The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-03-28
III TIE JAWS OF 4 SHARK

III &AS 90 SG -
re Ez-ws1czz ExpsEtszcs Of AlEe.ss
WILL working a. His Calling OF Diva
Fruz as Panama Herald
Alfstso the Spanish diver, who has
been at work on the wreck Of the AT,
hnta. near Moreheads thus speaks Of an
adventure had by him a few days ago:
Az the time / WAS at the bottom OF the
ssa / was Just about to signal to be
irswu up for q moments rest, when l
noticed = shadow body moving az
some distance above ne and toward me.
In 8 moment every fish had disappeared
the verv crustace&ns lay still upon the
sand and the cutie fish scurried away
as fast a. they could. / was not think
ing Of danger, and NV first thought was
that IL was the shadow of a passing
boat. But suddenly a feeling Of terror
seized NE. i felt impeIled TO fee from
something / knew not what. A vague
horror seemed gTasPing after me, such
rs a child fancies when leaving a dark
ened room. BY this time the shadow
had come nearer and taken shape. 1t
scarcely needed a glance TO show me
that it was a maueater, and of the larg-
est size. Had / signalea 10 be drawn
up then it would have been certain
death. All / could do was to remain
still until it left. 1t Law off twenty or
twenty-five feet, Just outside the rig-
ging of the ship, It's body mOtionless.
It's fins barely stirring the water about
It's giIls.
1t was q monster as it was, but to add
to the horror the pressure of the water
upon my head made it appear as ifpour-
ing flames from It's eyes and mouth, and
every movement of its fins and tail
seemed accompanied by adisplay Of fire.
works. / was sure the fish was thirty
feet long, and so near that / could see
its double row of white teeth. Involun-
tarily I shrunk closer TO the side Of the
vessel. But my first movement betrayed
my presence. / saw the shining eyes
fixed upon me-; its tail quivered as it
darted at me like a streak of light. /
shrank closer to the side of the ship. i
saw it tern on one side, its mouth open,
and heard the teeth snap as it darted by
1t had missed me, but only for a
moment. The sweep of its mighty tail
had thrown me forward. / saw it turn,
balance itself, and its tail quivered as it
darted at me again. There was no es-
cape. 1t turned on its back asi it swooped
down on me like a hawk ON a sparrow.
The jaws opened and the long, shining
teeth grated as they closed on my metal
harness.
1t had me. / could feel Its grinding
teeth or my copper breastplate asst
tried to bite me In two, for, fortunately
1t had caught me Just across the middle,
where i was best protected. Having
seized me it went tearing through the
water. j could hear it bound forward
at each stroke Of its tail. Had it not
been for my copper helmet my head
would have been torn off by the rush
through the water. / was perfectly
conscious. but somehow / felt no terror
at all. There was only q feeling Of
numbness. / wondered how long it
would be before those teeth would
crunch through and. whether
they would strike first into my
back or my breast. Then Thought Of
Maggie and the baby and wondered who
would take care of them and If she
would ever know what had become OF
me- All these thoughts passed through
my brain in an instant, but In that time
the connecting air tube had been
snapped and my head seemed ready to
burst with pressure, whileth monsters
teeth kept c~runching and
grinding away upon my
harness Then felt the cold water be-
GIN to pour in and heard the bubble,
bHbble, bubble, as the air escaped into
the creatures mouth. L began to hear
great guns and to see fireworks and
rainbows and sunshine and all kinds OF
pretty things, then 1 thought I was
floating away ON q rosy summer cloud,
dreaming to the sounds of sweet music.
Then al became blank. The shark
rlsglst hare eaten me at his leisure and
/ never would have been the wiser.
Imagine my establishments then when I
opened my eyes on board this boat and
saw ron fellows around me. Yes, sir, I
thought 1 was dead and ate up. sure.
Alfetto was found by his comrades q
few minutes after the swapping Of the
lime. He was picked M insansible, with
several holes punched in the metallic
part OF his diving suit
Oscar Wide ted his Dublin audience