FOREST AND STREAM, 
90(5 
Editor Fomt and Stream 
Chicago, Suit., Dcc.Wt. 
ir Jim llltoheOOk, of Uconomowoc, ha? not alroady told the 
story which entitles him to the hook, hr has the story on hand, 
and I know it. Jim is hound to draw • nat prize, if it takes him a 
year and a hat f. As for the story to'd by him in last, week’s paper, 
it was a good one, and was true, being: couched for by tt most 
truthful and very estimable lady. Still James does not require 
vouchers for his voracity; anybody will take his word, or his note 
either, for that matter. For the following, which is the story up¬ 
on which James (expects to get the prize, I have not only his 
word, but 1 saw the oocurrence myself, from the porch of my 
house ou the banks of La Belle Lake. 
n. and a friend from New York, equipped and provided accord¬ 
ing to law, made an early start one summer morning in pursuit 
of the black bass and green boss of La Belle. They fished with 
fair success for some hours up and down the lake. Upon round¬ 
ing Long Island, and entering the bay above, Jim came to a spot 
which he knew to bo the home of the grandfather of ail the bass 
in the lake. He wasau old ripper. He had tackled him on two 
previous occasions, and each time had succeeded In losing the 
fish; but ou this day bo had made special preparations; Ills rod, 
reel, line and barbless hook, wore perfect, and he wanted that bass. 
He weighed at least six pounds, and come out of the water he 
must. 
James made a east, the minnow fell upon the water sixty feet 
away; no rise; he reeled in his line for another; just a little to 
the lef l the minnow fell again. The water boiled and surged for 
an instant; the minnow disappeared and the reel spun like ft buzz 
saw. A twitch of the rod just enough to set tlie book, and James 
Baid be had him, and be did have him theoretically, for just then 
the bass leaped out of the water to see, I suppose, what kind of a 
fellow hart that rod iu his hand. Satisfied that he had no green 
horn to deal with,'.ho struck at tho lino with his tail as he went 
down, but missed hismarkand found that unpleasant hoolc still 
in his mouth. It now became a contest between James and the 
bass, in which James was rapidly getting the best of the fish. A 
hundred feet of line would run out in about five seconds, then 
being somewhat checked by the heavy draught the bass would 
turn and make a bee-line for the boat twice as fast as the reel 
could take the lino up, straight under the boat, out the other side 
and oft for another hund red feet iu the opposite direction. These 
tactics were kept up for fully half nn Hour, and still the fish was 
no nearer a captive than when ho first struck, except that he 
showed less vigor In his rushes to and fro. James began to sweat. 
The baBs changed his plan and went straight down in the deep 
water immediately under the boat, then he sulked and no amount 
of persuasion could stir him an inch. Suddenly the bass made a 
grand rush far the surface, reached it, and shot off like an arrow 
more than one hundred feet before lie could be checked, but the 
pressure ou the reel fetched him at last. Jim knew that it was 
the grand final attempt at escape. And when he commenced 
reeling him In, was sure he had bis bass—the fellow he hart been 
looking for so long. Inch by inch and foot by foot the reel took 
up the line, fifty feet, twenty-five feet. Tho old fellow turned 
upon his side; blight and shiny it was; and he was a'veritable 
monster; over six pounds, sure. What a prize! The last turn 
was given to the reel, the landing net was carefully advanced 
below the fish, and—came up, with nothing iu it hut the hook. 
At the last moment that bass bad swallowed himself. This was 
Jtm'B explanation of It, and I have no doubt it was true, because 
I have never seen that bass iu the lake since. 
Send that hook to J. C. Hitokcock, Oconoinouoe, Wis. 
Geo. A. Shcfeldt. 
The size of the bass to be sure counts something in this 
well-told narrative, hut we can bring forward any number 
of nmn right here on Manhattan Island who have seen one 
big fish begin to swallow another big fish, the second 
big fish also attempt to swallow the first, and, eaoli 
swallowing the other, both disappear. The hook will, 
'not, therefore, go to Wisconsin. 
Savannah, Tenn./Dre. 1th. 
