Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-05-28
CAN you BEAT THESE.



st. Lawrence in the bass season than any
where stepped from the steamer one noon
recently at Santa Catalina island, Cantor
MA The boatmen who own the stanus
along the shore, and who have Keen
eye for a prosperous looking visitor with
a rod did not give him second glance.
But he had seen them-he had taken III
the beautiful bay, the smooth water Wen
equipped roWboats with seats Tor nsher-
men, hauled on the racks, and doubtless
he had caught sight of the bits Oh paper
pinned to them, recording the Welsht OIL
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 photo-
graph decorated stand and the BOSS tuna
eaffer about which were gather group
of men who represented the TUNA ana
Ananias clubs. The members OF the Tor
mer wore small button of blue enamel,
In the center of which was tuna IN Sill
YER and the words Tuna Club the boat
men wore lyre-shaped buckles the insignia
of the Ananias. A dark-eyed tuna hsher
moved up to give the stranger seat,
and then continued the conversation.
Some one had just landed with catch
of 40 barracudas, and he was discussing
it.
But you should see the Florida bar
racudas. / killed one in Bahama some
years ago that measured is feet in dia-
meter
The stranger shifted his seat nervously.
.'Its teeth were like young bowie knives,
and dozens of men are killed by them ev-
cry year This one j took on a reel; it
was a sort of an arrangement fixed into
the stern of the boat and turned on a
crank, and when we hooked the fish l
began to work on it. and for 10 hours
wound and worked, during which that
barracuda towed our boat from Bull Pup
key to Punta Gorda, distance OF 10
miles, where we finally killed it on the
beach. Tt weighed 200 pounds, and its bite
was deadly poison"
Il am glad TO hear your testimony"
SAID the stranger, glanc.ng around at the
sportsmen who were looking at him as
though TO see what effect the story would
have; II am glad, because | had the same
experience down at ST. Kits, only my fish
was bigger; he measured 27 feet in length,
was S feet in girth, and weighed 800
pounds.
when he struck at our boat it looked
as though his mouth was filled with
cleaning sabers; and talk about your
leaping tuna, this barracuda shot
through the air like a tarpon. Once he
leaped over the boat and hit at me with
his TAIL struck the mast, and broke it
short off. AT this time I was playing
him on a tarpon rod with No. is cut
tyhunk line"
Eighteen, cid you say?" asked the list
ener.
Certainly" replied the tall thin man,
Il never use a heavier line"
''Win you permit me to make a note
of that?" asked the first speaker taking
out notebook.
Certainly" said the stranger. "As
was saying he continued, II was play
ing 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,
gave him the butt III the air and turned
him so that he fell back the way he
came, and as they always make three
leaps he cleared himself. It's all in the
handling of the rod"
THAT reminds me of story broke
in a habitue of the stands, as the others
were gazing intently at the stranger Il
was on the point a few days ago of trying
an experiment. l thought that these
rock bass might take fly, so was casting
near the kelp. AS my fly went backward
on the rise a flying fish that was skim
ming along took the fly l had a large
reel and plenty of line, so l played out to
see how far the fish would fly"
1T went as near as l could judge.
100 feet and as it fell a whitefish seized
it. The struggles attracted the attention
of a yellowtail that now seized the white
fish. This time l was so astonished that
forgot to reel. The yellowtail suddenly
gave desperate leap, but before it land
ed tuna sprang from the water ano
seized it,
Naturally" said the angler, blandly.
81 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 game fish and refused to play it.
and it broke my line and the entire party
moved off.
1t was simply an Illustration of the
non 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
iopiu, the uoS 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 it is nothing to what l have
seen in the gulf of Panama, where the
sharks are so thick that when you go
fishing you have to dynamite the bay to
Kali them off But what 1 was getting at
was the story of the first mate of the
Mozambique.
She came in with flag at hah-staff.
and 1t seemed that the mate had put
AFTER whale. She was a whaler. and
had fired at big 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.
II turned around so quickly to see what
had struck it that the harpoon in coming
out OF the whales mouth, struck the un-
fortunate man and killed him.
Inc stranger rose and passed on in ST.
lence.-New York Sun.