The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1884-11-18
In the Jaws.of q Shark.

been at WORK on the wreck or the Az
lanta, near MOrehead, thus speaks of
an adventure had by him a few days
ago: At the time l was at the bot
tom of tie sea. / was just about to
signal to be drawn up for a moments
rest, when / noticed a shadowy body
moving at some distance above me
and toward me 10 moment every
fish had disappeared-the verv
crustaceans lay still upon the sand
and cuttle-6sh scurried away as fast
as they could. was not thinking of
danger, and my first thought was
that it was the shadow of a passing
boat. But suddenly feeling of ter
ror seized me. felt impeled to flee
from something, / knew not what.
A vague horror seemed grasping after
me, such as a child fancies when leav-
ing darkened room. By this time
the shadow had come nearer and
taken shape. 1t scarcely needed a
glance to show me that it was a man.
eater, and of the largest size. Had L
sigDalled to be drawn up then it
it would have been certain death.
Ali | could do was to remain still un-
til it left. 1t lay off twenty or
twenty-five feet, just outside the rig
ging of the ship, its body motionless,
its fins barely stirring the water about
its gills
1t was monster as it was, but To
add to the horror the pressure of
water upon my head made it appear
pouring flames from its eyes and
mouth and every movement of Its fins
and tail seems accompanied by dis
play of fireworks, / was sure the
fish was thirty feet long, and so near
that / could see its double row of
white teeth. Involuntarily / shrunk
closer to the side of the vessel. But
my first movement betrayed my
presence. | saw the shifting eyes fix
ed up IN me; its tail quivered as it
darted at me like streak of light. |
shrank closer to the side of the ship.
| saw it turn on one side, its mouth
open, and heard thu teeth snap as
it darted by NE. 1t had missed me,
but only for a moment. The sweep
of It's mighty tail mad thrown me for
ward. i saw it turn, balance itself,
and Its tail quivered as it darted at
me again. There was no escape. 1t
turned ON its back as it swO ped
down on me like a hawk ON a spar
row. The jaws opened and the lOug,
shining teeth grated as they closed
ON my metal harness. 1t bad me. [
could feel its teeth grinding on my
copper breast plate as it tried to bite
me in two, for, fortunately, it had
caught me just across the middle,
where / was best protected. Having
seized me it went tearing through the
water. | could feel 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. / 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 be-
come of me. All these thoughts
passed through my brain in an In
slant but in that time the connecting
air tube had been snapped and my
head seemed ready to burst with
pressure, while the monsters teeth
kept crunching and grinding away on !
my harness. Then | felt the cold |
water begin to pour In and heard the
bubble, bubble, bubble, as the air
escaped into the creatures mouth. / |
began to hear great guns and see fire.
works and raiubows and sunshine and |
all kinds of pretty things; then
thought l was floating away on a rosy
summer cloud, dreaming to the sounds
of sweet music. Then all became
blank. The shark might have eaten
me at his leisure and | never would
have been the wiser. Imagine nv
establishment then when / opened my
eyes on board this boat and saw you
fellows around me. Yes, sir, /
thought ! was dead and ate up, sure.
Alfetto was found by his comrades
a few minutes after the swapping of
the line. He was picked up insensi-
Bile, with several holes punched in the
metallic part of the diving suit.-Pan-
anna Herald.
Tea Product Of India.