There are plenty of strange old newspaper stories involving drunken men, but this 1917 report adds a far more unusual twist: drunken fish.
Originally published in The Seward Gateway on January 5, 1917, the short article tells of a young man from Birmingham, Alabama, who visited Springville Lake while already under the influence. The lake was apparently a local attraction, stocked with thousands of tame carp that gathered eagerly whenever visitors fed them.
On this particular day, however, the fish were offered something a little stronger than breadcrumbs.
According to the report, the young man poured nearly a quart of alcohol into the water, and the carp “readily accepted” it. The prank led to his arrest, and the mayor of Springville fined him $5 for making the fish drunk.
It is the kind of absurd, highly specific news item that makes old newspapers so endlessly entertaining.
Youth is Fined $5; Made Fish Drunk
For making drunk fish in the Springville Lake, a young man of Birmingham, Alabama was arrested recently and fined $5 by the mayor of the town, says the Birmingham Record.
The fish lake at Springville is a show place. It is about a hundred feet square, two feet deep and has a cement enclosure. It contains thousands of carp, varying in weight from half a pound to five pounds. They are quite tame and gather in ravenous, squirming masses whenever one feeds them.
The Birmingham young man was partly intoxicated while spending the day at Springville. Seeing the fish leaping and squirming to be fed, he offered the contents of his bottle. The fish readily accepted and drank nearly a quart.
Source: The Seward Gateway. Seward, Alaska. January 5, 1917.
