Arizona republican., 1899-03-27
THE TANDEM EEL
PcCuIiarifieS of This Strange Fish
 Nade Known fo PhOe nix Sports.

Several sportsmen were, discussing
 many of the interesting, but little
 known habits of birds and fish and ami
 mals yesterday. MT Harding Wallace of Decatur, H., contributed a short
 talk on the tandem eel. for which the
 waters of the Sangamon river are faz
 nous. In fact, so far as is known,
 these eels are peculiar to that river
 MT. Wallace illustrated his lecture by
 an anecdote from his own piscatorial
 experience. These eels are called tan
 dem cells from the fact that they travel
 in schools one directly behind another.
 so that large school may be several
 miles in length. Their course is al
 ways as nearly straight as the channel of the river, or natural Instructions will permit. The cells travel about two inches apart. If one of them should diVerge from his course, say, by being swept to one side by an eddy, the eel behind him seizes him by the tail and retains his hold until the line is per fectly reformed. Scientists along the Sangamon have never been able to explain what useful purpose is served by this peculiar instinct. It is not de- fensive against the stronger enemies of the eels and does not in any way preserve the integrity of the school though it is conducive to uniformity It is said that this is the only known exercise of animal instinct that is purely ornamental and wholly unuse- full
 MT. Wallace said that some years ago he was on a fishing excursion with a neighbor along the Sangamon The neighbours hook was seized by a passing eel. The fisherman gave a jerk but not quick enough to prevent the seizure of the victims tail by the eel directly behind him. That one was in turn seized by another, and it by anoJner. The fisherman drew away from the bank dragging the ever-in rope or eels after him He went back as far as the first upland 1 or bench of higher land, called in that i part of the country the second bot | -om." It was warm morning ir | May and the fisherman stopped at Q distance of half mile from the river Wiping the streaming sweat from his | .ace he said to MT Wallace: This ere hing cant go on forever. We've got III the cells we want and we don't neeC l 0 depopulate the Sangamon. We've got to put period to this ere of eels i Omewheres. You go down to the river )ank and make some of 'em let go. Let all of 'em hangin' down the bank all back into the river an go on about heir business MT. Wallace went dowT o the edge of the river, but found diff
 culty in punctuating the procession. With a sharp knife he cut off the tail f an eel and the rest of the string fel ack into the river with a splash, sucI S a cast off haWSer makes. MT. Wal 1 ace and his companion measured the tring on the bank. It was 9S7 feet nd ten and one-half inches long, al lost 9SS feet. If MT. Wallace hac nown that he would have cut the tai if an inch and half lower down. MT Wallace does not know how many eels here were in the string. They didn't Ount them. He thinks their average i sngth was between eighteen inches nd two feet. He could not guess ever approximately at their aggregat6 1 eight. but there were eels enough fol ne whole community for the next seal year
 MT Wallace came here for rheum- tism and though he has been in Phoe- ix less than a week he has already btained great relief from his painful 1 ilment. He is well pleased with the 1untry. He has driven over consid- 'able part of the valley and believes l lat the country has a marvellous flu lre He will probably settle in Phoe ix permanently. MT. Wallace is emocrat of the Jeffersonian type. (
 .---:C.--