Daily Republican., 1879-07-31
SECOND EDITION.
CAPE MAY AMUsEMENTs.

Letter from an Old WiImins tOnlau
ut the Cspe-what no has Foan1
ont About hark Fishing
Special Correspondence Of the Kepublican.
CAPE MAY, N. j., July 80, 1879. .
1t was raining fast this morning
when our old townsman of your city,
the veteran fisherman, Mr.. Dan h
bridge, stepped into our Office to read
the Wilmington papers and told us
they were fishing for sharks on Dsns.
cots pier. We walked down there and
out on the end, q thousand feet from
shore, found a dozen men in gum coats
and umbrellas, three of them with
heavy drum lines, 100 yards long with
good sized hooks, and one had light
chain yard long between his hook and
line to prevent the shark from biting OF
the cord. The sea was smooth, and
surf-breaking on the shore some dis.
tance landward was light, the rain pat
tering down constantly on the leaky
board roof over the pier end. The
fishers had block for cork tied
couple of yards from the hook, and had
baited with a whole or half sea trout.
A dozen proposes came leaping and
diving along in sight for mile down
toward the light house until, they
reached and passed the pier.
A school Of bony fish came swimming
BY churning up the water with their
fms as they wandered hilher and thith-
er in their efforts to escape the sharks
that pursue and devour them. Pres
emily small shark was seen slowly
making toward the bait, his back and
tail fin just visible ON the surface of the
rain disturbed sea. He went away but
very soon Mr.. Will Hedges, former
Wilmingtonian, got bite and pulled
in a dog shark as We call them, or
hf und fish (Musteus CAMS, De Kay.)
three feet long and landed him on the
floor of the pier amid the little screams
of the lady present, and to the delight
of every one but the poor shark him
self, which leaped and hounced in his
agony and when rid Of the hook dis
gorged quite large fish he had swal-
lowed whole, a perch or striped bass
as it was partially destroyed
by the action of the sharks stomach;
and the backbone of another much
larger fish from which the flesh had all
disappeared.
The sharks mouth was cruelty torn
on disengaging the hook, and bied free
ly. A young man picked it up by the
tail aud it bent completely around in
it's efforts to bite him. When let down
it propelled itself with its swimming
motion all over the wharf floor. Finally
it was cut up alive for bait. They live
for half day out Of the water, being
very tenacious of life. Later several
more were caught, one being six feet
long, which bit off the line and escaped
as they hoisted it from the water. They
have been fishing there every day late
ly, catching quite number. They do
not fight hard, and any one can pull on
a three to five foot shark. They are
perfectly harmless, and men dive and
'wim off here among them, and none
lave ever been molested.
We do not know whether the man.
atiug shark inhabits the waters of the
zone, but swimmers have
'een bitten in New York bay and at
'oney Island, SO it is not best to trust
hem too far. Death ensued in one OF
he cases. We have seen men diving
# Congress Hall pier, on the inner side
the end, and sharks swimming fifty
ards distant on the outer end. Our
lue or weak fish Otolithus RECALLS,
NV. and Val, " and little swapping
iackerel Tennodon Saltator, Gu.
nd Val. " are caught from the outer
nd of piers. A party had caught fine
tring and attached them to a line
eaching the water to keep them fresh
'hen an impudent shark bit off the
tring and swan away with the whole
tring munching them in view of their
wners.
We went out to the banks on trip to
sh for swapping mackerel, fine six to
IN Founders, caught over the taffrail
S we sail swiftly over the sea, but fall
ng calm we cut our breakfast eels into
wo inch chunks and put them cross
rise on our mackerel hooks and tished
'r sharks. In twenty minutes catch.
ng eight, from four to six feet l,ng, Of
he dog fish, shovel nose al d hammer
cad species, the two latter taking
leir names from the peculiar -hal'ss Of
leir heads, one being exar''' Ikea
'und dirt shovel and the oth-r having
l oblong head the sides pr"truiing
.yo1d the body and the eyes just be-
6 on the outmost edge of the protrud-
g part. CAPE MAY.