FisJi Culturists' Association. 11 



tautogs had died. We had 30,000 silver eels, and over a thousand salt 

 water eels living and doing well, and a barrel of oysters in perfect con- 

 dition. There were fort3'-one spawning lobsters left, half of which at 

 least were likeh' to survive the rest of the journey, and of all the vari- 

 eties taken into the car not one had entirely given out, nor was there 

 any serious loss with any except the lobsters, and of these forty-one, as 

 just mentioned, were still living. I ought to add here, that it was my in- 

 tention to take out some shad, and I did actually send for some, but none 

 reached the car alive ; so of course there were none lost on the car. 



We were on our sixth day out when the accident happened. The 

 whole trip by passenger train time takes but seven days, and we should 

 have been in Utah instead of Nebraska, but the arrangements not having 

 been perfected for travelling all the way with passenger trains we had in 

 consequence met with delays which had made this difference. But the 

 circumstance that the fishes were doing so well on the sixth day speaks 

 well for their chances of surviving the balance of the journey. 



The accident occurred at the Elkhorn river, thirt}' miles beyond 

 Omaha. The engine, tender and aquarium car went through the treach- 

 erous trestle work into about twenty feet of water, with a swift current 

 running. The engineer, brakeman, roadmaster, and the three occupants 

 of the aquarium car went down with the wreck. The roadmaster, Mr. 

 Care}^, was killed ; the rest of us escaped with bruises. The contents 

 of the aquarium car were a total loss to California, every fish escaping 

 into the Elkhorn river. The accident took place on Sunday afternoon 

 about three o'clock. The next morning just after breakfast I received a 

 dispatch from Prof. Baird (a circumstance which shows with what 

 promptness our national commissioner is in the habit of acting), to return 

 east with m}^ men and make a second attempt to cross the continent with 

 shad. 



CROSSING THE CONTINENT WITH SHAD. 



I accordingly returned, and on the night of Wednesday, the 25th of 

 June, 1873, left the Hudson river with 40,000 live shad, and reached the 

 junction of the Utah railroad on the afternoon of Monday, June 30th, 

 with the fish in perfect order. Here I left 5,000 shad for Great Salt 

 Lake, and proceeded to California with the remaining 35,000. We 

 reached Sacramento City at half-past one on the afternoon of Wednes- 

 da}^, July 2d, with the shad in first rate condition. At ten minutes past 

 nine on the evening of the same daj' we deposited them safelj^ in the 

 the Sacramento river at Tehama, the whole expedition, from beginning 

 to end, having been a perfect success. 



