The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-03-05
SOME SCI STORIES.
Tales or Adventures that brought 90 Nina
Others Equally Remarkable.

in the Barge office at the Battery recently, iii,
conversation turned toward adventures and
accidents that fan to tn" lot Of ~"aiHrirv m"r
in general. It's h"yn my experience II ru.-
faced man said, that it l. the small this. Il
life that do the most damage. Some r'v Year,
had II second mate ,nat had sailed With -,
when wcworr both boy andoTaud ON "yrrsinu".
lie might have been Il master years ago but o.,
would drink. What that man went thlou-h
was II caution. He was cast away half II duIru
times. and twice he had to ga, human flesh to
save himself. Once he fell from In" mi2lru
royal yard when the ship WAS lying to in
a gale Of wind. but We picked him up. and lost
two hands in doing it,. In fact. h. seemed to
bear Il charmed life if any one ever did bat 10
was finally killed by II fish about, siN incGns
long. You may laugh. but come aboard my
vessel Tonight and I'll show up the hog. Wo
were bound for Bermuda with II load OF coal
for tho Government. W. were bowling uluu.
one afternoon with t"n-knot breeze, and Il. it
was smooth We had the main hatch olcn -
cool tho ship. My mate stood by IN" comb y
ui ~" hatch when a. at one" ten or Iiiirrn NJ
ing llsl came aboard; not lh"e" soft klud ~ II
long wings. hut what th"M call ruinnrde, VIA
heads "a hard ~ n rock. To make Il long story
short. ON" of them struck him uu ih" iufuhrud
such II blow that heard it at Tue wheel iY
staggered II minute. threw up hl~ arms, aud
fell backward into tn" hul" and bl"kC MS nrck;'
Thal certainty + curious case, N"gdo
~hlL ana can, add ON" To- II. ~ ia" Npiins
Of 1850 arrived IL Boston from IN"rpuuL Wa
came to down 10y Fora Warren, and after every,
thing had been mad" snug. tn" men stripped
and went IN swimming. stood ON tti" quarter
dock Watching ia M, and noticed that To
them TO hook out for them hrrau-c they ling
sometimes. soon the men oumm' need 10
badger one nuotin about jumping. and tiua'ly
til" cook went d!ut ami out On Tia" lore yard and
oil he Jumped, coming down like shot. No
but rdidu tapp"ar. and w"brronin- alarmed.
/ want al"it SO thnt ! r'nid LOOK ""Wn
siirfa@ 's l ~aw him kicking and tthrasning
about as IL he was drowning and en-:
nmia ia "yor nwaV iir cat 7 and and " Min I"na
boat hook lee soon hooked On To- the man. Tho
crew dragged him W, and with him 4 l"llyli-h
s"c on Tho -laG"- mere. In the middle ol tho
fish, tangled NJ in a mass Of strcam"r-. was tho
h" sure, and he was bad sight. EVcryNhrtD
the strcamors had touched him was red mark.
maj must hay" been swimming along seven or
eight feet rlow the surface when he struck it
in jumping down. II measured nearly nine feet
across and IN" stl.anIcrs must have been moro
than 200 feet long
when younE~trr.' tn" Captain Of Spanish
brig said hcforr went to sea. was Il diver,
E bSt it w Va ME SlE TETr %S y @ra
and Panama coasts, nrin"lrally ON In" Pacific
ally ON shares, and sometime on regular rHy.
We went TO the. grounds, in small sailing
vessels. then took to the small bouts and covered
a. much ground as possible Each man was
provided witha basket. 4 weight. and knife.
cause it is almost impos-ldota t., swing your arm
with any fore" unLyr water Thc best W"al On
il II short spear. When you reach tn" grounds
YOU strip, catch your feet in Il big einkrr, take
tn" basket that has "A rop" Tor hui~tiug drop
Then your business Is t" knock a. many
oysters OIL IT, You can and pil" them mo
In" i@-k KEY brf"r" yen Io1e, your wind. II a
days six minu'o-, and hny' known men That
could stay down ten but its sur" death IN tho
long run. If tn" ground is well 7t"rNHd, N9u
can E"t twenty or moro shells. but it : all luck,
When the basket j. full. it is hauled up aud
after you com" ur for your wind down YOU 40
u-.aIu the Slllkvr having been hau"d up 10y u
small cord for the purpose. 1t wa ON one 4
gay" me lasting fright. You'll smile Wh"n I
say that it was only stlrf-h, bur tm,tS all i
r"ully was. | mad" my first trip thar day all
right but ON striking the bottom ON the second
tup saw u big shadow oyer me-, and -omc-
thing moved HI}nE like = huge bird. II vas
that Er"w about twenty feet Vile ~ mat
nevertheless. Whom went down for the third
tim" the water W47 nearly SIXTY feet deep over
landing on the e,lG, Of a GiG bGnch Of coral.
swung Oft into II kind "t "A basin. Tn" basket
the bottom. something seemed 10 spring ~ ali
around me, and Was ia the arms 81 Son" KIND
arms over my head and twisted about my body.
that / was in the water, ana lo-r my wind it
was Just as if IA plant had sproutcd uudrr mo
and thrown is vines and tGnirils about me;
wn%rf werG th9"Tandsh OF th"m S%iiimE ana
nest of sea snakes. gave the signal as soon
as | could. and made break upward. part OF
the creature clinging 10 mo. while the rest.
could see, was dropping to pieces. 1hOy hauled
mo into the boat when reached the surface.
and pulled the main part Of the animal from
me. 1t was oval. about three feet across. and
the five arms seemed to divide into thousands
of others. OF course there wasn't any real
danger but the fright it gave mo lasted for
months. The starii-h is common enough and
known as the baskctiish, and II generally grows
two or three feet across l probably landed on
top of that one. which at that time was ths
largest had ever seen. | aftcrward saw the
body of one that was washed ashore ON the
lsthmu- that must have had Il spread Of
thir,y-iivc feet. Their power of Erasping is
considerable, but touch them in IL certain way
and they throw OIL their arlns-n Il regular
showcr-and are soon reduced To an oval body"
That yarn about the lying fish another
skipper said. reminds mo Of an accident that
happened to my brother. He was Il Cornwall
miner in his early days, hut getting tired Of il.
J." came over TO this country and settled in
Bloomington, H. years ago. Among his goods
were two of the old lamps or gims that he rig
gcd on the head in the coal mine. He used a.
wear this thing when h" went milk his COWS and
10 do anything AT night when hc wanted tO uso
both hands One evening he went ont with Il
party coon hunting. and. us usual wore tho
Elim. They wGr" crossing Il bit Of clearing
when up started "a covry of quail. At once tho
light went ont and my brother gave n yell. Tha
rest picked him up and nearly killed themselves
laughing. Tn" light had attracted the birds.
and they had rushed mt il. ON" striking my
brother ON the mouth Another hit the glass
and Hand d in the lamp, while two or three murs
struck Jim on m" stomach He came ont with
u black eye, hut | reckon he never heard tho
last %! being laid out by aquuil.'