Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-12-30
BIGGEST SHELL IN THE RIVER
Wonderful Find by Buffalo Fisher
men-Meat Fed rs Persons.

Wonderful Find by BuHalo FlSH0I-
men-Meat Fed rs Persons.
What is undoubtedly the most won
derful and the most lucky find of the
wear is that made recently by George
Thorn and Harry White, two fisher
men. who occupy small shacks on the
river front near the foot OF Ferry
street.
Two weeks ago these two fortunate
men went fishing in a small row boat
at the head of Squaw Island. They had
been out a considerable length OF
time and were getting disguised at
their inability to catch fish and
were about to pull in their nets and
return to the boathouse, when sud
denly Thorn, who was in the stern OF
the boat. was heard by his COM
panion to make some remark about a
snag. The net was caught on sup
posed rock and held fast. The two
men finally succeeded in freeing the
net but wanted to find out what had
been holding it at the bottom of the
river. They were in shallow water,
DIODdDly uOI dDONC ChS4A ">NA'N"' ~
they decided that one Of them get on
his boots and see what the snag was
Thorn was selected to take the cold
bath. and without hesitating stepped
into the water, which was murky and
dirty, owing to the work Of the
dredges that were constantly raising
the mud and dirt to load on to scoWs
preparatory to taking it to the new
breakwater now under construction.
He reached down under the surface
of the water and succeeded in lifting
one end of the supposed snag but
could not lift it entirely out OF the
water. He called to White, who was
patiently watching the proceedings,
and asked him to lend his assistance.
White, after much consideration, got
into the river. It took the combined
strength Of both to lift the weight
out Of the water and land it in the
boat.
It was covered with a substance that
resembled lime, being pure white with
the exception of small dirt spots here
and there. Thorn thought it the most
peculiar shaped rock he had ever seen,
and for that reason did not throw it
back again. When they arrived at
the shore beneath their boat house
the two men lifted it out of the boat
and took it in the house. There,
after cleaning it off, it was found to
be a shell that compared with an
oyster shell was found to be the exact
image. Last Sunday it was decided
to open the shell and see what it con-
tanned, and with a heavy chisel they
opened it and found to their surprise
that the meat inside was the same as
that of an oyster, but the unusual size
of it convinced the interested party
that it must be some other shellish
They decided to cook a portion of it
and eat it, which they did, and those
who ate part of the wonderful fish
pronounce it to be an oyster. The
shell without the meat weighs exactly
PIP pounds. 1t is in two parts and on
view at George Thorn's saloon for
those who may doubt the truth of
these lines.
It is two feet eight inches across
and nineteen inches broad, and con
tains at least fifty genuine pearls in
both parts Of the shell. The meat was
cooked and made into a stew on Sunday
and seventy-five men were treated to
large bowl of oyster stew. The
stew filled two eight-quart pals to the
brim when cooked. One curious gen
tleman who thought it quite prize
offered 500 for one-half of the won
depfuI shell, but was instantly refused
Fhe pearls are just under the sur
face of the shell and are covered by a
thing, CLASSY layer.-BuffalO Times.