STURGEON FISHING.
An Important Industry on the
Columbia River.
How the Big and Homely Fish
Is Captured.
The Columbiau river sturgeon,
known among scientific men as a trans
montanus or white sturgeon, is the
largest of the sturgeon family. It is
a salt-water fish, but, like the salmon,
runs up the coast rivers to spawn, and
thus becomes an easy prey for tho
fishermen. The first look at a stur
geon, and particularly if he is a big
one, is almost sufficient to put an end
to all desire to taste the meat. Tho
long hog-like suout, the small glassy
eyes, tho ugly sucker-like mouth,
toothless and situated on the lower side
of the head several inches from the
end of ihe snout, the bonv plates upon
the sides, and sharp and ugly fin ex
tending down the whole length of tho
back; the general sluggish and ugly
appearance of the fish, when taken
from the suggest almost any
thing except an article of food. The
scientist takes a great interest in the
sturgeon because it is one of the
oldest members of the fish family now
in existence and one which plays an
important part iu tho great theory of
evolution.
A fine specimen of Columbia-river
sturgeon was recently captured by
some of S. Schmidt's employee's ami
presented to a well-known taxider
mist of this city, who stuffed the skin
and fcent it to form part of Oregon's
exhibit at the World's Fair. This
fish was 94 feet in length, and when
first taken from tho water weighed
450 pounds. Throe fish taken by Mr.
Schmidt's employees this winter had
an aggregate weight of 1800 pounds.
Of course these are exceptionally large
ones, the average weight of a dressed
sturgeon being 125 lbs. It is believed
that these monsters are of a great age.
They are known among fishermen as
"mossbacks," because of the horny
and crusted appearance of their back*,
upon which large-sized barnacles are
often Tho sturgeon is
naturally a scavenger, and lives upon
any bits of food it can pick up ou the
bottom of the river, including worms
and all kinds of shellfish. In Sep
tember and October, when sardines
swarm in the mouth of tho river, the
sturgeon has a regular feast, for the
sardine is an easy prey for it, and
seems to be well suited to its digestive
apparatus.
The season for taking sturgeou|u
from September 15 to April 1. "When
they first enter the river to feast upon
sardines they are taken in large quan
tities with gill-nets, in much the eaine
manner that salmon are caught. Dur
ing the remainder of the season the
sturgeon must be taken witii hook and
line, or, rather hooks and line, for the
sturgeon does not nibble at a bait like
a common, ordinary fish. Tho method
in common use is as follows: Upon
a stout line many fathoms in length
are fastened a number of big hooks.
These hooks are made of steel and a. e
strung several inches apart. The line
is then lowered by means of sinkers,
so a* to bring the hooks within a few
inches of tho river bottom, where it is
fastened securely. The fish, swim
ming sluggishly along the bottom of
the river in search of food, suddenly
feels one of the sharp barbed hooks
fastened in its scaly hide.
In thrashing about to free itself the
clumsy fellow fets afoul of more
hooks and is then securely fastened.
Tho fisherman rows bis boat along
above his line, pulling up his lino an
he goes and removing the tish en
tangled in it. If lie wishes to use the
fish at once he draws it up to the side
of the boat and knocks it in the head
with a hammer before drawing it in
to the boat. Jf ho wishes to preserve
the fish alive until the market is better
lie tows it along to a trap, which is
simply a shallow portion of the rivor
sliut in by a barrier of stout poles
stuck in the bottom so close together
that even a small sized sturgeon can
not force its way between them. If
the sturgeon were possessed of any
sort of life or activity it would be a
hard customer to handle. A big stur
geon will somotimcs "get his dander
up," as the saying is, and thrash about
in such a manner as to almost upset
the big fishboat, but such occurences
are rare. [Portland Oregoniau.
Bruin Prefers a Vegetable Diet.
