The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1877-02-01
AyOTHEB DISTRESSING CASE.


The British mariner is seeing alto
getber too many sea-seEpeEts, and
those, too, OF unnecessarily large size.
A few weeks ago, We had the story Of
3 British Captain and one OF his
mates who saw an immeDse ee5-ser-
pent Of q unique pattern, both IS to
shape and color, somewhere near the
Straits Of Sunda, and who we're 30
terribly frightened that as soon as
they reached port they went before q
magistrate and solemnIy swOFe never
to tOuch-that is to say, swore to the
truth OF their story A little later, q
returned sea Captain in the Coast
Guard service was walking along the
shore near Plymouth, England, when
he EAW large ship at distance OF
about three miles from shore sudden
ly vanish as though il had made it.
self air, Ike q Shakespearean witch.
While he was yet wondering at this
! phenomenon, he s9w in the place
lately occupied by the vanished ship
what be took to be q large steamer
with two tunnels, but what q little
observation proved to be an enormous
serpent with two upright dorsal fms,
painted with alternate black and
white stripes. Had it been night. the
snake would doubtless hsve carried
the usual red and green lights, and
would have burned q private COStO7l
signal. As nearly as the Coast Guard
man conld judge, this ssa-serpent wes
six hundred feet long, and there is but
little doubt that he had just gorged
the vanished ship, and was on the
lookout for tender loEg-bost or an
appetiziDg life-raft.
Neither Of those unhappy British
mariners, however saw sea-serpents
to the terrible extent to which the
Captain Of British bark has recent
ly seen them. On the Sth of July,
1876, while the bark was of Cape st.
Rogue, the weather being fine and
clear, and the steward opening one
Of the last half dozen, the Captain
noticed an unusual commotIon in the
water ut q distance of about two
miles on the lee bow. Ordering the
man at the wheel to "keep her off
four point eyes" and re-
questing the watch to 'take q small
pull Of them WaetheI braces, you
lay; slack thelee ones nand-
somely,- you," the warm
hearted Christian sailor steered for the
scene Of disturbance, thinking that
he might, perhaps, find q fragment of
wreck bearing the body of some un-
happy fsllow-being with a bottle in
his pocket. He soon, however, dis
covered the true state of the case. A
tremendous battle was In progress
between . sperm whale and q sea-
serpent, while two other sperm |
whales, who hsd formed s ring, were |
the conflict with faces ex-
pressive of grief and alarm. The |
snake, which was from $50 to 40 |
feet in length and z or feet in |
turns with his tail around the |
whale, bringing the tail around the
part Of him and passing |
It through the blight, thus max. |
ing an imperfect but still sufficiently /
''stunsail l-halyard-bend."
Having thus firm hold OF the whale,
the serpent was tossing him up in the
air and bringing him down again on
The surface of the water with q yio-
lence that must have proved exces-
sively trying to the whale. The bat
lie did not last long, for the whale
3Oon became totally exhausted, and
the serpent sank with him In order to
him without the presence of
spectators. The two other whales
hen swan away, too much depressed
a spirits to think of spouting, and
the Captain felt "cold shiverp run
through his frame. Fortunately, he
had taken the precaution to lean
against the ice-rail, and to keep q
lrm grasp Of the mizzen-riggIng. He
hus escaped making q spectacle OF
himself by sinking fainting to the
ieck, and successfully concealed his
emotions.
In spite OF the care Wh ich he
took OF himself after hAV-
ng received this terrible warning, the
captain saw another serpent eight
lays after, when about eighty miles
rom Cape st. Rogue. This serpent
TODD on his tail, with some sixty feet
4 his body out of the water, and
,rimlv scrutiniZed tie bark as II in
earch of the unhappy Captain. That
earless mariner instantly shouted,
and the carpenter
having brought him the best axe on
)oard the vessel, be carefully emptied
ll5 DOONo ONCLOuhLOl W aNOlu du1 dt-
aek in the rear, and announced that,
I the sea-serpent wanted to attack
N honest and sober sailor, he would
how him who was the master Of that
Tessel. The monster however,
hought better Of it, and slowly dis
when the Captain was es-
'orted to his cabin by the steward,
where he subsequently, wrote out a
ull account of the affair for the bene-
1t OF the London medical journals
md temperance societies.
Why this account was not publish
d until q year and . half after the
flair TOOK place we are not informed;
leither is il known whether the Cap
ain has changed his habits, or is still
q danger of another attack. There
; no doubt, however, that his case
; rather the worst on record. Other
mariners have seen sea-serpents of
,reat size and ferocity, some Of which
lave shown q persistence in coiling
themselves around the spectators
leck and slowing themselves away in
lis pockets, which must have been
Tery trying; bat q sea-serpent en-
,aged in beating the breath out of q
whale is quite unprecedented. The
captain makes q feeble attempt to
xcuse himself by referring to the pro-
onged heat Of the weather in the
of Cape st. Rogue.
This is not an excuse which can be
.ccepted. If the weather was hot
he Captain should have tried cold
Daths and light diet, and should have
Ivoided heating beverages with the
Utmost case. 1t is certainly to be
loped that he is q thoroughly re-
ormed man, but the public would
lzve more confidence In him If he
lad honestly confessed his fault with
,nt attempting to apologize for it.
1t Is plain that something must be
lone to improve the condition Of the
British mercantile marine. Where
me Captain coufesses that he has
cen q sea-serpent, there are probably
! dozen others who keep their own
counsel. 1t is 3 terrible thought that
It this moment there may be q hum
fred vessels at sea, under the COM
nsnd of men who are seeing sea-ser-
Dents day and night. Where is Mr..
that he does not expose this
rightful source Of danger to life and
and insist that no vessel
hoII ha narna fffad to on to aaa araa1t