The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1947-05-20
BILE LEE

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BILE LEE
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Tommy Wood is quite = man.
Ana has an interss1ha ara ex-
|xitias job. Hes the operator of
\ seeplane, which uses Garrison
Blight as its base. He teaches
yune men " become pilots. He
|t1lse people ous to look a ne
ls.
But his most interesting job
~ Key Westers is the fact that
ne charters his airplane to
Thompson Enterprises, Inc.
which operates y large fleet Of
fishing vessels, to 60 out over
The seas to look for fish. !
Y IF you know what to look for
Il is fairly easy y spot a school
Of fish, Tommy says. Il always
take along a Key West fisher,
man, who generally knows the
ways Of fish, where they habit
ually congregate, their feeding
grounds.
well I 90 up and the fish
srman directs me te 90 over j
csriaia assas. fhsn InsYb4 We
spot = school Of mAcksTel Or
kinslsA. ~ sssn s<hools with
millions q fish Ii them. They
Slam 10 b fssdins. inst swim
IlA0 akoulaa md around.
packed tegsfhsr tightly.
Then 4Ee fisherman is. brought
back to Key West. He goes out
immediately in a boat and as
sembles the fishing vessels. They
speed to the spot where the
school has been located. They go
20 work netting as many fish
as they can.
Sometimes there are as many
as 40 boats around the school.
Some OF them are right in the
midst Of the fish; others are
closer to the outer edges OF the
school You feel like shouting
TO the boat captain to go a little
to the left or right"
Tommy has followed the
''fed water" from the main
land down The keys. The red
! watsr" = q blight that kills
fish. hai4 and sponges. Tommy
has seen long sffsaks 81 rcd
water" some Of them miles Ia
lonofh.
ssWherever theS J red ! water
strikes, the fish and the sponges
flde,'s Tommy said. f4 saw mil
lions Of dead fishes on the
;bf the .Keys last winter.
the stencil was so great
that II was impossible for me to
land the seaplane and examine
the dead fish.
.The water out around the
keys is now cfystN clear. be-
iieve the danger to the fish and
sponges is past for this year.
There is no Indication of any
riley water anywhere. I really
thihk there will be plenty OF
fish next season"
Tommy told all this and l
suppose we sat open mouthed,
or maybe looked little skep-
tical. Anyway, Tommy offered to
take me out around the keys to
see the waters for myself.
n was ! clear day. The wa.
ter was just ~ clean Is could
b. We could see right to the
boafoM ef the ocean. We sight
Cd mAAY sharks. rays, barra-
cudas and permits. They were
swimming lasilY around in the
wases, somstimes alone. some
times by twos or thzses.
We got a pretty bad sunburn
out of it.
r 4 4
John Shackleford is "A. He sits
near Fleming and Duval streets
every day selling newspapers. He
is a pleasant old gentleman,
rarely saying anything beyond
good morning.
John is i'll now. He has gone
to Miami for disqualification.
He'll be back at the old stand
in about ten days, it is reported.
"3hackleford was eonstruc-
lion enginssf in his time"
said Lsonts A. valAdaxes. pro-
pfis1or 81 the news stand.
Ties built large buildings all
over the country. He cslaae here
about IL years age and has
stayed here since. He's fine
old man"
i i \
Key West children are getting
ready for graduation this week