"Speaking of bears," said the know
ing man from Colorado, "their carniv
orous habits are usually much over
rated. I have been a resident within
the borders of my adopted stato for
twenty-three years, ten of which were
passed in the wildest portion of its
grand mountain ranges, ana three con
secutive years in a part of the. then,
Territory, wheu bears were as com
mon as raccoons are in Virgiuia. Ia
my bunting and trapping expeditions,
alone or with tlio ludians, I have
started these animals from their mid
day slumbers in their 'wallows' in
the sloughs of the Grand,
Snake, and Yampah rivers, sur
prised them io the raspberry patches
of the Cochetoba and Gove ranges, and
watched them digging for ant's eggs
or feeding ou the windrows of be
numbed grasshoppers that lay along
the summer snow line between Long's
Peak and Berthard Pass, but have
never seen one watching a deer trail or
lick, or chasing a bull elk. I have
seen a big gray-black brule of this
much-maligned family standing as
high and looking as vicious as John
L. Sullivan, clasping a bunch of sar
vis-bushes iu his mighty arms, and
'gorming' down the fruit in gallon
tnouthfuls,while a doe and two fawns
eropped water cresses within fifty feet
of him and plainly iu his sight, but
never a glance did this bloodthirsty
vandal cast in their direction.
"In September, 1876, I killed a
black bear in ray potato patch in the
Yampah Valley. This fellow in order
to reach the garden, had passed
through a little paddock where were
kept six calves, but I do not think he
gave them a nod as he went by. It
has becu my misfortune to have him
raid my camp while I was hunting in
Elk-head range, and, while 011 my re
turu at night, I found the commissary
breadless and buttcrless, the molasses
keg 'busted' and contents missing,
sugar an unknown quantity, and cans
of corn and tomatoes mashed fiat as
pancakes. Thero on the ridge polo
ot the tent swayed the side of bacon,
and 011 the branch of a pine tree, not
teu feet away, hung uudisturbed the
fat and juicy ham of a spiko buck
killedjthe previous eveniHg." —[New
York Sun.
How Helena Received Its Name.
Iu October, 1854, there was a meet
ing iu George Wood's cabin to ar
range for laying out a town and giv
ing it a name. These wcro some of
the names the rough miners suggested
that 1110 prospective city be called:
"Punkinville, Squashtown, Toma
hawk and Toniah." A Mr. John Soin
erville suggested that a good name
would be St. Helena. The general
taste was divided between Helena (a
shortening of St. Helena and Toinah,
an abbreviation of Tomahawk. Hele
na won the votes. In tho name St.
Helena the accent is ou the second
syllublo of the last word, but in the
course of years the name of tho pluce
has come to bo called ileleua Dy ev"
er> body.
It is said that one miner had been to
the island of St. Helena, and thought
Last Chance G'llch looked like a part
of that island. Then, again, it is said
that Helena was the name of a daugh
tor of a miner who attoiuled the meet
ing, or of the wife of such a miner.
But the best story is that John Soiner
ville said, in a speech that he made,
"I belong to the best country in the
world, lived iu the best Stato in it, iu
tlfc best county iu that State, id in
the best town in that county, anu, by
the Eternal, this place shall bear the
name of that towu —Helena." lie
was a tall, hardy, jovial frontiersina'u
from Minnesota, who had takeu his
wife with him to share his rough lifo
as a miner. [Harper's Young People.
An Enormous Ox.
William McMillan of Atlantic, la.,
lavs claim to the ownership of the
largest ox in the world. His meas
urements arc as follows: from head to
tail, 12 teot 4 inches; from tip of
nose to tip of tail, 17 feet 8 inches;
girth, 11 feet 1 inch; acros3 hips, 2
feet 9 inches; from brisk to top of
shoulder, 4 feet 11 inches; circumfer
ence—front leg at body, 29 inches;
of hind leg between knee and body, 2
feet and 8 inches; height to top of
shoulder, C feet and 4 inches; weight,
3,890 pounds. This weight was taken
last fall 011 his return from an exhibi
tion tour to the county aud State fairs
in lowa and Nebraska. Mr. Mc-
Millian estimates that his ox, named
Jumbo, will weigh at least 300 pounds
more thau when weighed last fall.
