The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-28

How Jerry Mcdonnell Lost His Luck ms n
Fisher OF Crustacenns.

IlO" Jerry NC1bOnneh LOST his Luck rs n
Fisher of Crustaceans.
STEUBEN. Me. May 24.-Two years ago. when
Jerry Mcdonnell came here from PASSPORT to
catch Holsters. everybody said ne would fail.
There were fifty men and twenty boats from
Stcuhcn in the business and not half OF them
were doing paving work. Therefore it wasn't
reasonable that n raw grcenhorn who had
passed most Of his life on a New Brunswick
farm should come among skilled lohstermen
and fight his way to success. In spite Of i'll
omens. Jerry did the very thing they said he
couldn't 10. Last year he added two boats to
his fleet. and when he opened the season OF
1870 he had five boats and eleven men and was
taking from a ton and a half to two tons OF
Holsters every day.
As soon as the townspeople learned that
Jerry was going to succeed they began to tell
stories about him. They reported him to the
fish wnrdens for catching short Holsters: thcv
said he employed a gigantic dredge. thst was
~fenrfully and wonderfully made. instead Of con-
filming himself TO the regulation lobster pot
which the law prescribed: they naEg"d him
and weed him In n hundred ways until his life
was a round ~ tortures. Later they circulated
a report that Jerry's great success was due to
a tame lobster. which he had caught and
trained "a n decoy TO lure it's companions to
destruction. This lobster was not very large
or noticeable in any way, but 1t Ind more intel
ligence than any other creature in the ocean.
The native fishermen said that on foggy
nights. when the tide was making in and the
wind was from the south. this lobster would
leap six feet out Of water in the hay and come
down with q great splash that could he heard a
quarter Of u mile. He would do this for a signal
TO let Jerry know that his pots were full. ana
Us soon as Jerry henrd the noises he would
jump into his boat and row away through the
fog. coming back an hour later, his boat loaded
down 10 the gunwalo with great. fat Holsters
The belief went abroad that the lobster spent
most Of MS time under the sen canvaseing
among his kindred and G~ettinE'hem TO patron
i've Jeriy 's traps to tho exclusion Of all others
How well he succeeded was shown by the grea,
catches which Jerry made at every tide.
According 20 current rumor. the cause Of
Jcrrv's undoing as n lobster fisherman wa.
due to the close watch which the rival fsh err
m en- bestowed upon Jcrry's dccoy lobster
Along about midnight. when Jerry was on
shore boiling oil his catch and Grating mn red
sh, lle,i HOLSTERS for :he market. the tame lob
ster came to th nc > n2, anh tcI S."%I sm nyns d ,MS
focusing its vision upon the process, seeming
to take keen enjoyment IN the suffering and
came regularly for wa weeks, never s~kipning
a night. Meantime. tho rival fishermen. having
tried in vain to {. .strov Jerry's, powerful ally,
what they had failed to do by force.
Nitcr eonsidrr1nle dgoat" a,HGng Themselves
vehicle Tor carrying ont their design, o dog
i've lobster a second, time, except at long
| range, for an angry lobster can min. hard and
E2r, ~ }sn AMI The The dIS n az G 99 m tn%y s %i !fH4F 5n 4
slcep farm IN Harrington. H. was, n playful
coli. pui. that had whippcd all the dogs ~ his
from n flea to an C'CpnRnt. Sam Morse. the vii
lage dog trainer. took the JOB 10 educate inc
| collie on reasonable terms. and brought him 10
and entertaining cOmranigu. In II week he
had killed six cats aud had whipped or muir
After enjoying himself ia this manner during
the, day he went ont 10. walk on the s"arhoro
by the place whore Jerry was boiling Holsters
ms often as. possible, In spite OF Morse re-
atrn,miimfE G"'S With ,"s sea %HT u reR Es'a and d's siiaHrashcss
and making himself very sick from eating n
! Icrry's dcroy lobster, At thu end Of a w""E
he sow i by tn" side OF a stone Just at'he
~"G"@G nST ro,d nr"n42b% H. SAID I'D, Morse oEsTd IN his T m%s'
Hn""ii@@HtSs4 t to W al.f o fT9 s HiiG9"!n lex Gyi IIm sH""' 'F""
"ThG do. ia4hrd IN and grabbed at ran.
dom for tn" shining eyes. which pulled, back
green eT'~S"ft Sr'eps that closcl on the dogs fore
paw and hcl fast. The dog yelled in agony,
Morse to cover behind nclump Of trees Jerry
rCuIiZing that his valuable confederate wa
in peril. hunted for n stick with which 70 ktl
| the dog. but before no had found on" the lat,
Tor was in iull retreat iOr his old home IN
Harrington, yelling at every leap and making
the twelve miles in less than hull an hour:
The owner OF the collie hal hroilnd live lob,
strr for breakfast the next morning and sent
Morse a letter Of thanks for forwarding the
present. Jerry stayed around his lobster pot
Tor two LAYS and went way. Tho people say
he knew il was no VI" to try TO- holsters after
hi. ,nnsrNt had been stolen. \ il,h wurlcr
who arrested him for selling short lobster
knows hotter. Jerry. knows hettcr. 700. he.
cnuso he IL now catching s%urlincN in EaStpOri
hnrhor at SiO n hogshcad. irving ~ pnv on M
$40 fine which the Judge ~ ChcrrYiicld i'm
posed. from. which Jerry knew 1t would be
useless TO take an appeal.