The sun., 1883-12-09
ATTACKED BY AN OCTOPUS.
Il DIrER'S S1RUGGLE ~ the nom or
4 SLNkEN TGNSEL.

Oue Of she Monsters snw. Edged suct rs now
Worn IL. u Watch Charm by the Victor Ia
the fight-rhe strcnrth of Oeiopi.
THAT'S an odd charm" said SuN rcrort-
er TO u travelling companion on the Now York
Central Railroad.
so it is" was tho reply. and II has
story" holding up II curious oval object in
which was set compass. 1t formed bowl
about two inches in diameter and was OF q
substance resembling fish scales but OF rich
oral hue. The edges were serratcd and within
thcm hal been placed compass II you
didn't know what 1t was" continued tho owner.
you'd never guess. but not TO keep YOU in
suspense. it's tho sucker OF an octopus that
attacked mo once, II YOU remember. about
four years ago there was a rumor to tho effect
that valuable pearl fisheries had beon discov-
cred on the Alaskan coast: in fact large jew
elry house In New York displayed some lnrge
poarls that IL was claimed came from that To-
cality. 1t fooled good many. as 1t turned out
TO be a dodge to start immigration. and II
caught me for ono. secured five men. good
divers. and started across the continent and got
therc to find that II was all a swindle There
wasn'ta pearl within two thousand milce. and
to got my monoy back went into the regular
diving business and after raising several YES
sells we sQuar ed up and left.
1T was during one OF these trips that got my
charm. We generally went down In pairs. but
this day we were working at q small smack that
had sunk and took tho first spell down alone.
to soc what was the matter with her. She was
lying in about 40 feet OF water, some OF her
running gear ahont showing where sho was.
We anchored our sloop to 1t. put out IN ooring.
and In n few moments was going slowly down.
I 1suppose you can't imagine the sensation. but
| never saw diver. young or old, that liked
n n IA
chored Tor good isn't pleasant. to say the least:
as / wanted first to find out what had hit her, l
walked forward. swinging myself round the
She was loaded with plg iron and rsck koned
s Having sesud his Watsd % sround pS her :" 10 s e
leo side tho bottom being hard clean sand
,rs bat sa wns ws Se@d and an SAsei
stepped near i saw something that took for
rope hanging over the Goa innings. Taking
| my boat hook gave 1t punch. and 1t scanned
to fall off into the hatch One Of the main hal:
yards was hing ns clear and; taking i.
| see i the iron had been covered with sand.
Down went, my hook In ono hand and the
| Iet 90. In a second lanied on soft. yield.
ing mass that, bound as % was ssM, gave d me sick
d h sesoG SSsq to r@ %n"T hSd
by the flying arms OF some hideous, creature
They clasped my legs wound around my body
drawing mo down and horrifying mo SO that
for a moment was utterly poweriess. But ut
my waist attacked the monster. cutting i
The animal had lifted itself SO that It's body
rested ngainst my chest. and it seemed to be
tending out from it. like the legs of spider.
hacked mt Il with the knife. my armor prevent,
eE z: or run. fn arp n hd
manning arms away: was dragged to the sur
was about exhausted with the work and ner:
yons prostration. and II they hadn't nnscrewed
but a few minutes in fresh air revived me. and
in that time closed my career as a diver. I
don't think mii ion would have tempted mo
| togo down again."
And tho charm 2"
ers that lined the arms. and had so cut Into
the rubber Bart Of ny sleeve that had been
eh as
reached the surface the men hauled up half
the OCTOPUS t ;St with boa. hook tell yo1 y wa:
y twenty;seven feet from TIP to tip. On their
arm wound Won DAB about sh or other p animal % each
ss sdss ssa Sds ts' r sis
While piston @ like arr9nEsment ;s n, e3hansts the
whe the bedy the amman IS
and the mouth Hbnned The latter
| proper. their place being taken by q pair Of
hard black bills, that were, almost fac SMILES
received the upper. Tho tongue was armed
-" You may be surprised to learn that in San
Francisco the Italians and Chinese eat octopi.
| and the octopi fisheries are quite important
| ing up. They attain length Of fourteen feet"
Is yours an isolated case ?'' we asked.
By no no means was the reply. Some years
with u party of companons. VINO finally left her
in the water alone. All at once she disap-
pearcd boat was sent out and search made.
and after q long tlmo one OF the men saw the
body at tho bottom lying on some rocks. A
man diyeed down. hut camo mp. saying that an
octopus had the woman and SO 1t proved: The
monster had seized and pulled her down before
Cured both The Animal nnd ,a nrsy reI"E wers
brought to the surface together Tho creature
was almost ms large As the one that attacked
ne. The largest ,authen'ie spsacilncrn from
1t had length Of sixteen feet. and raiiai
| spread OF twenty-eight feet The body was rx-
tremely small. however. in proportion. be-
linvo thoy attain nearly the same sizo In tho
| Mediterranean Sea-"