The courier-index., 1920-09-03

| gles on in local fish circles, and re- fuses to be squelched. The gullible ones believe that somewhere on the Isle of Manhattan lives man who can supply them with the name of a man in Canada who in turn can supply them with liquid fish at four dollars a quart. And no wood alcohol.
 Shades of Edgar Allen Poe!
 Snakes vie with fish as heroes of marvellous tales, from the days of the sea-serpent down, and in a re- cent number of The Guide to Ma ture Sound Beach, Conn.), we find an astonishing story worthy of the most earnest scrutiny of natural | ists. This magazine, not willing to to take unjustly the credit for re- citing the tale of the phenomenon, states that it is taken from The Ollogist:
 Some doubting Thomases may not be inclined to believe the story, but c. M. Wells, Belen, N. M., says that the gratitude of New Mexico rat 1 tlesnakes is quite we'll known, and he relates the following:
 While doing certain topographi- cal work along the line of the East ern Railway of New Mexico, Jerry Moskovitz, an instrument man, mo- ticed the rattle population was be- ing rapidly depleted by the paisanos (road-runners) and he frequently witnessed battles royal between the bird and the reptile. Crossing a sandy waste one day, Moskovitz | orff To, ,~lxr men of snake fighting for its life, and without any ado went to the rescue, driving off the bird.
 The snake evidently thinking that it had found a friend for life, fol lowed him into camp and made a home in one of Jerry's old boots. Now Jerry is particularly sound sleeper, alarm clocks notwithstand- ing, and this the snake soon noticed, so, festooning himself on the head of Jerry's bed, he thrust his head into the sleeper's watch pocket so as to get the correct time, hung his tail by Jerry's ear, and promptly began to rattle at 5 a. m.
 Jerry has now become famous for his early rising.
 But these tales are, after all, a bit crude, perhaps, and lack the subtlety and grace of an article re. gently current in the oriental press It appeared first in The Japanese Magazine (Tokyo), and runs in part as follows:
 The use of animals as spies ha. been a military art practiced in Jap an from remote times. The ami mals so used were the dog, fox anc rat, which were duly trained fol the purpose. The animals mention ed were selected because, for sucl purpose as spying, they are tn, most amenable to training, and hay, proved the most successful in oper ation.
 They can be trained to under stand human will and language tt marvellous degree. The fox cal be trained even to initiate the hu man voice, and the power of tn, animal in this direction is very eff fective especially when trained t, utter low sounds.
 When a military officer desired to ascertain geographical facts a to situation of a camp or fortres held by the enemy, he found tn dog or the fox his most efficien spy. In feudal times certain place were always guarded, and all trav elers passing either way througl these barriers were strictly examin ed, while other likely places ha, watchmen hidden; but the entir country could not be so covered For this purpose the ubiquitous fo, was utilized. Human spies guarde the pathways over the mountain and across the plains; but the fo, guarded the wilds and other path less regions. The fox is small an not easily seen; he knows every foo of the country he traverses. Al ways on the trail, the animal SD follows the human spy. When tn fox or the spy dog pereeives or de tects the presence of human be ing in the course of his patrol b ntters a faint sound which hi master behind understands an