Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1883-11-28
Fresh Water Sharks

An old Salt in Spinning some yarns
in relation to fresh water sharks said
L heard of another case where a man
was ierked off the gunwhale of a
boat that he had Just crawled on To and
never did come up. Oh, | tell We
there's fresh-water sharks as well as
salt. In South America there's a fish
what amt two foot long that'll clean
out man as quick as ten-foOt
shark. The way happened to know
it was this: went on cruise to South
America in '67 and We lay up and
around the Orinoco river, tradin, for a
matter of two months, so picked up a
heap of foreign pints. We got up the
river about three hundred miles i'll all,
/ reckon. / never noticed much about
the fish till one evenin' went ashore.
The natives were hayin' a big time
over big chief that he'd died, so we
thought We would go to the funeral.
They had a big pow-wow, and after
awhile l asked one of the women
where the grave was. She p'nted
overheard, and, sartin sure, that S
where they put him. They stripped
the body, put it in a sort of a basket
and lowered it over, and rs soon as 1t
was in the water there was about a
thousand fish all around it, comm from
all parts, so in half an hour ye couldn't
see the body nor nuthin; in short,
said the ancient mariner; "the fish
Perais they call 'em-were eatin' the
man up, and the basket was to hold
the bones in, and that was the way
they did their buryin'. In a couple o.
DAYS the skeleton was picked as clean
as these ere bones ye see III the shows,
and then il was hauled up and slowed
away, clean and ship-shape. L asked
one of the men If the fish would tackle
a live man, and he said man wouldn't
hev any show at all and later see 1t
was so. Half the ducks along shore
was short of feet or toes, and some
walked around on short stumps, and
l see what they called water hOSS or
tapir, that started TO swim the river
and its legs were stripped 50 clear OF
flesh we'd thought it had been done to
order. Why" continued the fisher
man, warming up at the reflection,
lone of the overseers, Spaniard and
sort of stevedore, told me that white
man tried TO wade stream above
where we lay on horseback, and got
stuck in the stream, and both he and
the hoss was jist about skeletons when
they come out. Sharks was nowhere
along side of them fellers, l KIN tell
ye."
The old fisherman's yarn about the
Perais was not exaggerated, the fish
being considered the most savage OF
their kind. Scientifically they are
known Us the SerrasSalmo, and are
allied to our salmon: though distantly.
In conversation with an authority on
lake fishes, the latter said that the only
fish that could or would attack a boat
was the big bony gar, that had power
full teeth and could, no doubt, cut a
man in bad way. They are covered
with regular armOr and have long
beak full of teeth.
sI'ye seen a pound net all cut II
pieces by them," said the speaker, land
If they got hold OF a canvas there Is
no doubt but that big hole would be
the result"
Ibid you ever hear of shark IN the
lake," asked the writer.
Yes" was the reply, 1--WE often
hear such yarns. You know fishermen
always have a supply of snch. met a
man some time ago who told me that
while gill net fishing of Little Stur- |
geon Island he was grabbed by shark. |
he was an old saltwater sailor and |
evidently knew what shark was and |
believed what he was talking about. |
1t seemed that the net fouled III some |
way and they couldn't haul it in, and |
he dove down to clear it. As he was
coming up the fish grabbed him by the /
arm. de chung to the net, and for
few seconds it looked dark for him;
but he finally broke away and got up
and the men hauled him in. The fish .
that he said was fifteen feet long made
a dash at him and came clear out OF
water, so that the whole crew saw II,
and they all swOre that it was shark.
But, you know, a ten, or even a SIX
foot gar pike Is pretty big fish and
would look like shark Mind, !" con-
tInued the fish expert, Il don't say
there are no sharks III the great
lakes"
But why are you not certain?"
queried the writer.
Because was the reply, 'fresh-
water sharks exist i'll other countries,
and though it's hardly likely it's bare
possibility that there may be some
here. Sharks have been seen by good
in Lake Nicaragua, Central
America. In fresh-water lake in the
Philippine Islands there is ray and a
sawfish, very similar to the species on
our Eastern coast. In the Fiji Islands
a shark is found way up the fresh-wa-
ter streams beyond the reach of the
tide, and at Bagdad, on the Tigris,
three hundred and fifty miles from the
sea, there are sharks IN plenty. This
Is over two hundred and fifty miles ,
rom tide-water, so the sharks are in /,
as fresh water rs if they were of -,
Chicago. A small shark at Viii Levi, ,
Fiji, not only goes far up the river, but +,
S found above the falls where it -,
breeds, and the same is true in India. 8
80 you see fresh-water sharks are not .
merely possibilities, but facts.' :
do the gars interfere with the fish !
,ries?n
.'Yes, TO some extent" was the re-
ply, ''but their effect is not felt. What ,
5 killing our fisheries is the oyeriish- !,
ng. If it keeps on there won't be a
ish left. There are used now in Lake
Michigan alone nearly $4,000 gill nets,
Ibout 500 pound nets, run by go !.
steamers, smacks, etc. All this means ! !,
IN immense lot of fish, and in 1879
Chicago handled nearly 1S,000,000 ..
,ounds of lake fish. So the sharks that u
ire dispoiling our fisheries are human /
mes. They're after the hen that lays
he golden egg %