The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-09-06

the idea they
 are hard to
 prepare and
 .y as a result there has come into being an organization known as the Fishery Council of New York and the Middle Atlan- tic Area.
 It is quite an outfit, as we dis covered not so long ago when an enthusiastic young man telephon- ed us to tell about new worlds record for clam eating = 301 clans. This was set by a Mike Spano who preceded it with eight frankfurters and followed with IS beers and two-hour dinner. The Fishery Council is located properly on a waterfront street and old salts are constantly dashing in and out with fish stor- ies most of which are corroborat- ed by physical evidence. On the day of our visit sailor brought in a 50-pound halibut, in the 1n- terior of which he had found a beer bottle from a brewery in Olympia, Wash. - which is long ways off. Only 8 few days earl fer, another mariner had produc- ed fish in which was imbedded a harpoon tip of type that has been obsolete for a quarter of a century. HUNTS FISH WITH HAMMER AND PICK
 The most unusual fisherman called to the attention of the council is a gentleman named Robert Lee Craig who uses a hammer, pick and chisel instead of rod and reel. Craig does his fishing in the fossil areas of Wy oming. He chips away the slabs of shale on the tops of dusty mountains and unearths the stone impressions of fish dead these millions of years. And he sells this super-canned product for ex- cellent money to museums and collectors.
 The Council, against the day when someone might apply for the data, has amassed much in- formation bearing on the strange habits of some fish. Take, for in- stance, the drumfish. The drum fish actually sings to become someone's supper. Fishermen in the Mediterranean paddle about until they hear his croaking sound issuing from the ocean depths and then they lower nets.
 There's another fish called the fife fish and, one assumes, they might form a piscatorial fife and drum corps. Another noisy deni- zen of the deep is the weakfish which is picked up in large quan- titles around New York. This chap gives of tom-tom effect.
 EelS found in the east are among the most tenacious of all creatures. They can, the Fishery Council asserts, be chopped into pieces and frozen for IS days without killing them. The Amer ican lobster breaks off his smaller limbs when he goes into battle so he will be unencumbered. They grow back again. The Sea Cu- cumber throws up his stomach when frightened, which is an in- fallible method of curing tummy ache. This feat will be appreciated by inexperienced kIo ., $pa
 Then there is the kissing fish which skips around with a con- stantly puckered mouth applying same to the lips of the opposite sex of the same species. When a mirror is placed in front of this amorous fellow he kisses his re- flection. the big sissy.
 QUESTIONS WHICH
 STUMP SCIENCE
 Among things the Council would like to know are:
 Do sharks really eat humans? William Beebe says they do not. Lots of people think they do. The Council would like the matter scientifically determined?
 Why do eels, salmon. mackerel and herring return to the scene of their birth to die?
 Was it really change in ocean current that killed 100000 tile fish before the turn of the cen- tury? The ocean was literally covered with them of New Eng land. The Bureau of Fisheries is now restocking this fish.
 How did a newly discovered fish, Cyprinodon Macularius, get into a small lake in death valley fed by only a small spring with the closest large body of water miles away? And can 1t be it is the descendant of prehistoric fish?
 What substance causes amber gris to form in a whale? Am bergris, used in costly perfumes, sells for $20 to $50 an ounce and whale have disgorged as much as 750 pounds at time.
 The Fishery Council gives the palm for the deadliest of all fish to the little piranha of South America which can strip an ani- nal or human down to the bone in a few minutes. The barra- cuda with jaws powerful enough to crack a lobster, runs 1t a close