Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1883-11-21
A FISH WITH A WEAPON.
Power of the Sword Fish In It's Attacks
OH Vessels illustrated In Some Re
nnrknb BILE Cases.

In 1871 the little yacht Red Hot, OF
New Bedford, Mass, engaged in sword
fishing, was struck by one of these
fishes so effectually as to sink her.
She was ultimately hauled up and af-
terward used by Prof. Baird in the SER
vice of the Fish Commission. A Glou-
cester schooner, the Wyoming, on her
way to Georges Banks, in 1875, was
struck at night by sword-iish, the
sword penetrating the hull to dis
tance of two feet. The shock was dis
tinctly felt by the captain. The fish
finally broke away, leaving its weapon,
that if it had pulled out would have
undoubtedly sunk the vessel AS it
was, she leaked badly.
j. F. Harwood, master of the Brit
ish brigantine Fortunate, reported an
instance similar to this. While on his
passage from the Rio Grande, this ship
was struck by large fish, which made
the vessel shake very much. Think,
ing the ship had been merely struck by
the tail of some sea monster, he took
no further notice of the matter; but,
after discharging the cargo at Run
corn and coming into the Canada half
tide-dock, he found one of the plank
ends in the stern split, and, on closer
examination, he discovered that a
sword-fsh had driven his sword com
pletely through the plank, four inches
in thickness, leaving the point of the
sword nearly eight inches through the
plank. The fish in its struggle broke
the sword off level with the outside of
the vessel, and by its attack upon the
ship lost nearly foot length of the
very dangerous weapon with which it
is armed. There is no doubt that this
somewhat singular occurrence took
place when the vessel was struck, as
Captain Harwood described.
sword-fsh weighing over four hun
dred pounds struck the fishing boat of
Captain d. d. Thurlow, while he was
hauling a mackerel seine, off Fire Is
land. and came near sinking her. The
captain made several hall-hitches
around the weapon and the fish was
secured, and sent to Fulton Market.
The sword was nearly four feet long.
A few years ago the brig p. M. Tinker
was hauled up at the Norfolk ship
yard for repairs, and upon eXamina-
tion it was found that the leak was
caused by a sword-fsh, the sword being
found broken off, forward the bands,
about sixteen feet abaft the fore-foOt.
The fish, in striking the vessel, must
have come with great force, as the
sword penetrated the copper sheathing,
four-inch birch plank, and through
the timbers about six inches in all
about ten inches. 1t occurred in the
morning when the ship was eighteen
days out from Rio, and in the neigh
borhood of Cape st. Rogue, She was
pumped about four o'clock in the
morning, and found free of water. At
six o'clock the same morning she was
again pumped, when water was OBJ
tanned, and, on examination, it was
found that she had made ten inches of
water. The men were kept steady at
the pumps until her arrival at Rich
mond, and while there and on her trip
to Norfolk.
Captain Dyer, of New Bedford, had
a curious experience some years ago.
He struck sword-iish from "a thirty
foot boat forty miles southwest of No
mans Land, threw overheard the keg,
tackled and stood by to the windward
of it. When nearly abreast of it the
man at the mast-head called out
"Why; here he is, right alongside"
The fish was then about ten feet from
the boat and swimming in the same
direction, but when he got where he
could see the splash of water around
the bow he turned and struck the boat
about two feet from the stern and Just
below the water-line. The sword went
through the planking, which was of
cedar an inch and three-quarters thick,
into lot of loose iron ballast, break
ing eff short at the fsh's head. A
number of boats, large and small, have
been "stove' by sword-fsh on our
coast, but always after the fish had
been struck.
The power of these fishes is incon-
ceivable. In the planking of the ship
Leopard a sword was found that had
pierced the sheathing one inch, then
through a three-inch plank, and be-
yond that three and half inches into
the hard oak timber. The men at work
estimated that it would take to drive an
iron spike similar distance nine heavy
blows from a twenty-five pound ham
mer.
In an examination of the ship For
tune, sword was found that had been
driven through the copper sheath
ing, a board under-sheathng, a three
inch plank of hard wood, then through
a solid white, oak timber twelve inches
thick, then through another two and a
half-inch hard oak ceiling, and finally
through the head of an oil barrel,
where it stopped, not allowing drop
of oil to escape A solid shot could
hardly have done much greater dam
age. A good example of timber dam
aged in this way can be seen in the
museum of the Philadelphia Academy