Show HUMAN HANDS DEFY OCTOPUS IN LAIR expert describes technique in catching them key west fla it is night A slim boat sneaks through the coral reefs oft off key west no lights except a gas lamp and the stars theres a gurgle oft off to starboard and a bare hand reaches calmly into the water it brings up an octopus an octopus is just as harmless as a kitten drawls ham knowles the only thing is a queer sensation once you catch one or two of em you like it got those suckers on their tentacles but if you kind of coax off by degrees youre all right ham knows because hes official hamilton C knowles chief marine of the aquarium at battery I 1 park in new york I 1 frank buckery his superior says it is part of the daily grind for ham ajust just like punching a time clock or brushing teeth or catching a street car but if you are speaking of octopi scientists dont say octopuses oct opuses they constitute hams art he is poised on a fish tank his thin face glows under sunburn either you use a lamp or else you use salt those are the two ways of getting an octopus by day the octopi hide in hollows in the coral you can find em by the piles of crab shells outside their lairs those are shells of crabs eaten I 1 you use salt the hollow will be just a little under water you sprinkle some salt just above it the octopus gets a whiff of this and bingo out he comes you h have ave a nice tight net stretched out for him hes in the bag at night you find octopi octol on the rocks gathering crabs they look like chunks of copper but if youre in a boat when you use the light method A candlepower candle power gas lamp will do it you coast along and train this thing on the water when the octopus comes up to see doing you just reach down and you grab him all |