Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-22
LIVE OCTOPUS.
Found in the Stomach Of q Haddoch
When Prepared for Dinner.

kr1ck, a motOrman In the employ of the
United Railways Company. whose home
is at 26O6 Bruce Terrace. is the possessor
of a baby octopus. which of itself is a
rather remarkable possession. but more
remarkable still Is the m in which
1t came into his possession. The octo-
pus. be 1t known, Is a fish Of the cutie
kind. which was apparently designed by
strange thing having eight tentacles, or
limbs, protruding from it's sac-like body,
and except these, only a great wicked
looking eye in the way of features that
is apparent at a first glance.
1t was from the gullet of a fine large
paddock that was to a been the piece
de resistance at dinner at the Krick
home on Friday last that this embryo
monster Of the deep was taken. The
haddock was being prepared for he
necessary in the process of fish cleaning,
whe nthe strange tagle of tentacles. or
limbs, he personal property Of the octo-
pus. came to light. The monster, by
some remarkable circumstance, was
alive, n startled the members of the
limbs. looking the very demon of the
archaic mythology of the sea.
Nothing like it had ever been seen by
any member of the family or any Of the
friends Of the family who were called
in to pronounce on the identity of the
hOuOS - 1tlIIluNSs Oul V1I.
Krick has heard inc had reaed of the
octopus, and he believed that a strange
circumstance la made him the possess
sor of n of them.
Abath of alcohol was prepared for the
octopus, and when it had Quoted down
to some extent, it was unceremoniously
hustlde INTO q fruit jar, and remained a
wonder throughout the neighborhood
until yesterday morning, when Mr..
Krick set about determining the actual
identity of his pet.
He secured the services Of an Ameri-
can man. and the jar, alcohol bath and
monstrosfty complete, were taken post
haste to DIR. Philip r.. Uhler. provost Of
the Peabody Institute. who as a scfen-
fist skilled in many fields Of learning has
a more or less intimate acquaintance
with bird. beast and fish Of every man.
ner and kind. 1t happened just as ex-
pected, for, while DR.. Uhler had not a
personal acquaintance with this young-
ster of the octopi. he had met. while en-
gagged in scientific research for Prof.
Agassiz and Harvard University in the
! West Indies, back in 1864, the great
grandfather of the y~oungster. and knew
his family history, pedigree and tradi-
| tions like a book.
THAT is a baby octopus" said the doc
tor, after a brief examinations: "one Of
West Indian waters and about the South
| American continent, though have
!, the tropical species found to the south in
known of a few that go as far north as
Nantucket"
That the creature should have been
found imprisoned in a haddock is not
particularly remarkable, since this fish
feeds upon living organisms of the deep,
and a tender young octopus was a dam
ty not to be missed. and rare enough. I
imagine, to have tickled the palate OF
the finny cannibal. That the octopus
was alive is rather strange. I do not
know where the haddock vas caught,
and I suppose there is no way of finding
cut just when and where that particular
fish fell prey to man. 1t was probably
not long out of the water, and was most
probably caught no great way from this
market. Digestive fluids in the stom-
ach of the haddock. I ppos resulted
in the hardened and drawn condition of
the specimen. While it seems very prob
able that the octopus suffered consid-
erably from his experience. I imagine
that the haddock came to regret having
INDUCED in hat particular dainty. and
if all the truth could be learned. it would
develop that honors were about even
when the fisherman came along. h
+, haddnck deserves sympathy.