Good Maine "Fish Story" of A Half Century Ago (Eastport, Me) Sprague Journal of Maine History Vol. 8 December 1920 No. 4 pages 202-204 Good Maine "Fish Story" of A Half Century Ago In an old issue of Harpers Weekly (Oct. 24, 1868,) we find the following and herewith append a reproduction of illustration which accompanied the article. We confess that the tale seems rather "fishy" to us, especially as we recall that in our boyhood days newspaper stories of the capture of strange and wonderful fish "and sea serpents" along the Maine coast, came yearly with the regularity of the seasons. The cynically inclined were prone to regard them as merely Canards -- what we today would politely term "publicity" or "pro- paganda, "-entirely in the interest of sea-side resorts. And yet it has all the ear marks of actual fact. It eminated from the office of the Bangor Daily Whig, the honest old ancestor of the present Bangor Daily News; as truthful an organ as ever was, sober, sedate, taking pride in being a real "family paper" and representing the "best people" of the Queen City and Eastern Maine. A WONDERFUL FISH "This curiosity of natural history, caught "down East," near Eastport, Maine, a few weeks ago, has attracted so much attention and excited so, much wonder, even among naturalists, that we give a representation of it in the accompanying illustration. The Ban- gor Daily Whig gives the following detailed description of this fish: "The strange animal recently captured near Eastport, meagre reports of which had reached us, arrived in this city a few days ago, and has been on exhibition, during which it has been visited by our citizens, all of whom have expressed their wonder as well at the remarkable size of the monster as at its anomalous character. This animal, part beast and part fish, is over thirty feet in length, and girts twenty-one feet. It has one enormous dorsal fin, two side belly fins, and a broad, shark-like tail. About one-third of its length from its tail, in connection with small fins, it has two huge legs, terminating in web feet. Its mouth makes a line five or six feet in length, the whole extent of which is set with innumerable small teeth, very much resembling in size and shape the kernel of a species of sharp-pointed popcorn. It has a series of gills which overlap each other like the flounces once the style in ladies' dresses. Its immense body, which was estimated to have weighed when captured about eleven tons, had no frame-work of bones, its most solid portions consisting of cartilage incapable of preserva- tion. Its skin is dark and tough, like that of the elephant and rhinoceros. "'There is no record of his species, and to none is it a greater wonder than to naturalists, whose attention is being drawn to it. Among others who have had the opportunity of seeing it is Pro- fessor Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, who is as yet unable to place it in the known lists of animal kingdom. It is indeed a veritable wonder calculated to excite popular curiosity, and to invite the researches of the scientific. "'At various times during the past fifteen years a strange mon- ster, believed to be a huge serpent, has been reported seen in Lake Utopia, in New Brunswick, just across the State line; but as these reports in each instance rested upon the testimony of but one or two individuals, they were generally discredited. Latterly, however, the reports and the number of witnesses had so increased as to take the story out of the realm of fiction. On Sunday, August 31 the monster was discovered near the shore on the west side of Eastport Island, where Passamaquoddy Bay is connected with Lake Utopia by a marsh a quarter of a mile long. Being attacked by musketry, it struck for the marsh, and probably for the lake, which was undoubtedly its home, and before being rendered incap- able of locomotion, it had worked its way with is fins and legs a number of rods. The report of its presence at once spread to the town, attracting a large number to the spot to aid in its destruction. It received some seventy musket balls, and although attacked in the forenoon, it exhibited signs of life the following day. " 'Thus the northeastern point of our State, with the assistance of New Brunswick, has the honor of producing the nearest approach to a veritable sea-serpent, which is destined to make a popular sensation wherever exhibited. It is to be at Portland during the forthcoming State Fair, and is thence bound for Boston, New York, and other principal cities." (c) 1998 Courtesy of the Androscoggin Historical Society ************************************************* * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.