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Show w disc hard tiiwpnifc scBfl worms ids way ly Riebartl IN THE old days, things were diffeient. Across the lawns of worms ranged America hither slithering freely, anti yon, tunneling, aerating the soil with splendiferous abandon. And then someone came tip with the idea of a worm ranch. In hopes of cultivating pocket change, prime stock was rounded up and packed in loam, there to propagate a new species to be marketed in cans under the tiade name as night crawl-eis- . FROM ALMOST every available signpost the legends compete, adapting, if not indeed, originating, every sort of sales pitch known to Madison Avenue. What usually distinguishes c ne product from another, in the retailer's-eye-vieis size, although many concerns stress physical condition, such as frisky or tom-fed- . And, as with all advertising, sex appeal is a big selling point. An Ogden mini-mercha- an offer for worms, while a teiently posted Go Go Cai bon County entrepre- neur undertook the ambitious task of depicting in ci ay on on cardboard a curvaceous worm beckoning to trout about a goggle-eyeto fall for the ploy hook, line and sinker. IN RECENT years, the night crawler industry has replaced the lemonade stand as smallfry enter d jMeiwie! prise and Burma Shave signs for roadside wit To the traveler with the teiminol-py- , crude signs bearing the legend Night Crawlers may serve to impart an ominous tone suggestive of late show horror movies. Who doesn't seem to remember that classic Attack of the Night Crawler People? Just where the term originated is unknown, but the night crawler appears to be indigeous to certain regions of the country, analogous to the worm as the footlong is to the hot dog. SPEAKING FOR myself, night crawling might have its origin in the manner used to pursue the elusive bait when we were children. On the eve of a fishing weekend, hundreds of kids could be found prowling the neighborhood on hands and knees. Armed w nh only a number ten can and our flashlights, we braved the night and wet knees, hovering over the lawn like lightning bugs. It was a holiday that satisfied our nocturnal instincts, falling just short of Halloween and sleeping out as a good excuse for tlefei-un- g bedtime indefinitely. Later, someone came up with an idea for an electric soldei ing iron, one end of which was plugged into an una-quaint- Fishing season will soon be here and the bait making an appearance on streets and lawns of neo-goth- outlet and the the giound. As every fuse in the house blew, all the wot ms in the garden were simultaneously launched in a graceful arc terminating in our bait canteens. Picking up the electrified worms was an easy matter, but there remained among us punsts the maintained who charged crawlers weien't as good as hand picked and wiggled listlessly on the electrical other end into hook. THE DOMESTIC crawler business has changed all that, of course These days anyone with a (uaiter to spare can pick up a dozen good wot ms en toute to his favorite fishing hole, leaving all ihe fuss and boiher Home Lake alt Thp O t crnnfc !.Craijkrs I to the piofessional worn handlers, who differ from one another just as no two snowflakes are alike. blow for a Striking women's liberation, Susan's Female Crawlers has done a brisk business in Heber City for several summers, in direct competition with other vendors along Heber's main street, whose slogans ring from homemade billboards. Scrawled in an insane hand, Giant's Ciazy Crawlers commands a second look from passeisby, while nearby, Gaty's Big Crawlers offets the customer moie woini for his money. signs are already salesmen. would-b- e In neighboring Midway, a young businessman recently hung out his shingle advertising worms for a dirt cheap twenty cents, with a free hook included with every dozen. The free hook has since been crossed out, however, as the apparently limited offer expired. IF FOR many of us those happy bouts of catching our own ate gone forever, we still have the inferior sport of fishing, or, for the just ciuis-mthe highways in seatch of the world's piealesi bat gam ciawlei night g Once you get sailed, you'll ie.illy he hooked |