Mrs. Tescheron particularly admired the many specimens of birds shown in
nearly every room in the house, and even Gabrielle found them
interesting. Mr. Tescheron, who was something of an expert on fish, and
had written a number of articles on rare specimens in the line of his
specialty for the Fish Journal, was glad to take up the subject of rare
birds and pursue it with similar interest. Birds and fish are allied in
the student mind. Under the tutorship of Emil, he drank from the Hoboken
source of bird wisdom. If Emil by some stroke of Fate had been thrown
into Fulton Market for six weeks he might have become a student of
fish, and Mr. Tescheron the enthusiastic teacher. If any stranger from
the briny deep was hauled aboard a fishing smack and brought to our
city, Mr. Tescheron was the expert who told the newspapers all about it.
He told a straight, scientific story in popular language, and until it
had been rewritten by local fish editors and some twenty times more by
as many other piscatorial experts, it was hardly cured to a point where
it would pass in the domain of post-prandial fact. A very large whale
was once brought into the market and placed on exhibition at an
admission fee of one dime. The story of this whale, as interpreted by
Mr. Tescheron, appeared throughout the country for many weeks afterward.
A Western version of the New York interview, as it appeared in some
stereotyped plate matter of a Western news association, I give here
verbatim, to show how truth may be improved:
=JONAH'S WHALE APARTMENT.=
* * * * *
=New York Fish Expert Proves the Bible Story True.=
* * * * *
=The Higher Criticism of the Market.=
* * * * *
=Nothing at all strange that a man should be very comfortable inside
the roomy mammal with plenty of light and air and good wholesome
food--Structure shows it was built for the purpose.=
* * * * *
Albert Tescheron, the celebrated Fulton Market expert on rare fish,
who is thoroughly familiar with the anatomy of whales, consented to
give his opinion concerning Jonah this morning to the reporter of the
Sporting Extra.
"Mr. Tescheron, please tell me," said the reporter, "in just what
part of the whale Jonah lived for three days. My paper wants the true
story, with such Biblical data as may bear upon it, interpreted by
the higher criticism of the Fish Market. I want to get an interior
view of the apartments he lived in by flashlight or the X-ray, so as
to print the Jonah story right up to date. There were none of our men
present, you understand, when the thing happened."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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