The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-01-10

rington opened the box and saw what
was inside he turned three rapid hand
springs away from the box, and tele-
phoned to ask the assistance of Prof.
Morton Kilgallen, the eminent fellow
of the Royal society from Balliol col
lege.
In response to his call a reporter
fastened to Mr.. Harrington, relieved
him of the octopus and carried 1t at
one to the home of Prof. Kilgallen.
The celebrated scientist gave II
look at the contents of the o which
the reporter was carrying. and then,
with a cry of joy, dumped the octopus
right out on the parlor carpet.
by kelp!" he exclaimed, I have
seen man. a cephaloped, but of all
the cephalopoda which ! have seen
this octopus certainly takes the oys-
ter. If this octopus We're alive n
100 yards in three seconds fiat. and
could choke a full grown horse with
seven of its eight tantacles tied be-
hind its ears"
Excitedly the scientist loaded his
pipe with his favorite seaweed tobacco
according to his custom when greatly
pleased.
Most specimens Of the octopus or
eight-tentacled ce%phaloped," he re-
sumed, measured about W. feet in
length. This one, however, measures
five feet eight inches over all. each
tentacle beinf four feet five inches IN
tentacle being four feet five inches In
wide this creature could take hold OF
something with II tentacle and at
the same time be in readiness to grab
something else nine feet away.
The octopus is not a myth, as some
people think. Once a large octopus
gets hold of a man with his %tentacles.
It is all off with the man. An octopus
doesn't have to nave all eight of his
t~entacles working. A victim may u
off two or three OF o tentacles. II
the octopus will do Just as much dam
g with the remaining six or fv or
four t%entacles.
"The sucking disks are the things
that cause the trouble. You can't pry
them loose, once they r attached.
And since each tentacle has about $50
sucking disks on 1t, the octopus is
very successful in attaching itself to
anything which m within Its
reach.
"There is the celebrated case of the
prize fighter from Buxton W who
was swimming one day in the English
channel, when a large octopus seized
him by the leg. While trying to free
himself, the octopus attached another
tentacle to the other leg. the prize
fighter then attempted to gouge the
octopus in the eve. but the horrible
creature squirted ink in his face and
took hold OF his arms with two other
tentacles while the prize fighter was
trying to see. The octopus still a
four legs free. and with them he be-
gan to beat the prize fighter on the
Jaw. You may see how close the prize
fighter was to death by the fact that
he had just taken the count when
he was rescued.
II personally knew of an octopus
head. The dog was agile, and escaped
all but one Of h octopus sucking
disks. This one disk was so strong
that it sucked the poor dog completely
inside out; w~hereupon the dog walked
straight into the Jaws of the octopus.
MY friend. Professor Ganzgoot,
who lives in Hawaii. has a small octo-
pus in his aquarim. He has trained
it to pull corks out Of beer bottles by
means of its sucking disks. and to find
his collar buttons when they roll I'M
der the bureau every morning.
ION the island Of Cattleiga in the
South seas, the natives nave trained
octopi to rum. They place a small
steel shoe on the tip of each tentacle
and turn the creatures loose.
Having four times as many legs as
Arthur Duffey. they can u much
faster. The natives wager sums on
their favorite octopi. The racing oc-
topus' record of Cattleiga island for
100 yards was two and four-fifts Sec
onds when I was there four years ago
last October. It was held by a small
octopus named. Jennie. She vas GER
tainly some runner. Her owner had
won three tons Of mother-of-pearl and
about 100 pounds Of cowrie shell on
her.
THE octopus, as you know, swims
by sucking water through its mouth,
and blowing it out through its exhaust
pipe, which is located on the opposite
side of its head from Its eyes A tribe
of blacks on the southern shore of
Madagascar have utilized this by tying
octopi directly owe water wheels.
When the octopi attempt to swim
they blow streams of water against
the wheels. and cause them to turn
with great rapidity. It is a primitive
form of turbine. Some of the natives
have power boats, in which the motive
power is generated in the same way.
An octopus is hitched to the keel.
II could tell you a million more
things about the octopus. but\ I am
afraid that I have given you enough
finger exercises to fill one column. Do
you not. yourself. think that the octo-
pus IL q strange creature?"
"All Of that" replied the reporter,
feeling in his vest pocket meditative-
~. "I think l will get me an octopus
and train him tn SlIck money ont