The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-07-23
THE CHICAGO FROG MARKET
MANY HUNDRED DOZEN 4 WEEK
 SOLD
Along state street-soorss of Persons Buy Frogs Every Saturday and Go to wisconsin to Troll for Bass.

Wis, Chicago has come to be about the
 best frog town on the map. More than
 200O dozen of the green and speekle
 jumpers are sold along State street
 every week . to persons who hie them
 selves to Wisconsin waters in search of
 fish yarns. Most of the croakers come
 from Oshkosh where the tadpole indus
 try is marked on as one of the, leading
 commercial enterprises. Scores of
 Chicago men buy frogs regularly every
 Saturday afternoon, and go junketing
 up into Wisconsin to troll for bass. In-
 asmuch as the young frogs have won a
 reputation as first-class bait, every
 fisherman, amateur or professional, has
 thrown away his minnow bucket and
 his can of pork rind, and has bought frog basket of the big stores in Chicago
 now have a frog department. The
 Jumpers are kept in wire cage, where
 the buyers may have view of their
 liveliness and croaking ability before
 investing. f he believes they will de-
 coy the bass from the rocks he pays 25
 cent dozen batrachians 25 cents a
 dozen is all they cost, from Oshkosh has
 an unlimited supply.
 The trade in frogs last year did not
 exceed 1000 dozen a week during the
 night of the angling season. This year
 the stores have doubled the size of their
 frog cages, and have no trouble in sell
 ing twice the number sold last year.
 Many fishermen have standing
 orders at the stores, and at certain
 hour every Saturday there are awaiting
 them bags of the brown jumpers.
 Some of the best knonw Ike Waltons in
 the city carry these bags through the
 streets much like a small boy would
 carry a bag of peanuts. A few days
 ago two men met on the State-street
 sidewalk. Each Of them was carrying ! a small eheese-cloth bag in one hand. Hello, going north?" one man salut- ed.
 Yep; but don't you think those Osh-
 kosh frogs are better than the ones from the Pink Mink marsh down ill Indiana. Wisconsin bass won't bite sor those Pink Mink frogs. It's in the coloring, l think. The Pink Mink frogs have a sort of funny look about them. I'm buying the Oshkosh brand altogether. l lSH Lkttldl, Stlu 5tIe3 Ullcl tlld1l oio he ,ammed his hand into the cheese cloth bag and brought out q green. Jumper by one leg. There are two
 reasons why the Indiana frog is no good | for Wisconsin fishing. First place, do you see this Oshkosh frog? Look at him kick An Indiana frog never kicks.
 It isn't in him. Then the flavor of live frogs is different. The Wisconsin frogs come from clear water and have only the taste of pure frog meat, while the Indiana frogs, which are. scooped up ill sucker taste to them.
 And that is what almost any dealer t in frogs will tell you. The Wisconsin frogs are considered the best for bait. They live longer lin captivity" than the Hooser batrachians, are better liked by the bass and are sure to make mans reputation as fisherman much quick CT than the Pink Mink frog.
 The men who furnish frogs to the l market find it a paying business Tn the lakes up in Wisconsin there are hundreds of millions of the jumpers,
 and man withsa small dip can catch hundreds of them in day. He gets about 10 cent a dozen for them i'll the
 Chicago market, and although the jour- ney to the city ends disastrously to about one-fourth of the batrachians the frog catcher yet finds plenty of pro- fit in them The majority of frog
 catchers are bows. who wade out into the shallow water, whipping the water with their nets They drive the frogs ahead of them until there is quite a number together. Then they dip the net into the water, and 1t is seldom they do not catch as many as 10 at a dip. While attention centers at this time of year in the small bait frog, the hunt for these di1ninutive croackers does not form the most important part of the business. It is for the aged old bullfrog whose deep-throated sound carries q mile across the water that the frog catcher is willing to risk whatever he has. These do not go to the end of a fishing line, but find their way to the table.
 In the early years of the industry an unreasoning prejudice on the part of the people against the use of frogs as food had to be overcome. but this has been successfully accomplished in some parts of the country. especially where 1 the foreign element is strong The meat of the frog is white, delicate, wholesome and palatable In flavor it much re- l sembles the leg of a spring chicken. Although eaten at all times, it is in best condition in fall and winter; in
 spring it is of relatively inferior auali- ty. Only the hind legs are commonly utilized, the meat on the other parts of the body being edible, but in small quantity. Tn some localities, however, the entire body after the removal of the viscera, is fried with egg and bread Icrumbs. In Missouri 9 pair of hind legs weigh about half a pound The annual catch of the United States is estimated at 100000. with a gross value to the l hunters of about S5O.0e0, while the cost to the consumer is not less than $780, 00O 5 l While the net is used mostly up Osh- ! kosh way in taking the frogs, often lines baited with red cioth worms or in- sects are used; guns, small-bore rifles and spears are also. employed, and cross-bows are adapted for this purpose in Canada. They are often hunted at night, a lantern furnishing light for the l hunters aim. and at the same time
 blinding or dazing the frogs. After
 entering on their Information many are |