Poisoned Fish Which Landed a Good Newspaper Story Tt has been a long time since we have heard a really good fish story.
Here it is!
Frit, a young man range up the reporters' office of the "North China Daily News" on the morning of Aux. 28 shortly before nine to notify a horrified lady reporter that all the fish in Hongkew Park had bee poisoned. Lady reporters being by nature especially sceptical, this one salted the story down, as it were, and made inquiries, only to learn that somebody was endeavouring to "pull somebody's leg" and. presumably to add to the notoriety which hus recently occurred to the history of fishing'in Hongkew Park, "Rut the ext instalment came bout 11 a.m. when the acting superintendent of parks and open spaces, Mr. W. J. Kerr, was walking towards the lake in the park. AS hie drew nearer he saw a dozen 0 more coolies scurry away from the edge of the lake, and several of their number seemed to a heavy load which Mr. Kerr could not distinguish from where he stood, The thought struck him, however, that something out of order was progress and he carried his investigations (0 the point of pursuit roolles took to their heels a, scampered over the barbed wire fence on the boundary of the park and scattered to Nhe four winds The heavy object, however, could not accompany the coolies in their flight and it remained lying flacehtly on its side inside the park, a long scuffed streak showing on its surface where an unsuccessful attempt had been made to haul it through the fence after its deserters.
The True Story The object was, statistically speaking, a member of the carp family, weighing 48 1b., measuring three fect, seven and a half inches Tong, and two feet six inches around its girth. It was bleeding profussly still from a lacerated mouth, anc Appeared in a thoroughly healthy condition, so much so in fact that regret could only be felt that there remained no coolie to tell the tale of its capture, Mr, Kerr, self-professed as no fisherman", and yet making the hac] of the season, picked up the 48 Ib. of fish-flesh and took it to the park= Keeper's quarters where the dismay which met him on every han of the kind which had it not seen' would have disbelieved. The fish was thereafter taken to the office of the superintendent of parks where a photograph was made of it while innumerable clerks and coolies hovered to participate in the year's best fish story, he explanation of how so large A carp, or ide (as it could not be quite clear which it was exactly, pending consultation with Shanghai's authority in these matters, 'A. de C. Sowerby), came to be fu a lake measuring approximately 1,000 feet long and 150 wide in the Hongkew Park is interesting, The heavy rains on Sunday swelled the Take, and as the water receded towards the Creek a number of smaller fish were left high and dry, which may, perhaps, account for our original informants impression that the fish in the park had been poisoned. The cooties working in the park lost no time in seizing the opportunity of doing a little trawl ing on their own account, and thoughtithat during these operations the big fish came to light. Fo: tunately for the world at large aad for the vindication of all those who yearn to fish in Hongkew Park, Mr. Kerr happened along just as the big carp had been landed. It is Mr. Kerr's belief that the fish was 20 Targe to have been washed into the lake from the creek and the alternate belief is that the fish had been the pond for a Long time.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.