Editor a] Forest and Stream 
Several years ago a party of gentlemen were fishing for bass on 
cue of the many tributaries of tlm Tennessee River. Owing to 
tho carelessness of one of the party, their buoket nearly full ol' 
minnows was dropped into the stream and lost. Four years after¬ 
ward one of the party changed to be fishing near the spot where 
the bucket had been lost, and caught a catfish of the yellow 
variety, about twenty inches in length. A somewhat unusual 
TOtundity in the abdominal region of tbe fish provoked attention, 
and led to the angler's making an immediate dissection. Some¬ 
what to his surprise, among the miscellaneous contents of the 
fish’s stomaoh he discovered the long-lost minnow bucket. Now 
had this been all, there would have been no cause for my troubling 
the readers of your journal. For if a northern pickerel, four 
inches long, oan swallow another measuring as many feet, what 
Is there strange in a southern catfish taking iu a medium sized tin 
bucket. But inside thebuekot he discovered a brook obnb, whioh 
after having devoured its fellow captives hud grown to the size 
and shape of its enforced prison house, aud portions of its body 
were protruding through every perforation of the top and sides 
of its close tin case. A.L. Y. 
This has the “piece of chalk” indefiniteness. How big 
was the bucket ? And what is the mystic meaning of 
those initials? 
Shanks, 0., Dee. Tilth. 
Bditur Forest and Stream 
The following incident earn© under my observation a few years 
since, in the State of West Virginia, which was at that time my 
home. A iino with baited hooks attached at intervals was stretch¬ 
ed acmss Middlelsland Creek. The owner repaired to his fishing 
grounds one morning for the purpose ol’ examining the line ;and 
rebuking tno books. Arriving on the bluff banlcof the creek, he 
observed a commotion In tbe water near tbe line, and about the 
middle of the stream. A careful look' discovered a very large 
pike near the surface of tire water, apparently fastened on a 
hook, and making some effort to freo him self. Fearing, from the 
size of the fish, that be might break something and escape, the 
fishermen raised his rifle, took a quick aim, and fired; and soon I 
had the satisfaction of seeing the fish turn up and lie quivering 
in the water. Upon rowing in to the spot, he found that a pike 
two feet long had been booked, and afterward swallowed to tho 
gill by another pike (the one he had seen and shot from the shore) 
measuring four and a half feet, which was trying to make off 
with ills prey, when the rifle shot stopped him. A. Orb. 
WAdkerton, Ontario, Dec. 8th. 
Editor Forest and Stream 
I send you the following, and tun Under the impression that it is 
the story you are watting for. After reading it I am sure the au¬ 
thors Of the stories already published will ubandon all claim to 
the hook, and smile at their efforts in romance " Now the Lord 
prepared a groat fish to swallow up TJonah,” "And Jonah was to 
the bolly of the fish three days ami throe nights,” "And the Lord 
spake unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dryland.” 
Gunner. 
“ Gunner ”is informed that the above story is a gross 
plagiarism. We thought when we read his manuscript 
that we had seen the same thing somewhere before, and 
upon consulting the librarian of the Astor Library we 
were referred to a very ancient book, originally written 
in Hebrew and since translated into hundreds of differ¬ 
ent languages. We find in the English translation of the 
book the same story, word for word, as “Gunner” has 
sent it to us. He may, therefore, not hope for the fish¬ 
hook; that prize is to be awarded to the best original story. 
If our Ontario friend thought to impose upon any sup¬ 
posed lack in this office of familiarity with general litera¬ 
ture, he may now profitably reflect upon the illusory 
sheen of fish hooks gilded with great expectations. All 
is not gold that glitters ; nor is the bait always the poor 
worm it seems to be. 
By the way—after our contributors have wound up their 
reels and put aside their pens, we shall treat all hands to 
a fish supper, of which the hill of fare, printed in many 
languages, shall contain varieties from the streams of 
fiction in every age and clime. 
The Great SwAinowER— Chiasmodon niye.r .—In accordance 
with my promise, I herewithf uruish more information relative to 
the fish which swallows others several times larger than itself, re¬ 
ferred to in Forest and Stream for Nov. Oth, 18“9, (Yol. 13, p. 
795). 
The species designated Chtamwdon niger, has an elongated form; 
no scales; two dorsal fins, one short nod the other long; and tho 
head is conic and pointed, and has a very deep mouth. The fish 
has been referred to the family of Gadidie—i. e. associated with 
the codfishes—but probably is the typo of apeouliar one, although 
nearly related to the Gadids. The mouth is not only deeply split, 
hut the jaws are very movable, and armed] with large back¬ 
ward curved teeth. Further, the integuments of the abdomi¬ 
nal cavity as well as the intestinal oanal itself, are extremely 
distensible and stretch like India ruber. Hence, we have due 
provision (1) for Ingestion through the mouth; (2) for stor¬ 
age within the interior. The fish, as indicated by the structure 
and armature of tho mouth, is very fierce and voracious as 
as well as bold. It consequently attacks others much larger than 
itself: runs them down, seizes them by the tail, and having 
once, secured a hold, climbs over them, (gets on the outside of 
them.— Ed.), as it were, by alternate movements of the upper 
and lower jaws; the distensibility of tho integuments enables 
it to cpmpleto.the work and to get outside of an animal which will 
weigh several times more than itself would weigh with an empty 
stomach. Any one who has seen a snake swallowing a rat or 
mouse can readily appreciate how the work of ingestion in the 
fish is effected. 
