The Washington herald., 1908-06-28
BY JOHN SMITH, Jr.

BY JOHN SMITH, Jr.
Just as long as schools OF ravenous
dogfsh continued TO explore the ocean
depths while bevies Of ferocious chorus
girls do persistent picket duty along the
Champs Broadway, the life Of lobster
VIII continue to be a greater life !nsuI-
snce hazard than that Of an oil well
shooter in West Virginia.
II is no fun being a lobster nowadays
for death turks on every hand Enemies
20 right and enemies to left: enemies
along tho ocean floor, enemies on dry
land, and the green lobster. who is red
when dead, is blue all the time, because
he knows Fate has marked him for its
own.
Friends have. for number OF years.
known that Mr.. and Mrs. Lobster were
having a very hard struggle to keep their
names on the list OF Among those pres
ent We're" but it was not until George
NJ. Bowers, chief Of the United States
Fish Commission. told some Of the secrets
OF Neptune a few days since that the
true inwardness Of the lobster struggle
was made plain.
Don't blame the threatened disappear
exclusively
upon the pearly-teethed lobster assassins
Of musical comedy" said he
They must needs carry but per
centage Of the blame upon their slopinG
ivory shoulders. The dogfsh Is the great
est menace 10 the lobster-the greatest
possible danger. 1t may seem incredible
but thirty-pOund dogfsh can and will
eat moro Holsters in a day than the most
ravenous l3O-pound chorus girl. We've
seen them dc IL; have caught them at the
cruel performance in fact. and hav
wrcaked red-handed vengeance on man;
a one found engaged in making lobster
gorginG record that would send a tidal
wave OF envy through every chorus on
Broadway"
Lord bless his claws" continued IN.
bulky Commissioner. commiseratingly. as
his thoughts reverted from dogfish TO
Holsters, while no looked with moisten-
ing eyes at Il table Of figures on the desk
before him. Lord bless his fat and
luscious claws and his sensitive fcelers
but how he has 10 struggle and dodge to
arrive at lobster's best estate. Every
body and everything seems to be lying
IN wait for him. He doesn't have a fair
chance. The lobster who starts life as a
ington or at Woods Hole. and who hopes
70 lead peaceful life beneath the waves.
hnaly 70 die Of pneumonia. rheumatic
gout, or something equally classy in dis
ease, labors under a burden Of ignorance
that will ultimately bend his shell and
make him a swayback before he reaches
the knickerbOcker age.
For years there seemed 10 be a per
fectly planned conspiracy 20 send tho
NnH coll NNewe wet~~--
nowhere already taken by the Great AUX
the Dodo. and the bison Why. I can't
understand. Unless mon. doghsh. and
chorus girls were ell jealous OF the lob
stcr's popularity, and wished 10 get him
from the center Of the stage. so that they
might themselves enjoy the spotlights
glare"
"Tno battle against the uugaiuly but
glorious crustacean starts early. Indeed.
as l now reflect. it starts before he is
born. His mother lays about o0.O0O eggs
al a time-if allowed to-carrying them on
the under portion Of the body In the
shape OF berries. Lobster fishermen. be-
ing more short-sghted than blind moles
in IN underground cavern have long
caught the mother lobster even when
carrying the berries and because she
would sell for 35 cents they scraped those
10000 berries of and threw them into
the sea. Twenty thousand embryo lob
steTS-each potentially a four-pound feast
tossed to the first passing fish as spawn
fCod-ffty tons Of prospective lobster Ia
Sewburg sr salad sacrificed for IS cents.
!sn't il enough TO make the erstwhile
frigid blood Of n philosopher bubble and
toll like Stag in 4 blast furnace? Il is,
Nine boiled as l encountered evidence Of
nHu
How many hundreds OF billions OF per
fectly pleasing. prospective Holsters have
been plucked in the bud IN this way no.
body can say. but certainly enough to
have supplied all Dorcas Societies with
lobster salad 10 the end of time
we struggled 20 stop il. Laws were
passed and the Government strove to en-
force them. Its boats watched the lobster
fishermen. and some prosecutions and
some heavy fines caused the fishermen
10 check their foolish and narrow-minded
way Of working for to-day and starving
on the morrow. Then IL took up the arti-
fetal propagation OF :he lobster. It had
TO. The people of America would have
gone lobsterless 70 bed if il had not
thrown the protecting folds OF the starry
banner over the doomed dainty. He was
scheduled for a last appearance 10 a GER
tainty, The struggling lobster mothers
were doing the best they could TO keep
enough OF their offspring in Atlantic
Ocean society 70 make a fair representa-
ton. but the odds were on the other side.
No sooner did the maternal lobster arrive
al the housekeeping stage than a school OF
hungry dogdsh would come nosing along
the ocean floor. II Mamma Lobster had
succeeded in Matching her brood the mi
croscopc tdbits disappeared down dogflsh
no hos
would be rent claw from claw and feeler
from feelcr and made TO serve as tho
piece DO resistance.
Some scientists are trying to tell the
public that the dogfish are valuable: that
they possess an economic value in fact"
The dognsh looks like pocket edition
Of the shark; has the blended instincts OF
shark. a burglar. and an election dis
trict captain. and breeds fast enough 10
please even the most llustrious opponent
of race suicide. 1t VIII astonlsh you to
learn that the dOghsh actually does breed
ms does the whale. the seal. and the por-
poise. The female dogfish VIII bring forth
litter every forty days with from fifteen
10 eighteen pups to the litter. Those pups
are born. not merely with an appetite
for holsters. but with n developed instinct
that tells them how 10 catch them
One OF the tasks os n parental govern
mcnt is TO keep the Holsters ahead OF the
dogfish IL may he assumed that the
Holsters will themselves do the best they
can 90 perpetuate the race, but Il must
cooperate. This season Il helped TO the
extent OF 100000. that being the num-
Der OF lobster berries" hatched devel-
oped to the lingering" or the "yearling,"
stage, and then released.
q ha beta Il n
mount Importance. moro so than nearly
anYihlng else fhnngh two and half