Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-01-29
A HORRIBLE DEATH.
A NINn Held Fast by II Sea Monster
Until the Itd" Rises amt Covers film
Prom tho San Diego World. Ia,,uarx lat

A NI.n Held Fast by II Sea Monstcr
U"'ii the ride Rise. ana Covers iiin,
From tho San Diego World, January lst.
We were yesterday put into Dos
session of the details of the death of q
Chinnman on the Coronades, day be-
fore yesterday, that eclipse in horror
the death scene described by Victor
Hugo in the "roilcrs of the Sea-" in
which devil fish is introduced with
graphic power.
Our readers know that the abalone
meat is II priced dclicacy OF the China
men, and that the she'll of the abalone,
when properly polished, is one of the
most fanciful and beautiful things in
nature. The abalones are generally
sought lower down the coast, but are
also found in the neighborhood of San
Diego.
Day before yesterday Fung Chou, a
professional fisherman residing near
Roscville, known l. org Americans by
the nickname of "Chowder," started
out to the Coronadcs in his boat to
hunt for abalones. OF course his move
ments can only be surmised by the
event. The snpposition is that he
moored his boat and began his quest.
The Coronadcs are quite abrupt in
their neutrality-suspicious., but occa-
sionally broken. "Chowder saw an
enormous abalOne in cleft of the rock,
in n place covered with water when the
tide was in, and, throwing himself on
his stomach, he dropped over the ledge
to wrench the de1icacy from it's fastness.
Abalones are unlvalvular, and if, in
detaching one from the rock, to which
it can fix itself almost st;immovaby, one
happens to not wrench it loose at once,
it often closes it's single shell on the
rock, prisening the spelling hand and
causing inexpressible agony. This was
poor 'Chowder's fate. As his evil
star would have it, the abalone was un-
usually large, and the poor Cinnamon,
unable to release himself, must have
early realized that he was doomed.
From his position, leaning over the
rock, he could not brace himself, or
obtain any leverage by which, at the
sacrifice of the hand, if need be, he
could tear himself free.
We can imagine tho agony suffered
by the poor wretch as he waited long
hours for the rising of the tide which
would end his misery by death. The
actual pain endured must have been
unspeakable, and no help was nearer
than eighteen miles. We can conceive
of nothing so horrible as such situa-
tion, except the ancient Persian pun
ishment of the "Boat," described
minutely in Plutarch, in which the
victim was thrown to the ground,
a boat was turned upside down over
him, and staked, and his face was
sm"ared with honey to attract the in
sects. There he was left to die. The
poor Chiaamau's plight was almost as
bad as this; but, happily the returning
tide prevented the agony from being as
lasting. The inexorable waters, how
ever, shortly did their work. There
came time when the poor Chinaman
could strain no longer, and when the
briay flood sucked from his lungs the
breath of life.
When, yesterday, Chowder's body
was recovered by a brother Celestial,
his dead hand was still clutched in the
remorseless grasp of the abalone,
which had so terribly avenged the in
vasion of his rocky home. The agony
the poor fellow had endured was i'm
printed on his face.