The sun., 1882-08-20
SH1RK STORIES.
The DoRn.h and It's PecuiinrItes-shnrk
jumping Into Boats. and sharks Seventy
Feet Long-Thrnshers, MackereI SHARKS
Blue sharks and Fossil Sharks

No cod2" asked one.
| Nary. was the reply.
| Haddoek ?" said another.
Not nn."
Hake them" inquired third
| No. No pollock. no herrin'. lump cunners.
catfish. and no eels-nothin' l tell yo dog
fish hes set in" Upon hearing which the deal
ers in fish sorrowiully returned to their carts
and drove away.
The setting in OF dogflsh. though seemingly
unimportdnt, is one OF tho prime causes of the
scarcity Of fish at present. and where a week
since one. two. or three hundred pounds of cod
| could be caught before breakfast, at tho date of
| writing rarely a single edible fish can be OBJ
tanned. this being to a more or less extent the
case with the entire coast from Portland to
| Portsmouth the supply being inadequate to
the demand so that Mt Wells Beach and Ogun-
quit all hands have given up any idea of
catching eatable fish, and are dognshing 1t
should be explained that dogllsh are small
sharks from two and half to three feet in
length. the Squalls Americltus of the natural
ist and In form and shape resemble an ordinary
shark with the exception that they have two
| sharp spines spurs in front of each dorsal fin.
| Dogllsh has master influence on fish
| trade" said the fisherman to us as the last
| peddlcr disappeared. "Ye can't kctch single
cod off here when they're around. As far as |
can see they keep in deep water or perhaps in
the Gulf Stream. until about the first week Of
| August. when they turn up all at once. and
then you might Just as well give up; they
| drive everything before 'em. We Jest turn to
ana .h. fsh for 'em. keteh EN-? Why. look at
=, Following the speaker down into the cove.
| there were seen eight or ten dorcs loaded with
the sharks, while Others were coming IN every
| few moments. filled and heaping over. the men
sitting on them. Some bouts held over 300.
| and altogether there must have been 2 500 or
$4,000 dogfish. Representing the mornings fish
=. They're worth" answered the fisherman,
about cent apiece for their livers. 80 a man
can make two or three dollars u day ketehn' of
| EN-.
! By this time the FISH hawkers again put in an
appearance most OF them with on carts. and
nriheu WIN ptchiorks. with which they tossed
| N the defunct dogsh as fast as thcy were re-
lieved of their livers, and dragged them of for
distribution on the farms about the country.
There must be millions OF dogtish outside"
| suggested the writer 10 one Of the men.
succinct reply Why, he continued. skilfuy
cutting open a dugllsh detaehing the liver,
two motions. I've been a shin here all my
| lie. an never saw EN- 30 thick. This mOrnin'
gad em Tight an eit 'i WyFy Time 81 baSed aST
| one in on the line, half dozen would rush for
MN. tearln' away like so many wolves. wild
| with starvation They kepta bitiu ut my sail.
| where II happened to hang overheard. till they
SShawed S hole lE in it; bit at the oars. keel, and
! would bring hun flock OF 'em up, cuss EN-.
tell ye. it made me navous ike. There's so
many OF 'em. and they can't get nothin'
to eat, and they'll eat themselves or
aMnvthin that comes along, dead or alive.
hooks and ketch abaout tew hundred or SO:
put II don't pay on account Of their bitin' OF
hooks so, After trawlin go at it with hand
| line and gan and this mornin. it's a fact. |
hauled EN- in till thought Id sink the dory-
and all the rest. 4 the men hev done the same.
pose You IL c % oSsrboad b Vas VIII 'tn yod never
Know Know @ what hurt you: They may talk about
mind. is more to be dreaded. Do you see that
short tnieS;set man h9vGrn' over there by the
PIE PIE a WaIi s continued TIN the man Stopping for
awfullest yarn abaout dognsh what he see with
m his own eye, thet ever man heard on. Ye see.
and all hands, was daown below TO dinner eX-
aIracin' and gamblin' abaolt deck. foolln' like.
when all Mt once the men heard a slosh like
deck and looked over, and. well. they never as
much rs sighted the boy There was ball OF
dogtsh ten or fifteen feet thick goIn' over and
over. in an aout after somethin between 'cm,
watched EN- gettin' deeper and deeper. and the
only sign they ever saw was the color Of
the water Then" continued the fish
ermTa,h. e,Ts,. ,whettinG his ASA knife on
/ a man up the crest at Town End. a good fellow
as ever lived. went down to the cove one eve
out satln His dory was abaout mile up the
creek, so he seq to his wife, m Jest strip of
abaout hundred yards aout. So in lie goes.
hbs bn wi, wife bs0 %watShE Of him m mind y and when
yell thct ever wa heard in them parts. and riz
nearly his hull size aout Of water the dogish
aL,ci'nSn tL t? nm MN like eas de- never come up
hearin' the poor woman crazy like but all they
could see was the water a-biIin like. and later
the cove was alive with em-dOgilSh SOt in SOL
id. 1t amt pleasant to think Of these things
onIy %nen an y9ure iSob mile or two 9Gqt wiLh
tween ye and millions of em, The
Lord only knows how many of ein there
alive and each one Is full of eggs and three or
Tour young ones all the time. Catch 'em |
Breed Sra or wHtar rem the FGady
fish that II eat whales food or Jelytlsh. Ye
see there's so many of EN- thcy can't find |
lies are thick. they turn to and bite aout the |
middle T.. OF ON I,ye seen EN- do it. and some
dead Jellyiish, all with hole eaten right aout |
ot the middle; they don't seem 10 take to the !
might call common here Wehev blue shark, |
q =, brn D,s D.aek nurse shark. the swivel tail
lbmrmsnsf ,bn opf% rSns rgGS L preeGmhy and
long, and one was caught in II irawl above hore |
thai th! hea tai abaopt ten ieet long. They say
50; can say, never saw II done But uauw
ut IL 1t a iair question: haow big shark did ye
His listener confessed to having caught n IA
nd 100, man eatsr al %ardGP hGy Gull Of Mexico
shark he saw at the Orkney Islands. which was
over % feet in length.
Wall. continued the fisherman I'm glad
you put your figures nigh a. you'll believe nv
yarn A schooner off Georges some years ago
put nm iron ntoa shark, not KNOWN how big
he was: lcastwise ii ihey ned they mightn't
hev tackled il, but they he'd all the films Tor
the business, and though they he'd close rub
they Ellled II. Wall. tho schooner beat up 10
EN-. they not bctn' able to muy" the fish and
when alongside tho tail was swung astcrn ana
the head iorHrd., The schooner was 80 irrt
long. and the head and tail hung over fpr'ard
and aft and, Gosrel truth. the shark was 10
feet long. and they took twelve barrels of liyrr
thet it's So, big rs il saouudS."
The length Of the fish was not exaggerated.
md sharrts of 90 or 90 tcet have oftru brru !
found; 1t is the great hasking shark S-larir
fCrtO'hmHSl magma II Cuyicr, though most
commonly found 80 or i0 feet in lruziH Tury
have small teeth, nre harmless, living on small
iishes and anima!s s,gainlng them into The
throat through series 0f rays or frlU-p~ that
appear elastic anl hard; they are arranged
Ike comb along the gill openings During
me Ihst century they were extensively ll~hrI
for along Can" Cod and various paris nt thn