Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958, 1950-09-06

VESTS greatest practlcal Joker ana
smartest publicity expert. Nothing
pleases him more than to surprise
people. He has been surprising
them for some time now and has
profited by it too.
When people read that octopus
es have climbed a mountain or
that seals have felled big trees
the stories get special twist after
it is learned that the beasts be-
long to Haglund. Similar stories
have been flashed across news SER
vice wires from Seattle to Guam
and Stockholm. When it comes
down to brass tacks, people also
know that the wizard of Seattle
is the owner of the popular restau-
rant Acres of CLANS and sponsor of
the worlds greatest international
clam eating contest (see cuD.
Cynical reporters still fall for him
like innocent country maidens for
a Casanova. He is God-send any
dull day.
Aquarium King
Haglund is also dubbed as the
Aquarium king of the Northwest.
His aquarium in Seattle looks as
though it contains all sorts of eX-
otto fishes assembled from all
parts of the globe, but every single
specimen comes from the North
west area. Nevertheless, he has
created an aura of glamor and eX-
element about them.
Once a visitor in the aquarium
raped a silver dollar on the glass
tank containing a shark. The
glass broke and the shark tumbled
down upon the visitor Haglund
put up a sign saying: This man.
eating shark tried to escape by
breaking the glass" Number of
paying visitors was doubled in one
week
A few years ago Haglund ar
ranged to have the prize-fighter
Tony Galento grapple with one of
his octopuses in the aquarium.
Galento, famed for wrestling with
apes, took a drink climbed into
the tank, disappeared below the
surface and reappeared to exclaim
that the octopus got an unfair
hold on him and that he therefore
should win.
Trials and TribulatiOns
But Haglund has had trouble
with his aquarium business too.
When launching his Seattle sea
show he didn't know much about
fishes and put all kinds of speci-
mems in the same tank with the
result that big fishes ate the small
err ones and smaller ones tiny ones.
So that practically left him with
out any fish But he started all
over again.
When he started an aquarium in
Vancouver. B. c. there was trouble
too. A professor reported that the
water in English Bay had an ideal
temperature and salt percentage
for raising different kinds Of fish.
Haglund built his aquarium near
the bay, and pumped water from
the bay into the building. Result:
the water turned out to be as
thick and muddy-like as clam
chowder and one could not see
further than four inches Though
the tank
Persistent Reporters
Once a Vancouver paper said
Haglund was in the city and would
offer $4,000 to anyone who could
capture a big sea monster called
Madrona Monster, which was sup
posed to be on its way to Bristol
Bay. The same paper contained
another story to the effect that
Haglund was in the Aleutians to-
gether with his pet octopus Oscar,
who was scheduled to climb down
a 5000 foot saltwater mountain
in search of new fish specimens.
"Doggone it, muttered Hag-
lund, II wish these reporters were
not so persistent"
Anything For a Story
Another Of Haglund's fantastic
stories is the one concerning big
seal caravans who, on account Of
lack of food, went ashore in Brit
fish Columbia and started gnawing
I'll -. =