The Punta Gorda herald., 1920-04-01

| 'NN'N R'S'NS NASill III a "dLCl pan ,
and one of us would drive down the
creek road for a number of miles,
turning them loose at certain inter
walls. In nearly every instance they
would hover over the water a mo-
ment. shimmering in the sunshine,
and then go flying up the creek at a
great speed. We soon discovered
that the flyers had as good sense of
direction as carrier pigeons, and
when those we sent down to Boca
Grande-a distance Of thirty miles
returned in less than a quarter of
an hour we felt satisfied and amply
repaid for the many years of labor
"As the boys grew up they became
interested in the amphibian flyers,
and when the six they carried to
! Tampa by water one summer re-
turned in less than an hour after
set free, we were convinced that the
/ time would come when the succeed
ing generations OF our flying fish
would be able to cover much longer
distances, and eventually cross the
! Atlantic. You see, they never fly
over the land very far, but follow the
water close to the surface, so that
when they become dry and need rest
they simply drop below until they
are refreshed, then resuming their
journey.
six years ago, Horace, my eldest
son, took ten of them to Jacksonville
by water, a distance of about 500
miles, and they covered that distance
in returning in 5 hours, minutes,
and seconds, arriving here in ex'
cellent condition, and their time in
cludes, of course, the stops they
must have taken for rest and food.
Two years ago, George, my third
eldest boy. took nine of them to Bal
timore, and seven of them returned
in 10 hours, 13 minutes and 7 sec
onds. Pretty good, eh, for a distance
of little over 1,4O0 miles.
We'll, today our final trial comes
off, and we will then be in position to
announce to the world the result of
many years spent in training flying
fish as Marathon racers. My young
est son, Leonard. was married last
Wednesday, and on Thursday left
on his honeymoon for Halifax, N. s.,
taking with him twelve of our best
flyers. Last evening l got tele-
gram from him saying he and his
wife had reached that place safely,
and that he had turned the twelve
flyers loose at the docks at five min
utes past s p. m. Figuring on past
performances, they should arrive
here at any time after IL O'Clock to-
day, as the distance is about $500
miles, and we must allow for num-
Der of rests on the way"
Asked as to the variety of colors
possessed by the flying fish, the old
sea dog gave out a hearty laugh.
Why" said he, those loud colors,
as you call them, are not natural.
We had to tag the flyers in some way
in order TO classify them according
to their respective flying. abilities.
At the suggestion of my wife, when
she was handing out some Easter
eggs to the children, tried to dye
several of the flyers in aniline dyes,
but the stuff wouldn't stick. My
wife's brother, who is a chemist,
came to the assistance and told us
what chemicals to add to the dye to
make it cling. The purplecolored
are the long distance fiiers, the red
ones come next, followed by the
light blue, green's and pinks in the
order named. The yellow ones we
call amateurs, and those you see
here swimming around in this dam
are in their natural colors and have
not yet been trained to fly.
Here" he continued, as he reaCn-
ed up and took a purple flyers from
branch of an orange tree, here
you will notice two protruding
growths near the center of the belly. |
They are caused by resting that part
of the body on hard substances,
their ancestors had not
been accustomed to; and / firmly be-
lieve that on each succeeding genera
tion these prOtuberances will be larg- |
er and longer until, in the course OF
evolution, the best trained and most |
highly developed flyers will have legs
like those of otters and seals. Now,
| want to reward you for your
trouble in coming up here to see me,
and the interest you have shown in
my aquarium. Just observe"
BY clapping his hands together
three or four times the captain caus-
ed all the flyers in the orchard to
prepare for a fight. They leaped in
to the air like flock of birds arising
from a tree, and swarmed together
toward the dam, flashing, glittering
and shining in their variegated col
DTS in the sun. They circled around
the dam several times at high
speed, lower and lower at each sue
,essive round, until, when quite near
he surface of the water, they dived
and disappeared from view. 1t was
indeed the strangest and most un-
usual sight that mortal man was
ever permitted TO behold. 1t was
marvellous to contemplate and trans