The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-10-13
SNAKE AND FISH IN A FIGHT.

l.
Plckelel, But Cot Peculiar Catch.
did you ever see a duel between a
| fish and a snake?" asked a cross-eyed
man with a corncob pipe in his mouth,
addressing a half-dozen villagers, as
| they sat on the platform of the Erie
depot, at Ramapo, N. Y, one evening
| last week, waiting for the mail train to
come in None of the natives vouch-
safed any reply and the cross-eyed man
got down to business
ut was out on the pond" said he
jerking his thumb over his shoulder in
the direction of pretty good-sized
body Of water lying north of the sta
ton. 81 was fishing for pickerel in a
boat with a chap down the road The
day was cloudy and we had fine luck
We'd almost made up our minds that
twenty-five good-sized fish were enough
for one days catch, and pulled for the
shore when my friend allowed that he
would like to 'skidder' a few times
more along some lily pads, just above
the point where the old ice house used
to stand.
II was willing and slowly rowed the
boat over while he stood in the bow
and made ready to throw out his bait,
the red belly of a sunfsh. He jerked it
along the top Of the water a few times
and then a lively oommotion suddenly
took place near his hook / thought that
big pickerel had made for his bait,
but l knew l guessed wrong when my
friend yelled;
my God, there's a seaserpent or
something worse, and he sank into his
seat.
You chump,' says l. getting mad,
What ails you? You don't hear of
critters of that kind hereabouts, unless
you happen to stay at Suffern too long
on pay day. That must have been a
darped big pickerel. Try for him
again
I can't says he, trembling all over
TRY yourself Then looking at me in
panied sort of way. he added Pick
erel be bowed! Pickerel amt black all
over and they don't have tails five feet
long
II was sure that he had EN- for fair
and looked forward to see what made
him collapse, but there was nothing
doing but a few rlpples on the surface
made by what / supposed was a big
pickerel. You're a peach of fisher
man., says |, taking the pole, TN
show you how to catch HIM / threw
out the bait and the water began to boil
again.
IT then saw the thing which almost
made my friend gray headed The chap
nearly fell overheard when he clapped
his eyes on it the second time and muir
INJURED: Say, Bill, let's go home.
did not know what it was al first. but
/ made up my mind that I would find
out or bust. BY this time the thing
was churning the water at a great rate
and Tipped it's tail in the air at least
two feet above the surface of the pond
I grabbed an oar, banged the thing
across the back several times, and it
stopped splashing 1 lifted it into the
friend collapsed.
"The principal part of the catch was
a black snake five feet long The front
part was a catfish weighing nearly |
three-q quarters of a pound. That Is a
pretty good sized fish, you know You
see, the snake caught the fish in the |
shallow water and tried to swallow it |
-ail first, but made bad job of it,
owing 1t to the cattish's projections.
That saved it from going all the way
DOWN. | pulled the fish out of the
snakes gullet and threw it overheard. |
The fish was in good condition and
Niggled it's tail hard as it headed for
leep water
'The snake was badly crippled, and
ust sank out of sight. He must have
)een powerfully hungry when he tack
ed that fish for his lunch, and I'll bet
lie was mad all the way to the end of
MS tail when he reached the cattishs
lorns and couldn't swallow it any fur
her. The fish made game fight for
is life and it did my heart good to be
Il some use to it when it needed a
riend. New York Sun.