REMARKABLE BODY OF WATER

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 12747, 19 April 1909, Page 7

REMARKABLE BODY OF WATER

Full of Mer»€ating Fish

''Reelfoot Lake is one of the most remarkable bodies of water on the American continent. It abounds in bass, buffalo, drum, pike, and perch, and a voracious fish called the alligator gar. There is more sport ia landing one of these fellows than all the tarpon that swims. The gar is a man-eater, and far more to be feared than ''the man-eating shark of the seas.

GROWS TO A LENGTH OF 12 FEET.

"It grows to a length of 12 to 14 feet, and is swii't and ague. Ihe shark makes a partial turn in seizing its prey, but the alligator gar makes tise attacK directly .vitli wide open jaws that bear some resemblance to the jaws of an alligator. A side of pork or a big chunk ot beef will be seized from beneath the surface and drawn under with incredible swiftness. It is exceedingly dangerous to bathe in certain parts of the lake. The most powerful swimmer has no more chance with a fullgrown alligator gar than a mouse has with a cat in an unfurnished loom.

"I don't know of any recent loss of life," 9ays a writer in the New York Herald, "because the people are more careful, but 12 to 15 years ago there were several instances of the voracity of this fish, attacking men and dragging them down. The bodies of the victims are never recovered, and the popular belief is that they are carried to some sub-aqueous cave and devoured piecemeal. Reelfoot can never be 'fished out,' owing to its peculiar formation and the manner of its supply. The lake is not quite 100 years old. It came into existence on the afternoon of November 16, 1811, following two violent earthquake shocks, 30 minutes apart. Where the lake now stands was flat land at river level. The quake caused the earth to open and sink into a saucer-like depression. The waters of the Mississippi rushed in, and some of the old accounts still preserve^ in Obion County say that boats were torn from Mteir moorings, trees uprooted, cabins uplifted, and all hurled into the maelstrom.

CAN'S BE FISHED OUT

"It took probably a year for this great cup to fill up, and then there was formed a lake of 40 miles long and five miles wide, with a depth of 125 feet, shallowing to 30 feet near the south shore. There are places where a lead line has failed to find bottom at 400 feet. The reason that Reelfoot Lake can never be fished out is because the annual overflow from the Mississippi restocks its waters with an abundance of spawn and young fish. "The approach to the lake on the road winding round a high bluff on the north is one of surpassing beauty. High cliffs hat look like watch towers guard one side, and the luxuriant forest the other. The water of the lake is crystal-like in its clearness and some mysterious power keeps the surface constantly" in gentle undulafion, so that in the bright sunlight it loks like a carpet of quivering diamonds. The effect by moonlight is even more beautiful. The surface then resembles a moving sheet if molten silver or quicksilver. Words "annot be coined to convey adequately the fascination of the scene, but on the minds ->f the ignorant creatures who cannot understand why they should bp censured for unarmed men from their beds ard murdering them, the magnificent spectacle •nakes no impression.

"The hostility of the fishermen and hnnferß,f erR, who oppose private ownership, dates back 40 years, when a Mr Galloway, 8 "esident of Nashville, obtained a grant F rom the State, and leased it to Andrew Meadows for 1000 dollars. There have Seen several changes in ownership, but F mm th»t time on the feeling has been bitter, there have been numerous encounters, and I think one shooting affray previous to the last cpwar'dly assaspi nation a W months ago, which shocked the entire South."