Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-07-26
FISHERMAE'S LUCK.
A Strange Story of the Fortunes
of War.
what n Dispatch Found in "A shark

A young S0utherner here has for
some months been enjOying himself in
the most liberal but rational manner,
and is, perhaps, the happiest man in
France. Good looking, educated, rich,
he has fortune at the crest of the wave.
and keeps her there. 1t has Just begun
to leak out how this happy youth came
into his estate, and If the facts be as
stated, think you viii agree with me
that never did ''isherman's luck" bet
ter deserve to belargely celebrated than
in his case. do not get the story from
his own lips. though am slightly ac-
quainted with him, butfrom an intimate
friend OF his who knows all the circum-
stances.
The young man-bis. name is s.
c. H, is a native of South Car
DINA, where his father had large pos.
sessions in ColletOn. s. served IN
the Confederate army during the last
two years of the war, though still too
young. and when the war was over set
tied at Potocaligo, poor as a church
mouse. His fathers estate was nearly
all gone, and what little renamed he
resolved should be rehgiously devoted
to the needs Of his mother and sisters,
who were now living in Barnwell in
very poor way. Young H had ca
pacity and Industry, but these were not
sufficient to get him work III a State
where all things were PROSTATE under
the negro gizzard foot. He procured
| some odd Jobs on the railroad, but
these soon failed him, and at last, in
despair, he shipped before the mast in
a trading schooner that belonged to
Machias, Me, and made irregular voy-
ages between Boston, Beaufort, S. c.,
Havana, and a market. In three or
fonr years he got to be mate Of the
trader, and finally the owners began to
| promise him a vessel of his own, one
now building, # he would purchase an
\ interest In her to the extent of 81 500. /
! His own savings amounted to nearly
half that sum already, and he took
furlough from the schooner for the
purpose of seeing his mother and some
other friends, IN order to try to get a
temporary loan of the balance needed.
Money, however, was hard TOT get.
No one doubted the security, but they
| did not have the money to spare. After
several futile efforts young Il
was about to give up the pursuit in de-
spair, when his mother bethought her !
| of Col. Jacob E, her cousin, still |
living near Port Royal, and thought to
! be rather better off than the rest of the |
connection. s. Il was
only very slightly acquainted with Col |
| E, but his mother insisted that |
he should take letter from her TO her
relative, and thus leave nothing un-
tried IN a matter which so intimately |
concerned the pushing of his own for
tunes.
When Il arrived at his cou-
sins place ON Port Royal Sound, he |
found that the family were not very
well prepared to have visitors. In fact, |
only two nights before, the house-an (
old brick mansion-had been burned /
down to the ground, and the family |
were now living in couple of tents
pitched on the lawn IN front of the |
ruins. Col. E had lost every
thing the house contained, and was
now down with an ague; mis- daughter |
was Ill with Mysteries, and everything
was In confusion and disorder. In |
fact, as Mrs. E pitifully told |
Il =
eat IN the house-in the tent, mean
she said, with a feeble smile, "and
the Colonel is too Ill to 60 fishing to-
day"
Il did not show his letter nor
mention its subject. On the contrary
he tried to make himself useful, gave
Mr.. E. his dose Of quinine, taught
Mrs. B how to rig her tent sails
IN a safer and more comfortable fash
ion, and then, taking a small negro boy
with him, launched the boat, hoisted
sail, and went fishing forthe replenish-
ing of poor Mrs. E--'s exhausted
larder. Well acquainted with the
Sound and Its fishing ground, he soon
caught quite mess of fish, and was
beating back again when a startled cry
of the negro boy who was by the mast,
attracted his attention. The cause of |
the boys alarm was a large shark be- |
tween ten and twelve feet long, which |
SWAN dire tly IN front of the boat and
seemed prepared TO dispute its passage.
The boat, as is common IN those waters,
carried small haTpoOn attached to
long line, for the purpose of usingupon
the devil-fish frequently met there, and
the chase and capture of which is a
fayorite and exciting sport of South
CarOlinians. Hastily calling the boy |
to the helm, and giving his lugger sheet
plenty of play, H snatched the har-
pooh and line, sprang to the bow, tossed
a large fish IN the water, and, as the |
shark turned up to seize 1T, drove the /
! harpOon into his belly with so true an |
aim and such fatal force that the hinge |
| fish only struggled few mintes before /
expiring. He was not able to get his
prize aboard, but determined not to
lose such a trophy of his arms strength,
took 1t in tow behind his boat, and was
soon able to land his cargo and tow in
in safety near the burned mansion.
Securing his boat, H now sent /
the boy for help to fetch away his fish,
and amused himself by disemboweI;ng
the monster. His jack-knife struck
upon something hard and metallic in
the viscera of the fish, and, examining
more closely, be brought to light a
square, fat zinc box, about the size of
a One-pOund gunpowder can, much cor
roded, but apparently Theoretically
sealed and water-tight. He washed it
off, dried it, and put it in his pocket
for future examination; then, the boy
having come with help, took his fish
and some tidbits from the shark up to
the tent, much to the Joy of the occu-
pants, who could not thank him enough.
Colonel E., to whom H show
ed his box, Immediately thought he
recognized 1t as one of peculiar sort
of dispatch-box used by the Confed-
crate Government for their messengers
by sea and blockade-runners, being
convenient for carrying in the pocket
and for throwing overheard IN case the
vessel was captured. The box was
carefully opened and was found to be
precisely what Col. E suspected
despatch box of the Confederate Gov
eminent. The contents, in addition to
some papers of no present Importance,
comprised a series of long dispatches IN
cipher addressed to a well-known agent
in Paris of the defunct rebellion, and
ten certificates Of deposit, promising to
pay money of Ambrose Gunter's now
- 1