Evening journal., 1911-07-06
SWAT THE BLOB,
YOU IKEY WALTONS
Don't Know What II is?
Then Search DlCtiOn-
ary

WASHINGTON, July 6.-Did you
ever go bobbing for blobs?
No, this is not a new game nor Is
it something that is likely to be TAX
en- up by all sportsmen-it is merely
a little diversion highly and warmly
advocated by the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition, for the conservation of few
natural resources.
There has been so little CONVEX
sation regarding conservation lately
that the Smithsonian evidently
thought that the matter needed stir
ring up, for they have just issued
letter concerning the determination
Of the blobs and advocating this ex-
termination as a highly patriotic and
eminently proper pastime
But, before the blobs can possibly
be eradicated, the public will have to
be told what they are, for it is doubt
full If there are many persons, out
side of the Smithsonian, who could
recognize one If they met it on the
street That 1t is something live is
rather evident from the title of the
Institututions letter, "The Exter-
mination of the Blob" but whether
the would-be exterminators should
tempt it with peanuts, lure it with
bird seed or smother it in popcorn is
not mentioned
So, the dictionary being the natural
haven of refuge when one desires to
find definition, the IBIS" are search
ed until the word "biob" is reached.
But even then a look of wonder
ment and astonishment Is likely to
settle on the searcher's face, for the
definition there is wierd and wonder
full
Il is almost enough to produce a
parady on oliver Herford such as the
following:
I've never met a blibsy blob,
l never hope to meet one,
But this I know, l hope, trow,
I'd rather meet than eat one"
Here is Webster's definition, lifted
bodily:
"Blob-Sometimes blunt or round,
a small drop or lump OF something
viscid, a drop, a bubble, a blister.
A small fresh water fish (Uranidee
Robinson), the miller's thumb"
So there is very little use trying to
dope out from the dictionary exactly
what is a blob There is no escape
from it, the Institutions letter must
be read. A study of the learned dis
sertation shows that the next to the
last bet in the dictionary is the right
one to play and that the blob spoken
about in the article in question is a
fish which has the pernicious habit
of swallowing several salmon for
breakfast. a few more for lunch and
adding some to the collection when
dinner time came around. There
fore, says the Institution, they should
be exterminated.
Blobs, say Messrs. Bean and Weed
of the Institution, are not particular
how they eat their prey. Head OF
tail first it is all the same to them,
and they eat an average Of six a day.
This, for a fish which is some twelve
OF fifteen inshes long, is going some.
Some of the blobs eat so many sal
mon that they choke themselves to
death and the Bureau of Fisheries is
not troubled with exterminating them.
When it is noted. however. that 81 900
of the pernicious blobs were caught
and killed in twenty days on the Helm
Bay Stream, it would not seem that
the Bureau of Fisheries would have
much rtouble In getting rid of them.
But, they say that there is great
need for an active movement against
the salmon eaters, so the public is
asked to "Swat the blob" Just as
they are desired to ~Swat the fly"