The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-10-21
Four Men ARainat One Fish.

Among the many and versatile attrac.
tions OF the Maine coast, swordhsh catch.
! ing is the most conspicuous. The business
Is large one, and many schooners aud
sloops beat up and down the coast in search
of the monsters. The vessels differ from
the ordinary ones in that on the bowspr,t q
rack is built called the pulpit, and in this
the harpooner leans as he throws his
weapon, long, ironbarbed lance, attached
to which is u rope 200 feet long, the other
end being tied to barrel Or keg, which Is
| thrown over for the fish to tow until ho is
tired out. Then the fishermen haul him
on board. This Is the old style of sword
fishing. For three weeks, party of four
men rusticatcd at Biddeford Pool, and en-
tertaincd the visitors with marvellous feats
| of strength and agility. One day, sword
fisherman appeared at the pool, and he was
forwlth hired by the party, with the special
proviso that they should do all the har-
pooning. They set sail. Lots were drawn
to decide who should be the first harpooner
and the luck fell upon Charles Mettam,
the tallest OF the party. A plank was
rugged along the deck, and On the way to
the grounds the new harpooner practiced
on a piece of a gaff-topsall boom, and every
time he struck the bull's.eye. They had
been out about an hour, when the man in
the forctop yelled out, 'tFish on the port
bow" and sure enough to the wintiwnrd
something like knife was seen cutting
along through the water. Mcttam rushed
to the bow, where he slipped, but for
tunately fell astride tie jibstay This lit
tie mistake was rcctiflcd. and the harpooner
III position, and in moment the fish was
right ahead. "Wait till you are right over
him." whispered the Captain. The
schooner. shot ahead, and in moment more
the iron shot into the back of the monster.
1t was dead shot. The monster rose at
Last five feet from the water, and shot
away III a cloud Of foam. 'Iook out for
the linel" yelled the Captain. Mcssrs.
Duffy and Lyman were mixed up in the
rope-the former losing the leg of his pan
falcons and the latter being almost hauled
overheard by the rope that was running
over the side liko lightning. "Get out the
boat, and over the dory went, manned by
Tredtlwell, Duffy, Lyman and Mettan.
They scorncd the idea of letting the fish
tire out by towing the keg, and took 1t
aboard the dory, her bow half under the
water was rushing along, beaded' for the
coast OF Spain, at about forty miles an
hour.
"Get to the windward," roarcd Duffy.
"Whcre Is lt?" responded Mcttam, who
was halt drowned by the water that was
coming in.
1t was necessary to get somewhere right
quick, and finally they oil got on the stern
and tried to bail out; and here it was dis
covered that Knox's hats leak. The fish
Kept the race up for an hour, going right
through everything, leaving the schooner
far behind. But at length he showed signs
OF giving out, and an attempt was made to
haul in the line. This started the sea-
monster again, and after a short heat he
calmed down. The line was gotten well
IN hand, and at last they got within twenty
feet of the fish and he was seen to be
monster
"Hold on" says Lyman, "don't let him
come any nearer" rs the big fish gave Il
flourish.
''Pull him in," yelled Treadwell. who
was IN the stern; but the fish had all the
pulling on his side, and gave an angry
lunge, and under went the gllnwale and the
water came pouring in. OF went the fish
once more.
"Cut the rope" shouted Duffy, as he
shook the water out Of his watch.
But they hung OH for an hour, the
sword-fish fooling around the boat. occa-
sionally making slash at the bottom. 1t
seemed about month before that schooner
caught up with them, and it was hard
looking crowd that climbed aboard the
schooner and threw the key overheard, and
it is not yet decided whether they caught
the fish, or the fish caught them.
In summing up the damages it was
found that Mr.. Mcttam had suffered n
black eye through the agency of some
ones elbow III the scutflc. Mr.. Duffy was
decKcd out in pair of one legged panta-
looms, while Messrs. Lyman and Tread
we'll had swallowed water enough to last
them over forty days. However, the hands
OF the vessel here took hand, and the
fish was hoistcd on board and found to be
very large. 1t weighed eight hundred
pounds, and the saw was over five feet
long.
Gwen I'm Glad"