The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-15
LIGHTNING KILLS
 TEAM OF CATFISH Wonderful Pair Meets UntimeIy
 Death In Mill Pond SAVED LIFE OF SPAWN Follower of Isaac Newton Relates Tale Which Immediately Starts An
 other and Greater Yarn.
 Baron Munehausen.
SAVED LIFE OF SPAWN


 Dackawaxen, Pa.-"Having always had my head close to natures heart, with an ear alert to every throb and an eye ever open to observe particularly ways Of nature that the casual person never would detect" said Warren K. Rigdway. formerly sheriff, treasurer, register, re- corder and clerk of Pike county, "I be- came intensely interested in what Jef- ferson Shelenbanker told me one time, and was disappointed beyond words when he got that letter from home.
 If you want to make study of cat fish that are the real thing he had said 10 me, you should come with me over to my native valley of the Scrubgrass and look the Molefetcher pair over.' Jefferson Shellenbanker was working Tor me at the time, and the way he came to refer me to his native balliwick as the proper place for studying the perfect cat nsh was that I had mentioned casually one day touching little incident that had come within my observation at Promised Land pond. In time of high ! water Promised Land pond in those days rose and covered the old stumps along It's shores. When the water began to re- cede 1t receded quickly. Most of the stumps were big and some of them were 1 hollow.
 When the water was falling after one ] of these floods was good time to net bait fish along the shores. I was netting some one day when I saw movement at the top of a big hollow stump that 1 had been covered by the high water, but u-h
 cred. The stump was twenty-five feet from shore. Looking closer I saw that the movement was made by a catfish which had it's head and half of its body above the hollow of the stump As it turned its gaze towarh me where I stood netting out bait fish 1t gave flop that landed 1t in the water below.
 Left by Receding Water.
 Tt was plain to me that the catfish had settled itself in the hollow of that stump as a pretty comfortable nook to be in While the flood water was carrying 1t, and that 1t hadn't noticed the reoeding of the pond. The discovery of Its pre- dicament of course. had given the cat fish great scare, but now that 1t had Jumped hack into the pond I naturally supposed that would end its trouble.
 T went on with my bait fish netting, when pretty soon I saw the catfish pop its head out of the water a yard or SO from where I stood with my bait net and gazed at me with queer look in its eyes. When it caught my eye the catfish turned and swam hack toward the hol- low stump, keeping it's head out of the water, and turned so 1t could look at me.
 T stood still, wondering what the big Tn ba Tar After swimming little way toward the stump the caty turned and came hack again until 1t was close to me. and with that queer look still in it's eyes.
 'The catfish kept this up so long, com ing close to me. and then swimming hack toward the stump, sometimes going all the way to 1t and trying to spring up into the hollow, that made up my mind something out of the ordinary was excit- ing that fish,
 Its coaxing me to go to that stump for some reason or other" said I.
 'So I waded over to the stump, and as I approached 1t the catfish spattered and splashed around in the water, as If dancing for joy. looked down into the hollow of the stump, and then all was clear to me. Darting frantically about in the water in the hollow were a myriad of young catfish. The big fish on the outside was their mother.
 Restored to Their Mother.
 Well, what had I to do with her pre- dicament? Nothing except when she dis covered 1t and saw me with net lifting minnows out of the water along shore she got an idea, and that idea was to coax me to come with my net over to that stump and lift her kittens out of 1t and restore them to her
 ''The person who hadn't his head ever close to natures heart and his eyes con- stantly open to the strange ways of na- ture and her creatures might not have fallen to this idea. I did, and as netted the little cattes out of the hollow stump and turned them over to their mother and I declare 1t almost brought tears to my eyes to see the joy of that happy reunion.
 'I happened to refer casually to this incident one day in the presence of Jeff ferson Shellenbanl1er. He listened to it with rapt attention. and 1t pleased him, bringing up to him, as it did, recollec- tions of his old home.
 There may be more picturesque and healthfu valleys than my own native Serubgrass.' said he. but there is not a creek nor river nor pond on the face of the earth that breeds, rears, and fos- ters catfish that can compare in size, strength tenacitv, mildness of temper, tractablity, doclity, and willingness with J to her expert and patient anglers.
 T wish my friend Izaker Molefetcher were known to you. He is not a large man, but he big enough to be one of the best fishermen that ever kept you wondering when he told you all about it. A year ago this spring Izalser stretched a set line in the creek after the sure but unexciting Scrubgrass style of angling. It doesn't mind what else he caught. but among his catch were two representative Scrubgrass catfish.
 "when my friend Molefetcher, with the aid of his hired man. hauled them into his boat they were still as full of life and vigor as they were before they had succumbed to temptation and swal- lowed the bait with which the Mole fetohers hooks had been disguised. They were we'll matched. sound. kind as kit tens, and weighed thirty nornds each.
 Eat Out of His Hand,
 My friend Molefetcher has a small pond on his premises, and having for some reason taken a high regard for the pair of catfish he loaded them on his wagon and transferred them from their native Scrubgrass waters to the waters of the pond. The catfish proved truly grateful for this mark of consideration, and showed their appreciati1e of it by taking their meal out of the.l1and of any member of the Molefetcher family who went to the pond to feed them. and they would come on call at any time to let the children play with them.
 "M My friend Molefetcher has seven year-old boy named Erastus. They call him "Rassy" for short. but that doesn't matter One day 'Rassy" went down to the pond to have larks with the pair of catfish, and 1t struck him that 1t