The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-10-16
SNAKE AND FISH m fIsaI.
Crsss-eyed Man Was Fishins for Pickrrei,
but Got a Peculiar Catch

From TIE Ssy York sun
Did sou ever see a duel between a iish
and a shaker" asked a. croSs-eysti man
~ith a eorncob pipe In hil mouth. address
ing a half dozen villagers as they sat on
the platform or the Erie depot al Ramapo.
n Y. one evening last week. waiting fer
the mail train 10 core ir- None OF The
natives youehsafee any reply. aud ire
cross-eyed man got down TO business.
1t was on. on the pond" said he. Jerk
ing his thumb over his shoulder in the d.
reetion OF pretty good-sized BODY OF wa
ter lying north Of the station. Il was
hshing for pickerel tn a boat with 4 chan
from down the road. The day was cloudy
and We had fine luck. We'd almost made
up our mines that twenty-five gOoi-sized
hsh were enough FOR one days catch. AMI
pulled for the shore. when ny frieud al
lowed that he would ike to 'sk!ader' a
Few times more along some lily ponds iust
above the point where the CID ieehouse
USED 10 stand.
4 IVES wiling. and slowly rowed me
coat over While he stood In the bow ana
made ready 10 throw out his Dait, the rel
beily OF q snnfish. He jerked Ii along tn
Top o. the water lew times and then A
hNeiy comnotlcn suddenly took place
Lest hls nook. | thought that bag
1
guessed wrong when my friend yelled:
Any God! there's d sea serpent or
seat. mo i''S
.,,,, You chump, says /. getting mad.
" NAT ans you. fcu don't near of crit
ters OF that kind hereabout unless ven
happen TO stay at Sufern too long on pay
cay Ihat must have been a darned mig
pieksreL Try for him sgain.'
.,rr, ,' cs,n |, says ne, trembling all over.
10y Yourself Then looking az me in a
rpalned sort Of way, he added. .Piet.lre,
oe bowed! Plckerel amt black all over
anu !.I they dOnt have tails five feet long.
VS. sure that he had EN- for Iair.
a oa,i.. IooAed forward TO see what made him
cOildpse- out there was nothing dotns mr.
a lew ripDles on the surface made ~,
, NAT 1 supposed was big Dickerei
fDu re a peach of a fisherman. saws q
tahlns the pole. IN show YOU how TO
oet ca, hlrn. threw out the bait and the
Waller began 10 boil again.
Then | saw the thing which almos.
ltduS my fflend gray headed. The chan
nearly Tell overheard when he cIapped
ms eyes on 1t the second time. and muir
n ii Say, BIZ, let's go home | did
not know what Ii was at first. but 7 made
W nv mind that / would find ont or husr
BY TINS time the thing was churning the
water az great rate and fiipped IFS rail
IN the air at least two feet above the SIR
i ttce OF the pond. | grabbed an oar.
times ana It stopped splashing. I liftSi
II INTO Tie boat on the blade of the oar
and my friend collapsed.
The principal part of the catch was
olaeksnake five feet long The front mart
was catfish weighing nearly three mar
ters 81 a pound That Is a pretty good
sized fish, you know. You see. the snake
caught the fish in the shallow water and
Irled 10 swallow IL tail first, but made a
, nao Jop or IT owing Il to the Catiish's
projections. That saved il from going an
the way down. | pulled the FISH out of tte
snakes gullet and threw Il overheard
The fish was In good condition. and wig
sled its tail hard as 1t headed for deep
water
The snake was badly crippled and lust
sunk out of sight. He must nave beer
powerfully hungry when ne tackled that
hsh for his lunch. and I'll bet he was mad
all the way TO the end of his tail wnen nc
reached the catfish's horns and couldn't
swallow ii any farther. The fish made a
same fight for its life, and il did nv
heert good to be of some use to il when
ii needed a friend"