Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-11
CRUELER THAN SHARKS
TALES OF THE TERRIBLE FERoCITy
OF BLUEFISH.
They Eat Nearly Half Their Weight
Daily and Then XIII for
Mere Sport.
From the New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune.
At this season OF the year the blue FISH
is practically without rival In the mar
ket. Shad disappeared a month ago. Cod
are both poor and scarce. Halibut. one OF
the great staples of the winter trade in
fish. are also scarce at the present time. OF
course, one can find an occasional sea bass,
sheepshead and founder. and at times
| mackerel are plentiful. And there are a
| fair number of Holsters, crabs and clans.
But the fish which in abundance and popu-
larity just now stands at the head OF the
list is the blue fish. and unless some hing
| Unforeseen happens it will hold that place
all summer.
The opinions which are current regarding
| the bluefsh are usually formed in one OF
two ways. A long and pleasant acquaint-
arce may be based on experience at the
table. But this. after all. affords only a
| limited insight into the subject. Again. q
man may. with wet and abraded fingers.
haul in a five or six-pounder until the latter
| is within a dozen feet of the boat and then
see the agile and glistening creature jump
out of the water. throw the hook from It's
mouth and return TO the shades of private
life. If line that has fisherman at one
end and bluefish at the other is not pulled
in rapidly enough to stay taut the conse-
and a vivid but exasperating exhibition OF
a bluefshs pluck and agility will I've at
forded. After all. though, nothing like a
sy numerical and complete estimate of the
character of bluefish can be reached with
out an intimate knowledge of his private
habits.
In spite of the favor with which this
beautiful and spirited creature Is generally
regarded, those who have had a good
chance TO study him tell awful tales of his
ferccity- The pike and shark enjoy rather
undesirable regulations in this respect. :ut
a rigid and strictly judicial invest; ion
of the facts warrants a suspicion THAI the
bluefsh outranks them both in sheer cruel
ty. Sharks are greedy and unprfncipled
enough, heaven knows. But II can at least
be said in their behalf that they eat what
they kill, and are not given to slaughter out
of pure "cussedness." The blucfish. on the
contrary. Stays just for the fun of the
thing. When he overtakes a school OF
menhaden he attacks one after another in
rapid succession. Some OF them he swal-
lows whole. Others he merely lacerates.
The fact that he had what Is poetically
called square meal only fifteen minutes
before puts restraint on his murderous
propenSities. He snaps at the nearest moss
bunker takes a small morsel out of his
unfortunate victim, and leaves the mangled
remains floating In the water for the sea
guIls. The latter haunt the neighborhooi
Of band Of maraudng bluefish on this
count. and thus give TO the practiced fish,
erman free tip regarding the whereabouts
OF his prey
The gull is a side issue. though The
main question is the fish and his cxtraorli-
nary rapacity. There is a limit to be sure.
II the capacity OF blucfishs stomach. And
when that organ is filed he can't well stow
away anything more there. All the same.
he goes on playing Herod with the inno-
cents that come within his reach. The
finding of remnants of menhaden and other
small fish in the water near a school of
bluefish has given rise to the notion that.
after having eaten all he can accommodate,
al nj lrRr rat nv in
fresh onslaughts. But considerable doubt
attaches to the theory. 1t seems to be
merely an inference from the debris found
in the water near a school OF bluefish. No
one reports having witnessed the election
of food from fishs mouth.
The number of bluefish taken OF the Jer-
sey and Long Island coasts during a single
season has been put by writer in The
Fishing Gazette" at one million. and he
makes this only per cent of the total num-
Der swarming in these waters. He then
expresses the opinion that no less than
= 800 900. go pounds of menhaden are eaten
by bluefish daily. or about two and half
pounds to a bluefish. II these figures are
even approximately correct the bluefish eats
from a quarter to half his own weight IN
the course Of twenty-four hours. IL is i'm
possible to find a parallel for this voracity
among land carnivora. More than dozen
mossbunkers have been found in the stom-
ach OF a bluefish. But on the theory that
he ate only ten day during a season Of
100 days, the whole billion of bluefish on the
coast would get away with en- appalling
number of menhaden in 4 season of four
months. Such a calculation emphasizes not
only the destructivencss Of the biuefish. bur
also the astonishing fccundity OF its vic
tins. which can endure that kind of havoc
without any apparent Elimination.
They do say, however, that the hluefish
will seek to avenge himself his human
enemy IL the opportunity offers. Not only
will he bite iercely while being removed
from a fishhook. but he will actually attack
a man in the water. II the following MARIA
tive had originated with a fisherman one
might be excused for entertaining msgiv-
ings as to its truthfulness. but the narra-
tor is a submarine diver. and who ever
knew a submarine diver to depart further
than did George Washington from strict
facts! So there Is no discounting this story.
Once upon a time. says the diver. he was
entirely submerged. and wes engaged in ad-
justing some hoisting apparatus to a sunk
en- wreck Along came big biucflsh.
which. In a spirit OF pure 6eviltry. snapped
at the mans bare hand. It's teeth came
together like the jaws OF a railway conduc-
tors punch on a commuters ticket. Tho
diver tried TO withdraw the imprisoned
member but in doing so mangled IL sadly.
II thus appears that bluehsh does not
confine his mcrciless attentions TO moss
bunkers and such. and has no reverence
for the gifted creature which stands at the
head Of the animal creation. A man cam
not be too careful. therefore. about con-
trolling the conditions under which he
meets this blcodthirstS derlzen Of the deep.