But excessive greediness generally carries with it’its own pun¬ 
ishment in some form or other. Our great swallower is a case in 
point. Although it is capable of such feats it Is not exempt from 
tho Uws governing matter. Tho big fish may he entirely and 
compactly stored within the cavity of the little one—and in an 
almost uninjured state, too—but the struggling of the victim and 
the gases of putrefaction subsequently evolved, may lead to 
fatal results. The consequences are (1) that tbe belly turns up¬ 
wards and the fish is unable to control its movements, and (2) on 
account of the helplessness and buoyancy thus induced, it is car¬ 
ried from the depths which it normally inhabits into the upper 
regions and floats upon the surfaco. 
As the result of the greediness to question the only specimens of 
the species hitherto obtained have been scoured. One was taken 
in the mouth of March off the Island of Madeira, and described by 
Mr. J. Y. Johnson, in Proceedings Zoological, Society, London, 
for 18G3, (pp. 408-440), and another while helplessly floating was 
picked up near the Wes* India Island of Dominica, and has been 
described and illustrated in Proceedings ZBologiel Society, London, 
for 1860, (pp. 35-39, pi. 2). The Madeiran specimen was three and 
seventh-tenth inches long, and "its stomach contained the 
doubled-up body of an entire fish nearly twice its own length. 
The latter proved to bea specimen of Gonostoma denudatum, Bp.’. 
The Dominican fish had a “ total length from snout to extremity 
of tail” of 01 inches, and “tho length of the enclosed fish {Scopelus 
macrolcjitdotMs)," was 10i Inches. In both oases the fish swallowed 
was not only longer, but comparatively higher, broader and 
therefore stouter than the swallower, and consequently must have 
weighed a number of times more than the swallower. 
T send an outline of the specimen caught near Dominica, show- ] 
ing how the stomach and abdominal integuments are dilated and 
the ventral and anal fins displaced. 
In conclusion, I shall only add that although the above noted 
are the most remarkable swallowers I know of, there are a nu raber 
of species which are capable 6f great teats in the same line. 
Such are the deep sea anglers)of the family of Ceratilds, and our 
own surface angler, or " goose fish ” (Lophius piseatorlus). 
Theo. Gi ol. 
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D. C. 
•f Detroit, Mich., Dec. 9th. 
Editor Forest and Stream :— 
Now, as I understand it, a fish story is a tale that is unreliable, 
“ fishy,” liable to ho unt rue. Bo two incidents that came under my 
observation would not enter into competition forthegilded, great 
book, as they are strictly true. But I will relate them. Detroit 
is near that great fishing ground, the St. Clair Flats. Bright and 
early in the morning we started out with a pail of fine minnows, 
ana at our first anchorage we found we had struck it big, and 
would have royal sport. Wo were just “ snaking ” in the black 
bass; had caught perhaps a dozen or fifteen, running in weight 
from two to five pounds, when the lubber with me made one of the 
graceful movements in the boat, for which his species are noted, 
and overboard be went, and with him went over our pail of min¬ 
nows. After some difficulty I fished him out. and secured the pail, 
but, alas, the minnows wfere gone. Now, here was a pretty kettle 
of fish. No bait and such a magnificent chance for sport before 
us. A moment’s reflection and off we started for shallow water. 
When we reached it I got out and went striking through the 
weeds with my little scoop for more minnows. I had not been 
wading more than five minutes before I got my leg tangled to 
something that felt like a coil of rope. T stopped to examine it, 
and what do you suppose it was? Nothing more nor less than 
one of those piratical fish, a large grass pike, which had actually 
undertaken to swallow himself! He had commenced with the 
tail part and had six or eight inches gorged, thus making a hoop 
of himself, and I had put my foot in it. Being disturbed in his 
repast he made a desparate convulsive effort to ]get another blto 
before he got away from himself, and in so doing had shortened 
up on that part yet out doors and thus firmly imprisoned my leg. 
