first part and get into the heart of it,"
''Skip ahll av thin worruds wit
joints in thim," Denny requested.
N'They hurt me ears"
swell, how's this?" proceeded the
other. "He says here: In view of
these facts, the present demand, it
seems to me, is for minute and ex-
haustive study of the exact relations
of the several nerve components
through the entire course of the sew
eral cranial nerves in few typical
fishes. The common silverside, Me-
india, so abundant about Woods Holl
and other points along the Atlantic
coast, was chosen as the first type to
be examined. These little fishes stand
about midway between the physosto-
nous and the physoclystous types of
fishes (here Dinny was observed to
wince) and may be regarded as rela-
tive, generalized form.'''
THAT'S what comes av Sout' Brook
Ign fishin' clubs" unused Dinny, in self
communion. at makes afelly like Her
rick regyard that sort av thing as bein'
relatively simple. May be skint for
a neel av I don't behave the mon had
ought The arristed."
whats the matter, Dinny? Don't
you understand it?" asked Prof. Cog
gins.
"Av coorse I understand ut,' said
Dinny, angrily. "He's talkin' about por-
giles an he's kafoozled on his facts
Probably it will straighten out later
on" said the professor. ''I've lost my
place with all those hard words. Oh,
here we are: Though the organs of
special sense (eye and ear) are very
highly developed"
"Hould on!" shouted Dinny. "Rade
that again. Dye an what?"
"Eye and ear" repeated the reader.
"John, av ever 1 caught a fish wit ears
on UNI I'd teck the Father Matthew
pledge that day. Sure, Herrick has got
barnycles on his brain. Av he'd said
thot the nose was very highly divil-
oped, now, I'd know what kind av a fish
he was tall1in' about"
what kind is that, Dinny?" asked
Joe, the steward, unsuspectingly.
"The shmelt; he-he-he," snickered
Dinny. "Shkip the rist of thot about
the fishes ears. He'll be discribin' tn