Remarkable Fish Was Whiffletit, According to Facetious Waiter.
Seating himself at a restaurant table a Chicago man said:
“Waiter, what kind of fish have you?”
“O,” said the waiter, “all kinds— whitefish, bluefish, gaylings, sea bass, weakfish, perch—”
“Pshaw!” yawned the customer, “cut that out. I'm tired of those common fishes. Ain't you got some new kind of fish; some kind I never ate before?”
“Well,” said the waiter, “the whiffletits is very fine this morning.”
“What in thunder is a whiffletit?”
“Why, don't a fish sharp like you know what a whiffletit is? Common enough here. You see, the whiffletit lives only in circular lakes. You go out and find a circular lake and hire a boat. Then you row out all alone to the middle of the lake, about a mile or so, and anchor. Then yoy take an augur and bore a hole in the water, and bait it by putting a piece of cheese on the edge of the hole. The whiffletit comes up to get the cheese, eats it and it makes him swell up so that he can't get back down the hole.”
“Well,” said the customer, breathless, “what then?”
“Why,” replied the waiter, as he filled a glass of water, “you lean over the side of the boat and laugh the whiffletit to death. Want a few?”
— Cleveland Leader.
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Holbrook argus. (Holbrook, Ariz.), 03 Aug. 1909. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
