Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-12-03
The Biggest Lie Told in a Month.

Two days ago two of our fishermen
were out in small boat in Conception
Bay, short distance from Portugal
Cove, plying their avocatlons. Sud
denly they discovered dark. shapeless
mass floating on the surface of the wa
ter a short distance from them. On
approaching it the men concluded it
was huge bale of goods-perhaps part
of the cargo of some wrecked vessel,
and that they had found a valuable
prize. One of the men struck the OBJ
iect with his boat-hook, when suddenly
the dark heap became animated, open
ed out like huge umbrella without
handle, and the horror stricken fisher
men beheld face full of intelligence,
| but also of ferocity, and a pair of
CHASTITY green eyes glaring at them, it's
huge parrot like beak seeming to
open with a savage and malig-
nant purpose. The men were petrifed
with terror, and for moment so fasci-
mated with the horrible sight that they
were powerless. The eyes of the mon
ster were peculiarly large and promi-
nent, bright, and apparently cleaning
with rage Before the fishermen could
make any effort to escape, the creature,
now but few feet from the boat, ap-
peared to open out from around its
face several long arms of corpse-like
freshness, graphing for the boat, and
seeking to envelop it in their livid
folds. Had these 1.-the, Shiny arms,
with their death-like, adhesive
powers, once fastened themselves on
the boat of the men, nothing could
have saved them from destruc-
ton, for when the suckers with
which they are furnished have taken
hold nothing can tear them away.
They would have been brought in a
moment within reach of the powerful
beak which was ready TO dart upon
them. Only one of the longer tentac-
ular reached the boat, and owing to it's
length, went completely over and be-
You'd it, Quick as lightning one of
the men seized his temahawk, and at
one blow severed the corpse-1ike arm
which was thrown over the boat to
drag it to destruction. The green
eyed monster uttered no cry of pain,
but it disappeared beneath the waters,
and the fishermen, who had thus es-
capped from a horrible death, found
! themselves in possession of the ampu-
tated arm-an unprecedented trophy,
for I believe no parallel occurrence is
on record.
| The portion of the kraken's arm am
putated by this rude surgical operation
has been forwarded to St. Johns. I
have Just returned from a careful ex-
animation of it. It measures nineteen
feet in length, and is tough and fbrous,
but not thicker than a mans wrist.
declares that there must have been at
least six feet Of the arm left behind, at
tached to the monsters body. Indeed,
am inclined to think from the de-
scription that the devil-fsh must have
still ten feet of his arm remaining,
making it's entire length twenty nine
feet.
The amputated arm is Iivld in color,
pointed at the extremity, where it is
covered with rows of suckers, which
are cartilaginous, horny, and about the
size of a quarter dollar. I have sug-
gested some measures for it's preserva-
ton in spirits, and it will be placed in
our museum.-St. Johns October 29)
Correspon dence NeaO York World.
A NEW street pavement has been
tried in San Francisco. 1t is called
g hydro-carbol1zedb brick" and is made
of bricks of a soft porous nature,
which are boiled in coal-tar, which rem
ders them tough, and nearly as hard as
granite. A road bed is made by level
ing the sand and packing it with water.
A layer of prepared brick is then laid
fatwise, each brick being dipped in
boiling tar as it is put down. This is
overland by a second course of prepared
brick placed close together each brick
dipped as before. The interstices are
then filed with boiling tar, and the