Jumbo is a thoroughbred Durham,
with the characteristic red color of
that breod, and unmarked excepting a
white star in the forehead. He has
been pronounced by the best stock
breeders of lowa and Nebraska as
finely a proportioned auimal of the
bovine species as they had ever seen.
He will be seven years old on Jnly 14,
1893. He is geutle as a kitten, and
has but a moderate appetito. He was
raised by C. W. Curtis of Cass Comity,
la-, who has marketed several brothers
and half-brothers of Jumbo, whose
weights ranged from 2,200 to 2,800
pounds.—[St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
FOIBLES OF SHARKS.
A Diver's Experience With the
Marine Monsters
They Are Rather Curious, But
Rarely Give Trouble.
Sharks are very common ail along
the coast of Australia. They become
more numerous, larger and more vo
racious the nearer we goto the
equator. Passengers who make ocean
voyages may often see them from the
deck of the ship, but I see them in
their native clcmeut, says a diver in
Chambers' Journal. A day seldom
passes when lam at work that I do
not see some of these creatures. They
do not seem to recognize a diver wbeu
clad in his diving dress as something
which is good to eat. Probably he is
mistaken for some other great se a
monster with which the shark would
just as soon as not measure his
strength.
At all events sharks rarely give us
any active annoyance. At first when
we go into a new country they exhib
it some curiosity. They sometimes
come and inspect us and our work,
moving slowly around us with per
ceptible motion and smelling us like
great dogs. It gives one a very hor
rible feeling of insecurity, I assure
you, when one of those monsters
twelve or fourteen feet long runs his
nose around your body, aud without
even a solitary "wag" of his tail to
indicate good fellowship. The shark
will swim away right enough when
he has finished his inspection —at
least lie has always done so with me—
and although annoying I can stand it
now.
Sometimes when you go down of a
morning you will find half a dozen big
aud littlo sharks who have evidently
selected the site of your operations as
a camping ground. This is awkward.
Perhaps they have observed the dis
turbance at the bottom of the sea,
and, like marine constables, they "are
waiting for the fellow who made it to
run him in." This is an awkward
experience, for these sharks do not
clear oil' and admit your claim. They
say all animals have a fear of man,
but sharks cannot recognize a man in
a diver's costume. They neither op.
pose nor assist us in our operations —
they simply ignore us. We have to
be very careful then, walking around
about these pigs without disturbing
them.
1 have occasionally used a small
crowbar as a weapon and struck a
small shark on the nose when ho was
annoying me with his persistency.
The shark will then turn and go oil
with a rush. I would not, however,
like to try my crowbar on a shark ten
feet long. After his rush away he
might return for further investiga
tion.
I have had many nasty adventures
with sharks when pursuing my occu
pation. I recollect one that gave me
a considerable shock. I had been en.
gagod blowing up a reef of rocks so
as to enlarge a littlo harbor on the
coast. It was my duty to make the
hole and putin the charge of dyna
mite. The charge was exploded in
the ovening after we left off work.
Ongoing down every mftrning I was
accustomed togo over to a certain
lodge which was always a good rest
ing place for lobsters. Moruing after
morning I had invariably fouud a
pair or more of these crustaceans,
which I seut to the surface in a bas
ket.
On the morning to which I now
refer I walked straight to tl\e ledge
aud ran my haud carefully along its
lower side. I was surprised to find
my hand scraping wtiac I took to be
the rock, but I was surprised still more
when I observed my haud groping
within a foot of the mouth of a great
shark which had retired to rest in this
cavitj*.
The shark must have been as much
alarmed as I was, for it made one
sprinting from its resting place and
disappeared in the dark wall of the
ocean. The shock to mo was greater
than I could have believed, aud evon
yet Ido not care to thiuk about it. It
is hardly necessary to say that 1 did
not return to that ledge for lobsters
for some time.
Chinese Babies.
When a Chinese baby is a month
old it is given a name. Its head is
also sliaved for the first time, a cere
mouy which is called "munefet,"
and is made the occasion of great re
joicing in rich families. All members
of the family are present in thoir holi
day attire, and the baby to be shaved
is clad in a light red garment.
