The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-06-04

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ID TIE FOOLS
lbs By FEEDER,
Il sasaes111nsce1ssoeus1sao e1szsa1aoanecaoaes,
Il One OF the most peculiar fisheries
4 in the world is that which has for
4 its object the capture OF the porpoise.
4 that foolish sheep OF the sea, the
cousin OF the dolphin. which dgures
In many strange, neurological tale
1Srtctly speaking 1t Is not fishery
at all. because the porpotse Is not a.
3fsh. 1T belongs to the whale family.
and is a mammal It suckies its
young as does COW, and no creature
/ which thus feeds It's offspring Is
/ fish. Despite which fact the por-
polse Is commonly called bdackhsh
! from Florida to Newfoundland, and
! the products Of its capture and re-
fnement are credited to the fishing IN
dustries.
The porpoise Is a sort OF little
brother to the whale In the schools
OF these creatures, with which every
i
individuals range IN length from two.
to twenty feet They are thick and
blocky and half as high as man
when lying stranded on shore They
range IN enormous herds throughout
the north Atlantic, and different var1e-
ties OF them are to be found IN the
/ other oceans.
Along the coast OF North Carolina
from Cape Hatteras to Bear Inlet is
~ The
bays Of New jersey offer natural traps
for these foolish creatures. Back OF
Cape Cod, which reaches its elbow
out from Massachusetts,, they often
strand themselves by the hundred On
the Farce Islands, to the north OF
Scotland. they are captured IN great
er numbers than anywhere else.
When the nets Of the fishermen
haul catch OF porpoise onto the
beach OF New jersey, the young am
mails among them scream as might so
| many frightened babies. The older
capttves emit deep bass notes not un-1
| like the grunting OF hogs. The entire
catch sets up such doundering as!
may be resisted only by huge nets
specially prepared for the purpose
The American industry that Is
based upon the bIacl1fsh is most IN
teresting among the fishing towns
4
For 200 years the Blacklist has sent
| thrills down the spines OF the sturdy
fisher folk that dwell in these villages.
To understand this, it is necessary to
study the psychology OF the porpoise
| itself
These foolish creatures travel about
| the seas IN schools. Each school viii
| have a leader, and wherever the
leader goes the others will follow II
! j, -faSp md
makes a leap above the water. thereby
Exposing his sleak shiny back, all hts
I following will do likewise df he
chooses to play far out In the deep
Atlantic, they follow Without question.
If he reconnoiters In shore, they fol-
| low close in his wake. It is on such
expeditions that the strange folly Of
4 the b9ackhsh often leads 1t to destruc-
4 ton
narrow channel, its leader has no in
/ te1lfgence that will guide him out
again The herd may play about this
bay for weeks. All the time 1t is in
great danger. If the leader or any
member OF the herd gets into water
so shallow that bottom is touched,
there is an mediate panic It I'M
mediatel Fplunges forward with all
the force of its strong body 1t its
nose is pointed into deep water the
4 result may not be disastrous But II
land Is ahead of the blackfsh. the
| forward dash is taken just the same.
so the frightened poropise takes a
header directly onto the shore. Every
member of the school Immediately
/ follows suit. Contact with the beach
but enhances the frenzy of their fright
and they flap and struggle further and
\ further UP the beach The result IS
4 that the whole school strands itself
4 in such way that it may not get back
to fhe water. tt has presented itself
as free Offering to whoever would
like to refine its fat into marketable
oil.
! Cape Cod cuts of an arm OF the
ocean in such a way as to ofer a
| natural trap for the foolish black1sh-
1 SO 1t has happened from time to time
4 that these schools have run asore
near the different villages In such
4 cases, finders are keepers. ana the
4 fish belong to the men who hrSt put
Il their marks upon them As each hsn
ia fse emre 1 to net the man who gains title
to it from ten to twenty dollars. tne
H stranding Of school is likely to re-
4 suit in the stampede OF a whole VII
Elage to the beach
\ A story typical OF the spirit that
prevails IN these towns with relation
4 to the stranding OF these schools IS
recorded as having taken place on a
quiet Sunday morning: the village
preacher was IN the midst OF his ser
mon and the browse OF the Sabbath
d prevailed I'D and down the beach
Suddenly the cry OF -tbdackfsh" was
heard from the outside. The congTe-
cation rose as one man and started
d for the door The minister in the
d pulpit lowered above his congregation