Evening star., 1924-07-06

taken in immense quantities. In fresh
water there are, many hsh with ex-
cellent food and also game qualities.
and angling for sport Is a favorite
visitors. The native idea of pisca-
torial sport runs more toward COM
bats between fighting fish. There are
several different kinds of these. They
are ardently cultivated and pitted
against one another like game cocks.
There are over fifty species Of cat
fish which have been determined by
DR.. Smith. who has discovered a num-
Der of species of all sorts which
hitherto had been unnamed. In fact,
prior to his coming there had never
been any comprehensive, scientiflc
attempt to investigate Slams fishes
and other water resources The field
is so large that the first years oper-
ations indicated plainly that there
was work for several years to come.
Fish Fine Mars<ssnan.
OF the queer fish mentioned at the
beginning of this article there are
no prototypes in America, and this is
them the insect shooting fish is one
of the most unusual. 1t has been
noted in scientific works. but dis
tinguished Briton, authority on the
fishes of India, had declared that ITS
roputed feats of craftsmanship were
not true and could not be possible.
Scores of Americans in Siam know
the contrary.
A friends of DR.. Smith living on
the banks Of the great river that
on the ends of fine threads some
feet above the water. The fish. with
tip of mouth just out of water and
taking aim with a great pair OF
goggle-eyes surrounded with an
amber-colored rim which resembles
drop of water along its grooVed
tongue with such force that were
the spider not tied 1t would be
knocked into the water, ana with
such accuracy that 1t never misses
its mark The fish ii not wing
shot, however. The mark must be
stationary. but so powerful is the
force that even small LIZARDS are
sometimes disiodged.
Can Make Them "F~re."
DR.. Smith can take the fish in his
hand and make it fire" at WILL and
he seems to have. been the hrst per-
son to determine the mecnanlcs Oh
the operation. A full-Grown example.
eight to ten inches long. mas an .,t et-
fectiye range of from twelve to M
teen feet This curious inhabitant OF
fresh-water rivers has been called
the shooting fish and the archer nsh
Neither name is quite accurate-in
fact, no name IS, unless II wei
hydraulic machine gun fsh. lts
shooting process seems to be no e1-
fort to itself. while it's stock or am
munition is inexhaustible.
Washingtonians will be interested
to learn that Siamese rivers posses
a splendid variety of shad, rather
similar to the Potomac shad. Like
our shad, it has been showing a
diminished abundance recently and
DR.. Smith plans to install hatchery
this coming winter which should
prove valuable in rehabilitating the
rivers with this delicious food nsh-
The water hyacinth. which in the
southern part of the United states is
such an impediment to navigation.
is abundant in many of the rivers and
canals of Siam, where ii is called the
Java weed" 1t blocks the water
courses and seriously affects fish lie.
and so far no feasible means OF COM
batting it has been found.
Trains Fish "PuGflfsts."
A former Siamese minister to the
United States, Phya Akaraja. who
was stationed at Washington for
eight years and made many friends
while here. has now retired. DR..
Smith relates, and in his Bangkok
home has gone in extensively for
the breeding of the fine fighting fish.
He keeps his pets in scores OF i'm