The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-06
WANDERING or THE CR0rOy EEL
An Escape From the Aquarium and a Capture
After q stern Pursuit.

The troton eel got away from the Aquarium
yesterday, and great detective ability and
military strategy were displayed in recaptur-
ing it,. They call it the Croton eel becals" OF
the way it came to the Aquarium. Across the
main Croton water supply pipe that runs into
the Aquarium there Is "A wire screen to keep
things that might BE- harmful to the fishes from
getting into the tanks. One day -four months
ago the water ceased, with some abruItncss
to come through the supply pipe. COL Jones
ordered u m~erciless Investigation. The screen
was taken OF the supply pipe and a three foot
eel Hoped out into the hands of the investi-
eating committee.
" IT'S well, /" said Col. Jones. Never shall it
be said that "A Westchcstpr neighbor of mine
came all the way down to the Aquarium To see
me and h. was not Hospitality received Take
him in
They put him in the tank with the ~pickerel on
the bottom tier to the right OF the entrance. lie
has whlrled and Curled his slnuoll- way about
tho tank from that day To this. The sides and
bottom of the tanks are S0ild ana there l. only
one way OF escape for the prisoners. That ~
over the back of the tanks, since the tops and
sides are closed in even above the surface
81 the water, The AQUARIUM people have
shut of the escape over the back by
putting up high wire screens there. Back
OF the pickerel tank there was an open space
about two inches wide between the screen OF
that TANK ana the next, NoDouy raw Tue Sio-
ton eel do il but "a that was his only way Of es-
cape they say that ne jumped from the water
eight inches to that opening and got through II;
itc was missed at 2 O'Clock. MI. Denise ana
others OF Col. Jones's stan at once hurried
around TO the gallery back OF the tarks to look
Tor him. They found no eel. Careful exam
tnation OF the dust on the raised walk that runs
along the back Of the tanks, however, showed
the trail he had left behind after FILLING from
the passage through the screens. The search
ers followed the trail over the edge OF the walk,
down TO the ground and across 10 the wall OF
the building. The eel had crawled along the
wall until he had reached a hole that had been
made for steam pipes Ia go through. Through
this hole the runaway had reached a drain that
/. runs under the asphalt paving clear across the
Aquarium.
Mr.. Denise got dow on all tours and declared,
after "A long -quint into thedarkne>s Of the drain,
that he could see the eel~ tail, lie put his hand
down and the eel moved farther into the drain,
After "A consultation u hole was dug through
the pavement down to the drain. at a point
just above that where the cells head was sup
posed TO DO. Then Mr.. Denise Put his hand
low nj the first hole again. This time the
eel refused to move forward into the hands
that We're waiting for him at the new hole.
the first hole. in the hope that the noise Il made
would frlghten the eel into moving on. he
water did not scare him "A bit. 4 lighted taper
was thrust into the hole and as many OF the
employees of the Aquarium as could get Their
heads together over such n limited space yelled
into the hole at the top of their lungs, The
eel wiggled forward in. wild panic. He was
grabbed about the middle ut the new hole and
was lifted out To the pavement. lie Wa> q
worry >orry-lOoking eel. lliS skin was Scraped
in several places and he was di~reputably
plastered over with all kinds OF dirt and sand.
After they had sponged him of they put him
IN the hospital tank to mediate upon the error
OF his ways.