The beast! His shark-like teeth and the tight fit of his delicate 
morsel prevented me from untying him, and we had to cut him in 
two with a jack knife. Our scales told us that the cannibal weigh¬ 
ed eleven and a half pounds. This is actually true, so no hook 
for that. 
Sometimes, late to the season, we go “ bobbing.” The manner 
is this: we take large bladders, which we get from some sla ughter 
house, and when we reaoii the fishing ground—some quiet and 
deep pool Tilth little or no current—the bladders are inflated and 
a hook, witli line four to eight feet long, attached, baited and 
cast into the water. Often we have fifteen or twenty of these 
to each boat. When a fish bites it is shown by the bladder bob¬ 
bing upaud down, and away we go to haul him to. Now, on this 
particular occasion, one of our bobs went out of sight like a flash 
and we vainly looked for it to appear again. We watched until 
tired out, find finally gave iff up as lost, supposing some monster 
of the deep had gone to sea with it or tangled the line in weeds or 
snags, entirely outlof sight. Some twenty or thirty minutes 
afterward, nearly in the center of the pond there arose to the 
surface a very strange looking object. We proceeded t® Investi¬ 
gate, but it was so hideous looking, neither would go near it for 
sometime; however, we finally mustered up courage enough to 
get it. iuto the boat. It was alive, but helpless, and had the color, 
3C-ales,fins, head, eyes and mouth of the pike, hut, oh, my! what 
a shape. From tip of nose to end of t ai I it must have measured 
about teninebes, and the oireumf erence of its body could not have 
been less than thirty or thirty-five inches at its middle. We 
finally concluded it was a pike and that it had swallowed some¬ 
thing which so unnaturally distended its body. So we butchered 
h im and held post mortem examination, and what doyouimagine 
wefound ? Our bladder. The voraoious fool bad snapped at it 
while inflated and floating on the surface of the water, and w 
presume punoturedthe skin with one of his sharp teeth audit 
collapsed, then taking it under the water with him made a me a. 
of it. But he disposed of it iu his stomaoh in had shape, and the 
action of his breathing apparatus again inflated it. The more he 
breathed the worse the matter became, until he finally lost all 
control of himself and rose to the surface and oould not again 
descend, or even swim along on the surface. We presume if this 
circumstance had taken place in some coal oil country where the 
fool could have had gas to Inflate his balloon with, we should 
have seen a new species of flying fish. ITno. 
“ Uho’s ” is the most ingenious of all the automatic, 
noiseless, duplex, ne plus ultra stories of this series. The 
tale bears intrinsic evidence of its truthfulness. Had a 
man started out to spin the yarn he would have found 
no difficulty in getting the pike outside of the bladder, 
but how to distend the bladder again, would have stag¬ 
gered the ready tongue of the “orfulest” liar of the 
land. 
vX New York, Dee, 8ih, 
Editor Forest and Stream 
Several summers ago I was up to the Adivondacks with Dr.-, 
whom you know quite well. One afternoon we made up a party 
and went trolling for pickerel. We divided into two boat loads 
and commenced our sport. The Doctor was rowing and I had my 
lino out, when all of a sudden I felt a strike that would have glad¬ 
dened the hearts of older fishermen than 1 am. The pickerel 
jumped about twenty feet out of the water, and then all at Once 
my lino slacked. Thinking he had got away, the Doctor rowed 
slowly for about audio. By that time I thought 1 would look and 
see if my spoon was all right. Upon pulling tho lino in, I found 
that the pickerel—tho weight of which I think must have 
been fully twenty pounds—had taken my spoon clean off the line. 
My sport was ended for that day, having only the one spoon. 
The strange part is to come. The following summer, Dr.-and 
our families, as usual, again went to the Adirondaoks. During 
our stay I heard one day of a parly having eaughta pickerel with 
a spoon in its mouth. I at onoe “ interviewed ” the man, and found 
that after one year the pickerel that lhad stolen my spoon had 
at last been brought to justice, with theevidence of his guilt, as it 
were, upon hi3 person. J. W. A., Jr. 
—Gen. Stoneman derides Gen. Fremont’s scheme for 
turning the waters of the Colorado into the desert basin 
of California and Arizona. He says that, presuming the 
connecting canal to be 1,000 feet wide and ten deep, and 
running at five miles an hour, it would take 200 years to 
fill the basin. After being filled it would, he asserts, re¬ 
quire an additional cutting of the same depth, and 350 
feet wide to compensate for evaporation, 