The hair that is removed is wrapped
in paper and carefully preserved.
After the barber has performed his
task, an aged muu—who is hired for
purpose aud receives a small com
pensation —lays his hand upon the
head of the little one aud exclaims:
"Long may you livel"
Those present thereupon sit down to
a great feast, of which even the little
hero of tho day receives his share in
tho sliape of a tiny piece of the rice
flour cake, which was donated by his
grandmother. All who have made
preseuts (of clothing, bracelets, etc.,)
to the child since its birth are invited
to the repast.
On this day the infant is also pres
ented with a red bed, a low chair of
the same color aud a cap upon which
either golden, silver or copper orna
ments representing Buddha or eight
cherubs or written characters (that
signify old age and riches) are placed.
Before the child is put into the new
bed, however, the father consults a
calendar and selects a lucky day.
The almanac also informs him which
things should be removed from- the
presence of the child. In one in
stance it must not touch or see objects
made of bamboo during a certain
time; iu another iustanco articles of
capper and iron are proscribed.
Objects which aro denoted as harm*
■ful by the calendar arc either con
cealed or taken away. —[San Francisco
Examiner.
Plowed Up a Fortune.
"Speaking of monoy," said Jotin I.
Spencer, "brings to my miud tho
great find the Owens family made
near Bedford, Ind., some two years
ago. That country is rather hilly,
and the ground not very desirable for
agricultural purpoees. This family
had some 200 acres of land and largely
used it for pasturage. However,
about the time I refer to one of the
Owens boys decided to cultivato a
small portion which lie judged to be
better soil than the rest. With this
point in view lie began plowing in
tlie early spring. In the course of
his work lie struck a snag. Before
turning tho plow aside he endeavored
to draw out the snag. By striking
tho horse he forced the plow only
deeper into the earth. The sudden
start of tho horse jerked the sunken
log loose from the earth and revealed
a heap of silver and gold coins. lie
gathered the bud of coins aud removed
them to the house, where he polished
up the many pieces aud took an ac.
count of their face value.
"Tho find included rare old French
coins, both copper, silver and gold;
American silver dollars, some Mexican
and souic coins of the Revolutionary
period.
"The face value of the many pieces
footed up SSOO, but tiie market value
was something liko SIO,OOO. The old
settlers assert that the monoy was left
there by somo former resident, who
feared the approach of the Indiaus.
Having buried the monoy he probably
eugaged iu a battle with the Indians
and never lived to return and take up
the treasure. The money, no doubt,
lay under that log for fully sixty
years, and possibly longer."—[St.
Louis Globe Democrat.
The Vegetable Structure of Coal.
The substance of coal has been so
compressed that the forms of the
plants composing it cannot usually bo
seen. But when a piece of it is made
so thin that it will transmit light, and
is then subjected to a powerful micro
scope, its vegetable structure may
readily be distinguished. Immediate,
ly under every separate scam of ccal
there is a stratum of what is known
as fire clay. This stratum is always
present and contains 111 great abund
ance the fossil impressions of roots
and stems aud twigs, showing that it
was once the soil from which vegeta
tion grew luxuricntly. It is common
also to find fossil tree stems lying
mashed fiat between the layers of
black slate which form the roofs of
coal mines as well as the impressions
of the leaves, nuts and seeds which
fell from these trees while they were
living. In some bed* of canuel coal
whole trees havo been found with
roots, branchos, leaves and seeds com
plete, and all converted into the same
quality of coal as that by which they
were surrounded.—[Washington SU-.
Reasonably Explained.
"Claude, do you kuow what has be
come of the preserve that was iu this
bowl ?"
"You meau the evaporated peaches,
ma'am?"
"YDS."
"Don't you think they might havo
evaporated, mamma?' I —[Judge.
There are 1695 railroad bridges of
I various classes in Massachusetts, ac
cording to official figures, which also
show that there have been 18,347 train
accidents in the United States dtiriug
iho last twenty yens.
