The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-05-31
A Fish Fight at Jupiter.

A wandering correspondent of the |
New York Sun, writing from Jupiter In
let, gives the following thrilling fish |
story, which may be true:
A lighthouse is the only sign of civ
ilization at Jupiter. 1t towers one hun
dred and sixty feet from sand hill on |
the mainland, and is plain brick shaft
crowned with revolving light. Heavy
eastern gales. combined with the action of !
the Gulf Stream, sometimes shut the in
let. About fifteen years ago storm
closed the gap. Billions of saltwater
frh were damned in. Then long rainy
season followed. The Jupiter, North,
Allokehatchie and Lake Worth Rivers,
which empty into the Indian River
within mile of the Inlet, poured out
volumes of fresh water, but the ocean
had done its work well, and the dam re-
mained intact. The fresh water passed
through Hope Sound and found its way
to the sea through Indian River Inlet,
fifty miles north of Jupiter.
The salt water of Jupiter became fresh.
All the oysters died. Billions of fddlers
and hermit crabs gave up the ghost. The
mangrove trees turned sickly yellew,
and the thousands of insects that draw
their nourishment from the saline
marshes disappeared. Schools of black
bass left the water streams and appeared
at Jupiter. Solid acres of salt water
fishes piled themselves into the blight of
the inlet and fought for the sea water
that oozed through the sand at high
tide. The alligators of the Everglades
got wind of what was going on. They
came down the Allokehatchie and Lake
Worth Greek in scores, and attacked the
fishes damned in the blight. The slaugh-
ter was astonishing.
The water turned to blood, and was
carpeted with dead fish. The alligators
were reinforced till their number was es-
timated at five hundred. They gorged
themselves with fish, and dozed away
their days on the hot sand beneath the
scorching rays of the sun. The beach
was black with their mailed bodies. At
night their muttered thunder fairly
shook the foundations of the lighthouse.
One day north wind arose. 1t gath
cred in strength day by day until its fury
was that of gale. 1t began to back up
the water in the inlet. Rain fell, and
the water increased in depth. The wind
shifted to the northwest. A high neap
tide followed. As it began to fall, a
thread of fresh water found its way over
the sandy barrier. Within twenty min
ates the dam was burst, and the pent-up
waters were roaring and rushing to the
sea. The army of alligators was caught
in the flood and carried outside. A ter
rifle fight ensued. The neap tide brought
hundreds of enormous sharks to the
coast. They scented the fresh water and
made for the inlet. Frantic after their
enforced fasting during the storm, they
attacked the alligators. the noise of the
combat was heard above the roar of the
ocean. A son of Judge Paine, of Fort
Capron, who was an eyewitness of the
scene. tells me that he saw sharks and
alligators rise on the crest of the waves
and fight like dogs.
Many of the killed foated belly up.
ward, and were afterward rocked ashore
by the waves. For days their bodies
driftsd to the beach. The dead alligatori
had lost their legs and tails. The sharks
IN some cases were nearly bitten into two
pieces. The current of the Gulf Stream
strewed the shore as far north as Cape
Malabar with their carcasses. Clouds oi
buzzards, and even the Bahama vul cures
were drawn to the beach BY the offal
Mr.. Paine fancies that the sharks were
too active for the alligators; but other,
say that the percentage of bodies on tn.
beach indicated that the weight of meta
was in favor of the ironclad reptiles.