The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-07-07
THE NAVIGATING SHARK.
Fishing for the Monsters at Cape May
Reckless Bathers Tempting Death.
Correspondence Philadelphia Press.

broad-shouldered, sun burned man. dressed
in black, with a wide brimmed straw hat
pulleddown over his brown eyes, stood with
folded arms Watching the movements of a
large cork float tossing upon the waves some
sixty feet away to the right of the pier.
Across the narrow space of the upper corner
was small rope tied in a loose knot. 1t
ran on the post and thence out to the float.
A pale-faced Philadelphia book-keeper,
with his wife and baby, came up and in
quired what was the meaning of the rope
and the float us it some new arrangement
for saving life?" said the book-keeper for 1
see men swimming around and Just beyond
the float''
The man with the folded arms did not
turn his head or take his eyes off from the
float as he said: Sharks 1 am fishing for
sharks"
Not real sharks, not man-eating sharks?"
why, there are men swimming all around
where you are fishing"
The more fools they. 1 caught a shark
yesterday seven feet long. A regular man
eater, plenty large enough to snap off the
leg or arm OF swimmer. When | caught
MN there were swimmers all around him. u
Hardly had the shark fisherman finished
his sentence when the knot in the slack of
the rope was united with the rapidity of light
ming and pulled taut with a snap that
sounded like pistol shot. The shark fisher
man, who the moment before was like man
of wood, now was alive with the widest ex-
cltement. He hauled in on his rope with
arms Of steel with the rapidity of a mad
man. When the fisherman had about one
third of the rope hauled in the shark took
a sharp turn and made out direct for
the This cd the ficbarp1ot, ord
so that he staggered up against one of the
posts. The line was as taut as fiddle string
one moment. then it was slack again, and the
fisherman hauled in without any resistance
Il have lost him." he said. with look of
disgust When the huge iron hook was
hauled in, there was deep dent in it from
the teeth of the shark just lost Look at
that dent" said the fisherman 10 the book
keeper. THAT is a real man-eater that made
that mark
The hook was now rebaited with a long
weed fish, foot and a half in length, and
again tossed back to float in back of the
breakers, where one or two men were still
swimming. There was a gray haze upon the
horizon. The wind that came across the end
of the pier was fresh, sweet, invigorating but
at the same time caressing. The pale faces of
the book-keeper's family soon flushed in the
steady breeze. The baby played with the
slack of the rope as her father talked with
tho fisherman.
why is it." said he, "those swimmers wav
outside the breakers are not attacked?'
The sharks are cOwardly. They prefer a
still bait to a moving one. That is the reason
why they strike at my weed fish instead of
that bullet-headed' young man who is so
proud of being behind the breakers. But if
he lays up to afioat very long two or three
man-eaters will make break for him. 1t is
only question of time when one of those
reckless bathers are going to get picked off
You could not get an old sailor to enter the
water outside of that line of breakers The
waters are full of sharks all along the coast"
do they ever come inside the breakers?"
'Oh, yes; but the bathers are so noisy and
numerous as to brighten them back The
regular fishermen here when at work in the
fall have to keep sharp lookout for them
The fishermen wade into the water up to
their waists, and then throw out their lines
Often one or two sharks will come around
and get between them and the shore. Then
the men will cut and run. The sharks move
so slowly in the shadows the fishermen can
outrun them.'
Here the slack of the rope snapped. The
fisherman again began to haul in. The shark
was we'll hooked this time. He dashed to
the right and left lashing the water with his
tail. At one time he would be on the surface
in cloud of spray, and then he would go
down with great velocity. But all this time
the adroit fisherman was Keeling in the
slack whenever the shark moved toward
him, and coiling it about the posts For one
halt an hour there was sharp fighting of an
exciting character, Now the black nozzle of
the man-eater is alongside the end of the
pier. He is too heavy and strong to be
raised He must be piloted along the pier
and beached. The tide is sweeping in, so
the task looks easy. But the shark soon dis
covers what is being done. He darts furi-
ously forward, and with dextrous cunning
winds around and around one of the posts of
the pier until he is snared fast. Then he
begins to bite the post savagely, with short
snaps like an angry bulldog in corner. The
rope is wound around the post under the
water. This is all that saves it. The fisher
man climbs out onto projection of the pier
Leaning over with long pole he drives the
shark back around the post the man
eater swapping and lashing the water
in blind rage until the rope
is again released. This is continued
for an hour, when the fisherman, bathed in
perspiration, trembling with fatigue, finally
lands his prey upon the beach and ties him
fast to the upper railing of the pier, where a
crowd of guests from the hotel run up to
watch the dying throes of man-eater that
measures exactly seven feet from the end of
his nose to the notch of his tail. The sight
of the shark on the beach has had no effect
in frightening the foolhardy bathers who
will go outside the line of the breakers
Day before yesterday young man from the
New Columbia was caught in a witch tide
and nearly drowned. The lfeboat near
caught him just as he was going down the
third time.
This morning they were bobbing for sharks
from the end of the piers while a dozen fool
hardy, brawny-armed fellows were clear out
side the line where the fishermen take the
man-eaters.
THE ALPS IN WINTER
Scenes of Beauty That Hardly Compensate