PEAKLS OF THOUGHT.
The object of the superior man is
truth.
The secret of success is constancy
to purpose.
Wisdom never analyzes the blood
of pinpricks.
Disapproval is generally rooted in
self-approval.
The negatives of life arc the mold
crs of character.
A noble soul has no other morit tlinu
to bo a noble soul.
Philosophy, the food for thought,
oft starves the body.
An individual's bliss oft becomes
community's blister.
Truthfulness is at the foundation of
all personal excellence.
Literature sometimes -caches its
greatest height as kite-tails.
To steal from one's self is more
contemptible than to steal from a blind
man.
The telephone service of tho nerves
never loses a connection without dis*
aster.
It is hotter to be misunderstood
ninety-nine than to misunder
stand once.
A careless song, with a littlo non
sense in it now and then, does not
misbecome a monarch.
Tears are often to be found where
there is little sorrow, and the deepest
sorrow without any tears.
Man absorbs knowledge as a sponge
does water, and, liko a sponge, needs
an occasional wringing out.
The secret of many a man's success
in the world resides in his insight into
the moods of men and his tact in deal
ing with them.
Sincerity is an openness of heart;
we fiud it iu very few people. What
we usually see is an artful dissimula
tion to win the confidence of others.
Talkative people, if they wished to
be loved, they aro liated; if they de
sire to please, they bore; when they
thiuk they are admired, they are really
laughed at; they injure their friends,
benefit their cuemies, and ruin them
selves.
To Be the World's Granary.
"If the horse could stand it," said
S. A. Itowbothan, a well-known resi
lient of Winnipeg, Manitoba, to the
Star this morning, '-a man could leave
Winnipeg and ride 1000 miles west
and northwest over a level prairie be
fore he would be obstructed by the
mountains. This gives au idea of the
great territory lying west of Winni
peg, which, to the eastern man, seems
way out of the world.
"The soil of this prairie produces
the finest spring wheat grown any
where, and the enormous plain I've
just mentioned will in a few years be
the great granary of tho world. East
ern people have a misty idea of our
expansive territory. We arc just com
mencing to grow wheat compared to a
decade hence, though our crop two
years ago was 30,000,000 bushels. We
have but little snow and in the many
voars I resided in Manitoba I never
saw tho tops of the bright pi airie grass
covered. Cattle fairly roll iu fat, and
we are becouiiug a great cattle coun
try.
"While most of our settlers are from
across the water, yet the number front
the Western states is yearly increas
ing. We have no wild West frontier
scenes. There are no settlers killed
over disputed c'aitns, as has been an
every-day story in the West for years.
Our homestead laws require a three
years' residence of six months each.
Land may be pre-empted, too.
"Gold has been discovered in wonder
fully rich quartz deposits a few miles
east of Winnipeg, aud paying have
just been erected by Minneapolis capi
talists. I predict a 'rush' to the Lake
of tho Woods district next year.
Winnipeg has 35,000 inhabitants, and
is a thriving city. Our winters aro
cold, but we do not mind them. The
atmosphere is dry and the days are
clear, murky weather being almost
unknown."—f Washington Star.
Benefit of Good Roads.
One of the best arguments for good
roads is contained in a calculation re
cently published in one of the engi
neering papers. It states that ou the
worst earth roads, not muddy, but
■amly, a horse can draw only twice as
much as he can carry on his back; on
a fair earth road, three and a half
times as much; on a good macadam
ized road, nine times as mueh; ou a
smooth plank road, tweiUy-fivo times
as much; ou a stone trackway, thirty
three times as mnch, and on metal
rails, fifty-four times as much. The
men who use the country roads can
therefore make money by improving
the roads rather than by buying new
horses every year or two. [New York
Journal.
C HII.DKKVN COLUMN.
TFIE CRUISE OR THE EI.VEFL.
Three elves sailed forth on a flake of snow,
Anil a great wind soon began to blow.
"We must take in sail at once," said they,
"With a yeo, heave ho!—heave ho, belay!
