A gentleman who came up from Caldwell yesterday brought a bran new fish story with him. As Caldwell people never lie the story must, be true.
    About a week ago a boomer came into that town flushed with excitement and spread the alarm that he saw a whale or a sea serpent, or same other aquatic monster in Fall Creek just below the water works dam. He was quite sure it was the biggest fish mortal eyes ever rested upon, but when he was pinned down to it he acknowledged that the fish wouldn’t weigh more than 200 pounds. This was sufficiently large to create excitement even in Caldwell and the chief men of the town put their heads together and sentenced that fish to death. Sam Woodson got a repeating rifle, Pat O’Connor, being pretty handy with a pitchfork selected that weapon, Uncle Billy Crozine, being a cowman, naturally took a lariet rope along John Nyce took a double-barreled shot gun and Harvey Homer, whose rain-making experiments have made him partial to explosives, took an immense stick of dynamite. Arriving on the scene they fished for the fish but could not find him. A council of war was held and it was unanimously decided that the fish was biding under the water fall caused by the dam. How to get him out of there was the important question. Horner was immediately seized by a happy thought. He placed Woodson, O’Connor, Nyce and Corzine in the creek about 100 feet below and told them that he would explode the dynamite where he supposed the fish was and that when the explosion occured the fish would swim towards them and that then they could kill him easily. “Capital idea,” all shouted in unison and taking off their boots and tucking up their trousers the four entered the creek, forming a guard extending from bank to bank. This being done Horner exploded the dynamite at the base of the dam, but instead of it blowing up the fish it blew up the dam and the four men below came within an ace of being drowned in the wild, rushing volume of water that was liberated.
    The repairs will cost about $500 and in the meantime the water supply is dependent on a few emergency wells. Horner is the only man who finds consolation in the incident. He has been telling the people all summer that be could produce floods by explosives and he has succeeded to the entire satisfaction of the four citizens who barely escaped from the jaws of a watery grave with their lives.

From— The Wichita Daily Eagle. (Wichita, Kan.), 01 July 1893. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.