Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-02
IN THE DAYS OF PIN HOOKS
THE BROOK AND ITS NEyER-rau.
ING ATTRACTIONS.
curious Forms of Life md the DELIGHT
Attending the First Bite
and Catch.
Ernest McGatrey In the Chicago Post.

was called the government pike" There
was brook which ran through the farm.
past the meadows and across the fields
disappearing finally in the big woods" a
oarh ana mysterious forest. where terrible
snakes were supposed to Turk This little
brock was veritable wonderland to the
boys, and Indeed there were many strange
ana beautiful things about It, In the lower
meadow there was huge granite bowIder
half sunk in the water and around ,b,s
great rock schools of minnows could he
seen. IL you stood perfectly still the min
nows would stay in sight. their shining
,orms looking like silver In the sunlight
nu. n you even SO much as lifted a finger
tne ehtire gathering would vanish with a
wnisk OF their alert tails and the pcture
would be lost. And in the edges of this
pool where the ponderous stone rested were
wrissing bands of tadpoles. squirmily NOV
ing In botches of inky blackness Then
too there We're agile waterbugs. gliding
across the pool swifter than spiders over a
wen. Ana sometimes a red-winged black
olru would light on rusty stake that
STOOD IN the center of the spot and send
out such sweet. clear whistle as only a
BOY. and a very little boy. ever hears.
Further toward the red brick farm house
and on the edges of the brook We're guam
tities OF blue flag lilies, with veins in their
deilcate petals as fine and blue as those in
oaoy wrist And in the summer days
tnere were numbers of dragon files known
to the boys as snake feeders" Some Of
| them were very small. and blue In color;
others black and white, and larger and
some others, biggest and most formidable
OF all, That flew menacingly toward the
boys when they wandered along the brook
Ihese creatures were well known to be in
the haoit of feeding the water moccasins,
garter snakes and black snakes that fire.
quented the marshy places along the brook,
and they were therefore objects of terror to
the urchins. Sometimes the kildee plover,
gray restless and with piercing cry. sprang
from asf,
ing wing In the fresh June air. Sometimes
crow stalked warily about in the mead
ows. and always in the long. warm days
the silent, shadowy swallows woye a TWIST
ing mesh of flight above the water Grass
grew to the brooks edge. and vioets blue
bells and the little starry white growths of
miniature flowers peeped from the green
! mats of grasses.
In the brook itself there were many curl
osfties. There were the crawfish some OF
them rusty reddish hue, and some of
tnem green All of them were fond of
swimming backward. and they lived in clay
banks, IN holes that We're bored in the
earth They We're fond of lurking under
stones in the bottom of the brook and the
boys captured many of them by wading in
the shallow places and overturning the
rocks where the crawfish had taken refuge
Ihese crawfish We're desperate fellows. too,
and had cruel ''pinchers' in the shape Of
TWO claws with serrated edges These were
fastened into the victim with a leverage
that made small boy "holler'' vigorously
sometimes. But these "pinchers" came off
easily, and. after all. the crawtish were
more sinned against than SHINING Then
there We're turtles in the brook with
striped yellow and black backs and they
were the most suspicious things along the
line of the brook. They would not wait for
the boys to get near enough to hit them
with long pole, and neither would they
give them an opportunity to knock them OF
the logs with rocks They usually slid
clumsty into the water at the least alarm
and stayed there until the coast was clear
But the chief joy and wonder of the brook
were the different fishes that made their
nome there. The sunfish. bold; fierce and
roaming about after food. The Silver
sides" not mentioned in any history of
fishes, but very numerous in that particular
brook And there We're rumors and old
tales also of "goggle-eyes," a most vora-
cious and dangerous fish. as inhabiting the
waters of the brook. But that was where
the brook widened and deepened toward
the middle of the big woods But the how
and his cousin had lately found wild ex-
citement In fishing for these denizens of the
brook, and every day they could be found
bobbing patiently at the bridges across the
stream or from its banks. How they ever
learned the art of angling neither of them
could have told 1t seemed to have been in
stlnctive. as young hawk will reach for a
bird or as a kitten catches at a mouse A
predatory. cruel instinct. maybe a relic Of
those dead ages when man roamed a saw
age and found his living with the stone
spearhead or the bone fishhook. At any
rate. they mad found out how to fish and
where fshworms to be found: with
bent pins for hooks and with can of red
fshworms they walked eagerly to the brook
and angled diligently for the finny rovers
among the pools and hollows there
Their poles Were willow branches. cut
from willows that grew near the pasture
bars. and their lines were strong linen
thread. captured from the home spools.
Their hooks We're pins. bent to a proper
angle. and for corks they had the shoppers
OF various medicine bottles. which they had
cd frnr, 49,
shelves from "gramma's' room Their
initial trip was something to remember
when everything else in life might fade
away. The first nibble was thrill of ex.
pectancy that set their hearts beating
madly The first bite was a delirfum And
the first fish, Hopping and tumbling in the
grass, us shining. green colors showing its
inns stretching in vain efforts to get back
to the brook-well. that cannot be described.
Most of the fish they caught the first
Time were suntish. The next day they
pool where the hired hands washed the
sheep in summer. and there they caught
some silver-sides." three times as large az
the sunfish. some of which We're big and
strong that they Strengthened the bent pins
out and calamity escaped the snare But
once some monstrous fish. possibly a fierce
"goggle-eye, took worm. pin hook and a
yard of linen thread at one fell swoop and
set them to shivering in apprehension
They were not certain but he might climb
out on the bank after them, fish of that
kind.
The swallows dipped and touched the
water they passed, the glistening drops
dripping from their glossy breasts as they
mounted higher. Great red and yellow
butterflies lowered above the meadows and
the sun fell strong and bright on the vel-
vety grasses. Crawflsh darted backward
over the hard clay bottom Of the brook,
and a wild canary balanced on weed
stalk like a tight-rope performer. hawk
swung over the woods and above the pas
ture and his shadow followed him on the
grass And by the little log bridge that
spanned the brook two small boys sat with
willow switches and floating corks. filled to
the brim with happiness. needless of the
turmoil of towns and the cares to be. down
in the pasture. where the water swan over
the crosses and under the shadows. rich in
the possession Of the 'pin-hook days"
Queer Things Heard in the Elevator
From the New Orleans Times Democrat.
IA funny thing about this business"
said a man who runs the elevator in big
office building, SIS the way people will
sometimes call out whatever happens to b
on their minds instead Of the number OF
the floor at which they want to stop. Just
a few moments ago a very gOod-lookinS
lady got in the car. and, when we were
about half way up she called out suddenly