Then they looked about them, fore and aft,
But they found no sail on their suowdake
craft.
"We must port our helm Instead," said
they,
"With a yeo, heave ho!—heave ho, belay 1"
But, alas, there wasn't a helm to shift,
So they ran aground on a big snowdrift.
"This isn't bad seamanship," said they,
"With a yeo, heave ho! —heave ho, belay!"
"You can't reef sails that you havn't got,
Or port your helm where a helm is not;
"But we know what should be done," said
they,
"With a yeo, heave ho ! —heave ho, belay."
To Elftown straight from that spot they
sped,
And tbey paced the streets with a naval
tread,
"'Twas a most successful cruise," said they,
'•With our yeo, hsave ho!—heave ho, be
lay I"
|Felix Leigh, in St. Nicholas.
HOLLAND'S LITTLE QUEEH.
If any little American maid who ia
a queen by right divine and has had
her will and way ever since she could
hold a rattle box, even if she doesn't
know it, thinks it would be a fine
thing to be a real queen with a crown
of gold and jewels and to wear her
Sunday thing# every day, it will be
' well for her to read something of what
is expected of Queen Wilhelmina of
Holland. In the lirst place she has as
many corner stones to lay, ship? to
christen and great bazaars to open as
does that overworked man, the Prince
of Wales.
Then there are lessons to learn from
masters and mistresses galore. In
deed, at a great court festivity the
child Queen was heard consoling one
of her cousins who was complaining
of lessons, saying: "I, too, must
learn such a stupidly stupid lot'*
Already she speaks equally well Dutch,
French, English and German, and
masters come every day to teach her
other branches. She is fond of music,
and shows considerable promise of
talent, inheriting this taste from her
father, who onco composed an opera.
There is but an half-hour's respite
from the lesions in the morning, and
iu the afternoon there is always the
cooking aud sewing, for every Dutch
maiden must be a good Iluusvrow. A
retinue of 30 dolls the little girl lias
of all sorts and conditions, but an
additiou to her numerous family givea
her greater pleasure than anything
else.
The German Emperor sent her at
Christmas a whole regiment of lead
soldiers in most resplendent uniform.
Some day the baby Louise will teach
her father what a waste of money it is
to send soldiers to a girl. When these
dolls arc very, very bad, after the
manner of dollios the world over,
their royal mother punishes them by
making them bow, aud bow, and bow
to an imaginary public, which the
Queen thinks is the most disagreeable
thing ono can have to do. This doll
family lives in a chalet iu the garden,
and here the Queen brings ail th 9
friends who come to visit her. They
play at housekeeping, just as all little
girls do, and the Queen always insists
ou being the servant It was the
Princess Victoria, who, when a child,
went to visit a dear old lady that al
lowed her to do just as she pleused,
and she always pleased to have a pail
of suds and wash the windows.
Wilhelmina of Holland doesn't begiu
to have the pretty things to wear that
the little girls hero enjoy, even those
whose fathers are not wealthy and
whose mothers make the frocks them
selves, for the Dutch idea of dress is
deplorably inartistic. She often wears
the peasaut dress of llicdillerent prov
inces when she travels through them,
and when her old nurse comes to visit
her she finds, not a Queen child, but a
lit tie peasant maid dressed just like
herself. Sometimes the quaint caps
are very heavy and hot, but the little
girl wears them until her head ache*,
learning the lessons early that all
queens must learn.— [N.Y. Sun.
Unexpected Wealth.
I have heard it said by a friend of
tho late Albert Way, the well-known
archaeologist, that he catnc by a for
tune in this wise. Crossing Pall Mull
he cannoned against an old gentleman,
and discomfited him. After mutual
apologies aud the interchange ot
civilities, cards were exchanged, and
on each card was imprinted "Mr
Albert Way." The older gentleman
dying had no natural lieir, and left
Ids fortune to the other Albert Way.
[Tho Spectator.
Three different boring machine*,de
signed to cut oat a central boro 2-4
feet in diameter, were invented for
use in the Hoosac tunnel.