The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-05-14
3Ht
.LOHMAN' STORY
now BELIEVED
THE WATERS OF MINNEToNKA
GIVE UP PROOF.
st. Louis Man Doubted When He Told
a Whopper Story, but Finding Of
Starved Fish Proves Truth Stranger
than Fiction.
Special to The Journal.

Special to The Journal.
Excelsior, Mimi, May IA. H.
Lehman, a famous fisherman of st.
Louis, who spent his summers at Lake
Minnetonka, has just been exoner-
ated from a charge of perjury which
has hung over him all winter Last
summer he was charged with telling
the biggest and most impossible fish
story ever perpetrated upon a suspi-t
cious public. This is the story that
he related: y
During the long and torrid hours
OF one of the hottest days of last Sep
tembe he sat in a boat and waited
for the sleepy fish to bite. The af-
ternoon wore away slowly and nothing
developed. The sun descended be-
hind the forest that covers Big island,
and Mr.. Lehman was about to pull
for his landing place at Excelsior,
when something happened. There was
| a strong pull on the line, then series
of hurried jerks. The fisherman
worked with all his strength and skill
to bring the monster of the deep into
his boat, and at last he obtained a.
sight Of the fsh's great ugly head.
The mouth was of unimagined pro-
portions, fit only for the swallowing
| OF great prey. Just as the sportsman
nag made up his mind for a final at
tempt at landing the fish, his line
broke and the huge thing disappeared
into the dark waters of the lake. Mr..
Lehman was too disheartened to con-
tlnue his fishing and rowed to his no.
tel. When he told his strange story
to the guests, it was unanimously dis
credited. He maintained that it was
history pure and simple, but he was
| set upon as a notorious prevaricator-
He claimed that the fish which he
had lost weighed at least twenty-five
pounds, and that his hook was still
in the fish's mouth. The guests said
that that was good proof in itself, but
1t scarcely availed under the circum-
stances. Mr.. Lehman returned to his
home in ST. Louis at the end of the
month, a misunderstood and unap-
preciated man. The last thing he
did before taking his departure was
to relate the story of the lost fish
once more and describe the hook
which was lost with it.
Now an event has taken place which
clears Mr.. Lehman from all guilt and
establishes him as truthful gentle
man. A few days ago a party of boys
were passing along the south shore
of Gideon's bay in search Of excite
ment, when they observed something
big and startling floating upon the
) shallow water near the shore. They
secured a raft and went out to inves-
!, tigate. The object proved to be a
huge naskallonge, which must have
weighed nearly thirty pounds when
: alive. Examining more closely, the
boys found that the dead fish retained
: q hook and a piece of line in Its
: mouth. The hook was removed and
preserved by the boys, and when the
: friends Of Mr.. Lehman heard of the
find they demanded the hook. Il
proved to tally with the description OF
: the hook that the st. Louis sports.
man had given last September. It il
: thought that the big fish lived severa
: months with the hook in it's mouth
and then died, being unable to gel
.. living while so badly encountered.
. When the tourists return this sum.
:, mer, one of their first acts will be tc
;, apologize to the man from St. Loui:
, and receive him back among them al
a purveyor of the truth.